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Two Possible Invisible Energy Attacks On U.S. Soil?; Dem Strategist: Wokeness Is A Problem & We All Know It; Loveland, Co Officers Involved In Violent Arrest Of 73-Year-Old Woman With Dementia Resign; Thousands Attend Government-Sanctioned Rave Experiment; CDC: More Than 100 Million Fully Vaccinated Against Coronavirus; Eighteen Dead After Fire Rips Through COVID-19 Hospital Ward; India Records 400,000 New Cases In Single Day As Crisis Grows; Trump Allies Worry Giuliani Raid Sent "Strong Message". Aired 12-1p ET

Aired May 01, 2021 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Because of that concert, that's a very encouraging sign for all these events that are going to bring fans concert goers et cetera back together that all this is possible if you do it right way Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right, lots of encouragement there. Thank you so much Cyril Vanier in London.

Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for being with me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Alright, the U.S. hits a major vaccine milestone. But there are new concerns that vaccinations are beginning to slow.

New numbers from the CDC show more than 100 million Americans are now fully vaccinated. That's a little less than a third of the country, but not nearly the number needed to achieve herd immunity in the disease. This as the U.S. is set to impose new travel restrictions from India, as it deals with the devastating Coronavirus outbreak.

India just recorded more than 400,000 cases in a single day, a new global record. And back in the U.S. more incremental steps toward normalcy. Disneyland reopening to limited capacity for the first time since the pandemic began. CNN's Polo Sandoval is live for us from New York.

So, one of the many states beginning to ease restrictions is where you are so Polo, we're seeing a lot of progress. But then there are also some, you know, real setbacks across the country too?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. A state like Oregon, for example, they're going to continue with their state of emergency especially since they're seeing some of the highest numbers recently. But really, that is just one small example a majority of the country; they are on this great path.

Now when you think about it too Fred, it was just mid-December, when the entire nation watched as a New Jersey nurse received that first public COVID-19 vaccine. Here we are over four months later. And now over 100 million Americans now considered fully vaccinated according to the Biden Administration in the new data that was released by them yesterday.

And because of that, because now at least 1/3 of the country is vaccinated then as you just point out, we could see the slow steps towards normalcy. There's Disneyland opening again this weekend to residents for the first time. There is of course the Kentucky Derby that's happening right now as we speak.

And of course, we should mention that is done with mask requirements also with limited capacity. But these kinds of pictures, Fred that we're seeing we couldn't even imagine getting to enjoy a year ago today. So, it really does speak to the track - to the kind of track there we're on right now. The more people get vaccinated, the lower the numbers actually go in terms of infections.

In fact, that percentage of new cases down about a quarter in recent weeks and when you hear from experts, including Dr. Richina Bicette, she concurs that if we continue on that track of getting more people vaccinated, then you can expect more of these kinds of scenes. But as she says it also comes with a word of caution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. RICHINA BICETTE, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: The way I like to think about it is this pandemic isn't over until it's over, there's no imaginary finish line that we're racing towards. What we're trying to do is to get as much of the population vaccinated as possible so that we can fully reopen safely. We don't want to take two steps forward and then take five steps back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And to the doctor's point, this pandemic, certainly not over especially because the TSA just announced that they will be extending that masks requirement for passengers aboard planes, trains and buses as well. You recall Fred that they put that in place in February, it was supposed to expire this month.

But given those ongoing efforts and given the fact that we are still seeing new cases, and still hundreds of people die a day from this virus in this country alone. They're going to extend that at least through September.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's still serious business. Alright, Polo Sandoval thank you so much. Our experts say at least 70 percent of Americans need to be vaccinated in order to reach herd immunity. But some are increasingly concerned that we may never really get there.

Joining me right now to discuss Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis, an Infectious Disease Physician at VA hospital in St. Louis, and a member of the St. Louis Board of Health, Dr. Davis, so good to see you.

DR. MATI HLATSHWAYO DAVIS, INFECTIOUS DISEASES PHYSICIAN, JOHN COCHRAN VA MEDICALCENTER: Thank you so much for having me back, Fred. WHITFIELD: All right. So given we're so far away from herd immunity,

and then you're seeing a return to, you know, some visitors there at Disneyland and even the Kentucky Derby. Are you concerned? Are we to be encouraged?

