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DOJ Releases New Violent, Profanity-Laced Videos From 1/6; Pence: "Trump Is Wrong" To Say Election Could Be Overturned; First U.S. Troops Deployed To Eastern Europe Arrive In Poland; Shaun White Says Beijing Olympics His Final Competition; Forty-Five Olympic Athletes Test Positive For COVID In China; China's Human Rights Abuses Hang Over Winter Olympics; Queen Elizabeth Announces Support For Camilla As "Queen Consort"; Biden Sets Record With 6.6 Million Jobs Added In First Year. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired February 05, 2022 - 20:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:00:41]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god.

(SHOUTING)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST (voice-over): Chilling new video released by the Justice Department from January 6th --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pull the police out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grab them by their hands and pull them out.

BROWN: -- showing just how violent the capital rioters were.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to take back what's ours. If you are a patriot, then get on board.

You're either do the right thing or we're going to make you do the right thing.

BROWN: All while the man at the center of the threats is finally calling out his former boss about his role that day.

MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: President Trump is wrong. Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: What he needs to do is sit down and talk to the January 6th committee. It's taken him 13 months to admit the undeniable.

BROWN: And as the Winter Olympics begin in Beijing, human rights abuses are in the spotlight. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Chinese government is holding more than three

million Uyghurs in concentration camps and also glorifying the modern- day slavery.

BROWN: Plus, we're following new developments on the future of Queen Elizabeth and the royal family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. It's great to have you with us on this Saturday night.

We're going to start with graphic evidence of the violent and deadly insurrection at the U.S. capitol.

The Justice Department releasing new videos of last January's pro- Trump mob attack as it spiraled out of control.

We do want to warn you, a lot of this video is filled with obscenities and shocking brutality.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pull the police out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pull the police out. Grab their hands and pull them out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Here the mob is shouting to the front liners who are trying to breach the doors of the capitol to physically pull the cops into the violent crowd.

In another video, we see rioters under a Trump 2020 flag, fighting law enforcement officers.

One protester has apparently gotten hold of a police baton and is using it against law enforcement.

CNN's Annie Grayer has footage of newly released videos and breaks it down for us.

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: As you mentioned, Pam, the Department of Justice released new videos yesterday that show just how frightening and shocking the attack on January 6th was.

But it's important that we show these videos, you know, as gruesome as they are. Because just yesterday the Republican National Committee released a statement referring to January 6th as, quote, "legitimate political discourse."

Now, the next video I'm about to show you, again, is very graphic, but really captures how violent the rioters were and how violent they were towards capitol police.

Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(CHANTING)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRAYER: That video, along with others, is part of a Justice Department investigation they're using to arrest hundreds of rioters at the capitol January 6th.

Meanwhile, our team was first to report that the January 6th committee has call records that show President Trump and Congressman Jim Jordan spoke on the morning of January 6th. And that their phone lasted for 10 minutes.

Trump took that call from the White House residence.

Now, this is significant because Jim Jordan is a key ally of Donald Trump. And Jordan was trying to help Trump in his efforts to stop the election certification process.

It's significant that the pair were speaking in the morning before Congress met to certify the election because it shows just how connected these two were.

Jordan has previously said that he spoke with Trump on that day, but he's been very unclear about when the two spoke and for how long that conversation was.

I spoke with Congressman Jordan in the halls of Congress yesterday to try and nail down some of those specifics.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): As I said, I had a number of calls with -- I talked to the president a couple of times but I don't remember the times.

[20:05:04]

GRAYER: You don't remember if it was the morning, in the morning?

JORDAN: I don't recall, but I know I talked to him after we left off the floor but I don't recall.

(END AUDIO FEED) GRAYER: As you can see from his answer, Jim Jordan is not wanting to be specific about those conversations with Trump, which is part of why the January 6th committee really wants to hear from him.

They asked Jim Jordan to voluntarily cooperate with their investigation. Jordan has so far refused to do so.

The committee is currently weighing whether or not they want to subpoena Jordan, which would be an unprecedented step to get that information they need.

The big picture here, Pam, is the January 6th committee is trying to write the definitive narrative of what happened in the lead-up to and on January 6th.

