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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Putin: U.S. Trying To "Draw U.S. Into Armed Conflict" In Ukraine; Sen. Todd Young, (R-IN), Is Interviewed About Russia, Ukraine; Germany, China; Chinese Govt. Wants To Hide Ugly Truths During Olympics; Pfizer Asks FDA To Authorize Vaccine For Children Under 5; Denmark Lifts All COVID Restrictions Despite Omicron Surge; Biden Hosts Key Senators To Discuss Supreme Court Vacancy; Sen. Chris Coons, (D-DE), Is Interviewed About Supreme Court Nominee; Cruz: Biden's Pledge To Nominate A Black Woman Is "Offensive"; GOP's Wicker: Black Woman Supreme Court Pick Would Be A "Beneficiary" Of Affirmative Action; Rise In Anti-Semitic Incidents Harshly Condemned; Senators Moving "Aggressively" On Electoral Count Act Reform; Record Number Of Americans Quit Their Jobs In 2021. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired February 01, 2022 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the U.S. would wait for a formal written response from Russia instead of reading into what Putin said today.
NED PRICE, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We heard from President Putin a variety of things, I will leave it to the Kremlinologists out there budding, professional, amateur otherwise, to read the tea leaves and try to interpret the significance of those remarks.
ATWOOD (voice-over): Putin's remarks come after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave no indication that Moscow would deescalate its true presence along Ukraine's borders during a phone call with Secretary of State Tony Blinken. That's according to a senior State Department official.
The United States and its allies continue to press for a diplomatic solution and for Russia to pull back its massive troop buildup along Ukraine's borders, or else they steep consequences.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I hope very much that President Putin steps back from the path of conflict.
PRICE: Even as we far prefer the course of diplomacy and dialogue, we are continuing to pair -- prepare down the course of defense and deterrence.
ATWOOD (voice-over): The United States is hoping that yesterday's sharp standoff at the United Nations intimidated Russia.
LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMB. TO THE U.N.: I think what was important is that the Russians heard almost every member of the Security Council tell them that they agree with us that the path of diplomacy is better than the path of war.
ATWOOD (voice-over): Today, the U.S. and Russian ambassadors saw one another in normal diplomatic meetings, a diplomat told CNN. But the United States is waiting for substantive diplomacy to resume and there's no timeline for when the Kremlin will respond to the proposal that the United States gave them last week.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ATWOOD: Now, President Putin also said today that he hopes that there is a solution. He said that that won't be easy, and he's not ready to talk about what that solution would look like. Now, he is keeping open lines of diplomacy. He is expected to speak later this week with the U.K. Prime Minister, Boris Johnson and President Macron of France could visit Moscow sometime soon. Jake.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: All right. Kylie Atwood at the State Department for us, thank you so much.
Let's bring in CNN's Matthew Chance is Reporting live in Kiev, Ukraine for us.
Matthew, we heard from President Putin today for the first time in more than a month. Tell us about why you think his comments were so significant.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they were significant, Jake, because as you say, this is the first time in several weeks that we've heard President Putin speak about this crisis. And use this opportunity of a news conference with the Hungarian Prime Minister in Moscow earlier today really to lash out against the United States, accusing it of ignoring Russia's security concerns when it comes to the Western military alliance, when it comes to the NATO. And he accused Washington not caring about Ukrainian security, but instead of using Ukraine as a tool to constrain and provoke Russia. They were harsh words, take a listen to them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): Their main task is to contain the development of Russia. Ukraine is simply a tool to achieve this goal. They could draw us into some kind of armed conflict and forced their allies in Europe to impose the very tough sanctions that are being talked about in the United States today. Or they could draw Ukraine into NATO, set up strike weapons systems there and encourage some people to resolve the issue of Donbass or Crimea by force, and still draw us into an armed conflict.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: All right. Well, Russia, of course, denies it has any plans to invade Ukraine again. Remember, it did that in 2014.
