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At This Hour

Dems Work Towards Bipartisan Election Count Act Changes; World Heart Federation: No Amount Of Alcohol Is Safe For Heart; Two Men Arrested In U.K. As Part Of Texas Synagogue Investigation. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired January 20, 2022 - 11:30   ET

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

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[11:33:50]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: At this hour on Capitol Hill, Democrats are trying to figure out where they go from here after a big blow to their strategy happened last night in the Senate. Democrats tried and failed to change the filibuster rules to help them pass voting rights legislation without any Republican support, it didn't work. Two Democrats joined Republicans to block that effort. Lauren Fox joins me now with more. Really Lauren, the question now as what's next, what are you hearing about that?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's some palpable frustration this morning with both Senators Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, given that they were not willing to change Senate rules to push forward with the voting rights legislation that was before the U.S. Senate last night despite the fact that they do insist they support the voting rights legislation. They did not think it was worth breaking the filibuster over.

Now, that is where the Democrats stand this morning. You heard last night Bernie Sanders an independent from Vermont, once again doubling down that he may support a primary challenge against both Manchin and Sinema. The question now, do they pivot back to build back better that is the legislation of course that before Christmas, Manchin said that he was not going to get to yes on. You heard the President yesterday saying maybe there was a possibility you could break it into smaller pieces. Here's what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said this morning about that push.

[11:35:11]

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REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) HOUSE SPEAKER: What the President calls chunks, I would hope would be a major bill going forward may be more limited. But it is still significant.

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FOX: And you hear there that she wants this to be a big bold piece of legislation just like the House passed. So big question mark, whether or not moving forward with build back better and smaller pieces is really going to be possible. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Lauren, thank you so much for that.

We do have breaking news. We'll head back over to the White House because President Biden is meeting with his infrastructure Task Force right now. But just moments ago, at the top of that meeting, he started off by talking about Russia and Ukraine. Let's listen together.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, let me start by, first, saying a few words about Russia and Ukraine.

I've been absolutely clear with President Putin. He has no misunderstanding. If any -- any -- assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion. But -- and it would be met with severe and coordinated economic response that I've discussed in detail with our allies, as well as laid out very clearly for President Putin.

But there is no doubt -- let there be no doubt at all that if Putin makes this choice, Russia will pay a heavy price.

It is also not the only scenario we need to be prepared for: Russia has a long history of using measures other than overt military action to carry out aggression in paramilitary tactics, so-called "gray-zone" attacks, and actions by Russian soldiers not wearing Russian uniforms.

Remember when they moved into the Donbas with "Little Green Men"? They weren't -- they were dealing with those who were Russian sympathizers and said that Russia had no -- nobody in there.

Well, that includes "Little Green Men" in uniforms, as well as cyberattack.

We have to be ready to respond to these as well -- and decisively -- in a united way, with a range of tools at our disposal.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister said this morning that he's confident of our support and resolve. And he has a right to be.

Now let me turn to the topic of the day. By enacting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we've demonstrated that Democrats and Republicans can actually work together to get something done. And by implementing it efficiently and effectively, we're going to demonstrate that government also can work for people efficiently and effectively.

In just two months, the investments are underway to modernize our roads, our bridges, our ports, our airports, our rail, delivering high-speed Internet and clean water -- and expand and modernize, as I said, rail -- as well as strengthening the energy grid. And the list goes on.

Up until now, our nation has never fully made this kind of investment. In part -- just the reason why we've had the whole problem with regard to supply chains. But when we start moving stuff faster through our ports, when bridges don't have weight restrictions, when there's less traffic on our roads because there are more roads to travel on and people aren't backed up bumper-to-bumper and more capacity in our rails, that's how we resolve the supply chain problem and get goods to people and get them to them quicker and -- quicker and cheaper.

And I know you've been all over the country, Mr. Mayor -- former mayor, and my buddy -- meeting with mayors and governors, county commissioners, Tribal leaders. And I -- and like I did with the Recovery Act, which was a similar kind of operation. Because we need to stay on top of it.

