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CNN This Morning
House Paralyzed as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) Jump into Speaker Race; CNN Gets Inside Look at Weight- Loss Drug Manufacturing Ramps Up; Biden Administration Waives 26 Federal Laws to Allow Border Wall Construction. Aired 7-7:30a ET
Aired October 05, 2023 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:00:00]
DOMINIQUE DAWES, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL GYMNAST: Thank you so much for having me on.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Of course. CNN This Morning no.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The race is on to replace Kevin McCarthy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two candidates have already officially jumped in.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): The most pressing issue is not Ukraine.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORESPONDENT: Behind the scenes there are raw emotions, feelings, bad will.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Standing up for principle can also sometimes be a little painful.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: New York's Attorney General Letitia James says the Donald Trump show is over as his fraud trial continues.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump wasted no time to lash out against the judge and the attorney general.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no jury. You don't need the dramatics.
LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: I will not be bullied.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Biden administration waiving 26 federal laws in Texas to allow border wall construction as the migrant crisis as New York and Chicago ramps up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The failure of federal policies is now impacting the people of Chicago in a dramatic way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There has to be limits in place.
ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: Mexico, of course, has to be and is our closest partner in this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Well, good morning, everyone. So glad you're with us on CNN This Morning. There is a lot to get to at the border, which has been a big part of this fight over the speakership and funding for that, and in Washington, because we have no speaker still.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: That's the problem for -- in the grand scheme of things, but you make a great point, there are policy implications here for a chamber that quite literally can't do anything right now. And there's Ukraine funding, there's the border, there's a government shutdown looming. This is real. It's not just a political fight that's nonsensical to most normal human beings.
HARLOW: It's real for every American. This battle to become speaker of the House is under way and it could have huge implications for the looming government shutdown, Ukraine aid, as Phil mentioned, and the border, and other critical issues.
Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise have both jumped into the race and we're waiting to see if anyone else joins. The candidates facing the same dilemmas that doomed Kevin McCarthy and paralyzed the House and they have some tough questions to answer. Will they work with Democrats to prevent a shutdown next month or dig in for a fight? Will they get rid of the rule that allow a small handful of Republicans to oust Speaker McCarthy?
MATTINGLY: Also, will they punish those eight GOP rebels who voted him out and will they support or funding for Ukraine as the war with Russia grinds on? It's been a major sticking point for GOP hardliners. Here's what Jim Jordan told our colleague, Manu Raju.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Are you willing to move forward with an aid package for Ukraine if you're speaker?
JORDAN: I'm against that. The most pressing issue on Americans' minds is not Ukraine. It is the border situation and it is crime on the streets, and everybody knows that. So, let's address those. If the Senate wants to send us something on other issues, that's their prerogative.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: CNN Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox live on the Hill. Lauren, good to see you again this morning.
The question is -- the only question is 218 and if anyone can get there.
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. But you are having this speaker's race looming at a time, Poppy, where you cannot really overestimate how tenuous the Republican conference relationships are right now. I interviewed yesterday Representative Garret Graves. He is a close ally of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
And he told me that when McCarthy made his announcement on Tuesday night he wasn't going to run, they kept the meeting short in part because he was afraid that there could be an eruption of some kind of physical altercation. That is how raw the nerves are in this moment in the Republican conference.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOX (voice over): Anger and raw nerves plaguing the House GOP after the historic vote to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
REP. DUSTY JOHNSON (R-SD): I'm not surprised. Tensions and tempers have been running pretty high for the last nine months.
FOX: Allies of McCarthy are seeking retribution from the eight Republican rebels who voted against him.
REP. GARRET GRAVES (R-LA): I think it was done for narcissistic, for selfish reasons, for fundraising reasons.
FOX: They delivered a not so veiled threat to cease all fundraising for Republican Representative Nancy Mace ahead of vote. In return, Mace says she's fundraising off her decision to sink McCarthy.
REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): I'm taking it from all sides right now. And because of the threats that I've been receiving over the last couple of weeks, it finally reached a point last night where I was like, you know what, I'm going to let people know that I need help.
FOX: Now, some are even threatening to try and have them removed from the Republican conference.
REP. DAVID JOYCE (R-OH): I don't see how they can really be part of a conference when they stand on the -- they come on the inside, listen to what going on and go outside and lob bombs in the middle.
REP. KEN BUCK (R-CO): The very people who are blaming the eight who voted against Kevin McCarthy are the same people who have held up this process so that we don't get to the point where we pass a budget, pass appropriations bills and deal with the huge spending.
FOX: McCarthy, too, is seeking revenge against Democrats for not throwing him a lifeline during the vote. Two Republican sources tell CNN he was behind the move to kick former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer out of their unofficial office spaces near the House floor.
