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Thousands of Barrels of Oil Spilled Off California Coast; Search Continues for Brian Laundrie as Police Share New Bodycam Video; "The Daily Show" Looks at Fight Over Masks in Schools and COVID Vaccine. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired October 03, 2021 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:10]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. And we begin with breaking news.
Southern California facing an environmental disaster this hour. A swath of California Breach is now covered in oil after thousands of barrels of oil gushed into the Pacific Ocean. We are awaiting a press conference from the Coast Guard shortly. The oil is coming from a pipeline leak five miles off the coast of Huntington Beach. And already dead birds and fish are starting to wash ashore.
Natasha Chen is following the story for us in Huntington Beach. Our meteorologist Tom Sater is tracking the disaster for us as well.
Natasha, we're hearing that this leak has not yet been stopped. What can you tell us?
NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim. At the press conference that the mayor of Huntington Beach was just giving, she was saying that there's been no confirmation yet that the leak has been stopped. This is a leak that is coming from the pipeline connecting the platform to the shore. And so there is a lot of concern right now not just for the animals, a lot of wildlife they're seeing washing up. Birds and fish with oil on them, washing up.
But also people. We're talking to people who have been on the beach today. They've got oil now on their skin, on the bottoms of their feet. And so officials are really telling people that's why the ocean, the shoreline is closed right now. Do not go in the water. It's best to try and avoid contact with the oil completely.
Right now I asked just now at the press conference whether and how the responsible party is going to be held accountable. And the mayor said that's to be determined, of course. They're going to work on that. It's a little too early to say whether there are going to be any sort of criminal charges.
You can see our drone shots right now over the area. This is a wide expanse. We're talking about potentially 13 square miles. And we also captured some footage earlier of a couple of ships already trying to do some damage control here. Those ships that we saw are actually dropping a boom trying to drag that up and down the shoreline collecting oil. And so work is already being done to try and contain this.
Meanwhile, we're told the responsible party is trying to fix this leak, to repair it right now. And we're told that the company is Beta Offshore. And that we'll be learning more about how exactly this happened. It's still not entirely clear how long this has been leaking because we're hearing from folks living in the area that they might have even smelled this Friday evening. But officials just now at the press conference saying they definitely got reports of this Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. local time.
So this is unfolding as we speak. The city is trying to work with multiple partners right now and try and resolve this issue -- Jim.
ACOSTA: OK. Natasha, thanks for that update.
And Tom, if you're with us, give us an idea how big this is.
TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, at 9:00 a.m., just yesterday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard, Jim, measured this oil sheen at 5.8 miles in length. Now, this is not raw crude like we had with the BP disaster. This is a refined oil. You know, they add chemicals to it. It's much less dense. But that's how we use it as a consumer.
Elly is just one platform. There are a series that are offshore, a good 8.5 miles offshore. I want to show you a handout from the Bureau of Ocean Energy. Gives you a better idea. Notice the boxed area offshore. This is called the Beta Field. It's in federal waters. You get closer to shore and it's state waters. But it's owned by U.S. Department of the Interior.
This land is a huge reservoir for crude oil and this area is then leased to these companies, such as Beta Operating Company. But getting closer, Elly is the main platform that does the post processing. The other platforms, extract the raw crude, give it to Elly. And on these red lines, these are the pipelines that take it to the facilities onshore. Elly's actually crisscrosses and more to the left. So somewhere along this line, we're not exactly sure where, we thought maybe five miles offshore, wherever it is, started to leak.
They put a temporary patch on it yesterday. Divers have been in this morning to try to do more work on this. But the damage is already done here. 3,000 barrels equates to 126,000 gallons. Now, using 64 high- frequency radars, this weather model, actually ocean currents, tells you what a parcel of gas or oil or anything on the surface of the ocean, where it would flow. And basically it's a northwest to southeast flow, almost parallel to the land. Now we know already in Huntington Beach that we have this oil deposits.
[16:05:03]
We're also seeing them in Newport now. That is something new that wasn't there yesterday. The fumes are overwhelming because of all the chemicals that they put into this in their post-processing. But if you look at the winds, and those who live in Southern California and most coastlines, for the most part, you have your onshore flow and your offshore flow.
So taking those steering currents of the ocean, it incorporates some of these winds that are going to blow that debris. Again it's 5.8 miles in length. But here's the concern. If it's still offshore by, you know, 2.8 miles, and we're already now seeing the deposits, what does that mean when the actual plume of oil reaches land? And with the onshore flows, we're going to see that.
Then you've got high tide, Jim. And it happens twice. And this is going to be above five feet. So we've got, you know, Sunday evening, almost 10 to 8:00, and then you've got about a quarter to 9:00 as we get into Monday. So that's going to push that even further up into the coastline and on the sand.
