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The Lead with Jake Tapper

U.S. And Russia Debate In U.N. Meeting; Ukrainian Authorities Apprehended A Group Planning To Protest In Kyiv; Rep. Sara Jacobs (D- CA) And Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) Interviewed About The Russia- Ukraine Conflict; Trump Promises Pardon To Rioters If Re-elected; Thousands In Ottawa Protest On COVID Restrictions And Mandates; Canadian Truckers Block Border Crossing, Protest COVID Mandates; Unintentional Drug Overdoses Led To 200,000 Years Of Lost Life For Preteens And Teens Between 2014 & 2019; Moderna's COVID Vaccine Receives Full FDA Approval; Grocery Prices Climb Amid Inflation, Supply Chain Concerns; Report: Biden Admin Misled Public On Evacuation Of Afghan Allies; SpaceX Hopes To Launch Tonight After Four Scrubbed Attempts. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired January 31, 2022 - 17:00   ET

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

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA THOMAS GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: You have heard from our Russian colleagues that we're calling for this meeting to make you all feel uncomfortable. Imagine how uncomfortable you would be if you had 100,000 troops sitting on your border in the way that these troops are sitting on the border with Ukraine. This is not about antics. It's not about rhetoric. It's not about U.S. and Russia. What this is about is the peace and security of one of our member states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Now, she also said that the United States has information that Russia intends to increase the number of Russian troops in Belarus to 30,000 by early February. That is in the next few weeks here, indicating that Russia has no plans to de-escalate this situation. Jake?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: All right. Kylie Atwood at the United Nations for us, thank you so much. This just in to CNN. Ukrainian national police have arrested a group of individuals who they accuse of planning a violent protest in Kyiv. Their goal, police say, was to shake up and destabilize Ukraine even further. Let's bring in CNN's Matthew Chance who is reporting live for us from Kyiv, Ukraine. Matthew, what are you learning about this group that Ukrainian police arrested?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. There is a lot of concern in Ukraine at the moment that Russia is really working overtime to sow discord to destabilize the situation here, using subversive methods. And it's something the security forces are on a constantly lookout for. Well, today there have been a series of arrests. Three people taken

into custody. One of them known to have -- planning what was meant to be, according to the security forces here, a very violent set of protests that were expected to take place, planned to take place tomorrow in the country, involving thousands of people outside the presidential palace here in the capital, Kyiv.

There was going to be a whole, according to security forces, there was going to be, you know, a whole load of sort of violent protests. The police were going to be provoked and it was meant to sort of destabilize the political situation in the country as tensions mount, of course, with Russia.

Well, you know, I've spoken to the deputy interior minister of the country this evening and he said that one of the people who organized this planned protest is now known to have strong links with Russian- backed rebels. Of course, the authorities here have been working overtime to try and sort of see who is behind this apparent destabilization effort.

And they're working hard obviously to establish some kind of a Russian connection. But that is hard, they admit to us, saying that, you know, President Putin, I think the interior minister, deputy interior joked (ph) to me, does not leave a business card with these individuals. But the fact that there are these links with a rebel group called the Vostok Battalion is strong evidence.

And, you know, that the authorities say that they're on the constant lookout for these kind of destabilizing, you know, protests in the country. Wasn't just this one. Tomorrow, they say they've broken up. They've also disrupted protest, a similar protest that were planned for around the country as well.

And what the deputy interior minister told me is that, you know, while they're always on guard and are breaking up these kinds of destabilization attempts in the country, this is the most serious attempt they've seen so far to really disrupt the country's political situation, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Matthew Chance in Kyiv, Ukraine. Thank you so much. Joining us live to discuss, Indiana republican Congresswoman Victoria Spartz. She is also the first Ukrainian born member of the U.S. Congress. We also have with us California Democratic Congresswoman Sarah Jacobs. Welcome to both of you congresswomen. You've just returned from a trip to Ukraine as part of a congressional delegation.

