Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Biden To Announce U.S. Withdrawing All Troops From Afghanistan By September 11; CNN: Women Detail Drug Use, Sex At Late-Night Parties With Rep. Gaetz; Iran Vows To Increase Uranium Enrichment To 60 Percent After Plant Attack. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired April 14, 2021 - 07:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:25]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Biden will announce this afternoon he plans to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September 11, ending America's longest war. It comes as we learn that the president will address a joint session of Congress two weeks from today.

Joining us now is CNN political analysts and "Washington Post" reporters Seung Min Kim and Toluse Olorunnipa. Friends, thank you so much for being with us.

This is a significant moment in history for all of us. I'm probably older than all of you but I -- we all remember September 11th. We all remember how the United States began its involvement in Afghanistan.

And President Biden has decided that U.S. troops are leaving, no matter what, by September 11th. And it's got bipartisan support and bipartisan criticism as well. It's sort of one of these things where you have different things from different people in both parties, Seung Min. What are the politics of this?

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST (via Cisco Webex): Right, I think that's a good way to sum it up.

And if you recall, former President Trump's decision to withdraw or to set this deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, which is that May first deadline we've been talking about so much, is one of the areas where congressional Republicans had been willing to openly criticize former President Trump.

So you're seeing most -- many senior Republicans on Capitol Hill very much criticize President Biden for this decision, setting this deadline and not making it based on conditions on the ground. But you're also hearing some criticism from some senior Democrats as well.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire -- her comments saying she was very disappointed in this decision. And just sort of this -- sort of this view that you're just kind of leaving Afghanistan and leaving the situation on the ground as a concerning move. So we'll see how the Biden administration kind of continues to build support for this action over the next several months. It will be something on Capitol Hill we'll certainly be closely watching.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Toluse, I'm glad Seung Min brought up Jeanne Shaheen because, of course, sits on the Foreign Relations Committee. But her big concern is she said this undermines our commitment to the Afghan people -- particularly, Afghan women.

It's also a clear indication of where the Biden administration is pointing its focus -- namely, on a rise in China, on Asia. And it just -- I wonder what your take is big-picture here on what it tells us about what the next matter of years are going to be like in terms of where their foreign policy focus will be.

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST (via Cisco Webex): Yes. A few Biden administration officials told reporters on a call yesterday that they don't see Afghanistan as the major threat to the United States homeland as it may have been two decades ago and that the need for a permanent footprint on the ground is no longer there.

So this is part of a shifting strategy where the United States foreign policy is sort of readjusting its focus to bigger threats -- threats that are more likely to have an impact on Americans' lives going forward. Now the Taliban does not appear to be one of those threats in the minds of the Biden administration.

So focusing on China, focusing on trying to fix the -- some of the problems left behind by President Trump's administration in the view of the Biden camp is essentially the new goal, focusing on places like Iran and the Middle East and Asia. They want to make sure that their focus is not sort of mired in some of these Middle Eastern conflicts, like Afghanistan, and instead want to focus on areas where they think the American people will be impacted, including the rise of China.

So this is an effort -- a longstanding effort by Biden, himself, to pull the United States away from this conflict in Afghanistan and refocus not only on domestic priorities but also on a changing global landscape.

BERMAN: All right, hugely different topic now and that's Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida.

Let me read you the latest reporting, largely from CNN, here. First is that Joel Greenberg, who is that associate of Matt Gaetz, has been providing investigators with information since last year, including information about encounters he and Matt Gaetz had with women who were given cash or gifts in exchange for sex.

And then this specific reporting from Paula Reid -- welcome to CNN and NEW DAY, Paula -- and David Shortell, which says they attended parties.

And at these parties, "The partygoers, at times, dressed in formal wear from a political event they just left, mingled and shared drugs like cocaine and ecstasy. Some had sex.

One of the women said she received money from Greenberg after some of the parties. She said that some of the payments were for providing sex but would not say who she slept with. She did say she never received money directly from Gaetz."

[07:35:00]

Seung Min, the politics of this -- how are other members, now that they're all back, dealing with Matt Gaetz in the day-by-day revelations here?

KIM: Right. I mean, ever since all this news started to break you had kind of one unsavory detail after another come out, allegedly, about Matt Gaetz's activities. But, you know, lawmakers returned to Washington this week, as did Matt Gaetz. I'm sure House Republicans will continue to get asked about -- asked about all this later today and later this week.

