Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Texts Reveal How 2 GOP Lawmakers Embraced, Then Opposed Efforts to Overturn 2020 Election; More Ukrainian Refugees Going Through Mexico to Reach U.S.; War in Ukraine Fueling Global Food Crisis; Study: Upper Airway Infections in Kids More Common with Omicron; FDA Authorizes First Breathalyzer Test for COVID-19. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 15, 2022 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:34:14]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Turning to politics now and a CNN exclusive. Texts obtained by the January 6th committee and reviewed by CNN reveal how two Republican lawmakers embraced, but then later warned against efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The messages were sent between GOP Senator Mike Lee, Republican Congressman Chip Roy and then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

CNN Congressional correspondent, Ryan Nobles, joining us live from Capitol Hill.

So walk us through these text messages, Ryan, and what they reveal about the evolution for these two lawmakers when it came to overturning the election.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erica, it's an unbelievable amount of information that we learned about these conversations between these members of Congress and Mark Meadows during that period of time after the election and before January 6th.

And their arc is similar but there are subtle differences.

[13:35:02]

Let's first talk about Chip Roy. He's a fire-brand congressman from Texas. He's a loyal supporter of Donald Trump's.

And the texts show, in the beginning, he, too, believed there was something wrong with the election but he wanted hard evidence.

He texted on November 7th, "Dude, we need ammo, we need fraud examples, we need it this weekend."

He then said, "We need substance where people are going to break."

That was on the 19th. You can see he is starting to be concerned that the evidence just isn't there.

Then on November 22nd, he says, "Friggin' Rudy needs to hush."

Concerned about the former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani's efforts to spearhead the Trump legal challenges.

And by December 31st, he was out. Did not think the evidence was strong enough to continue these legal challenges. And he warned that the president should call everyone off.

And then, of course, Chip Roy went to the floor of the House of Representatives on January 6th, and he really did blame President Trump for inciting the riot that happened here on January 6th.

He also, Erica, did not vote to object to the election results.

HILL: That's going through we saw from Chip Roy. You said there's a similar arc here, but there are some differences.

What was in those messages from Senator Lee?

NOBLES: So the difference between Roy and Lee is that Lee doesn't necessarily agree with the path that the Trump legal team took to get to the point where they did on January 6th. He had a completely different idea.

But he still pretty much held on to the idea that the election could be challenged right up until the very end.

Let's walk you through that.

On November 7th, he says, "I want to offer words of encouragement to the president."

Then, on November 9th, he endorses the efforts by the controversial conservative lawyer, Sidney Powell, calling her a "straight shooter."

He quickly, though, decides that he doesn't like the tact that Sidney Powell is taking. Ten days later, after that press conference that she had with Rudy Giuliani, he said that he was worried about the Powell Press conference.

Then he was looking for direction on November 22nd. He said to Meadows, "Please tell me what I should be saying."

But then on December 16th, he did not like the effort that some of his fellow Senators were taking at that point.

And he said, "I think we're now past the point where we can expect anyone will do it without some direction and a strong evidentiary argument.

And then finally, on January 3rd, just three days before January 6th, he was concerned about the tactics that were taking place.

He said, "I only know this will end badly for the president unless we have the Constitution on our side. We believe the attacks they were taken at that point were clearly going against the Constitution." He, too, ultimately, did not vote to object to the election results --

Erica?

HILL: So interesting to see that evolution.

Ryan Nobles, appreciate it. Thank you.

When the wheat field becomes a battlefield. The war in Ukraine is stoking a food crisis being felt around the world. We'll take a closer look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:42:46]

HILL: This just into CNN. The United States has confirmed two Ukrainian Neptune missiles are responsible for sinking Russia's flagship warship, the "Moskva." This is according to a senior defense official.

The Kremlin has denied it was a Ukrainian strike, instead blaming the ship's demise on a fire that detonated other ammunition onboard.

They escaped the hell of war. Now, though, roughly a thousand Ukrainian refugees are stranded at the U.S./Mexico border in Tijuana. Many of them women and children who fled with nothing, as refugees are often forced to do.

The emotions, the exhaustion. You can see it on their faces. Hundreds of them currently living inside gyms or makeshift camps.

They are, like so many at the southern border, hoping for asylum in the United States.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now.

Priscilla, we said there's about a thousand but this number is really growing. They are trying to take this route through Tijuana. Why? Why are they focused on coming through that southern border?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, simply put, Erica, it's just easier for them to get to Mexico.

So, for example, if Ukrainians want to come to the U.S. on a tourist visa, they have to prove they're going to go back to their origin country. And that is, of course, very difficult to prove at this time.

That is not the case, though, for Mexico. So what some Ukrainians have opted to do is to go to that Mexican border city of Tijuana and approach the port of entry. And there, they can be paroled into the United States on a case-by-case basis.

In fact, recently, over the span of a week, some 3,000 Ukrainians have come in through the U.S./Mexico border. That, according to the Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

All of this is against the backdrop of the U.S. committing to take up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.

Now the administration says that is going to happen through a full range of legal pathways, but they have not provided all of the details of how that's going to happen.