I know you remember, Marty, as mayor, what it was like and how detail really matters.

And so, the detail matters, execution matters. And I'm looking forward to an update on where we are now and where we're going from here.

So, thank you very much. And I'm going to turn it over to the guy who I asked to --

BOLDUAN: All right, the President very clearly, trying to clear up his remarks from last night that have created reaction here in the United States and around the world over the crisis with Russia and Ukraine.

Let me bring in -- back in CNN's John Harwood, who's live at the White House still for us. He says I've been absolutely clear, but he had a reason clearly, to need to clarify this morning, John.

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, he was not clear the news conference yesterday, and that's what he was trying to fix today. He said that he's been clear to Vladimir Putin. But in terms of what he said to the American public, to the global community, to the Ukrainians in particular, he seemed to suggest yesterday that there was a degradation of a minor incursion or invasion if you want to use that word and a major one. What he just said there was no, any crossing of the border by Russian forces would be an invasion that would be met with the severe consequences that he's talked about.

[11:40:17]

He also said that Russia has a history of using other means cyber, other things that are different from troops rolling across the border. And those would also be met with a response, but it would be a different response. So that's what he meant to say yesterday, did not say, cause confusion, caused consternation in Kyiv. And that's why he was clarifying it just now.

BOLDUAN: It also seems, I don't know if you had a chance to listen to my conversation with the NATO Secretary General at the top of the hour, John, but it seems the Secretary General is in much the same place. He doesn't even seem to be seeking clarification from the Biden administration. He was more saying actions speak louder than words. And that's what he takes in terms of he knows where Biden's position is on this. And he does not see what he said last night is a green light for Russia.

HARWOOD: Well, that's right, Kate. And that's why you and I talked at the top of the hour what Biden said publicly yesterday was what he had said privately. He didn't say it artfully. But privately national security officials and diplomats have been saying there would be a sliding scale of a response.

But the President said it out loud in ways that didn't -- that obscured rather than made clear what he was talking about. Stoltenberg knew what he was talking about. Putin probably knows, knew what he was talking about, but many others did not. And that's why he needed to speak today.

BOLDUAN: Well, very interesting. Let's see what the rest of the day brings, John, great to see you. Thank you so much.

Coming up for us, the World Heart Federation with new guidance on alcohol and how much of an impact it may have on your health. How much is safe to drink. You want to see this ahead.

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[11:46:46]

BOLDUAN: New this morning, there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. That is the stark declaration from the World Heart Federation on just how much alcohol is safe to drink. The policy briefs, this new policy brief states that when it comes to your heart, any amount of alcohol can lead to a loss of healthy life, not just heavy drinking, which is a very different message as you can probably guess than we most often hear, which is moderation is key and even some studies suggesting a glass of red wine a day is beneficial.

A lot of questions on this one. Joining me now is CNN Medical Analyst and Cardiologist Dr. Jonathan Reiner. Thanks for jumping on Dr. Reiner. What do you make of this report from the World Heart Association Federation, Foundation?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, I think most cardiologists have always believed that alcohol is not good for you. In the past, there has been some suggestion that small amounts of alcohol can help to raise the beneficial cholesterol which is the HDL. But the studies that have tried to link moderate alcohol consumption with improved outcomes are all observational, and they're all limited by all kinds of confounding factors.

But what we know for certain is that alcohol is a cardio toxin, it's actually poison to the heart muscle. Large amounts of alcohol can actually cause what we call cardiomyopathy, a weakness of the heart. We know that binge drinking can cause a arrhythmias like atrial fibrillation.

And from just a global health perspective, we know that alcohol causes probably somewhere between two to 3 million cases of cancer in the world every year, things like head and neck cancer, laryngeal cancer, stomach cancer, so there really has never been a "safe dose of alcohol."

