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Rand Paul Reveals Wife Bought Stock Last Year in Remdesivir Maker; Intelligence Warns Kabul Could Fall into Taliban Control in 30 to 60 Days; Back-to-School Shopping Impacted by COVID Surge. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired August 12, 2021 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:31:45]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Republican Senator Rand Paul revealing his wife bought up to $15,000 worth of stock in Gilead Sciences. Now that's the maker of the antiviral drug Remdesivir. It was the first drug to be approved to treat COVID-19. The filing shows that stock was purchased back in February of 2020. It wasn't reported, though, until 16 months later.

CNN's Manu Raju joining me now. So, Manu, what more do we know about this, especially that timeline?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the 2012 Congressional Stock Act, that was a law that was enacted to prevent lawmakers from trading on non-public information, it requires these disclosures to be made within 45 days. This came 16 months late. It was a transaction about $1,000 to $16,000 of purchase made by his wife Kelly at the time.

Now at the time also as this law was being enacted, Rand Paul himself had criticized the -- any efforts by politicians of trying to profit on their service.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): People should not profit off of their involvement in government. They shouldn't profit off of special relationships. They shouldn't profit off of special knowledge they gain in the function of serving the people. And I think this bill is a great vehicle for discussing how people in government are abusing their roles in government to make more money at the expense of the taxpayer, and I think it should end.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, Paul's office does not say that they made money. In fact, they say they turned a loss on this investment. They also contend that it was a paperwork error of sorts, a filing error. This is what Kelsey Cooper, Paul's spokesperson, said in a statement, said, "Last year Dr. Paul completed the reporting form for an investment made by his wife using her own earnings in investment which she has lost money on. This was done in the appropriate reporting time window.

"In the process of preparing to file his annual financial disclosure for last year, he learned that the form was not transmitted and properly alerted the filing office and requested their guidance. In accordance with that guidance he filed both reports today. Now, that comes even as so, government ethics has raised concerns about these kinds of transactions in the past, including what Paul has done, raising concerns about whether members of Congress learned anything, and purchased these stocks based on their inside information.

Paul's office contends that it's not what happened here. But this was something that also became a concern last year, including in the Georgia Senate race, said at that time Senator David Perdue came under fire for transactions that he had made in the run up to the pandemic and he pushed back on that as well.

So this may not be a legal problem, Erica, but you it could potentially be an optical problem and a political problem. Paul, though, is pushing back -- Erica.

HILL: Manu Raju with the latest for us. Manu, thank you.

Joining me now to discuss Ron Brownstein, CNN political analyst and a senior editor at the "Atlantic."

And so there's -- good morning. There's that admission from Senator Paul. We also have him just being suspended on YouTube for pushing misinformation, telling people not to follow the CDC's guidance. What do you make of all of this Rand Paul drama?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, that's really what makes this so striking. I mean, look, there have been no shortage of accusations of hypocrisy on both sides in responding to the pandemic.

[09:35:02]

As Manu noted there have been accusations against both David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, the former Republican senators from Georgia about their stock trading during the early stages. And, look, there have been regular charges against Democrats, that they are flouting the mask guidance. That they offered others. I think what makes this especially egregious is that Paul has been such a relentless kind of opponent of any -- taking this seriously in terms of public health measures, masking, vaccination requirements, just the overall severity of it.

And whether this was inadvertently left off his form or not, this kind of investment when contrasted against the backdrop of his kind of language about this and the kind of language that got him suspended from YouTube I think is what makes it especially striking.

HILL: You know, you write in the "Atlantic" here as we shift gears just a little bit in terms of how things are going in Washington.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

HILL: There is a concern among Democrats that part of President Biden's bipartisan strategy, which includes not being too tough on Republicans, there's a fear among Democrats that that could backfire. Is the president running the risk hereof of, you know, falling into this trap of really believing that Washington of 2021 can operate the way maybe he experienced it when he was in the Senate?

BROWNSTEIN: Right, there is a big question about the lesson he is taking out of this bipartisan infrastructure deal. There's no question that it's a significant accomplishment for him. It's no question it's a testament to his legislative skill and that other presidents may have been unlikely to be able to nurture an agreement this fragile and take it all the way across the finish line.