DR. DAVIS: We're at the crux of this now, Fred, you know, we expected that in the first few months, we were captioning - we were capturing the population, the part of the population that really wanted these vaccines. So the vaccine push that was aggressive, and rightfully so by the administration has been extraordinarily successful.

But now we've reached the wait and see crowd and be outright I don't want it crowd. And this is where the works of people like myself really becomes real because vaccine confidence needs to be addressed while access needs to be addressed to so that we can get to that number. This is an expected decrease in vaccines.

We're seeing about 2.6 million Americans vaccinated a day. However, this is a 10 percent decrease from last week. And so we need to be aware of that and get to be innovative around both culturally competent education and be thoughtful about where the holes are and where we can get shots in people's arms?

WHITFIELD: And what's your instinct tell you about why that is? Why there seemed to be less of urgency amongst the people to get the vaccines when they are much more available now?

[12:05:00]

WHITFIELD: Is it that people feel very comfortable that so many have gotten the vaccine and they figure that yet one more excuse? So, they don't have to get it?

DR. DAVIS: I think its multi-factorial, people are tired, and rightfully so, right? We told them a year ago it would be a couple of months of tightening things down and locking things in. And we're a year out of that. And that takes a lot. It takes a lot of people.

Also, spring is here, it's sunny outside, you know, kids are back at school sporting events are up. And so I believe that human behavior and human instinct wants to be outside craves that human contact and attention.

And then like I said before, we have reached the more resistant part of the population, who rightfully still have questions have concerns about long term effects and want to see what's going on. But this is a safe and effective vaccine. It's one of the safest and one of the most effective vaccines that we have out there.

And people need to be aware that it is working. Hospitalizations are down, people are not as sick who take this virus, and there are no deaths associated with it. It is absolutely the most important tool in our toolbox. And I would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to get vaccinated.

WHITFIELD: So now let's talk about the age groups involving you know, teens from 12 to 15. Soon to be eligible for vaccinations in some places and in some places they already are. You know, the CDC Director Dr. Dr. Rochelle Walensky is calling for a well-coordinated effort to vaccinate adolescents against Coronavirus and to catch up on routine vaccinations missed over the last year.

What are your concerns, particularly about the younger, you know, population, their vulnerabilities, whether it be to Coronavirus or other things because of all of those missed vaccinations?

DR. DAVIS: I think it's crucial for people to understand that some of the messaging from the beginning of the pandemic may be bleeding over into this year in that at the beginning, we rightfully were concerned about the older segment of the population who got sicker and were more likely to die from COVID.

But what we've seen since the beginning of the year is more and more young people not only getting Coronavirus, but even having been sicker when they do. And so, people need to understand that you are not exempt and that it is absolutely crucial that now that we have the capacity to vaccinate the younger segment of the population that that needs to happen.

They need to know that they can get COVID and even when they do have mild symptoms. We have people who will sadly tell you that they have symptoms that that they experience months out. And we don't know what that will mean long term. We're still looking at that.

So, this is a crucial part of the population. Our young folks need to get vaccinated need to not believe that they are exempt from this because COVID quite frankly, spares no one.

WHITFIELD: Yes. You really are underscoring we've learned a lot but then there's still a lot to be learned about Coronavirus and how it's affecting our bodies. So, a new study published in the Journal Science finds that the Coronavirus Vaccine offers more protection to people who had previously been infected with the virus and good protection against some of the concerning variants circulating around the world. Where are you on that?

DR. DAVIS: And this is exciting. It's not unexpected, you know this, we expect that there should be some sort of benefits from this boost in the immune system and to see this happening for folks who have previously been infected is fantastic news. We absolutely need that, especially at a time where variants continue to be of concern.

We have at least five variants of concern within the U.S. and globally especially with what's happening in India and other low and middle income countries across the world. We will need to see these sorts of impact benefit folks even those who have had COVID. So, it is only excellent news for the most important tool in our toolbox.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis thank you so much always good to see you.

DR. DAVIS: Pleasure, Fred. Thanks so much for having me back. WHITIFIELD: Absolutely. All right, even now there are plenty of questions about what you can safely do even after being vaccinated? Join me today at 2:30 Eastern, where a panel of doctors answers your questions about navigating this new era of COVID.

And more pain and heartbreak out of India today, 18 people dead after a fire ripped through a hospital's COVID-19 ICU ward according to officials 16 of the dead were patients and two were staff members, roughly 60 patients were there when the fire started. The survivors have been moved to nearby hospitals the cause of the fire still unclear, but investigators believe it may have been electrical.

