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Rep. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is Interviewed about Impeachment; Jobless Claims Higher Than Expected; Stanley Tucci is Interviewed about his New Show. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired February 11, 2021 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:30:00]

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: COVID relief plan. He's also moving forward with implementing his foreign policy. Of course we saw sanctions yesterday on Myanmar for the coup there. We had the phone call with President Xi last night where President Biden signaled there's going to be greater emphasis on human rights in the U.S. policy as compared to the economic and trade focus policy of President Trump. So he's trying to let the impeachment process play out. He can't influence it. It cannot benefit him. It can only interfere with his attempts to draw broad public support. And he's going to move ahead while this impeachment trial proceeds on a separate track.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: John Harwood, thank you very much.

So one of the things that's come out in the reporting about the impeachment trial, as it turns out, some of the senators not great listeners. You know, doodling. Feet up there.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Distracted.

BERMAN: What's going on behind the scenes? We are going to speak to one of the senators in that gallery. Senator Cory Booker.

CAMEROTA: We'll see if he's a good listener.

BERMAN: We'll find out, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): You know how close you came to the mob. Some of you, I understand, could hear them. But most of the public does not know how close these rioters came to you.

As you were moving through that hallway, I paced it off, you were just 58 steps away from where the mob was amassing and where police were rushing to stop them. They were yelling.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CAMEROTA: That to was impeachment manager Eric Swalwell telling senators how close they came to that mob of domestic terrorists that stormed the Capitol.

Joining us now is Democratic Senator Cory Booker.

Good morning, Senator.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): Good morning. Good morning.

CAMEROTA: So great to have you.

You were in the room, obviously, yesterday, listening to the arguments of the House impeachment managers. Can you just bring us inside the room? I mean what was the reaction from senators on both sides of the aisle?

BOOKER: Well, I think the energy on both sides, on the whole, was very sober and very moved by what was just deeply compelling presentation. And there were dots that were connected that many of us were just not aware of. And then the timeline was just so, for many of us, damning. I mean the fact that you had a president who tweeted 16 times from midnight the day before to his rally, stop the steal, stop the fraud, and then was suddenly silent for hours as the attack on the Capitol was going on.

But worse than that, the tweets he did do were inciting the murderous mob to go after his own vice president. I mean, I think when they put up the fact that the rioters were reading Donald Trump's tweets, calling out the failures he saw, the lack of courage he saw in Mike Pence, it was stunning that Mike Pence was hiding with his family as you then see the mob starting to scream and chant, "hang Mike Pence."

This is a president that so clearly betrayed, not just his oath of office, but the role he swore to play, which was commander in chief, to protect American citizens. Now, instead, a man that knows how to tell people to stop, didn't tell them to stop, but instead directed that rage, that violence towards his own vice president.

CAMEROTA: I mean and yet, with all of those, as you point out, impactful moments, we have heard some reporting that some Republican senators seem distracted. Senator Josh Hawley, who you'll recall showed some solidarity with the insurrectionists, that he has his feet up. He wasn't looking. He was sort of focused on his own reading material.

Are you seeing any of that?

BOOKER: Well, again, I see a lot of my Republican colleagues respectfully listening. Some of them visibly moved. But I can't sit in judgment of my colleagues at all. I think this is one of those moral moments in American history where what we say and do here makes a powerful difference, not just to this moment in time, but if we ignore, if we excuse, if we in any way condone what happened, we will invite that horror back on our own country. And so there -- these -- these are folks that are going to have to

answer the call of their conscience, the call of history, the call of their creator because there's no one that can say a president who whipped up a crowd to believe this big lie for weeks if not months beforehand, who against his own party, who against his own party officials, secretaries of states, governors, against judges he himself appointed, who all said it was a lie, he whipped up people to believe that they had no other choice but to fight like hell, to come to the Capitol, it will be wild, he said. And then direct them specifically against members of his own party, including the vice president of the United States. This is so clearly not a left or right moment, but a moral moment. And what we say and do here will define the character of our country, not to mention who we are as individuals.

CAMEROTA: What you hear some Republicans say is, yes, this was bad, but everything else that has happened is really bad. The stuff that happened in Portland, for instance, over the summer is so bad, the stuff that, you know, Republicans have had to face at the hands of angry Democrats.

Here's what Roy Blunt told our Manu Raju yesterday. Well, you know, you have a summer where people all over the country are doing similar kinds of things. I don't know what the other side will show from Seattle and Portland and other places but you're going to see similar kinds of tragedies there as well.

Do you think that's an apt comparison, the violence and the vandalism in Portland with the intersection on the U.S. Capitol?

BOOKER: Well, we should all be condemning violence and vandalism.