But what's surprising is that there is no internal -- there is really no internal pressure among House Republican leaders and among other House Republicans for Matt Gaetz to take some sort of action, such as stepping aside from the Judiciary Committee.

I mean, you have congressional leaders from Kevin McCarthy on down saying they're going to let the process play out. Obviously, if Rep. Gaetz is ultimately indicted that does change things. But right now, they're sticking by him and believing him at his word.

And at the same time, only one House Republican, Adam Kinzinger, has called on Matt Gaetz to step down.

So certainly, this could all change in the next several weeks and in the coming months. But for now, in terms of political pressure from his own party, Matt Gaetz is not facing that much.

BERMAN: Seung Min Kim, Toluse Olorunnipa, thank you both so much for being with us.

U.S. Capitol Police Officer Billy Evans honored in the Capitol Rotunda where he served for nearly two decades and died so tragically in the line of duty in an attack earlier this month. His wife and two children shared their grief with so many there paying their respects.

President Biden reflected on his own experience with loss and he addressed the Evans family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mrs. Evans, you have -- I have some idea of what you're feeling like. I buried two of my children. And people have come up to you and are going to come up to you for some time and say I know how you feel. And after a while -- you know everybody means well -- you feel like saying, you have no idea. That's how you're all going to know that you're going to make it -- by holding each other together, and most importantly, by holding Logan and Abigail as tightly as you can. Because as long as you have them, you've got Billy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: "You've got Billy," the president said. Billy is with you. This was just so heartbreaking and touching all at the same time.

And what you're looking at now is the President of the United States taking a moment to comfort the daughter of Billy Evans when she dropped her toy there on the floor. That happened while the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, was talking.

But again, this is just heartbreaking. Such a genuine moment of grief and also consolation all at the same time. And that's the President --

HARLOW: It's beautiful.

BERMAN: -- of the United States picking up a toy for the little girl.

HARLOW: It's striking how many moments already in his presidency, President Biden has had to be sort of the consoler-in-chief --

BERMAN: Yes.

HARLOW: -- and take the grief that he has experienced time and time again in his life to the people. And they're right when they say that he will live on through his children.

BERMAN: Yes. Look, this has been part of Joe Biden's life for some time. It's something that is difficult for him, clearly, but he knows he can share it with other people and does.

So, what's more likely -- serious side effects from a coronavirus vaccine or getting struck by lightning? An important reality check, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:43:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST, "TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT": If vaccines work, why are vaccinated people still banned from living normal lives? Honestly, what's the answer to that? It doesn't make any sense at all. If the vaccine is effective there is no reason for people who have received the vaccine to wear masks or avoid physical contact.

So maybe it doesn't work and they're simply not telling you that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: A television performer speculating there is some widespread government conspiracy that vaccines don't work and the government is somehow lying about it -- nonsense. But this morning, serious people are asking about the decision to

pause the use of the J&J vaccine when six out of seven million people who received the vaccine have had an adverse reaction.

John Avlon this morning with a reality check.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: We're in a race between COVID-19 variants and the vaccines, which is why it was surprising to hear that Johnson & Johnson would be put on pause while the CDC and FDA look into concerns about blood clots. It must be serious, right? Objectively, no.

It turns out that six women had blood clots within two weeks of taking that vaccine. One has died and that is a tragedy, but context is key. And this is nearly out of nearly seven million doses administered at that time. So even if the vaccine is proven to be behind these blood clots, the chances of it happening to you is literally less than one in a million. In the risk-reward calculus of life, this is not a tough call.

By comparison, there's more of a chance that you'll be struck by lightning this year, which is one in 700,000. There's also more of a chance of being hit and killed by a satellite falling from space, according to NASA. Or to put it in more terrestrial terms, the chance of dying in a car crash is around 12 in 100,000.

This is not to diminish the pain of the people who have suffered side effects but it is an attempt to put this into perspective because your chance of getting COVID if you haven't been vaccinated is far greater. In fact, get this. You're more than over 200 times more likely to get COVID-19 today than to develop one of these rare clotting events.

[07:45:07]

So why did they pause it? An abundance of caution is the most generous explanation because this unproven possible side effect is very similar to concerns in Europe about the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is still available there.

In some states, people with J&J appointments can show up and another brand. In other states, appointments are being canceled for the time being, and this is not good. Public health is hard. Don't take it for granted. Perfect is never on the menu.

