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Fifteen Shot Near Chicago Funeral Home As Trump Threatens Federal Forces; Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) Discusses House GOP Confronting Liz Cheney Over Support Of Fauci; Florida GOP Lawmaker Apologizes To AOC, Denies Using Gender Slur. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired July 22, 2020 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[13:30:00]
MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), CHICAGO: Young men who don't believe there's a future other than being part of one of these gangs or factions.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The superintendent of the Chicago Police Department points to gang violence in at least in this latest mass shooting.
DAVID BROWN, SUPERINTENDENT, CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: In day of the week, any hour of the day, several hundred gang conflicts related to that 117,000 gang members.
(SIREN)
JIMENEZ: Another factor that can't be ignored the ongoing coronavirus pandemic significantly affecting the ecosystem of public safety, including jails, courts, community groups and first responders including police.
Just this past weekend alone, over 60 people were shot and 12 were killed. And 2020 is on pace to be one of the deadliest the city has seen in decades with both murders and shootings up close to 50 percent compared to the same time last year.
It's part of why the Trump administration is planning to send in additional federal resources to the city that Mayor Lightfoot says will bolster their already existing federal partnerships to suppress violent crime based on information she has.
But as solutions are being worked out in offices, lives are lost in a vicious deadly cycle.
BROWN: The cycle of violence in Chicago, someone gets shot, which prompts someone else to pick up a gun. The same cycle repeats itself over and over and over again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JIMENEZ: Now, in the shooting at the funeral home, police do believe at this point it was rival gang factions that set that off in that case. The person the funeral was actually for was killed in a separate drive-by shooting last week.
In regard to police presence, it's our understanding those additional federal resources are not here just yet.
In the meantime, the Chicago Police Department says they are going to step up a more bolstered and strategic presence to try to stem some of this violence as they, among others, fear what comes next in this -- retaliation. And this already deadly cycle just gets even deadlier -- Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Omar, thank you so much. Omar Jimenez in Chicago.
The FOX News doctor interviewing President Trump today has given some rather questionable advice over the past few months including, dismissing the coronavirus as the flu.
Plus, House Republicans confronting Liz Cheney in a closed-door meeting accusing her of splitting with President Trump. I'll speak live with one Republican who was there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:37:20]
KEILAR: GOP in-fighting is escalating now with Senator Rand Paul adding his voice to conservative attacks on Congresswoman Liz Cheney, of Wyoming. Senator Paul telling CNN he doesn't think Cheney is, quote, "good for the country," and accusing her of trying to sabotage President Trump's foreign policy as well.
Paul's criticism comes on the heels of attacks against Cheney by fellow House Republicans. Some of President Trump's staunchest allies slammed Cheney during a House GOP conference meeting, which she chairs that.
And one of the lawmakers in that meeting was Republican Congressman Chip Roy, of Texas. He's joining us to talk about this.
And Congressman Roy, there was a member in the meeting who said you specifically, the issue you took with Congresswoman Cheney was her support of Dr. Fauci.
Can you explain why her support of Dr. Fauci is a problem for you?
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): Well, Brianna, thanks for having me on.
Look, we had a great conversation in our conference. We're united on opposing the overwhelmingly leftist Democratic agenda which will cause taxes to go up and undermine our national security and our energy security by targeting oil and gas in Texas.
We're of one mind. But let's be clear. We should have a robust debate, unlike my Democratic colleagues who are all in lockstep for big government and for standing up for defunding police.
We have a robust debate. And raised a couple of issues that I think are important. We had a good conversation about it.
Number one, we should be in Washington and should be voting, doing our job. We should be here. And Thomas Massie was right in March saying we should be in Washington voting. I defended Thomas massive in that question.
And the point about Dr. Fauci, of course, this is classic swamp journalism. I didn't attack Dr. Fauci. What I raised was we should have more voices about science, and hear from other the doctors, the doctor from Stamford University. We should hear from the Oxford epidemiologist and doctors. All of whom are saying lockdowns are a failed strategy, talking how we can be open, our kids can be safe.
