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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Putin Appears To Insult Zelensky With Crude Language; Kremlin: Troops To Leave Belarus After Drills, No Date Given; Urgent Diplomatic Efforts To Avert Russian Invasion Of Ukraine; Growing Chorus Of Republican Leaders Condemn RNC Censure; Growing Chorus Of Republican Leaders Condemn RNC Censure; GOP Rep. Rogers Apologizes: "My Words Were Not Acceptable"; Anti-Vaccine Mandate Protesters Block U.S. Trucks On International Bridge; More States Announce Plans To End Mask Mandates As COVID Cases Drop; "Top Gun" Sequel Removes Flags Of Japan & Taiwan From Iconic Jacket; Peloton Replacing CEO, Cutting 20 Percent Of Workforce. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired February 08, 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]

PRES. VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIA (through translator): Like it or don't like it, it's your duty, my beauty.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLAMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Barely 16 hours later as Macron met Zelensky, the Ukrainian President responded to Putin's apparent insult, parrying with diplomacy.

PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKARINE (through translator): Ukraine is indeed a beauty as far as him saying my Ukraine is a slight overstatement. As far as ticket is concerned, I think Ukraine is very patient, because that's wisdom.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Even so, Macron claiming small victories on the latest men's talks to intentions in eastern Ukraine.

PRES. EMMANUEL MACRON, FRANCE (through translator): I was able to obtain a very clear and explicit commitment from President Putin and Zelensky to the strict basis of the Minsk agreement, and in particular, to strict compliance.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): And appearing to think Putin agreeing to a military de-escalation, later scotch by the Kremlin. Reality is, Putin is giving up no ground, nor is he making clear what his next move will be all the while keeping up his demands.

PUTIN (through translator): We are categorically against the expansion of NATO.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The Russian leader seemingly waiting while diplomacy plays out to see what Western weaknesses appear.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There will be no longer a Nord Stream 2.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): President Biden's insistence, Germany in lockstep with U.S. sanctions under scrutiny.

OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: The transatlantic partnership is key for peace in Europe. And this is what Putin also has to understand that he will not be able to split European Union or to split NATO. We will act together.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Round three of Macron's diplomacy late Tuesday meeting Scholz on his return from D.C., along with Poland's President Andrzej Duda, whose NATO nation just received 1,700 troops for the U.S. 82nd airborne.

PRES. ANDRZEJ DUDA, POLAND (through translator): We must find a solution to avoid war. This is our primary task. I believe we will do it. Today the most important thing is unity and solidarity.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ROBERTSON: So Putin watching all of this, no doubt, making very few moves himself. And the reality is that if there is a war, if he does create an invasion in Ukraine, U.S. officials believe that there could be 10s of 1000s of civilian deaths, and it will create a crisis, a refugee crisis across Europe. Of course, the diplomacy that Macron is spearheading is all aimed at overcoming that and it's not the end of the triumph (ph), the diplomacy is still got friends to continue to follow up on. But this at the moment is a kind of period where everyone goes away, sees what Macron has got, figures out where they can move forward. And as I say, again, Putin just watches for the openings.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And Nick Robertson reporting live from Moscow, thanks so much.

CNN's Sam Kiley joins us now live from Kharkiv, Ukraine. Sam, President Putin made this seemingly very crude joke today designed to insult the Ukrainian president, why?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think part of it is playing to the gallery or his own base there in Russia, Jake. He enjoys this macho soldiery sort of language in the past. He's referred to how Russia got screwed by, on his words, by NATO and Western European over alleged commitments that he says were made and then broken when there were promises made in the late '90s that there wouldn't be an expansion of NATO into Eastern Europe because that is hotly disputed by those countries that didn't join NATO. This all part of the language, part of the machismo if you combine that with the muscle moves that we're seeing in Belarus with an uplift of some 30,000 Russian troops joining Belarussian troops for exercises scheduled later on this month. And increasing numbers of troops, also, not far from where I'm standing here about 30 miles from the Russian border with Ukraine.

So Jake, all of that part of this ongoing attention seeking too. I mean, look at the regular parade of international figures when there's almost lost count of the numbers of heads of government and heads of state that have beaten the path to the Kremlin to try to figure out how to get Vladimir Putin to not make good on a threat. He hasn't actually explicitly made, which is to invade this country, something that U.S. intelligence estimates he's 70 percent of the way in terms of his troop deployment. So, ready to go, Jake.