But just as a reference, I mean, you've got to go back -- you see 130,000 gallons, 126,000 is what we're currently looking at. But again 1969, that's the Santa Barbara oil leak. And that was, again, you're looking at three million gallons. That plume was a good 35 miles in length. So this one is much, much smaller. And it's a processed crude. So one thing we learned from the BP oil leak was even that raw crude coming out over time can disperse, which is quite surprising as we watched that terrible event for weeks on end.
So there may be some good news. They do have these barriers, these booms that are in place right now. And again, everyone is watching what's happening off the coast. And again, it's a series of these oil platforms. But the main one, obviously, is Elly. We just don't know where exactly that breach is on that pipeline. Is it, you know, two miles offshore, is it five miles? Because we do know that the platform itself, this compound, if you will, is a good 8.6 miles offshore.
Any way we look at it, it is sliding toward the coastline. It will expand in its length because it is less dense than raw crude, possibly even making its way far south toward Laguna Beach. Terrible, terrible situation.
ACOSTA: Yes, it is a very serious situation there. And I want to go back to Natasha Chen as we're waiting on this press conference that we're expecting from the Coast Guard.
Natasha, what are some of the unanswered questions at this point? I mean, this is not under control. And I guess the big question is, how soon can they get it under control? But having covered some of these things, sometimes they don't know the answer to that.
CHEN: That's right. I think that's one of the main issues that is unresolved right now. Another question of course as time goes on and as they investigate this is, how did this happen exactly? So how did this happen? How soon can it be fixed? And one of the questions I just asked the city officials, a lot of people of course now getting these oil blotches on the bottoms of their feet and on their skin. They are actually behind me at these little wash stations trying to get it off of their skin. And, you know, what are the potential harmful effects for people who
come into contact with this oil. So those are some of the things that the public definitely would be interested in, especially as this cleanup effort continues over the next few days. As I mentioned, those ships are dragging a boom up and down the shore right now trying to collect that oil. The city said that they put down 2,000 feet of boom. They are trying to do their best as well.
The 1969 spill that Tom just talked about really was a major event that launched sort of the modern conservation, environmental efforts, this movement. And, you know, here in Huntington Beach they did a lot with the conservancy for the wetlands as well. And so one of the county supervisors were talking about the decades of work that were done -- that was done with multiple groups here to try and protect that wildlife. And that's all been destroyed, she said, in about a day because of this -- Jim.
ACOSTA: Yes, we know Californians just do not stand for this sort of thing.
All right, Natasha Chen and Tom Sater, thanks for that update. We're going to keep tabs on this press conference that we're expecting out in California any minute now.
But in the meantime, let's go to the search for Brian Laundrie. Laundrie has not been seen in almost three weeks now, not since his fiancee Gabby Petito's body was found.
CNN's Nadia Romero is in North Port, Florida. Nadia, what's the latest there?
NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, we know that the FBI has scaled down their approach to a much more targeted approach. So as you mentioned, it was about three weeks ago that Brian Laundrie's parents say they last saw or heard from their son. And they told investigators they thought he might have been going to Carlson Reserve, which is not far from here.
And there was a largescale search there as investigators and search crews were going through swampy and flooded out waters in that wetland area to try to find him. We haven't seen much activity in that area here at the Laundrie family home over the past couple of days. We've seen the FBI showing up to gather items that belong to Brian Laundrie to give to their canine units who are out searching for him.
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Also collecting items from Brian Laundrie to try to test and match for DNA. So that's the amount of time that we've seen the FBI coming out. And that has been their mission. But still no sign of him. Just over the last couple of days, we've received new video from the Moab City Police Department, bodycam video from an August 12th domestic dispute between Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito.
And Jim, this really painted a different picture of the couple than what we've seen on social media. On social media, they're this happy, loving, engaged couple that was going to travel across the country in this hashtag "Van Life" in order to be Insta famous and see the world. And then you saw Gabby Petito crying and very emotional, and very upset, pleading with police officers not to arrest either her or Brian Laundrie.
Brian Laundrie was a bit more nonchalant and basically said the whole altercation was Gabby's fault. And then you saw that Brian Laundrie was taken away by Moab City police officers not to be arrested but to have some separate time away from Gabby Petito and spend the night in a hotel. That incident is now under an independent investigation because so many have questioned if those police officers responded in an appropriate manner.
So that remains under investigation. That was August 12th. On September 11th, about a month later, that's when Gabby Petito's family, they reported her missing. And that is the last that we know of this, the Gabby Petito's family says that they believe that Brian Laundrie has all of the answers to their many questions -- Jim.
ACOSTA: All right. Nadia Romero, for that update, thank you so much.
And we want to go live now to the Coast Guard press conference on this big oil spill off the coast of California. Residents there very concerned about what's happening. Let's go in there and listen to what's happening.
ERIC LAUGHLIN, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE: Local dignitaries, the mayor of Newport Beach is here, as well as county supervisor -- I'm sorry. Katrina Foley. So basically what we're going to do is we're going to have these unified commanders give a statement. The Coast Guard, federal on-scene coordinator is going to talk a little bit about operations. The state on-scene coordinator, Lieutenant Corbo, will address wildlife, environment and public volunteers.
