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Texas Doctor Says He Violated State's New Strict Abortion Law; Treasury Secretary Yellen Says Congress Should Raise Debt Ceiling; U.S. To Relax Travel Restrictions on Fully Vaccinated International Air Travelers; 2921 Emmys Open with Bix Markie Tribute. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired September 20, 2021 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
DR. ALAN BRAID, OBSTETRICIAN/GYNECOLOGIST IN TEXAS: And that is why on the morning of September 6th, I provided an abortion to a woman who, though still in her first trimester, was beyond the state's new limit. I acted because I had a duty of care to this patient as I do for all patients, and because she has a fundamental right to receive this care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: CNN's senior legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid joins us right now. So, Paula, what do we know about this doctor?
PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Alisyn, well, Dr. Braid is a San Antonio OB/GYN, and he announced Saturday that he had performed an abortion that is illegal under the state's restrictive new law, and in doing so he's really forcing likely a test of the new law.
Now he says he completed this procedure on September 6th, that's just a few days after the law went into effect banning nearly all abortions after a woman is about six weeks pregnant, no exceptions for incest or rape.
Now according to him, this woman was still in her first trimester but beyond the limits of the law, and he said he did this procedure because he believes she has a fundamental right to receive this kind of care. But his op-ed is the first public admission that a physician has decided to perform this procedure despite the most restrictive law in the nation. And the question is now what consequence could he face?
Now, what makes Texas's six-week abortion ban so unique is that the law does not rely on the state to enforce it, but instead deputizes private citizens to sue abortion providers and others who help facilitate abortions. Now Dr. Braid has said, look, he understands, there may be legal consequences. But here is why he says he defied the law in spite of those potential consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ALAN BRAID, OBSTETRICIAN/GYNECOLOGIST IN TEXAS: I understand that providing an abortion beyond the new legal limit I am taking a personal risk but it's something I believe in strongly. I have daughters, granddaughters, and nieces. I believe abortion is an essential part of health care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REID: So far, the law has withstood efforts by abortion rights supporters to block it, and it's not clear if abortion rights opponents will pursue legal action against Dr. Braid. For example, Texas Right to Life said that it is exploring all of its options but another anti-abortion rights group says it has no plans to sue the doctor at this time, and instead, it is going to focus on celebrating lives that it says are being saved by this law.
Now the law took effect on September 1st, after a conservative Supreme Court majority declined to block it. The justices said abortion rights advocates who challenged the law had not sued the right people. Then the Justice Department also sued the state asking a judge to block the ban and a hearing on that request is scheduled on October 1st.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: So, we're just a couple of weeks away from that. Will we get an answer to whether this is constitutional then?
REID: It's unlikely that that answer is going to come anytime soon. Because the first thing is it's not clear that the way the Justice Department crafted its lawsuit is going to be able to get around the justice's objection to the last attempt to block this law. It may likely take someone challenging a physician like Dr. Braid or someone else to get the proper standing, to then get this ultimate question about constitutionality in front of the justices.
But as you were mentioning before the segment, they also will be hearing, the Supreme Court will also be hearing another huge abortion case in December. So that may likely be decided before they ever get to the final answer on this Texas abortion law.
BLACKWELL: All right. Paula Reid, thank you.
All right, stocks, rough day, what is making U.S. investors a little unnerved right now? The Dow down about 765 points, we'll tell you after the break.
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[15:35:00]
CAMEROTA: So, stocks have been tumbling today. The Dow falling -- maybe we can look -- there it is, more than 700 points right now. CNN business reporter Matt Egan joins us. So Matt, what is that about? What's going on? MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, this has been an absolutely
brutal day, and it's not quite over. The Dow, as you mentioned, down about 2.2 percent. This is actually on track to be the worst day of the Biden presidency. Nowhere really to hide. All the sectors are down. Last looking at the S&P 500 all but a dozen stocks were in the red.
This is all about China, specifically, there's a big real estate company called Evergrande in China, and it's teetering on the brink default which is a big deal because it has more than $300 billion in liabilities. And investors are a little bit concerned right now that perhaps this could spread within China or outside of China.
The fact this is occurring on the 13-year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse has brought back some bad memories. But the good news is that the market has bounced off the lows, the Dow is down almost a thousand points before. It's pared some of those losses.
Also, you know if it wasn't Evergrande, it would be something else. The market was due to pull back, despite these losses, the S&P 500 has almost doubled since the March 2020 lows, and also a lot of people that I talked to on Wall Street, they think that China is going to get this sorted out eventually. Beijing has so much control over of the economy and the market there, that they really have the incentive and the power to make sure this doesn't get out of hand.
BLACKWELL: OK, so potentially short-term here. Speaking of default, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that's something the U.S. cannot do, it would be terribly destructive. This is the debt ceiling and the vote to raise it.
