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Qatar: "Contradictory Statements" From Israel On Ceasefire Proposal; U.S. Has Worst Maternal Death Rate Among High-Income Nations; Angel Reese On Caitlin Clark Rivalry: "I'll Take The Bad Guy Role"; ESPN Host McAfee Apologizes For Calling Caitlin Clark The "B" Word. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired June 04, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:32:34]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: There is more confusion today about who is actually on board with the new ceasefire and hostage release proposal in Gaza.

President Biden laid out this three-phase plan on Friday. He said it was proposed by Israel. But now Qatar, one of the key mediators in the negotiations, says that Israeli officials have given contradictory statements about the proposal and have yet to convey a clear position.

Qatar also says, despite Hamas saying it views the proposal positively, they're still falling short of a, quote, "commitment to the language."

It has been now 241 days since the brutal Hamas attack and kidnappings in Israel.

And joining us now is Adi Alexander. He is the father of Israeli- American Edan Alexander, who has been held hostage by Hamas since October 7th.

Adi, thank you so much for being with us.

I know you actually met with Jake Sullivan at the White House along with other families this morning. What can you tell us about how this meeting went.

ADI ALEXANDER, FATHER OF ISRAELI-AMERICAN HOSTAGE HELD BY HAMAS: The meeting as always went really, really well. It's our eighth meeting with Jake. We kind of having recruiting monthly, meeting with the updates.

And basically, we back to square where we we're back in January and the beginning of May, awaiting from Hamas reply.

KEILAR: And you, as you said, you've met eight times now. Your son is a graduate of Tenafly High School in New Jersey.

ALEXANDER: Right. KEILAR: He's a -- he's a New Jersey boy. And your family finds themselves in this situation.

I know that you listened to everything carefully that you're hearing from the White House, including on Friday when the president announced this three-phase ceasefire proposal that he said was Israels proposal. Netanyahu now says that it's incomplete.

How do you see what is going on when it comes to the communication between Netanyahu and the White House?

ALEXANDER: I think the president's remark on Friday were made just to make sure that everybody does his job, Netanyahu and Sinwar. So --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Of Hamas.

ALEXANDER: And Hamas, of course. There is some holes on what was presented. It feels like some holes in it. But again, we don't see the whole picture. We don't see the whole 40-page agreement.

[13:35:05]

And we have to remain focused and hopeful that they will strike the deal this time.

KEILAR: What are the holes as you see from what was presented?

[13:35:]

ALEXANDER: I think the holes are mainly, it's political posture. It's transition from the phase one to phase two. But again --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: From a temporary -- what seems like a temporary ceasefire that, as long as negotiations continue, would continue even beyond several weeks.

ALEXANDER: Yes.

KEILAR: But that would then get you into hostage releases of the sort of your son, who serves in the IDF

ALEXANDER: Correct.

KEILAR: Is that what you mean?

ALEXANDER: Correct.

KEILAR: So you -- so specifically, you don't see how things move if there's some kind of hiccup in negotiations, what happens, is that the hole you're seeing?

ALEXANDER: I see them move actually because it's happened already back in November. And you have to start somehow. You have to put the end of the -- to the agony of all of the hostage families, of the hostages and the civilian population of Gaza.

And once the mechanism is established, I think it will proceed and we will go up to the end.

KEILAR: So what do you want -- when you hear Netanyahu -- he's coming here, he's going to be speaking to a joint session of Congress.

What do you want to hear from him?

ALEXANDER: I just hope that this visit will be -- first of all, my feeling is it's too soon. He needs to deal with -- with the ongoing crisis in Israel, with ongoing hostage crisis.

And I hope it will be -- it will be happening conventionally, but now it's too soon. I had -- June 13. That's not the place and not the time.

KEILAR: It seems like it may go -- June 13, it seems has changed, but it may be not that long after that. To your point, it's all -- it's all the same in terms of your opinion of that.

If he does come, nonetheless, should Biden meet with him?

ALEXANDER: I think so. Yes.

KEILAR: Why?

ALEXANDER: I think they should meet. Just to make sure that everybody's on the same page. And he stands behind the Islam proposal that he made to Hamas. And just keep everything under control and under the certain amount of pressure, just to nail this deal down.

KEILAR: What do you want Edan to know? I will tell you. I met your wife recently in the Middle East.

