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Biden Pushes $3.5 Trillion Economic Plan & Higher Taxes On Wealthiest; McConnell: Democrats Must "Raise The Debt Ceiling On Their Own"; TSA Ramping Up Security Ahead Of Right-Wing Rally On Saturday; "Confusion" Over Potential Booster Rollout In U.S.; Health Official Responds To Nicki Minaj's Bizarre Vaccine Claim; SC Lawyer In Botched Murder, Insurance Scheme Turns Himself In. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired September 16, 2021 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: And this is the -- of course, the Biden argument, the Biden administration's argument for why all of these plans are necessary.

He said quite simply there, it is not acceptable to return to a pre- pandemic economy because, quite frankly, it was not working for most Americans.

So as Catherine was saying, a lot of these issues, by and large, have majority support.

The bigger challenge right now for President Biden is corralling his own party behind this.

Again, Republicans have a different philosophy on this. There, suddenly, is a lot more complaining about the deficit. We did not hear that during the Trump administration, during the Trump tax cut conversation. So we have to divide this here.

But right now, this is a conversation that President Biden is trying to have with Democrats.

I was struck though. He didn't really talk much about what was in the proposal.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Yes.

ZELENY: As Jessica was saying, what are you going to throw out. We are talking about hearing aids for Medicaid recipients, dental, vision, pre-K, community college.

So these are a lot of programs that would touch, you know, most Americans lives and it would improve the lot for several of them.

I think this was a speech designed to kick off the conversation again.

But the challenge is going to be somewhat going to be thrown out of this. You know, is it hearing aids? Is it vision? Is it dental? Is it pre-K? Is it community college? That's where these negotiations, which are going to happen over the

next couple of weeks, are going to get interesting and complicated for the party.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Then, Jessica, in the next couple of weeks, there's the perennial favorite topic of the debt ceiling needing to be raised.

Senator Mitch McConnell has basically staked out the position we're not going to do it or Republicans are not going to help with that. Obviously, during the Trump administration, they recognized that the United States can't default on their debts.

So where does that leave us?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, the Democrats have limited options right now as they're looking around trying to figure out how to sort through the debt limit situation.

As you point out, Alisyn, they raised it in the past when President Trump was president. And Majority Leader Chuck Schumer mentioned that to us just yesterday. He said, we all came together in a bipartisan way then.

The bottom line is the debt ceiling has to be lifted so the United States does not default.

This could cause, as the treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, has said, irreparable damage to the domestic economy but also the international economy. There's a lot riding on this.

Right now, politically and strategically, Democrats are thinking perhaps the best way to do this is to roll it into the continuing resolution, the C.R., which is also just the budget, and hope they can get the votes they need.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told me it is not going in reconciliation. Although, we heard from Leader Schumer and he was a little more vague, didn't say directly what their plan is.

We know that they are talking with the White House, that they're talking to each other.

In fact, we also know that President Biden is speaking with House Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer today. This definitely coming up, and this is very critical.

Remember, while they're dealing with all of this, that is taking time away. They also need to be dealing with this massive economic package and almost funding the government.

So there's just a lot at play right now.

BLACKWELL: Catherine, in 2019, Mitch McConnell said that there was zero chance, no chance at all that Congress would not raise the debt ceiling because they know that the full faith and credit of the U.S. government was on the line.

Now he is saying, well, Democrats can handle it, I'm not bluffing.

We've got this letter from the business roundtable to leaders in Congress. The treasury secretary now trying to call Mitch McConnell to say, "You have to do this."

This used to be marginalia in the Republican Party, not lifting the debt ceiling. How did it get to the center of the Republican Party and the impact if it is not raised?

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMIC & POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Republicans have been taking the debt ceiling hostage for years now.

I'm old enough to remember, in 2011, when there was a showdown over the debt ceiling by Republicans. They would not raise the debt ceiling and, again, put the entire global economy on the verge of a financial crisis. They wouldn't do it then.

Since then, of course, the party has gotten crazier.