The local on-scene coordinator Miss Nicholson will talk about beach closures and other local issues county wide. We also have Dr. Clayton Chou is the county health officer so he will be here to address any questions about public health. And as I mentioned, the CEO of Amplify Energy, Martin Wilshire, is here as well.
So after the brief comments, we'll go through and we'll have questions and answers. I'll facilitate that. And the person who answers the question will step forward to the mic and then we'll go from there. So without further ado, Captain Rebecca Ore from the Coast Guard. She's the sector commander for Coast Guard Los Angeles.
CAPT. REBECCA ORE, PORT AND COMMANDING OFFICER, U.S. COAST GUARD LONG BEACH: Good afternoon. Captain Ore, federal on-scene coordinator with the U.S. Coast Guard and Los Angeles Long Beach. I've got to talk to you for just a couple minutes about what we know about the oil spill that's occurring right now, what we're doing about it, and ask for your help.
What we know is that yesterday morning there was a discharge of oil, of heavy crude oil that took place. We assess about four and a half miles off the coast of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. It's created a very large sheen. That sheen is approaching our pristine California beaches, which I know is very upsetting to the citizens here in Southern California. We have been monitoring this sheen overnight and through the day today, as well as yesterday using both overflights as well as onshore monitoring to detect what the extent of this oiling is.
And what we know is there's a good likelihood, if you haven't seen it already, that this oil is going to approach our beaches. And we would expect that some of this oil, unfortunately, is going to land on our beaches in the Huntington and Newport areas. And that is a very dynamic situation. It's evolving as we speak, as we continue to get assessments. And we will keep you updated regularly as we get more information.
We do have both on water and onshore operations ongoing right now. We have boats deployed that are recovering oil that is able to be recovered. And we have teams, shoreline assessment teams on the shore that are assessing where that oil is landing. We've also put protective strategies in place. We use something called boom that protects sensitive sites that are pre-identified with this boom that will cause the oil to move in one direction where it can be collected and perhaps reduce the impact to the beach. But, again, very dynamic situation. A lot of assessment going on.
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I'm here with our members of the Unified Command. These are tried and true public safety professionals and first responders. We train on this on a regular basis. And there's extensive experience here in oil spill response. And we are all here together to do the best we can to minimize the impact of what is likely going to be a sustained response.
We're going to ask for your help. You'll be hearing from several of our public safety officials today. Ask for your help with heeding the beach closures that you're going to hear about. We're going to ask for your help in terms of reporting oiled wildlife and any impacts where you actually see the oil in the water or you see the oil coming on shore. We're going to share an e-mail address with you as well as a phone number to our command post. Thank you.
LT. CHRISTIAN CORBO, CALIFORNIA OFFICE OF SPILL PREVENTION AND RESPONSE: Good afternoon. My name is Christian Corbo, I'm a patrol lieutenant with California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response. I'm here today assisting with the U.S. Coast Guard and the responsible party in managing this incident. My office has pollution response authority, and we are a public trustee for managing California's wildlife and habitat, and California's precious resources.
At this time, we have SCAT teams out on the beaches surveying, assessing the beaches for any wildlife that may be impacted or oiled. And what we're asking for from the public is your patience and your eyes. If you happen to see any wildlife or impacts to the beaches, please don't attempt to touch the oil, don't attempt to capture the animals. Please just call us. We have a reporting hotline, and I'll share that hotline number with you.
It is 1-877-823-6826. If you call that number report, we will get teams on that situation. I just want to ask for your patience, and I appreciate the community, the public assisting us in this response. Natural resources for California is our top priority.
ACOSTA: And we will keep an eye on this disaster throughout the afternoon and evening. You just heard officials there in California giving an assessment on that oil leak. And those officials are trying to get an assessment as to just how bad the situation is out there. Of course we'll keep on top of that and we'll bring you the latest when it comes in.
Next, though, we want to turn to the debate over masks and schools.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My child was suffering after wearing his mask for so long.
JORDAN KLEPPER, CONTRIBUTOR, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH": What kind of issues has he had?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's had acne on his face from, you know, the mask covering and not letting his skin breathe.
KLEPPER: Has he had COVID?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
KLEPPER: But he has had acne?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
KLEPPER: So if you had to choose --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Comedy Central star and "Daily Show" contributor Jordan Klepper joins us live next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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ACOSTA: Wave after wave of COVID here in the United States has led to this. More than 701,000 lives in this country now lost and even though cases and deaths are turning downward, we've seen this movie before. More waves could be headed our way unless people take the awful death toll as a call to action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: The number itself is staggering, you're absolutely correct. But hopefully that will then spur us to realize that we do have interventions in the form of a vaccine to prevent infection, to prevent severe disease, to prevent death. So when you see a number like this, I would hope people will say, well, we have a tool to not let that get any worse.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: As it stands, only 65 percent of eligible Americans are fully vaccinated. The correlation between vaccination rates and the impact of COVID now painfully clear. Take a look at the two most vaccinated states, Vermont and Connecticut. Compared to the least vaccinated states, Wyoming and West Virginia.