[17:05:05]

TAPPER: Are these diplomatic efforts that are going on that you referred to, are they making any progress? And French President Macron warned that this could take months to resolve.

KILEY: Any effort that keeps people talking and indeed keeps Russian troops in that environment will be seen as a positive sign. And that is largely to do with climate, Jake. The ground will be frozen up until maybe the beginning of March -- mid-March, and then it turns into a quagmire that would very difficult to move large amounts of troops across if that is indeed Putin's intent. So anything that keeps these negotiations going at the most cynical level means that an invasion might be postponed.

But the other thing is it gives the diplomats around the world opportunities first to paper over their own cracks. We've seen cracks emerging between who gets to say where Germany gets its gas from, and at the same time, of course, trying to figure out where Putin might go. Is he going to do a full scale invasion or a little incursion, Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Sam Kiley reporting live from Ukraine. Thanks so much.

Joining us now live in studio to discuss, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor. Also joining us, Dr. Evelyn Farkas, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia.

So, Dr. Farkas, I hate to even explain this joke, but what Putin said is a reference to, as I -- as was explained earlier in the show, to arranged marriages and marital rape, and the idea that the quote is, like it or not, it's your duty, my beauty. And he's saying that to the Ukrainian president. Is that significant that he said that?

EVELYN FARKAS, FORMER DEPUTY ASST. SECY. OF DEFENSE FOR RUSSIA, UKRAINE, EURASIA: Well, it shows, Jake, that he does not view Zelensky as his equal. He has a history of doing this. Frankly, he did it with the Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili, when the Georgians wanted to assert their independence and when they first start to pull away from the Russian Federation, of course, they were invaded in 2008. So he sees the Zelensky as very much not as equal. He wants to put him down publicly, embarrass him.

Zelensky is kind of -- he hits back. So he's embarrassed Putin a little bit or tried. He's quite funny, and he's a comedian. But the other part of this that's really disturbing, I think watching as a woman, is what Vladimir Putin has done internally, when it comes to addressing domestic violence. I mean, under his regime, they've fallen backwards in Russia, and it's not, like a very happy place if you're a woman experiencing domestic violence. So, there's a real, you know, there's a reality underlying that. But the -- in terms of the political context, he's just trying to bully him further.

TAPPER: And Ambassador Taylor, the Kremlin announced today that Russian forces are going to leave Belarus, which is right next to Ukraine. They've been conducting joint military drills there. The Kremlin offered no timeline for when they're going to leave. The Pentagon says Putin is still adding to his forces along Ukraine's borders, if those Russian forces do leave, Belarus, and that's obviously not guaranteed. Should NATO interpret that as any sort of de-escalation, especially with so many other Russian forces still surrounding Ukraine and other parts of the border?

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Jake, we'll be looking carefully for any signs of de-escalation because President Putin has a big problem with pulling that trigger. He knows that the sanctions, that the increase in military assistance to Ukraine, that the movement of U.S. troops into Eastern Europe, these are actions that the United States is taking, that NATO is taking, that he has to deal with.

And also, he may have problems at home, Jake, he may have problems with an uprising. The Russian people are not eager to go to war against Ukraine. He may have a problem with a resistance to his own decisions.

TAPPER: So even though he's an autocrat, I've heard this from other non-American ambassadors and people in embassies, which is that what we call in the United States, Gold Star moms, the moms --

FARKAS: Yes.

TAPPER: -- of soldiers who died in service to their country, that the Gold Star moms in Russia, have in the past, risen up and criticized Putin for his military escapades.

FARKAS: Yes, actually a large part of why the war in Afghanistan in the '80s became so unpopular in Russia was because of these mothers watching their kids coming home. And remember, the Russian government or the Soviet Army and the Russian army, these are not volunteer militaries, right? So these people's children are being taken from them, not voluntarily, and they come back in a coffin. So those are very active organizations to this very day.

And even if you're an autocrat, you don't want people going to the streets. And if the workers, if the everyday people, if enough of them go to the streets, that could force a regime change. I mean, Putin saw it in Ukraine.

