Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Judge Tells Alleged Proud Boy Suspect He's "Lucky" after Knife Found; Pentagon: One-Third of Military Refusing COVID Vaccine; Nikki Haley Blames Media for Existing GOP Civil War. Aired 1:30-2p ET.
Aired February 18, 2021 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00]
MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO, HOST, "RUN TELL THIS," PODCAST: These insurrectionists were literally, by and large, allowed to storm the capitol at lunchtime and be home in time for dinner.
On one day of the Black Lives Matter protest this summer, five times the amount of people were arrested by D.C. police than were arrested on January 6th. We see a very clear contradiction.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We also have seeing these contradictions with a number of these suspects when it comes to just how they're being treated by the legal system.
There's another judge who let a female riot suspect from Texas go on a vacation to Mexico.
And, you know, I wonder -- I've spoken with defenders, who a lot of their clients are black, or they are Hispanic, and they at that treatment, and they say there's no way the people they have defended would get that kind of treatment.
How does this change?
SCHIAVOCAMPO: Yes, this is something that we see over and over again. You mentioned that someone that has the nerve to ask to go on a trip to Mexico, who is facing charges for an insurrection, trying to overthrow the government.
We see the 22-year-old woman, who is accused of selling Nancy Pelosi's laptop and reportedly tried to sell it to Russians, is released to the custody of her mother.
Yet, we see cases like Kalief Browder, most famously, in New York, the teenager who was held on Rikers Island for three years for reportedly stealing a backpack. So we see these contradictions over and over again.
What you're hearing in these black and brown communities is not, let's oppress everyone equally, right? The call for justice has never been about people of oppression. It's been about equal freedom. Show us the same compassion that you're showing others.
If people are deemed not to be a threat to their community, then have them be free until their trial. They haven't been convicted of a crime yet. But show that same compassion and mercy to everyone.
Nobody wants to be judged by their worst actions and by their worst days. But unfortunately, that's what we see over and over again when it comes to black and brown suspects.
And when the suspects are not black and brown -- we're talking about white suspects -- they're shown a tremendous amount of leniency, compassion, mercy. And they're viewed through the lens of humanity.
And that's what's lacking when it comes to minority communities in the criminal justice system.
KEILAR: Mara, it's great to see you. Thank you so much for being with us.
SCHIAVOCAMPO: Thanks, Brianna.
KEILAR: Mara Schiavocampo with us today.
The pandemic has caused a sharp drop in life expectancy, something that hasn't been seen since World War II.
Plus, new concerns that thousands of U.S. servicemembers are saying no to the COVID vaccine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:37:28]
KEILAR: It's a sobering new development in our health crisis. The CDC reporting the coronavirus is cutting one full year from the life expectancy of Americans, and even more from black and Hispanic Americans. And 2.7 years cut from the lives of black Americans, 1.9 years from Hispanic Americans.
And New York just reported its lowest single-day positivity rate of the virus since November 23rd. But health officials are warning variants could fuel another surge, making it more important than ever to wear masks and socially distance.
There's promising news that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are strong enough to protect against some of these more-concerning variants. But there most likely won't be enough vaccine for everyone who wants one until spring or early summer.
The Pentagon is now reporting one-third of U.S. servicemembers, who are eligible to receive the vaccine, are refusing to be vaccinated.
This as the Defense Department reports it has now vaccinated nearly one million of its service members.
I want to bring in CNN Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr. This is a big fraction here, one-third. That is a large number of servicemembers. What is the Pentagon doing about folks who refuse, Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It's early data, Brianna, but it's obviously going to be a question of concern.
Right now, the vaccine for the U.S. military is voluntary. Federal law does not permit, without some additional rulings and findings, for this vaccine to be mandatory. So servicemembers are free to decline getting the vaccine.
But here's the problem, of course. You know, they deploy in large groups. You have an aircraft carrier with 5,000 people on board. It goes on a six-month deployment.
If even a thousand of them have declined the vaccine, what is the risk of an outbreak of disease on that ship? Purely hypothetical, but it illustrates the point.
So there's a lot of work going on behind the scenes in talking to troops, talking to commanders, public messaging, trying to get the word out from top leadership that they believe the vaccine is safe. They acknowledge every servicemember has to make a decision for themselves and their families, of course.
Right now, the priorities are to get those deploying troops vaccinated so, if they go overseas, as many have, the vaccination and the protection as possible. And also those Special Forces, those who work in nuclear operations, that kind of thing, the thing that you would expect.
They have a long way to go, though, because this one-third number, as you say, works out to be a very significant number of troops, and they obviously want to bring that down.