For example, the polio vaccine that saved hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide had its share of hiccups. And it's miraculous that the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were developed at all, let alone with up to 95 percent efficacy.

But we're learning that even with those double doses there's still a small chance that you could come down with COVID, though it's unlikely to lead to hospitalization or death -- and that's sort of the whole ballgame, right?

There's a real danger that in reaction to this news, anti-vaxxer fears will be validated in people's minds. And those are the folks most likely to get sick and perhaps, more importantly, infect other people.

Kids are becoming more severely ill with COVID variants, and COVID cases are on the rise worldwide for the seventh consecutive week, even as U.S. vaccinations are coming nearly five times faster than the global average. As those vaccinations are on the rise, so are COVID hospitalizations for people who haven't been vaccinated.

So, please, this is not a time to pull your foot off the gas. Remain vigilant and confident. Don't let fear make your decisions for you. Get vaccinated.

And that's your reality check.

BERMAN: It is the most liberating thing ever -- the feeling when you get that. I've only had one shot.

HARLOW: Yes.

BERMAN: I can't wait for my second. And already, it gives me a whole new outlook on life.

AVLON: It does.

HARLOW: Yes, it's terrifying what Tucker Carlson did. And your facts are more important than ever this morning, John Avlon. Thank you --

AVLON: Thanks.

HARLOW: -- very much.

Iran vowing to triple its uranium production after an attack on its main nuclear facility. How will the Biden administration respond to this? David Sanger is next with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:51:13]

BERMAN: Developing this morning, Haiti's government resigning after months of tensions dividing that nation, and we're seeing protests spilling into the streets. Haiti's president says he has accepted and appointed a new prime minister.

At the heart of the unrest is a dispute over the president's term limit, as well as his failure to organize new elections, leaving legislative positions empty and the population effectively unrepresented.

HARLOW: Now to a really significant announcement coming officially this afternoon from the White House. President Biden will announce plans to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September 11th, ending America's longest-running war.

Let's bring in our national security analyst David Sanger. He's a White House and national security correspondent for "The New York Times." David, your piece -- John and I were just remarking this morning on

Afghanistan following your fantastic pieces on Iran -- it was excellent. And what struck me the most in it on the -- on the Biden decision is that you say it comes with clear risks. Obviously, that's obvious.

My question to you is what is the greatest risk and who fills the void that the U.S. clearly leaves pulling out in such an unstable situation still in Afghanistan?

DAVID SANGER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE AND NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES (via Cisco Webex): Well, that's exactly the right question because one of the things that you have heard so often from this administration is that when the United States retreats around the world, somebody fills the void and it's usually a bad actor. And that's basically their critique of the Trump administration's America First pullback approach to the world.

In Afghanistan, I think the president was driven by the fact that he's always been a critic of the notion that the United States could make a significant change here.

And this is a humbling moment -- I think a truly humbling moment for the United States. Because while we achieved our immediate objective, which was driving al Qaeda out of Afghanistan, almost every other objective we have had over the past 20 years -- turning the place into a model democracy, establishing institutions, rule of law, making the economy self-sustaining -- we have failed at almost all of those.

And the president, this afternoon, is saying essentially that we are giving up the effort. That no more -- that if you couldn't do it in 20 years you're not going to get it done.

But there are risks and the biggest risk is that the Taliban takes more and more of the country and that while Joe Biden is president, you have a scene like you had in Saigon in 1975 where you saw Americans being evacuated.

BERMAN: You know, oftentimes, kids ask the best questions. And your partner, Jim Sciutto's son asked him --

HARLOW: Yes, yes.

BERMAN: -- last night -- you know, asked him -- you know, daddy, did we win --

HARLOW: Yes.

BERMAN: -- in Afghanistan?

And you just addressed that point right there. If you're looking at most of the goals over 20 years, it was a failure. It's complicated but it was a failure.

David, just very quickly, what's the difference between the conditions-based withdrawal that you hear some national security stalwarts in Congress and experts calling for -- conditions-based -- and what the Biden administration is saying, which is no conditions -- we're just leaving?

SANGER: Well, that'll be the next question that Jim Sciutto's kid asks, I'm sure, and it tells you it runs in the family.

It's a really big difference because conditions-based has always been the line used during the Bush administration and the Obama administration, which is to say if we see that there is stability and that the government of Afghanistan is able to sustain itself and defend itself, then we will pull back. That was the essence of the Obama policy, remember? That we would do a big surge, train the Afghan government, and then pull back.