And this call in the morning of January 6th between Trump and Jim Jordan is a new detail to add to that timeline -- Pam?

BROWN: All right, thanks so much, Annie.

Former Vice President Mike Pence delivering his most forceful rebuke yet of his former boss. Before an audience of conservative lawyers, Pence bluntly rejecting Donald Trump's false claim that the-then vice president had the legal authority to overturn the election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PENCE: I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to overturn the election. President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election.

The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone.

Frankly, there's no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.

Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Donald Trump has responded and he didn't attack Pence directly this time, the way we have seen him attack other critics in the past.

But he did say current efforts in Congress to keep a vice president from taking that action shows that it was, indeed, a legal option for Pence, which is just not true.

Joining me now to discuss the state of the Republican Party, former Republican Congressman of Pennsylvania, Charlie Dent.

Hi, there. Thanks for coming on.

Charlie, this is what former Ohio Governor John Kasich had to say after Pence's speech last night. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KASICH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You mark my words. He's losing influence. And you're going to see more people taking him on. He is losing influence. It is happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So do you think this could this be a turning point for the party?

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Pamela, great to be with you.

I do think it's a seminal moment that the vice president spoke out as forcefully as he did.

I do agree with Governor Kasich that former President Trump is a diminishing figure.

That said, he's still a dangerous figure. And he still dominates the party. It could certainly win the nomination.

But we're seeing polling that suggest more Republicans identify more with the Republican Party than they do with Donald Trump. So I do think there's some hope here.

Given the former president's behavior in recent days, suggesting he was ready to pardon many of these January 6th rioters, and so many other bizarre and erratic statements he has made of late, I think suggests that more and more Republicans are realizing this man is not well and not stable.

BROWN: Pence, I want to point out, still has said nothing to date to dispute Trump's false claims of election fraud. Why do you think that is?

Because there's a difference between saying it is un-American, Trump is wrong, and saying that I alone could overturn the election results.

That is separate, though, from batting down former President Trump's false claims about widespread election fraud.

DENT: Yes, it is, Pamela. You're right.

I think what's happening in the party is the former president has literally gone out there and just been beating this issue home about election fraud.

Well, there are isolated incidents of election fraud to be sure, but there's not enough to overturn the outcome of the election. I think everybody has agreed to that.

I do really wish the vice president had spoken more forcefully on that point.

Again, the former president has an unhealthy obsession with the last election.

And he is doing enormous damage to the GOP's prospects about taking back the House in 2022 where they really want to be talking about the future and the Democrats and the problems they have.

But Trump is making it about the past and making it about himself, making it much more difficult for Republicans.

(CROSSTALK)

DENT: Because of his false narratives and lies.

BROWN: I hear what you're saying that they want to look to the future, not the past.

Yesterday, the RNC did Trump's bidding by censuring Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for taking part in the January 6th investigation.

[20:10:06]

I mean, that right there's exactly what Trump presumably -- this resolution accused the two of, quote, "participating in a Democratic- led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse."

Party Chair Ronna McDaniel tried to backpedal from that wording about legitimate political discourse, saying it didn't mean the people who were violent. But that is the language they all voted on.

Why is it so difficult for Republicans to condemn what happened on January 6th?

DENT: The Republican National Committee just wrote a whole bunch of ads for the Democrats in the midterms with that legitimate political discourse, just juxtaposing that language against the people who were violently attacking capitol police officers.

I mean, it's just incredible they would issue such a crazy statement like they did.

In fact, I'm not -- I wouldn't be shocked if the censured Mike Pence right now, after his comments yesterday. They're so in the tank for the former president.

They even paid $1.6 million of Trump's personal legal fees. They're paying his legal fees. Trump has raised twice as much money as has the RNC. Trump is essentially diverting money from the RNC.

It seems like the RNC are willing hostages, as Liz Cheney would say, to Donald Trump.

And the RNC wants to attack two good honorable Republicans like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger? I've never seen anything like it.

I've been censured by a county committee. I know what that's like. We have some county committees that are kind of wacky, and some state parties that will do this.

Now the RNC is carrying on like this. They should know better, but apparently they don't.

