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Nikki Haley: "Mental Competency Tests" Needed For Older Politicians; CNN Rides On Helicopter Delivering Aid To Earthquake Victims; Ohio Residents Demand Answers On Chemical Leak From Train. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired February 16, 2023 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[07:33:58]
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. The newest member of the 2024 presidential field, Nikki Haley, is zeroing in on age and the age of her potential rivals.
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CRAIG MELVIN, NBC AND MSNBC ANCHOR: You called him the greatest president. If that's true then why run against him?
NIKKI HALEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to keep that phone call personal. I didn't ask, I told that I thought that we needed to go in a new direction. It is time for a new generation of leaders. You shouldn't have to be 80 years old to get to Washington. And we've got to start righting the ship. We need new blood because we have some serious challenges.
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COLLINS: She didn't ask, she told.
That interview coming after Haley called for a more thorough examination of older politicians in her announcement speech.
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HALEY: In the America I see the permanent politician will finally retire. We'll have term limits for Congress and mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.
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[07:35:09]
COLLINS: Haley did not say who she believes should conduct those tests. She also did not call out Trump or Biden by name, but she didn't really have to. With Biden 80 and Trump at 76 both would be subject to such a test. So joining us now to talk about this is CNN anchor and correspondent Audie Cornish who would not have to take that test. But she could have picked 80.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN HOST, "THE ASSIGNMENT WITH AUDIT CORNISH" PODCAST: With her slope (PH), who knows?
COLLINS: She -- unless you're secretly 70.
CORNISH: Oh, what -- yes.
COLLINS: She could have picked 80. She picked 75 making sure that Trump would fall into that category.
CORNISH: Yes. I mean, she -- any person who enters the race right now against Trump has to delineate themselves in some way without alienating his base. So she did a lot of this not saying someone by name but making sure to catch them in a category to which they would, like, apply. It's sort of a point without a policy. She didn't say and the competency tests would look like X and it would be administered such and such a time.
COLLINS: Yes.
CORNISH: It's really to drive conversation in the direction she wants, which is a fundamental questioning of the people who would be frontrunners at this point.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think that -- look, she is raising this. Do you think it's smart? We had the conversation earlier about do you think it's smart for her to do that because in that, right, she's going to turn off a lot of older people. And these are her words. She's bringing this up that politicians are no longer in their prime, right, and that was according to her.
And so, I think she's kind of -- she's alienating --
CORNISH: I don't -- I -- yes.
LEMON: -- some people.
CORNISH: I heard the earlier segment and I do understand what you're saying. But I think one thing you want to keep in mind is there is an active conversation at the gerontocracy going on in the U.S., meaning people were questioning Dianne Feinstein, the senator of California, and her competency in her job at this point. That was happening openly, Kaitlan knows, in the political papers.
And some of people's favorite politicians, whether it's Bernie Sanders or whoever, are older. That doesn't mean people aren't acknowledging the fact that are you squeezing out another generation of potentials by having people kind of part in these positions.
And I just want to make one more point. You know, she is bringing up something very interesting, saying the quiet part out loud about Republicans losing the popular vote multiple times. And every time that happens there's always an autopsy. We need to do this. We need to do that. And the kinds of politicians who would have stepped into the breach would have been Nikki Haley and Tim Scott, and Marco Rubio. And then Trump came along.
So I think she's trying to reassert that position for a generation.
LEMON: But I have to stick up for older people here because it feels -- there's something that could feel agist about this and it stings when you say someone is in their prime in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. Poppy is like, oh. It stings and why -- and why would --
CORNISH: I understand why you're saying that but on the right there is a --
LEMON: -- and wouldn't it sting for someone to --
CORNISH: -- very strong questioning of Biden and his competency.
LEMON: Yes.
CORNISH: It is a key part of their argument against him, so she is merely tapping into something that exists already.
And then similarly with Trump there is a lot of people who with Trump -- you've played clips earlier -- who questions his competency and did link it to his age.
So I understand what you're saying that older voters might equivocate with this but I don't think older voters look at these politicians and think that's me. That's my proxy for me and my own mental health, right? They look at these as singular characters and a question about who should run the country.