Alright, the fire just the latest in a series of horrors across India as COVID-19 continues to ravage that country. India just recorded more than 400,000 new cases in a single day for the first time, and another 3000 people died from the virus.

[12:10:00]

WHITFIELD: CNN's Clarissa Ward went to New Delhi, where hospitals are on the verge of collapse a warning to our viewers. The images are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In Delhi now you're never far from heartbreak. Almost everyone in this city has been visited by grief. At the Seemapuri crematorium the loss weighs heavily in the smoldering air and the dead are piling up. There are bodies literally everywhere you turn here I've honestly never seen anything quite like it. And the organizers say that pre COVID they might cremate seven or eight people a day. Today alone they've already cremated 55 bodies and it's not even lunchtime.

Just months ago, India's leadership boasted that the country had effectively defeated COVID. Now it has set global records for new cases as a terrifying second wave ravages the country. - says he and his men don't even stop to take breaks and still they can barely cope with the flow of volunteer approaches. They've run out of tables for the bodies, he says, then adds that his mother died from COVID the night before.

WARD (on camera): You must be tired?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Already, but the time is not for the rest.

WARD (on camera): Do you believe the government figures the death tolls the COVID figures that they're giving? Or do you think the real figures are much higher?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll figure it up--

WARD (voice over): The numbers that you're seeing on television are the numbers of people who are dying in hospitals he says. They're not factoring in the people who died at home in isolation. If those numbers are added the actual number will go up by three times. To keep up with those mounting numbers, the crematorium has been

forced to expand, creating an overflow area in a neighboring car park. Shaam Sharma (ph) is saying goodbye to his 45-year-old younger brother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last night I was thinking that his health is improving. But suddenly, the phone of doctor came on my mobile phone that your brother has expired.

WARD (on camera): Do you think his death could have been prevented?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes. I think he can - we can save him with better health hospitals.

WARD (voice over): India's health care system is at a breaking point, unable to cope with the scale of the crisis. Its people left to fend for themselves. This crowd has been waiting for six hours for the chance to get some oxygen. They can't rely on the state.

WARD (on camera): Who you are looking for Oxygen?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mother.

WARD (on camera): Your mother? How old is she?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 47.

WARD (on camera): Is her Oxygen very low?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is in very critical condition.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 58 percent. And we are trying since morning we are not getting the Oxygen anywhere.

WARD (on camera): How many places have you been to?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 19.

WARD (on camera): 19?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since morning 16.

WARD (on camera): Have you tried taking her to the hospital?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are no beds.

WARD (on camera): There are no beds?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before three or four days we have tried so much but we didn't get any beds.

WARD (voice over): Priya Srivastava (ph) was lucky enough to find her mother a place in a hospital, only to find out there was no oxygen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Around ten days I have seen in front of my eyes. What should I do? And I'm so scared what is going to happen with my mom?

WARD (on camera): Are you angry?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so angry because of this organization. Our government is so careless. They even don't care about what public is suffering. They don't know what from - which suffering. There are so many people who are standing over there and fighting for this thing.

WARD (voice over): Her mother is now in critical condition. Like many here, she feels completely overwhelmed. For those who can't source their own oxygen, this is the only option a drive in Oxygen Center by the side of the road. A woman arrives unconscious in a rickshaw. Several hospitals have already turned her away. They simply didn't have the beds.

[12:15:00]

WARD (voice over): Now she is relying on the kindness of strangers. Her son works desperately to try to revive her. This isn't a hospital or even a clinic. It's a Sikh Temple but for these people who've already been turned away from so many hospitals, this is their last chance of survival.

The Leader of the Sikh Charity that runs this facility says it gets no support at all from the government. He says he already had COVID twice. But he and his volunteers continue to work 24 hours a day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to save their lives. This is our hearts.

WARD (on camera): It must hurt your heart to see the way your people are suffering?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, madam. Many times, we cry also what is going on?

WARD (voice over): It is impossible to escape the tragedy of this vicious second wave. Coronavirus is ravaging the old but it has not spared India's young. The Prime Minister has announced that everyone over the age of 18 can get the vaccine.

But with less than 2 percent of the country inoculated that offers only a distant hope. So India's capital continues to burn suffocated by the rampant spread of this deadly virus. A city and a country brought to its knees, praying for respite. Clarissa Ward, CNN, New Delhi.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And just days after federal agents raided the apartment and Office of Former New York City Mayor and Donald Trump's Personal Attorney Rudy Giuliani new details are emerging about how the former president's allies are feeling uneasy about what could come next?