Here's how they fared against COVID cases since June as vaccines became widely available. And sadly this speaks for itself. The lower the vaccination rate, the higher the COVID death toll. Some states are putting their policies where the science is. New York City public school teachers have this weekend to get at least one COVID vaccine shot or they won't be allowed in the classroom come Monday. California is going further. It will require students be vaccinated as soon as their age group receives full FDA approval.
The fierce debate over COVID protocols in schools inspired "The Daily Show's" Jordan Klepper to hit the road and talk to parents in North Carolina about why they're so against things like masks in classrooms. Here's some of what he found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My child was suffering after wearing his mask for as long.
KLEPPER: What kind of issues has he had?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's had acne on his face from, you know, the mask covering and not letting his skin breathe.
KLEPPER: Has he had COVID?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
KLEPPER: But he has had acne?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
KLEPPER: So if you had to choose?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
KLEPPER: What's wrong with having children wear masks in school?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, you're breathing in the toxins that your body is trying to get rid of?
KLEPPER: How do surgeons do it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is a good question.
KLEPPER: There's been some new studies that have come out both by the CDC and by even Duke University talking about masks being helpful especially in a school situation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I challenge anybody put a mask on and five minutes later smell that funk and pray it's good for them.
KLEPPER: So there's science and then there's this smell test, and you're going with the smell test.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
KLEPPER: You have ICUs full of people suffering from COVID right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you now? Is that true? Are they just being the diagnosis on paper? I've walked through the hospitals. I've videotaped inside the hospitals. And guess what, it's not full of COVID patients.
KLEPPER: Now I'm worried about COVID and security measures in North Carolina hospitals.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't co-parent with the government.
KLEPPER: Well, you don't want to co-parent with the government, don't get pregnant in Texas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There we go.
KLEPPER: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't get pregnant anywhere.
KLEPPER: Your kids go to private school?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eric. Enrolled in public school.
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KLEPPER: Isn't that kind of co-parenting with the government?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it isn't. Because you know why?
KLEPPER: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a board of education. We also elect who our officials are. We get to have a voice.
KLEPPER: Right. So you work with the government.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do.
KLEPPER: In parenting decisions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: We could keep doing this all afternoon. But I won't. Joining me now is the man who has seen and heard just about everything, "Daily Show" contributor Jordan Klepper.
Jordan, I feel your pain. My brain hurts just watching some of what you just showed us a few moments ago. I think you might have broken a few brains, though, with the power of the follow-up question, which is an art form, I have to say. My hat is off to you.
Do you find that all of these anti-maskers were dug into their views no matter what, or did you ever find a case where, you know, somebody had a lightbulb moment and you actually convinced them, OK, maybe I need to take a second look at this?
KLEPPER: Well, at that specific rally, there was no lightbulb moment. Everybody was pretty much dug in. There were interesting conversations taking place. I mean, and there's valid concerns people have about what this will do to children. Children who have disabilities, who maybe can't communicate as well with a mask on. But, sadly, those conversations weren't happening because they were stuck in this grievance gumbo, where we were talking not only about masks smelling but also critical race theory got thrown in there.
And it just became this giant mess. And so it's really difficult to get through and talk about ways in which you can get what everybody wants, which is essentially schools open and kids healthy.
ACOSTA: Yes. I find when I'm at Trump rallies, for example, you asked one question and you sort of uncorked a bottle of grievances that may not even be connected to the original question. And I find that to be the case when you're out there talking to a lot of these folks. What are some of these wild arguments that you are hearing from some of these anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers that you run into?
KLEPPER: Well, I'll say some of this is by design. I mean, that event that I was at, Madison Cawthorn came in. It wasn't his district, but he came in anyway, and he brought in the grievances and critical race theory. He talked about trans-athletes coming in and taking over female sports in high schools. It became this fervor that got very far away from taking care of the kids.
That particular rally I was at, everybody had their own theories. A new one that I heard was specifically that Satanists stand six feet apart. So if you see people taking precautions where they are standing six feet apart from one another, that's a Satanist cue of 666 and not just people waiting in line responsibly at a Best Buy.
ACOSTA: Yes. And then how do you argue with that? I mean, that is the painful part of this, and it's not just the issue of masks. You've been talking to anti-vaccine protesters. I've caught some of those pieces. They're just incredible. And in New York of all places. Let's take a look at one clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, some people have died from the vaccine. Don't believe me. Go to the media. Go to the Google or --
KLEPPER: Some people have died from COVID.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
KLEPPER: So many more than from the vaccine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One thing with me, I try not to argue facts.
KLEPPER: You're from Pennsylvania.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Because we know it's coming to Pennsylvania.