ALEXANDER: Correct.

KEILAR: You and your wife will go to any length to advocate for your son. That is very clear, as so many families will. But it's very clear with your family.

What do you want your son to know as you continue to advocate for his release?

ALEXANDER: He needs to know that we'll keep fighting for him. And I want to tell him to remain strong and we will never give up.

KEILAR: You are remaining strong and you aren't giving up. How are you managing that?

ALEXANDER: I have two little kids. I mean, we have our daughter, Mika. She will have a prom tomorrow. So I'll have to be back to the pre- prom. And we have a 13-year-old son, which is a great basketball player.

I've just been with them at Cape May and a huge basketball tournament. They made them second place. So we have to remain strong for our kids.

KEILAR: And you have Edan, who is 20. He turned 20 in captivity.

ALEXANDER: Correct.

KEILAR: Well, Idi, thank you so much for your time. And we'll continue to pay attention to these meetings that you're having and your efforts.

ALEXANDER: Thank you.

KEILAR: Thank you.

[13:38:57]

And we'll be right back.

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[13:43:25]

KEILAR: An alarming new report reveals than when it comes to high- income countries, the U.S. continues to have the worst maternal death rate.

The Commonwealth Fund analyzed 14 countries and it found it more American women are dying during pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum, despite recent declines.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: So here are the stats on this. For every 100,000 live births in the U.S. in 2022, nearly two dozen women died. And black woman in America fared even worse.

Here's how the U.S. stacks up against some of the other countries. Norway reported zero maternal deaths.

Here to discuss his Dr. Tamika Auguste. She is the chair of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Foundation Board of Directors and also a board-certified OB-GYN.

Doctor, thanks so much for being here with us.

These numbers are really sobering and kind of astounding considering the United States has so many sources. Why are other nations seeing better rates compared to us, here in the U.S.?

DR. TAMIKA AUGUSTE, OBSTETRICIAN & GYNECOLOGIST: Well, thank you for having me and speaking about this very important topic.

When we look at the other nations and compare them to us, there are a couple of different things that we have to look at. We do have to look at the population. We have to look at how they expand their resources towards maternity care. And we have to look at the workforce. I think those are some of the biggest issues that we have to look at

between us and those other countries.

KEILAR: When you look at the -- I mean, the Norway number really sticks out right? Zero deaths recorded by Norway.

What -- what do you see there? Is that completely accurate? What are they doing that the U.S. is not?

[13:45:05]

AUGUSTE: Sure. Well, I can't speak to exactly what Norway is doing. But I can tell you some of the differences and what needs to change here.

One of the things that is driving our maternal mortality numbers, especially our black maternal mortality numbers is the issues around racism or bias.

Not only the effects of that has directly on birthing individuals and women, but also the bias that's in health care. That is, that's been there for decades, for -- upon decades upon decades.

Also, we have to look at the resources around maternity care that are not resources that are typical here in the United States, but maybe other places.

Things like covered insurance, also home visits, also we need to look at the workforce that are doing some of these deliveries, physicians, midwives. We need to look at how other countries may do it and maybe take some lessons from that.

DEAN: And you talked a little bit about this in your last answer, but I really would like to drill down on this because American black women have this even higher maternal -- maternal mortality rate. And you talked about the bias that exists in the system.

What else can be done to reverse that course? And also, is there any role that this lack of access? I'm from Arkansas. It's really hard for some people to even get to a doctor.

AUGUSTE: Yes. Oh, absolutely. Thank you for that.

Well, with issues around bias or racism, first thing is that we have to acknowledge that it does exist. We have to acknowledge the effect that that racism and bias, both conscious and unconscious, have on individuals, right? The stress that they endure, the weathering they ensure.

And then we need to acknowledge that, in some -- some decision-making procedures or practice in health care there is bias baked in there. And we have to pause. We have to look at it, acknowledge it, and change it.

But in terms of access or the places where there might be without any obstetrical care, we need to look at the reasons why, why physicians, midwives aren't practicing in some regions in this country. And then we have to make that change.

KEILAR: Can I ask you, you mentioned the home visits, which I, think after I had my baby, I had home visits from people I knew. I did not have -- there was no care. And I think afterward, there was no home visit. I think that's just the case for so many people.

And yet, that you can see where, for the postpartum deaths, would be so key. Also for people who are having postpartum issues as well. How do we implement something like that?

