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Biden: Severe Consequences For Putin If Russia Invades Ukraine; Minnesota Man Is Second Confirmed U.S. Case Of Omicron; Polls: 6 In 10 Support Key Biden Legislation, Approval Numbers Stay Low. Aired 2:30- 3p ET

Aired December 08, 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]

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: In the words of a top State Department official who testified yesterday, this is a larger and more lethal operation than Russia conducted in 2014, of course, in the lead up of when it came into California.

So what we are watching for now is if what President Biden laid out yesterday in that phone call is enough to deter President Putin and to pull back, to not go forth with a potential invasion into Ukraine.

And President Biden said today that U.S. troops aren't on the table in this matter.

But we heard from the national security adviser yesterday, saying that President Biden was very clear in laying out to President Putin what is on the table.

And that is potentially more support for defensive weaponry to Ukraine. Fortifying U.S. support for NATO allies along the eastern flank, close to Russia, close to Ukraine.

And then, of course, these high-impact economic measures that we have heard.

And that could be sanctions on those close to Putin, that could be sanctions on Russian oligarchs, that could be going after Russian sovereign debt.

So there are a lot of options that the Biden administration is considering, and they have already clearly told Putin that those options are on the table -- Alisyn?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: So, Kylie, let me ask you about this. Undersecretary of state, Victoria Nuland, suggested that Russia might actually use Belarus to invade Ukraine and put it off on the Belarusians.

What's the discussion of that possibility?

ATWOOD: Well, listen, Victor, that displays that the Biden administration believes that President Putin isn't just playing checkers here, he is playing 3-D chess. He is looking for other ways to get into Ukraine that aren't just

along the border between Russia and Ukraine.

And what she also said yesterday that was significant, is that the U.S. is concerned, because President Lukashenko of Belarus just reversed his decision last week.

He had previously said that Russia doesn't have any rights to Crimea. And now he has reversed that decision, and he is siding with Putin, and saying that they do have rights to Crimea.

So that is an incredibly important area to watch.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: OK, Kylie Atwood, thank you!

So today, Germany swore in a new chancellor, marking the end of Angela Merkle's 16 years at the helm of Europe's largest economy. The new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was vice chancellor and finance minister in Merkle's government.

BLACKWELL: After announcing that they had arrested one of the men who had murdered journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, today, France says it was the wrong man. The Saudi man has now been released.

CAMEROTA: Shortly after the arrest, Saudi embassies alerted the French officials that the man arrested had nothing to do with the question in case.

That case being the 2018 murder of the journalist who was critical of Saudi Arabia's policies by men with close ties to the Saudi government.

BLACKWELL: The CDC has launched a massive contact-tracing effort for thousands of people who recently attended an Anime convention in New York. They're trying to determine how quickly Omicron, that variant has spread in the U.S.

We'll talk to one of the convention attendees who later became the second confirmed case of the Omicron variant in the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:37:49]

BLACKWELL: The CDC has now contacted more than 35,000 people who attended a recent Anime convention in New York City to alert them of a COVID case there. Scientists believe the convention could give them the earliest looks at the spread of Omicron in the U.S.

CAMEROTA: So our next guest attended that Anime convention. Peter McGinn was one of 50,000 other attendees. He became the second confirmed case of the Omicron variant in the U.S. and the first who had not traveled outside of the country.

And Peter joins us now from Minneapolis. Peter, great to see you. Looks like you're doing well. So, tell us

about your experience of getting sick with Omicron. What were your symptoms? What was it like?

PETE MCGINN, SECOND PERSON IN U.S. TO CONTRACT OMICRON VIRUS IN U.S.: Yes, I had a very light, what I thought was a cold, fatigue, cough, runny nose, which only lasted about 24 hours.

And luckily, I was contacted by a party member that I was with that tested positive, otherwise I don't think I would have actually gone and got a test. I'm happy that I'm healthy now.

BLACKWELL: Once you found out that this was Omicron. And again, this was very early on. All we had, really, were some concerns and the kind of red flags from South Africa, the WHO, what went through your mind when you realized you had this new strain?

MCGINN: Yes, it was -- I was honestly at a loss for words, because I didn't travel internationally, the people that I was with didn't travel internationally.

And when I heard those words, I didn't know what to think, just because it was a day old and they're telling me that I'm the first person in Minnesota to have it. And it was just, it was a surreal experience that it was really hard to put into words.

CAMEROTA: We're so glad that your case was mild, but let's talk about why that might have been.

So you were vaccinated in April with the single-dose J&J vaccine. Then, as I understand it, in November, you got a Moderna booster, which by the way, was a little early for your age group to be getting the booster.