KLEPPER: How important is it like that to think ahead to protect something before it gets out of control?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's everything. It's everything. Because once it's gone out of control, you don't reel it in.
KLEPPER: Right. Like that's why it's important for everybody to get a vaccine, squash it, before it gets out of control.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's why what?
KLEPPER: It's important that we take a vaccine, squash it --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god. What side are you on? Are you nuts?
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: You threw her off there for a second. I mean, at least you may have connected for a -- what's that?
KLEPPER: Logic has a way of doing that sometimes.
ACOSTA: It does. Does it ever shock you that people are more afraid of a shot that will save lives than they are of dying from this virus? I mean, as for monoclonal antibody treatments, I suppose you're hearing a lot about that out there when you're on the road. But not the vaccine. Why do you think that is?
KLEPPER: Well, I mean, I think it used to be shocking. But now it's not about general health or even the vaccine anymore. It does fall down to tribalism because it's become politicized in a way folks aren't refusing to wear masks because they've read the science, even though they can show you laminated pieces of paper that's the science that they happened to find in a quick Google search. They're doing it because of the alliance politically with the side they think we're on. And so they'd rather be right than appear wrong.
ACOSTA: And are you finding --
KLEPPER: And so I see that happen and I think it's also a disconnect from some of the people I talked to from the realities of that situation, which is it's a tragedy because the reality of that situation can be seen in ICUs, they can be seen other people are passing away. So it oftentimes feels like it's being played like a game and not being played like what you sadly said to be on this show.
We've reached 700,000 people passing away. But we're not talking about that. What we're talking about is my side winning. And my side happens to be not taking a vaccine.
ACOSTA: Right. I mean, that's the thing I wonder about is, I mean, it doesn't matter I think for some folks how many deaths we have or how many vaccines are FDA-approved. They are just hell bent on being on their side of history, even if it's not the right side of history.
[16:30:00]
And Jordan, I want to ask you about being outside the Capitol on January 6th, because you were there. You were talking to people in the crowd before the building was breached. And it's remarkable how adamant those Trump supporters were that Joe Biden did not win the election. Let's take a look at that as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JORDAN KLEPPER, CONTRIBUTOR, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH": Will you accept Joe Biden as president of the United States on the 20th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I will not accept Joe Biden. No, I will not. So, look, what I -- I've educated myself about this. OK. I don't know all within the Constitution.
KLEPPER: Have you read it? It's pretty short.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Constitution of America?
KLEPPER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've not read the whole thing, no. You've read the entire thing?
KLEPPER: Yes. It's remarkably short.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. I doubt that but it's OK.
KLEPPER: You should read it because you might be committed as seditious after an hour and a half.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, I'm not going to comment about that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People didn't vote for Joe Biden, no, the Dominion system voted for Joe Biden.
KLEPPER: Do you think it's possible that Hugo Chavez infiltrated the Dominion systems, change the votes orchestrated by Joe Biden?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think anything is possible?
KLEPPER: Do you think it's possible that a president who never pulled above 50 percent lost the election and then sore about it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: You know, Jordan, I'm old enough to remember when people would say, you know, you shouldn't talk to those folks at the Trump rallies, why do you do that sort of thing. And what I find to be just so remarkably important about what you do, Jordan, is that you do take the time to talk to these folks to hear what they have to say. And it is just so vitally important when you look at this video that you captured before the insurrection at the Capitol. I mean, it's just amazing to be on the front end of that. I mean, what do you think looking back on that experience?
KLEPPER: I mean, that was a harrowing day as we, as we all know, but not surprising. You know, we even planned our day around knowing the traffic patterns of people listening to Donald Trump speak and then heading over to the Capitol. We had to be specific about where we interview people, because sometimes people see us and they are too happy to see us. So we were there when people breached the outer gates because we knew that's where people were heading.
And there was people waving pitchforks. And there was a moment where I was talking to a man waving a pitchfork who got interrupted by another man who was yelling, and the pitchfork guy wanted to be separate from that guy, because he got out chaos by another man. And so when you're talking to a man willing to pitchfork, and he's taking the higher ground, you know, you're in for some stuff that day.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. And I know that you have security when you do this sort of thing, which is also vitally important. And Jordan, you did a hole into the MAGA verse special. So what do you think is next for the MAGA movement, especially with Trump? I mean, he is making it I mean, almost official, that he's running again in 2024. We know that he likes to tease things out for attention and so on. He can't handle not being the center of attention, and so on. But where do you see this movement heading?
KLEPPER: Well, I mean, I think this movement is based around the latest grievance. And so one end, there's talk of civil war and succession. But if the next grievance is suddenly you can't wear open toed shoes in Chipotle that will be also treated as the greatest stamping on grief that there is. So it's hard to --
ACOSTA: Are you worried about civil war in this country. I don't mean to cut you off. But you're -- it sounds like you're worried about that actually occurring?