[08:40:02]

But this is an impeachment of the president of the United States. And there is -- there is -- I think there's no way to conclude that but for the president of the United States' actions telling people that this was a fraud despite all the evidence to the contrary, leaving his supporters with no other choice but to fight for their country, inviting them to the Capitol, whipping them up in a speech, directing them towards the Capitol, remaining silent during the attack as people all around him implored him, begged him to do something to stop the violence.

As his former chief of staff, governor of my -- former governor of my state, former people that served in high positions were begging him publicly to stop it, he did nothing. In fact, he poured more gasoline on it.

And so this is what's at issue right now. Not the fact that there has been violence in our country. Not the fact that there's been other terrorist attacks in our nation's history. This is, is the president of the United States responsible? And I think it is clear that but for the actions of this president, we would not have had the murderous mob overtake the Capitol, hunt the secretary -- hunt the vice president, hunt the speaker of the House. They literally were saying they were taking direction from him. They were reading his tweet publicly out to other rioters as they chanted "hang Mike Pence."

CAMEROTA: And, Senator, on those points that you just made about what the president was doing while all of this was happening, and that there was silence while people were calling him, begging for help, we had famed Republican election lawyer on, Ben Ginsberg, who said that he felt that there still needed to be a silver bullet from the House managers. And those people that you just described is who he would call as a witness. Who was around the president during those three hours where he checked out during this insurrection to hear what he was doing, whether he was gleeful watching all of this, why he wasn't taking any action. Do you think that hearing from one of those witnesses would really help the case?

BOOKER: Again, I do not understand how you cannot look this prolific tweeting that went on and then the silence afterward. This is a president who knows how to tell people to stop. I don't know how you can't look at the fact that it was well known that the riotous, murderous mob was in the Capitol for an hour plus and then the two things you hear from the president is, one, him replaying his own speech on Twitter and then telling the mob that Mike Pence had failed them. It is hard to even venture to say that the commander in chief who swore an oath to protect this sacred space did not fail in his duty, did not betray that oath.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BOOKER: I -- I -- we do not need more evidence, in my opinion, to come to the conclusion that Donald Trump violated his oath of office.

CAMEROTA: Senator Cory Booker, we really appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

BOOKER: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: John.

BERMAN: All right, we have breaking news.

First time unemployment claims higher than expected. This has all kinds of implications for what's going on in Washington.

CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans now with the breaking details.

Romans.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi.

And the prior week revised higher as well.

Look, these aren't as bad as the mass layoffs we saw when it got cold in January and so many people who work in restaurants and bars were laid off, but these are still really high numbers, 793,000 first-time unemployment benefits. You can see stalled out below the worst of January. But, still, just stubbornly high here. These -- any one of these weeks before the pandemic would have been a

record. So this is really a gauge of the pain out there in the labor market.

When you add together the pandemic unemployment insurance, that's another 334,000 people filed under that. you've got more than a million, 1.1 million people filing in just one week for first-time unemployment benefits.

You know, 11.4 million people are going to roll off these benefits starting in mid-March to mid-April when the CARES Act provisions start expiring again. So this is another reminder that there's a lot of pain in this economy right now and you need a fiscal fire hose here to try to keep these people hole until the economy can come out on the other side.

The Fed chief, Jerome Powell, yesterday, said the labor market, John, is a long way from normal. And he said, if you add in all the people who have left the labor market altogether and some of the quirks and distortions of the statistics, you'd have an unemployment rate really closer to 10 percent, which is right near the worst of the Great Recession.

BERMAN: Yes.

ROMANS: So, that's trouble.

BERMAN: And, look, these new numbers out today, I guarantee you will hear about them coming up in the discussions over this relief plan.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: Christine Romans, thank you very much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:49:06]

CAMEROTA: Award-winning actor and best-selling cookbook author Stanly Tucci is coming to CNN and bring all of us along for an unforgettable journey to Italy. He'll be eating his way through the country to bring the history and culture to life.

Here's a preview of Stanley's trip to Naples and the Amalfi Coast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STANLEY TUCCI, HOST, "STANLEY TUCCI: SEARCHING FOR ITALY": As if the awe-inspiring majesty of the Suvias (ph) and Bocanic (ph) Islands aren't enough, Campania has one final crowning glory. Just a half hour outside of Naples, some of the most famous and fabled landscape on earth begins, the Amalfi Coast. It's the backdrop for a thousand romantic movies and once in a lifetime vacations and home to a restaurant where I had a simple zucchini and pasta dish that honestly changed my life. I've been longing to come back.

The family have agreed to show me how it's done.

[08:50:01]

My wife has come to join me, and we're in one of the most beautiful places in the world. What could possibly go wrong?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Joining us now is Stanley Tucci, the host of the new CNN original series "Searching for Italy."

Stanley, I don't think I have ever been more jealous of a colleague's assignment than this one. I mean, number one, how dare you and, number two, can I be your intern?

