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Gas Prices Continue to Fall; Worry over RSV, Flu and Covid-19; Capitol Officers to Receive Congressional Metal; Supreme Court Conservatives Signal Support in Graphic Designer Case; Masih Alinejad is Interviewed about Iran. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 06, 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]

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: The concern. So far, though, oil markets are not freaking out about this, which is pretty amazing. Oil prices down almost 1 percent today, actually on track to potentially close at the lowest level since New Year's Eve.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Wow.

EGAN: Six months ago, if you had told me, you know, the war in Ukraine would be going on nine months and Europe would be banning most Russian oil and yet oil prices would be below $80 a barrel, I would have said, no way. We would have expected them to be sky high. That has not been the case for a variety of reasons, including concerns about the health of the world economy and the U.S. economy. So far energy markets taking the latest moves from the west and Europe in stride because it's not just this embargo by Europe, it's also a $60 price cap being imposed on Russian oil by the west and the United States.

The goal, of course, is to punish Vladimir Putin, right? Deprive him of some of the revenue from oil that he's using to finance the war in Ukraine. But it's a delicate balance because they don't want to punish him so much that he takes his ball and goes home by slashing oil production because that would hurt everyone, including U.S. consumers by reducing supply.

So far, though, so good. And so this does mean that we've seen gas prices continue to go down. The national average, as we mentioned, $3.38 a gallon. Down not just 42 cents in the last month but also almost back to exactly where prices were a year ago. Look at that, just two cent higher than 12 months ago.

HILL: Wow.

EGAN: Again, pretty amazing given everything that's happened and this is giving consumers a well-deserved boost after a year of very high energy prices.

HILL: I'm going to take that good news and run with it. I'm focusing on the positive.

Matt Egan, appreciate it. EGAN: Thank you.

HILL: Thank you.

Health officials across the country really concerned about holiday gatherings. That they could end up pushing these already high rates of respiratory infections even higher. Some hospitals, as we've been telling you, pushed to the brink, caring for patients with the flu, kids with RSV, and an increase in Covid hospitalizations only adds to that strain.

SCIUTTO: All right, joining us now to help us figure this all out, CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

So, Elizabeth, you know, this is familiar territory, right? And we're coming up on the holidays. You know, after a couple of years of the pandemic and being warned about holiday gatherings, the danger of, you know, spreading infection here. This less about Covid, it seems, than RSV and other forms of the flu.

How seriously should folks at home take this and are there any signs that these rates of infections are leveling off at all?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Jim, RSV seems to be leveling off. And if I don't sound so excited about that, it's because the numbers are still high. So, luckily, they don't seem to still be climbing. They're leveling off, but still very high.

Let's take a look at flu and RSV. If you compare hospitalization rates for those viruses compared to other points in the year, in previous years, so this time but in previous years, the flu has the highest hospitalization rate in 13 years. RSV has the highest hospitalization rate in at least five years.

Let's take a look at flu. You see a very red United States. This is not a political map. This is a flu map. That means that nearly the entire country has very high or very high levels of flu. And then throw Covid into the mix. Covid rates are going up, unfortunately. If you look at the week of November 26th, there were nearly 33,000 hospital admissions in the U.S. for Covid. That's up 27 percent from the week before.

And, Jim, you asked a great question, how worried should we be as we think about holiday gatherings. I would say that depends who you are. If you're immune compromised, if you have someone in your family who is or someone who's very elderly, you should keep this in mind. Thankfully for the rest of us, it's not as big of a deal, but do keep it in mind for the most vulnerable people.

SCIUTTO: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.

HILL: Still to come here, the Supreme Court justices reviewing the case of a Colorado graphic designer who doesn't want to work with same-sex couples. None have asked her to work with them, but she wants to make sure she doesn't have to do it. Talk about a wide range of responses and discussion from the justices. We'll drill down on that and what it could mean for their decision, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:38:45]

SCIUTTO: Today, officers who helped protect the U.S. Capitol during the January 6th riots and often did so at great risk to themselves receiving the highest honor Congress can bestow, the Congressional Gold Medal. The Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan Police who defended members of Congress, as well as then Vice President Mike Pence, from those storming the Capitol, they will be honored in the very same building, in a special ceremony, at the Capitol Rotunda. Amazing to see them there receive this award where they laid down their lives.

HILL: CNN's Melanie Zanona is with us now.

So, we are expecting, Melanie, to see a united front from House members for this ceremony. Will we? We know that there were 21 Republicans, I believe is the count, who voted against awarding these medals.

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Yes, we will see a united front from the congressional leadership. So, all four congressional leaders are expected to attend and give remarks at the ceremony. That includes Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy.

But, as you know, not all of Kevin McCarthy's conference even agreed on this effort to award Congressional Gold Medals to these officers who defended the Capitol. One of those members, Andrew Clyde, essentially called January 6th a normal tourist visit. Another one of those members, Marjorie Taylor Greene, has praised the jailed rioters more than she's praised the officers themselves.

