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EPA to Unveil Strict Emissions Standards for New Vehicles; Northern Ireland Launches $8 Million Police Operation Ahead of Biden Visit; Taiwan Strongly Condemns China's Military Drills. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired April 10, 2023 - 06:30   ET

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

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: -- the FDA's approval of that medication.

[06:30:02]

Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace has criticized her own party of abortion. She'll join us live in the 7:00 A.M. hour. We'll also talk to Democratic Senator Tina Smith in the 8:00 A.M. Eastern hour. She's been fighting to try to protect this access.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And also just a few hours from now, there's a lot going on today, Nashville's city council may reinstate one of those Tennessee lawmakers who was expelled on Thursday. The expulsion has sparked national outrage and accusations of racism. We're going to talk to the vice mayor of Nashville in the next hour about what that vote could look like.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: In the meantime, the EPA set to propose new climate regulation laws aimed at shifting the car market towards electric vehicles over the next decade. Can that happen? We'll discuss now.

CNN's Chief Business Correspondent Christine Romans, she's here with more good morning to you.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, nice to see you guys.

LEMON: So, some very big goals. Welcome back, by the way. I hope you had a great vacation and a great holiday. Very big goals.

ROMANS: Yes.

LEMON: The Biden administration wants it, can that happen?

ROMANS: So, it looks like we could see these proposed new rules by Wednesday, and these would be EPA standards, very strict emission standards here. This would affect light duty vehicles starting in the model year 2027.

And the goal here, by the year 2032, in just a decade, two thirds of new car sales would be electric vehicles. All this very key to the Biden administration's climate goals and even more aggressive than what we've heard from the White House before where they were hoping to have maybe half of new cars sold over the next decade, be electric vehicles.

So, the U.S. is behind Europe, Europe is behind China, China leading the world this. These are global car companies. This is the White House, the EPA proposing these roles. There would be a rule-making period and there would be a public period of comment, but an aggressive emissions, a standard here in the United States.

COLLINS: Yes. And Manchin, Senator Joe Manchin, has been so unhappy about how the how they've handled this, the implementation, all of this. We'll see how that continues.

ROMANS: Also the E.V. tax credit in particular, yes.

COLLINS: Yes. I mean, it's striking. His criticism is not sparing anything.

Tesla is also slashing prices again. What's going on here?

ROMANS: Fifth time we've seen them do this, another Tesla price cut between 2 percent and 6 percents over the Model 3. That's a price cut of another $1,000. Model Y, $2,000, for the Model S and Y, about $5,000. Here this could hurt their profitability.

But this is the fifth time it's clearly as those tax credits next month, maybe get more difficult to get the full tax credit. You've got some of these companies, specifically Tesla cutting prices again to try to continue to generate interest in the car and for these car sales.

You know, the movement toward E.V. has been fascinating to watch. We have range anxiety, you and I have talked about that before, but this is getting better. You've got all the major carmakers really full throttle onto the E.V. bandwagon. We will see what this year looks like.

But with these emission standards, with these tax credits, there may be a tipping point we're seeing in the U.S. where you're moving more towards electric vehicles. That is certainly is the Biden administration goal, and that is kind of a reality for a lot of these car company CEOs. They know this is -- this is the U.S. is behind on this.

LEMON: Still not cheap, though, they're not cheap.

ROMANS: I mean, no. But have you have you guys driven any of that? I drove a Rivian truck.

LEMON: The Rivian SUV. I was going SUV or SBU.

HARLOW: What did think?

LEMON: I liked it.

ROMANS: And I drove the Mustang, the Mach-E, Ford Mach-E. I love that one, too. I mean, it's really -- it's interesting. But the thing is, I drive from the East Coast to Iowa, right, every year for summer. Now, when I know that I can predictably get there, that maybe when I --

LEMON: Well, you do have to stop and plug in.

ROMANS: Sure, plug in, but, yes.