KLEPPER: Well, I don't like the dialogue around that. I think what is really difficult about it is I think we have a lot of people getting information from their own little pockets, and they bring it to a place and they refuse to engage in actual conversation. So I hate that that's what I'm hearing out there. And at least I'm hearing discussion of secession and I'm hearing people in Congress who talk about bloodshed and, Jim, lower we don't want that to happen. But I think we're going to need some sanity brought back to do these rallies in these places so that we don't get to a place that we can't get back from.
ACOSTA: Well, Jordan, clever, we appreciate you bringing sanity to these, I guess the shoots that you go on and these folks that you're trying to connect with. You're doing some amazing work out there. And people might think, oh, well, this is just a joke. It's "Comedy Central." They're having a great time on "The Daily Show," and so on. But I just see this as vitally important journalism that you're doing out there. So really appreciate your time. And thanks for coming on and sharing your work with us. We appreciate it.
KLEPPER: Thanks for having me, Jim.
[16:34:26]
ACOSTA: All right, Jordan Klepper, thanks so much. And nine months after he incited an insurrection former President Trump goes to court to get his Twitter account back that story is next. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: This week, the world will hear from a Facebook whistleblower who is set to testify in front of Congress after leaking tens of thousands of internal documents revealing that Facebook which owns Instagram was aware that Instagram can damage mental health and body image especially among teenage girls. Facebook is being accused of using the Big Tobacco playbook. The company pushed back on that this morning with our colleague Brian Stelter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: The big, the big tobacco comparison is everywhere right now. And I -- how do you feel about those comparisons to Big Tobacco?
NICK CLEGG, VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL AFFAIRS, FACEBOOK: I think they're profoundly false.
STELTER: Why?
CLEGG: I mean, I understand of course, quit, well, because I don't think it's remotely like tobacco. So I mean social media apps, their apps, people download them on their phones and why do they do that? Why -- I mean there has to be a reason why a third of the popular -- world's population enjoys using these apps. They do it because they like exchanging their views their feelings. Well, that's why we need to make sure that people are not being drawn towards bad experiences. That's why I gave you a very good example earlier. I think in the past, it is true. There was more hate speech on Facebook than there should have been.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:40:13] ACOSTA: And joining me now is one of the newest members of the CNN family Professor of Marketing at New York University, Scott Galloway, he'll be hosting an upcoming show on business and technology for CNN. Plus, he's also the cohost of the podcast "Pivot" with Kara Swisher. Scott, great to see you, welcome aboard. You're someone who has previously called Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, the most dangerous man in the world. You sort of got some backup on that.
SCOTT GALLOWAY, PROFESSOR OF MARKETING, NYU STERN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: First of all, thanks for your kind words. Yes, I said that four years ago. I mean, we have to think about it. Trump was voted out of office in a Democratic process. Biology will probably take Putin (ph) out. But with Mark Zuckerberg, we have an individual that controls the algorithms that amplify hate, make people more prone to conspiracy theory, traffic in making our dialogue or discourse more coarse and he could be with us for 50 years because he can't be voted out of office.
So I think Mark Zuckerberg is absolutely the most dangerous person on the planet. In your previous interview, I mean, they said, well, a third of the world downloads these apps, well, a third of the world smokes probably a third of people who have had surgery become somewhat reliant on opioids. But that doesn't get to the core point around the damage this from continues to levy on the Commonwealth. It's just extraordinary, Jim.
ACOSTA: It really is. And I have to ask you about this. Trump is asking a judge to force Twitter to give them his account back. It sounds a little bit like a little kid asking for his toys back I suppose after he got in trouble. His lawyer say this is Twitter violating his first amendment rights. What do you think?
GALLOWAY: Well, I don't know. I think Trump being banned from Twitter was evidence from Melania's the best anti bullying crusade actually had some impact that we shut down this guy's megaphone. But my understanding of the First Amendment is that it prohibits the government from censoring people. These are private companies. CNN edits and censors people every day. And we decide if that censorship or that curation or that editing makes us want to tune in so these, you know, have added and good luck with that. But this feels like a desperate yelp for relevance. Twitter can censor whoever they want.
ACOSTA: Right. I mean, it is a private company, and he had a good run on it. I mean, you know, it was highly destructive for many, many years. But when you incite an insurrection, I mean, there have to be some consequences, even if they don't come from Congress. And as you know, Scott, there are two Democratic senators who were standing in the way of President Biden, getting his domestic agenda passed.
One of them Senator Joe Manchin who was surprised by protesters who paddled out to his houseboat here in Washington, let's take a look at that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator Manchin.
CROWD: Senator Manchin.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your constituents are here.
CROWD: Your constituents are here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your constituents are here from West Virginia.
CROWD: Your constituents are here from West Virginia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you please come talk to us?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you going to do for the poor in West Virginia?
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): We're going to be working everything we can to create good opportunities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we need to tax the rich.
MANCHIN: Well, I agree with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: I don't know if this is Veep or Curb Your Enthusiasm. It's one of those. But I mean, it is also a case in point that, you know, your constituents out there can still catch you in an embarrassing situation to be out on a houseboat, you know, being asked about taxing the rich and so on.
