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Rogan Responds to Complaints; White House Meetings this Week with Court Picks; Arbery Plea Deal in Arbery Case; Rams and Bengals go to Super Bowl; Former Miss USA Jumps to her Death. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired January 31, 2022 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Leadership at a time of pandemic and a prime minister who apparently oversaw all of this, Jim and Bianna.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Quite some animated voices behind you. Not sure if that's just in response to this report or just a typical day in London.

Let me ask you, though, something that's a big puzzling in this is the headline that this is not yet the meaningful report. Does that suggest that there's more information that's yet to come out, Salma?

ABDELAZIZ: That's exactly why Prime Minister Boris Johnson is going to be ringing his hands, Bianna, because this is supposed to be a slimmed down version. This is supposed to be the soft landing. Because, remember, there's a second investigation, if you can believe it, in all the parties that were happened behind me here. That second investigation led by the police, that's still on going. And the police asked in this report, the Gray Report, that the most brazen violations, the most wanton violations, the most serious parties would not be included, to allow the police to carry out their investigation. So that means this is not the worst of it.

GOLODRYGA: Wow.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Interesting. I mean the key question now, right, is, does his own party abandon him? Do enough members -- conservative members of parliament abandon him? And that appears, Bianna, to still be an open question.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And, clearly, as Boris Johnson is trying t focus on other pressing issues, namely that pf the crisis in Ukraine. I know he's expected to speak with President Putin, I believe that is today. But, obviously, this is hanging a cloud over all of that right now. We'll continue to follow all of this.

Salma Abdelaziz, great reporting, as always. Thank you.

Well, health officials are saying there is reason to panic over a new -- there's no reason to panic over a new subvariant of omicron that has spread to dozens of countries, including here in the United States.

SCIUTTO: Yes, thank the Lord. The strain known as BA2, you may have heard about it, appears to be just as mild in terms of the illness it causes as the original omicron variant. This according to preliminary data. The transmission rate, slightly higher. However, this also key, evidence so far suggests the subvariant does not seem to evade vaccines or natural immunity any more than omicron. All important developments there.

Also new this morning, podcast host Joe Rogan is now promising to try to balance things out on his show, this after numerous complaints that he is spreading disinformation about Covid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ROGAN, HOST, "THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE": If there's anything that I've done that I could do better is have more experts with differing opinions right after I have the controversial ones.

My pledge to you is that I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people's perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view. I don't want to just show the contrary opinion to what the narrative is. I want to show all kinds of opinions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Now, why is this happening now? Why are we just hearing from him now? Well, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young are just among the latest artists who have pulled their music from the platform to protest Rogan's show. Now Spotify has announced that it is adding advisories to any podcasts discussing Covid.

CNN entertainment reporter Chloe Melas has more on this.

And, Chloe, will the platform's rules changes be enough for critics? It's interesting that this comes now as more musicians take their music off the platform. They're clearly facing business pressure here.

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Hey, good morning.

Well, look, we've seen so many media companies experience issues with misinformation, from Facebook to Twitter over the years, especially in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Joe Rogan, keep in mind for those of you that might not be one of the 10 million that listen to his podcast, that's how many people on average listen. He's the number one podcast in the U.S., the number one podcast in the U.K.

In listening to his lengthy message, though, I found it quite shocking that he said that he doesn't really prepare for his interviews, that he just kind of comes up with his ideas off the cuff and he doesn't -- you know, his interview style is, you know, maybe, you know, some journalists are like this. But, you know, he's not a journalist and he's sitting down, but he has a big weight to carry on his shoulders. So many people are listening. He signed this reported $100 million deal with Spotify. And the idea that he sits down with experts, some of which are spreading misinformation, and he doesn't have the necessary facts in order to combat that, that is what he's dealing with now.

And also these rules on Spotify, I just want to tell you about a few of them.

So the rules have just come out, and now Spotify says over the next few days they will be rolling this out to other countries. Things that could get you banned or fired as a podcaster or someone who has a show on Spotify is asserting that Covid-19 is a hoax or not real, encouraging the consumption of bleach products to cure various illnesses and diseases and encouraging people to purposely get infected with Covid-19 in order to build immunity and suggesting that vaccines are designed to cause death. So, these are just a few of the rules that have come out. And then there are also other rules about maybe encouraging someone to harm others or harm themselves, not just specific to Covid-19.

[09:35:06]

But it's a tough situation that Spotify is in right now. And many people, many celebrities, are not happy.

SCIUTTO: I mean you have to set a rule not to tell people to inject bleach to stop Covid two years in? It's remarkable.

Chloe Melas, thanks so much.

Still ahead, Senator Lindsey Graham is signaling his support for at least one of the women on President Biden's short list for the Supreme Court. Could his comments sway the president's choice?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:12]

SCIUTTO: President Biden's team is expected to start meeting in person this week with the women in the running for potential nominees to the Supreme Court.