But you know, the fact that President Putin has made these comments tonight, suggesting it could be -- Russia could be drawn in to a conflict over Ukraine, coupled with the fact, remember, that it has over 127,000 troops mass near the border of Ukraine. You know, it's not doing much to ease concerns in the Ukrainian capital about Russia's intentions, Jake.
TAPPER: And Matthew, tell us about why these visits are so important, the Ukrainian president hosting the Polish and the British prime ministers today in Kiev?
CHANCE: Yes, they are important. I mean, they're symbolically important because it shows Russia, that even though Ukraine is not part of the NATO military alliance, even though it's not part of the European Union, there are countries, you know, in the west that do diplomatically and materially support this country. I mean, Boris Johnson, the British prime minister came here offered millions of dollars in financial aid, promised there would be stinging sanctions against Russia if it makes any moves towards Ukraine. Again, the Polish Minister prime minister also said there'll be military and diplomatic support for the country as well.
So, yes, very symbolic messages of some ports from the outside world for Ukraine. It's not clear, though, whether those supportive, you know, words and actions are going to do anything to change the calculus in the Kremlin.
[17:05:09]
TAPPER: All right, Matthew Chance in Kiev, Ukraine for us. Thanks so much.
Let's discuss this with Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana. He was once a Marine, and now he's a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Senator, thanks for joining us. I want to get your interpretation of what President Putin said today accusing the U.S. in the west of trying to draw Russia into an armed conflict. How did you interpret those remarks?
SEN. TODD YOUNG (R-IN), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: You know, it's a typical gas lighting from Vladimir Putin. This is something the old KGB agent is used to engaging in.
NATO is a defensive alliance. And we've moved eastward at the invitation of the former Soviet Bloc countries. And what Vladimir Putin would like to do is either to gain control of some of these former Warsaw Pact countries governments or see a friendly government supported from within. So, he's trying to reconstitute in a piecemeal fashion, the former Warsaw Pact, as a security buffer for his own country. These boundaries, however, were settled after the Cold War.
So, it's important that we stand by Ukraine, we continue to provide lethal aid. We support our NATO troops on the eastern flank of Europe so that those countries received the sort of support they need. And we impose the most severe sanctions that we have ever imposed, certainly, in my lifetime. And we're preparing for that right now. I wish we had been able to move more quickly and with some of our major allies. But make no mistake, Jake, what is at stake here is not just in Ukraine, there are other malign leaders around the world, including Xi Jinping in China, who are watching what we do here, and they will be calculating their future actions.
TAPPER: Right.
YOUNG: And their fine efforts based on our response or lack of response in this case.
TAPPER: A few weeks ago, you voted for legislation that would sanction the controversial pipeline, Nord Stream 2, which would ferry natural gas from Russia to Germany. Today, the Polish Prime Minister called that pipeline a loaded gun that Putin is using to blackmail Europe. It certainly got Germany to push back on the U.S. imposing those sanctions against the pipeline. What's your message to Germany and any other European allies who want that pipeline to move forward?
YOUNG: Well, listen, at some point Germany is going to have to choose. They're going to have to choose the extent to which they're dependent on Russia, which is a kleptocratic, oppressive regime, or if instead, they're going to turn increasingly towards the west and rely on the west for many of their petroleum supplies. I know this administration is working hard in the near term to try and fill some of the gaps in supplies that would be interrupted if that Nord Stream 2 pipeline were not made operational.
But in the longer term, I think Germany and some other countries are going to have to rethink their energy mix.
TAPPER: Yes.
YOUNG: Vladimir Putin has done a very clever job of dividing Germany and other European countries against the rest of, you know, the Western world. And he's done it by building that pipeline. And he aims to do it further by splitting NATO all together in this crisis.
We have to stand together. We have to show strength and resolve at this moment of trial. And we still have an opportunity to prevent this invasion.
TAPPER: I want to turn to another major geopolitical threat of keen interest to you. You've been hosting a campaign online called Beijing Behaving Badly to highlight the Chinese government censorship problems, human rights abuses, cybersecurity concerns. We here at The Lead launched our own series called Behind China's Wall to bring attention to so many ugly truths China's trying to hide behind the fanfare of the Olympics. What do you tell your constituents about how they can balance cheering for team USA in the Olympic Games with awareness of the atrocities going on in China right now because of the Chinese government?