[15:40:00]
She has this opinion piece in the "Wall Street Journal," that she wrote. She says that Congress has raised the U.S. debt ceiling about 80 times since 1960 and must do it again soon or risk a debt default that would permanently weaken the country.
Explain for some people what the debt ceiling is first.
EGAN: All right, so the debt ceiling is back. It's kind of like the horror films that Hollywood keeps making sequels of even though no one liked the first one.
Listen, it's a limit on federal borrowing, and because the federal government spends more money than it takes in in revenue, the borrowing has to keep borrowing. If it doesn't, it literally can't pay for the electricity. And so, the federal government estimates that it's going to run out of cash if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling. It's going to run out of cash at some point next month.
Yellen, the Treasury Secretary, who's known for being pretty careful with her words, she said in that "Wall Street Journal" op-ed that this would be an economic catastrophe, it would set off a historic financial crisis. It's not every day you hear that from the sitting Treasury Secretary, and that's because the whole financial system is built around this notion that U.S. debt is the safest stuff around. And if you default on it, that would completely shatter that notion.
Also, it's important to remember, this is not just about Wall Street. I mean main street would be really hurt by a default here because if the federal government, you know, can't pay its creditors it's not going to pay for things like paychecks to federal workers or social security recipients or Medicare benefits, the federal contractors. No one would really be spared.
So that's why eventually, most people I talked to, they do think that the federal government is going to get this right, that Congress will eventually raise the debt ceiling because not acting would just be too damaging for everyone.
CAMEROTA: Yes, and yet it is the boy who cried wolf or whatever the right analogy is. I also like your Friday the 13th analogy to the debt ceiling. Every time it comes up, we go through this exercise of will they or won't they, will they, or won't they? At the 11th hour they do it.
EGAN: Right, and that's not good for the U.S. credit worthiness. I mean the fact that there's these political charades every time, I mean it does not help how investors view U.S. debt.
CAMEROTA: Matt Egan, thank you.
EGAN: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Thanks, Matt.
CAMEROTA: All right, the U.S. is about to relax travel restrictions for international travelers. Details on how that will work coming up.
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[15:45:00]
BLACKWELL: The Biden administration is lifting the ban on some international travelers trying to enter the U.S. but only if they are fully vaccinated.
CAMEROTA: So, this plan is set to start in November. Let's bring in CNN aviation and transportation correspondent Pete Muntean. Pete, what do we know about which countries can now come in?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION AND TRANSPORTATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, this is huge for international travel which has been pretty much shuttered through most of the pandemic. The Biden administration is lifting the travel ban on all foreign nationals coming into the United States, but they have to be fully vaccinated, they also have to show proof of a negative coronavirus test.
White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients says this a strict protocol, that really follows science, the goal here is to protect Americans. Because remember, travel has been proven to be a vector for the virus, this is being really celebrated by the travel industry. You know, it's domestic air travel that's been going up during the pandemic. But international travel rates remain very low.
Just one example, travel between the U.S. and the U.K. remains down about 86 percent compared to the same month back in 2019 before the pandemic. The timing is critical here, too. The holidays are right around the corner, and a lot of families have been separated for months by these travel bans.
BLACKWELL: So, Pete, tell us about this, I guess I call it the Canada carve out where people from other countries are coming in, but the U.S. border with Canada is closed. Do we know why to most Canadian travelers?
MUNTEAN: Well, it remains a pretty interesting question in all of this, and it came up earlier today. Canadians can now fly into the United States but if you are a Canadian, you can't drive through a land crossing into the United States. I just want to show you the rates here. Just shows the pretty stark difference of what's going on in the United States and what's going on with Canada when it comes to the virus.
U.S. case rates on average, 37 times higher than Canada. Deaths in the U.S. 73 times higher. This is a huge issue for states like Washington, New York, Michigan, those border states, Congressional delegations are now lobbying the Biden administration to change this land crossing rule, especially in light of this policy change today. White House COVID-19 Coordinator Jeff Zients was asked about this earlier, and he's just simply said no change to that policy just yet. No announcement to make.
CAMEROTA: And Pete, does that have anything to do with trying to have a symmetry with Mexico, the policy there?
MUNTEAN: Well, it's interesting here because a lot of people are talking about whether or not politics drives the policy right now. And there, so far, the White House is simply saying this is just about individuals. This is about protecting the most people in the best way rather than having a complicated patchwork of policies country to country, although there are a couple fallacies here. There's some still problems with this policy place to place.
[15:50:00]
BLACKWELL: Yes, sources telling CNN that the Biden administration wants to keep the U.S., Canada and Mexico restrictions on the same timeline. However, the situation in Canada, as you just showed us, Pete, is dramatically different than what we're seeing in Mexico. So, it seems quite political and not based on the science on those -- what's happening in the respective countries but we'll continue to follow it. Pete Muntean for us in Washington, thank you so much.
All right, the U.K. takes over Tinseltown as "The Crown" and "Ted Lasso" score big wins during last night's Emmys.
