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U.S. Naval Destroyers Track 11 Russian And Chinese Ships Near Alaska; Study: Opioid Addiction-Treatment Drugs Under Prescribed; It's The Summer Of Taylor Swift, Beyonce & Barbie. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired August 07, 2023 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Just in. The last former Minneapolis Police Officer facing state charges for his role in the killing of George Floyd has learned his sentence. A state judge has ruled that Tou Thao will serve four years and nine months in prison for aiding and abetting secondary manslaughter.

He was already serving a three-and-a-half-year sentence on federal charges. In 2020, Thao and three other former officers were arrested for their actions or lack thereof when a knee was pressed in the neck and back of George Floyd for more than nine minutes while he lay handcuffed and died, Omar. I mean if anyone understands the story, you spent so much time there covering this. This is a -- in a way a chapter closing.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and it's almost unbelievable for people watching this happened in May 2020. And we're still closing out legal proceedings all this time later.

Now, I want to go elsewhere to a tense situation in the waters near Alaska. The U.S. military dispatched four naval destroyers to monitor 11 Russian and Chinese ships that were "patrolling the area." Alaskan lawmakers say those vessels were operating last week near the Aleutian Islands. But a Chinese official says they were simply conducting "joint maritime patrols in relevant waters in the Pacific."

So to help explain, CNN's Natasha Bertrand joins us now. So, let's start with what is the United States saying about this.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Omar. So, we did get a statement from U.S. Northern Command confirming that the U.S. military did deploy some assets to the area in order to monitor and track these Russian and Chinese vessels as they carried out this joint Naval Patrol. And they sent ships and planes essentially to monitor where these ships were going. But importantly, they did not pose, according to U.S. Northern Command, a threat at any point to the U.S. or Canada. And importantly, they stayed in international waters the entire time, according to U.S. Northern Command.

Now, we got a little more detail from the U.S. Senators from Alaska, Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, who released a statement on Saturday that had a very concerned tone. And what they said was that actually, this fleet was comprised of 11 Russian and Chinese ships, so a very large presence here and they were operating off the coast of Alaska near the Aleutian Islands.

Now, Senator Dan Sullivan, one of those Republican Senators from Alaska, he released a very strong statement saying that the incursion by these 11 Chinese and Russian warships operating together off the coast of Alaska is yet another reminder that we've entered a new era of authoritarian aggression led by the dictators in Beijing and Moscow.

[11:35:14]

Now, obviously, this joint patrol is yet another example of Russia and China's military partnership just intensifying over the last year. And we should note, this is not the first time that they've carried out an exercise like this off the coast of Alaska. They did so last summer as well.

And Dan Sullivan, the senator, he actually criticized the U.S. military for launching what he described as a "tepid response" to that exercise. So, he said in his statement on Saturday that he is pleased to see that the U.S. provided a more robust response, this time around sending four U.S. Navy destroyers, as well as a reconnaissance plane to track those movements, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Natasha Bertrand, thank you, as always. So, to talk about all this, let's bring in retired Brigadier General Peter Zwack. He served as the U.S. senior defense attache to the Russian Federation. Now, he's a global Fellow at the Kennan Institute.

Great to see you. We'll start there. But also based off of Natasha's reporting, how common is something like this? Can you just set the context for folks who may not follow this as closely as you were some of your colleagues may have?

BRIG. GEN. PETER ZWACK (RET), U.S. ARMY: Omar, thank you for having me. It is -- this is -- doesn't happen often, but it is not a one-off. But it seems like these types of operations, these exercises approaching sensitive waters, both by sea and there have been now as we've seen two in the last two years, but also increasingly by aircraft. Joint Russian-Chinese intercontinental bombers, for example, flying off through the Sea of Japan and up through the North Pacific.

So, there is a trend here now where the -- and this -- the Russians and the Chinese know the world are watch -- is watching. Know we are watching. And I think that they're kind of putting their elbows out, pushing into international waters, but territorial as well, and making statements by doing. And they're also been in some -- they've been parts of other maritime activities in the Middle East and elsewhere.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And how concerning is it that Russia and China are working together even if it is in a patrol context like this?

ZWACK: Well, it's -- it is concerning because it shows -- and while they're back and forth, and the Chinese are careful in how heavily they support or not, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, they maintain relationships. And they do their -- they have their big military exercises along the border. They do their naval. They do their aircraft. So, it is serious.