Now two administration officials have told CNN that part of that will include a roll out of a parole program. And what that means is a way for Ukrainians who are overseas to come to the U.S. in an expedited fashion.

[13:45:00]

So that, Erica, is what we expect to learn more about in the coming weeks as Ukrainians flee war-torn Ukraine.

HILL: We'll be watching for more on that.

Priscilla, appreciate it. Thank you.

Russia's war on Ukraine could have a devastating impact on global food security. We're already seeing it play out.

Developing countries already dealing with rising food prices. The war is now threatening, too, to turn the situation from a crisis into a catastrophe.

Here's CNN's David McKenzie.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The early starts and the intense work at the Phillips-Akekela (ph) Bakery in Lagos used to be worth it, used to be profitable.

ABIGAIL OLUFUNMILAYO PHILLIPS, BAKERY OWNER: Entirely this year, precisely around the time of the bombing of Ukraine, it has affected the supply of wheat, which has affected our primary item of our production, which is the white wheat loaf.

Our flour has been very expensive. The prices are changing constantly.

MCKENZIE: Now they can only afford to produce half of what they did. And each tin gets less dough.

This war is horrifying for Ukraine's people. It could be devastating for global food security.

Russia and Ukraine are agricultural export powerhouses.

On the field of battle, farmers will struggle to plant crops. With export ports blockaded by Russian warships, it has pushed the prices even higher.

So the 10 hours Maria Maridoke (ph) spends selling bread won't be enough to feed her two children. She says customers don't have the cash anymore and often refuse to pay

the going rate.

MCKENZIE: And even on the fertile slopes of Mount Kenya, they are hurting.

Caroline Kimarua had to slash her workforce. The cost of fertilizer for her tea and coffee plantations has doubled in recent months.

CAROLINE KIMARUA, FARMER: You have no money to buy the fertilizer at that high cost.

MCKENZIE: And Russia is one of the world's biggest fertilizer producers. Sanctions and trade disruptions likely to push prices even higher.

(on camera): Could this be any worse time?

WANDILE SIHLOBO, CHIEF ECONOMIST, AGRICULTURE BUSINESS CHAMBER OF SOUTH AFRICA: The war is starting at one of the worst times. We were already thinking we are in a recovery mode.

On top of that, there are already inflation pressures that were across the world.

Africans are spending a lot on fuel and spending a lot on food they need. In this current moment, this is a tough time for the continent.

MCKENZIE: The impact of this conflict is coming on top of already soaring global grain prices.

And if you look at this map over here, of course, countries across the world could feel the pain.

But economists point to specific African countries, like Senegal, which imports more than 50 percent of its wheat from Ukraine and Russia, and Somalia, which imports more than 90 percent.

(voice-over): And in Somalia, already suffering from generational drought, hundreds of thousands of children, like 7-month-old Aden (ph), are hollowed out by hunger and sickness.

If the rains fail again, the war in Europe could push this crisis into a catastrophe, even into famine. Aid agencies depend heavily on grain from Ukraine.

David McKenzie, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Of course, you know about breathalyzers that can detect alcohol. Did you know there's now one that can detect COVID?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:52:53] HILL: We're following some new information today about COVID-19 and children. A study finds upper airway infections in kids are actually more common with the Omicron variant than other variants.

CNN health reporter, Jacqueline Howard, is joining us now with the details.

So most parents, pretty familiar with an upper airway infection, I can say. But what is it here that we're seeing with Omicron and how that variant might contribute to this?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: It is interesting, Erica. Pediatricians have said that they're noticing more acute upper airway infections in children with COVID-19 during the Omicron wave.

And an example of it is croupe. That is when the upper airway becomes inflamed and it makes it very difficult to breathe.

And we do see this more in children than adults. That's because kids have smaller upper airways. And we're seeing this more as Omicron is more transmissible and as we see more cases.

So this new study that just came out moments ago, it found that, before the Omicron wave, pre-Omicron, about 1.4 percent of children with COVID-19 showed upper airway disease. During Omicron, that jumped to about 4 percent.

And this is serious, Erica. The study also found a fifth of upper airway infection cases resulted in severe disease, requiring ventilation or blood pressure-elevating medications, or even death -- Erica?

HILL: Yes, an unfortunate look at that.

I'm fascinated by the next one. The FDA has now authorized the first COVID-19 breath test --

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: -- which I imagine could mean a change for overall COVID testing. But how effective is this?

HOWARD: This is another tool that we'll have. It won't necessarily replace the nasal swab test that we already use. It will just be another option.

If do you test positive with this breath test, then would you need to confirm that positive test with a PCR nasal swab.

So this is another tool that we've have. The test works by detecting chemical compounds associated with COVID-19 and breath samples. And the accuracy seems pretty similar to the rapid antigen test. You see here, 91 percent sensitivity.

[13:55:06]

But, again, you will need that PCR confirmation if you test positive -- Erica?

HILL: But a big too, an important tool, as you point out. And, boy, would a lot of people will be happy if they could avoid at least one of the nasal swabs.

HOWARD: Exactly.

HILL: Jacqueline Howard, great to see you. Thank you.

Thanks to all of you for joining me today. I'm Erica Hill.

Stay tuned. The news continues with Alisyn and Victor after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)