But this was, Erica, an inherently less ideological subject. I mean, pouring concrete, you know, is not exactly a cultural flash point between the parties, especially when you avoid paying for it with taxes and find all sorts of other kind of, you know, cats and dogs really to fund it. So while it is a real accomplishment, in many ways it does look like a kind of one-off exception to the rule. I mean, the fact that the larger budget deal that he's pursuing is something that's going to happen on a completely party line basis is probably more indicative.

And the concern among some Democrats is that while Biden -- they recognize that being bipartisan is an important part of Biden's brand, the question is whether he will fully confront Republicans when they are fully confronting him, and where the rubber really meets the road on that is on this voting rights issue. With so many Republican states passing restrictive voting laws plus laws that make it easier to subvert the 2024 result, will Biden go to the mattresses, as they say, in September to try to pass a nationwide law of voting rights even if that means restricting the filibuster.

And by the way, there are similar questions about the way he's dealt with Republican governors over coronavirus because after Trump, he's wanted to emphasize cooperation and he has built a strong relationship with many Republican governors. But there are those who fear that in the say that left him kind of flat-footed when there were a kind of minority of Republican governors like DeSantis, like Abbott who aggressively moved to undermine the public health responses and that helped the Delta variant to emerge.

HILL: So really quickly just in that vein, right, there is this push about the debt limit and of course raising the debt ceiling. And Mitch McConnell pretty clear, right? So if you talk about one and done on infrastructure, Mitch McConnell, this letter, 46 Republicans signing on pledging not to help increase the debt ceiling. The president yesterday said the GOP is not going to let us default. Is he right?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, that -- no. You know, that is the question. Is he being naive or shrewd in the way he is approaching the Republican Party. Is he proffering bipartisanship because he recognizes that it's something that many in the country want, and that he can strategically use it to advance his goals? Or does he believe that there is a broad core in the Republican Party that is willing to work with him across a wide range of issues?

I think Democrats are really debating that, you know, as they watch this in practice, and we will see not only on the debt ceiling but as I said, I think most consequentially on voting rights.

HILL: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: Does he recognize the reality of what he's dealing with? If you are saying you are only going to do voting rights with bipartisan agreement, that means you're only going to do it if Republicans in the Senate agree to undo what Republicans in the states are doing. And that is a very tall hill indeed.

HILL: Yes, it is. Ron Brownstein, always good to have you with us. Thank you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

HILL: Well, the situation is deteriorating at an alarming rate in Afghanistan. The Taliban gaining even more ground overnight, all while new intel assessments reveal that the capital city could fall much sooner than expected.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

HILL: Overnight the Taliban rapidly seizing more territory in Afghanistan, claiming a tenth provincial capital as well as police headquarters in a major southern city. Now U.S. intel assessments warn that Afghanistan's capital city Kabul could be isolated by the militant group in as soon as a month.

CNN's Barbara Starr joining me now live from the Pentagon.

Barbara, that map was bad at the beginning of the week, but as we look at it encroach there on Kabul, what more are you learning from this intel assessment, and what's the Pentagon saying?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Erica. Look, every day it seems to be getting worse in terms of the security situation and the map tells the story as the Taliban continues to seize districts and district capitals, mostly in the outlying areas of the country.

[09:45:01]

But basically the effect of that is to encircle Kabul, the Taliban strategy appears to be to take roads, highways, border crossings, and that could begin to isolate over the coming days, weeks, months the capital city. One estimate is that Kabul could be isolated and under pressure from the Taliban in 30 to 60 days. Another estimate says 90 days. But nobody is really making an estimate that things are going to get better.

So the concern is as the Taliban begins to squeeze Kabul, a sense of inevitability possibly about the possibility of the city coming under their control to some extent. The Pentagon press secretary spoke about the state of the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We continue to monitor the situation in Afghanistan closely. We are mindful of the deteriorating security situation and our focus right now remains on supporting the Afghan forces in the field where and when feasible we can from the air, as well as completing our draw down in a safe and orderly way.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: But listen to those words he said, deteriorating security situation, and that means the Biden administration day by day now evaluating security at the U.S. embassy in Kabul where there are still hundreds of personnel and hundreds of U.S. troops performing security duties to keep them safe. Constant evaluation about whether they can stay and real concern that if the embassy does have to shut down, it would be a very definite signal of lack of confidence in the Afghan government -- Erica.