BROWN: What you're saying echoes a lot of what we hear from Senator Mitt Romney, who tweeted:

"Shame falls on a party who would censure persons of conscience who seek truth in the face of vitriol. Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost."

I mean, it is crazy to think that Romney is an outlier in a party once nominated him as the presidential candidate.

DENT: Mitt Romney and Governor Hogan are absolutely right.

And I think part of the reason why the RNC reacted so foolishly against Cheney and Kinzinger is because the January 6th committee issued 14 subpoenas to some of these fake electors.

I suspect they're getting very close to some members of the Republican National Committee. They're a little nervous about that. And they ought to be, frankly.

I think that's part of what this is all about. The RNC is really anxious. Some of those members have to be concerned about these subpoenas.

So that's what this is about more than anything else.

The RNC, I just don't recognize it anymore.

I think they're going to really hurt themselves with a lot of donors who are sickened that their money might be used to actually attack Liz Cheney rather than be used to help candidates running against Democrats.

And, frankly, spending all that money on Trump's legal fees. I mean a lot of candidates -- how about the candidate up in New Jersey. They needed money and the RNC is blowing money on Trump's legal fees? That's less money for candidates.

BROWN: Former Congressman Charlie Dent, always great to have you on and hear your opinion about all of this.

DENT: Thank you, Pamela. Great to be with you.

BROWN: Tensions high between Russia, Ukraine and the West. Thousands of U.S. troops are now arriving in Europe. What would the political fallout be if war breaks out? I'm going to talk to CNN political analyst and "Washington Post" columnist, Josh Rogin, about that, up next.

Plus, Queen Elizabeth says she does not want Camilla to be called "princess consort" when Charles takes the throne. Find out the new royal title for duchess of Cornwall.

[20:14:08]

And right now, it is a real struggle for restaurants to find and keep workers. So what do they do? I'll ask an executive with the company that owns Chili's and Maggiano's.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: New satellite images show Russian troops and aircraft now deployed to several locations in Belarus about 30 miles from that country's border with Ukraine. These satellite images taken Friday.

According to Russia's state news agency, Russia plans to hold joint military drills with Belarus.

NATO's secretary-general calls this Russia's biggest military deployment since the Cold War.

U.S. troops from Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, have arrived in Poland this weekend.

They're part of a nearly 3,000-troop deployment that President Biden ordered this week to Poland, Romana and Germany.

The U.S. Army says the troops are there to bolster NATO countries in Europe and to reassure allies as Russians continue to mobilize on their border with Ukraine.

CNN correspondent, Isabel Rosales, is at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, the mood here is electric, yet focused.

This is the 82nd Airborne. These folks train around the clock. They are ready to be deployed anywhere in the world within 18 hours.

Deployments are still happening here at Ft. Bragg.

Take a look behind me. This is the waiting area. You can see soldiers here are packed. They have their equipment. They are just waiting on orders to head into a military aircraft and head overseas.

All together, 2,000 soldiers and paratroopers will deploy from Ft. Bragg, headed to Eastern Europe, specifically to Germany and Poland on orders from President Biden.

The Pentagon has been clear that they are not going there to fight. This is a show of force to deter Russian aggression and to support NATO allies.

[20:20:04]

The soldiers that I spoke with, some were more nervous than others but they all shared one thing and that was a sense of duty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. PINKIE FISHER, 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION CHAPLAIN: The morale is actually really good. That's because we are always ready whenever the nation needs us to deploy.

You know, we train all the time and we train as we fight. So in times like this, when we're called upon when the nation needs us, we're ready to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: These soldiers don't know how long they will be serving in Europe.

The Pentagon has said this is a temporary mission. But they have not ruled out the potential of sending even more troops, 8,500 of them, outside of these 3,000 all on heightened alert -- Pamela?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Isabel Rosales, thank you.

And here with me now is CNN political analyst, Josh Rogin. He's also a columnist for "The Washington Post."

Hi, there, Josh.

What do you make of the new U.S. troop presence in the region?

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's a clear sign that the Biden administration believes that the situation is going to get worse before it gets better.

When I talk to Biden administration officials, they always say the same thing. They think Putin is going to attack. So they're repositioning forces with allies in order to prepare for that, which seems more and more likely now.