Congresswoman Jacobs, let me start with you. The U.S. continues to warn that an attack is imminent. The Kremlin today accused the Biden administration of stoking hysteria. Based on what you saw on the ground, is the U.S. playing this up or do you think an attack is imminent?

REP. SARA JACOBS (D-CA): I think it's very clear that Russia is planning for an invasion, is putting troops on the border, is bringing supplies to the border in such a way that would enable them to do an invasion very quickly, and I think it's important that we and our allies in Europe stand ready to deter that aggression and make sure that Russia understands the cost if they do decide to go ahead with that invasion.

TAPPER: Congresswoman Spartz, you've been quite critical of the Biden administration's posture toward Russia during the standoff. Do you think the threat of sending U.S. troops to the front lines to help defend Ukraine, do you think that should be on the table? Biden has removed it from the table.

REP. VICTORIA SPARTZ (R-IN): Well, I think, you know, to keep stability and peace, you know, we remember the famous phrase of President Reagan, right? You need to have peace through strength. And I think that is very important for us to show that we mean what we say and we'll do it. You know, it's important for us to not just do the talk, to walk the walk, and we have commitment to our NATO allies.

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And I think a lot of them get very nervous with our debacle in Afghanistan and I think it's important to show that we'll stand with our allies and I'm glad that we were able to go and do it on the bipartisan basis. It's important for us to show we are independent -- you know, we always say we are co-equal branch of government and the first among equals to show that the U.S. -- United States Congress will stand with people who fighting for freedoms and with our lives across the ocean.

TAPPER: Congresswoman Jacobs, a rift has emerged as you know, between President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over how imminent a Russian attack is. Biden says it's imminent. Zelensky says no. Do you think this is only about keeping the Ukrainian people calm or is there something else going on?

JACOBS: Listen, I was in meetings with the Ukrainian ministry of defense with President Zelensky. I think our intelligence assessments -- our assessment of the Russian plan and motives is aligned and is the same. Like any Democratic leader, President Zelensky has a responsibility to try and maintain calm.

He's very concerned about what Russia could do even without an invasion in terms of economic cost to the country of Ukraine. But it's clear that if an invasion happens, the Ukrainians will be ready and we're working closely with them to make sure that that's the case.

TAPPER: Congresswoman Spartz, the Biden administration has threatened exacting brutal sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine including on Russian individuals. How concerned are you that there might be fallout from such sanctions on the American economy including but not limited to gas and energy prices?

SPARTZ: Well, I think, you know, if you think about it, you know, we already have our -- where energy policy brought a lot of problems and really national security issues around the world. So I think that is a big, really, you know, problem that we have right now. Our policy, European policy now made, you know, Europe dependent on countries like Russia and it's a big problem to them.

So I think our economy is not as dependent, you know, as some European economies, and they will have to start thinking about it who their friends are and how they're going to mitigate risk and diversify in the long run. But in the short term, I think we are doing what we can to try to help Europe.

But unfortunately, we will not, you know, prepare it and they will not prepare it to address it more effectively, you know. But I think we should have a serious discussion and Russia needs to understand that they're going to pay significant cost if they're going to, you know, expend this aggression. We cannot, you know, repeat what we did in 1938 and I think U.K. understand the situation, too. I'm glad to see that they're exercising some leadership too and I think we can do it too.

TAPPER: Congresswoman Jacobs, do you see any realistic scenario in which Putin backs down?

JACOBS: I do. I think that we and President Biden is working on exactly the right approach to make sure President Putin understands the high cost if he does decide to invade, to work with our partners and allies and NATO and the E.U. and across the world to make sure that those punishments, those sanctions are done in concert in a multi-lateral way while also working to provide a strong diplomatic off-ramp to try and de-escalate the situation, to try and work with Russia to find a non-violent way to address this conflict and to get to a resolution.

TAPPER: Congresswoman Spartz, you must have heard some of the voices in your party that are asking why the United States is siding with Ukraine instead of siding with Russia. We hear it on Fox. We hear some individuals in the Freedom Caucus, in the House GOP saying this. What's your answer to them as to why it's important in your view for the U.S. to stand with Ukraine?