America needs to be back to work, back in school so people can live their lives.
That was the debate we were having. An actual robust debate. Imagine than? We don't have debate on the House floor because Nancy Pelosi won't let us do it.
KEILAR: It's not swap journalism that a member of your conference said that you took issue -- this is a basic thing. She has supported Dr. Fauci. You took issue with her specific support of Dr. Fauci.
What is your beef with her support of Dr. Fauci? What is your beef with, I guess -- I don't know what you've heard from Dr. Fauci you don't feel is complete enough. What's your beef with that?
[13:40:01]
ROY: What I raised was we need to hear from multiple doctors and multiple epidemiologists. Dr. Fauci --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: What do you take issue with him, though?
ROY: Well, the --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: You're side-stepping the question.
ROY: I'm not sidestepping the question. Nine years ago next week, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. I went to an outstanding doctor at M.D. Anderson in Houston, Texas. He gave me a treatment plan that involved a new treatment that is now the standard of care for Hodgkin's lymphoma patients.
I didn't just listen to him, even though he's one of the best in the world. I got a second, third and fourth opinion. Brianna, that was my life. My life. We're talking about the lives of millions of Americans.
Dr. Fauci has an opinion. I'm happy to hear it. Science dictates an objective review. Not just going in saying, do you believe in science. Like talking about belief in god. Actually, analyzing objectively. Having hearings, listening to multiple epidemiologists.
Lots of doctors today say we can go back to school. We can go back to work. We can engage in a way that doesn't involve lockdowns that cripple our economy.
And 45 percent of black-owned businesses are closed right now because we've shut down our economy. That's a real statistic. A real-world example.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: So what Dr. Fauci has said on those topics, what do you want a second opinion on?
ROY: Dr. Fauci, for example, he said several months ago, don't wear masks, then changed to wearing a mask. Dr. Fauci has raised a number of different thing and talked about --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: That was several months ago. He was talking about surgical masks.
ROY: Right.
KEILAR: And now we're talking about non-surgical masks.
ROY: No --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: You're taking what he said out of context.
ROY: No. Dr. Fauci made that point in talking about the lack of need. Go back and look at the quote. The lack of need for everybody to go around wearing masks.
KEILAR: No, I have the quote. It was in early March when there was discussion and currently we're in mid-July.
(CROSSTALK)
ROY: And my point is -- right. My point is that the doctor made an assertion he then changed on. Talking about lives of 330 million Americans. Talking about trying to seek the truth.
KEILAR: The president --
ROY: And we should not just listen to one doctor.
KEILAR: The president has said that masks are patriot. And I think you're familiar with the nuance of the mask comment made by Dr. Fauci at the time.
ROY: Sure. KEILAR: There was concern N-95 masks would be in shortage for frontline workers. I think there's a conversation to be had about whether those comments were -- how they were interpreted by people when it came to mask-wearing.
The president himself has only recently -- very different than Dr. Fauci -- talked about wearing masks and saying that it's patriot, because, of course, it does really help the spread.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: It really does help stem the spread.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: I mean, you're really kind of thinking what he says --
(CROSSTALK)
ROY: No. Brianna, my point is this. When he makes assertions -- and it's not just that.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: What else is it, then?
ROY: Let's have a two-week, or a short period of lockdown or shutting down and then get back. Then it turns into multiple weeks and months. And we have advice that seems to indicate we'll keep our businesses continued to be closed, which is decimating people's lives, Brianna.
This is real. Real people's lives getting crushed. I talk to them every day. The person that invested their entire livelihood in a business to have it crippled and shut down?
We get headlines about the coast in Washington. Let's talk about the restaurants in Austin, Texas, San Antonio, Texas. The people --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: Let's talk about the lives
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: Let's talk about the lives in Texas. Talking lives crushed, we're talking lives that are gone.