GALLOWAY: Yes, it probably pushes down the prices of the values of waterfront homes, like, you know, it depends what side of the bed you wake up on. Are these two senators doing what they're supposed to do? I mean, to a certain extent, the Democrats want them to do what -- or not to do what got them elected. And that is the moderates, which they're having a very tough time with. And at the same time, the way you defeat an enemy is you atomize, your enemy.
And the Republicans seemed to be doing a much better job of atomizing the Democratic Party as opposed to us sticking together. So yes, I think they're in a tough spot. But at the end of the day, it's hard not to imagine or it just feels like they're sort of enjoying, or jonesing for the limelight or enjoying being kind of the swing votes here but I don't know, Jim, you're going to forget more about this, and I'm never going to know, what are your thoughts on this?
ACOSTA: My thoughts? My thoughts is that as a very nice looking boat that Senator Manchin has, and I'm not sure it's the best optics for this debate for him and dealing with the progressives. But I mean, were you surprised that Biden has the chance for this ambitious social agenda? I mean, infrastructure, universal pre-k, climate change initiatives, higher taxes for the rich and yet, it's not Republicans, but it's Democrats standing in the way. I mean, they're, you know, I mean the White House gets irritated by this conversation but there are going to be consequences if they can't get this done.
[16:45:09] GALLOWAY: Well, never underestimate the Democratic Party's ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And the thing about this spending bill, the one thing that really jumped out to me is that if it does go through, we're going to reduce child poverty by 62 percent. And you'd like to think that when Americans are presented with an opportunity to reduce child poverty by two-thirds, the economy wouldn't even question what's involved and maybe not even question the costs. It's just extraordinary that we could figure out a way to do this.
So I'd like to think we're going to all join hands here and decide that our children and reinvesting in people who haven't had an increase in wages in 30 years, you know, it's time to level these people up. So I'm hopeful that this is how the sausage gets made, and everything seems intractable into the last minute. I'm hopeful we're going to come together, but there's no doubt about it. Democrats have to stop eating their own and eating their young and come together on this stuff.
ACOSTA: All right, we'll wait to see if that happens. Scott Galloway, so much to talk about with you, we're so glad you're part of the CNN family now. And you'll be asking the questions, I suppose of some great guests coming up very soon. So we appreciate your time. Thanks so much.
GALLOWAY: Thank you, Jim.
ACOSTA: All right, good to see you.
Coming up next, Republicans are powerless to block Democrats Build Back Better package. So the next big thing, what is that going to be? Maybe basic -- baselessly attack it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They want government control of health care. They want to demoralize the military, close the churches.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[16:51:11]
ACOSTA: This just in President Biden will travel to Michigan this week to rally the public on two massive bills currently stuck in Congress. The first bill allocates roughly $1 trillion to fund what they call hard infrastructure. Both parties support this bill but -- and it's already passed the Senate but it's being held up in the House by Progressives who were using that legislation as leverage to pressure to Senate holdouts to get behind another bill, the larger Build Back Better package as it's called.
The second package would expand the social safety net with things like universal pre-k, paid leave, and expanded Medicare benefits, all very popular programs, but its price tag has Democrats at odds. Joining me now White House correspondent and Washington bureau chief for The Grio, April Ryan. Also with us, former advisor to four presidents, David Gergen, I feel so fortunate to have two good friends of mine with me on at this time. Thanks so much.
Dave, let me go to you first. What do you think about this Biden trip to Michigan? I mean, it sounds like maybe this is what he needs to do. I mean, I'm a little surprised. I didn't do more of this already.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: A very good point Jim. I think he's wise to go to Michigan. But he wants to play as a platform. We want to get to a microphone and have you talk about him all next week about what this plan involves. He does need to explain to the country, you know, frankly, Jim, I thought he would have a primetime speech by now, which he put forward these things because they're so massive.
So I think he's going to go to Michigan, right? But at some point, he's got to come back. And he's got to be in the middle of these negotiations, one of the signals he was sending off, which was a mistake. He was sending a signal to the House. Remember the Democrats in the House in (INAUDIBLE), about the negotiation by going up to the Hill, going out to Michigan, he sends a better message.
ACOSTA: Right in April, by now you've seen all of the video of these protesters paddling up to Senator Joe Manchin's large houseboat that he keeps on the Potomac River. And they're urging him to pass the reconciliation bill in this video. And then later in the week mentioned made waves. Part of the upon saying this, let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANCHIN: I cannot accept our economy or basically our society moving towards an entitlement mentality that you're entitled, OK. I'm more of a rewarding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: April, what do you make of that language, entitlement? They're talking about entitlements and so on. Coming from somebody, you know, who was on a houseboat, you know, with his constituents.