SPARTZ: Well, I think, you know, there is a legitimate frustration of our base with how a lot of international organization been behaving and some of our allies. And I think they put themselves in a tough situation and so it's a legitimate concern for us. But I think in the short term, this situation can escalate significantly.

It's a serious issue and we have to deal with that, you know, more effectively and we have to be able to, you know, to support countries across an ocean because we can say that it is not our problem until it becomes our problem. And United States of America and strength of our country is the stability for the whole world and we need to be there if we want to have peace and prosperity around the world.

TAPPER: Congresswoman Jacobs and Spartz, thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it. And we don't do a lot of bipartisan interviews these days. It's nice to have one so thank you so much.

SPARTZ: Thank you.

JACOBS: Thank you. TAPPER: Coming up, he said what? Why Donald Trump's latest tirade might even cross the line for some Republican diehards.

Plus, the new report out today exposing a health tragedy in the U.S. happening in the shadows of the COVID pandemic. Stay with us.

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TAPPER: In our "Politics Lead," I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise that the former president who according to aides sat in the White House dining room and gleefully watched his supporters violently storm the capitol, now say that he might pardon those criminals if he's re-elected. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6th fairly. We will treat them fairly. And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:14:59]

TAPPER: We should note, prosecutors have already brought cases against more than 700 of the January 6th rioters and more than 50 have been sentenced for their role in the attacks. CNN's Ryan Nobles is live for us on Capitol Hill. Ryan, what is the reaction to the president, the former president's pledge of possible pardons from members of the House Select Committee that are investigating January 6th?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, the House Select Committee members seem to be concerned with a number of things that the former president said over the weekend and in statements that he made as well. This idea of pardoning these individuals who have been accused of storming the capitol is just part of it.

The former president also said in that speech that his supporters should go and protest outside of buildings where prosecutors and individuals have been investigating him and his allies as it relates to possible crimes that have to do with attempting to overturn the election, and as it relates to the January 6th investigation.

And Zoe Lofgren, a member of the January 6th Select Committee said on CNN this weekend that she's very concerned about this rhetoric. That it could impact witnesses that are expecting to come forward and not only talk to prosecutors but also talk to members of the January 6th Select Committee.

And then of course, Jake, there's this statement that the president made where he suggested that Vice President Mike Pence had the ability to overturn the election and that he essentially wanted him to overturn the election. Both Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, Republican members of the House Select Committee investigating January 6th essentially said this is the president saying the quiet part out loud.

This is case that they've been building. That everything that happened leading up to January 6th was an attempt to actually, you know, subvert the will of the American people on January 6th. It's all part of their investigation as they try and come to some sort of conclusion as to who is responsible for what happened here on January 6th. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Ryan Nobles on Capitol Hill, thank so much. Here to discuss, CNN political commentators Dave Urban and Alyssa Farah Griffin. David is a former Trump campaign senior adviser. Alyssa is a former communications director for the Trump White House. We should note, both of you have long acknowledged that President Biden won the election fair and square.

Alyssa, let start with this breaking news. Former Vice President Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, testifying before the January 6th committee at length. You worked with Marc Short. You remain friends. What should we take from this news do you think?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Marc Short did go in under subpoena but I was not surprised by it. This is a man who believes in the constitution. He believes in the congressional role and oversight. And you'll recall before he was Pence's chief of staff, he was Donald Trump's White House liaison to Capitol Hill. So, longstanding relationships on Capitol Hill.

What he's going to be able to shed light on is what unfolded that day, the imminent danger that Vice President Pence was in. But he's also going to be able to talk about the pressure campaign prior by President Trump and some advisers around him to try to get the vice president to take on this extra constitutional role and throughout the electors. So, I think it's very interesting testimony and we're going to know a lot from Marc Short had to say.

TAPPER: And David, it's pretty clear Marc Short would not have cooperated with at least some sort of sign-off from Former Vice President Pence. I mean, he's a very loyal man to Mike Pence. Do you think Pence himself will testify if the committee asked or even issues a subpoena?

DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, you know, Jake, it's hard to say obviously, right? There's a fine line between the chief of staff going up and the vice president himself going. There is, you know, it's going to be a big let's wait and see. I would not expect to see the vice president. Marc was there. I know I've spoken with Marc after at about the -- about the events of that day. He's a patriot, good man. And, you know, I think he has probably a lot to share with the committee, but I would not expect to see the vice president himself testify.

TAPPER: Let's turn to what we just heard from Ryan Nobles. Former President Trump now saying that he might pardon some of the people who were charged for attacking the capitol on January 6th. If Donald Trump is re-elected, do you think he is serious about that or do you think he's just riling up his base as he contemplates another White House run?

GRIFFIN: No, he's absolutely serious and this is the mistake that so many lawmakers, those of us in the media have made for quite some time, is just we don't take him seriously or literally when he says these outrageous things. But take Donald Trump literally. Absolutely will he par -- he will consider pardoning people. And let's remember what some of these charges are. Some are conspiracy, sedition, assaulting police officers, and of course, destruction of federal property.

These are not small charges against many of these January 6th individuals. But what I actually think is more notable from that rally this weekend is him saying, you know, if the courts in New York end up charging me, I want to see protests in the streets. He's already talking about the next call to action like the insurrection of January 6th. We should take that seriously.

TAPPER: And David, Republican senators -- go ahead, David.

URBAN: No, I was going on say, Jake, you know, I've been on the show for several years saying, you know, I prefer the president talk about his accomplishments, right?

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The president has a longest accomplish -- right now, you know, this past week there was a Pew poll out that had the Biden administration absolutely tanking in every measurable factor.

So at the rally, why don't we look forward, why don't we talk about the things that Trump accomplished? Why don't we talk about the suspension of Keystone XL Pipeline, the gas prices, inflation, the imminent, you know, invasion of Ukraine by Russia. All the things that the Biden administration has failed on.

Instead, the president continues to fight, you know, battles in the past instead of looking forward and talking about all his accomplishments and things that he can do again if he were to be elected again. And so, I don't understand the strategy by going to the rally and talking about, you know, the past. You know, elections are forward looking and if he wants to run in '24, I think he should look forward not backwards.

TAPPER: Alyssa, Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina were quick to disagree with this pledge of pardons for January 6th criminals. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I do not think the president should have made -- that President Trump should have made that pledge to do pardons. We should let the judicial process proceed.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I think it's inappropriate. I don't want to reinforce that defiling the capitol was okay. I don't want to do anything that would make this more likely in the future. I want to deter people who did what on January 6th. And those who did it, I hope they go to jail and get the book thrown at them because they deserve it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: But Alyssa, we should point out that neither Senator Collins nor Senator Graham have said that they will not support Trump if he turns out winning the Republican nomination in 2024.

GRIFFIN: Well, right. And I would say, you know, from Lindsey Graham's lips and David Urban's to Trump's ears, they're absolutely right. What those senators are saying, what David said, is what Trump should be doing. He should be disavowing and walking away from January 6th. But we've seen this for the last five years. He's going to do what he wants to do if he feels like he's cornered. If he feels like he's being pursued in a way that's wrongful. He will do anything including defy the constitution and try to disenfranchise 80 million voters to try to hold on to power. And we can't -- we can't dismiss that. We have to take that very seriously.

TAPPER: Ad David, let me bring up something Alyssa brought up a few minutes ago. At that rally, Donald Trump called for protests if he's not happy with the outcome of the multiple investigations into him and his business in Atlanta and New York and elsewhere. Let's play exactly what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had in Washington, D.C., in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere because our country and our elections are corrupt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I mean, David, we don't have to imagine that this could turn violent. January 6th is an example of that. Does he not have anyone around him saying stop?

URBAN: Well, yes. Yes, Jake, you know, listen. There is -- obviously people are free to, you know, show up and express their opinions, right? It's guaranteed in the first amendment.

TAPPER: Sure.