AUGUSTE: Sure. So yes. In some of those other countries that we're being compared to, home visits in the first one to two weeks after delivery is routine. But it's something that is not routine here and the United States.

Sure. We have some pilot projects, certain small communities that do that. But that is not wide-standing practice.

And so how do we change that? Well, first and foremost, we need to have the postpartum period covered. Why we don't have some -- why some women don't have access, it's because they don't have health insurance.

And there is Medicaid expansion that we are promoting to have for 12 months postpartum. I mean, states need to adopt that so that -- so that birthing individuals and women can be covered in the postpartum period.

And then, we need to look at changing the mindset or changing how postpartum care is delivered. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recently put out a paper saying, what -- how to optimize postpartum care.

It's a little bit different. It's no longer, you have your baby, see you in six weeks. It's you have your baby, let's touch base in a week, let's touch base in two weeks.

Or as many times as you want, in case there's a problem. Let me call in my colleagues in different disciplines, whether it's mental health or internal medicine, cardiology, to come so we can help take care of you together.

DEAN: Yes. And that is the thing. Six weeks is a long time when you have a newborn.

All right. Dr. Tamika Auguste, thank you so much.

AUGUSTE: Thank you for having me.

[13:49:30]

DEAN: ESPN host, Pat McAfee, is apologizing again today for calling Caitlin Clark, the "B" word. Why he says he meant it as a compliment. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DEAN: A WNBA game played three days ago is still sparking debate. All of it over the treatment of star player, Caitlin Clark.

CNN's Don Riddell is here with us now.

And, Don, the tension is between Clark and Angel Reese at this point.

RON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, this is just an absolutely fascinating story, Jessica, which has transcended the sport. We've been hearing a lot of diverse opinions over the last day or so. And I think it's OK to say that more than one thing can be true.

The WNBA has been around for 28 years. And although the league has had some wonderful players in that time, only now is it capturing mainstream hype and attention.

Women's sports were already growing in popularity. But the arrival of the record-breaking college megastar, Caitlin Clark, has just exploded interest in the game.

Whilst her Indiana Fever team has been struggling, her personal performances have largely justified the hype. And she's been setting records for a rookie and has just been named as the rookie of the month as well.

But her opponents are not making it easy. And this flagrant foul by Chicago's Chennedy Carter over the weekend has, I think, exposed some of the tensions within the league.

[13:55:07]

Look at Angel Reese applauding that foul. She and Clark had a tempestuous rivalry as college athletes. And she says that she deserves some of the credit for the game's new-found popularity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGEL REESE, CHICAGO SKY FORWARD: It all started from the national championship game and I begin dealing with this for two years now. And understanding like, yes, negative things they've been said about me. But honestly, I'll take that because look where women's basketball is.

People are talking about women's basketball. You've never would think that when we talk about women's basketball. People are pulling up the games. We got celebrities coming to the games, sold out arenas, just because of one single game.

And just looking at that, like, I'll take that role. I'll take the bad guy role and I'll continue to take that and be there for that for my teammates.

And if I want to be, then I know I'll go down in history. I'll look back at 20 years and be like, yes, the reason why we watching women's basketball is not just because of one person. It's because of me, too. And I want you guys to realize that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: Yes, no question, this rivalry is a compelling narrative. And surely, it will only intensify. The fans will have their own opinions about who or what is making the games so popular right now.

DEAN: And ESPN host, Pat McAfee -- McAfee -- I'm sorry -- called Caitlin Clark the "B" word while attempting to praise her yesterday. What did he say on his show today? Do he say anything about that?

RIDDELL: Oh, absolutely. He led the show with it. He apologized via a statement on Monday and it was the first thing he talked about today.

He says that he never meant to cause offense. He said that he felt like he was the worst human on earth when he realized the controversy that he unleashed.

And he says that he reached out to Clark to apologize. He says that she says it's all good now. He denies that he is a racist.

And with regard to the "B" word, he says that he often talks about people he respects with language that might sound offensive. But he says he's learned a lot in the last 24 hours and he's made it very clear again that he is a very big fan of Caitlin Clark's.

DEAN: All right. Don Riddell, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Any moment now, President Biden will deliver remarks on his new executive action on the border. We're going to bring that to you live what it happens.

You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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