Plus, three Colorado Police Officers who laughed at body camera footage of the violent arrest of a 73-year-old woman with dementia have resigned what their Police Chief is now saying. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:20:00]

WHITFIELD: Alright, raids by federal agents of Rudy Giuliani's apartment and office this week are raising fears within Former President Trump's inner circle. Sources close to Trump say they're worried about what could come next. CNN Justice Correspondent Jessica Schneider has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): New details about the investigation into Rudy Giuliani and what exactly investigators are searching for? "The New York Times" now reports at least one of the search warrants served Wednesday sought information related to the Former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.

The same Marie Yovanovitch Former President Trump fired in April 2019 and who testified as a witness in his first impeachment trial.

MARIE YOVANOVITCH, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Our Ukraine policy has been thrown into disarray and shady interests the word of the world over has learned how little it takes to remove an American Ambassador who does not give them what they want.

SCHNEIDER (voice over): Investigators want to determine if Giuliani worked to get Yovanovitch ousted from her position just to help Trump or also to benefit Ukrainians interests as he sought dirt from them on the Biden's?

It's all part of the long running criminal investigation into Giuliani and an inquiry into whether he worked as an unregistered foreign agent for Ukraine, while also serving as President Trump's Personal Attorney. Federal agents served a search warrant on his apartment and office Wednesday, seizing several electronic devices.

RUDY GIULIANI, DONALD TRUMP'S FORMER PERSONAL ATTORNEY: What about six o'clock in the morning, there was a big bang, bang and bang on the door. And outside were seven FBI agents with a warrant for electronics.

SCHNEIDER (voice over): Giuliani insists he has never acted as a foreign agent.

GIULIANI: I can't believe that these people would actually think I would do something like this. But obviously the assistant U.S. attorneys hate me. And they hate Trump, which is probably the whole thing. I mean to believe that I'm some kind of Russian agent.

SCHNEIDER (voice over): Giuliani's lawyer is also strenuously denying a report from "The Washington Post" that the FBI warned Giuliani and other Republican officials in 2019 that the Russians were feeding them falsehoods.

Specifically, that a Russian influence operation was intent on sending out disinformation damaging to then Presidential Candidate Joe Biden. CNN has not confirmed the report. He never received any such briefing Giuliani's attorney told CNN.

Giuliani was a prominent figure on the 2020 campaign trail for Trump and repeatedly floated false information about the Biden's ties to Ukraine.

GIULIANI: The amount of crimes the Democrats committed in Ukraine are astounding. And when you say investigate and co-Hunter Biden, Joe Biden was the guy who did the bribe. And Joe Biden was the guy who took the bribe in order to protect Burisma.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Rudy Giuliani was also repeatedly asked if this criminal probe could be about more than just a possible violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. But he says he has not been told anything about the investigation by the feds.

Meanwhile, federal officials are anticipating a long legal fight over what's contained in those electronic devices, with Giuliani's legal team likely arguing that much of it is subject to attorney client privilege. Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

WHITFIELD: Alright, coming up a salesman in - how President Biden plans to make the case for his sweeping $4 trillion economic agenda?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:00]

WHITFIELD: Alright, now that President Biden is officially passed his first 100 days, he is now taking on a new role Salesman-In-Chief. In this week's speech before Congress, he pitched a sweeping legislative agenda, not just to the lawmakers in the room, but to the millions of voters who sent him there.

He'll need the support of both to have any hope of realizing his ambitions.

[12:30:00]

But his overarching message is a simple one, the same one, it's been since the campaign, build back better invest now for the good of the country's future.

Arlette Saenz is in Wilmington. Arlette, so what's the President's strategy here, you know, to get both the American public on board as well as lawmakers on Capitol Hill?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, President Biden will be hitting the road trying to sell these sweeping economic plans as he's trying to build that support with the American people which he hopes will influence those Republican and Democratic lawmakers up on Capitol Hill. A short while ago, we got a fuller picture of what the President's travel for the upcoming week is going to look like. He and the First Lady will be traveling to Yorktown, Virginia on Monday, to visit some schools there to try to sell the social infrastructure plans that he unveiled earlier in the week.