YOUNG: Well, Jake, this is something I'm emphasizing. It's fine to cheer for our athletes. In fact, we should be cheering on our athletes. But at the same time, we need to provide context for these games. The Chinese Communist Party and Xi Jinping are very much focused on using these games to elevate their own regime and to normalize the fact that this regime, which has engaged in gross human rights violations is hosting the games.
[17:10:03]
This is not a normal thing to have this country, which is shipping slave labor made garments into the Olympic Village. It's not normal to have a country like that hosting the Olympics. It's not normal to open up your internet in a host country and find that any unflattering references to the regime had been removed from the so called open internet. It's not normal to go into a country where the sports journalists aren't able to ask probing questions about a prominent tennis player who recently has, you know, some very suspicious things have happened, Peng Shuai.
So, there are all sorts of normal -- abnormal things that are happening in this country that need to be brought to life. And we cannot allow these wonderful games, otherwise wonderful games to be obscured -- to obscure those horrible facts that the Chinese Communist Party is trying to obscure.
TAPPER: Republican Senator Todd Young, thank you so much, sir. Good to see you again.
Coming up. No mask mandates, no rules on social distancing, the country where a leader has just put freedom over safety and lifted all COVID restrictions. Might other places follow their lead? Should other places follow their lead?
Plus, the possible political calculus by some Republican lawmakers to criticize President Biden's plans to nominate a black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court for the first time ever? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:15:52]
TAPPER: In our health lead today, imagine a country where there are no indoor masks mandates anywhere. No legal obligation to quarantine if you've been exposed, no restaurant or concert venue asks to see your proof of vaccination. I'm talking about Denmark, which is the first country in the European Union to lift all COVID restrictions throughout the entire nation.
Now as CNN's Scott McLean reports other European countries are watching to consider whether or not they should follow suit.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Loud music, stiff drinks and close talking, in Denmark, they're partying like it's 2019. After two years of on again off again restrictions, mask mandates and lockdowns, Denmark has officially kissed COVID restrictions goodbye.
ALEN MEHIC, BARTENDER, NEVER MIND BAR: I am over it, like I think everybody is.
MARCEL OSTERGREEN, DJ NEVER MIND BAR: I'm excited. You know, we've been waiting for this moment for so long.
MCLEAN (voice-over): In reality, the pandemic hasn't gone away. In fact, new average daily infections in Denmark are more than 12 times higher than the country's previous peak and rising.
(on camera): Is now really the best time to do away with the rules?
SOREN BROSTROM, DIRECTOR GENERAL, DANISH HEALTH AUTHORITY: Sure. And of course, everybody's asking us that question. But when we're looking at our hospital admission reach day by day and we see fewer and fewer cases and we see very few cases in the elderly that are vaccinated actually admitted to hospital or even dying.
MCLEAN (on camera): And that's just because of vaccination?
BROSTROM: I have no other good explanation why Denmark is in such a unique place.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Denmark has one of the highest vaccination rates on Earth. Late last year, they lifted most restrictions only to once again batten down the hatches in December, closing schools, mandating masks indoors, and putting curfews on bars and restaurants. Now, virtually, all of those restrictions are gone.
(on camera): Is it really the end this time?
MAGNUS HEUNICKE, DANISH HEALTH MINISTER: Well, we hope so. But we promised the citizens of Denmark that we will only have restrictions if they are truly necessary, and we'll lift them as soon as we can.
MCLEAN (voice-over): It's not just Denmark. Last week, England lifted nearly all of its domestic restrictions as lawmakers set out a novel new strategy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We must learn to live with COVID in the same way that we've learned to live with flu.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Before the vaccine, COVID was a lot more deadly than the flu. But as immunity rose and a less severe variant emerged, deaths directly caused by influenza or pneumonia are now not far off of COVID. And lately, they're contributing factors far more often.
(on camera): Is it reasonable to treat COVID like we treat the flu?