TAPPER: And talk about if you would, Ambassador Taylor, about the diplomatic efforts, all the, you know, shuttle diplomacy, all the people coming to Moscow including President Macron of France.

TAYLOR: They're coming to Moscow, but they're also going to Kiev and that's a good thing. [17:10:04]

TAPPER: In Ukraine?

TAYLOR: Yes, in Ukraine, capital of Ukraine. And they -- the foreign ministers are going there, the presidents are going there, they are keeping President Zelensky very well informed as to what the discussions are going on. That's important. That's important, because the ultimate decision maker on Ukrainian sovereignty is President Zelensky or the Ukrainian people.

So that parade of officials going through Ukraine keeps the discussion going. Yes, they're talking to the to the Russians, but they're keeping the Ukrainians informed.

TAPPER: How much I know part of your jobs at the Pentagon and at the State Department is psychological profiles of these individuals. It's important to understand where they're coming from psychologically. How much does Putin just want the attention because of whatever issues he might have?

FARKAS: Well, I'll defer to the diplomat first.

TAYLOR: So, if Mr. Putin wants attention, I don't think that's the main motivator. I think he is doing things because he really wants Ukraine. He wants to take over Ukraine.

He has said so. He said that Ukraine is not really a country, it's not really a nation, it has no sovereignty outside of his control. So that's what he wants.

Now, by doing that, he's drawing attention to himself, probably not great attention. If he, again, if he pulls the trigger and kills that number of civilians, unprovoked attack on civilians, that's war crimes.

TAPPER: And do you think it could be 10s of 1000s of Ukrainians killed, innocent citizens?

FARKAS: Yes. But I don't think he'll go for the whole hog. I mean, I think what he really wants is control over Ukraine because he doesn't want democracy there. Why? Because that threatens him.

The Russian people will see democracy over the border, like the Ukrainian sought in Poland, and they'll want it for themselves. So he has to shut that down. And for some reason, he's feeling like time is running out because he engineered this crisis right now.

TAPPER: Yes. All right. Dr. Farkas, Ambassador Taylor, good to see both of you. Thank you so much.

The top Republican in the Senate now blasting his own party over the jaw dropping censures.

Then, trucks backed up for miles after protesters shut down a key bridge connecting the U.S. and Canada. Why that could cause even more supply chain problems here in the U.S. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:16:40]

TAPPER: We have some breaking news in our politics lead. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are demanding an apology from a Republican member of Congress over an alleged inappropriate incident on Capitol Hill today. Let's get straight to CNN's Manu Raju.

Manu, walk us through what happened?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus who essentially is accusing a veteran House Republican of putting his hands on her in an altercation that occurred in the Capitol. She tweeted this, this is from Joyce Beatty, the congresswoman, she said, "Today while I headed -- while headed to the House floor for votes I respectfully asked my colleague, Congressman Hal Rogers of Kentucky to put on a mask while boarding the train. He then poked my back demanded I get on the train. When I asked him not to touch me, he responded, "kiss my ass."

Now, she goes on to say, "This is the kind of disrespect we have been fighting for years and indicative of the larger issue we have with GOP members flaunting health and safety mandates designed to keep us and our staff safe." She ends by saying that Congressman Hal Rogers, when you are ready to grow up and apologize for your behavior, you know where to find me.

Now, just moments ago, members of the Congressional Black Caucus gathered on the steps of the Capitol berating Hal Rogers for his treatment of Congressman Joyce Beatty, demanding a public apology. Accusing him of assaulting her. And also making -- accusing him of acting in ways considered racist in the words of some of the members and demanding that he say something about this.

But before this -- all have -- before this press conference happened, Jake, and after Congresswoman Beatty revealed that this occurred that Rogers came to the House floor and he refused to comment on this all together. Reporters asked him multiple times to discuss this incident that congresswoman twitted about, he would not talk about it. His office has not yet commented on it as well. And it's unclear what Democrats might do if they decide not to -- if Rogers decides not to apologize. But this is what one congresswoman, Brenda Lawrence, said just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BRENDA LAWRENCE (D-MI): Talked about preventing work place harassment. This was harassment of a woman, a black woman and a woman in leadership because he put his hands on her. He told her to kiss his -- part of his body.