URABN: You can show up and petition the government for redressing grievances. It's in the first amendment, super important, right? So people are allowed to do, you know, exactly that. Obviously, crossing over into violence is never acceptable and should be condemned strongly. You know, if people want to show up and voice their outrage for how Donald Trump is being treated, they're free to protest outside the capitol. Get, you know, a permit for the park service and do exactly that. Crossing the threshold into violence is never acceptable and should be denounced.

TAPPER: Alyssa, go ahead.

GRIFFIN: Well, and David, to your earlier point, why is the former president talking about his grievance when's tens of millions of Americans are feeling, you know, higher prices at the fuel tank, grocery prices are up, inflation is hurting them, their kids aren't in the classroom. Why can't he channel that to helping the American people? I mean, there's just something so bizarre about this extraordinary wealthy and successful man making it all about him and his grievances.

URBAN: Well, again, you know, to my point, Jake, earlier, you know, I've always encouraged the president to talk about his successful record on many, many fronts. I think right now you could do incredible compare and contrast, the Trump administration versus the Biden administration and the former president is really missing out on a great opportunity to do exactly that.

TAPPER: Thanks to both of you for being here. Really appreciate it.

Trump also had something to say about this protest across the border over COVID vaccine rules in Canada. Coming up next, the demonstrations that have snow balled and practically shut down a city. Stay with us.

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[17:25:00]

TAPPER: In our "Health Lead," Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that he tested positive for COVID today just as a convoy of truckers descended on that country's capital protesting mask mandates and masks and lockdowns. CNN's Paula Newtown reports for us. At least one border crossing between the U.S. and Canada has been blocked by these truckers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Protesters from Canada's so-called freedom convoy are imposing a lockdown of their own. Ottawa, the country's capital, grid locked. For days now, hundreds of rigs and cars lining city streets with protesters camped out in front of parliament and beyond.

With passion and anger, they are demanding vaccine and mask mandates be dropped and life return to pre-pandemic normal. They say they're not budging until that happens.

UNKNOWN: I'm staying. I'm not leaving until the mandates are gone.

UNKNOWN: This convoy is all about freedom. It's not only with the truck drivers. It's actually for every single person. You, me, buddy down the road. It doesn't matter. It's all about your free choice.

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NEWTON (voice-over): This started as a cross country trucker's protest by those against vaccine mandates imposed in January in both Canada and by the Biden administration, but it gained a following from a vocal minority of Canadians fed up with COVID restrictions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We should not be mandated to take vaccines. Any medical vaccine, whatever, should be a personal choice.

NEWTON (voice-over): That kind of sentiment gave way to this standoff now in Ottawa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a small minority that feel that they can, you know, shut down the city or try to take over a government. It's just a bit bizarre to put it mildly.

NEWTON (voice-over): While police said protests have been largely peaceful, there have been a handful of disturbing displays of hate symbols, incidents of vandalism and harassment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get out of here. We don't want you here.

NEWTON (voice-over): People stomping on the nation's war memorial reports of retail workers and residents being harassed even at a soup kitchen. Ottawa police say they are investigating the incidents. But Mr. Justin Trudeau says he's shocked and disgusted.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: I want to be very clear. We are not intimidated by those who hurl insults and abuse at small business workers and steal food from the homeless. We won't give in to those who fly racist flags. We won't cave to those who engage in vandalism or dishonor the memory of our veterans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Jake, this is not the only truck in, sit-in convoy going on between the U.S. and Canada border, the province of Alberta and the state of Montana. Right now that border crossing completely blocked along the I-15 corridor and it's important supply chain route. And truckers say they could have more of this to come.

I want to point out the Canadian Trucking Alliance says they do not support this. And likely the vast majority, they say, of their truckers are fully vaccinated. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Paula Newton in Canada for us, thank you so much.

As COVID continues to rankle most parts of the world, there remains another public health crisis that existed long before the pandemic here in the United States. A brand new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association today highlights all the years of life gone, because so many young Americans have been lost due to accidental drug overdoses. 3,296 young people lost between 2015 and 2019. That is roughly 200,000 years of life gone because of drug overdoses.