[07:05:10]
REP. JIM MCGOVERN (D-MA): Rather than, you know, being petty and silly, you know, and throwing Nancy Pelosi out of her office, I mean, how does that contribute to civility up here?
FOX: Even though Republicans are bitterly divided the race to elect the next speaker is in full swing. Two leading contenders for the role are emerging, including House Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Representative Jim Jordan.
Scalise was shot in 2017 at a baseball practice ahead of a congressional charity game that left him in critical condition. In August, Scalise revealed he was diagnosed with blood cancer.
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): Leader Scalise, he is a good friend. I had a great conversation with him, Jim, Kevin, other people. We're working hard. We're going to unite.
FOX: House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan was a co-founder of the conservative Freedom Caucus and is a close ally of former President Trump.
JORDAN: I think we're a conservative center right party. I think I'm the guy who can help unite that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOX (on camera): there's a lot of work left to do within the Republican conference to ensure that by next Tuesday, when they go in for a candidate forum, there is some recognition of who the next speaker could be.
Right now, sources telling me, no one in this race has 218 votes. If this was expected to be a coronation for majority leader, it's not clear that's going to happen at this point. Again, just in a week's time, they lost a speaker and are going to try to seek a new one. Phil, Poppy?
HARLOW: Not a coronation at all. Lauren Fox, thank you. Phil?
MATTINGLY: And joining us now is Republican Congressman Bob Good of Virginia. He voted to oust McCarthy. Congressman, I appreciate your time this morning.
I want to start with where my colleague, Lauren, ended, and that is, what's the path to 218? Can either Jim Jordan or Steve Scalise get the majority of -- to become speaker?
REP. BOB GOOD (R-VA): Well, I like what the person just said. It's not going to be a coronation. It's going to be a contest. It's going to be a competition. That's the way that it should be. We will vet these candidates. We'll challenge them. We'll test them. We're already having conversations directly with these candidates, one-on-one meetings, one-on-one conversations, group meetings and so forth.
And then we'll have a candidate forum, as we should, a real candidate forum, not when there's the presumptive designated person from the party leadership that everybody's supposed to vote for, everyone is else afraid to challenge that person for fear of consequence or retaliation. We will have a true contest or competition. That is great for the American people. That is great for the Republican Party.
And no matter how long it takes, maybe it takes a few hours, maybe it takes a few days. I'm not sure. But we will emerge united because we will have a vested interest in whomever we voted for that got 218, ideally, 221 votes on the first ballot on the House floor. And we would want that person to be successful, because the country needs that person to be successful along with the Republican Party.
MATTINGLY: What's the basis for your belief that your party, your conference, after the last nine months, could ever emerge united from what's happening right now?
GOOD: Well, Kevin McCarthy was obviously divisive for the party. Obviously, we wouldn't have had 15 rounds of voting for the first time in history of the country, or 160 years at least --
MATTINGLY: But was that a McCarthy thing or was that a --
GOOD: We went to two votes even for the first time in 160 years and then you had Speaker McCarthy was obviously removed by eight members of his party.
So, he was divisive. And so now we have to own that in the sense that we have to come together and select a speaker. Again, tensions might get high. There will be debates, as there should be. This ought to not just be a rubber stamp. We've got qualified, talented individuals in the Republican Party who will be trying to build that coalition a support. I look forward to hearing from all of them, meeting with all of them and seeing them make their case and see who's going to fight for the American people and fight for the things that the American people gave us majority last November.
MATTINGLY: You said earlier, and this has been case for the last 24, 48 hours, both Jim Jordan, Steve Scalise and their teams have been reaching, trying to talk to people individually in groups. Have you had those conversations? Can you describe kind of what the pitch is from both?
GOOD: Well, I won't talk about private conversations, but, yes, we're all hearing from those candidates. And, again, I'm looking forward to continuing to have those conversations and seeing who might be the best person to lead us.
What we need is a leader. We have not had a leader nine months. We need an actual leader. We need a fighter. And when you have one house of one branch of government, you ought to be able to get something for your side.
You ought to be able to fight for some spending cuts. You ought to be able to fight for some policy changes. You ought to be able to fight for some border security. You ought to be able to fight against some of the weaponization the federal governments, to go after our Justice Department and Wray and -- excuse me, Garland and Mayorkas with the border invasion. We ought to be able to stand up for the January 6th prisoners. We ought to release January 6th tapes, things that were promised, those kinds of things.