LIAM SMEETH, DIRECTOR, LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND TROPICAL MEDICINE: I think it's not a bad model, unless of course the virus (INAUDIBLE) comes up with a nasty, highly infectious variant.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Back in Denmark, people are free to circulate, so was the virus. But two years, three vaccine doses and a lot of sacrifice later, COVID doesn't seem so scary anymore.
(END VIDEO TAPE) MCLEAN: Now, for countries looking to replicate Denmark's vaccination success, officials here say that mandates are not the answer. Denmark's top doctor told me that if you push people too far, they will push back. So the Danish approach has been to be honest about both the pros and the cons of vaccinations. They say that even Denmark's decision to stop using the AstraZeneca vaccine last year over concerns of extremely rare blood clots, that didn't hurt vaccine. Confidence, Jake, they say it actually helped.
TAPPER: All right. Scott McLean in Copenhagen, Denmark, thanks so much.
Just in, Pfizer has formally asked the FDA to authorize its two dose COVID vaccine for kids aged six months to five years. Here to discuss, public health physician Dr. Chris Pernell.
Dr. Pernell, how much of an impact do you think this is going to have assuming that the FDA and CDC approve this vaccine?
DR. CHRIS PERNELL, FELLOW, AMERICAN COLLEGE OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE: Hi, Jake.
I think it would have a significant impact. And let me explain that further. As long as we have any proportion or portion of our population that is not vaccinated, those persons become susceptible to spreading COVID, those persons become susceptible to getting infected and developing COVID. We're seeing our pediatric cases still spiking and rising. We've had over 3 million in the month of January.
[17:20:11]
If you look across the span of the pandemic, there have been close to 11.5 million pediatric cases and responsible by a little bit less than a quarter of all infections. So this is good in welcome news. The question will be, will parents in this age group be eager to get their children vaccinated?
TAPPER: That is the question because kids five to 12, it's only a minority have been vaccinated in the United States. A new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds it only about three in 10 parents say they will get their child under the age of five vaccinated. Are you worried about this trend for kids 12 and under parents -- their parents not getting them vaccinated is going to continue with kids five and under?
PERNELL: Yes, I am concerned. This is something that I deal with frequently. I'll be speaking with schools locally in the north New Jersey (ph) area again, this week. I'm talking to concerned parents.
The question of whether or not the vaccine is fully approved, does that mean I should give my child a quote unquote, "experimental vaccine?" I've tried to reassure parents that it's not experimental. At this point, we have so much real world data that we're moving in the direction that the science has predicted it that the science has taught us. I think we need to emphasize family vaccinations more so than just individual or pediatric vaccinations, meaning get your whole household protected, get your whole family safe.
And the way that we do that is we make those vaccines accessible. We partner with schools, we partner with community centers, we partner with local FQHCs, we partner with faith based organizations. Whatever we can do to reassure parents that this is the next logical step in beating back this pandemic. We need to do it.
TAPPER: Turning back to the report we just heard from Scott McLean in Copenhagen, Denmark, one official from the World Health Organization is hoping that other countries do not follow Denmark's lead and by lifting all COVID, you know, protocols. Today saying, this World Health Organization official, now is not the time to lift everything all at once. What do you think?
PERNELL: I agree. This sounds like the twilight zone of the pandemic to me. There are still a considerable amount of new infections in Denmark. I believe recent data shows that Denmark has the second highest infection rate in the world.
I do see in their data that they're talking about there being this uncoupling, meaning that people are getting infected but they're not getting hospitalized or they're not having to have received critical care. We're not seeing that same thing here in the United States. And we're not seeing that same thing even in our state in New Jersey. We're not seeing that decoupling from infections and the need for intensive care given to patients.
So, I caution, this approach. I don't think it's something that we should do. We've learned anything from this pandemic, you don't play a stronger hand in what you have. There could emerge an invariant, there could emerge a new some variant like the one that we're concerned about right now. Slow and steady we'll win this race.
TAPPER: Dr. Chris Pernell, thank you so much. Good to see you as always.