Let's discuss with CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Elizabeth, what else can you tell us about the study?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, this study, Jake, it is so disturbing. As you mentioned, it looks at people ages 10 through 19 and it looks at how many of those people died, how many of those young people died because of drug overdoses. And how many lives lost is that. In other words, if you expected them to live to, you know, sort of the average age, how many years of life have been lost? Because again, this isn't like a 70-year-old or an 80-year-old or a nine-year-old dying. These are such young people.

So let's again take a look at these results. So the researchers looked at overdose deaths among teens and preteens ages 10 to 19. The years 2015 through 2019. The average age of death was 15. 3,296 deaths during that time, so more than 3000 lives lost during those years. And if you add it up, that's 187,000 years of lives lost because of drugs. Again, people's ages just 10 to 19. Jake?

TAPPER: And right now in the United States, there's this huge issue with fentanyl. Kids don't even know that it might be -- they're given an herbal supplement. They think it's fine, it's innocent, it's legal, and then they might not even know it's laced with fentanyl. Police in Connecticut just recovered about 100 bags of fentanyl from the bedroom of a 13-year-old who died after a presumed fentanyl exposure at a school where they found 40 additional bags.

Explain to the audience -- and please audience listen and tell your young people what this is. Elizabeth, explain what fentanyl is and why it's so dangerous.

E. COHEN: Right, Jake. So fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, it's made in a lab. It's very cheap, and it's very deadly. You only need a tiny, tiny amount to kill you. And so you can buy just straight up fentanyl but that's not really how people are dying. The bulk of the deaths are because someone buys what they think is a Percocet. Someone buys what they think is meth. Someone buys what they think is cocaine and it's laced with fentanyl.

They have no idea that they're taking fentanyl and they die because of the fentanyl that is in those drugs. It is a cheap and easy way for drug manufacturers to make more powerful, you know, drugs. And so people die from them and they don't even realize that they've taken fentanyl.

[17:35:07]

TAPPER: They might even be thinking that they're taking some sort of legal herbal supplement. That's what happened to the nephew of Congressman Ted Deutch. He was on the show talking about this a few weeks ago. Well, Elizabeth, what are some of the other leading factors for so many drug overdoses among young people?

E. COHEN: Right. So one of the factors is social media. So drug dealers have learned that Snapchat and Instagram are great places to be pushing drugs on young people. CNN spoke with a woman who's in Arizona, whose 13-year-old son died because he overdosed on fentanyl. He took what he thought was a pain pill that he bought on social media and he died because it was laced with fentanyl. So social media is playing a huge role here.

Again, these kids don't realize what they're taking. Like you said, it could be an herbal supplement, it could be anything. But once it's laced with this drug, they have a very -- it's so dangerous. Just a tiny amount.

TAPPER: Parents and people listening, please share this information with your loved ones, with the young people in your lives. Finally, Elizabeth on the COVID pandemic, today we learned that Moderna has received full FDA approval for its vaccine. Some experts believe this might help some hesitant unvaccinated folks finally get the shot. How much impact do you expect it to have?

E. COHEN: You know, it might have a small impact. Certainly when Pfizer got their full approval last year, you saw a little bit of a bump in vaccinations because some people trusted more. Some vaccine hesitant people trusted more when it has full approval. So let's look at all the ways that it might be able to help.

So, again, it could encourage people who are unvaccinated to get a shot because it's not just Emergency Use Authorization. It's full approval. It also allows Moderna to advertise and that could be important. If Moderna took the -- takes the opportunity to advertise, that could possibly help change people's mind. Also, having full approval encourages businesses and schools, et cetera to require the vaccine, whereas, they might have felt hesitant with just Emergency Use Authorization.

Now, this is all important because 20 percent of eligible Americans, Jake, still have yet to get a single COVID-19 shot, that's more than 80 million unvaccinated Americans who could be vaccinated. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

You know that checkout sticker shock everything from milk to mac and cheese is now more expensive. And now big name brands are also raising prices. CNN is digging into why, that's next.