A couple of extra thousands of troops. We already have tens of thousands of troops in Europe. There are tens of thousands of more European troops ready.

It's not going to tip the balance of power. It's not going to be enough to contend with 100,000 Russian troops if they decided to go past Ukraine and into NATO, which would be very unlikely.

What it does is it says that, OK, we're entering a new phase of this thing and that phase might include a Russian invasion sooner rather than later.

BROWN: Russia has now amassed 70 percent of what it would need along the Ukrainian border for a full-scale invasion.

We spoke to a former KGB agent in the last hour who told us he thinks Putin is bluffing but wants to be prepared for Plan B, an envision, just in case.

What do you think?

ROGIN: Nobody knows. But more and more the top intelligence administration and national security officials in the U.S. administration are more convinced that something is going to happen.

And like you said, 70 percent ready for a full invasion. OK. That means they're probably 100 percent ready for a partial invasion.

Still, the best bet is it will take another week or two for them to get ready and another week or so when we'll see the tanks rolling and we'll be able to say this is coming.

So that means we have a little bit of time, not a lot of time. Of course Putin could pull back at the last minute.

That's why I think you see the Baltic States and Ukrainians calling for more action now. They want more deterrents, more weapons, more sanctions now, because they think we have a chance to influence Putin's calculus.

But in Washington, they don't think they have that much influence. They think Putin is going to do whatever he's going to do and all we can do is prepare and wait.

BROWN: There's a new op-ed in "The Washington Post" arguing in favor of Senator Josh Hawley's letter to President Biden where he made his case that the U.S. should renounce the possibility of allowing Ukraine to join NATO to ease tensions with Russia.

Do you agree?

ROGIN: No. I disagree. But I don't think it's a crazy opinion to say we shouldn't support Ukraine, is somehow pro-Russian or playing into Russian propaganda. I just think it's wrong.

This view in Washington that we've seen on the far left and the far right for years, which basically says that NATO is the problem, not Russia, that, who cares about Ukraine, we don't have an interest there.

And somehow, if we don't care about Ukraine, that we're going to have more resources to put towards the China fight. None of those things is true.

NATO is a defensive alliance. They're not threatening war. Russia is threatening war. Putin is about to kill a lot of people for no reason in the middle of a pandemic. Let's not get it twisted.

And then, if you think, oh, well, is giving Ukraine over to Russia going to help us with China? No.

Because Putin will see that and he'll see that we don't care about defending democracies. And he'll become more aggressive.

The whole idea of NATO and free and open society is that people get to choose for themselves.

When we blame NATO and blame America for provoking Russia, as if that was the truth, which it's not, we forget there's a group of people called Ukrainians and they have a country and they want to keep their country.

They don't want to get killed for wanting to keep it and for wanting to be friends with us, to be allies with us. That's all they want. They want freedom and to be our friend.

And we're going to tell them, no, we can't do that because it might provoke Vladimir Putin, who is threatening to kill them? That's seems crazy and clearly wrong.

It doesn't make the people that believe that evil. It just makes them totally wrong.

BROWN: Josh Rogin, never one to mince words. That's why we always love having you on.

Thank you so much --

ROGIN: Any time.

BROWN: -- for sharing your view on this.

[20:25:04]

Well, the man once known as the Flying Tomato is grounding himself. Olympic snowboarder, Shaun White, says this Winter Olympics will be his last hurrah. We're going live to our David Culver in Beijing up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: The Flying Tomato says he's ready to hang up his snowboard. Three-time halfpipe gold medalist, Shaun White, says these winter games will be his last. He is saying a streak of injuries influenced his decision.

CNN's David Culver is covering all of the action in Beijing.

[20:29:58]

David, yes, there's a lot of talk about Shaun White.

But one of the biggest stories continues to be COVID testing. Some athletes are missing their chance to compete after testing positive.

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it's devastating for these athletes, Pamela. And if Olympic pressures weren't enough, now, here they are competing in games heavily overshadowed by geopolitics, as we've been reporting, games that are complicated by cyber-security concerns. In fact, many of those traveling in here to China are coming with disposable burner phones for these games. And we can't forget, we're still in the midst, as you point out, of a raging pandemic. So for those who have arrived or hope to travel here to China, a country that, by the way, has a zero COVID policy, they know this place does not make exceptions.