CAMEROTA: I can't wait to hear what you think about these shows, Victor.
BLACKWELL: One of them I love.
CAMEROTA: OK, I didn't know that you like one. That's a good tease.
BLACKWELL: Yes, we've got all the highlights, next.
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[15:55:00]
CAMEROTA: All right, Netflix was the big winner last night, the 73rd Annual Emmy Awards, they swept two of the three top categories for "The Crown" and the "Queen's Gambit." Netflix made history by winning a total of 44 awards this season.
BLACKWELL: Now Apple TV's Ted Lasso took home the top prize for best comedy. The show also won in several best actor categories with Hannah Waddingham delivering one of the most memorable speeches of the night after winning for best supporting actress in a comedy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNAH WADDINGHAM, BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS FOR "TED LASSO": Jason, you changed my life with this and more importantly my baby girls and I will -- I will -- because honestly, I'm so privileged to work with you, I really am. Oh my god I going to get (BEEP) Emmy's.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: There was a lot of beeping during the show, so we don't exactly what she said there.
BLACKWELL: We can guess.
CAMEROTA: Yes, OK, good. But you've never seen "Ted Lasso."
BLACKWELL: No. And I probably won't.
CAMEROTA: Are you anti-Ted Lasso?
BLACKWELL: It's just I have -- I allow myself a certain amount of television time.
CAMEROTA: A certain amount of fun.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
CAMEROTA: And after that you just cut of the fun.
BLACKWELL: No, no, no, no. No, I allow myself a certain amount of television time. And Ted Lasso has not made the list. There are other shows, I love "The Crown," I've watched every episode of "The Crown," probably three times.
CAMEROTA: It's only half an hour, I mean the TV police in your inner dialogue could just, I don't know, cut loose an extra half hour. Let me tell you something. Here's -- BLACKWELL: I've heard my team talk about "Ted Lasso" so much. I mean, you talk about it, Randy, my producer talks about it. It's you know --
CAMEROTA: It hits all the right emotional notes, it's really smart. Now I will say this, I do find it sometimes hard to understand, it's in English which is sometimes very hard to understand --
BLACKWELL: Are you like a producer of the show, you get a cut or something if we all like turn --
CAMEROTA: No, but I'd like you to watch it. I'd love to know your thoughts on it. But first of all, shouldn't we also start every awards show with Biz Markie, I just want --
BLACKWELL: I feel like we should.
CAMEROTA: Let me just play this moment, that was such a great rousing start to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RITA WILSON, ACTOR: Pardon me to have so much TV, so Stirr and HBO Max I got for free. And the trap won't be complete, I got to give a shoutout to Sesame Street. So many characters I love in fact, that (INAUDIBLE) is we don't care about that.
CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER: It runs about over is about to end. Just want to say, you are my best friends.
GROUP SINGING: You know what I mean. But you say you're just friend. But you say he's just friend. Oh, baby you ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: That's how they should -- that got it off to rollicking good start.
BLACKWELL: I loved it. I mean the -- one, this communal element that they create right at the top, but a tribute to Biz Markie who died this summer. Perfect start. Perfect start.
CAMEROTA: One last thing I want to say is that somebody who didn't get an award but deserved an award was the president of the Television Academy. He had to keep a straight face while Conan O'Brien -- I didn't really understand what Conan was doing, he was heckling them --
BLACKWELL: I still don't.
CAMEROTA: OK, let's just play a moment of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK SCHERMA, PRESIDENT OF THE TELEVISION ACADEMY: UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Conan, a valuable resource. Stories.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: It's just a salute there.
CAMEROTA: Well, he's trying to go on with his speech and he's trying to say something about inclusion and diversity but he -- I don't know what was happening off camera. Conan kept going on with this schtick and this bit.
BLACKWELL: I feel like the award should go to Conan there for holding that though. And then he ended up on stage when Steven Colbert won as part of their acceptance as well. I mean Conan, one, hilarious, but I really don't know what he was doing there, why he was saluting, hopefully, he'll tweet out the explanation there.
But let me tell you the show that I do watch.
CAMEROTA: Oh, good.
BLACKWELL: As you love, "Ted Lasso," I love "The Crown," I'm going to start watching "Hacks" --
CAMEROTA: Oh, yes, that I was impressed because that last night --
BLACKWELL: Yes, some writing and directing awards there as well. So, yes, I do watch television, I have fun, Alisyn, thank you very much. It's just that "Ted Lasso" is not on the list.
CAMEROTA: OK, OK, fair enough, I'm just saying, you know, again, the TV fun police need to just loosen it up a little bit.
BLACKWELL: Here we go, here we go, here we go.
CAMEROTA: But, yes, that was really fun.
BLACKWELL: Yes, it was a fun show to watch. All right, "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper is starting right now.
CAMEROTA; Also, a fun show --
BLACKWELL: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- to watch.
END
