Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Expert Says Trucking Industry Facing Shortage of 80,000 Drivers; Gunman in Parkland School Shooting Pleads Guilty to Murder; Today, Senate Democrats Attempt to Advance New Voting Rights Bill. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 20, 2021 - 10:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: Right now, the trucking industry is facing a shortage of some 80,000 drivers. The American Trucking Association tells CNN that the shortage of drivers could double by 2020 if nothing is done in the meantime. The truck driver shortage a major factor in the supply chain slowdown, preventing all sorts of products from being delivered to all of us all across the country.

Joining me now to discuss, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Secretary, thanks for taking the time this morning.

PETE BUTTIGIEG, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: Good to be with you. Good morning.

SCIUTTO: So, a lot of measures there. You have the truck driver shortage. You have an unprecedented number, just as one measure, of cargo ships now sitting off the Southern California coast. I actually flew over it yesterday. I took this photo that we're putting up on screen of the backlog there.

You have said you expect this shortage or bottleneck to last well into 2022. Now, if steps like keeping ports open 24/7 isn't making the difference, what is the administration doing to shorten that timeline?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, look, there are going to be disruptions and shocks to the system as long as the pandemic continues. But we know some of the steps that we're taking are going to make a difference. Remember, there are three factors here. It's about supply, it's about demand and it's about the pandemic. And those three factors are interacting.

Demand is off the charts. Remember, it's not that we're moving fewer goods through the system right now. We're actually moving more goods than ever. It's just that that can't keep up with demand being even higher than that.

As you correctly point out, there's a lot more to this than just what goes on at the ports. Those 24/7 ops, those are going to make a difference. But sometimes when you see ships waiting at the ports, that might actually have to do with the availability of trucks either inland or moving those containers off of those ships or out of the ports and clearing the room for the next ones. That's why we're not only working on the shipping side of things, but we're also engaging with state DMVs to get more commercial driver's licenses issued and taking other measures to try to help with the trucking side of things.

SCIUTTO: Okay. You mentioned a retail sales boom, and that is true, but that was expected. Folks were talking about a Biden boom into this year. There was an enormous amount of stimulus money put into the system. I wonder should the administration have been better prepared for this?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, we've been working this issue all year. But, remember, these are fundamentally private sector systems. And the private sector was not expecting the speed of the economic recovery that we've been experiencing. You add on to that the fact that we have some issues with our infrastructure, as we've been saying every day since we got here, issues that have to do with decades of underinvestment. And as one of the port directors said to me the other day, this is what underinvestment looks like.

That's exactly why we have both the long-term strategy, getting this historic infrastructure investment through, including $17 billion for our ports and the more immediate steps that we're taking and, again, have been for really the entire stretch that this administration has been here.

SCIUTTO: You mention the infrastructure package. I don't have to tell you how many fits and starts there have been getting that through.

[10:35:00]

There are now discussions of the possibility of a vote by the end of the month, perhaps just with the framework for the larger budget agreement being enough to satisfy progressives. Why should folks listening now believe that this time that infrastructure plan and the other budget priorities will get through? Why should we be confident?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, as you can imagine, nobody is more impatient than me to get going. We are poised and ready to deploy these resources the moment that Congress passes the bill and gets it to the president's desk.

Now, obviously there are a lot of players here, 535 members of the House and Senate in addition to the White House in these negotiations to actually deliver something. But you can feel the momentum right now, and that makes me very optimistic that we're going to get something done in short order.

And that's where my department gets to work deploying, again, those dollars that need to get out to every part of the country, whether we're talking the ports, the roads and bridges, the airports, transit, rail, or any other part of our infrastructure that needs work.

SCIUTTO: But a heck of a lot fewer dollars than were originally discussed and major concessions under way on a whole host of things. I just want to zero in on one and that is climate provisions. It looks like the clean energy plan is going to be taken out of this. Given the importance of that to the nation's infrastructure going forward, I wonder how can the U.S meet its climate goals without that being part of this?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, look, we have to take major climate action. There are several different ways to do it. And that's part of what's being negotiated right now. But there's no doubt in my mind that the implications of the final package will be historic when it comes to fighting climate change. And I can tell you what's already baked in on the transportation side, the part that I work on most, is going to make a big difference.

As I speak, we're here at the Department of Transportation surrounded by demonstrations of the incredible technology for electric vehicles, not just the cars that are most often talked about, but everything from motorcycles to garbage trucks and the technology to charge them. We are poised to make a historic difference on the surface side as well as working on aviation, shipping and the rest of it. And that is going to be a critical part of meeting our climate goals.

SCIUTTO: Another one where Democrats have had to backtrack on is on the length of family leave, discussions now cutting it from 12 weeks to 4 weeks. I mean, that's a big cut with an income limit only up to $100,000 in annual income there.

You, of course -- by the way, congratulations, you just welcomed twins and took your family leave. I wonder, I mean, four weeks for just that portion of the population, is that enough to make a difference? It's a big comedown for Democrats.

BUTTIGIEG: Well, again, we'll see where the negotiations end. But what I know is that the pro-family agenda of this administration has to do with making it easier and more affordable to raise children in this country. And I do have a new appreciation for that as a new parent, having been able to take time which, by the way, is work, it's just a different kind of work, a joyful work but an intense work of raising kids and critically making child care more affordable.

And on other thing I want to mention that I think is getting missed a little bit in this debate, there's a lot of concern about pressure on prices, about inflation. Part of what it takes to make inflation a better is a labor market. And part of what it takes to do that is better and more affordable child care so that more women and more parents, in general, can participate in our labor market.

SCIUTTO: Before you go, Southwest Airlines says that it no longer plans to put employees who have request vaccine exemptions on unpaid leave. I wonder, the timing here is key because we're coming up to the holidays, a lot of people planning to travel. Did the administration consider with its vaccine mandates the effect that might have on companies, like Southwest, being able to do all they want to do for their customers?