One case here is one-to-many. The many layers of testing before athletes travel here, followed by the testing upon arrival, followed by daily testing once they're here, as many of them just wanting to limit contact to as few people as possible. And they just want to focus on the competition.

And the immediate protocols mean if they test positive while they're here, they are isolated until they have two negative tests. And those who have symptoms will typically be sent to a government hospital or facility for essentially quarantined treatment. Those who are asymptomatic, they're going to go into isolation, and some still managed to train and that was the case for team USA bobsledder, Elana Meyers Taylor.

So she tested positive for COVID 19 two days after arriving here in Beijing. It's just devastating news to get. She was put into self- isolation. And according to the Olympics' official website, this 37- year-old three-time Olympian was just cleared, we've learned, to compete after testing negative twice, but not everyone that lucky. Others like bobsledder Josh Williamson tested positive before taking off here to Beijing. So he is delayed in coming in here. And his most recent posts on Instagram said that he hoped to be boarding a later flight once he's cleared.

But those athletes impacted. They describe it as just really, Pamela, a helpless feeling. Yes, you talked about years of training and qualifying and then their journeys are halted. And here in Beijing, we've just learned another confirmed local case amongst the locals, but everyone coming in, for the most part, they're kept separate from those of us who are residents here in China. Pamela.

BROWN: David Culver, thank you so much.

I just can't imagine what that is like to train all these years and then not be able to compete because of COVID. And as you mentioned there, David, one American Olympian is stuck in the United States tonight. Josh Williamson is on the U.S. bobsled team, but he tested positive for COVID. He can't fly to China until he tests negative. He's going to join me live tomorrow night to talk about the excitement of being an Olympian, and the frustration of having to wait to compete.

Well, China's hosting of the games has also reignited criticism of the country's human rights record, especially the treatment of the Uyghur population. Earlier tonight, I spoke with NBA player, an outspoken China critic, Enes Kanter Freedom, about the relationship between China and the International Olympic Committee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ENES KANTER FREEDOM, NBA PLAYER: People needs to understand is IOC has backed the Chinese government, despite police brutality, torture, mass arrests, execution, labor camps, religious repression and genocide.

And I say this over and over again, but international committee sleeps in a same bed with China. And they do not care about human rights, and they care about publicity and money. And, you know, shame on them organizing a game or Olympic Games in a country like China, like, we did talk about there's a genocide happening.

But I feel like I will see, you know, clearly show their true color when they ask them about the missing tennis player, Peng Shuai. But I feel like someone needs to hold them -- hold them accountable. So, I feel like athletes played a very important role to introduce the hold those, you know, not just IOC, but you know, the corporate sponsors, you know, and all the other people accountable.

BROWN: Right. So what do you think? Who do you think that should be? How do you think they should be held accountable?

KANTER FREEDOM: I mean, first of all, we need to call out sponsor for sure. I mean, I have the list of one over here, you got Airbnb, Coca- Cola, Intel, Panasonic, PNG, Samsung Sports and Visa. And I think, you know, other than -- the other than that, I mean, athletes needs to understand, you know -- you know, all the gold medals in the world that you count in is now more important than your values, your morals and your principles.

And the other thing is, you know, I want -- I want them to understand, you know, whenever I had a conversation with one of the athletes, I try to tell them, like, Chinese Communist Party does not represent Olympic core values of excellence, of respect or friendship, and now the whole world knows they are a brutal dictatorship and they do not respect human rights. They hide the truth and they engage in censorship.

So, I feel like, you know, like I said, again, we are playing a very important role. I wish that one of the athletes came on and said, enough is enough, but I'm hopeful. I hope one of those athletes will speak out while they're playing the games.

[20:35:10]

BROWN: But what do you think about the fact that they're only able to do so in certain forums?

