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Kate Bedingfield, White House Communications Director, Discuss McCarthy Blaming Dems for Inflation Woes, Codifying Roe, Assault Weapons Ban; "Who's Talking to Chris Wallace" Debuts on HBO Max, Airs on CNN; "Champions for Change": Coach Pushes Girls on Track Towards College. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired September 23, 2022 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy blamed Democrats today for not tackling the issues. This is in Pittsburgh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I want to ask everybody across this country, could you afford to give up one month of your wages? One month of your wages?
The sad part is these Democratic policies has already taken one month of your wages. So now the struggle you have is you're living through 12 months with only 11 months' pay because inflation is so high.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: White House communications director, Kate Bedingfield, is with me now.
Kate, good to see you.
We know the cost of things that people pay for on a daily basis -- food, clothing, cars -- all up more than they were a year ago. What's your response to what you hear there from McCarthy?
KATE BEDINGFIELD, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: We've seen incredible signs of progress. Inflation has been effectively flat over the last two months.
What you see from President Biden and congressional Democrats is they're advancing an agenda that's bringing down costs and passed a bill that's going to lower the cost of prescription drugs.
That's something Washington has been trying and failing to do for decades, lower the cost of health care, lower your energy costs. We've seen gas prices continue to drop for 14 consecutive weeks.
President Biden looks at a family budget and thinks, what can I do to reduce costs. Across the board, we're seeing costs on the things that people rely on, like health care, like gas prices, we're seeing it come down. He'll continue to push.
I think the important thing we heard today from Mr. McCarthy is they're laying forward an agenda designed to take us backwards.
President Biden and congressional Democrats are pushing forward an agenda that will take us forward and continue to bring down costs and protect rights for people across the country.
BLACKWELL: A couple of things. Gas prices are no longer coming down. They were for 98 days. But the last three they are ticking back up.
Would you say that inflation has been flat the last couple months? Minor increases but year over year, it's still disappointingly high, more than 8 percent in August.
The Fed just raised interest rates by 75 basis points for the third time, another increase likely coming right before the election. Home sales are down year to year. Mortgage rates are up.
The economic case that you're making really isn't reconciled with the facts of what people are facing.
BEDINGFIELD: Look at what we inherited when we came into office. We inherited a global economic crisis.
And that was caused by the pandemic. It was caused by supply chains that were snarled across the world, again, because of factory closures, because of inability to move goods because of the pandemic.
So globally, we have seen inflation is a significant problem. President Biden came into office and began to tackle it immediately.
As a result, we are seeing, again, gas prices coming down. Fourteen straight weeks, gas is down about $1.30 a gallon from where it was months ago.
So what we've seen is President Biden has taken steps that have brought down costs for people. And he's continuing to push forward.
We got the Inflation Reduction Act passed, which will have a massive, tangible impact on the costs that people are struggling around their kitchen table, again, health care, prescription drugs, energy costs.
There's no doubt prices are high. President Biden knows that. He feels that. He know what it's like to sit around a kitchen table and work through your family budget. But he's taking meaningful steps to get it under control.
What we see from the Republicans, they're voting against these things. Not a single Republican, for example, voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, which is going to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Not a single Republican.
BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about the legislation. Because I think we both made the point on economy. What is the legislation this president thinks he can get passed with a Democratic majority in 2023 that he couldn't get passed with this Democratic majority?
BEDINGFIELD: You heard him talk about it today. He will codify Roe. He will push for an assault weapons ban. These are pieces of unfinished business that he wants to get done.
He has said --
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: But how can lifting, getting an assault weapons ban, even with -- let's say, every Democrat nominated for the seats they currently hold, come back to Washington? He couldn't get it done this time, and there was gun legislation that was passed.
I mean, the president says he's going to continue to push for that. He didn't get it done.
What's the confidence that he's going to get more done with another Democratic majority that he couldn't get done? He didn't get voting rights. He didn't get the police reform.
What's the case to those disappointed voters that, even with the hands on all three levers of government, that the president couldn't get it done?
BEDINGFIELD: Well, an assault weapons should be realistic because a vast majority of people support it. And people across the country, families across the country, gun owners, Republican voters support an assault weapons ban.
[14:34:57]
Because you heard the president say an assault weapon is a machine designed to kill humans. You don't need it to hunt, as he said, unless the deer is wearing a Kevlar vest. There's no need for an assault weapon. So it should be realistic.
Look, from where I'm standing here on the White House grounds, I am obviously limited in the way I can talk about politics, thanks to the Hatch Act.
But look, the president has been very clear, if he has a Congress that supports the things he supports, he'll fight to get these things done.
He'll codify Roe and protect a woman's right to choose in the face of what we're seeing from Republican-elected officials across the country trying to tear that right away. He'll fight for an assault weapons ban.
And he'll keep moving forward on the things he promised to do on the campaign trail.
BLACKWELL: Kate Bedingfield, thank you. BEDINGFIELD: Thanks for having me.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: OK, after a series of student overdoses, including one death, the Los Angeles school district announced it will distribute overdose antidotes at all schools. We have the details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:40:30]
BLACKWELL: In Iran, a human rights group says at least 50 people have died in massive protests across the country.