[09:40:00]

So, it is a stark reminder that not all Republicans can agree or acknowledge the facts surrounding that day.

But today is all about honoring those brave officers who defended the Capitol. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest honor that Congress can bestow. Past recipients including Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela.

U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn reflected on the significance of the moment earlier today on "CNN THIS MORNING."

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER HARRY DUNN, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE: It just means so much. And I'm truly honored and humbled to receive this. I was looking over some of the list of - the list over of some of the recipients of the Congressional Gold Medal. Man, to be in some of those -- those people's company is - is truly an honor. So, I'm thankful for that. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ZANONA: So just a very well-deserved moment for all of those officers that defended everyone here in the Capitol on January 6th.

SCIUTTO: The other - well, one of many things still on the agenda for this Congress during the lame duck is the same-sex marriage bill. The vote in the House. It, of course, passed the Senate with 12 Republican votes, I believe. What's the status of that bill in the House?

ZANONA: Well, the House was supposed to vote today but they had to delay it. Congress is scrambling to get a number of other must-pass items done. So now we are hearing from Speaker Pelosi's office that the vote will happen on Thursday. We are expecting it to pass, which means it could be on President Joe Biden's desk by the end of this week.

Erica. Jim.

HILL: All right. And we will be following that. I know you'll keep us posted.

Melanie, appreciate it.

Several conservative justices are signaling support during oral arguments at the Supreme Court yesterday. Support for a graphic designer who objects to designing websites for same-sex couples.

SCIUTTO: The conservative justices seem to view the case through the lens of free speech. They suggested that an artist or someone creating a customized product could not be forced by the government to express a message that violates their religious beliefs.

Here's Lorie Smith, the website designer, at the center of the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORIE SMITH, PLAINTIFF IN U.S. SUPREME COURT CASE: Everyone should be free to create artwork, unique artwork, that goes along with what they believe. Whether their views are similar to mine or perhaps different on the topic of marriage, nobody should be forced to create a message that goes against the core of who they are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: All right, joining us now to figure out the law behind all this, Elie Honig, former U.S. -- assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Elie, I'm trying to understand here as a layman. And, by the way, Justice Thomas made this distinction in those questions yesterday. He said, this is not a restaurant. This is not a riverboat or a train.

From a constitutional perspective, what's the difference between a baker, the previous case refusing to bake a cake, design one for a same-sex couple, or in this case a web designer refusing to design a website for a same-sex couple. Why is that different legally than from, say, a restaurant owner or a - or a train service saying I'm not going to let these people onboard or inside my place of business?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Jim, so the fundamental conflict here is between, on the one hand, the web designer's First Amendment right of free speech, and on the other hand the right of gay couples to be married without discrimination or to obtain services without discrimination. And the question you asked, what's the difference between the various types of services, comes down to whether something is what we call a public accommodation, a hotel, a train would be classic forms of public accommodation where it's easier for the court and for state legislatures to outlaw discrimination. But the question is, is providing a marriage or a wedding website, does that fall into the category of a public accommodation or is that something else that's entitled to less legal protection.

HILL: So as we look at it through that, I think it's also important to point out that Lorie Smith has not been approached, she said, to design a website for a same-sex couple. So, this is effectively a preemptive strike. She's saying, I don't want to be forced should this happen. How often does the Supreme Court take up a case that is really -- that is a hypothetical situation? This is a preemptive strike. Again, it has not happened.

HONIG: This is a very unusual aspect of this case, Erica. The courts, in general, and certainly the Supreme Court, basically have a rule that we only rule on what we call a real case or controversy. We don't answer hypotheticals. We don't answer cases in the abstract.

If you look back at the case Jim referred to regarding the bake shop in Colorado, there was actually a couple that wanted a cake made. Here, there's no such thing. This web designer has come in and asked for essentially a preemptive ruling saying, I may want to expand my business to get into the wedding industry. However, I would like a ruling that I'm OK to do that first. And the liberal justices objected to that. They said, we're here thinking of these crazy hypotheticals because we don't have an actual set of facts to rule on and it really is unusual in the court's jurisprudence to take a case in that posture.

SCIUTTO: Goodness, it opens up so many questions here. Let's keep up this conversation, Elie Honig, because a lot of potential consequences.

[09:45:03]

Thanks so much.

HONIG: Thanks.

SCIUTTO: We do have some news in. Just moments ago, President Biden spoke at the White House.

Let's listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: State and not just a supporter.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because there are more important things going on. They're going to invest billions of dollars into new enterprise in the state (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, the power outages in North Carolina --

BIDEN: I don't know. I'm - we're --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have any idea who is behind it?

BIDEN: No, we don't yet. I'm running that down. (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) domestic - domestic terrorism?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, (INAUDIBLE). They say it harms religious (INAUDIBLE). What's your response to that?

