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Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) Endorses Michael Bloomberg; Interview with Culinary Workers Union Secretary-Treasurer; Maternal Death Rates in U.S. Discriminate by Race. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired February 17, 2020 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY): -- prosecutors who really just want to do their job.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Do you think he needs to resign?

MEEKS: I have long thought that maybe he should resign because he's not standing up for policy, seems to be -- and it seems then translates to if you just draw back what the president says and what the president wants on specific cases, that seems to be what Barr's doing, and that's not what the U.S. attorney general's job is.

HILL: Really quickly, because I do want to pivot. But I just was in a conversation over the weekend and this came up, and I asked Elie Honig -- former federal prosecutor -- earlier this morning about it.

As we look at this and the concerns that people have and how divided the country is, is it time to rethink the way the attorney general is appointed? Should it be a political appointee?

MEEKS: Well, I would say that it's time to think about who's the president of the United States. We've never had this problem before. This is a Trump-induced problem.

We didn't have a problem with prior presidents getting involved in this same manner.

They -- as someone on your show said -- they've gotten involved in what (INAUDIBLE) what the policy, but a president getting involved in investigations of individuals that are close to him has never happened before. So I think that the problem is not the system, the problem is the president who is the one that's doing this.

HILL: In terms of the president, let's shift. Let's talk a little 2020. You, of course, have endorsed a man who's well-known in this city as well, Michael Bloomberg.

And there was some question about that because there are questions about, obviously, stop-and-frisk, which he apologized for just before announcing his campaign; these other comments that have surfaced from -- I believe it's 2013, also from 2015, talking about stop-and-frisk, talking about redlining. And now we're seeing comments, again, which have come up before, but

comments again that have been attributed to him, things that he was saying in the workplace, what he was saying toward pregnant women when he was at Bloomberg. All this after, over the weekend ,he said he would be, you know, a champion for everyone, a champion for all women. Does any of that give you pause?

MEEKS: Now, look, I'm one of the few people that was here during the 12 years that Bloomberg was the mayor. I clearly did not agree with his stop-and-frisk policy. I did not support him when he was running all three times. But I've listened to him and I've had a chance to talk to him, and I know the current scenario that this country's in.

Now, being a member of Congress, we are a divided country and we have a president who is an individual that is upsetting every norm. So we've got to make sure that we have the best person to defeat the president. And when I review Michael Bloomberg -- and I've had the chance to talk to him -- I've told him that, and he's acknowledged that the stop-and-frisk policy was wrong.

But I also didn't judge because, you know, I look at -- sometimes where a person spends their money tells you where they are. In fact, when I was a kind, we had this saying, put your money where your mouth is. So I've watched some of that.

And when I looked to see who was fighting the NRA because he wanted to get guns out of our communities and stop it, the gun violence in our country? Mike Bloomberg has done that. I looked to see where he spent his money with reference to health care, trying to close (ph) obesity, get folks off of cigarettes, but you know, healthy -- to be healthy, Mike Bloomberg has put his money there.

And education, I looked here, you know, I've talked to some friends like David Banks from The Eagle Academy and how he's trying to educate and give our young people another chance so that they can be part of the economy that's growing in America, he's put his money where his mouth is.

HILL: You were telling me in the break that you've heard a lot from your constituents and they're very divided, and specifically Millennials who are not happy with you putting your support behind Michael Bloomberg. You talk about the conversations you've had with him, that you've heard from him.

The voters have not heard from him. He has not yet qualified for a debate. How important is that, to not only let people hear from him but also so they get more than just hundreds of millions of dollars in ads?

MEEKS: Well, I think it is important. And I think that -- and I know I've had a conversation with the mayor, and he's -- he's got to get on that debate stage. I've talked to him about coming and talking to individuals in the districts here in New York, and he's ready to do that.

I think that if you listen to some of his speeches in Houston and then California recently, he's starting to get out there. So I think that you'll have an opportunity to -- the public will -- and I think it is important -- to hear him on the debate stage very shortly. I think he just needs one qualifying poll, one additional. Hopefully that will happen, he'll be on the stage Wednesday night.

HILL: And really quickly, does he need to do more to address these comments that have again come back about women and specifically pregnant women in the workplace?

MEEKS: Well, I think that he needs to be -- Mike Bloomberg will step up, and he has to step up so that they hear from him and he convinced the American people that he's the right -- as he's convinced me, he's the right man at the right time to be the next president of the United States, and is the best man equipped to get that individual who I say lives in public housing at 1600 Pennsylvania, to evict him from there. He's the best person to beat Donald Trump.

[10:35:07]

HILL: Congressman --

MEEKS: And bring us together as a country.

HILL: Congressman, good to have you here this morning. Thank you.