BUTTIGIEG: Look, the bottom line is everything we're experiencing right now, from issues impacting the supply chain to issues impacting the ability to travel right now, they're all driven by a pandemic that we need to put behind us. The pandemic ends when we get everybody vaccinated. It is our best tool to get that done. And it's one of the reasons why these vaccine requirements are so important and they work. And we know from the leadership of other airlines that it can be done. One airline, United, got 99.7 percent, I believe, compliance with their employees, and they didn't even wait for any requirement. They just went ahead and did it. So, we know that it can be done.

And I think customers -- it's not just a government thing, but I imagine customers are counting on companies, whether it's airlines or any other company that they interact with, to take the necessary steps to keep them safe.

SCIUTTO: Secretary Pete Buttigieg, thanks so much for joining the program this morning.

BUTTIGIEG: Thank you. Good to be with you.

HILL: Up next, more than three years after 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School today, there is some measure of justice for their families. We're live in Florida, next.

[10:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: The gunman in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has just pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder. Nikolas Cruz is expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars but he does still face the possibility of the death penalty. He just addressed the families of the victims moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am very sorry for what I did, and I have to live with it every day. And that if I were to get a second chance, I will do everything in my power to help others.

[10:45:00]

And I am doing this for your and I do not care if you don't believe me. And I love you. And I know you don't believe me. But I have to live with this every day.

And it brings me --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Remarkable words there and it must be painful for family members to hear.

You'll remember three faculty members, 14 students were killed in that shooting. 17 other people were injured.

CNN's Leyla Santiago joins us now from Broward County. Leyla, that quite a moment inside that courtroom there.

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Jim and Erica, I was inside the courtroom when this hearing started, and I can tell you what struck me just seeing how everyone is sitting are the family members, the loved ones, victims inside that courtroom supporting one another.

When the judge read out all the counts, 34 counts, for which he has now pled guilty to, she mentioned every single name associated as the victims. And when those names were read, you could see loved ones wrapping their arms around each other as eyes were wiped because of tears. These are loved ones, family members that have waited for some sense of justice for three and a half years after that horrific tragic Valentine's Day in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

So, yes, you can imagine the sense of emotion that those families are feeling. One of the fathers, when his child's name was read, he just looked up at the sky and stared. And you can only imagine what he must have been saying to himself, to comfort himself in such a tough but long-awaited moment.

Now, let's talk legal now as far as what this means. He has pled guilty to 34 counts, but still on the table is the death penalty or life in prison, something that the prosecution has said they have no plans on taking the death penalty off the table here.

HILL: Leyla Santiago with the latest for us. Leyla, thank you.

Still ahead, a critical issue to the midterm elections goes to the Senate floor today, voters' rights and protections. Why President Biden is facing pressure for not doing more to ensure it passes. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

HILL: Today, Senate Democrats will attempt to advance a slimmed down version of their voting rights bill, this despite widespread opposition from the GOP. And there is mounting pressure, pressure building on the White House, to get new voting rights legislation passed. And yet sources tell CNN they're not quite ready to blow up the filibuster.

Joining me now, Derrick Johnson, He's President of the NAACP. Good to have you with us this morning. You've called the lack of urgency from the White House around voting rights appalling. Do you think the Biden administration has dropped the ball here?

Mr. Johnson, it's Erica Hill in New York. I'm not sure if you can hear me. You may be muted. We're going to try to re-establish that connection. As we do, just a note -- we're going to take a quick break, we're going to work on the technology because that's what we do in live T.V. Stay with us. Much more to come.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

HILL: Derrick Johnson, President of the NAACP, is with us now. We fixed some technical issues. I know we're a little tight on time, sir, but I do want to get your take on what we're expecting out of Washington today as we look at the slimmed down version of the voting rights bill that isn't likely to pass. Joe Manchin had said he could bring ten Republicans along. It doesn't seem that that happened.

You've called the lack of urgency from the White House around voting rights appalling. Do you think the administration, do you think Democrats dropped the ball here?

DERRICK JOHNSON, PRESIDENT; NAACP: I think the outcome will demonstrate whether or not the ball has been dropped. For African- Americans, we must get legislation to protect our right to vote. It is imperative that the Senate leadership, members of the Senate and the White House make this happen before the end of the year. Anything less will completely undermine the legacy of this president.

HILL: What do you see is the path forward?

JOHNSON: The path forward is not allowing a procedural rule to stop the (INAUDIBLE) of protection of the right to vote. The filibuster rule was used in the 30s, 40s, 50s to impede progress. We cannot allow it to impede progress to uphold our democracy and protect our Constitution today.

HILL: Do you think that that message is getting through not only to lawmakers but to the president?

JOHNSON: Well, I think the president and lawmakers have good intentions, but the outcome is what I'm looking for. It's not the intent, not the words. It's the outcome.

And at this ninth hour we are looking at states and jurisdictions across the country rejoin political boundary lines, redistricting the first time without the full protection of the Voting Rights Act since 1960. I'm more concerned about the outcome, not the statements, not the speeches, not the words, not the energy, but the outcome of voting rights protections.

HILL: In terms of that outcome, why do you think there has been this large of urgency, in your words?

JOHNSON: Many people want to hold to Senate traditions and protocols of the past. We're out of that now. There are no (INAUDIBLE) realities in the Senate. You couldn't get ten senators to establish a commission to investigate an insurrection on this nation. You will not get ten senators to protect the rights of votes.

So, we have to move away from the concept of a bipartisan reality and look at the hard fact.

[11:00:02]

We must protect our democracy, our Constitution and the right to vote. That must be done through legislation. The Senate must do --