APRIL RYAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You hit the nail squarely on the head again, Jim. Basically what's happening, this entitlement mentality that strikes a nerve with many of those who are advocates and activists to help those left's beliefs to this, if you will. And there are people who fall through the cracks. And those people who paddle to his household, are trying to fight for those who Manchin believes are entitled, but others believe that they are in need.
So we've seen this before we saw Reverend William Barber, take ministers and those in the community who were against Joe Manchin efforts with voting rights and went to him saying you're wrong, you're wrong. This is not what where you're standing, Joe Manchin. So this seems to be the thing that people are believing will make Joe Manchin move. Now it's right in his face, huddling up to his houseboat of all things. ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, David, I mean, Joe Manchin has invited a lot of this media attention, you know, to himself, and I suppose he's been around Washington long enough to know that not all of it will be positive when you do that for too long, but the President will be talking about this reconciliation bill this week. But, you know, it's already pretty popular. Pew poll, a recent Pew poll finds 49 percent support it, only 25 percent oppose it. That's just shy of the infrastructure plans majority support.
[16:55:12]
You know, David, senior citizens probably liked the fact that there is coverage for dental and vision care and expanded Medicare coverage and that sort of thing. That I think would be pretty popular in West Virginia.
GERGEN: It would be pretty popular in West Virginia. But I can tell you, this is Trump (ph) free out there. So it's not a walk away. Listen, I think a lot (INAUDIBLE) he's on track to and around him adopt to get this under better control, a larger number on Capitol Hill, especially maintenance (INAUDIBLE). What the most obvious solution is to go through line by line, 2,500 pages in this reconciliation bill, and figure out what the top in order to get the numbers down, that will be a nightmare.
We're trying to a long divisive process. And we've entered from different parts of the Democratic Party clash with each other over a period of weeks, and bloodletting just to defend their program. So I think that's the wrong way to go. I think the other obvious way to do it, these are 10 year programs that come back to five years take savings and reduce the cost of the program.
But very importantly, if you do that, you can get these programs started with some funding. Did, you know, that we just learned, you know, 60 percent of the poverty of children can be reduced by these program, put those programs into place, and then go into the midterm elections and fight in the midterm elections, make it central to, if you will, like these programs, vote us back into office, because if you vote the Republicans, they're going to come in and cut these programs (INAUDIBLE).
I think these programs are underway, establish some (INAUDIBLE) just about speakers and (INAUDIBLE) changes coming in the lives of people have benefit from these program and when people over that way.
ACOSTA: April, what do you think, final thought from you?
RYAN: At the end of the day, I think that to what Joe Biden and then Barack Obama did, they passed a bill and they had to get by. And remember, the Affordable Care Act better known as Obamacare, this President needs by him, he needs more by him. He needs to be the explainer in chief. There are still segments of society that does not understand.
And if you get more people who are in support of certain pieces, they can go in and talk to Joe Manchin, they can go in and talk to even Mitch McConnell, who is not necessarily pushing for this and saying, we want this. If there is a groundswell, this can be resolved faster. If there's a groundswell from the community, this President now has to be the explainer in chief to get what he wants, and to get the Democratic Party pull back together on this issue.
ACOSTA: All right, we'll see. It's going to be a heavy lift, I think for President Biden in his White House, to pull these sides together, and it just got. It was almost getting personal by the end of the week. And I think it might have been a good idea to just sort of call a timeout when Biden went up to the hill there. They see things can cool down and they get back on the same page.
All right, April Ryan, David Gergen, as always, thanks so much. Great to see you on this Sunday afternoon, we appreciate it so much.
RYAN: Thanks.
GERGEN: Thank you Jim.
ACOSTA: All right. And Saturday Night Live is back. Its new season returned last night and premiered with a new President Biden impersonation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How's everybody's summer. Mine was bad. Not Cuomo bad but definitely not Afghanistan good. Everyone keeps harassing me about that drone strike. But on the bright side, I went the entire summer without falling down the stairs once.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: It's got potential. CNN also took on -- SNL also took on a school board meetings that have been -- become a haven for COVID misinformation across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now we know there have been lots of questions about the school district's COVID safety policies so we open the floor to the public. Ma'am?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, my name is Jane Nordling Smike (ph). I am concerned and I'm also crazy. Let's begin. There Johnson & Johnson & Johnson are burned (ph) because of Fauci, OK. And 5g's are only part of it, but not on T-mobile because this, all of this, this is about Israel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, Ma'am, do you have a question about the school district's COVID policy or your child's safety?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't have a child. And I don't live in this town.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, next. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. I'm so mad. I'm literally shaking right now. Forget COVID the real threat is critical race theory being taught in our schools. My question is, what is it and why am I mad about it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Hitting pretty close to home. But Cecily Strong, my goodness, she is a national treasure.
[17:00:02]
And now a quick programming note. On an all new season of "This is Life," Lisa Ling explores historical events that changed America, but are rarely found in history books. Catch the season premiere of "This is Life with Lisa Ling" next Sunday at 10:00 p.m. only on CNN.