CAMEROTA: The demonstrations are in response to the death of a 22- year-old woman who died in the custody of Iran's morality police last week.
Security footage released by Iran's state media shows her collapsing at a so-called re-education center where she was taken to receive, quote, "guidance" after allegedly improperly wearing a hijab.
Her family disputes the officials' claim she died after suffering a heart attack.
Meanwhile, schools in the Los Angeles Unified District will be soon equipped with Naloxone. That's a drug used to reverse the effects of opioid overdoses.
BLACKWELL: Police reported multiple overdoses among local high school students in the last few weeks, one who died and another who was hospitalized.
According to the CDC, Narcan can be administered as an injection or nasal spray and is not harmful if given to someone who is not actually experiencing an opioid overdose.
CAMEROTA: OK, on a much light note, the much-anticipated premiere of HBO Max's "Who's Talking to Chris Wallace" is here. CNN's Chris Wallace will sit down interesting people from media moguls to CEOs to Hollywood stars.
The first three episodes are out today and include a conversation with Shania Twain, who opens up about her health and career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR & HOST, "WHO'S TALKING TO CHRIS WALLACE": How bad was it? How bad was your situation with your voice?
SHANIA TWAIN, SINGER & SONGWRITER: I could not project my voice, so I couldn't call out to the dog, for example. I was sort of speaking a little -- I was speaking up here all the time in that tone. And I couldn't go any louder than that.
WALLACE: You have to consider the possibility my career is over. TWAIN: Yes, I did. I believed that for seven years.
WALLACE: So you ended up having surgery. But in your case, it was more than vocal cords, correct?
TWAIN: Exactly. So it was the whole larynx. The operation went through the whole larynx.
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: Yes.
TWAIN: I still have a scar there.
It was a risk but I either -- it was I either took the chance and gave it a try or I would never -- I would just have to stop my singing career.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Chris Wallace joins us now.
Chris, great to see you.
It seems like one of the wonderful things about your show is you get to have deep emotional conversations with people. I'd never heard Shania Twain talk act that before.
But you and also get to have these moments of fun and levity, like a little anchor karaoke, which I believe we also have a clip of.
Let me play that and then I'll get your reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
WALLACE: Yes, I like that one.
(SINGING)
TWAIN. Yes! You have the guitar part, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
CAMEROTA: Do you feel like a woman, Chris?
(LAUGHTER)
WALLACE: Look, who among us hasn't felt like a woman at some point?
CAMEROTA: Thank you. Agreed.
WALLACE: You know, this is such a kick for me. For the last 18 years, I've been on a political talk show asking people about the incremental difference in the Build Back Better plan. This week, over last week.
And we're still going to do topical newsmaker interviews. We also have to the retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer out this week, and his first interview since he stepped down from the court. A lot of interesting things he had to say.
But to sit down with Shania Twain and talk about -- for folks who may not know, she had Lyme disease. At the height of her career. She'd just done that song. And she was the biggest selling album by a female artist in history.
And she loses her voice from Lyme disease and she ends up having to have an operation on her larynx. Just imagine that.
Then, while that's going on, her husband leaves her for her best friend. I mean, I said to her at one point, Alisyn, your life would make a great country music song.
(LAUGHTER)
CAMEROTA: I'm sure she has thought about that.
Chris, I mean, I've known you for something like 18 years. I feel like you're living your best life right now when I see these clips.
Here's another one I want to play for everybody. You had a deep conversation with the actor and director, Tyler Perry, about his own tough upbringing.
Here's a little preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: When you look at that little boy -- that's you at 5 -- what do you think? What do you say, from this vantage point to that, about your 5-year-old self?
[14:45:09]
TYLER PERRY, ACTOR & DIRECTOR: Like I said, that's hard to look at. It might be cute. Jesus, I look so much like my son.
The great thing about having a child now, a 7-year-old, is I get to say all of those things that I didn't get to say to my younger self. So I feel like it's helping to heal a lot of wounds.
WALLACE: Have you come to terms with the fact you didn't get that from your father, or is it still an open wound?
TYLER: I've come to terms with it. But the beauty of it is having my son. I'm telling you, every time I say I love him, I feel it being said to the little boy in me.
My father often -- he sent a message to me a few years ago through my brother saying, if I had beat your ass one more time, you would be Barack Obama, meaning that he thinks his abuse brought me to success. But he totally negates the love of my mother. And the love of my
mother is what brought me here. It wasn't the abuse or the rage and the anger. It was her love that brought me to this place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: That's powerful.
Chris, tell us what else we need to know about these first episodes.
WALLACE: Well, that's the whole point is that we're going to have a range each week. This week, we have Stephen Breyer, retired Supreme Court justice, Shania Twain and Tyler Perry.
What I'm hoping with these extended -- these aren't five-minute interviews, we talk 30, 40 minutes -- is that there's a certain point it gets real.
You forget about the cameras and the lights and it's just two humans having a conversation across a table.
When he tells that story about his father who beat the heck out of him as a kid, saying recently to him, this great mogul, the successful, if I'd beaten you more, you'd be Barack Obama, I have to say, it took my breath away.
