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Trump's Nominee Dodges Questions on Obamacare, Transfer of Power; Pelosi Pushes Back Against Democrats Calling for Stimulus Compromise; Research Shows Blood Type May Be Linked to COVID-19 Risk; Demi Lovato Calls Out President Trump in New Song. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired October 14, 2020 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: She offered short, minimal answers.
Just take a look at some of her responses on topics ranging from health care to abortion to voter intimidation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMY CONEY BARRETT, U.S. SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: That's not a question I could answer in the abstract.
UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: So --
BARRETT: This is a contentious issue, which I know is one reason why it would be comforting to you to have an answer. But I can't express views on cases or pre-commit to approaching a case any particular way.
I'm a sitting judge. And because you can't answer questions without going through the judicial process, I can't give answers to those very specific questions.
I can only decide cases as they come to me, litigated by parties, on the full record after fully engaging precedent, talking to colleagues, writing an opinion. And so I can't answer questions like that.
UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: OK, well --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Joining me now is former assistant U.S. attorney, Kim Wehle. She is currently a law professor at the University of Baltimore.
Kim, you quote a piece in "Politico" about the first full day in question and you said she wasn't consistent on why she was or was not allowed to answer certain questions.
Tell us what you meant by that.
KIM WEHLE, LAW PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE & CONTRIBUTOR, "POLITICO" & FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, she's hiding behind this notion of the judicial canon that prevents her from speaking on cases. Certainly, if a judge has a case pending before them, it's improper
for that judge to weight in one way or the other, because that seems they might be biased in favor or against a particular party.
But here we heard her talk about the Second Amendment, and the fact that the court has left open regulation of certain kinds of firearms.
She said that Establishment Clause, First Amendment law needs to be restructured or reordered.
She has weighed in on certain things. So the notion that she can't say, for example, in response to Senator Klobuchar's question as to whether voter intimidation at the polls is OK, when there's a federal criminal law precluding that.
Or whether she can't say whether it's OK for the president to not facilitate a peaceful transfer of power on January 20th, when the Constitution makes him no longer president, according to the 2016 election, that, to me, is just intellectually, frankly, not honest.
She can make statements about certain aspects of the law.
And it's really unfortunate, given how genuinely afraid millions of Americans are about disappointment, that she couldn't make the decision, based on her own integrity to say, you know what, I'm going to show myself as a fair-minded person and talk about stuff that is making a lot of Americans fearful.
Because, Brianna, she's going to be on the United States Supreme Court. I don't think there's any question about that.
KEILAR: I think sometimes when you're looking at this from Washington it's -- look, I've covered a number of Supreme Court nominations now, and you kind of get used to this.
But like you said, there's a lot of people out there who are watching this with interest, and they say, doesn't this need to change.
Because this seems to be the only job in America where you won't tell your prospective boss what you do in your job or how you would do the job.
WEHLE: Well, and again, it doesn't make a lot of sense. What she's getting grilled I think legitimately on a critique she made of Chief Justice Robert's decision in the first time that the Obamacare, ACA, came up to the Supreme Court.
And she said, listen, he stretched the meaning of that statute beyond what was fair, or -- I'm paraphrasing.
By her rationale, you would think that she could not ever rule on anything relating to the ACA because she did make a comment.
Why she could make that comment that pointed at some point in her pre- Supreme Court life, and that wouldn't somehow disqualify her from ruling. But now, in the confirmation hearing, she can't make generic comments,
generic comments about really important issues. It just doesn't hold together.
And my issue with it -- and this isn't just with Judge Coney Barrett -- is the -- it's sort of -- I talk about this in the article.
I think it dupes the American people into thinking there are good judges and bad judges. And that somehow she's a good judge, because she pledges to stay within the rule of law. Somehow that progressives judges don't do that.
All judges, every single judge makes decisions based on ambiguous labor. They judge. Judges judge. And she will bring her personal, political, ideological, theoretical biases to that job. It's impossible not to.
And so she should just be honest about that.
KEILAR: Kim, it's great to see you. Thank you so much for breaking this down for us.
WEHLE: Thanks, Brianna.
KEILAR: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a heated exchange with our Wolf Blitzer as pressure grows for a deal on coronavirus relief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Is that what this is all about, to not allow the president to take credit if there's a deal to help millions --
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): No. I don't care about that.
BLITZER: -- of Americans right now?
[14:35:00]
PELOSI: He's not that important.
But let me say this, with all due respect, with all due respect -- and you know we've known each other a long time -- you really don't know what you're talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Hear her response to fellow Democrats who say Americans struggling to make rent or feed their families can't wait any longer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: This just in. SEC fans will have to wait for the big matchup between the Florida Gators and the LSU Tigers because of coronavirus concerns.
The Southeastern Conference has just announced that the game, which was scheduled for Saturday in Gainesville, is being postponed.