BIDEN: I disagree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any chance (ph) -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Jim, I could only hear the answer on that last one. Could you hear the question?

SCIUTTO: I could not. Difficult in the rain there.

HILL: Yes.

SCIUTTO: We will talk to our White House team and get back to see if there was any news in there from the president (INAUDIBLE).

HILL: Yes. He was saying he didn't agree with something. The question involved religious freedom but could not hear the rest of it. So, we'll figure that out and, as you said, Jim, we'll get back to everybody.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead, the Iranian government has announced five more people, allegedly involved in the killing of a Revolution Guard member, have now been sentenced to death. The latest as clashes continue over a whole host of things there, including government disinformation. We have more coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:48]

SCIUTTO: This morning, the Iranian government announced that it has sentenced five more people to death. They were allegedly involved in the killing of a Basij paramilitary member. The Basij paramilitary group used by the government to often crack down on protesters. It's a wing of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Protesters had clashed with Basij last month frequently during nationwide protests. These protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She died in police custody after being apprehended by the country's so-called morality police, allegedly for not wearing her hijab properly. According to the group Iran Human Right, at least 448 people have been kill so far during the unrest. CNN cannot independently verify those numbers.

But at the same time there has been a flood of skepticism after an Iranian official said recently that the country would be shutting down its morality police. Some denouncing this as a PR stunt.

Joining me now to discuss is Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad.

Masih, good to have you back on.

MASIH ALINEJAD, CREATED FACEBOOK PAGE "MY STEALTHY FREEDOM" WHERE IRANIAN WOMEN DISCARD HIJABS: Thank you so much for hosting me again.

SCIUTTO: So first on this question of the government claiming to abolish the morality police as they're known. You say it's just a tactic to stop the protests. Why? What do we know is the reality on the ground?

ALINEJAD: First of all, the day actually -- when the headline was about Iran abolishing morality police, the attorney general clearly said that this is not our responsibility to bring the morality policemen back into the streets. It's other organizations and they have to deal with it. But we make sure that we won't get social service to unveiled women. So that was the whole sentence. But some - you know some media actually used it because the Iranian regime knows when they are weakened, they are shaken, they are in fear, in crisis, how do use disinformation, first to calm down the massive protests taking place in Iran, second to mislead the rest of the world.

And, Jim, you just mentioned about Iranian regime sentence protesters to death (INAUDIBLE). This regime is not going to abolish morality police because girls from the age of seven, they have to cover themselves, otherwise they won't be able to get an education.

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this. We've seen these protests going on for weeks now. Largely young people, but at times we've seen other groups, such as businesses, take part in this. Now today the Iranian government is claiming all those businesses are open. What's the reality and what would the significance be if this expands to the business community?

ALINEJAD: It's - it's correct. Now they are really in fear that all workers walk out and join to a nationwide strike, which as you saw yesterday was the first day of three days that the activists inside Iran, leaders inside Iran asked for a nationwide strikes. And many shops across Iran, they closed and they joined Iranian protesters. That will actually make a huge difference and it's going to be the beginning of -- the beginning of massive national strikes. So -- but I'm going to tell you that these - the Islamic Republic

survive with lies, with fake news. The videos that we receive (INAUDIBLE) shows you that even well know football players joined the nationwide strike, (INAUDIBLE), and they actually went there and they closed his restaurant, his jewelry shop.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

ALINEJAD: So that is why I'm telling you that the international media should pay attention. That now Iranian regime is in a real and serious crisis because many are (INAUDIBLE) are part of the protests and they got arrested. That's why they try to mislead the rest of the world and appease the protesters as well.

SCIUTTO: We've seen protest movements in Iran before. I covered, for instance, the protests following the 2009 election there.

[09:55:02]

But we've then seen those disappear, often because the government cracks down so hard. For folks watching at home, how will they know if this protest movement is different and has the potential to spark more change?

ALINEJAD: That's a - that's a very good question. First of all, this is the first time in our history we see that many well-known athletes quitting their jobs and joining the people of Iran. We've never ever seen that. Even in 2009, you covered the story. You know that. The athletes were actually showing solidarity by, you know, just putting some, I don't know, like solidarity words on their social media or something like that. But now many well-known actress removing their hijab saying that no longer we want to be part of this propaganda too. And we see that sense of unity among celebrities around the world as well.

The tone of the leaders of democratic countries has changed, but we need more. We need Secretary Blinken clearly saying that nuclear talk is dead. But because this is what the Iranian people believe, that the only thing can help the Islamic Republic survive, it's the nuclear deal. If - if the western leaders understand that they have to legitimatize the revolution and cut their ties with the Iranian government, that would actually help Iranian to go to different stage.

SCIUTTO: Masih Alinejad, thank you for helping us understand what's going on there.

ALINEJAD: Thank you so much for not abandoning the Iranian people.

HILL: Still ahead here, polls open. The Georgia Senate runoff between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker underway. We're going to take you live to Georgia straight ahead.

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