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[17:41:40]

TAPPER: In our money lead today, if you are hungry for a deal at the grocery store, you are likely out of luck. Prices are surging and Americans are feeling it in their wallets, meat, seafood, produce, cereal, other kitchen staples all shut up 9 percent in 2021. That's a trend continuing this year with no end in sight. CNN's Gabe Cohen joins us live with more. And Gabe, big name, food brands are announcing price hikes on many essential items. Why? What's going on?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, as you mentioned before, if it feels like you're paying more money at the market, it's because you are. Grocery costs, as you said, they're up 9 percent in just the past year. And experts think, unfortunately, this is going to continue in the weeks and months ahead.

And now as you mentioned, big name brands are hiking prices on a really large range of products. Kraft Heinz is one of the latest, they announced. A 30 percent increase on Oscar Mayer Turkey Bacon, 20 percent on Kool-Aid, 10 percent on cold cuts and hotdogs. Nearly 7 percent on Velveeta cheese and 5 percent on coffee. Procter & Gamble, they're raising the price of Tide and Gain Laundry products. That's roughly 8 percent. And General Mills, Campbell's soup and Coca-Cola, all of them, Jake, also hiking those prices.

TAPPER: What does the industry have to say about why this is happening?

G. COHEN: So really the entire food supply chain is dealing with this perfect storm. It's dealing with congestion, surging costs, and of course, this labor shortage which has only gotten worse during the Omicron surge. Without enough workers, some processors and distributors are cutting their deliveries to grocery stores by 20 percent to 40 percent. That's leading to shortages of things like soda, cream cheese, paper goods, and pet food.

The cost of ingredients, packaging and transportation, those also keep skyrocketing, and that's making it tougher and more expensive to get food through the supply chain. And while this has been happening for weeks, really the cost is just finally trickling down to customers. And that's what you're seeing on store shelves. And those customers, frankly, they need this food now as much as ever. Demand for groceries is still spiking with people stuck at home because of Omicron and then, of course, inflation at a 39-year high.

So what can families do to save some money at the store? Well, experts recommend you look for sales flyers before you shop. You joined loyalty programs at the store and then try to plan some meals around cheap filling items like rice and beans as well as shelf stable ingredients like frozen vegetables. Jake, that'll help you avoid any waste which, of course, is quite literally just throwing money in the garbage.

TAPPER: All right, Gabe Cohen, thanks so much. Good tips. Good news you can use.

Coming up next, the new investigations that reveal the U.S. exit from Afghanistan was even messier than what we all saw unfold on television. Stay with us.

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[17:48:51]

TAPPER: In our world lead now, more than five months after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, we're getting a clearer picture of what went wrong. This comes as the United Nations continues to get credible reports of murders and disappearances and detentions of Afghan officials and community leaders and a terrifying glimpse into life under Taliban control.

Joining us now Atlantic magazine staff writer George Packer. He just published a piece called, "The Betrayal," which dissects the end of the 20-year war. George, thanks for joining us. You write extensively about what could have been done differently. You write "The evacuation came down to 10 days in one runway. The end was always going to be messy. But through its failures, the Biden administration dramatically compress the evacuation in both time and space. It created a panic to squeeze perishable human beings through the dangerous openings of a fortress before they closed forever."

So, you clearly do not by the Biden administration argument that this was always going to be this messy.

GEORGE PACKER, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: No, no. I mean, messy, of course, the end of a 20-year war by definition. But beginning with the President's announcement that he was going to withdraw all troops by September 11th and later August 31st, there were many things the administration could have done and was urged to do again and again, publicly and privately by advocates for Afghans that it simply refused to do until it was too late.

[17:50:17]

There was a mad scramble in late July and early August to begin doing some of these things. But by then, Kabul was on the verge of falling and all the time had been lost. So, no, there was no need for children to be trampled to death outside the gates of the airport. There was no need for U.S. Marines to be blown up by a suicide bomber as they tried to pull people out of sewage canals. All of that was a result of the failure to plan and to carry out evacuations when there was time.