ROY: Sure.
KEILAR: I just spoke with a doctor who is just south of your district.
ROY: Hidalgo, yes.
KEILAR: And they are dealing with incredible numbers --
ROY: Absolutely. KEILAR: -- death rates, as you know.
ROY: Right.
KEILAR: This isn't just about -- isn't just how you reopen when people are dying.
ROY: I get it. Brianna, let's talk about the emergency rooms, ICUs in Austin, Texas. And 28 people in the main hospital there. The people in ICUs, 25 are Hispanic.
Why is that? Because the Hispanic population is continuing to work in service jobs so that the people who, around Austin, Texas, drinking lattes and getting on Pelotons and stopping by Starbucks and Whole Foods, the service industry is still serving them.
Those people are getting sick because people think they can have their cake and eat it, too.
Dallas (ph) is getting slammed because we have people coming across our border, still wide-open borders because Nancy Pelosi refuses to secure the border.
And people come back and forth and people are infecting each other. And it's a bad hot spot. I agree.
KEILAR: I don't think Nancy Pelosi is in charge of the border.
But I want to get back to this meeting because your colleague --
(CROSSTALK)
ROY: A year ago, Nancy Pelosi prohibiting us securing the border.
KEILAR: -- says Liz Cheney should step down or removed from her position on Republican leadership. Do you share that sentiment? Do you agree with Gaetz?
ROY: This is a lot about palace intrigue about what's said in Washington. I'm not calling for Liz Cheney to step down. Liz is a friend.
We need to have a robust debate, unlike my colleagues on the Democratic side of the aisle, who are in lockstep with open borders. They love sanctuary cities. They love Antifa. They want statues getting toppled. Nancy Pelosi's response, oh, people will do whatever they do.
[13:45:10]
Go to Portland. City decimated. We should have policies that address that. And we're debating in the Republican conference.
KEILAR: How do you think the federal government's response is going to be now to coronavirus? ROY: Look, through the litany of things we've done in response.
Testing -- literally. We're testing more than the entire world combined.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: OK. How do you think --
(CROSSTALK)
ROY: -- masks produced and -- go ahead.
KEILAR: You've seen results. Also seen outcomes. So you think everything's going -- you're touting accomplishments that they aren't meeting -- they aren't meeting what needs to be done for this. Do you think everything is fine?
ROY: Meeting what needs to be done? Right. A lot of things are thrown around allegations about what needs to be done. And we're talking about virus. Two years ago, in Texas, we had about 11,000 people die of the flu. Two years ago, 11,000 people died of the flu. We have about 4,000 die from COVID.
KEILAR: Do you think this is just the flu?
ROY: I'm not saying -- this is what you people love to do. Right?
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: I didn't bring up the flu. You brought up the flu.
ROY: Go look at the report by Stamford, walks through the differences. Flu is terrible for children. We had 150 people die of the flu, children, two years ago.
COVID virus, obviously worst for some more vulnerable. Nursing homes, 45 percent of deaths nationwide are nursing homes. We need to do a better job continuing to protect nursing homes in Texas and throughout the country.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: What do you want to see from the federal government? Any improvement with how things are being done when it comes to coronavirus? I'm not hearing you say you do.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: It sounds like you think the federal response is going well.
ROY: I think the federal government has done -- done extraordinarily well producing masks and testing, getting things out to the American people.
What's important, I don't think they've done a good enough job driving the message for the American people not to be afraid. I've seen polling suggesting that people who get the virus, 5 percent
die. It's not true. It's like 0.0003 percent.
We need to focus on where the vulnerable and not scare our kids. There was a report today that 68 percent of kids are going around with mental health issues and depression because we don't have them in our schools. We're scaring the begeezus out of our children for no reason.
KEILAR: In the south of you, it's 40 out of 100,000 people with COVID are dying. Right?
ROY: I understand --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: That rate that you're touting is not true --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: -- the very place near where you represent.