Today, President Biden is weighing in on his big Supreme Court decision. What did he say about his selection process for a nominee? That's next?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:27:45]
TAPPER: In our politics lead today, President Biden today meeting with the top Republican and the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee as the President hopes to make a pick for the next Supreme Court nominee by the end of the month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Constitution says advice and consent, advice and consent. And I'm serious when I say that I want the advice of the Senate as well as the consent we can arrive on who the nominee should be. I'm looking forward to their advice and how to proceed and how the hearing will be conducted and the like. (END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Here to discuss, Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware. He is on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senator, in addition to being on the committee, you're close to President Biden, how is his decision making process going to work as he considers all the factors, expertise, rulings, judicial temperament, potential Republican Senate support and more?
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, Jake, as someone who served 36 years here in the Senate and who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, including through a number of important confirmations of Supreme Court justices.
I would expect that our President would take his time to review the judicial writings, to interview individual nominees or candidates to be nominated, to balance their temperament, their intellect, their character, their experience. But I am also confident that he is well aware of the urgency of the moment and will deliver a nominee to our committee before the end of the month. And this is the shortest month of the year.
TAPPER: How important is it that he get Senate Republican votes?
COONS: I think it would be desirable, it strengthens the legitimacy of our confirmations when we have bipartisan votes, but it's not essential. I think President Biden is determined here to once again nominate someone who has a great educational background, significant experience at the bench and bar and someone who fits with the priorities and values that he reflected when he ran for president. I think he'll balance that well. And I'm hopeful that Republicans will recognize in his nominee someone who belongs on the Supreme Court and someone who would be an historic pick.
TAPPER: Some of your Republican colleagues have criticized President Biden's pledge during the campaign in 2000 to nominate a black woman, one of the most recent being Senator Ted Cruz of taxes. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Democrats are so casually racist, that they'll make that promise and not only that, it ends up being insulting to African American women that there are black women who are very talented jurists who may well be the appropriate nominee. But when Biden starts out by saying he has a quota system, he diminishes the achievements of those African American women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Senator Cruz is on the Judiciary Committee with you. What's your response to that?
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Well, I think when President Reagan announced that he intended to nominate a woman to the Supreme Court, I suspect that then Republican senators did not say similar things about how this was disrespectful to American women. Ultimately, Sandra Day O'Connor, his nominee who was confirmed and serve for a long time on the Supreme Court was one of the most respected and successful jurists in the modern Supreme Court history.
I think, frankly, when President Trump announced that he would fill the last of the vacancies, he got to fill with a woman and fill that vacancy with Amy Coney Barrett. I don't think we heard complaints from my Republican colleagues, then either. I think it is appropriate for President Biden to say that he desires a Supreme Court that reflects the full diversity of our nation. He recognizes that we're at a stage where there are many highly qualified, well-experienced candidates from among whom he can choose.
And I think we should be celebrating that moment. And recognizing that this is a chance for President Biden to make history rather than throwing rocks at his nomination process or his campaign commitment based out of an outdated playbook.
TAPPER: A few days before Cruz's comments, we heard this from Republican Senator Roger Wicker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ROGER WICKER (R-MO): The irony is that the Supreme Court is at the very same time hearing cases about this sort of affirmative racial discrimination.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WICKER: And while adding someone who is the beneficiary of this sort of quota (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So Wicker and Cruz are calling this affirmative action and quotas. Senator Cruz, in fact, saying the Democrats rallying behind the idea of picking a black woman for this nomination are casually racist. I mean, is this -- what's your response?
COONS: Well, Jake, frankly, rather than responding to everything said by a colleague that I disagree strongly with, I'd prefer to focus on the historic moment that's in front of us. And there are a number of judges, currently serving judges at the state Supreme Court level, District Court level, Federal Circuit Court level, whose educational backgrounds are unparalleled, whose experience as judges, whose experiences clerking would stand up to any other currently serving member of the Supreme Court, and would certainly compare very favorably with the nominees of the previous administration.