You will also see Vice President Harris in Wisconsin and Rhode Island this week. And then On Thursday, the President will travel down to Louisiana visiting New Orleans and Lake Charles. That is an interesting state because it is home to two Republican senators and the Democratic governor.

And also that Lake Charles community is an area that was devastated by Hurricane Laura, just last summer, a community that is still rebuilding. Now over the course of the past week, we've heard the President touting these plans and how they will help to get the American economy back on track.

Yesterday, he made his pitch a bit personal traveling to Philadelphia to the 30th Street Station celebrating the 50th anniversary of his beloved Amtrak, a train that he rode over decades between here and Delaware, over into Washington and back and forth to be with his family. But he also talked about how rail and infrastructure can help rebuild the American economy. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've been riding Amtrak for almost as long as it's been an Amtrak. I've come to see that Amtrak doesn't just carry us from one place to another, it opens up enormous possibilities. And especially now, it makes it possible to build an economy of the future and one that we need.

As I've said from the beginning, when I think about fighting climate change, I think about jobs and rail and hopefully the expansion of rail, provides good union jobs, good paying jobs, but also connects people to jobs and economic opportunities that can be reached from wherever you live.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, the President also made the argument that investments in these economic plans will also help America maintain competitive against other countries. Now the President is trying to make these arguments to not just build up that support with voters out in their states, he is hoping that those voters can then transfer their support for that to their lawmakers in Congress.

Now the President is trying to court bipartisan support for this. He has had a conversation with Republican Senator from West Virginia, Shelley Moore Capito. And he has invited her and others to the White House to talk about infrastructure. That is one of the areas that the White House feels that there may be some room for negotiations with Republicans when it comes to those traditional forms of infrastructure. But he has also indicated that he wants to make sure that they are getting close to the targets that he has laid out in these initial plans. He has said that if Republicans come in with just a fourth or a fifth of what he proposed, that that's going to be a no go for him. And also in all of this, he needs to make sure that he can keep his Democratic coalition together.

You have heard some lawmakers like Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia expressed some skepticism with elements of this proposal. But these conversations with both Democrats and Republicans will be critical as they're trying to get these bills passed in the coming months, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Yes, the ladder especially seems pretty critical. All right, Arlette Saenz, thank you so much in Wilmington.

All right, federal investigators are looking into two possible invisible energy attacks on U.S. soil that appear similar to debilitating attacks seen abroad, called the Havana syndrome, attacks of this nature leave victims experiencing vertigo, pounding headaches, and nausea. Sources tell CNN that such an attack may have taken place close to the White House last year. CNN Senior national security correspondent Alex Marquardt has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It's called Havana syndrome for where the strange debilitating attack against U.S. personnel were first noticed.

Now, sources telling CNN about at least two more on American soil. Similar mysterious incidents, including one late last year right near the White House.

AVRIL HAINES, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Thank you for your attention on this issue, it's critically important.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): The country's top intelligence official saying she is focus on the attacks, believe to be the result of directed microwaves. The Pentagon is also investigating. Multiple sources telling CNN that defense officials briefed Congress telling lawmakers that the White House incident in November happened near the grassy oval area known as the Ellipse, just south of the White House. An official from the National Security Council was sickened.

[12:35:08]

Another incident, first reported by GQ, happened across the Potomac River in Arlington Virginia in 2019, also seemingly directed at another White House staffer. Similar attacks have struck U.S. diplomats and CIA officials, not just in Cuba, but China and Russia as well. Including Marc Polymeropoulos, a former senior CIA officer who says he was hit with an attack, while visiting the Russian capital in 2017.

MARC POLYMEROPOULOS, FORMER CIA SENIOR INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: And I woke up in the middle of the night with an incredible case of vertigo, the room was spinning, I wanted to throw up.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): Polymeropoulos served in the Middle East and Afghanistan, because of the Moscow attack, he was diagnosed with the traumatic brain injury and had to retire from the CIA.

POLYMEROPOULOS: And I've a headache every day since that night in Moscow. It's never gone away day and night.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): A study this year by the National Academy of Sciences found the most likely cause of the symptoms was directed pulse radio frequency energy. Symptoms include ear popping, vertigo, pounding headaches, and nausea.

Alongside the Pentagon, the State Department and CIA have also launched investigation.

WILLIAM BURNS, CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: I will make it an extraordinarily high priority to get to the bottom of who is responsible for the attacks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: And who is responsible remains a major question. U.S. officials have said it could be Russia, it could be China, they simply do not know.

