Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

U.S. Calls for Pause on J&J Vaccine Over Blood Clot Concerns; Sen. John Cornyn Questions if President Biden is Really in Charge; China Warns the U.S. Not to Play with Fire Regarding Taiwan; Tucker Carlson's Great Replacement Defense a Disgrace. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired April 13, 2021 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:01]

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, you know, it's less than one in a million, and we know that even, you know, when we talk about vaccines overall the idea of one in a million sort of side effect is usually what is quoted. But, you know, this is also one of those things that, you know, if you are a -- particularly a woman in that age range and you're thinking about this vaccine, you're likely to shy away from that vaccine right now. And you know, I think it's -- and that's a large segment of the population.

So I think that they need to figure this out and they also need to figure out what happened, some of the questions you're asking Carlos about why these women, I think that's something that's going to need to be answered. And also the treatment. What do you do about this? You'll remember when the Pfizer vaccine came out there was this question of these anaphylactic reactions, and they had a plan that was sort of put in place trying to identify people who were more at risk and understanding that.

Right now we're just sort of getting this information in. They may have better understanding of who is at risk or what to do about it so that someone doesn't develop these sorts of side effects after taking the vaccine. But we're not there yet. Despite the fact that it's rare, you know, when it's you, when it's an N of one, it's not rare. So I think that's what they're going to have to deal with for some time.

I do think it's good that they're getting on top of this and putting a pause on this and going to have this briefing. We'll obviously listen closely, but this is probably how it's likely to play out over the next few days.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Sanjay, Dr. Del Rio, thank you both very much.

Sanjay, you're going to be back in a little bit along with Paul Offit who is on the FDA vaccine advisory panel. Obviously, we've got a lot more questions for both of you as this morning develops. Much more on the breaking news straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:45]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, I can confirm that the president of the United States does not spend his time tweeting conspiracy theories. He spends his time working on behalf of the American people.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: That's the White House press secretary pushing back against the comment from Republican Senator John Cornyn asking the question of whether President Joe Biden is actually in charge of the country.

So here's what happened. In a series of tweets, Cornyn cited Biden's infrequent cable news interviews and tweets of his own as posted evidence of this.

With us now our political director David Chalian.

And David, good morning. It's always good to have you.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning.

HARLOW: So Cornyn was quoting from a Politico piece basically saying, why isn't Biden doing more interviews or tweeting more, I don't know, outrageous things like the former president did. And then he added his little bit at the end, though. Right? He said it invites the question, is he really in charge? My question to you is, why? Why is he doing this?

CHALIAN: Well, Republicans are on a search for some kind of negative frame on Joe Biden that they can construct and then put all their criticism through that because so far nothing has really stuck. They didn't formulate a really good argument that the American people bought against the COVID relief plan, that $1.9 trillion package that passed, that got stimulus checks into people's hands. And Joe Biden is personally well liked by the American people.

So they haven't found an in here. And what they've been doing, Poppy, for the last several months, I mean, this started 10 days into the administration when Joe Biden in his first meeting with Republican senators about that COVID relief plan, this notion that he's really being run by a staff. And they're running him further to the left than Joe Biden wants to be. He's this trojan horse for big liberal policies that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer and Ron Klain, the chief of staff, they're trying to drive through.

Now that's not reality at all either. But they are desperately seeking some sort of approach here that can try and chisel away at Biden's popularity.

BERMAN: What evidence is there that it would work? This was tried during the campaign. They tried to paint Joe Biden as a crazy liberal. This was tried during the campaign where the Russians and the Trump campaign tried to paint Joe Biden as not mentally competent. And he still won. So why would this work now?

CHALIAN: Yes. And I'm glad you noted, there are two things here at play, right, John? It is the sort of notion, oh, he's this old out of touch guy. So other people have to be in charge. And it's the, and other people are in charge that are going to be so much more extreme and liberal than Joe Biden presents himself to be. They're trying both in this one line of attack.

And to your point, John, I've seen no evidence yet that it's working. I mean, obviously we lived in very polarized times. And there's some benefit that animates the Republican base with these lines of attack. But I see no evidence that broadly with the American people that Joe Biden has suffered in any way because of this line of attack coming from Republicans. And I think they know it, which is why they're continuing to search.

I mean, John Cornyn is somebody, you know very closely tied to Mitch McConnell, very much part of the apparatus for putting together what the Republican messaging will be going into the 2022 midterms. And this is just a continued attempt now to find something that sticks because they haven't found it yet.

BERMAN: David, just very quickly, what does it tell us about the choice that the White House has made about where to have its political battles to this point?

HARLOW: Yes.

BERMAN: You know, the relief package first. Infrastructure second. They're choosing advantageous political ground it seems.