LEMON: Yes. They kind of drive themselves as a little. It's different than a traditional gas-powered via combustion engine, right?

ROMANS: Oh, yes.

LEMON: having to break just kind of think about it and it does it, at least a Rivian.

HARLOW: I mean, I think you have to break electric.

LEMON: You take your foot off the gas and it will stop.

LEMON: I don't know. I have a 12-year-old Toyota. Don't talk to me about getting a new (ph) car literally.

ROMANS: Did you see -- I mean, our kids are not going to allow us to be buying gas for the rest of our lives.

HARLOW: No, CNN (ph) talks about the tax breaks.

COLLINS: Generational, it's amazing.

ROMANS: The kids are there.

LEMON: I have a 30-year-old station wagon. So --

COLLINS: Thank you, Christine.

HARLOW: President Biden, big trip ahead, set to visit Northern Ireland this week, as the terror threat level rises there. How police are ramping up security, that's next.

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[06:38:30]

COLLINS: Police in Northern Ireland this morning are preparing for President Biden's arrival. The high-profile visit has prompted a major security operation that is costing more than $8 million due to heightened fears of a terrorist attack. President Biden is expected to land in Northern Ireland tomorrow to mark 25 years since the Good Friday Accords brought peace after decades of violence.

CNN's Nic Robertson is live in Belfast, Northern Ireland, with more. Obviously, Nic, this is a hugely significant trip when it comes to bind himself and his strong Irish identity. But when it comes to the actual logistics of what's happening on the ground, what are you hearing about these concerns about an attack and how they're preparing for that?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. I think the real concern at the moment, an additional 300 police officers brought over from mainland U.K., is that one of the small splinter groups, Republican dissident group, they call themselves the new IRA that have a persistent track record here, they didn't sign up the Good Friday agreement and over recent years have had a track record of trying to kill police officers with roadside bombs, mortars at police stations, ad just recently, they almost killed an off duty police officer.

The police here say that they've got strong intelligence that this group today actually want to create a public disturbance. And north of here, there is a belief by the police that this group will draw the police into a neighborhood where they will try to attack them.

[06:40:00]

And that's the sort of genesis of the idea that this terrorist organization would try to create a big high-profile event on the eve of the president's visit.

The president won't see any of that here and Belfast has high security. The president is going to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a new university here in Belfast. He is likely to speak about the importance of business and education for peace. And he will spend time tracing his roots. County Louth, just in the Republic of Ireland, County Mayo there as well as going to Dublin, the capital, and speaking to the parliament there.

So, a packed trip, not so much time here in Northern Ireland, but, yes, on the fringes and the margins, there will be groups trying to create what they would call spectacular. Kaitlan?

COLLINS: Yes. We'll see how they handle that. He's known you notice those Irish president since JFK. We'll see how that trip goes and track it closely. Nic Robertson, thank you.

HARLOW: Next, we're going to take you live to Beijing or China just wrapped up a third day of military drills around Taiwan. The island nation is now issuing its strongest condemnation yet.

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[06:45:00]

HARLOW: Welcome back. Taiwan is pushing back hard this morning, demanding China exercise reason and self-restraint, one of the self- governing island's strongest condemnations of Beijing yet and it follows China's launch of dozens of warplanes over the weekend, which at one point circled around Taiwan. China is flexing its military muscle after repeated warnings to Taiwan about engaging with external forces, notably its president's meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and that bipartisan group of lawmakers last week.

CNN's Selina Wang is live in Beijing with the latest. Selina, this is just striking to see, Selina. What else can you tell us? Walk us through what happened.

SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Poppy. Well, we were expecting some sort of military reaction. We got it after the Taiwanese president left her meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy launching three days of military drills. China says these drills simulate precision attacks on key targets in Taiwan, and for the first time, it appears China's simulated strikes with more planes that took off from an aircraft carrier.

