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Some Dems Worry Biden Campaign Moving Too Slowly; FDA Approves First Over-The-Counter Birth Control Pill; Italian Judges Acquit Suspect Because Grope Lasted No More Than 10 Seconds. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 13, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Some Biden supporters, well, they are apparently ready to hit the panic button. We have some new CNN reporting about growing concern among some Democrats who think the president's reelection campaign really needs to pick up the pace. CNN spoke to a half dozen senior Democratic advisers who felt the Biden's reelection bid isn't taking full advantage of the built-in head start granted by being the incumbent. We have CNN's Isaac Dovere and Jeff Zeleny with reporting on this.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: So, Isaac, what's the basis of the criticism here? I've certainly seen Biden use the bully pulpit a lot, for instance from the NATO conference. What are they saying he's not doing?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, look, in the next couple of days by Saturday, we are going to find out how much money Joe Biden raised for his reelection campaign since launching at the end of April. The general feeling is that it's going to be a decent number but not a huge number. Not as much as all of those nervous Democrats who can't ever stop being nervous Democrats would like to see to reassure them there's this burst of enthusiasm for Biden.

And that is the leading to the latest round of questions about Biden that seem to be the perennial question of how much support is there really for him? Is he the strongest candidate going into 2024? The Biden circle, of course, would say we've done this a lot of times before, and look, he is the president.

KEILAR: What does he gain from sort of staying out of the fray? What does he lose from not getting into it -- Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, I think he stays presidential to the extent that you can sort of separate the president from a presidential candidate seeking reelection. I think you can somewhat. He stays out of the fray by not going after Donald Trump every day, by not going after some of these Republican candidates, and he's doing his day job. And his day job, as we have seen all week long, he's had some big successes.

What some Democrats that I've been speaking to are afraid that he's losing is the true power of the incumbency. He has the benefit of time. He doesn't have a serious primary challenge, so is the campaign using this moment to sort of rebuild his support among Latino voters, among African American voters, among some base voters that they will need? Are they doing voter registration efforts in Latino communities in North Carolina, in Georgia. So, some basic things that sort of can be done in the off year. When it's not just the moment where, you know, the campaign is coming to voters at the time of an election.

So are they using this time to sort of build the party? The DNC would argue that, yes, they are. But that is sort of a question, using the power of incumbency in many different ways here. I think they'll start doing more of that in the coming weeks and months. But that's sort of what's the question.

If you look back at 2011, the Obama campaign was already built up. The headquarters was in Chicago. They had a few hundred staffers. He has not yet opened his campaign reelection headquarters in Wilmington. It's going to be there. There's a handful of people working at the DNC, big difference.

SCIUTTO: Isaac, some of these Democrats have a view that it's possible that an alternate candidate will emerge. And this is one of those Washington stories that won't quite go away but might just be a Washington story. Is there substance behind that? Are there serious Democrats with serious influence who believe that should happen?

DOVERE: Well, there are certainly influential veteran Democrats who have gone to some of their alternative possibilities -- I report in the piece -- and said, listen, get ready, he's not going to run. I can tell. His heart's not in it. I can't get into that because of the agreements I made in the reporting, but people whose names you would know and that the audience would know.

Serious politicians, those Democratic possibilities have all said no, no, we're supporting Joe Biden and that they don't want to be in that position of making a primary against an incumbent president. The last time Democrats did that was Teddy Kennedy running against Jimmy Carter and that ended up with Ronald Reagan being elected president.

But it does get at this feeling that is really -- it's there given Biden's poll numbers that are in the low 40s. Given Biden's age, he's 80 years old. Given just the differences that a lot of them are anxious about from the '20 campaign to the '24 campaign and what running a fully-fledged operation would be after coming through a COVID election and being used to that. It's a much different thing.

[15:35:00]

And look, what this all is about is that many people, certainly many Democrats, are really worried that Donald Trump could be president again and that the stakes are so high.

SCIUTTO: Some Republicans are worried.

DOVERE: Yep.

KEILAR: Jeff, Isaac, thank you so much. And look, stuff is about to get real, right? We have the first Republican debate ahead of us next month, if you can believe it.

DOVERE: August 23rd.

KEILAR: Coming up quickly.