LEMON: I'm just simply looking at the people who traditionally show up to the polls. They're usually older people.
CORNISH: Yes, but they're smart and they -- you know, they make these decisions about who to vote for.
And to your point earlier, the idea of prime that you would Google on the internet, that's about sexual and reproductive prime. That's not actually about, like, mental health and aging. And there has been so many advances --
LEMON: Well, those aren't my words.
CORNISH: No, but I'm just --
LEMON: Those are Nikki Haley's words.
CORNISH: No, I'm -- yes. But to be clear --
LEMON: Yes.
CORNISH: -- like you raise the question of that could somehow be a double-edged sword for her. That she could be out of her prime in some way. That's not how it works. I mean, people are really looking at folks who are in their 80s -- upper tier -- and who they are questioning every comment they make, every stumble, every stutter, and pointing to that in the political wars as some sort of sign of something.
LEMON: Yes, but you have to have the --
CORNISH: That's very different --
LEMON: You have to have the same --
CORNISH: -- than saying --
LEMON: -- energy for that because there are people who feel offended by that. And again, I'm just -- and I think it's individual. I don't think it's based on numbers.
CORNISH: Yes, but no one's going to look at Nikki Haley and say --
LEMON: I think it's individual.
CORNISH: -- is she in her prime or not.
LEMON: Well, I don't know. I mean, there may be some people who would say -- because again, I don't think people would be saying that if she didn't bring it up. It was her -- her words --
CORNISH: Yes. She's in her prime --
LEMON: -- who brought it up.
CORNISH: -- for running for office --
LEMON: Yes.
COLLINS: Political prime.
CORNISH: -- and I think that's the thing. Political prime is what we're talking about.
LEMON: Can we -- can we do one other thing because she also talked about -- the whole idea of Nikki Haley, she's going to have to deal with sort of straddling the fence. And in this interview she talked about that -- about -- hang on one second, please. She talked about how -- being judge harshly by history, saying that after the insurrection that you said that Trump -- this is the thing -- quote, "Will be judged harshly by history." But then she went on to say that he was -- he was great for the party.
[07:40:01]
CORNISH: Yes.
LEMON: She does some things and says some things but then it appears that she is sort of straddling the fence on these issues. CORNISH: Yes. She does it on a lot of things. She does it on race as well. She talks about being a woman and then saying I'm not into identity politics. I'm not Black, I'm not white, but also I don't care about those things. She sort of signals to a variety of people hoping that something will catch.
I mean, as to your point, I think that there is something to kind of like underscore there in how she's approaching that topic to try and draw in people. It's a little of a Rorschach test, right?
LEMON: Yes.
CORNISH: Like, what do you think based on this statement? And she has to do that because she's the first, right? She's the one jumping in against Trump good and early so she is trying to carve out a lane for herself.
COLLINS: Yes, which comes with pros and cons to be the first in the race.
CORNISH: Yes, exactly.
COLLINS: We'll see who is next.
CORNISH: Yes.
COLLINS: Audie --
LEMON: Always love -- thank you.
CORNISH: Yes, thank you.
LEMON: Love having you here.
COLLINS: All right and stay with us. Next hour we're going to discuss the reporting on some of the labor issues that Audie has done in the country and what that looks like.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Ten days after the earthquake in Turkey rescuers are still finding survivors in the rubble. One woman asking her saviors what day it was when she emerged.
LEMON: Up next we're going to talk to our Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He traveled with the helicopter team taking much-needed supplies like hospital tents.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So they've just unloaded the tents here in Hatay. This is one of the hardest-hit areas in the quake zone.
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[07:45:43]
LEMON: So it has been 10 days since the devastating earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria and somehow rescuers are still pulling survivors from the rubble, like this 17-year-old girl named Alena (PH), still alive after 248 hours under that wreckage. And a mother and her two children also found alive. Her first question to rescuers, "What day is it?"
CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now live from southeastern Turkey. Sanjay, hello to you. These are just devastating -- this is a devastating situation there but so many survivors like this needing shelter and support. You went to see some of the efforts. What can you tell us?