ROY: The South Valley, Rio Grande Valley in south Texas, you're trying to talk about, you're actually taking the fact we have an unsecured border, wide-open border, dealing with Mexico with serious issues with their virus and a significant problem in south Texas.
All of that circulating around because people are going back and forth from the border. You're trying to turn that on the point that of 333 Americans, the fatality rate in America is vastly less than a lot of places around the world, including Japan, places in Europe.
A lot of the places people are touting as great, our fatality rate is far less.
We're dealing with a crisis. Governor Abbott is dealing with it in Texas. There's a lot of things we'll continue to work through.
The bottom line is the American people need to go back to work and school and protect our seniors and most vulnerable and get our hands on the virus. If we need to set up --
(CROSSTALK)
ROY: -- field tents and field operations in the valley, great, let's do that.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: The messaging right now -- I want to be clear. Texas currently is the fourth hardest-hit state in the country when it comes to number of cases. Right?
(CROSSTALK)
ROY: Number of -- cases -- number of cases, yes.
KEILAR: Let me finish my question.
What you want is, you want to be telling Texans and Americans don't be afraid. We want to reopen. Sounds like you're saying that.
I wonder when you have -- for instance, a lot of people who are afraid and you're aware of this -- do you really think that just -- do you think that saying that to them and not leveling with them is actually something that gives them the pause that they need to actually feel like they're getting the information and an honest picture from the representatives making them feel more comfortable opening up?
ROY: You're making my point. Call on researchers from Oxford and please call -- these are very smart people.
KEILAR: We have experts, a number of epidemiologists on CNN every day. You're aware of that.
ROY: I know. Call the epidemiologists who are raising legitimate questions about whether or not we should --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: Look, we're talking about the White House task force. It's not like we're -- we're not deviating from any sort of accepted science here. This is what the White House task force is saying.
ROY: Right. But go talk to the doctors who are out there saying -- and very smart doctors -- Stamford, right -- not talking about --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: -- the White House coronavirus task force?
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: You want a second opinion on the CDC?
ROY: I want second and third and fourth opinions on all --
(CROSSTALK)
[13:50:06]
KEILAR: It sounds like you just want to confuse people.
ROY: I want to know the truth, Brianna. When my doctor diagnosed me and said I had stage-three cancer nine years ago, I asked what my odds of survival were. He didn't give me a number. He told me, your odds are zero percent or 100 percent. You choose.
I think we're going to straight-up give them the information, not scaring the. We should tell them only two children died in Texas due to COVID that we're aware of so far and 150 died of the flu two years ago.
We have to be able to work through viruses in a way we don't cripple lives, shut down jobs, and by the way, cost lives. How many people are dying from depression, opioid abuse, lack of cancer screenings?
One of my friends got a stage-three cancer diagnose. She hasn't been getting her screenings. Why? We've been shutting down elective procedures, access to health care, all because this government has not done -- I think to answer your question -- a good enough job explaining to the American people the realities of what we're facing.
This is what we need to do. Explain the truth and not scare them. Not do what Governor Cuomo did and make everybody feel good and shoving sick people back into nursing homes, causing lots of people to die.
KEILAR: You mentioned the border. It is so bad in the U.S. that Mexico wants tighter border controls to keep Americans from bringing in the virus to Mexico. We need to be very clear about that.
ROY: I would love to work with Mexico to tighten our boarder security. Let's do it right now. Delighted to do that.
KEILAR: They're saying the issue is Americans, not Mexicans.
ROY: If we can work together to secure our boarder, I'd be delighted to do that. We're working on getting on top of this in Texas. The numbers are going in the right direction. We've been working to keep the curve flat, which is what everybody said we should do in March.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: Have you seen your curve? That is not a flat curve?
(CROSSTALK)
ROY: We've been holding those numbers down. You tout the Cuomo --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: Oh, that's just --
(CROSSTALK)
ROY: It's literally the exact opposite of what the experts said.