There are a lot of those kinds of moments in these interviews.
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: Not interviews. Let me rephrase that. Conversations.
CAMEROTA: Understood.
Chris, I can't wait to watch. Thanks so much for previewing it with us.
WALLACE: You bet. Thank you so much, Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: Don't miss "Who's Talking to Chris Wallace," on Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN or HBO Max.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:51:28]
CAMEROTA: All this week, our series "CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE" is highlighting people who are trying to make the world a better place.
BLACKWELL: CNN anchor and former track star, Ana Cabrera, catches up with a coach and mentor for some determined girls who are lacing up their running shoes and chasing down dreams.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEAN BELL, COACH, JEUNESS TRACK CLUB & ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE: Go get them! Go get them!
MAYA GOMES, RUNNER, JEUNESS TRACK CLUB: I wouldn't be the person I am today without her.
BELL: Excellent, baby girl.
ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Jean Bell wears a lot of hats. She's a coach, a judge, a friend. To me, she's a dream maker.
BELL: I've been coaching my own team, Jeuness, for 37 years.
CABRERA: What does Jeuness mean?
BELL: It's a French word for young ladies.
I wanted to coach girls as they became young women. I can let them know that education is the key to their success.
CABRERA: What Coach Jean does on the track is all volunteer work. Her day job is an administrative judge hearing worker's comp cases every day.
BELL: I leave and drive to have breakfast.
These are the goals for today's practice.
Most of the girls come from Brooklyn and those areas that are under served. They face teen pregnancy, drug use. You don't have to go looking for the trouble. It's out there waiting for you.
CABRERA: This is where you grew up?
BELL: Yes. Right here at Brevoort Houses in Brooklyn. I had two brothers and two sisters and we were cramped in a small apartment the seven of us.
CABRERA: What do you remember about living here?
BELL: I remember it was a dangerous place. There was a lot of crime, a lot of gangs and a lot of drugs. I wanted to escape the poverty and wanted something better for myself.
CABRERA: It was your own experience that has inspired you to want more for others?
BELL: We knew that education was our way out.
Up and down with your arms. That's good.
CABRERA: I am one of five kids in my family and we grew up without a lot of money. My dad is a runner and I enjoyed running.
I remember that determination my dad saw as a runner himself and he really helped nurture that. I was able to get a college scholarship, which took me to Washington State University.
BELL: The main focus of my team is to assist the girls in getting athletic scholarships to go to college, to build successful lives.
CABRERA: How many of you, show of hands, plan to go to college?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My goal is to get a full scholarship to college from running track.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My goal is to get a scholarship and start my own business.
CABRERA: Who here thinks Jean is tough?
Keep your hand up if you think you're better, because Jean is tough.
GOMES: She shows you tough love, but at the end, you know it's all coming from a good place because she knows what we're capable of.
CABRERA: Maya joined when she was 7 years old and she's now 16. She has big dreams. She wants to become a pediatric surgeon.
GOMES: When I first started running on the team, my self-confidence was definitely low.
You don't always win everything. It has to motivate you more to strive to do your best going forward. She definitely has high expectations for all of us.
CABRERA: Why track and field?
BELL: You're out there on that track, in that lane, facing only the starter's gun --
(GUNFIRE)
[14:54:58]
BELL: -- and yourself. Running makes you tough, strong in mind, strong in spirit, going after what you want.
Don't be afraid to run out there.
AJA POWELL, ALUMNA, JEUNESS TRACK CLUB: The work ethic that I got from running, it follows me throughout my life and career.
CABRERA: You were a long-distance runner.
POWELL: I got a scholarship to St. John's University. I'm a comptroller at a nonprofit organization. When it's hard for me, she used to scream across the track, come on, come on, and I can hear her in my head.
CABRERA: If you were able to talk to Jean, what would you tell her?
POWELL: I would say that I love you and thank you for everything. I would say I don't think I could live like this life without you. That's what I would say.
BELL: I don't see myself as a champion, but I like to think that I make champions.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: That's so great. And it's interesting to hear all of them say they think education and scholarships are the way out and up.
CABRERA: That's her goal. She wants to set high expectations and give them the tools to succeed no matter what they're doing in life.
She knows they don't win in every race. She hasn't won with every case she's taken on or each child she's wanted to boost. She loses girls to the streets sometimes.
But she doesn't give up. She keeps on setting high goals for herself and for them.
In fact, one of the goals she has right now, because of it being such a barrier for her team, is finding a safe place for them to be able to exercise.
The track where they work out in Brooklyn is a public track. Sometimes they have to dodge motorcycles on the track, even gunfire in the nearby vicinity.
So she's hoping and dreaming of a a facility they can work out year- round that's safe.
BLACKWELL: We, of course, hope they find that.
Fantastic story. Thank you, Ana.
CAMEROTA: Ana, thanks.
Tomorrow night, be sure to tune into the "CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE" one- hour special. It airs at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
BLACKWELL: A secret court battle is happening now between Donald Trump's legal team and the Justice Department. At the heart of it, key witnesses' testimony about January 6th and what they saw that day. CNN's new reporting ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