I think Democrats should take Mitch McConnell, unfortunately, at his word. He is not consistent.

Just because he was willing to raise the debt ceiling under a Republican president doesn't mean there's any principle there that would suggest he would do the same under a Democratic president.

And the brinkmanship could be real. It is unfortunate that Democrats always have to be the party that's the adult on the issue because, of course, Democrats also voted for raising the debt ceiling while Trump was president. But that's where we are.

I think it is kind of foolish at this point for Democrats to assume that Republicans will do the right thing and not bring us to the verge of financial crisis again, given they've done it before

CAMEROTA: All right. Catherine Rampell, Jessica Dean, Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much.

[14:35:00]

So former President Donald Trump has just weighed in about the protests against the election results.

And that's as, you know, security officials are preparing for this right-wing rally in D.C. this weekend. We will show you the new security measures they're taking at airports.

BLACKWELL: We could soon have an answer to the questions about booster shots. What to expect from tomorrow's big FDA Advisory Committee meeting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Former President Trump has just issued a statement of support for the January 6th insurrectionists.

You know, in just two days, a right-wing rally will be at the capitol. Demonstrators plan to demand what they call justice for people arrested in the deadly capitol attack.

[14:40:04]

Now, crews started fencing off the capitol overnight. There are concerns some people at the rally may be armed. Capitol police are requesting National Guard be on standby.

CAMEROTA: And then the TSA says they are also ramping up security.

CNN's Pete Muntean is at Washington's Reagan National Airport. CNN's Jessica Schneider has new information about the man spearheading this rally.

Pete, let me start with you.

What does it look like at the airport? What is the TSA doing?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, the TSA says it is also on high alert, but passengers will see more security officers and more canines leading up to Saturday's planned Justice for J6 rally.

Which is so interesting because it is similar to the position the agency took after the original January 6th attack on the capitol when it stepped up security here at Reagan National Airport, also at Dulles and at BWI.

The TSA says, in a statement, it "recognizes this as a period of high awareness and it will continue to work with our law enforcement partners in the D.C. region to address our security posture for the weekend."

Remember, January 6th changed aviation security everywhere.

That's when the federal government put a zero-tolerance policy in place against unruly passengers that really started to become a problem after January 6th. And 4,000 reports of unruly passengers since the beginning of this year.

And the head of the TSA, David Pekoske, tells me this remains a pretty big concern.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID PEKOSKE, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: It's a big concern of mine. I know it's a big concern of every traveler out there. Nobody wants to be at 30,000-plus feet and have somebody create an inflight disturbance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Airlines also say they are keeping an eye on this.

American Airlines moved its flight crews from downtown D.C. hotels after the January 6th attack. It also suspended alcohol service on flights to and from D.C.

American says it is monitoring the situation, although it is making no new changes yet.

BLACKWELL: All right, Pete.

Let's go to Jessica now.

You spoke with the organizer of this Saturday rally. First, who is he? And what did he have to say?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, he's insisting there will be no violence. And he's blasting that message out to his supporters online and over Twitter, telling them specifically respect law enforcement.

Who is the organizers? He's a former Trump campaign staffer from 2016. It was a short-lived time with the campaign, just about a few months.

His name is Matt Braynard. He has since founded a conservative group called Look Ahead America.

He said he is organizing the event for one reason only. He says he wants to seek what he terms justice for the hundreds of people charged for the January 6th insurrection.

He stresses to me this isn't a rally about the election. And extremists looking to cause trouble, he says, are not welcome.

Here is what else he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT BRAYNARD, FOUNDER, LOOK AHEAD AMERICA: We've got a largely peaceful crowd. We've had two events in Washington, D.C., so far, at the Department of Justice and at the prison. There have been no incidents so far.

No one will be bringing a weapon who will be part of our crowd. I can assure the police that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Braynard estimates and the Department of Homeland Security confirms they're expecting about 750 people. But it takes just one to cause a problem.

Braynard, though, is also organizing rallies in at least 13 states. He is calling for supporters to head to state capitals across the country if they can't make it to Washington.