This is news that's coming one day after the University of Florida announced 19 players on the football team have tested positive over the past several days.
This coming after head coach, Dan Mullen, called for a packed stadium for the now-postponed LSU game.
A familiar scene is playing out right now in Washington. Republicans and Democrats pointing fingers at one another over stimulus negotiations as Americans struggle and they wait.
[14:40:05]
The Department of Labor estimates that 26 million Americans are collecting unemployment. But in the absence of a deal, they won't get any more money after supplemental funds expire this summer.
Many people are scrambling to cover basics like food and rent right now.
For those who still have a job, layoffs could be looming, as industries like travel, entertainment and hospitality are forced to adjustment.
Already, some 40,000 workers have been laid off from the nation's airlines here in recent weeks.
This morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held what Pelosi described as a productive call on the stimulus negotiation.
For his part, Mnuchin said, moments ago, that the two sides are still far apart.
This conversation comes just one day after Nancy Pelosi urged her Democratic colleagues to reject Trump's $1.8 trillion proposal, saying a stimulus deal can't be reached just, quote, "folding to the president's demands."
Despite calls from lawmakers to compromise for the American people, Pelosi defended her decision during this exchange with our colleague, Wolf Blitzer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Members of your own caucus, Madam Speaker, want to accept this deal, $1.8 trillion. Congressman Ro Khanna -
(CROSSTALK)
PELOSI: Wait a minute.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Well, let me just quote -- PELOSI: Wait a second.
BLITZER: -- Ro Khanna, a man you know well. I assume you admire him. He's a Democrat.
And he just said this. He said, "People in need can't wait until February, $1.8 trillion is significant and more than twice the Obama stimulus. Make a deal. Put the ball in McConnell's court."
So what do you say to Ro Khanna?
PELOSI: What I say to you is I don't know why you're always an apologist, and many of your colleagues, apologists for the Republican position.
Rho Khanna, that's nice. That isn't what we're going to do. And nobody is waiting until February. I want this very much now because people need help now.
BLITZER: At one point, a trillion dollars. And the president just tweeted: "Stimulus, go big or go home." He wants even more --
PELOSI: That's right.
BLITZER: -- right now.
PELOSI: That's right.
BLITZER: So why not -- why not work on a deal --
PELOSI: That's right.
BLITZER: -- with him and don't let the perfect, as they say here in Washington, be the enemy of the good?
PELOSI: Well, I will not let the wrong be the enemy of the right.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: What's wrong with $1.8 trillion.
PELOSI: You know what? Do you have any idea what the difference is between the spending that they have in their bill and that we have in our bill?
Do you realize they have come back and said all these things for child tax credits and earned income tax credits and helping people who have lost their jobs are eliminated in their bill?
BLITZER: Yesterday, I spoke to Andrew Yang, who says the same thing. It's not everything you want --
(CROSSTALK)
PELOSI: OK.
BLITZER: -- but there's a lot there.
PELOSI: Honest to god, you really -- I can't get over it. Because Andrew, he's lovely. Ro Khanna is lovely. They are not negotiating this situation. They have no idea of the particulars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Chris Cillizza is a CNN politics reporter and editor-at-large.
I mean, Chris, wow.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: This was quite the interview.
And in a piece for CNN.com, you actually called the speaker's reaction over the top and embarrassing, which is pretty strong language. Tell us why.
CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER & CNN EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Yes. Well, because, obviously, Wolf Blitzer is our colleague. But even if he wasn't our colleague, none of the questions he was asking there, Brianna, are anything close to unfair, or Nancy Pelosi words, "apologist."
There's a $1.8 trillion offer on the table. We know, as you ran through the statistics before you ran that clip, we know there are millions of Americans hurting out there because of the coronavirus and its massive impact on the economy.
That's not to say the Republicans don't have a role in this. Of course, they do. Donald Trump, a week ago, tweeted that he said to Steve Mnuchin to stop negotiating.
So this is not that Republicans are blameless in this. That's not what Wolf was saying.
But Nancy Pelosi's responsibility is to look out, as speaker of the House, not for her constituents but for the country.
She's third in line to the presidency. It is important when that is your job, to say, is the perfect getting in the way of the good.
It's a compromise. It's a deal. Of course, you're not going to get everything you want.
Yes, the election is coming up. But look at the people who are hurting. We know that $1.8 trillion is a heck of a lot more than nothing.
And, you know, taking out frustrations that were voiced within her own caucus and within her own party about her and the deal on Wolf seemed to me to be less than, I think, a standard that she usually holds, which is extremely high.
I think she's an incredibly bright gifted strategist, legislator. She's obviously already written her name into the history as the first female speaker of the House.
But given that standard, I thought she fell beneath it.