And I can tell you, being a little black girl from the east side of Detroit, I would not take that standing or sitting. And I'm not going to take it standing or sitting for one of our own to be disrespected. For some reason, there seems to be this attitude of not accountability, I can say and do anything that I want.

Today, we're standing together is stops today, and apology publicly should be made. And we need to set an example never again. Now I yield.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now Democrats would not say what they would do if Rogers does not publicly apologize, whether they would censure him. But Jake, this is just all indicative of just the poisonous relationships between the two sides on the House side of the Capitol.

TAPPER: All right, Manu Raju, thank you so much. Appreciate that report.

Coming up a, top Republican in the Senate just criticized the Republican National Committee. That's next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:24:27]

TAPPER: And we're back with our politics lead, a dam of sorts breaking on Capitol Hill today. A flood of Republican lawmakers now condemning the Republican National Committee. The RNC on Friday, as you might recall, censured two of its own Republicans Kinzinger and Cheney. And seemingly referred to the January 6 insurrection as, quote, "legitimate political discourse," unquote.

CNN's Ryan Nobles is live on Capitol Hill.

Ryan, the latest condemnation comes from the top Republican in the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Jake. And we should point out this isn't a universal breaking of the dam. There's still quite a few Republicans that are defending the RNC's actions, but it is significant that you have someone like Mitch McConnell breaking with the RNC.

[17:25:07]

And he did so on two fronts. First, he made it clear that he did not agree with their language that anything that took place here on January 6 was legitimate political discourse. McConnell saying that he was here. He said everyone he was talking to that day was here and this was a violent insurrection. It was not any form of legitimate political discourse.

And McConnell took it even a step further, and he said that he strongly disagreed with the RNC's decision to censure two of its members, that being Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. McConnell saying that this is not the posture that the RNC should have, that they should be about bringing the party together and not trying to separate them. And that's effectively what that censure did. And he basically said, that wasn't the RNC's job. Now, well, McConnell was pretty vocal in his condemnation of the RNC's actions. There were a number of Republicans still defending them, among them, some of the most powerful leaders in the House of Representatives, including Elise Stefanik, the conference chair, and the Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who argued that when the RNC was talking about legitimate political discourse, they weren't talking about the violence and the chaos that took place here at Capitol Hill, but instead talking about RNC members who've been subpoenaed by the January 6 select committee. Now, we didn't mention who those RNC members were, Jake, but we know that some of the group of RNC members who were subpoenaed by the committee, that same group of individuals that tried to hand over a fake set of electors to the Congress to try and have those replaced the ones that were duly impaneled by the voters of this country. Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Ryan Nobles on Capitol Hill, thanks so much.

Let's discuss with our panel. And Congressman Dent, let's start with you, former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania. We've been all waiting and hoping that the Republican Party is going to -- those of us who want there to be a strong fact base Republican Party has been going to come -- the fever is going to break and people are going to realize like January 6 was hideous, and that Cheney and Kinzinger are not doing anything wrong when they're trying to get to the bottom of it. Are we getting there with the condemnations we're hearing from the likes of Mitch McConnell?

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I'm pleased they're all condemning this.

TAPPER: Well, not all.

DENT: Well, many are condemning.

TAPPER: Yes.

DENT: But, I mean, look, what the RNC did, you know, was a act of political stupidity and malpractice on the Titanic scale. I mean, to say legitimate political discourse of people who are assaulting police officers desecrating the Capitol, impeding Congress's work. I mean, it's simply horrible.

And for them to do this and draw attention to Donald Trump and the past, rather than focus on, oh, defeating Democrats maybe and making the Democrats the issue. They -- their politics is supposed to be the business of Republican National Committee. You would never know it by what they just did. I mean, this is beyond comprehensible for most of us. It's sad.

And I think the reason why they did this, in part, is because of those subpoenas. I think some of those subpoenas that were issued to the fake electors are getting very close to some members of the Republican National Committee, and now they're feel very threatened and that's why they went after Liz and Adam, who are honorable people.