Let's look at the last year for a moment, Jake. President Biden nominated a wide range of highly skilled, competent, capable jurists. And we in the judiciary committee have filled vacancies on the district court and the circuit court with these candidates, with these nominees. I expect we'll be doing that again.
If you take a look in detail at the experience, the education, the life story of just one of the potential nominees -- and I'm talking about D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson -- it's impressive. It's beyond impressive. Any law firm in America, any district court in America, any practitioner of the law in America would respect and be honored to have her as a colleague, whether on the bench or at the bar.
TAPPER: Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Coming up next, alarming signs of hate popping up across the country. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:38:08]
TAPPER: In our national lead, a slew of anti-Semitic incidents here in the United States bringing strong condemnations most recently to Chicago synagogues were vandalized over the weekend. Swastikas were also spray painted on the outside of Washington, D.C.'s Union Station. CNN's Jason Carroll takes a closer look now at this recent spate of hate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sickening images out of Orlando, Florida on Saturday, as video emerged showing a group of neo-Nazis shouting anti-Semitic slurs and waving Nazi flags near a shopping center. The neo-Nazi demonstration drew immediate bipartisan condemnation from state political leaders. But one key voice was missing over the weekend. That of Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis finally addressed the issue Monday afternoon, taking the opportunity to lash out at his critics who were questioning why it was taking him so long to condemn the neo-Nazis.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): So what I'm going to say is these people, these Democrats who are trying to use this as some type of political issue to try to smear me as if I had something to do with that, we're not playing their game.
CARROLL (voice-over): The recent incident in Florida, one of several that has the Jewish community deeply concerned. In Chicago, two synagogues vandalized over the weekend. A swastika left at one location, while Washington, D.C., police arrested a man for spray painting swastikas at Union Station last Friday.
Back in Florida, hundreds of anti-Semitic flyers left at homes in Miami Beach and Surfside. Similar flyers dumped out residences in San Francisco. This just weeks after a man held four people hostage at a Texas synagogue and an hour's long standoff.
OREN SEGAL, VP, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE'S CENTER ON EXTREMISM: So the reality is these incidents that have been occurring around the country are happening at a time of historically high numbers of anti-Semitic incidents. The last four years have been amongst the highest we've ever recorded in 40 years.
[17:40:07]
CARROLL (voice-over): Last year, the Anti-Defamation League reported 2,024 anti-Semitic incidents in the United States, a slight increase from the year prior. But still the third highest year of incidents since the ADL began tracking it in 1979.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, HOST, THE VIEW: So yesterday on our show, I misspoke.
CARROLL (voice-over): Actor and the view host Whoopi Goldberg repeatedly apologizing for the misinformed and hurtful comments she made about the Holocaust on Monday. It happened during a debate about a Tennessee School Board banning "Maus", a graphic novel about the atrocities committed during the Holocaust.
GOLDBERG: Let's be truthful about it, because the Holocaust isn't about race?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
GOLDBERG: No? It's not about race?
(CROSSTALK)
GOLDBERG: But it's not about race. It's not about race.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is it about?
GOLDBERG: Because -- it's about man's inhumanity to man.
CARROLL (voice-over): That drew immediate backlash ahead of the Anti- Defamation League writing, "No Whoopi Goldberg, the Holocaust was about the Nazi's systematic annihilation of the Jewish people, who they deem to be an inferior race. They dehumanize them and used this racist propaganda to justify slaughtering 6 billion Jews." Goldberg tweeted an apology Monday, and apologized again last night.
GOLDBERG: I did it to myself. This was my thought process and I will work hard not to think that way again.
CARROLL (voice-over): Goldberg taking more responsibility for her comments again on Tuesday.
GOLDBERG: Words matter and mine are no exception. I regret my comments as I said, and I stand corrected. I also stand with the Jewish people as they know and you all know because I've always done that.
CARROLL (voice-over): Not apologizing, however, host of shows on Fox News, attacking progressive Jewish billionaire George Soros. The ADL saying host there, "Regularly indulge in anti-Semitic dog whistles," saying, "this is dangerous stuff and needs to stop."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And Jake, given all that's happened recently, that's why you've got folks at the ADL saying that it's so important for people to be educated about the Holocaust, and for elected officials whenever they see incidents of anti-Semitism to speak up forcefully and quickly. Jake?