Were you concerned that you would be getting -- like, why did you get that booster in November?

MCGINN: Yes, well, in Minnesota, after six months, I was able -- actually, I was eligible for the booster and they had appointments about my local Walgreens.

[14:40:06]

So I am very pro-vaccine and I think because of me getting the booster and my vaccine that I was able to recover so fast and my symptoms were so mild.

BLACKWELL: You said that you were contacted by a member of your party who tested positive. As we said at the top, there's now this massive contact tracing campaign. Do you know of anyone else who also tested positive for this variant?

MCGINN: Within my respective party, confirmed one other person. The majority of my part was outside of my state.

So just getting those resources with other people's states and having their samples tested is still an ongoing process. So until those samples are confirmed, as of right now, just one.

CAMEROTA: But other people in your party did test positive, we just don't know if it was for Omicron. So how many people were you in close contact with and how many of those ended up testing positive?

MCGINN: Yes, close contact with 30 people, within my party, and 15 tested positive. One confirmed Omicron, talking with my Department of health, it's more than likely that they also have the variant, as well, or had the variant, I should say.

CAMEROTA: But everybody was vaccinated in your party?

MCGINN: Fully vaccinated and the majority had at least the booster.

BLACKWELL: Peter, are you OK now? It sounds like you've got the sniffles, a little nasal

MCGINN: No, unfortunately, living in Minnesota, it's freezing cold all the time, the air gets to me and I have asthma, it's just like, it's an ongoing thing my entire life, but I feel 100 percent.

BLACKWELL: All right. I was just checking.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: I heard a little sniffle and a little nasally. Just making sure you're all right.

(CROSSTALK)

MCGINN: Unfortunately, this is just how I sound all the time.

BLACKWELL: Now I feel bad.

(LAUGHTER)

# So, Peter, listen, you're living proof that, at least in your experience, people may test positive, you may get infected, but it was not severe and no hospitalizations or anything like that. And so you're here to tell us what?

MCGINN: Yes, it's -- I think it's proof that the -- when we see it within myself and my party that when everybody who was in my party was vaccinated and the 15 people that did come down with COVID, we were experiencing mild-to-no symptoms at all.

So if there was an underlying thing that I could take away from it, it's that the people that had the vaccine and had the booster are coming out happy and healthy and recovering quickly.

CAMEROTA: Peter McGinn, thank you very much.

I, too, am having allergies today. I had to take an allergy pill.

BLACKWELL: Earlier, I was thinking, do you ask him, maybe that's how he sounds. All right, Peter, thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thanks for the transparency. Great to talk to you.

Meanwhile, President Biden is in Missouri promoting his infrastructure bill. We'll hear from Independent voters on his job performance and how they feel about another possible presidential run by Donald Trump. The pulse of the people is next.

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[14:47:39]

BLACKWELL: A new poll out from Monmouth University found broad support for the president's Build Back Better legislation that's currently in the Senate.

Also, for the bipartisan infrastructure bill that recently passed. More than six in 10 Americans support both bills, even as President Biden's personal job approval rating remains largely negative.

CAMEROTA: A new CNN poll of polls show Biden's approval rating in polls conducted since mid-November at 43 percent approval to 51 percent disapprove.

So we wanted to hear -- we wanted to hear from actual voters, so we assembled a group of six Independents from Tennessee, Oklahoma, Indiana, Michigan, Kansas, and Kentucky to find out what advice they have for President Biden.

And how they feel about another possible presidential run by Donald Trump.

Here now is our pulse of the people.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Show of hands, how many of you believe that Donald Trump will run again in 2024?

AMBER HYSELL, INDEPENDENT VOTER FROM TENNESSEE: Maybe.

BLACKWELL: Two of you -- OK, so why do you think so, Amber?

HYSELL: His ego is like the size the freaking moon. It's just what he's going to do. And a lot of people at the top of that party have hitched their wagon to him, so if he runs again, he'll probably get the nomination.

CAMEROTA: How many of you think that, if he chooses to run again, he would win the presidency? Show of hands?

ELAINE STEPHEN, INDEPENDENT VOTER FROM KANSAS: If it were held today?

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: And why do you think that, Elaine?

STEPHEN: A lot of the never-Trumper community are not pleased with the amount of spending and the state of the economy. They're not pleased with some of the social issues that have gone further left. I, unfortunately, see a lot of the people who didn't vote for him in 2020 would vote for him in 2024.