STANLEY TUCCI, HOST, "STANLEY TUCCI: SEARCHING FOR ITALY": Of course you may. Of course. Of course. I think we have -- every -- almost every interview I do people say just about the same thing. So I have a lot of people coming with me next time if we do more (ph).

CAMEROTA: That's awesome. I mean you can imagine why we're all so jealous because this looks like a dream assignment. You are basically making your way through the country eating the most delicious things, drinking the most delicious cocktails. I know one of your quests was for the most perfect slice of pizza. Did you achieve that?

TUCCI: We did. We did. We did. We met a guy -- I have his book right here as a matter of fact. His name is Enzo Coha (ph). And he wrote -- literally wrote the book on how to make pizza. And he was awarded a MICHELIN star for pizza.

CAMEROTA: Oh, gosh. And so, Stanley, tell us your history with Italy and why this was important for you.

TUCCI: Well, my family's Italian. You know, I -- both sides of my family is Italian. My grandparents came to America many years ago. And -- and so I grew up in this wonderful -- you know, there was so much import put on food and culture in my family and a great respect for our heritage. And then in the -- 1972 I -- we went to Italy for a year. My dad was an art teacher. He had a sabbatical. So we lived in Florence for a year. And that changed everything for me.

And then, as I got older, I just became more and more interested in the culture of Italy, the history of Italy and its food. And this was an idea that I've had for many years. CNN came to me and said, do you have any ideas for a show? I said, as a matter of fact, yes.

CAMEROTA: I thought you'd never ask.

TUCCI: I thought you'd never ask.

CAMEROTA: I totally relate when you said that you had a zucchini and pasta dish that changed your life. I know what you mean.

TUCCI: Yes.

CAMEROTA: I mean anybody who's been to Italy knows that everything tastes different there. It tastes much better. And there's no way to re-create it when you get back here to the United States. And it changes your life. And so what's the most delicious thing you've had?

TUCCI: It's impossible to say. I mean you could go to that zucchini dish, you could go to (INAUDIBLE), which is this amazing dish that's made in northern Italy. You could go to the pizza. You can go to a beef steak of (INAUDIBLE). You could go to a million different -- lasagna bolognese, a pasta bolognese. It doesn't matter. Anything.

CAMEROTA: God, you're so right. You're so right.

And -- yes, you're only making me more hungry.

So, Stanley, given the culture and what's happened with the country, I mean, obviously, Italy was so hard hit by the pandemic and so what did you learn about all of that and how they're doing?

TUCCI: Well, I think it was really interesting. Of course it was very sad. We -- we did some of the shows prior to the pandemic. And then we did two shows after the pandemic.

I think the thing that was most amazing about Italy, you know, Italy was only unified in 1861 and Italy's still -- they're still a very sort of regional mindset. But this -- this pandemic brought Italy together like it -- like nothing has in a very, very long time. But if there's one good thing that came out of it, it's that.

CAMEROTA: That's really interesting because, as you're right, there are so many different places -- I mean the northern Italians don't really consider the southern Italians Italian. You know, there are so many of those kind of interesting rivalries.

TUCCI: Yes.

CAMEROTA: You know, one place that I think has been always under rated that is my favorite place to go is Naples. And I know that you spent some time there. And so what's it like now?

TUCCI: Well, again, it's very interesting. You know, Naples is one of the poorest cities in Italy. It's a big city, but it's quite poor. The farther south you go, the more -- the more poverty there is. It's home to a significant mafia presence. But it is also home to some of the most generous people you have ever met.

The city literally looks like it's falling apart at times, and it probably is, but it's just the way they choose to live. Some say it's because they're, you know, in the shadow of a volcano and you could die at any moment, so what does it do, make a difference if your house doesn't look (INAUDIBLE) as long as you live a happy life.

CAMEROTA: Stanley Tucci, the show is "Searching for Italy." I can't wait to watch it. Thanks so much for giving us a preview. And I can't wait to be on your next journey as your intern or really whatever you need.

[08:55:02]

TUCCI: Well, I look forward to eating together.

CAMEROTA: Me, too.

TUCCI: All right. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Great to talk to you.

TUCCI: Nice talking to you. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Be sure to tune in. The all-new CNN original series "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy" premieres Sunday night at 9:00 only on CNN.

BERMAN: I mean it was unseemly, I have to say, how much you suggested you'd rather be eating in Italy with Stanley Tucci than sitting with me here starting at 5:00 a.m. in the morning. I just found it awkward.

CAMEROTA: Well, as you know, I love you, but you haven't provided that kind of delicious food ever on NEW DAY. Ever.

BERMAN: I was sitting here the whole time.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, we're all so jealous.

OK, on that note, CNN's special coverage --

BERMAN: What -- what could be more than this?

CAMEROTA: Food. Italy. I don't know. I'll keep thinking.

Our special coverage of the impeachment trial continues, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:08]