TAPPER: All right, Jason Carroll, thanks so much.
Coming up, our Donald Trump's outrageous election claims and lies, driving some Republicans to work with Democrats on a new law to secure a future election. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:47:13]
TAPPER: In our politics lead, the bipartisan group of 16 lawmakers trying to find common ground on election reform have more evidence that action is needed after former President Trump openly admitted he wanted then Vice President Pence to, quote, overturn the election in January 2021, by exploiting any vagueness in the electoral count of -- Electoral Account Act of 1887. With Trump brazenly confessing his intention earlier this week to subvert the will of the American people, one Republican member of the Senate group says they want to move, quote, aggressively to reform the Century Old Act before the 2022 midterm elections close in.
Let's bring in our panel and discuss. Nia, the White House is not outright opposed to reforming the act. Obviously, they wanted a much bigger election reform bill.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.
TAPPER: But it's clearly more pared down this thing. Do you think now that Trump has dipped his toes in the debate and there is this bipartisan group working, it's better for Biden just to stay out of it?
HENDERSON: It's always -- I don't think it matters, I think what's going to matter is if they're going to get enough time on the calendar to actually cobble something together and pass it through. They've got a lot of stuff they've got to do. It's obviously, an election year as well. So I think that's the big factor.
At some point Biden is going to get involved. He clearly wants something done. Democrats I've talked to as well. It's not what they wanted, which would have been massive, and it would have made it easier for Americans to vote of this. Is not even half a loaf. It's like a thin slice of bread compared to what they are really wanted for. But it is something, and it is something that probably needs to be done, given what we hear from President Trump or former President Trump.
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: And I was talking to folks that were -- are involved in this. And they actually appreciate the hands off position of the White House and of Senate leadership to give them the room to breathe and start to put this together. I mean, a lot of these senators work together on the bipartisan infrastructure deal. They trust each other.
And they're going through the process. They're breaking it up into committees. They're being very deliberate about how the various angles of this that they're discussing. So there is a lot of optimism that perhaps something could end up getting done here and not having these other people in the room trying to mess with that. I mean, these are senators, after all, I think might be reason to be optimistic that something could get done.
TAPPER: Do you think Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, is willing to engage in this? He hasn't really shown a lot of eagerness to talk about election reform.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I think he is taking the same approach that he took when they were trying to separate the infrastructure package out from the President's overall desires on spending. And that ultimately worked the same way, a bipartisan group got together. Why, you know, Biden came into that late? McConnell kind of stayed out of it, the bipartisan group bubbled something up and it ultimately became law.
If this is going to work, I think that's how it's going to happen. I think there is broad agreement on the Republican side that this is a good idea.
[17:50:04]
There is also nervousness that Democrats specifically in the House may want to try to put things in, that they don't consider to be germane to this, and not passable. So I -- I'm cautiously optimistic. I think it's still not quite right. But you can tell there's a fruit growing on the tree. And I'm hopeful that they do it because what Donald Trump said this weekend is absolutely ludicrous. It's wrong. And we cannot allow people to try to hijack the outcome of an election in the future the way he did, and the way he continues to say that the Vice President should be able to do.
TAPPER: Or can you imagine if Donald Trump were to run again and when and then Vice President Harris, you know, tried to do what he wanted Vice President Pence to do?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, they would impeach her immediately. And so, I think that Joe Biden that is supportive, I think it's smart that he's staying out of it, because frankly, it'll be easier for Republicans to come to deal with Democrats while they're doing that. And frankly, I also think that the more Donald Trump speaks about this, what he has been talking about admitting outright that he tried to push Mike Pence to overturn the election, and actually using that Democrats and Republicans are trying to pass this deal, this act, as proof that Mike Pence did have the power to do it, which is just, to me, completely devious.