GOLODRYGA: The president's promise of nominating an African-American woman has touched off a storm of speculation, as well as some controversy.

CNN's Lauren Fox is live on Capitol Hill. And, Lauren, some Republicans are criticizing Biden's pledge, but at

least one potential nominee is getting strong support from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. Here's a hint. They both happen to be from the same state.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. It's funny how that works, Bianna.

But this was an important moment yesterday on CBS "Sunday Morning" where Lindsey Graham really started to endorse Michelle Childs. She is a district judge in the state of South Carolina, where he hails from, like you mentioned. And she is someone who he said he has the upmost respect for. He said he couldn't think of a better candidate.

Here is the kind of praise he was heaping on her yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Can't think of a better person for President Biden to consider for the Supreme Court than Michelle Childs. She has wide support in our state. She's considered to be a fair-minded, highly gifted jurist.

And we'll see how she does, if she's nominated. But I cannot say anything bad about Michelle Childs. She is an awesome person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And it's a significant comment from a Republican senator when you think of just how partisan these Supreme Court fights have gotten over the last several years. You think back to Brett Kavanaugh or even Gorsuch's nomination and how just Republicans and Democrats went after one another during those confirmation hearings. So, a significant comment from Lindsey Graham.

We should also note that there are other people who are considered front-runners for the Supreme Court nomination. And this is going to take a couple of weeks for the Biden administration to work through all of this. But other nominees include D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, as well as California Supreme Court Judge Leondra Kruger.

Now, like you mentioned, the White House expected to begin vetting these candidates this week. But it's important to note that here in the U.S. Senate you have judiciary committee chairman, Dick Durbin, saying that he is going to move expeditiously. They are going to move as quickly as they can once they get a nominee. But, of course, they have to wait for that moment when the president announces his choice.

Bianna and Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, it will be interesting to see if the nomination could eventually get some Republican votes. We'll see.

Lauren Fox, thanks so much.

Coming up, the parents of Ahmaud Arbery slamming a plea deal federal prosecutors have made now with two of the men convicted of killing their son. We're going to have a live update coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:47:22]

GOLODRYGA: Federal prosecutors have reached a plea agreement with two of the men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. Travis and Gregory McMichael were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole earlier this month for murdering Arbery while he was out for a jog.

SCIUTTO: Yes, and that sentence, we should be clear, is not affected by this plea deal. But we should note, they were also facing, at the same time, federal hate crime charges.

CNN's Nick Valencia joins us now.

So, Nick, what exactly is this plea agreement, and does it mean -- what does it mean, if anything, for the amount of time they'll spend in prison?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, guys.

Yes, that's right, they're calling this a betrayal of justice. And I spoke earlier by phone to Lee Merritt, who's the attorney for the mother of Ahmaud Arbery, who says that not only is this unlawful, but that it came as a surprise to the family.

According to Merritt, he says that the Department of Justice told the Arberys that they would not try to get a plea agreement with the McMichaels unless they were given consent by the family. Now, that's according to Lee Merritt.

We have reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice to try to get comment about that but we have not yet heard back.

But let me get just directly to what Lee Merritt said to me by phone earlier this morning. I believe we have his comments here in a full screen, telling me that it was presented to the family that they would not offer a plea deal without the consent of the family. Merritt went on to say that the state prisons in Georgia are violent and there's no guarantee for safety and they know that.

Now, the three men, according to, you know, our reporting, they were supposed to have a hearing today for the federal hate crime charges that they were standing by for. That hearing is supposed to get underway in about ten minutes here. But this new plea deal here, which we don't know the specifics of the details, that was not listed in the court filing, came as a surprise to a lot of people, not least the Arbery family.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, and, Nick, I know you'll continue to be covering this story as more details do come out as to what was in this plea agreement.

Thank you so much.

VALENCIA: You bet.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:54:00]

SCIUTTO: Well, if you missed it, it was another weekend of nail- biting, edge of your seat playoff games ending with the Cincinnati Bengals and the L.A. Rams going to Super Bowl LVI.

Bianna, whoever made a bet on that in Vegas like months ago, I mean that's a very happy person right now. I'm not sure there were many of them.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, exactly.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: They were far and few between. But, listen, one of those games went into overtime again.

Andy Scholes, for those who were excited and hopeful for, you know, a great two games, that's what they got.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Certainly did. And I'll clear that up for you, Jim, no one had this Super Bowl before this season. I can say that rather confidently.

SCIUTTO: Not one like lonely guy in sort of southern Ohio that would have like placed that bet? OK.

SCHOLES: You know, yes, that's -- that's --

GOLODRYGA: We're efforting an interview with him, Jim.

SCHOLES: It's actually just, you know, after the last 30 years of football, it's hard to believe that the Cincinnati Bengals -- and we live in a world where they're going to the Super Bowl. But I'll tell you what, you know, that's the power of Joe Burrow, you know? The Bengals, they were down big time against the Chiefs yesterday, 21-3. They never panicked. Burrow never panicked. He led them all the way back. And now, for the first time in 33 years, they're going to the Super Bowl.