KANTER FREEDOM: I mean, it's -- it will -- I mean, I will just -- I will just, you know, say this, they are playing a very important role. You know, while they're there -- take it -- take a couple of days and try to visit the concentration camps, because to me, it is all propaganda order, you know, whatever the Chinese government is doing to them is all propaganda. Take a couple of days to visit concentration camps. Go visit Hong Kong, go visit -- go visit Tibetans. And then after that take a couple days to go visit Taiwan to see what democracy means.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And he went on to say that he was invited to visit China by fellow NBA alum Yao Ming, but will only go if he can see what he calls the real China and not propaganda.

Well, Queen Elizabeth is about to become the first British monarch to serve on the throne for 70 years. And she just announced a new future title for Camilla, wife of Prince Charles. We're going to discuss it live with royal watcher and author, Sally Bedell Smith, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:40:56]

BROWN: Queen Elizabeth the Second becomes the first British monarch to celebrate 70 years on the throne this weekend. The Queen traditionally marks accession day out of the public eye. It's also the anniversary of her father's death.

But today, a royal bombshell, the Queen in a palace statement, announcing her wish that Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, be granted a higher title than previously expected. When her husband Prince Charles takes the throne.

This calls for a royal expert and boy do we have one for you, Sally Bedell Smith joins me now. She is the author of both Prince Charles and Elizabeth the Queen.

All right, Sally, help us make sense of this. How big is this announcement about Camilla from the Queen today? Her place in the family has always been evolving, you could say, I guess.

SALLY BEDELL SMITH, AUTHOR "ELIZABETH QUEEN": Yes, it's a very big deal. The queen is nothing if not wise, she's also very shrewd. She's also very sensible. And when Charles and Camilla were married in 2005, his advisors really sort of made a mistake. And I can understand why they did it, because there was still a lot of sensitivity about the Princess of Wales about Diana.

So to, kind of, ease people's minds, they said that they -- that when Camilla -- when Charles get the throne, Camilla could be expected to be something called a Princess Consort. There'd never been a Princess Consort.

In fact, by law, and by tradition, she would become queen in any event, but there was this ambiguity around it, and this uncertainty. And I think a lot of people were afraid that when Charles actually did take the throne that it could create problems.

So the queen, in something that was very unprecedented, made her very strong wish known that Camilla should be Queen Camilla. She should be crowned and should be -- she should be obviously her majesty. In other words, she should be -- she should have the same title that the Queen Mother had, that Queen Mary had, that Queen Alexandra had, when the seventh and George the Fifth and George the Sixth were all kings.

And to do otherwise would have reduced her to a secondary role, which might have caused any number of problems. So this was just unexpected at this moment. But I think very appropriate this moment, you know, just on the eve of her marking an unprecedented 70 years on the throne.

So, I think it was just a sort of masterstroke that paves the way for Charles and Camilla to have an easier transition, as she said, as the Queen said in the fullness of time when Charles takes the throne. This is my sincere wish. And it's awfully hard to argue with what the Queen wants.

BROWN: Right. It's awfully hard to imagine her wish will be granted. Sally Bedell Smith, thank you so much.

SMITH: You're welcome. Good to talk to you, Pam.

BROWN: You too.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:45:01]

BROWN: Well, the White House is talking about massive jobs recovery in President Biden's first year. The latest report shows 467,000 jobs added in January. The unemployment rate is now at four percent. The one year total number of new jobs is 6.6 million. It is the most jobs ever created in a president's first year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This morning's report caps off my first year as president. And over that period, our economy created 6.6 million jobs, 6.6 million jobs. You can't remember another year when so many people want to work in this country. There's a reason it never happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: But not everyone is celebrating, thanks to the great resignation restaurants who are struggling to fill openings. The National Restaurant Association says these businesses may never recover from damage done by the pandemic.

Rick Badgley is an Executive Vice President with Brinker International, the company behind Chili's and Maggiano's Little Italy.

[20:50:06]

Hi, Rick, thanks for coming on. So, some restaurant owners are saying businesses down, others are saying, they can't find enough workers. What is your experience been?

RICK BADGLEY, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, BRINKER INTERNATIONAL: Pamela, thanks for having me. I think it's a little bit of both. You know, we started back when this pandemic started. We had a single mantra, get as many people over the bridge as we possibly can. And it's paid dividends for us today. I'm not going to say that we don't have challenges in certain markets.