TAPPER: As people that cover Capitol Hill, what's your reaction? Do you think, Ayesha Roscoe, that -- I mean, we did see today, individuals who are, you know, strong supporters of Trump like Senator John Cornyn, he told CNN, "I think Republicans ought to stop shooting at Republicans." Including the chairman and Senate Republican Whip John Thune, "It's just not a constructive move when you're trying to win elections and take on Democrats to take on Republicans. It's just not helpful." How do you think the Republican Party is going to work its way through this?

AYESHA RASCOE, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NPR: Well, we've kind of seen this before, right? Like, right after January 6, you heard some very strong statements, you know, condemning the actions. And you know, it seemed like OK, there was a line being drawn in the sand. OK, well, we will do -- we will follow Trump, we will go with what he has to say, but on this, he went too far. That's it.

Over time, we have seen a revisionist history. And usually what we have seen is when Republicans speak out and say, you know what, Trump went too far. Then Trump goes, You're rhino, you're this, you're that, and then they get in line.

Or they get quiet, like, or they just kind of try to hope it goes away. We have not seen people really stand up and keep doing it, other than people like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger and we see what's happening to them. So the RNC has sent a message, if you want to keep talking, this is what can happen to you.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: And there also seems to be no effort by Republicans to seek consequences, whether it's, you know, really putting the pressure on the RNC to shake up House, to get people out of the party who are continuing to perpetuate the big lie are saying that they think that January 6 shouldn't be investigated. There's no effort like that from Republicans.

And even the comments that you read, Jake, from Senators Thune and Cornyn, they didn't specifically talk about the legitimate discourse line. They said they focused on the process of Kinzinger and Cheney being censured, which is a part of the same thing, right? They're being censured because they're telling the truth about what happened on January 6 and because they're telling the truth about the fact that they're worried that Trump and the Republicans like Ronna McDaniel, who were following him, maybe threatening future valid elections in the future.

TAPPER: I'm wondering progressive activists like yourself watching this all happen. Do you think -- I mean, is there some shot in for it, is there some enjoyment like they're shooting each other and this is ridiculous? Or do you think, I'm an American, I want this party to get its act together.

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's a little bit of both.

TAPPER: OK. Thank you for the honesty.

ALLISON: More probably the former than the latter. Well, the thing that I find -- there's a couple points I find interesting. First, I think that the RNC is being very clear of who they want their party to be. And I appreciate the transparency and honesty.

I think Mitch McConnell is saying, oh, no, there are people that are Republicans that were going to need the vote to actually flip the House and the Senate. And --

TAPPER: People like Congressman Charlie Dent.

ALLISON: Exactly.

TAPPER: Yes.

ALLISON: And by censuring them, I'm at risk of not becoming the leader of the Senate. And that is what Mitch McConnell's key point is. I don't think Mitch McConnell came out and said, his points about the center because he felt like he was moved to do it for country. I think he was moved to do it for power.

And so as an activist, as someone who's thinking about it, it's like, how do we go and tell the American people that Mitch McConnell, the Republican Party, they're not trying to get their act together? They are doing this strictly for power. They are doing this power over country.

And, I mean, I hope they don't get their act together because I think we need to hold the House, the Senate, keep the White House in 2024 with a larger margin so we can actually get an agenda pass it -- delivers for the people.

CHARLIE DENT (R), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, PENNSYLVANIA: Well as the only person to the table who's been censured by a committee, Republican committee, I can tell you, these are really stupid --

TAPPER: You were censured when?

DENT: Oh, I was censured over marriage equality by one of my county committees. I was censured --

TAPPER: OK.

DENT: -- over Donald Trump. And they look foolish. And this is -- and by the way, I don't encourage anyone to censure members of their own party, any party leaders. But if you're going to censure somebody at the RNC, they could have gone after maybe Marjorie Taylor Greene --

TAPPER: Right.

DENT: or Matt Gaetz or, you know, all goes on.

TAPPER: All goes on or who is the keynote speaker of the white supremacy.

DENT: Yes, they could have done that.

TAPPER: Somehow. Didn't defend me anybody.

DENT: By the way, you know, I saw Kirsten Sinema get censured, I think, by the Arizona party.

TAPPER: Yes, the Arizona Democratic Party.

DENT: I think this is just foolish, but what's happening is these parties are censuring people, who are -- what I would call mainstream people, whether it's Adam Kinzinger, or Liz Cheney, or you know, Kirsten Sinema, they're doing this because they're responding to the most angry elements of their basis. And I think this is -- it's terrible for the country.