We reached out to officials in several states. Many of them tell us they've not heard from Braynard. They've not seen him apply for permits.

But, of course, Alisyn and Victor, they say they will be prepared nonetheless for whatever may happen on Saturday -- guys?

BLACKWELL: Yes. Braynard says people will not be bringing weapons. But, of course, we saw what they did in January with hockey sticks and flag poles and bear spray.

Jessica Schneider, Pete Muntean, thanks so much.

[14:43:45]

The FDA, a committee, is going to meet tomorrow to discuss third vaccine shots. But with a little more than half of the U.S. population vaccinated, how much of a difference will a booster make and should they be for everyone? We will talk about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:48:42]

BLACKWELL: Good news from the CDC. The agency predicts new daily coronavirus hospitalizations will go down between now and October 11. This is the first time that the forecast has predicted a decrease since late June.

Still though, only 54 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated. And the rate of new vaccinations per day is slowing.

CAMEROTA: Many of those who are vaccinated are waiting for clear guidance on when they will qualify for a booster shot or if they will qualify.

Tomorrow, the FDA will meet to discuss whether it is time for some people to get that third shot.

Dr. Ali Khan joins us now. He is dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health.

Dr. Khan, great to see you.

I feel like we are getting ahead of ourselves with the booster shot. Is the problem that they don't have the data yet?

We keep wanting an actual concrete answer, when do we get it, who needs to get it, which, you know, pharmaceutical company is the one that we need to get it from?

But I don't -- I get the impression science doesn't have the answers yet.

ALI KHAN, DEAN, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH: It is always nice to chat with you, Alisyn.

Hello, Victor.

You are spot on. The administration has got themselves into a self- inflicted distraction about boosters and additional doses. And everybody's trying to parse out immunology data on when, what's happening with antibodies, et cetera.

[14:50:04]

Likely what you'll see tomorrow is that people 60 and older and people with chronic conditions may be eligible for an additional dose, a third dose of the existing vaccine with Pfizer.

So it's a lot smaller confined group than everybody get a dose with every vaccine.

But this is a distraction. I think where Victor had this question leading into the segment was spot on. The focus should not be on getting a third dose to those already vaccinated.

The focus needs to be on the 62.5 million people who -- adults who haven't gotten a single dose. That's what's driving this pandemic right now.

We need to be careful about giving people the sense that vaccines are not effect. They're very effective in keeping you from getting hospitalized and dying, which is pretty critical.

BLACKWELL: The question of how effective this third shot will be for those already vaccinated versus on the overall scope, the overall trajectory of hospitalizations, cases and deaths, what should we expect as this booster campaign rolls out?

KHAN: Victor, my expectation is, depending on how many people are eligible for boosters, recognizing those who are immunocompromised, they've already got permission last month to get their third additional dose.

So there may be a mild increase in those who are hospitalized and die based on these booster doses.

Really, if you want to have an impact on this pandemic, get those 62.5 million people vaccinated. Use whatever incentives that are available to make that happen.

CAMEROTA: That is a perfect segue to Nicki Minaj.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Doctor, I'm sure that you look forward to talking about this.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Because Nicki Minaj, famous rapper, she has 22 million or something followers on social media.

She has a cousin in Trinidad who has a friend who she says got the vaccine and got a side effect so delicate that the cousin's friend's fiance had to cancel their wedding. OK? So she put this out to all of her followers. Part of this is anybody who has anything happen in the two weeks after the vaccine, thinks, aha, it's the vaccine. They immediately connect it.

The problem is good health officials like yourself and the health minister of Trinidad have to chase this down.

Here's what he had to say?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRENCE DEYALSINGH, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO HEALTH MINISTER: As far as we know, at this point in time, there has been no such reported side effect or adverse event.

And what was sad about this is that it wasted our time yesterday trying to track down, because we take all these claims seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So he says he had to waste time to do a fact check on this. Your thoughts?

KHAN: This is exactly how misinformation and disinformation spreads, through social media out into our communities.