But today, and as you saw that last jobs report on Friday, people are coming back to work, people want to work. And we're seeing that in our restaurants. In fact, sometimes we don't -- you know, the business is there as well. So we're trying to balance the two, getting all these new folks trained, and managing the business and the expectations of our guests.

BROWN: Yes. So, tell us how that has been for you, how you have been able to recruit and retain workers in this environment, as the numbers show that, you know, those are great jobs number. So tell me a little bit about what your restaurants have done.

BADLEY: Well, I will tell you, I'd be remiss if I didn't say it was all about our culture. And our frontline managers, those are the ones that really make this happen for us. But our culture is rooted in a lot of different things, but it's rooted in fun, family, and really collegial behaviors of just getting along.

Beyond that, we've had to deploy certain tactics. We've had sign on bonuses. We've invested millions in retaining talent over a period of time. And now, we're looking at different ways to incent new behaviors, and to make sure that the retention strategies are sticking within our restaurants. So far, they're working.

BROWN: So, yes, because, you know, you're talking about the culture. But my understanding is your restaurants were still having a tough time, like many restaurants in terms of getting workers, retaining workers. So clearly, you said, things are getting a lot better. There are reports that many restaurants are adding paid sick leave and paid vacation times, your company is offering childcare? Is that helping your workers?

BADGLEY: It is. I think it's all about its -- and we've left the great resignation behind us. For us, it's about the great retention. And most importantly, what's happening is we're re contracting with the workforce, and their expectations are higher than ever. So, yes, we offer not only discounted childcare, but we also are now piloting in markets where we have supplemental emergent care backup for them.

And one of the things we're most excited about is what we call our Best You EDU. And there is our educational. Our no cost educational programs, everything from GED to your associate's degree, they -- as long as -- all part time and full time team members are eligible for that benefit as long as they're gainfully employed with us.

And, currently, what we've seen over the last year and a half is that number is up almost fourfold versus pre-pandemic. So our team members are engaging with us, engaging with our programs. We're as excited as they are. And they stay longer once they're engaged in these types of programs. So, it's really, really working and paying off for us.

BROWN: The National Restaurant Association predicts that sales will go up this year, but only a quarter of restaurants, operators think that they're going to make more money this year. Why is that?

BADGLEY: It's the headwinds, we're all seeing it. It's from supply chain to the staffing headwinds, to what we're seeing in wage inflation. So we have to be smarter operators. Certain things that we're doing now, we just rolled out to all 1,200 bar restaurants here in the U.S., a handheld device for our servers that allows them to take the order at the table. And by the time they leave the table, the drinks have already shown up.

So, what we're trying to do and working in initiatives like that is reduce the complexity to handle the business that we'll be heading our way with reduced staff. It's one of our main focuses, reduce complexity for our operators and our frontline team members.

BROWN: Do you think things will ever return to pre-pandemic levels?

BADGLEY: This is the new norm. If you look down the road five to 10 years, and if you look at everything from participation in the workforce to the changing demographics, I don't think it will ever be the same again.

It doesn't mean that restaurants, of all kinds, won't succeed in these environments. It's just different. And we're finding new ways to approach it every day from our community-based programs where we're really localizing some of our efforts to get our team members and our communities engaged.

We have an unbelievable program here in Dallas we just launched with a -- with a -- with an organization called Bonton Farms where we're working on workforce development programs leaning into the underrepresented and the less fortunate to provide jobs.

So, these types of activities will have to be a must for operators as we -- as we head down this path.

BROWN: All right. Rick Badgley of Brinker International, thanks for joining us. And we'll be right back.

BADGLEY: Thank you so much, Pamela.

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[20:55:00]

BROWN: Talk about a bird's eye view, a playful parrot in New Zealand grabbed a family's GoPro camera and took it for a ride. The bird captured some stunning aerial views of New Zealand National Park flying over trees and lush greenery before landing on the ground.

And as for the camera, the family follows the sound of the squawking birds and managed to find it. How about that?

Well, thank you so much for joining me this evening. I'll see you again tomorrow at night, 6:00 p.m. Eastern.