So many people who are involved in politics in Washington simply play to a primary base, a general election for most is a formality, because it's their -- their districts are so lopsided. And that's what we're dealing with this country.

TAPPER: The only reason I want to step in here for a second, we just got an update to the story we heard from CNN's Manu Raju, Republican Congressman Hal Rogers of Kentucky has said he has apologized to Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, after he told her to kiss his ass. Apologies for the language. Rogers saying he understands his words were, quote, not acceptable.

So I wouldn't say like, this is great news.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TAPPER: But at least he realized he crossed a line, at least he realized that telling a fellow member of Congress to kiss his ass is not acceptable. But boy, am I lowering that boy is a standard low.

AYESHA RASCOE, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NPR: standard is pretty low. And I mean, we should point out that in Congress, there has been violence towards members of Congress in the past and history. I mean, you had a member of Congress, cane another member of Congress before --

TAPPER: During the Civil War, yes.

RASCOE: Yes, during the Civil War. So I mean, things aren't that bad. But it is another sign of how not only can these people not get together to make laws for the rest of the country. They can't even just get together and just do regular workplace stuff. Like usually you can't curse out your co-workers. Like that's just like a bottom line.

TAPPER: Do you find things worse on Capitol Hill than you've seen it before?

BARRON-LOPEZ: Yes. You know, I've been covering since the Obama administration, the Hill, and it's nothing like what it used to be. And you started to see the beginning of it when Obama took power, right, with these far extremes. But I think that, you know, what's different here is that Republicans are making very clear that they don't want to abide by public health guidelines. And so if they take control of the House, you know, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has said that they would undo all of the Public Health guidelines, you know, whether it's wearing masks, or requiring to know if people are vaccinated.

And so, right now, they're running on that and heading into the midterms, as well as the fact that I know that Congressman, you said that Kinzinger and Cheney, you consider the mainstream, but it's very clear that those two lawmakers are not mainstream anymore in the Republican Party.

TAPPER: Yes. And just to end -- just to underline the point, not because they're not very conservative Republican --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

BARRON-LOPEZ: Right, they're very --

TAPPER: -- is because they are. In fact, Liz Cheney is probably one of the most conservative Republicans in Congress, certainly more than McCarthy or Scalise or Stefanik, but because they believe in the facts about the election.

[17:35:03]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. That's right.

BARRON-LOPEZ: Yes.

TAPPER: Which is (INAUDIBLE). Thanks to all of you.

DENT: Thank you.

TAPPER: A growing protest over COVID mandates and restriction is now shutting down part of an international border. We're going to go live there next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our health lead, you're watching live pictures from around the Ambassador Bridge which connects Detroit, Michigan to Windsor, Ontario. There, you see anti vaccine mandate protesters blocking trucks. It's the busiest international crossing in North America. Now Canadian police are warning that the economy and the supply chain could suffer.

Let's get right to CNN senior national correspondent Miguel Marquez who is live for us in Detroit. And Miguel, is there any sign of these protesters letting up?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's -- a little bit. It's looks like the traffic is starting to flow very, very slowly from the Canadian side. We're on the U.S. side here. This should be a very busy area where cars are coming through.

[17:40:01]

That is the bridge over there. We are seeing just a trickle of trucks in half for many hours now coming from the Canada side. Protesters are still there in big numbers, they are still trying to move them out. It is not clear what police in Ottawa are going to do at this point other than talk to protesters.

They've been putting out information that they are trying to get traffic around them, trying to talk to the protesters and ensure that they can do their protest without blocking traffic. It's not clear how much more patients are going to have for that.

It's been about 24 hours now since this protest started. About 40,000 cars and commercial vehicles come over this bridge every day. About $300 million in goods Crosses Bridge every day, is going through other routes right now. But if this keeps up, everyone on both sides of the bridge are going to get quite tired of it. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, activists against the vaccine mandate and other public health steps. Thank you so much. Miguel Marquez in Detroit.

Let's bring in the former Director of the CDC, Dr. Thomas Frieden. Dr. Frieden, so 90 percent of Canadian truckers are vaccinated according to the Canadian government. So it seems like the very vocal minority is responsible for creating this massive disruption to the economy. What do you think? Should Canada let truckers opt out of a vaccine mandate given that so many of them have already gotten their shots?