[13:40:05]
They want to see as many people vaccinated as are willing to get the vaccine and, hopefully, convince more to go ahead and get it -- Brianna?
KEILAR: But no requirement yet, right?
STARR: No. This has been going on for several years. Years ago, when they did have some mandatory vaccines and there were adverse side effects, the policy changed.
Right now, totally voluntary and it is expected to stay that way.
KEILAR: All right. Barbara Starr, thank you so much, live for us from the Pentagon.
Former ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, says the media is the reason for the split within the GOP. We'll roll the tape on why that blame game is a losing one. Plus, animals dying at an animal sanctuary in Texas as the state
suffers through a historic disaster.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:45:17]
KEILAR: Since the insurrection, Nikki Haley's hot takes will spin you right round, baby, right round, like a record, baby, right round, round, round. They're so all over, they're dizzying.
And now Haley is debuting a new one. The former ambassador to the U.N. in the Trump administration and former governor of South Carolina wrote an op-ed in the "Wall Street Journal." And she claims it's really the media that is responsible for the Grand Canyon-sized divide bisecting the GOP.
She writes this, "The liberal media wants to stoke a non-stop Republican civil war. The media playbook starts with a demand that everyone pick sides about Donald Trump, either love or hate everything about him."
"That moment anyone on the right offers the slightest criticism of the 45th president, the media goes berserk. Republicans are trying to have it both ways. It's a calculated strategy to pit conservatives against one another"
So that is her claim. As if Republicans require assistance in picking sides when it comes to Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY) (voice-over): There's no question the president formed the mob, the president incited the mob, the president addressed the mob. He lit the flame.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): That is looney tunes. And you know why they're saying that? Because if the president didn't know, and it was actually preplanned, he's not guilty.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): How do you incite a riot that was already planned? How do you incite a breach of the capitol that happened before the president even completed his speech?
And how can you charge the president with inciting violence at the capitol when he told the people at the rally to peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard?
SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): The president has disregarded his oath of office. He swore an oath to the American people to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. He acted against that. What he did was wicked.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I don't believe he provoked it, if you listen to what he said at the rally.
The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on the attack of Congress by mob rioters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Haley says the media wants to stoke a Republican civil war. Stoke it how? By telling Americans that it's happening? What Republicans on either side of this divide are saying? Perhaps there would be no civil war is the media would just stop documenting it?
The 10 House Republicans who voted to impeachment Trump, how conservative House members tried to oust one of them, Liz Cheney, from the House leadership. How seven Republicans voted to convict Donald Trump in his impeachment in the Senate.
How state parties censured many of these lawmakers despite the fact that Trump left the White House in disgrace and was the first president in almost three decades not to win a second term.
There's a civil war. The GOP is eating its own, casting out good people as it kowtows to conspiracy theorists.
And the media ignoring it's happening won't make Mitt Romney and Josh Hawley somehow agree on the existential questions facing their party.
Nikki Haley is trying to have it both ways. She says the pre-Trump Republican Party is over.
Quote, "Most of Mr. Trump's major policies were outstanding and made America stronger, safer and more prosperous. Many of his actions since the election were wrong and will be judged harshly by history. That's not a contradiction, it's common sense."
She says having it both ways is the only way forward for the party when, in fact, she's been having it all the ways since January 6th.
The day after the attack, she said this after a meeting with the RNC:
Quote, "President Trump has not always chosen the right words. He was wrong with his words in Charlottesville and I told him so at the time. He was badly wrong with his words yesterday. And it wasn't just his words. His actions since Election Day will be judged harshly by history."
In this latest op-ed, Haley writes that she will, quote, "gladly defend the bulk of the Trump record and his determination to shake up the corrupt status quo in Washington."
"I will never defend the indefensible. I didn't do that when I served alongside President Trump, and I'm not going to start now," she says.
Well, she actually can't start now because she's already started weeks ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NIKKI HALEY, (R), FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. & FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR: They beat him up before he got into office. They're beating him up after he leaves office. I mean, at some point, I mean, give the man a break. I mean, move on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So she changed her tune, acting like Trump was the victim, which is one of his very favorite yarns to spin.
She goes on in an interview with "Politico," quote, "I understand the president. I understand that, genuinely, to his core, he believes he was wronged. This is not him making it up."
And a reporter asks her, "You have the president of the United States telling everyone that he was cheated, that the voting systems are corrupt, that we're living in a banana republic where the Deep State has rigged this election against him. Isn't that dangerous?"
And Haley replies, quote, "He believes it."