ANDY MOORE, INDEPENDENT VOTER FROM CALIFORNIA: I think my biggest concern is that some of those never-Trump Republicans who may be swallowed their pride and voted for Biden or a third-party candidate would just not show up.

CAMEROTA: How many of you, show of hands, are concerned about something that President Trump has loudly touted along with his Republican allies, and that is election fraud?

[14:50:06]

MARK RITER, INDEPENDENT VOTER FROM KENTUCKY: Well, election fraud by who? Where was the voter fraud? The voter fraud was him calling the secretary of state or down in Georgia, can you find me 11,000 votes, that's all I need. That's voter fraud.

MOORE: I'm concerned about their allegations of voter fraud. I don't believe that it happened. I think that those were -- it's part of the big lie. It is disrespectful to our elections officials who work hard.

Administering elections is incredibly complicated and vitally important to have a functional democracy, and for them to come in and spread those lies is just rude. And incorrect.

AMIKKA BURL, INDEPENDENT VOTER FROM MICHIGAN: I would agree with the disrespect. I think it's honestly disrespectful to the American people to everyone that stood in line for hours and hours and hours just to have their vote counted.

HYSELL: I think if you really want to find voter fraud, look at jerry nan der -- gerrymandering because -- gerrymandering because that's where it really is. Correct me if I'm wrong it's individual votes that are the problem, I think it's the way districts are drawn.

STEPHEN: You've got people who want to stay in power and will do anything they need to do it, including drawing the lines and choosing their own voters, instead of letting voters choose them.

BETH HARDESTY, INDEPENDENT VOTER FROM INDIANA: I want to caution everybody. We are all, I feel, Independent thinkers and we've not given up our Independent thought.

But there's a large, you know, portion of our society that believes there was voter fraud. I mean, there are people all over my social media, smart people, teachers, businesspeople, you know, educated white collar workers, they believe there was voter fraud.

And they believe it because of where they get their media and what they have filled their social media with. STEPHEN: And that disinformation, again, is a result of partisanship.

We've gotten into these information silos, and they tend to be -- we tend to be siloed by a political party.

CAMEROTA: Show of hands, how many of you worry in the midterms or in 2024 that some of those people who acted as guardrails have been replaced, that some Trump and GOP loyalists are being installed.

RITER: Yes, I'm worried, you know, as Independents what we want. We wanted to make it easier for people to vote. Of course, you know, we're also pushing for the nonpartisan gerrymandering, we're pushing for open primaries, and we're pushing for rank choice voting. These are all possible solutions.

MOORE: We've got to fix the system. I want the For the People Act or whatever derivative that they're on now, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, things like that that restore the rights of voters and not force people into this two-party duopoly, which I think all of my cohort here has eloquently said is ripping apart our country at the seams.

STEPHEN: The other thing I see is that the Republicans are -- I mean, they have organized ruthlessly since 2020. They have passed bills that restrict voting access and restrict voting rights.

In Kansas, we had a lot of moderate Republicans in the state legislature. Those are gone for the most part.

CAMEROTA: I want to go around as a final note and ask you all if you have any advice for President Biden?

HARDESTY: My advice is to maintain good communication as we approach the winter, regarding the new variant of COVID. Reassure Americans that we can live with this and learn how to conduct daily life with the variant without having to mandate businesses being shut down, you know. I don't want to see any kind of mandates coming back.

RITER: What he needs to do is recognize the system that he's been part of is no longer working. He needs to change it. He needs to have open primaries so I can vote as a registered voter and the rest of us, those who are registered Independent.

MOORE: My advice for the president is to stay the course, and I think the fact that he is stayed out of the fray in many ways is good, and certainly fight for our democracy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Interesting that one woman in the bottom right, her point of make sure you continue to communicate as we go into the winter. It's hard to fight the miscommunication, the misinformation, the disinformation that is plaguing the people who need to hear the message who aren't really giving the president's arguments credence at all.

[14:55:13] CAMEROTA: They talked about that a lot. They talked about how much they fear the disinformation and how much it has poisoned their lives. She's a small business owner. She says two of her employees refuse to get vaccinated.

I also thought it was interesting, Beth who you're talking about in the bottom right, I thought it was interesting she said basically we're all critical thinkers but not everybody are.

I appreciated how rational they were and how much critical thinking they brought to this, but as we know every day, that is also a challenge in the country right now.

BLACKWELL: Always fascinating.

Positive news on the vaccine front. Pfizer says its booster vaccine can offer significant protection against Omicron. When will the definition of fully vaccinated be changed though? When will it be three shots? We'll discuss that with an adviser to the CDC, next.

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