Now, if this switches more from demonstration sailing next to each other to inter-operability, where they're conducting combat drills together, which is what we're always watching for, that becomes even more concerning. But the fact that they're out there, they're deliberately poking --

JIMENEZ: Yes.

ZWACK: -- by doing it. They'll call it freedom of navigation. We do freedom of navigation too in other places. But this one certainly pokes us in a sensitive area.

Last point. You got to remember Alaska and the Aleutian Islands are -- basically, are part of the extended area, the water between what we call greater Eurasia and the -- and the --

JIMENEZ: Yes.

ZWACK: And the American continent. So, this is a sensitive area that Japan and Korea, and all that are in between. And they're poking in it.

JIMENEZ: And quickly, I want to turn to Ukraine there, as we've reported an alleged assassination attempt or plot on Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And I just want to get your read. We don't know if this was a Russian or a Russian informant. But is this type of plot or operation to be expected against a wartime leader like President Zelenskyy?

ZWACK: I hate to say it, but it is not fully unexpected. Yes, I think that -- and especially for a wartime leader who has exhibited extraordinary leadership with his nation standing up to the Russian aggression. And he is also an international figure as we've seen.

So, remember Russia and Ukraine, they are distinct nations. Ukrainians will remind us. But they're interwoven in history and family and links and all of that.

[11:40:10]

And the fact that you have an insider, their militaries were one once and then now they're separate, but you have interwoven people and things. So, the Ukrainians are remarkably good with their counter- intelligence because President --

JIMENEZ: Yes.

ZWACK: Zelenskyy has been a target since the first nights in Kyiv in the invasion when they were trying to get him. Russian Fifth Column saboteurs in the early days of the war.

JIMENEZ: That's right. ZWACK: This is not unexpected.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Well, Peter Zwack, thank you, as always.

ZWACK: And again --

JIMENEZ: Yes.

ZWACK: The Ukrainian counterintelligence people have proven to be really good after 17 months of this war.

JIMENEZ: And a demonstration of their prowess in at least this case. Thank you so much for your insight as always. Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up for us. A new study laying out that Americans suffering from opioid use disorders are not getting the treatments that they need. We'll dig deeper. We'll be right back.

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[11:45:27]

BOLDUAN: In 2021 alone, more than 80,000 people died from an overdose involving opioids. And new data just in to CNN shows that potentially life-saving treatments are out there to help battle opioid addiction as we know, but they are being "substantially underused." This new data finds.

CNN's Meg Tirrell has more on this. She's joining us now. Meg, what else does this study say?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, so they looked at this medication-assisted treatment, which includes things like methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone. And these drugs have been proven to be incredibly useful in sustaining people's recovery and also preventing overdose deaths from opioid use disorder.

And so, they looked at a survey from 2021 of 47,000 adults in the United States. And what they found is that an estimated two and a half million people had opioid use disorder in the previous year, but only 22 percent were receiving medication treatment. They really -- experts calling this a devastating failure to use a safe and life-saving option for medication treatment for this disorder, Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, it's not just that not enough people are getting it, right, it's there -- the survey also found disparities and who was getting the treatment who actually did?

TIRRELL: Yes. The data show that men were six times more likely to get medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder in this survey and that white adults were 14 times more likely than black adults to receive medication treatment. On the flip side of that, they found that people who are receiving treatment via telehealth were 40 times more likely to receive medication treatment.

And so, the researchers are really calling for more efforts to reduce the gap in treatment, and also more studies to see if there are ways to lift barriers to access here. They also found unemployment and living in a non-metropolitan area made you less likely to get treatment.

BOLDUAN: Look. The disparities are huge. This is really important information to get out there in order for there to be a correction to help more people get what potentially life-saving treatment that they need. It's good to see, Meg. Thanks for bringing it to us. John.

BERMAN: Our coworker, Barbara Millicent Roberts, making history. A billion dollars at the box office and counting.

BOLDUAN: I sound like a dying animal when I laugh. I'm so messed up.

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[11:52:09]

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BERMAN: That was Taylor Swift.

BOLDUAN: What?

BERMAN: I -- it has come to my attention that that was Taylor Swift. Now --

JIMENEZ: There you are.

BERMAN: It's OK.

BOLDUAN: Oh, wait. We have been -- look, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

BOLDUAN: The end of the show is essentially the time to just shame John Berman.