GUPTA: Yes. I mean, these are remarkable stories. And people really rise up, Don, in these situations as you know.
I'm in Antakya as you mentioned, one of the hardest-hit areas. To give you a picture -- I mean, those are the mountains over there. This area is very mountainous. That's been part of the problem.
Don, this is a big hospital I want to show you over here. When I say big hospital, 1,100-bed hospitals but totally not functioning anymore -- totally damaged by the earthquake. So all these people who need medical care -- they can no longer go to the biggest hospital in the area. And that's why this series of tents was essentially set up in the parking lot of this hospital to take care of people.
It's a remarkable situation. The tone there, Don, is very much still search and rescue, and patients are still coming in, many of whom need a lot of aid.
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GUPTA (voice-over): The skies over Turkey are continuously pierced with the sound of helicopter blades still performing crucial search and rescue but also delivering people and goods to places hard to access and now near isolated from the rest of the world, like Antakya in Hatay Province.
Look what the earthquake did in just minutes here. So many buildings razed to the ground. More than eight days later too many people still going without even basic supplies.
GUPTA (on camera): Donations continue to pour in from all over the world. To give you an idea they have things like baby formula. These are safety hard hats over here. These are the types of things that are coming in. Over here you have bread, so they have all sorts of dry foods that are coming in.
These are donations that are coming from individuals. Things like blankets and warm clothes. And really, just as far as the eye can see there is all sorts of supplies that are now trying to get from this airstrip to the people who desperately need them.
GUPTA (voice-over): Over and over again spontaneous supply lines like this one formed and within minutes dozens and dozens of tents are loaded onto the helicopter. Today's mission, to provide cover and protection in Hatay, a province that has lost both. From the sky it is easy to see why they are so necessary.
A group of men can be seen waiting earnestly for their temporary new homes. They quickly unload the helicopter, struggling against the whir of the blades which never stop.
GUPTA (on camera): So they've just unloaded the tents here in Hatay. This is one of the hardest-hit areas in the quake zone.
GUPTA (voice-over): Off in the distance a floating hospital -- a near necessity after natural disasters like this. After all, as with most other buildings, the hospitals often don't survive either. These hospital ships provide immediate beds and operating rooms like this one where 37-year-old Mehmet received an operation on his leg after falling two stories during the earthquake.
MEHMET: (Speaking foreign language).
GUPTA (voice-over): Even a maternity ward. Yes, tragically, more than 40,000 people have died but there has also been new life here -- a beautiful baby girl.
Another benefit, the captain tells me, unlike the field hospitals on firm ground these hospital ships in the water are relatively protected from the numerous aftershocks that continuously devastated the land.
For now the ground is quiet but the skies are loud, and that is good as this part of the world slowly and surely finds its footing.
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[07:50:11]
GUPTA: Forty thousand people-plus have died -- we know these tragic numbers -- but a lot of people survived and are in need of care. And that's why these types of hospitals -- these field hospitals have been set up now. This is one of the largest ones.
And tomorrow, guys, we'll take you inside. Some remarkable stories of recovery happening inside. We'll take you there tomorrow.
HARLOW: Wow.
LEMON: Yes.
COLLINS: That little girl being born.
LEMON: Yes.
And Sanjay, you've been on, sadly, a lot of these really tragic scenes but the scope of this one -- it seems to be -- it seems to be much larger than many of the situations like this you have covered.
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's tough to put these things in perspective like that.
Haiti was obviously one of the worst. One hundred thousand people died there near instantly. One hundred thousand more people died over the next several months. That was awful. You -- I was on a hospital ship over there in Haiti as well where they needed to take care of patients.
And part -- again, I found so interesting the ships may be insulated -- buffered a bit against all the aftershocks because they worry about that here. They can suddenly lose access to power and water and other things.
So it's tough to compare one to the other but this has -- this has been pretty tragic out here, obviously.
LEMON: Yes.
COLLINS: Yes, and it's such a long road ahead.
LEMON: Thank you, Sanjay. Appreciate that.