[13:50:01]
Well, that's ridiculous. He was and is making it up. It's all a lie. He knows it because the courts told him, voters told him, reality told him, over and over and over again.
His team and his allies lost nearly 60 cases having to do with the election. So, yes, he knows it. He just doesn't care.
Haley zigzags through this op-ed.
She says, quote, "If the media gets its way, the GOP will dissolve into endless warfare, ensuring extreme liberal government for years to come."
And also this: "What's good for the media is bad for America. Some never Trump and Always Trump Republicans also attack anyone who doesn't join the all-or-nothing course."
Well, if there's one thing in 2021 that is all or nothing, it was the deadly attack against democracy can on January 6th.
If you're a lawmaker, in that building that day, you should know better that there aren't two ways to honestly look at an armed insurrection that required you to hide in fear of your life, hiding from people who literally stalked the hallways looking for the Republican vice president.
The president and his allies lied to millions of Americans for two months, falsely saying the election was stolen and that he won, a lie he's still pushing.
Those lies sent people to Washington, riled up, ready to literally and figuratively act on the myth that the election could be overturned by Mike Pence. When they got to D.C., Donald Trump egged them on, giving them a
pregame pep talk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.
And after this, we're going to walk down -- and I'll be there with you. We're going to walk down --
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: We're going to walk down, anyone you want, but I think right here, we're going to walk down to the capitol --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Nikki Haley also says this in this op-ed: "Mr. Trump brought millions of new voters into the Republican Party for which he deserves great credit. But the party also lost millions of voters."
That's like saying you lost 10 pounds but you also gained 15. Which is something that a few of us are familiar with, stuck in the house during COVID. Am I right? You don't get credit for it. Wouldn't that be nice if you did?
Nikki Haley may be constructing her own basic laws of math because of that.
She goes on in this op-ed, quote:
"Mr. Trump's legal team failed to prove mass election fraud in court. But election security is still urgently needed. If you have to show photo I.D. to buy Sudafed, or get on a plane, you should have to show photo I.D. when voting in person or by mail."
Voting is a constitutionally protected right. Buying Sudafed isn't. Getting on a plane isn't. These are very different things.
And there's no widespread voter fraud in this country, period. Not in the states where voter I.D. laws are championed by Republicans.
But you know what there is in those states? Black people, brown people, people that trend towards the Democratic Party.
Nikki Haley knows many people feel voter I.D. laws are racially motivated and have the effect of suppressing their votes, even if these requirements sound perfectly harmless the way that she describes them.
Which bring us to another Republican politician whose sensitivity on racial issues stands in contrast to Nikki Haley's: Nikki Haley.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HALEY: It's time to move the flag from the capitol grounds. This is a moment in which we can say that that flag, while an integral part of our past, does not represent the future of our great state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: That appears to be the same version of Nikki Haley who said this about Donald Trump in the "Politico" interview:
Quote, "I don't think he's going to be in the picture. I don't think he can. He's fallen so far.
We need to acknowledge he let us down. He went down a path he shouldn't have and we shouldn't have followed him and we shouldn't have listened to him. And we can't let that ever happen again."
Well, behold, it's happening again. Steve Scalise, the latest House Republican leader going to kiss the ring at Mar-a-Lago.
FOX allowing Trump on its air to keep lying about what caused the insurrection in the first place.
And all but seven Senators giving Trump a pass for his role in the insurrection.
Your party is at a crisis point, Ambassador. You want to keep kicking the can down both sides of the road ignoring reality, until what?
If you look up and see the crowd of people walking with you is dense with white supremacists? Dense with cravenly ambitious politicians who jettisoned their morals miles back, several clicks after they left fiscal conservative-town and family values-ville without so much as a look back.
It is a long road through the wilderness, especially with your eyes closed.
Just in, Senator Ted Cruz finally issuing a statement on his flight to Cancun, despite his state being in the middle of a deadly disaster. We're going to share this with you.
[13:54:45]
Plus, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis under fire for a pop-up vaccination site outside of a wealthy neighborhood. Stand by.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: It is top of the hour. I'm Brianna Keilar.
We begin with the humanitarian disaster that is gripping Texas in the middle of the pandemic. Americans are struggling there to find the basics for survival, heat, shelter, food and water, after frigid temperatures and a winter storm knocked the state's power grid off- line.
[13:59:54]
Hundreds of thousands of Texans are trying to manage for a fourth day with no power. The lingering bitter cold has broken pipes, making many homes uninhabitable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our whole (EXPLETIVE DELETED) apartment, our whole apartment.