CHALIAN: Yes, because one way to maintain your popularity is to do popular things. And so, what Joe Biden has clearly chosen to do here with his administration is even though there are lots of other issues that the left-wing of the Democratic Party would like him to put front and center, they may be more divisive to the body politic overall. And so he's sticking to what he believes are broadly popular economic policies for the country as the country is trying to recover through this COVID crisis. And that's what's keeping his numbers up at the moment.

[07:40:01]

BERMAN: David Chalian, thank you so much.

CHALIAN: Sure.

BERMAN: Appreciate it.

CHALIAN: Yes.

BERMAN: So, don't miss "THE LEAD" this afternoon. Former House Speaker John Boehner discusses his new book, "The State of the Republican Party." We don't know if there's going to be like a five-second delay in case he swears, because he swears a lot. This is on "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" coming up at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Some military tensions rising between the U.S. and China over Taiwan.

A live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. Overnight China warning the United States not to, quote, "play with fire" when it comes to Taiwan. Tensions are rising after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. is committed to defending the self -- the democratic self-governed island. Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of its sovereign territory.

[07:45:11]

CNN's David Culver live in Shanghai with more.

This is different rhetoric than the normal back and forth or sometimes silent stares about Taiwan, David.

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, John, it's not just rhetoric at this point. It's becoming action, military action that we're starting to see in the form of exercises that the U.S. says, when they're looking at how the Chinese are going forward with these naval and air exercises, as being aggressive.

This is happening about 500 miles off the coast from where we are here in Shanghai. And it is something that is causing tensions to rise dramatically. Just in the past 24 hours we learned that Chinese fighters and bombers flew over Taiwan's air defense zone. They incurred in that. It's caused a lot of unease for Taiwan and their Defense Ministry in particular. And it's put the U.S. in a difficult position. They now have to determine how to respond.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CULVER (voice-over): China is flexing its military might, releasing through state media a flood of dramatic video clips like these. They show Chinese naval exercises that U.S. officials say are aimed to intimidate the people of Taiwan.

ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: And what is a real concern to us is increasingly aggressive actions by the government in Beijing directed at Taiwan.

CULVER: Under the One China policy, the People's Republic of China and its ruling communist party consider Taiwan to be part of its sovereign territory.

President Xi Jinping has vowed to never allow the self-governed democracy to become formally independent and he will not rule out the use of force if necessary to take the island back.

CAPT. CARL SCHUSTER (RET.), U.S. NAVY: He's also signaling to the United States we could prevent you from helping Taiwan.

CULVER: In recent months, the People's Liberation Army Navy showcasing its capabilities just off Taiwan's eastern coast. Military experts say that is a pointed effort to demonstrate that China can cut the island off from U.S. Military support. From above, near daily occurrences of multiple PLA aircraft entering Taiwan's air defense zone from the west. A coordinated move that is alarming to some experts. It has sparked strong words from Taiwan's Foreign minister.

JOSEPH WU, FOREIGN MINISTER OF TAIWAN: We are willing to defend ourselves and it's without any question. And we will fight the war if we need to fight a war.

CULVER: Taiwan's military is no comparison to China's. Where the PLA boasts more than a million soldiers, Taiwan only has 140,000 troops. China has got roughly 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles and more than 200 nuclear warheads. Taiwan has neither. That is why the island is so heavily reliant on allies, most especially the U.S.

BLINKEN: And we have a commitment to Taiwan under the Taiwan's Relation Act to make sure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself.

CULVER: But Biden administration officials stopped short of guaranteeing U.S. Military intervention should Beijing make a move on Taiwan. Instead, the U.S. has been using its Pacific fleet to showcase its own strengths. This photo from last week showing a Navy-guided missile destroyer commanding officer sitting feet propped up as one of China's two aircraft carriers sailed by.

And while the PLA has focused its exercises to Taiwan's east, the USS John McCain cruised to the west of the island last week. The guided missile destroyer passing through the Taiwan Strait right between the mainland and Taiwan. In response Chinese officials said the U.S. was stirring up trouble.

U.S. military leaders believe a Chinese attack on Taiwan could be just years away.

ADM. PHILIP DAVIDSON, COMMANDER, U.S. INDO-PACIFIC COMMAND: I think the threat is manifest during this decade. In fact in the next six years.

ADM. JOHN AQUILINO, COMMANDER, U.S. PACIFIC FLEET: My opinion is this problem is much closer to us than most think.

CULVER: The Biden administration facing mounting pressure on the matter as tensions at sea rise. But some analysts believe much of what we're seeing is unnecessary hype.

BONNIE GLASER, SENIOR ADVISER FOR ASIA, CSIS: The near-term goal is to deter independence and China has largely achieved that goal. And I don't believe that the Chinese are likely to use force within the next few years. I think they do not want to pay the price.

CULVER: Whatever the intention, former Navy captain and U.S. intelligence officer Carl Schuster says China's messaging is clearly directed to a specific audience.

SCHUSTER: They want the American people and the American government to see the cost of helping Taiwan as exceeding the benefits.