KEILAR: She is facing pressure from folks within her own caucus. What she's saying about them is that they're not looking at the details of what is lost in this bargain. Right?
[14:45:05]
CILLIZZA: Yes.
KEILAR: That's sort of the point that she's making, which, to me, seemed to be firmer ground to be on.
But I also wonder, at a certain point, how do you -- I think of -- you know, I think of how many times we have covered legislation that has passed through Congress and there's always stuff in it that, you know, one side doesn't want.
CILLIZZA: Yes. Always.
KEILAR: You also know there's this bargaining where they're trying to get it more to be what they want it to look like.
So what is this pressure she's facing?
CILLIZZA: I agree with you on that solidness of that single point. Which is, look, it's hard to sort of, from the outside -- Andrew Yang thinks there should be a deal, but Andrew Yang doesn't know the particulars. Fine.
At the same time, you know, you're never going to get, with something this large, this amount of money, you will not get anything you want.
The Republicans control the Senate right now. The Republicans control the White House. Democrats control the House. That means nobody gets everything they want. That's just how this process works.
So how big a different is $1.8 trillion and everything -- and nothing you want or something you want, to $2.4 trillion and everything you want. Is there a common ground there?
I mean, the thing that amazed me was Wolf -- I don't know if you played this -- but Wolf asked, have you spoken to the president at all about this, and she said, I don't talk to the president.
Like, again, Donald Trump has said a number of extremely nasty things about Nancy Pelosi. I get that.
But we're not talking about personalities here. We're talking about millions of people struggling just to pay the rent, to keep their small business afloat.
And that's what gets lost sometimes in the personality conflicts. And that's what I think she focused far too much on. And that's playing Donald Trump's game. KEILAR: Look, win or lose for Donald Trump in this election, he is
still president for the coming months.
CILLIZZA: That's right.
KEILAR: So this situation is what it is going to be for at least months longer.
So we'll be watching this, obviously, to see how it shapes up. A lot of people need help.
Chris Cillizza, thank you so much --
CILLIZZA: Sure.
KEILAR: -- for being with us.
CILLIZZA: Thanks, Brianna.
KEILAR: Next, what your blood type could tell you about your chances of getting seriously ill from COVID-19.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:51:37]
KEILAR: New research shows your blood type may be linked to your coronavirus risk.
CNN health reporter, Jacqueline Howard, is following the story.
Tell us what these studies are finding about blood type, Jacqueline.
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yes, Brianna, this is some new and emerging research that's kind of adding to our understanding of the link between -- a possible link, I should say, between your blood type and COVID-19 risk.
Here's what the studies found. In the first study, when it comes to success susceptibility, it was conducted out of Denmark, and that study found that among people who tested positive for COVID-19, 38 percent of them were blood type "O."
And that percentage is lower than how many people in the general population, who haven't been tested, were blood type "O," which was 42 percent in the study.
And when it comes to severe illness, another study found that among critically ill COVID-19 patients in Canada, 84 percent of those patients had blood types "A" or "AB".
Excuse me, 84 percent of those with blood types "A" or "AB" needed mechanical ventilation, whereas 61 percent of those with types "O" or "B" did.
Also in that study, Brianna, patients with blood types "A" or "AB" were in the ICU for about four days longer than those with blood types "O" or "B."
So you see there's a connection there. But more research is needed to really take a deep look at what this connection could really mean for us.
Back to you -- Brianna?
KEILAR: So interesting. Definitely looking forward to more research on that.
Jacqueline, thank you.
President Trump is set to host a rally in Iowa tonight, a state with one of the highest coronavirus positivity rates in the country right now.
Plus, Singer Demi Lovato goes after the president in a new song that she's set to perform on a national stage tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:58:19]
KEILAR: Singer Demi Lovato is taking aim at President Trump in a new song she's planning to perform for the first time at tonight's Billboard Music Awards.
CNN's Chloe Melas is following this for us.
CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Demi Lovato is calling out President Donald Trump in her new song, "Commander-in-Chief," for what she says is his mishandling of racial injustice and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Demi Lovato spoke to CNN about the song's message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
DEMI LOVATO, SINGER: It's very important for me that I get to use my platform for something much bigger than just singing.
There's been so many times where I've wanted to write the president a letter or sit down with him and ask him these questions. And then I thought, well, I don't really actually want to do that.
And I think one way that I could do that is writing a song and releasing it to the whole world to hear and then he has to answer those questions to everybody and not just me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MELAS: Lovato, who has over 150 million fans on social media, says she's not looking for the song to divide the nation. She's actually hopes it encourages her fans to vote in next month's election. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
LOVATO: We have to show up. We have to turn up and vote. Because it's so important that our voices are heard, you know? And, honestly, for me, whether you are a Republican or Democrat, just get out and vote.
[15:00:09]
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Our special coverage continues now with Jake Tapper.