[09:55:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they did it. The beat Mahomes at home. Wow, Joe Burrow --

JOE BURROW, CINCINNATI BENGALS QUARTERBACK: I think if you would have told me before the season that we'd be going to the Super Bowl, I probably would have called you crazy. But then, you know, we played a whole season and, you know, nothing surprises me now. I know the kind of guys that we have and the team that we have. So, you know, there's -- there's still one left. We're excited about this one. But, you know, we'll celebrate tonight and then move on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes, and check out this cool pic. Defensive deckle Tyler Shelvin picking up Joe Burrow during the celebration yesterday. That's on the left. They did this back in 2019 when they played together at LSU after they beat Alabama. So, pretty cool, they recreated that.

Now, Burrow could be the first quarterback ever to win the Heisman national title and a Super Bowl. And he could do it in a span of three years. Now, the Rams, meanwhile, I mean they've really gone all in on winning this season and it's worked. You know, they were able to finally beat their nemesis, the 49ers, last night. They had lost six in a row to them. You know, remember, the team traded for Matthew Stafford in the off-season. Just like for games that we saw last night, he came through in the fourth quarter in that comeback. After 12 seasons with the Lions, Stafford, you know, he's going to get to play in his first Super Bowl February 13th.

Rams, they opened, guys, as a four point favorite over the Bengals. You know, and first 54 Super Bowls that we had, no team got to host the game. Now, we've got two in a row. Bucs last year, Rams this year.

SCIUTTO: Yes, they don't call it a home field advantage, like officially it's a neutral field. I don't know about that.

Andy Scholes, thanks very much.

SCHOLES: All right.

SCIUTTO: All right, meanwhile, the big story off the field is the future still in question, frankly, of super star quarterback Tom Brady. Is he retired or is he not retired? I mean it was some serious whiplash over the weekend on this.

SCHOLES: Yes, I -- well, I tell you what, guys, Saturday was such a wild day on social media. We're not going to know for sure whether or not Tom Brady is retiring until we hear from him directly. ESPN's Adam Schefter (ph) and Jeff Darlington (ph), you know, they're two of the most plugged in reporters that there is when it comes to the NFL. They reported on Saturday Brady is going to retire. But after that, Tom Brady's dad told reporters his son hasn't made up his mind. And a source familiar with the situation tells CNN that on Saturday Brady did contact Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht to inform him he's yet to make a final decision about his future. You know, Brady had said last week after the loss of the Rams on his podcast that him retiring would be a family call. He's become quite the showman over the past few years. You know, he

has his own show. He does these big time produced videos before big games. It could be a situation where Brady, you know, he want to make this announcement himself and he has a special way that he want to do it. But we'll just have to wait and see.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

SCHOLES: He hasn't said anything yet.

GOLODRYGA: Listen, Andy, anyone who's accomplished what he has at the age of 44 and is still considering that he might play, I mean it's giving all of us 40 somethings and older some hope, right?

SCHOLES: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: And people to cheer for.

SCHOLES: Yes, yes, exactly. If you were born in the last '70s or early '80s, Brady is all you got left in terms of older super stars to root for. So, I'm hoping he hangs on for one more year.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Fair to say, whether he stays on or retires now, he is the GOAT.

SCHOLES: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Andy Scholes, thank you.

SCHOLES: All right.

GOLODRYGA: We're going to make a hard turn here.

Sad news to report. Former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst has died after police say she jumped from a high-rise building in New York City yesterday.

SCIUTTO: Yes, just a heartbreaking story. The NYPD says it is looking into the circumstances surrounding her death.

And CNN's Jean Casarez has been following the story.

What do we know about the investigation?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the New York Police Department has announced this morning that they will be launching an investigation. This would be a death investigation, just putting together the facts and the circumstances, even some forensics if needed, as to determine what really happened here.

But this is a young woman that was so accomplished. I mean she not only won the crown of Miss USA in 2019, which was a very important year and she was part of that because it was in 2019 that Miss USA, Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss Teen USA, Miss America, were all black and she was part of that historic year right there. But she also is an attorney. She did her undergrad at the University

of South Carolina. Business administration degree. Went on to get her masters in that at Wake Forest University, and her law degree. She practiced civil litigation and, more than that, she also worked at helping prisoners who believed that they had not been correctly sentenced, excessive sentences, she helped them and she did all of that for free. She was also a correspondent for "Extra."

We want to show everyone her final Instagram post, which is the last thing that shows conceivably her state of mind. It was on Sunday. According to the authorities she said, may this day bring you rest and peace. We don't know who she's talking to, but that is what she said.

Now, her family has said that in devastation and great sorrow they share the passing of their beloved Cheslie.

[10:00:00]

Her great light was one that inspired others around the world. She cared, she loved, she laughed and she shined.