DR. TOM FRIEDEN, FORMER CDC DIRECTOR: There's so many things going on right now, Jake. It's hard to keep track. On the one hand, we have the Omicron variant beating fast in the U.S. Cases are plummeting.

On the other hand, we still have more than 2,000 deaths a day. On the one hand, you've got very high vaccine uptake numbers and a remarkably effective vaccine that's doing a great job preventing hospitalizations and deaths. On the other hand, in this country, you still have over 50 million people who haven't gotten their first shot. 100 million people haven't gotten a booster.

There are real challenges here. And for some of these things, there isn't going to be a clear way forward. But we do need to recognize the viruses adapting and we need to adapt. And one of the things that we need to do is make sure that we are sharing the information when we have it. And reaching people with messages that they can hear.

Mandates are a hard thing for people to accept. Some of them are clearly justified. Some of them are more challenging.

TAPPER: Five governors in the U.S. have announced that they're lifting mask mandates indoors or in schools over the next few months. Community transmission is still considered pretty high by the CDC and 99 percent of counties in the U.S. Do you think lifting these mandates is a good idea?

FRIEDEN: I think what we're going to see is cases plummet over the next few weeks. So it's, you know, early February now. Places that are saying we're going to do this in March, as long as nothing unexpected happens between now and March, that's probably fine. Places that are saying let's just get rid of them. Because we're tired of COVID, that's probably not such a good idea.

We've still got a huge number of cases, lots of transmission, it's plummeting. But we need to hang in there for a few more weeks so it comes down, I do think we're in better shape than we have ever been in this pandemic. We have more vaccine, more immunity, more options for treatment, more tests, better masks, a better understanding of masking.

And the issue isn't so much mask mandate, or no, it's a graduated approach. If you're sick, even in the future, good idea to wear a mask if you go out. If you've got a severe immunocompromised, you may want to wear a mask if you go out. So this is a different approach to masking mandate or not that I think we're going to need to adopt if we're going to adapt not just COVID but the other infectious diseases out there.

TAPPER: So the White House tells CNN that federal officials are, quote, thinking about what comes next in terms of a return to, quote, normal. Is it appropriate do you think to talk about dropping masks indoors everywhere, holding large indoor events, going back to pre- pandemic practices, given as you noted, we still have more than 2,000 deaths a day in the U.S. due to COVID?

FRIEDEN: The virus is adapting to us. We need to adapt to the virus. That means adapting as cases change, as hospitalization decline. The severity of the variant is different. There are times when we should absolutely loosen up and and have more contact. If people want to mask, they can but allow more contact.

I hope we won't have to have much more dialing back up that kind of restriction. But no one knows for sure what's coming. We may get a deadlier variant in the future. But right now, that's not out there. So right now we need to be preparing to open up as safely as possible. That means vaccinating, boosting, masking up when appropriate, and getting tested quickly so you can get treated well if you do get sick.

TAPPER: All right. Dr. Tom Frieden, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

How the Chinese government is influencing and even changing the films that come out of Hollywood including movies such as the reboot of "Top Gun." We're going to go behind China's wall. That's next.

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[17:49:23]

TAPPER: Now are behind the China's wall series in which we go behind the fanfare and the glamour of the current Olympic Games. The Chinese government obviously hoping to use the games to distract the world from its crackdowns on freedoms and crimes against humanity, and genocide.

Today, we're going to take a look at how the Chinese government in effect censors much of what comes out of the Hollywood film industry. They don't do this of course through direct control. They do it through their enormous economic leverage, and the fear from studios on missing out on a market of 1.4 billion people in China.

Here to discuss Erich Schwartzel, a Hollywood reporter for the Wall Street Journal. He's author of a brand new book just released today it's called, "Red Carpet: Hollywood, China and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy."

[17:50:09]

Thank you so much for being here, Erich. So one of the films you write about, which really captures the impact that Chinese government is now able to have on American movies, is found in "Top Gun" released in the '80s and its upcoming sequel. When the original was released in '86 -- offending China not a concern -- but for the sequel, the studio has made a significant change to the look on the jacket of this iconic character, Maverick. Explain to folks what's going on here.