[07:55:00]

What Biden is saying is quite different and the difference is that now he's saying we're leaving on September 11th, the 20th anniversary, no matter what happens. If they can defend themselves, great. If they can't, we're still leaving.

And this drives many in the Pentagon a little bit crazy because their view is if you're leaving no matter what, what you're saying is many people died for a cause that in the end, we're ending.

HARLOW: Yes, you think of all their families this morning.

SANGER: That's right.

HARLOW: I'm glad you brought that up, David.

Let's turn to Iran. Again, your reporting on this is critical.

There -- I mean, here's the big newest headline. Iran lashing back, saying we're going to enrich our uranium from 20 percent to 60 percent. And to give -- what does that mean? You need 90 percent enrichment to get a bomb and it takes about a week to get from 60 to 90 percent.

So if that's all true -- and there's a lot of ifs there, right -- Jen Psaki says that's provocative and brings into question their seriousness of continuing negotiations on a nuclear deal -- what does that do to any U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations?

SANGER: Well, these negotiations have been under a lot of pressure in a lot of places.

The Israelis, over the weekend, appeared to have been behind the staging of an explosion at Natanz that was partly designed to set back the program, but many people believe was also designed to derail these negotiations because they don't think the Iranians could ever be trusted in a deal.

So the Iranians had to respond. And the sixty percent basically is saying we're going to walk right up to the edge of building a nuclear weapon or having the fuel to build a nuclear weapon. Now the other thing that came out, though, yesterday, Poppy, was the worldwide threat assessment from the American Intelligence Community. And what they said was that while Iran has moved ahead in fuel, they're still far behind in the design of a nuclear weapon.

And that suggests that Biden's got some time. That he doesn't need to be rushed by these threats. That while it's dangerous, while it's provocative, it doesn't mean they're going to turn this into a weapon in six months or a year.

BERMAN: Isn't this -- to an extent, is Israel not driving this and getting what it wants? If Israel did this to make it more difficult for the United States and Iran to reach some kind of a nuclear deal -- the immediate reaction has been Iran saying it's going to enrich its uranium further -- isn't that what Israel wanted, weirdly?

SANGER: Well yes, weirdly, in a way. I mean, the Israeli view and the American view could not be more at odds.

Joe Biden believes in his heart that the only solution to this problem is a diplomatic one. Benjamin Netanyahu believes in his heart that a diplomatic solution cannot be trusted and will not last and that the only real answer is mowing the lawn, which is to say every few months, go in and do something that sets back their program.

Last summer, you'll remember, they blew up a big research lab for the centrifuges that make fuel. In November, they killed Iran's leading nuclear scientist. Now, we've had this explosion inside Natanz.

And, you know, it used to be, 10 years ago, the U.S. and Israel did these operations together. That was the cyberattack on the same plant in Natanz. Now, we're really in different places.

BERMAN: David Sanger, as always, we thank you for your insight on so many different issues here. These are big moments. These are big challenges --

SANGER: Yes.

BERMAN: -- facing the United States and we're really entering, to an extent, a new period in foreign policy and we're going to need your expertise here. Thank you.

SANGER: Well, thanks so much.

HARLOW: Thank you, David.

NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The police officer who shot Daunte Wright stepping down.

MAYOR MIKE ELLIOTT, BROOKLYN CENTER, MINNESOTA: I'm hoping this will help bring some calm to the community and full accountability under the law.

BEN CRUMP, ATTORNEY: Ten miles from where the Chauvin trial was taking place, that a police officer would shoot and kill another unarmed Black man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Biden will announce the withdrawal of military forces from Afghanistan this September.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We have been there for far too long. That has been his view for some time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we leave too early then, of course, we risk losing all the gains we have made over the last years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY.

BERMAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. I'm John Berman. Poppy Harlow here with me.

And criminal charges -- criminal charges could be filed in a matter of hours against former police officer Kimberly Potter for shooting and killing Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota -- a killing police are calling a deadly mistake.

Now, Potter and the department's police chief both resigned yesterday.

Wright's death has now been ruled a homicide.

There were protests overnight with some demonstrators clashing with police as they enforced a curfew. At one point, demonstrators stopped and knelt for nine minutes and 29 seconds to honor George Floyd.

HARLOW: Emotions very raw, understandably, in and across Minneapolis.