And back here in the U.S. outrage in Ohio. Residents feeling unsafe and uninformed after a toxic train derailed in their town. We're going to speak with one of them straight ahead.
COLLINS: There's also just an outpouring of grief but also support at a vigil for the victims who were killed in the Michigan State mass shooting. Coming up we're going to talk to Sen. Chris Murphy about his renewed effort for a universal background check law in the wake of that shooting.
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[07:56:06]
LEMON: So right now, Ukrainians are grappling with the aftermath of what is being described as a terrible night of missile strikes in the southeastern part of Ukraine. At least one person is dead and eight others are injured following a series of attacks on critical infrastructure facilities. Officials say at least 60 homes have now been destroyed by the shelling.
Ukrainian officials say Russia fired 36 missiles. Half of them were shot down.
At least three missiles also hit critical infrastructure in Lviv, which is in the western region of Ukraine. There were no casualties or injuries there.
I was in Lviv, and I witnessed the aftermath of Russian missile strikes last -- that was last March. And next Friday will mark one year to the day that those -- that assault was launched on Ukraine there and that invasion by Russian President Vladimir Putin. So one year almost already. It's crazy that it's been that long.
COLLINS: Yes, it is. HARLOW: You saw what the -- you know, what Jens Stoltenberg said yesterday that this is a war of attrition and just grinding and grinding and grinding. And that's what Richard Haus reminded us of a few weeks ago, saying he thinks in six months it'll be like what it is now, right? I don't think a lot of people thought we'd be here a year later.
LEMON: No.
COLLINS: Yes.
LEMON: I certainly didn't.
COLLINS: Well, and the question is now much longer does it go on? Harris is in Munich at that security conference this weekend.
HARLOW: Yes.
COLLINS: It was at that moment last year when Zelenskyy went to it and she warned him about the invasion. And I think Ukrainians --
HARLOW: Yes.
COLLINS: -- were still, like, hesitant about whether or not it was actually going to happen.
HARLOW: Right. All right, OK.
COLLINS: Yes, remarkable.
We're going to continue that and watch all of that as CNN THIS MORNING continues right now.
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TRENT R. CONAWAY, MAYOR, EAST PALESTINE, OHIO: I'm done playing games. They are not playing games either. I'm not -- it's not he said- she said. They screwed up our town and they're going to fix it. If they don't I'll be the first one calling all you back to do this all over again.
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LEMON: Yes. Residents brought lots of questions last night to that meeting.
Good morning, everyone.
You can see people in East Palestine, Ohio are scared, they're angry, and they're fed up. They want to know if it is still safe to live in their own homes nearly two weeks after a train loaded with dangerous chemical crashed in their small town.
We're going to speak to a concerned mom who demanded answers last night at a heated town hall meeting. HARLOW: Also, thousands of people are gathering and gathered last night to honor three Michigan State University students killed in Monday's mass shooting. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut will join us live to discuss his renewed push for more gun safety laws to try to end this -- end this endless bloodshed.
COLLIN: Yes. I can't wait for that interview.
Also, just a few hours from now we're going to see parts -- just parts, though, of a special grand jury report that is examining Trump's efforts to overturn election results in Georgia. What might we learn?
But we begin this morning in East Palestine, Ohio. You heard from the mayor just a few moments ago. People in his city are afraid to drink the water, breathe the air -- even live in their own homes nearly two weeks after a train that was packed with dangerous toxic chemicals crashed and burned in their small town.
Frustration boiled over at a heated town hall meeting last night as residents were demanding answers from officials.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are people getting sick if there's nothing in the air or the water?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody that came here expects a hell of a lot more than what we are getting right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are my kids safe? Are the people safe? Is the future of this community safe?
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COLLINS: The head of the EPA is actually set to arrive in East Palestine today to assess the disaster and the cleanup. We're expected to hear from him.
The train was carrying vinyl chloride, which has been associated with liver cancer, lymphoma, leukemia, and brain and lung cancers.
The mayor said that he wants to know this from the EPA administrator.
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CONAWAY: I need help. I'm not ready for this. I wasn't -- I wasn't built for this.
[08:00:00]