Now, Beijing has not launched any missiles this time, but its military did release this animation. It shows missiles fired from land, sea and air to Taiwan, two of them exploding into flames. And I also want to show you this video released by Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council. Take a listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are now seriously damaging regional peace, stability and safety. Please turn around immediately and leave. If you keep proceeding forward, I will take eviction measures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WANG: That video really highlighting the real risks of any accident or mistake leading to a miscalculation. Remember, Beijing sees democratically-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory. Beijing claims that these drills are a warning to Taiwan separatist forces and is necessary to defend its national sovereignty. Poppy?

HARLOW: striking to see and hear what you just played for everyone. Selina Wang, thank you very much for the reporting.

LEMON: Comedian and Television Host Jon Stewart accusing the Defense Department of corruption and waste. Stewart confronted the Pentagon's deputy secretary, Kathleen Hicks, during an interview on Thursday. He asked her why the DOD keeps failing audits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN HICKS, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: We don't have an accurate inventory that we can pull up of what we have where. That is not the same as saying we can't do that because waste, fraud and abuse has occurred.

JON STEWART, COMEDIAN AND TELEVISION HOST: So, in my world that's waste.

HICKS: How is that waste?

STEWART: If I give you a billion dollars and you can't tell me what happened to it, that to me is wasteful. That means you are not responsible. But if you can't tell me where it went, then what am I supposed to think?

We got out of 20 years of war and the Pentagon got a $50 billion raise. Like that's shocking to me. Now, I may not understand exactly the ins and outs and the incredible magic of an audit, but I'm a human being who lives on the Earth and can't figure out how $850 billion to a department means that the rank and file still have to be on food stamps. Like, to me, that's (BLEEP) corruption. I'm sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He gets a lot of leeway with the comedian thing, though.

So, Stewart question why some veterans are facing food insecurity despite the Defense Department's massive budget. Hicks acknowledged it has been a problem in the past, but said that Biden administration has made it, quote, a major priority.

We're just discussing like Jon Stewart is so much more than a comedian. He's a thought leader.

HARLOW: He's the one that who truly needs no introduction and has stood up for so long for veterans' rights and fought so loud and so hard and uses his big platform to keep doing so.

COLLINS: Well, I mean, the questions for the -- she's the number two at the Department of Defense. Those are important questions, and there weren't really a ton of sufficient answers. I think and that's going to be the big question for them going forward. It's not just what he said there. It's how they're responding.

LEMON: Yes. We were saying, when I say, comedian and television host, he's so much more than that. I don't even know if you need to qualify Jon Stewart is that, but good interview there.

COLLINS: All right. We'll see what depending on says about that.

Also up next, a conversation about the greatest of all time. This year's Master be -- Masters be the last for an injured Tiger Woods, who left on Saturday?

And also how is history going to look back on LeBron James? Who better to talk about all of this with than Jeff Benedict, who has written about Tiger and now has a new book out tomorrow on LeBron. He'll be at the desk with us next.

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COLLINS: He is one of the greatest athletes of all time in the reigning king of the game, LeBron James, who needs no introduction. In a new biography, the author, Jeff Benedict, tracks the NBA star's epic origin story, from living in a public housing project in Akron, Ohio, to appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated as just a high school junior, to then joining the NBA at 18 years old.

Author Jeff Benedict joins us now. His book goes on sale tomorrow. We were just talking about epic the cover is you put so much work into this. You did two -- it's two years, three years of research, more than 200 interviews. I mean, we are we are obsessed with LeBron James. We went to the Lakers game when they played the Knicks here.

[06:55:00]

Just to watch how he operates on the court is amazing in and of itself. But what's it like to do all of that research leading up to this? What did you learn?

JEFF BENEDICT, AUTHOR, LEBRON: The interview part is actually the easiest part to me. It's the thousands and thousands of pages of transcripts and books and hundreds of hours of video archive that you look at it. I mean, I literally have to watch every game that you mention in a book. And so that's what takes the most time.