HILL: Yes. Barbara Starr with the latest for us. Barbara, thank you.

Shifting gears now, prime season for back-to-school shopping as so many of you know. The surge, though, of the Delta variant along with inflation having a serious economic impact on stores.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:51:25]

HILL: And just in now to CNN, a key inflation index has just hit a record high. Now this measures the prices that U.S. producers receive for their goods and services. It's up 7.8 percent over the past year. And that was more than economists had expected. It marks a record since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started record this particular statistic more than a decade ago. As you can see there on the big board stocks slightly lower on the news.

And meantime, retail experts have been projecting record-breaking spending for back to school this year. The Delta variant, though, is really threatening to squash those expectations. Some school districts have been forced already to switch back to virtual learning as we told you earlier this hour. And supply chain issues make it harder to shop.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joining me now.

So, Vanessa, how is this being felt especially across different communities?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, these record-breaking projections for back-to-school shopping are really predicated on the fact that children are going back to school in-person learning but as you noted some schools are reversing course doing remote learning on fears of the Delta variant and that with these supply chain issues is really creating a scenario where back-to-school shopping could be thrown into last-minute chaos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Calculators, colored pencils, graph paper.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): These school supplies are being bundled and sent to children in need. But the items here are on most kids' back to school list and this month is peak shopping season. One expected to break records.

KATHLEEN CULLEN, SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR INDUSTRY AND CONSUMER INSIGHTS, NRF: We're expecting record-breaking spending for both back to school and college this year.

YURKEVICH: Parents are projected to spend $37 billion this year. Up $3 billion from last year and the highest in a decade.

CULLEN: A lot of this is centered around families and students expecting classes to take place in person. And they're spending more because of that.

YURKEVICH: But not at Neely's in Los Angeles. Owner Jerald Neely is celebrating 50 years in business but not record-breaking sales.

JERALD NEELY, OWNER, NEELY'S EDUCATION MATERIALS AND SUPPLY: I just haven't seen it yet.

YURKEVICH: And according to a new report, 56 percent of Americans plan to cut back on spending because of COVID. With 64 percent of consumers saying they're now very concerned about the virus. A 25 percent jump in the last month.

NEELY: There is a lot of uncertainty right now. What would formally be our busy time of the year has been sort of busy?

YURKEVICH: And then there is supply chain slowdowns.

NEELY: I have an order right now where I can't fulfill it because my supplier doesn't have the product that hasn't made it here from other countries. So that's money I'm losing.

YURKEVICH: And at Operation Backpack in New York City, they're short on backpacks.

PAIGE DAVIS, BOARD MEMBER, OPERATION BACKPACK NYC: This year we need 15,000 and we're short like upwards of 3,000.

YURKEVICH: These backpacks filled with supplies are going to New York City's most vulnerable. Children living in shelters.

DAVIS: A Pre-K backpack is like $45. A high school backpack could cost $150 or more. People who are struggling cannot afford that.

YURKEVICH: Federal aid has helped offset some of the pandemic's economic pain. About half of back-to-school shoppers are using stimulus checks or the child tax credit to pay for school supplies. But for many families it's still not enough.

DAVIS: The fact that the students and our shelters will have one less thing to worry about, where are they going to get their school supplies, that's all we want, is to alleviate that stress, alleviate that burden so they can just be happy to go to school.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[09:55:10]

YURKEVICH: And some of these key school supplies will cost a little bit more. That is because of these labor shortages, supply chain issues and this pent-up demand, so retailers are saying to parents, hey, get out early, secure those lower prices and also make sure you get into stores so you can get stuff off the shelf and you won't walk into a store with bare shelves.

And Erica, one more tip that retailers are suggesting parents take is that if you have multiple children in your family, buy in bulk, that will help you save a couple of cents on the dollar this year -- Erica.

HILL: I'm taking note on all of those because I'm probably a little behind the eight ball. Time to get going on the back-to-school shopping.

Thank you, my friend.

YURKEVICH: Thank you.

HILL: As early as today we could see the FDA authorize additional COVID shots for some people with weakened immune systems. So when could we see that for the rest of the population? More on this just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)