JIMENEZ: OK, I'm on board -- I'm on board with that.

BOLDUAN: Anyway, you can embarrass him. That's the goal of the end of the show.

BERMAN: Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Barbie, two of them real, they are driving pop culture this summer and they are bringing in big bucks.

JIMENEZ: Look. Barely three weeks into its run, writer-director Greta Gerwig's blockbuster has raked in $1.03 billion with the B. Barbie was distributed by Warner Brothers which has the same parent company as CNN. I think she though is the favorite child right now.

BOLDUAN: How dare you anchor Barbie? Says anchor Barbie. Let's go over to Vanessa Yurkevich. She's here now. Vanessa, you know we love Barbie chat. It's phenomenal though what Greta Gerwig has done. VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's amazing. I mean, we've heard of Barbienheimer. Now, there's Barbielion or billion.

BOLDUAN: OK.

YURKEVICH: That's Barbie raking in an amazing over one billion dollars globally. Greta Gerwig, the first female solo director to cross this line. Only 53 movies have achieved this success.

BOLDUAN: Wow.

YURKEVICH: So, it's just unbelievable that they have done this. But also that they've been able to do this in such a short time. Three weeks. It's not like they're dragging to a billion. They got there very, very quickly.

And it's pretty split. I mean, you have the global box office world -- abroad doing pretty well. And then you have the domestic audience right behind it. So, a billion dollars and still counting. I still have to see it, so take my money.

BERMAN: Yes, that will add. That will add significantly. Look, as we said, you see other temples to the Warner Brothers Discovery Empire, CNN NEWS CENTRAL --

BOLDUAN: Obviously.

BERMAN: And Barbie driving the success.

BOLDUAN: Stop laughing.

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BERMAN: Also, our good friend Taylor Swift, I understand is doing well.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

YURKEVICH: Incredibly well. She is driving U.S. GDP. One economist saying that she's going to add five billion dollars to U.S. GDP.

JIMENEZ: Wow.

YURKEVICH: Not just with ticket sales but because of all the merchandise, because of the airfare, the hotels. The Federal Reserve, even saying that Philadelphia's tourism was a little bit on the decline. But the month Taylor Swift came to town in May of this year, hotels saw the best month since before the pandemic.

And world leaders want a piece of this. The mayor of Budapest, Hungary, and also the President of Chile reaching out to Taylor Swift asking her to come to town. And then you have Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with this fabulous tweet.

It's me. Hi, I know places in Canada would love to have you. So don't make it another cool summer. We hope to see you soon. And she is going on her world leg of this tour. And she's going to be going to Toronto. So, hey, maybe a tweet did work. Maybe.

[11:55:08]

JIMENEZ: I think -- I think for some of these candidates they need to be including some sort of big tour in their economic plan. It's like, all right, look, I'm going to raise the economy, I want to bring Taylor Swift's tour through the country.

BOLDUAN: That's what Biden -- that was what Biden was going to leave. He's like, here's how we're going to tackle inflation.

JIMENEZ: Taylor Swift.

BOLDUAN: Taylor Swift on tour for seven years.

BERMAN: But Vanessa told me that Beyonce was inflationary.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

BOLDUAN: You're right.

YURKEVICH: Don't forget about Beyonce. Cannot count out of her out.

BOLDUAN: do not -- do not speak of her.

JIMENEZ: You can't forget about the queen. You can't forget about the queen.

YURKEVICH: She is inflationary. So, she's great because she brings business to town. But what happens then, prices go up when she launched her world tour in Sweden.

That was great for the folks who wanted to see her and for the local businesses. But inflation did not drop as much as the country wanted to see. And she had an effect but you know, Beyonce fans, are they Swifties?

BOLDUAN: I got --

YURKEVICH: What are they called, Beyonce-ers? I don't know. They didn't --

BOLDUAN: Lots called them Beehives.

YURKEVICH: The Beehive, yes. Oh boy.

BOLDUAN: You have to -- (INAUDIBLE)

YURKEVICH: I'm going to get -- I'm going to get some mail for that.

BOLDUAN: You're the best. Thank you.

YURKEVICH: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, that is all for CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Have a great day. Omar's entire extended family, who's here watching --

BOLDUAN: Thank you, Omar family.

BERMAN: -- bye, guys. "INSIDE POLITICS" is up next.

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