CULVER (on camera): You well know, Captain, you're going to have Americans who will look at this and they'll say, why should Americans be involved in anything over there? Why should they care what's happening with Taiwan? To that, you would say?

[07:50:03]

SCHUSTER: If we won't defend a 70-year partner from violent aggression, then other countries will look at it and believe, we either are not capable or not willing to sacrifice anything for them.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right, David. So how is this affecting the other countries in the region?

CULVER: This goes well beyond the U.S. and China. For example, one of the U.S.' largest allies here, Japan, has been scrambling jets regularly to try to likewise respond to some of the Chinese fighters and bombers that have also been going into Japanese's air defense zone. So a lot of eyes are on the U.S. and a lot of pressure put on the Biden administration to see how exactly they're going to respond if this continues to push towards the point of conflict.

Because, John, you have to look at, this is the red line according to China. Taiwan is sovereign territory that the Chinese believe belongs to them. And so anything that infringes on that could lead to military conflict.

BERMAN: David Culver, as always, thank you so much for your reporting.

HARLOW: Ahead, Tucker Carlson pushing the racist replacement theory to millions of viewers again. The "Reality Check" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:55:31]

BERMAN: So what do you do with a racist theory chanted by white supremacists, embraced by killers, used for hate for generations? Well, if you're Tucker Carlson, you embrace it again and again and again.

John Avlon has a "Reality Check."

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Extremists and the unhinged will always be with us, but they haven't always had people in positions of power and influence amplifying and justifying their message. That's why Tucker Carlson's double down defense of replacement theory is worth more than his trademark confused dog look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKET CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: I know that the left and all the little gatekeepers on Twitter become literally hysterical if you use the term replacement, if you suggest that the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate, the voters now casting ballots, with new people, more obedient voters from the third world.

Let's just say it, that's true. So everybody wants to make a racial issue out of it, oh, the, you know, white replacement theory. No, no, no.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: Now it's hard to argue that warning about obedient voters from the third world isn't racial but just to level set, let's see who's been chanting about replacement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Jews will not replace us. Jews will not replace us.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: Yes, that would be white nationalists and Neo-Nazis at the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally. See, the great replacement theory was also cited by mass shooters in El Paso and New Zealand. So Tucker should know that replacement theory is not disconnected from race and racial violence. In fact, a new analysis by "The Washington Post" shows that since 2015, right-wing extremists have been involved in 267 plots or attacks and 91 fatalities.

Now for Tucker, these facts might not matter. After all, FOX News lawyers argue that no one expects him to tell the truth. But let's give him the benefit of the doubt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: This is a voting rights question. I have less political power because they're importing a brand-new electorate. Why should I sit back and take that? The power that I have as an American guaranteed at birth is one man, one vote. And they are diluting it.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: OK, there's a lot to work with there. First, America did not begin by guaranteeing one man, one vote. First, only white male property owners could vote. Black men got the vote with the 15th Amendment after the civil war, a move denounced by some as a political power grab designed to make whites a minority in the South. Women of course didn't get to vote until 100 years ago and some argued it would dilute the power of their votes and lead to societal decline.

Words one person, one vote, wasn't codified until the Supreme Court did it in 1964 during the Civil Rights Movement. That's when the infamous Alabama governor, George Wallace, gave a speech that might sound familiar to some viewers of FOX News.

Here's what he said, quote, "I believe the American people have been pushed around long enough and that they, like you and I, are fed up with the continuing trend toward a socialist state. We must not be misled by left-wing incompetent news media that day after day feed us a diet of fantasy telling us we're bigots, racists and hate mongers. They oppose the destruction of the Constitution and our nation."

It's been said that history doesn't repeat. But sometimes it rhymes. This isn't about the past. Tucker is fanning the flames of a fire that is already burning. There's a new study of those folks charged in the Capitol attack found that fear of the great replacement may have been a prime driver, including that replacement theory might help explain why such a high percentage of rioters hailed from counties with fast- rising nonwhite populations.

Tucker Carlson ain't playing the bigot. He's playing to his base. And that's your "Reality Check."

BERMAN: Yes, and I also don't think he's playing anything. I think he is. I just think he's telling us exactly what side he's chosen here, and I don't think it's an act at all at this point.

BERMAN: I mean, you know, the phrase, you know, said, it's not about the money, it's about the money? You say it isn't about race, it's often about race.

BERMAN: All right, John, appreciate it. Thank you very much.

We have important breaking news on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine so let's get to it.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BERMAN: All right, welcome to our viewers around the world and here in the United States. This is NEW DAY. I'm John Berman. Poppy Harlow with me this morning for important breaking news.

The CDC and the FDA calling for an immediate pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson single dose coronavirus vaccine after six recipients, women, in the United States, developed a rare blood- clotting disorder within about two weeks of receiving the vaccine.

HARLOW: Again, all six cases involve women and they're young. Women between the ages of 18 and 48 who have received the J&J COVID vaccine. "The New York Times" reports one woman died.