But what it does is it gives you such a deep appreciation, a full immersion in someone's life. And in LeBron's case, it's 20 years in the NBA, four years in high school. His high school career was more star struck than most -- anybody's college career. So, it was just -- the appreciation deepens the further you go.

HARLOW: One of the things that I admire most about LeBron is not what he does in the court, it's what he does off the court, specifically for children. And a lot of this, as you detail in the book all the way at the beginning page 14, you say all roads lead back to Gloria James in Akron, Ohio. And you talk about his desire to please his mother being the driving force in all he did, seeing how crucial she was to him and now him trying to do what he can for other children, where he came from.

BENEDICT: I thought the narrative of LeBron being fatherless -

HARLOW: Yes.

BENEDICT: -- and growing up with a mom in financial dire straits, to me, is the bedrock of his story. There's something to be said for the history that you live really defines who you become as a man. And I think that LeBron traveled pretty lonely road when he was a kid. It was a hard road. And I wanted to sort of live in that orbit as long as I could, really try to understand it so that readers could really understand the gravity of what he became.

I mean, I was actually thinking when I was writing the book, it reminded me a little bit of the Alexander Hamilton story. I was thinking like what are the chances that this kid, when he is four, five, six years old, and they're bouncing like nomads from couch to bed, two apartment, to somebody's -- this place and that, what are the chances that this kid is going to become anything, anything at all, like even survive, never mind become one of the most successful and admired humans on planet earth?

HARLOW: Not just player, human.

BENEDICT: Humans, yes. Forget the basketball stuff, right, I mean, just that this guy would survive. And I think that's so much -- you have to recognize the mother.

And I thought a lot of the narrative around Gloria James was just wrong because the narrative started so in the beginning when he was in high school. And the more I followed that narrative, I thought I read all that stuff. And to me, it was framed wrong. We're looking at the wrong thing. And I think what she did with him as a mother was just phenomenal. And so much of what he is ingrained in what they went through. I love that. They were Glo and Bron, Glo and Bron.

LEMON: It's very -- look, his story is relatable to a lot of people in inspirational but especially to men of color, even -- you know, he's here, right? But even if you're moderately successful, or if you stay out of prison or if you defy the odds and the statistics, it is looked upon. It should be and especially in American society as being a success because there are so many factors that go against especially black men in this society.

But I have to ask you when you were here and you gave me the book and I started reading it and I reached out to LeBron's people, and I was like, hey, I'm so happy, and they said this is not -- we have nothing to do with this, Don. This is unauthorized. You should ask him about that and why he chose to do it. So, I'm asking you.

BENEDICT: Yes. Most biographies today, if -- well, if you're doing a biography on a living person, it's often unauthorized, I mean, especially for somebody like LeBron or Tiger or Tom Brady. When you're in that category, you can do an autobiography. And LeBron did a memoir a few years ago. But I suspect someday he's going to write an autobiography, and he should.

But a biography that's unauthorized is pretty standard when you're talking about someone who is successful and famous and alive. And I think it's better that way, to be honest with you.

LEMON: You do? Why is that? Because they'll say, well, how do you know and how do we rely on we know that this is true, the information you received?

BENEDICT: I mean, that's the job of a biographer, is to follow all the trails, to be as comprehensive as you can and to try to do that job. And I actually like the -- I mean, unauthorized means no cooperation at all, doesn't do an interview. I actually didn't feel that way about LeBron's camp. There were plenty of people that I approached who said, you know, we have to check with LeBron first to see if you're going to be able to talk to me, and that's okay.

But I think it's honest, like nobody can say, well, you wrote it this way because you were working with LeBron. No, I wrote it this way because this is what I saw. This is what I see, that the man that I've described in the book is what I saw with unvarnished eyes. And I think it's the closest, truest portrait I could I could paint doing the job without sitting down and talking to LeBron.

[07:00:03]

LEMON: Page 470 is my favorite. We'll let the audience --