MEEKS: Good to be with you.

HILL: Appreciate it.

Officials with Nevada's largest union reportedly facing attacks online from Bernie Sanders' supporters. Sanders, now distancing himself from that. But we'll speak with one of the union leaders who says she personally has become a target. And we'll ask her if Sanders' statement is enough.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:03]

HILL: Joe Biden is calling on 2020 rival Bernie Sanders to condemn reported threats his supports aimed at Nevada's Culinary Union.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He may not be responsible for it, but he has some accountability. The stuff that was said online, the way they threatened these two women who are leaders in that culinary union, it is outrageous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The culinary union is the largest in Nevada. Sanders' supports reportedly targeted two officials online after the union distributed flyers opposing Sanders' Medicare for All plan.

And joining me now, one of those union leaders who was targeted. Geoconda Arguello-Kline is secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226. It's good to have you with us.

And I do want to read -- this is part of the Sanders statement in response to the reported attacks. Quote, "We urge supporters of all campaigns not to engage in bullying or ugly personal attacks." These were ugly and personal attacks. These were threats lobbed directly at you. Does that statement do enough?

GEOCONDA ARGUELLO-KLINE, SECRETARY-TREASURER, CULINARY WORKERS UNION LOCAL 226: I think had to be morally (ph), what he's saying right now. Because this has been an attack to women and to minorities. You know, I've been in the union for 30 years, I've been working for the Culinary Union Local 226 and we've never gone through what's going on right now.

It's -- we have a director, the communications, where (ph) he said women of color -- myself, but (ph) he said women of color both (ph) were (ph) being under attack only because we put the facts and a scorecard to the members.

Our responsibility as leaders of the union and the members selecting us every three years, and we have to let them (ph) know what is the truth, what is happening. And what we're saying is, every -- we're putting every name from the presidential candidate, what they stand for. That's it, that's what we're putting on their scorecard.

And after that, there was calls (ph), threats (ph) and really very -- my family's never been concerned. I've been working 30 years in the union. And for the first time, they're really concerned about what's going on. You know? And I think that this is not right.

HILL: Have those attacks continued since the statement?

ARGUELLO-KLINE: It's been really bad attacks and bad words and names. And was only because we pulled the facts in a scorecard to the members. And we let them know what the presidential candidates stand for, immigration and the economics and the health care. And we did that.

And after that point, you know, what's incredible, it's been like a calls (ph), threats (ph), letting know, us, we're never going to be able to work anymore. In my 30 years I've been in the union, you know, I've been in all kind of different fights, my family never was concerned.

And what I see (ph) is that to the two women's -- minority women, women of color, the president of the union, since the (INAUDIBLE) nothing happened to him. But they never say one word to the president, they never say one word to the president of the union, I hear.

But they're saying only to the women of color. And that's what (ph) it was (ph), I am here today too.

HILL: Do you think it was racially motivated?

ARGUELLO-KLINE: I think it was to threaten (ph), intimidate us to put the facts. And you know, they're not going to intimidate us to put the facts. That's our responsibility, to let them know --

HILL: You --

ARGUELLO-KLINE: -- the members. But it's very uncomfortable for my family.

HILL: I can imagine it must be. As you say, you were putting out these facts. You did speak out against the Sanders plan, you have not -- the Culinary Union has not endorsed a candidate.

You were asked, over the weekend, if Bernie Sanders were ultimately the nominee, whether you would support him. You didn't answer that question. Are you able to answer that for us this morning? If he is in fact the Democratic nominee, would you support him?

ARGUELLO-KLINE: You know, we are committed -- we are committed to defeat President Trump. That's our mission. We work really hard. You know, we invited Senator Sanders to the union hall, we invited Senator Sanders to the Culinary Hill (ph) Center. We really respect every single labor (ph) -- every single presidential candidate.

At the end, you know, what we have -- what we are committed is to defeat President Trump, that's it. We're going to work really hard, we're going to come up and knock on doors, make phone calls, be sure people come in (ph) to vote because we don't want to have President Trump as the president. And we will, you know, support and do whatever it takes to remove President Trump.

[10:45:00]

HILL: Geoconda Arguello-Kline, we appreciate you joining us this morning. Thank you.

Coming up --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES JOHNSON, WIFE KIRA DIED IN CHILDBIRTH: When they took Kira back to surgery and he opened her up, there were three and a half liters of blood in her abdomen from where she had been allowed to bleed internally for almost 10 hours. And her heart stopped immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Hundreds of American mothers are dying in childbirth every year. Why? That story is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: A stunning and frankly sobering new report finds American women are dying in childbirth at alarming rates. According to the CDC, the U.S. is the only developed country with a rising death rate for pregnant or new mothers. CNN's Robyn Curnow spoke to a man who's suing a Los Angeles hospital after his pregnant wife died during what was supposed to be a routine c-section. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Little boys playing, watched over by a mom they are too young to remember.