I think we'll get a fighter. I think we'll get a leader. I think you'll get someone who represents the conservative center of the conference and represents the base of Republicans and Americans, frankly, who entrust us with the majority. [07:10:00]
MATTINGLY: In speaking with the number of the more moderate members of your conference yesterday, there is a clear sense that they have to change the motion to vacate. They have to change the single motion member to vacate. It's something Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said as well. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): To do that job, you have to get rid of the motion to vacate, because it puts whoever the speaker is in a hammer lock of dysfunction, so potential dysfunction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Now, Congressman, I know how much House members love to hear from the Senate what they should or shouldn't do, but the idea itself, would you consider, do you think it's possible to have a rules package that changes the motion to vacate away from where it currently stands?
GOOD: Well, again, emotions are high now because of what just changed with the speaker. And I understand, there's a lot of people invested in the system, that we're invested in his leadership, if you want, a personal level. And those feelings are obviously raw right now.
However, we negotiated and voted unanimously together to come up with the best rules package late last year, before the speaker vote, and ratified that, I should say, after the speaker vote, and that has been better for Congress.
The only reason we are where we are is because we had a speaker who did not keep his word, who did not keep his commitments, who let down the American people, who let down the Republican conference and it took ten months, frankly, for him to be held accountable for that. It wasn't flippant or cavalier. It didn't happen right after the debt ceiling surrender, when we gave an unlimited increase to the debt ceiling. It didn't happen after he didn't bring a budget, a balanced budget to the floor --
MATTINGLY: Can I just ask you real, though -- before we have to go, can I just ask you real quick, are you saying that you would not support any change to the rules package that was agreed in January? It has to be the same?
GOOD: We need the same rules package. We need a speaker who commits to keeping the same rules because it frankly went back to regular order. It went back to how the House was operating. There's a reason why we've all been able to submit hundreds, literally hundreds of amendments. We've all had input on the legislation. We don't all get our way. It takes 218 to pass legislation, obviously, but a confident, strong leader-like we're going to elect to become speaker will be secure knowing that they serve at the pleasure of their members.
And, again, all of us will have a vested interest in this person's success because we have supported them and voted for them or they wouldn't be speaker. And also, again, need them to be successful because the country can't afford to continue what we just did, which was to extend policies and the spending levels of the Biden-Pelosi- Schumer regime from last year.
MATTINGLY: All right. Congressman Bob Good, busy couple of days ahead. I know it's all going to be behind the scenes. Please, when you decide who you're going to go with, let us know. We appreciate your time, sir. Thank you.
GOOD: Thank you. Great to be with you.
MATTINGLY: Poppy?
HARLOW: Phil, thank you, important conversation, very illuminating.
Also this just in, this video showing migrants rushing the border, this is near El Paso, Texas, this as the Biden administration gets ready to build a border wall.
MATTINGLY: Plus, CNN goes inside the manufacturing plant for the diabetes medication, but one of the new widely popular weight-loss drugs, we're going to discussion the potential risk as demand skyrockets.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:15:00]
HARLOW: Welcome back. We're now entering the second day of the largest health care strike in U.S. history after 75,000 Kaiser Permanente employees walked off the job yesterday. The striking employees who work across California, Colorado, Washington, Virginia, Oregon and D.C. are represented by a coalition of unions that comprise 40 percent of Kaiser Permanente's total staff. They're calling for increases to wages and staffing levels.
MATTINGLY: Now to an exclusive, CNN's is getting an inside look as Eli Lilly ramps up manufacturing of Mounjaro, the popular diabetes drug that is widely being used for weight-loss. The company is grappling with a severe shortage and skyrocketing demands, growing concerns about the drug's safety as well as medical spas and wellness clinics that are selling unsafe, knockoff versions for cheap.
CNN's Meg Tirrell joins us now. What is Eli Lilly doing here? How are they trying to make this work?
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, people expect these could potentially be some of the largest drugs of all time. How many are using them. Eli Lilly is building two new manufactures plants to try to meet this demand.
We got an exclusive look inside to see just how they're trying to meet it. Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIRRELL (voice over): They are some most in-demand medicines in the world, Wegovy, FDA-approved for weight-loss, diabetes drugs Ozempic and Mounjaro being used off-label also for weight loss.
In the final three months of last year, there were an estimated 9 million prescriptions for drugs like these, a 300 percent increase since 2020. Without insurance, a one-month supply of one of these drugs can cost more than $1,000. All three are on the FDA's list of drugs in short supply. And by end of the year, Mounjaro's manufacturer, Eli Lilly, expects FDA approval to treat obesity and potentially millions more people seeking it out.
EDGARDO HERNANDEZ, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT OF MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS, ELI LILLY: I feel it's our own responsibility that we have to scale these as fast as we can.
TIRRELL: We got exclusive access to this Mounjaro manufacturing plant in Durham, North Carolina, where the company is ramping up supply. In this room, Plant Manager Dan VonDielingen shows us how it takes only milliseconds to fill the drug into syringes.