So the more that you have Donald Trump out there talking about this, the better it is for both Republicans and Democrats. And then for Democrats, they can show that they did something, right? You said it's a thin slice, but they've been fasting for a while. And so I think they want --
JENNINGS: A win is a win.
TAPPER: Right.
CARDONA: Yes.
KUCINICH: Yes.
CARDONA: That's right.
JENNINGS: Media, it's closely divided government --
CARDONA: Yes.
JENNINGS: -- in a lot of ways. So take the win, it's a win.
TAPPER: So speaking of divisiveness, President Biden announced way back in early 2020 that he was going to name the first black woman to the Supreme Court if he were to win presidential election. That was one of the promises he made Jim Clyburn, the South Carolina Democrat in order to get Clyburn's endorsement.
HENDERSON: Right.
TAPPER: So since then, in the last week, we've heard some rather stark language from the likes of Ted Cruz and Roger Wicker saying that this is a quota, it's affirmative action. The Democrats are casually racist. This idea of naming the first black woman to the Supreme Court. Is -- what's your reaction to all that?
HENDERSON: Well, listen, they had a very different reaction when Donald Trump pledged to name a woman to the Supreme Court --
TAPPER: To replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
HENDERSON: -- to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I think Wicker said she was going to be an inspiration to his granddaughters. I think Ted Cruz said she'd be inspiring to little girls. I guess, whoever this black woman is isn't going to be inspiring to Roger Wicker's granddaughters. So, yes, I mean, I think no matter what the process would have been, I think if it was going to be a black woman, they would have said something like this would have been in a permanent action or quota. So I'm not really surprised. But it is very hypocritical, given what they said before.
TAPPER: Well, what do you think?
JENNINGS: Yes. Well, first of all, I think the way they've stated their position is not great. However, this weekend, the ABC News/Ipsos poll came out in three quarters of the American people say Biden was wrong to announce this the way he did that he should have said, I will consider everybody. And I think he's done a disservice to whoever he ends up putting up because I've looked at the list. All these people are highly qualified, experienced, respected, you know, and so I think he's sort of saddled them with something here that he shouldn't have done.
The correct way for Republicans to look at this, in my opinion, is to -- and my gut reaction was that we ought to turn this into a circus and let's block vote against it and treat them the way they treated Kavanaugh, Barrett. That's not the right answer. The right answer is to show that this process can work when we want it to work. And to give this person a fair hearing and a vigorous challenge, but on the merits, and show this person respect, a respect that Kavanaugh, Barrett and Gorsuch never got.
Let's show people that this process can work if we want it to because the people on this list they may be liberal, but they deserve our respect.
TAPPER: You're not buying it?
CARDONA: No, absolutely not. Look, I think what Wicker said and what Ted Cruz says, I think really just paints completely an additionally that sort of aura of racism on the Republican Party. Wicker said that this black woman would replace a stately liberal like Breyer. What is the difference ideologically between Breyer and the very qualified black woman that will replace him?
TAPPER: I don't know, first of all, we don't know who's going to pick. So I think any judgments about this person --
CARDONA: Color of the skin, Jake.
TAPPER: Right. I got it. I got it.
CARDONA: And so I think, I'm glad that Joe Biden actually pledged this. It has been way too long when black women and Latinos had been completely shut out of this process. So I am looking forward to a black woman being named. I am sure that she will be extremely qualified. And her addition to the Supreme Court will be that of a wise black woman.
[17:55:01]
TAPPER: Thanks to all of you. Appreciate it.
How some companies hope to capitalize on the record number of Americans now quitting their jobs. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Topping our money lead today, if you were thinking of putting in your two weeks notice last year, well you weren't alone. More Americans quit their jobs in 2021 than in any other year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the course of the year, more than 47 million people voluntarily left their jobs. For some, it's a matter of better pay or over issues such as childcare.
This great resignation, as it's called, has also fueled some interesting moves by employers. Home Depot, for instance, says it may need to hire some applicants the day after they apply. Domino's says it will give customers a $3 tip if they order online but come get the pizza themselves.
Our coverage continues now with one Mr. Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM." I'll see you tomorrow.