I want to underscore how extraordinary an attack here at the Ellipse would be. This is the Ellipse, just south of the White House, which you can see right there. This is one of the most secure places in the country. You have U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Park Police, D.C. Metropolitan Police, and yet, a White House staffer may have been targeted just steps from the White House.

Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, why one notable Democratic strategist says the party is too woke and needs to change its messaging or risk losing elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It's just faculty lounge jargon, and it's counterproductive, it gives our cosmopolitan smugness to the rest of the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:41:20]

WHITFIELD: Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville is making waves this week diagnosing the Democratic Party as being too woke telling woke "Vox" quote, wokeness is a problem and everyone knows it. Carville also says that if Democrats don't simplify and streamline their messaging, they'll be punished at the ballot box. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARVILLE: And in my view, if you want to in politics, you should speak the language of the people, you should speak clear direct English and address people as they address each other not like the humanities department at Amherst wants you to address everybody.

I think I get people say they're woke and they're tired of being woke. People want to -- after this pandemic and stuff, people want to go about their lives and want to enjoy, they want to enjoy their friends. They don't want to be nervous about how you address them and talk to them anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, here to discuss former Democratic congressman from Massachusetts and CNN political commentator Joe Kennedy.

Congressman Kennedy, so good to see you.

JOE KENNEDY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to be with you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. So what's your reaction? Do you agree with Carville that the party is too woke? And what does he mean when he says, you know, people are tired of this faculty lounge jargon?

KENNEDY: So I think like everything, or most things anyway, it's a bit more complicated than that. And look, I think one what you see at the moment is a divided country, but an energized country to take on some big challenges as we saw the President articulate in a speech on Wednesday, with a bolder and clearer Democratic agenda than we've seen in literally modern American history.

But he also actually took some of the advice from Mr. Carville and articulate that in a very clear way with kind of lunch pail politics and lunch pail language. And I think what you're seeing here is where I disagree with Mr. Carville is saying, look, you cannot, particularly now, try to pull back the reins or tamp down the energy or enthusiasm or drive to actually take on these big challenges that we're seeing from a progressive left.

In fact, many of the things that were too radical, even four years ago, have become mainstream today, so he shouldn't do that. But you also got to make sure that we are trying to put together a coalition that is needed and necessary to win elections, because otherwise come up with great ideas in the minority doesn't get you very far.

WHITFIELD: So I wonder, is this potentially disruptive? Is it undermining for Carville to say this, because another, you know, qualm that he has is with the Democratic Party, you know, is that many viewers, many voters rather, in his view, view the party as coastal arrogant elites. I mean, where is all this coming from?

KENNEDY: So we -- I think that critique is out there certainly from Republican circles. I heard that all the time obviously, as a member of Congress and elected official. The criticism is always going to come. And so that part, I think, just as an elected official or an elected politics, you got to be able to kind of separate signal from noise.

I think the part that does resonate is exactly where you saw the President operate from on Wednesday, he was saying, hey, there's major structural challenges in this country, we have to fix. And we have this moment where we actually can address them. But what we have to do is reassure the American public that we understand your concerns that these investments are going to be targeted for you and that they're going to make your lives better.

Leveraging the power of the federal government to try to make childcare affordable, that's not -- that shouldn't be a red or blue issue. That's not a Democrat or Republican issue or coastal leadership. That's just a fact. And it's a major challenge across this country. That's what you heard the President tried to take on, on Wednesday.

[12:45:05]

WHITFIELD: So Carville says he doesn't like wokeness but then he says, you know, wake up, he argues that, you know, Democrats, you know, barely beat Trump in 2020. And if they want to stay in power, their messaging has got to change. Biden won the popular vote by over 7 million votes. And the DNC chair, you know, Jamie Harrison announced yesterday in a meeting that they are mobilizing already for 2022. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAIME HARRISON, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION CHAIRMAN: We are going to make our earliest and largest investment ever in a midterm election. Over the next year, we will invest $20 million in midterm programs. And that's just for 2021, you all. That's before we even get to January 2022.

Democrats will no longer cede votes because of geography. We wish to leave the whole country, not just the areas that are friendly to us. We have to leave the whole country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Do you see this as potentially impactful?

KENNEDY: I do. Look, I think Mr. Harrison is 100 percent right. It's going to take a lot more than that. And that's not all on him, that's on all of us, as Democrats and as people that want to change in our country.