Kira Johnson's husband Charles hasn't stopped remembering. He's still grieving, still angry from that night in hospital.

JOHNSON: I can see the Foley catheter coming from Kira's bedside begin to turn pink with blood.

CURNOW (voice-over): He says doctors told them now-three-year-old Langston's birth would be a routine cesarean section.

JOHNSON: I just held her by her hands and said, please, look, my wife isn't doing well. And this woman looked me directly in my eyes, and she said, sir, your wife just isn't a priority right now. It wasn't until 12:30 a.m. the next morning that they finally made the decision to take Kira back to surgery.

CURNOW (voice-over): As critical minutes turned into hours, Johnson says he was continually ignored by staff at Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles as Kira's health continued to suffer.

JOHNSON: When they took Kira back to surgery and he opened her up, there were three and a half liters of blood in her abdomen from where she had been allowed to bleed internally for almost 10 hours. And her heart stopped immediately.

CURNOW (voice-over): Johnson is suing the hospital for the loss of his wife. And with the case pending, Cedar Sinai told CNN in a statement that they could not respond directly because of privacy laws, but that "Cedar Sinai thoroughly investigates any situation where there are concerns about a patient's medical care."

Kira was a successful entrepreneur who spoke five languages. This is video she recorded, teaching her firstborn son to speak Mandarin. This was a woman who could fly planes and skydive, seemed invincible to her family, which is why her death is so much harder to understand.

JOHNSON: That's when I started to do the research for myself, and I realized that oh my gosh, we are in the midst of a maternal mortality crisis that isn't just shameful for American standards, it is shameful on a global scale.

CURNOW (voice-over): The charity Every Mother Counts, which was started by supermodel Christy Turlington, works across the world on maternal health but also in the U.S. because America is the only developed country with a rising death rate for pregnant or new mothers. Approximately 700 women in the U.S. die each year.

Globally, the comparison is stark. More mothers die in childbirth in America than they do in Iran, Turkey or Bosnia Herzegovina, even Kazakhstan. All have lower maternal death rates.

LYNSEY ADDARIO, WAR PHOTOGRAPHER: Finally, they took her to the doctor --

CURNOW (voice-over): Lynsey Addario is a Pulitzer Prize-winning war photographer who's documented the deaths of women in childbirth around the world in the same way she tackles a war zone.

ADDARIO: It's almost more heartbreaking because I think when I go to war, I kind of know what to expect.

CURNOW (voice-over): What she did not expect was to find that her own birthplace, America, was failing pregnant women in some of the same ways that much less developed countries fail their mothers.

ADDARIO: When I go to the United States, I see, you know, these little scenes of heartbreak. I just can't believe they're happening in my own country. It's almost harder.

CURNOW (voice-over): Every Mother Counts says many of their deaths are because of an unequal health care system and systemic racism. Public health experts warn this crisis is not just affecting poor or sick moms, but also healthy, college-educated African-American women.

WANDA BARFIELD, DOCTOR OF DIVISION OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, CDC: We do know that there may be issues in terms of institutional racism. A well-educated African-American woman with more than a high school education has a fivefold risk of death compared to a white woman with less than a high school education.

JOHNSON: There is a failure and a disconnect for the people who are responsible for the lives of these precious women and babies, to see them and value them in the same way that they would their daughters, their mothers, their sisters.

CURNOW (voice-over): Now part of an unnecessarily large fraternity of Americans who have lost partners in childbirth, Charles is pushing for policy changes, raising awareness and trying to hold doctors and hospitals accountable.

JOHNSON: If I can simply do something to make sure that I send other mothers home with their precious babies, then it's all worth it.

CURNOW (voice-over): And he's raising his sons, teaching them about their mother.

JOHNSON: What I try and do is just wake up every day, make mommy proud, repeat.

When'd you get so good?

CURNOW (voice-over): Robyn Curnow, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[10:54:42]

HILL: Up next, how the NBA All-Star Game honored Kobe Bryant.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: An emotional night at this year's NBA All-Star Game. Before the game, lots of heartwarming tributes for Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gigi and the seven others who died in that helicopter crash last month.

Magic Johnson took the mike to speak about what Kobe meant to basketball all around the world.

And that, of course, is Chicago native Jennifer Hudson. She sang a tribute to Kobe and Gigi. Team Giannis (ph) wore Kobe's number, 24, for the game while Team LeBron wore Gigi's number, two.

[11:00:08]

Thanks to all of you for joining me today.