It's understandable that people -- two events happen and people try to connect them in time.

So I have a friend who got married two weeks after he got vaccinated. Was his marriage due to his vaccination?

CAMEROTA: Maybe. Maybe.

KHAN: Maybe.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: We'll never know.

KHAN: We'll never know.

However, in this case, we really need to worry about whether or not she was being disingenuous.

Because we heard from the minister who said they can't find this individual, who apparently had this side effect, recognizing there's no side effects on fertility in women and men. So let's just say that.

You know, over five billion doses given. We've had lots of data to address that question.

She personally has not been vaccinated because she's waiting to do the research on whether the vaccines work.

So I'm saying, spends five to seven years to get a PhD in immunology, and then, at that point, we'll now -- she'll know whether or not she should get vaccinated based on what the experts say.

BLACKWELL: Yes, when you do the research, we should come to doctors like yourself as well.

But I don't know that this cousin's friend wants to be found based on the side effect mentioned in the tweet.

CAMEROTA: You make a good point.

BLACKWELL: I don't know if you'd come out and do a TV interview. But maybe, maybe.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Very good point.

Dr. Khan, thank you.

KHAN: Always a pleasure.

And remember, get vaccinated and mask on.

(CROSSTALK)

KHAN: This seemed appropriate for today.

BLACKWELL: Oh, what is it?

CAMEROTA: What is it?

KHAN: Looney Tunes.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: Oh, OK.

CAMEROTA: Thank you, Dr. Khan. Great to see you.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

KHAN: Cheers.

BLACKWELL: Thanks, Doctor.

CAMEROTA: All right, out turn. The South Carolina murder mystery just gets deeper and deeper as the man at the center of it all now has turned himself in, but for alleged insurance fraud.

[14:54:52]

BLACKWELL: There's so much going on here. What's the next step for Alex Murdaugh?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAMEROTA: The South Carolina attorney accused of hiring a hitman to kill him in a suicide life insurance scam is under arrest. Alex Murdaugh is his name. He turned himself in just a couple of hours ago.

He's accused of hiring a former client to shoot him in the head so that Murdaugh's son could collect on a $10 million insurance policy.

CAMEROTA: Murdaugh's attorney says he has been abusing opioids to cope with the June murders of his wife and son. But there's even more to this story.

CNN's Martin Savidge is in South Carolina with the latest twist in this very twisted story -- Martin?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's no doubt about that. There are so many turns in this, Alisyn.

Right now, the next turn is about to begin, maybe in about an hour. That's when we anticipate that Alex Murdaugh is going to appear before a magistrate judge.

And it's on those charges that you outlined that are essentially about this attempt at insurance fraud in which he alleged hires a hitman to kill himself so that his son could benefit from the $10 million life insurance policy.

It all went awry when the hitman didn't kill Alex Murdaugh, but instead wounded him. OK, so that's that. He could be out on bond later today. We'll see.

Then there's the investigation into Gloria Satterfield that's been announced by SLED, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

They're looking into the death of the housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who, in 2018, on the Murdaugh property, reportedly tripped and fell, and as a result of that fall, died.

There are questions now being raised by the coroner here as to the improper reporting about that death because it was listed as natural causes.

On top of that, there's questions about how the lawsuit subsequently was handled and, in fact, that Murdaugh was able to steer it in his favor.

This is the attorney for the Satterfield family making just that claim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC BLAND, ATTORNEY TO SATTERFIELD FAMILY ESTATE: But don't kid yourself, this is a Murdaugh office. They control the civil court system down there. They control the criminal court system.

They know all the jurors because they've -- they've woven themselves into the fabric of the town. This is a very, very powerful family that you do not see in many jurisdictions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: That is one of the overarching themes here, that the Murdaugh family, so closely associated with law enforcement for so long, could perhaps have, in some way, interfered with investigations. There's no proof of that yet.

[15:00:04]

Back to you both.

CAMEROTA: Oh, Martin, you're so right. It just gets twistier and twistier.

Thank you for the reporting.