TAPPER: So special immigrant visa applicants, SIV applicants, Afghan allies who applied to be evacuated, who served the U.S. in some capacity over the previous 20 years, they were a central portion of your report. You found two areas where the Biden administration misled the public. First, an official insisted that a vast majority of those SIV applicants were in and around Kabul and therefore, could be evacuated. Second, Biden claimed that fewer than half of SIV holders chose to leave. Take us through the process of debunking those two claims.

PACKER: Well, this is either wishful thinking or deliberate deception. President Biden said more than one, several times in his aides began to repeat it that more than half the, as you said, Jake, the SIVs chose not to leave when they could have. When, in fact, what the experts, the lawyers, the advocates working with those SIVs told me was, no, they couldn't leave because either their families did not have complete sets of passports yet and they were waiting for them, and they were very hard to get, or they were waiting for the U.N. flights which are the flights that are supposed to take them out of Afghanistan and to the United States.

In other words, it was bureaucratic obstacles. These people were desperate to get out. They've been waiting for years. One man I wrote about extensively, Najib Montuori (ph), had been waiting for 10 years for his visa after serving for four years with the Green Berets, much of it in combat. So these are people whom we owed the highest debt to and whom we failed. And the failure goes up to the highest level because there simply wasn't, I think, enough concern that this could all go bad very quickly, and we needed to take action sooner rather than later.

TAPPER: Do you think the Afghanistan exit has irreparably damaged the reputation of the U.S. on the world stage? PACKER: I think it's hurt badly. Some experts on Russia and Ukraine have said that part of Putin's decision to begin massing forces on the Ukraine border came after he saw the American debacle at the end of the Afghan war and decided we had been weakened on the world stage. And this was the moment to try to -- to try our hand in Eastern Europe.

So I think it -- what it does is it makes us look unreliable, and incompetent. Bad partners, bad friends, friends who can't be counted on, and then a great power that can't do the basic thing of bringing out its own allies, its own friends who risked their lives on behalf of a project that we brought to their country when they were at great risk of being killed. And now, as you said earlier, many of them are being killed or at least hunted down.

TAPPER: And you followed several Afghans closely throughout the peace. One man named Khan (ph) worked as a contractor for the U.S. military. He faced a harrowing journey. Even after his SIV application had been accepted, he, his toddler, his pregnant wife, thankfully, eventually, made it to the U.S. Do you have an estimate of any kind of how many people like Khan (ph) were left behind were not able to get out?

PACKER: I do. The organization Veterans for American Ideals estimates that 90 percent of SIV applicants, that is to say those who worked for Americans during the war, did not get out, are still there. And right now the numbers are terrible, Jake, because of the evacuation since August 31st have ground to a near halt. I mean, there are tens of thousands of Afghans who have applied for either refugee status or what's called humanitarian parole, which is to be brought into the United States on a temporary basis, are waiting for applications to be reviewed, and very few are making it through in the single digit percentages.

And the same is true of the SIVs but those who have visas, those who pass through the most of the stages of the application or those who have just started. We have pretty much dropped the ball and stopped the work of bringing them in. There was that two-week period in August --

TAPPER: Yes.

PACKER: -- when we frantically did what we could. But since then, it's ground to a halt and it's a tragedy for the Afghans and really for the United States.

[17:55:07]

TAPPER: An incredibly important piece. George Packer, thank you so much. I'll tweet the piece out so you can all read it if you don't know the link.

We're minutes away from a rescheduled Space launch. How tourists interrupted the original liftoff, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) TAPPER: We are back with our out of this world lead. In just minutes, SpaceX is hoping fifth time's the charm. The company's launch of an Italian satellite system is already been delayed four times. Three of them because of bad weather and then last night's attempt was scrub after a cruise ship ventured into the no-go zone near Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Coast Guard was not able to move the cruise liner out in time.

Our coverage continues now with one Mr. Wolf Blitzer right next door in "THE SITUATION ROOM." I'll see you tomorrow.