Look, the way that you address the long term will you address the issues that Jim Carville is bringing up and that Jamie Harrison just brought up is actually engaging in year-round community building community organizing, day after day after day. We are a country in the midst of massive transition.

People are going to be displaced and dislocated by that transition, they always are. Government's job is to continue pushing forward and making sure we don't leave people behind. The way you bring people along through that is that you make sure that your advocates, your activist, your elected officials are out in the community, hearing people, listening to people, and pushing for that change.

And that's the part that I'm thrilled to see the DNC doing this now. The challenge is that that's not going to be enough. This has to come on for every single one of us to do more to ensure even within a Democratic Party that you are making sure that our party is accountable to our -- the communities that we seek to serve.

And one just clear example of this, there's an election, a Memorial election in Boston and an editorial in the Boston Globe today because it turns out that in some of those off cycle elections, hardly anybody in the city of Boston votes. Does this get a whole lot of national attention? No, because it's a blue city.

Does it mean that Boston actually necessarily represents all of the voices in Boston as much as we might claim it does? Not really.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

KENNEDY: These are parts that we need to work on.

WHITFIELD: All right, fascinating. Congressman Joe Kennedy, good to see you. Thank you so much.

KENNEDY: Always. Happy Saturday.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back. Thank you. Happy Saturday.

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[12:52:09]

WHITFIELD: All right three police officers in Loveland, Colorado have resigned from the force following the violent arrest of an elderly woman with dementia. Seventy-three-year-old Karen Garner was badly injured. Not only is the surveillance video shocking, but as CNN affiliate KUSA reports, so are the actions of the arresting officers joking about what they had done. We do need to warn you, the following video is disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you need to be arrested right now? No, no. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten months after Karen Garner was forced to the ground by police and handcuffed behind her back, the two officers who arrested her have resigned from the Loveland Police Department, as well as the community service officer who helped book Garner into jail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know there's a lot of questions on this case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 73-year-old Garner, who suffers from dementia was forcibly arrested by Officers Austin Hopp and Daria Jalali, accused of shoplifting about $14 worth of soda and laundry detergent from a Walmart near her home.

Garner's lawyer says the officers dislocated Garner's shoulder, broke a bone in her arm, and sprained her wrist. And that Garner then spent six hours behind bars without medical care.

ALLISA SWARTZ, KAREN GARNER'S DAUGHTER: It doesn't make any sense why they did what they did. She was going about her way. And all she could tell me was I don't understand why they hurt me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Earlier this week, Garner's lawyer released surveillance video that appears to show Officers Hopp and Jalali, laughing and celebrating while watching body camera video of the incident right after it happened.

At a press conference today Loveland Police Chief Robert Ticer said he was personally hurt by what he saw in those videos.

CHIEF ROBERT TICER, LOVELAND, COLORADO POLICE DEPT.: Our goal at the Loveland Police Department has always been to make our community proud. We failed and we are very sorry for that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But Garner's lawyer says the Chief's apology isn't nearly enough. And she's once again calling on Ticer to resign or be fired.

SARAH SCHIELKE, KAREN GARNER'S ATTORNEY: He's the leader of that Department, and he is responsible for what happens in that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And CNN has reached out to the Loveland Police Chief, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Loveland Police Officers Association for comment. Loveland City officials said some of the officers named in the lawsuit have retained legal counsel through the police union. Attempts to reach the officers have been unsuccessful.

All right, tomorrow night on CNN, W. Kamau Bell is back for a new season of his show. He heads to his hometown of Oakland, California to examine the history and current state of policing in America through the eyes of activists, organizers, politicians, victims, and police themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

W. KAMAU BELL, HOST, CNN'S UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA: Is this moment different as far as like where we are in America and specifically around law enforcement?

[12:55:00]

LARONNE ARMSTRONG, OAKLAND'S POLICE CHIEF: For me, it's just this moment of being a black man in a police uniform, right? And there are some problems, a systemic problems that's been in policing for a very long time that you know needed to be routed out. And so you sit in this place where you're like, do I fit in, right? Sometime you even ask the question, do I fit in? I'm a black man before I put on uniform.

BELL: Yes.

ARMSTRONG: And I'm one when I take it off is, you know, I'm not --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anywhere why you got it on.

ARMSTRONG: Correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The premiere of a new season of United Shades of America tomorrow night at 10:00.

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