And when my patients, you know, asked me about how much they, you know, they should drink. You know, what I remind them is that their peloton by and you know, a glass of wine will both make them feel better. But only one of those is going to make them live longer. And it's not the wine.

BOLDUAN: I was waiting for the punch line on that, and which one was actually going to help me live longer.

REINER: Right.

BOLDUAN: No, I'm just kidding. When I look at the guide itself from the American Heart Association, leading -- heart health group in the United States, the message there is moderation is key, though, is this new guidance in conflict with that?

REINER: You know, it's difficult to tell people not to do something ever. So, when I when I talk to patients about for instance, their diet, I talk about no low-fat heart healthy diet, but I never tell somebody, they can never again have a hamburger. Because it's hard to live like that, you want to change behavior, you want to move behaviors in certain directions, but and for the same reason, if people enjoy a glass of wine, I don't tell them that they can't drink. I tell them that they need to drink in really moderate amounts.

And if somebody has, you know, a couple of glasses of wine per week, it's really hard to detect a deleterious health issue with that. The problem is that a lot of people drink a lot more than that and what -- and most people, you know, underrepresent the actual amount that they drink.

[11:50:09]

But if people are drinking every single day, and they're drinking multiple glasses of wine or other spirits every single day, and people really should take a look at that and understand how much do they really need to do that? And can they modify it? Because there really are no beneficial effects from a physiologic basis for really any amount of alcohol. And the more you drink, the more you increase your risk of heart problems. And as I said, cancers. And these are discussions that people should have with their doctor.

BOLDUAN: I think it's kind of you talk about modifying, I think this is important to modify the way we talk about alcohol consumption and conversations that really shouldn't be happening. It's great to see you Dr. Reiner, thank you.

REINER: All right. Thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: I really appreciate it

Coming up next for us, two arrests in the U.K. as part of the investigation into the Texas synagogue hostage standoff, the very latest on that investigation is next.

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BOLDUAN: New this morning, two men have been arrested now in the U.K. as part of the investigation into the Texas synagogue hostage standoff. The man killed by the FBI after taking four people hostage had arrived from the U.K. just 10 days prior. CNN's Scott McLean joins me now from London with more on this. Scott, what more do you know about these two men now rested?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kate. Still very little at this point, police it seems are releasing very little information. We know that one of the men was picked up in Birmingham, the other one was picked up in Manchester. Of course, this is all related to the synagogue hostage taking.

In that case the hostage takers name was Malik Faisal Akram, a 44- year-old man from Blackburn that's in northern England. And he was actually known to the British security services. They investigated him back in 2020 was relatively brief, though. And once they figured he was no longer a threat, they closed the investigation and moved on.

Clearly there was more to the story back then. It is difficult to know at this point what exactly to make of these arrests. And there's a couple of reasons for that. First, they're not the first arrest made in this case. There were two teams actually arrested in this country in the aftermath of this. They were released though on Tuesday without charges.

You might also remember there was another terror attack, this one in Liverpool when a bomb detonated outside of a hospital by a man wearing a suicide vest in a taxi. In that case, there were three men who were arrested, they were questioned, and one police were satisfied that there -- they weren't involved they were released as well.

So, until we know their relation to the hostage taker, until we know what communications they might have had with them, whether there was in the United States it's really hard to know there's still a lot of detail yet to be filled in here.

Surely, U.S. and U.K. investigators are combing through communications records travel data that type of thing to find out whether or not this was a lone wolf attack or whether there may have been others involved.

[11:55:08]

Of course, his family said that he had mental health issues. He visited a mosque some 10 days before and seem to be acting quite erratically. So, on the surface, this seems like a pretty unsophisticated attack. But again, these arrests, raise questions about whether others were involved. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. So much more to learn as that investigation continues on both sides in the U.K. and the United States right now. It's good to see you Scott, thank you very much for that.

Thank you all so much for joining us AT THIS HOUR. I'm Kate Bolduan. "INSIDE POLITICS" with John King begins after this break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)