ERICH SCHWARTZEL, AUTHOR, "RED CARPET": Yes, you're absolutely right. I mean, in 1986, not only was Hollywood not concerned about the Chinese market but, I mean, do we have an example of more raw, raw cinema than the original "Top Gun," I mean, enlistment shot up after that movie came out.

And then when this more recent version was advertised a couple years ago, people noticed, as you said, that the Taiwanese and the Japanese flag had been removed from Maverick's jacket. And there's a very clear reason why and that is that in the time between the original "Top Gun" and this reboot, China's box office has grown to be the biggest in the world.

And any movie produced by a Hollywood studio that's as expensive as "Top Gun," needs that market often to turn a profit. So that means that even down to something as small as a flag on a jacket might need to be removed in case it offends the Chinese censors who decide whether or not this movie will get into those Chinese theaters.

TAPPER: Right. China obviously does not consider Taiwan to be an independent country. Anything that calls into question, the One China policy is a political third rail for the communist government. You write about Brad Pitt's starring in the 1997 film, "Seven Years in Tibet," another country that China has conquered.

And being in that film landed Brad Pitt in very hot water with Chinese authorities. They essentially banned Brad Pitt and his film from China for years and years. Tell us more about that.

SCHWARTZEL: Yes, not only that, and this was back in 1997, when the Chinese box office was an economic afterthought for studios. But Sony, which released seven years in Tibet quickly learned that it was not just the studio access that was threatened by the release of this film about a political exile and history that China would rather not see on the big screen. It was not the studio that was threatened, but actually Sony proper.

And this explains a lot whenever you see how these conglomerates have taken over Hollywood. Why a movie that might seem like a minor production produced by a subdivision of a subdivision actually becomes this kind of radioactive element that threatens the entire corporate structure. So if Disney makes a movie that offends the Chinese authorities, it's not just that movie that might be lost, but also theme park plans, consumer products plans. I mean, there's billions of dollars on the line for any of these relatively small infractions.

TAPPER: One of the craziest examples in your book is the 2012 remake of the film "Red Dawn", starring another top star Chris Hemsworth. China was supposed to be the antagonist in the movie, the country that conquers the United States, but after the film was shot, they made a little bit of a change. Tell us about that.

SCHWARTZEL: I mean, it was a costly change. I mean, the movie had finished filming with the story being China invading the U.S. in this remake. Of course, in the original was the Soviets. This time they updated it for the the 2010s and made it China.

And then when China made it clear that they were going to be very angry if this movie came out as it was shot, MGM spent a million dollars hiring a visual effects firm here in Burbank to go in and swap out the flags, swap out the dialogue and make it a North Korean invasion. Now, critics and even the writers of the film itself pointed out was a little less plausible than a Chinese invasion.

But nonetheless, this lesson was absorbed by all of Hollywood because ever since then, that movie came out in 2012. Since then, it's been more than a decade we have not had a major studio put a movie into production with China as the villain.

TAPPER: Of course not. Profits above all else. Eric Schwartzel, author of "Red Carpet: Hollywood, China and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy, thank you so much. Best of luck with the book.

SCHWARTZEL: Thank you so much.

TAPPER: They've got quite a climb after coasting through the pandemic. Peloton is facing a major shake-up. Stay with us.

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[17:58:52]

TAPPER: Our money lead now, Peloton is slimming down. The flailing fitness company announcing today it's trimming about 20 percent of its workforce, that's 2,800 workers, including its embattled CEO. This announcement comes as Peloton tries to fend off potential acquisition bids from companies such as Amazon, Nike and Apple. It's been hard times for Peloton as of late.

At the beginning of the pandemic, sales boomed as people stuck at home, snapped up home fitness equipment. But as vaccinations increased and people returned to their gyms, shares of price -- share prices tumble, falling more than 80 percent from January of 2021. Even Hollywood isn't giving the company a break. Two popular TV show characters have heart attacks, while using Peloton bikes in recent months and in what Peloton says is part of its severance for laid off workers it's giving away a one year digital subscription. How very generous.

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the TikTok at JakeTapper. You can tweet the show at TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can listen to The Lead wherever you get your podcasts.

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