It's the exact opposite. Show the curve. It's literally the curve --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: Sir, I so wish that when it came to Texas I could just put the curve up right now but I do not actually have that at my fingertips. That's how it works.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: I don't think -- I do not think you are accurately representing what is happening across Texas.
But, Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.
ROY: Appreciate it, Brianna. Happy to come on anytime.
KEILAR: Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is rejecting the apology from a Republican colleague who reportedly referred to her as the F'ing "B"-word. We'll hear his words on the floor.
Plus, a new warning that American labs won't be able to cope with coronavirus tests during flu season.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:55:24]
KEILAR: Florida Republican lawmaker Ted Yoho is apologizing for his behavior towards New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Monday, they had a heated exchange on the steps of Capitol Hill about rising crime and unemployment in New York.
During that argument, a reporter from "The Hill," allegedly overheard Yoho calling her a gender slur, which he denies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TED YOHO (R-FL): I rise to apologize for the abrupt manner of the conversation I had with my colleague from New York. It's true we disagree on policies and visions for America but that does not mean we should be disrespectful.
Having been married for 45 years with two daughters, I'm very cognizant of my language. The offensive name calling words attributed to me by the press were never spoken by my colleague, and if they were construed that way, I apologize for their misunderstanding.
I cannot apologize for my passion or for loving my God, my family, and my country.
I yield back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now, Mike Lillis is the congressional reporter at "The Hill," and is the one he heard Congressman Yoho say those words.
Tell us what you witnessed. Because as you said the congressman says it didn't happen.
MIKE LILLIS, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, "THE HILL": If you parse those words, it's a very careful statement he's making, same as the written statement out of their office yesterday. He's saying, I didn't direct those at the congresswoman, which is exact accurate, and the reporting we did never claimed we connected those with the congresswoman.
It was very clear they had the disagreement on the capitol steps about crime, poverty, unemployment, etc. Then they parted ways. And as he was taking a couple steps down towards the street, towards me, was when he said that she was an F'ing "B". He's saying he said B.S. That was in the statement yesterday. The
statement today is, I didn't direct it at her. He didn't say, I didn't say it at all.
Look carefully at what he said. And I don't know if it's a denial or a nondenial, denial, or how quite to characterize it. But it's a carefully crafted statement and a lot of room for interpretation.
KEILAR: Did she hear it?
LILLIS: I don't think she could have possibly heard it. She was going in the vote and they were going out the vote. I think they were too far apart for her to hear that.
KEILAR: So, Mike, if you or I were having a heated conversation and we walked away and I wasn't facing you and I said A-hole under my breath but someone else heard it and you learned about that, I mean, what would you think about whether I was talk toing about you or not?
LILLIS: Well, you know, obviously, Ocasio-Cortez has taken it personally. This didn't happen in a vacuum. It was a very small event in a very big town. And enormous things historically are happening. They're trying to do multitrillion dollar relief package right now. So, all eyes are on other things.
But also it's a volatile time in the country. We just had the death of George Floyd, two months of protests. All these issues are explosive. They all touch on issues of age and race and gender and culture and ethnicity and party and region.
And so, I think to have this image of a 65-year-old white man berating a 37-year-old Hispanic woman on the steps of the capitol is what touched a nerve here.
Him calling her an F'ing "B" resonated with a lot of minority lawmakers, feminist activists, women's rights activists and all of this. And these are the voices we've heard from in recent days.
So, in the context of that, I think that's why he was forced to go to the floor this morning.
KEILAR: Yes.
LILLIS: And of course, she didn't accept the apology. So, who knows where it goes from here? We can't predict these things. I'm done predicting what's going to happen.
KEILAR: I know. And having covered Congress, I think one of the things that is interesting to point out to people is, for how divided the Congress is, there's a certain level of decorum that happens in Congress with most members that I think might surprise sort of average Americans, right?
[14:00:04]
They know the country is divided and the Congress is divided. But this is unusual to hear this language used.