A new FDA decision is a big change in birth control. We're going to tell you about the new over-the-counter pill next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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KEILAR: Contraception is coming to the nation's store shelves. The FDA just approved an over-the-counter birth control pill called Opill. That means no prescription, no doctor visit needed to get birth control. Opill will be available online and in stores in early 2024. Joining me now to talk about this is Dr. Leana Wen, CNN medical analyst and a former health commissioner for Baltimore. So, Dr. Wen, you have advocated for this change, what do you think the practical impact is going to be here?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, I think this is a big step and one that's really overdue, Brianna, because over 100 countries have already allowed for some form of over-the-counter contraception in the form of birth control pills, and the U.S. is long overdue in joining this. We also know that Opill, this particular pill was first approved by the FDA in 1973, which is 50 years ago. And so, we have decades of research showing how safe it is and how effective it is. It's 99 percent effective in perfect use, 93 percent effective in typical use, which is more than other forms of contraception that are available over the counter.

And so, we're in a situation now where there's really significant unmet need. 19 million women of reproductive age live in contraception deserts. 8 million women in this group are uninsured. And we also know that half of all pregnancies nationwide, nearly half of all pregnancies nationwide are unintended. And so, there really could be a significant impact when it comes to reducing unintended pregnancies and breaking down these quite significant barriers to access.

KEILAR: So do you think there should be an age minimum on this pill? And is there any concern about abuse or misuse when there is not a doctor involved? There is, for instance, a warning that Opill should not be used for emergency contraception?

WEN: That's right. I think with every medication there are always benefits and there are always risks, and those risks need to be communicated. So for example, with Opill, this particular medication is progesterone only, it's not the one with estrogen. And so, there's no association, for example, with blood clots as there would be if there's estrogen in it.

But Opill should not be used in individuals with a history of breast cancer. There are certain medication interactions. For example with some barbiturates, with some seizure medications, St. John's wart and people should be aware when they're taking the medication. Also, it's not 100 percent effective, and individuals need to know that. And they need to know that it needs to be taken at the same time every day in order for it to be as effective as possible.

All that said, we also have many other medications over the counter like aspirin and Tylenol that have risks associated as well. And so, I think it makes sense for this to be made available over the counter, and this is one of the reasons why the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, really other major medical organizations have endorsed making it over the counter because it is safe and effective and helps to reduce a barrier to access.

Which I should say, we really need to improve health care access for all. I would love for every young person, every woman, every person to be able to have access to comprehensive health care, but if that does not exist, we at least should not be having more barriers to contraception.

KEILAR: All right, Dr. Wen, it's really, you know, this is a big day for this. So thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate it -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well a man is suing Fox News and former Fox host Tucker Carlson for defamation saying they spread lies about him for years. Ray Epps says he was accused by conspiracy theorists of leading an FBI plot to orchestrate the January 6th insurrection. That's of course false. He said Fox fueled those rumors and in fact, destroyed his life. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper is up next with more on this. Jake joins me now. You're going to be speaking to his lawyer later today. Tell us where you're going to go with this.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, THE LEAD: So, I mean is just fascinating because it's yet another example of irresponsible lies put out by that network resulting in individuals, in this case, Ray Epps who is a MAGA supporter, a conservative, a Fox viewer who has been unfairly scapegoated for being -- none of this is true, but for being a federal agent or allied with the FBI and convincing the MAGA mob that day to do wrong. And you know, this is going to be yet another lawsuit where there are very serious allegations and Fox has some explaining to do.

SCIUTTO: And a false story that diverted attention from those actually behind it, hundreds who have gone to prison or will be going to prison.

Other big headline, you've got a book coming out. I've got my copy. Tell us a little bit about it.

TAPPER: So the book is "All The Demons Are Here." Probably a lot of people who follow me on social media know this already. But as you know, the book came out.

[15:45:00]

Tuesday, and there's actually a lot in here that is shades of the Ray Epps story. Because there are two plot lines. One, Ike, an AWOL Marine working for Evil Knievel. The book takes place in 1977.

SCIUTTO: One of the best years. TAPPER: Well, a wild year. Like a lot of really crazy stuff going on, UFO sightings, cults, Studio 54, the New York City blackout, Elvis dies and on and on and on. But his sister Lucy in the book -- because this is also during the summer of Sam -- the son of Sam serial killer in New York -- she works for a tabloid -- a new tabloid -- a fictitious one in Washington, D.C., loosely based on Rupert Murdoch.

And she goes down the path of being a really good journalist who works for this organization that tries to goose coverage, and in some cases, it gets ethically shady and even false. And there are ramifications in the book for Lucy having to do with it. And we see with Ray Epps or the election lying story having to do with Dominion, there are serious consequences for the real-life Rupert Murdoch -- not just his doppelganger. So, you know, as they say, history doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes and there's a lot of rhyming in the book. I hope people check it out.

SCIUTTO: I mean it's true. I lived through the New York blackout and the son of Sam growing up in New York. So, it brings back a lot of memories.

TAPPER: Do you remember son of Sam?

SCIUTTO: 100 percent.

TAPPER: Because they hid it from me in Philadelphia as a kid. I didn't know about it.

SCIUTTO: I remember them telling my sisters. You know, my sisters were scared of it, because he was of course targeting women, but yes, absolutely.

TAPPER: And the "New York Post" was Murdoch owned and newsstands sales going through the roof as everybody was terrorized, and some of that was goosed by tabloid journalism.

SCIUTTO: Imagine that, giving us a taste of things to come. Jake Tapper --

TAPPER: Thanks so much.

SCIUTTO: -- all the details are here. It's out, you can buy it. You're also going to see him on the air in a few minutes.

TAPPER: That's right.

KEILAR: An Italian judge putting a time frame on how long it is OK to grope someone. That has many Italians in protest about this. We'll have that story next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

[15:50:00]

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SCIUTTO: Now to some of the other headlines we are watching this hour. The National Weather Service confirmed that two tornados touched down

in the Chicago suburb of Elgin damaging more than two dozen buildings there. No casualties reported in those violent storms which spawned numerous reported tornados.

In Florida, a sinkhole that swallowed a man in 2013 has opened up in again for the third time after also opening up in 2015. This is in Hillsborough County, near Tampa. Officials insist there is no real reason for concern. They say they've determined neighboring properties are safe. They have mobilized experts who handle sinkholes and geotechnical issues. I'm glad there are people who do that.

And in Washington, the Secret Service today concluded its investigations into that bag of cocaine found at the White House, though without identifying a suspect. The agencies says that FBI lab results from the packaging found insufficient DNA, could not retrieve any fingerprints either. A source familiar with the investigation tells CNN that the cubbyholes, where the drug was found, meant for cell phones, is a blind spot for surveillance cameras. That's the answer -- Brianna.

KEILAR: For how long is it a blind spot? We'll see.

So it is the ruling that has Italy just reeling. An Italian court finds a school janitor not guilty of groping a student, a minor because his hands were inside her pants for no more than 10 seconds. This is a decision that has sparked outrage across the country. We have CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau with more on this. OK, Barbie, let's start with the case. Tell us first about the allegations here.

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, you know, this is terribly disturbing. One of the things super important here is the janitor admits to what he did. He just said it wasn't sexual intent. He says he put his hand down the back of the pants inside the underwear of this 17-year-old girl as she was going up the steps. He said it wasn't sexual in nature. She has commented on this. This is an appellate case that was overturned so he was initially convicted of this crime. Says it was humiliating that he pulled on her pants and it hurt her. And so, she was outraged that this was overturned.

But one of the things that's so important here is the outrage that so many people, men and women in this country are feeling. This is a country that often errs on the wrong side of misogyny. But we've seen this campaign, ten seconds, or in Italian, dieci secondi, where people are posting videos -- ten second videos of acting out various forms of groping and it's really shocking to see just how long ten seconds is when you think this was not consensual. And that some judge in Rome decided that ten seconds doesn't count if it's sexual assault on a minor by a 66-year-old man -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, unbelievable. Barbie, thank you for taking us through that -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Just alarming story there.

Well, coming up next, we're going to do something a little lighter. An animal with a spirit for surfing. Meet the otter -- and otter -- that's right, stealing surf boards.

[15:55:00]

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SCIUTTO: All right, so a warning for surfers and swimmers in Santa Cruz, California. A sea otter is terrorizing swimmers and actually -- and this is not made up because I've seen pictures of it, it's real -- stealing surf boards. There's one going to toe to toe with a little surfer there. Not to catch a wave, apparently to kind of tear the board apart.

KEILAR: Yes, it just wants to destroy the thing. Animal handlers are actually trying to capture and rehome this unruly 5-year-old. They say this is highly unusual behavior. It could be caused by a surge of hormones or by humans feeding her. We should add that a spokesman or the animal denies -- wait, what does it say? Oh, my God, I didn't read that before. That was a joke written by someone. It says a spokesman for the animal denies stealing surf boards. It was the otter guy. I like that joke. Who wrote that one, guys? Who's fessing up to that?

[16:00:00]

SCIUTTO: That was good. But you were telling me, I mean, they actually be dangerous, otters?

KEILAR: Well, yes, they have jaws that like crack seashells, so you don't want to mess around. That's why I think the people who see this otter, the otter has a rep, so they know. And that little kid you saw him scooting away. He knows. Don't mess with this thing.

SCIUTTO: When they float upside down, they do hold hands.

KEILAR: You know who else is cute? Jake Tapper. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.