How many can this do in an hour?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This line, this is a high-speed filling machine. So on an annual basis, this will fill millions of syringes.
TIRRELL: They're running this factory 24/,7 tracking every step of the operation along the way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're able to see, again, every batch as it flows through the facility.
TIRRELL: Is it common for manufacturing sites to run 24/7?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is. For us, the demand is very high and we're doing everything that we can to stand up and supply.
TIRRELL: Eli Lilly pouring $4 billion into this plant and another one its building just two hours southwest in an effort to double output by end of the year.
HERNANDEZ: It's a massive scale what we're trying to do. I don't think we have ever done this as a company and I think nor anybody else in the industry has scaled these as fast as we are trying to scale.
[07:20:02]
TIRRELL: Can you move any faster than you're already going?
HERNANDEZ: We are moving fast as we can but have to follow certain controls to make sure the final product meets safety and quality expectations.
TIRRELL: In recent weeks, Lilly and one of its competitors, Novo Nordisk, have both filed lawsuits against med spas, clinics and compounding pharmacies for allegedly selling unapproved, unsafe versions of their drugs. Both were also recently sued over claims that their drugs can make the stomach empty food too slowly resulting in abdominal pain and severe vomiting. In response they say they closely monitor the drugs for safety.
Back on the Mounjaro line, VonDielingen says the team knows the importance of bringing the shortage to an end.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's really a privilege to be able to make medicine, medicine that's life-changing for our patients.
TIRRELL: As the demand for weight-loss drugs shows no signs of slowing down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TIRRELL (on camera): So, guys, all of that results in this auto injector. This has something like 14 parts just to put it together. When you use it, you take the cap off, you hit the button. It is an injected medicine so it's got to be perfect every time.
HARLOW: Wow. That was -- thank you for taking us inside of that. That was fascinating.
Before you go, watching a new shot, new vaccine to protect kids, newborns, against RSV, but one of the issues is that parents are having a hard time getting it. Why?
TIRRELL: This is a really important, new form of protection against RSV, which is this really scary respiratory infection pretty much everybody gets, but for babies, it can be really dangerous. This show is called Beyfortus, and it was just approved by the FDA and recommended by the CDC universally for all babies under eight months old protecting them in their first RSV season, as well as some more vulnerable kids in their second season. It can reduce the risk of hospitalization by up to 80 percent from RSV.
But the problem is that it's pretty expensive. It costs $495 a dose. And the concern is that some doctor's offices, as the insurance is getting worked out, may be worried about how expensive it is and may not want to buy it and stock it in advance, same thing for hospitals.
And so we're just hearing as it's starting to roll out this first season, it may be more tricky for parents to get and a lot of public health advocates are really upset about that because this could be extremely protective.
HARLOW: Of course, 80 percent protection against hospitalization is incredible. Thank you very much, Meg, very much.
So, this news, a FedEx jet made an emergency landing after its landing gear failed. That new video just coming in.
MATTINGLY: And Republicans scrambling to find a new House speaker. And while the finger-pointing is in full effect, some members of Congress are looking in the mirror.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): I think the American people are tired of chaos.
They want to see something done and they want to see it done in a way which makes their lives better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:25:00]
HARLOW: So, new this morning, the Biden administration is waiving 26 federal laws in order to build a border wall in South Texas. It is a move that was used frequently during the Trump White House, as that administration built 52 miles of new border barriers and repaired about 450 miles of it. But a reminder, here is what then candidate Biden said about border walls. This was in 2020.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: There will not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: That was then. This is now. And the Homeland Security secretary explaining this by saying there is a, quote, acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers near the border to prevent unlawful entries in Starr County, where there have been nearly a quarter of a million illegal entries this fiscal year. That's according to government data.
MATTINGLY: This move comes as we're getting a fresh look at the realities on the border. New video from outside El Paso shows migrants running and cheering as they crossed the border in spite of increased security.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is now on the ground in Mexico. He says he's trying to understand the origins of the crisis as hundreds of migrants are bused to his city daily.
Joining us now is CNN's Political Director David Chalian. David, thanks for being here. I think trying to thread everything that's going on right now into a single reality is difficult, and yet I think if you pull back, and you're really great at doing this, the chaos, the confusion, the kind of antipathy for people watching what's happening in Washington, as they're dealing with a lot of real issues right now, it's got to be palpable to some degree?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: No doubt it's palpable. I think the other concern, Phil, is that it's also becoming normalized, the chaos and the dysfunction, in some way. Clearly, Americans are not pleased with their Congress, with the direction of the country.
And you guys were just talking about border security there. You know, that is one of the issues that is the lowest performing issue for President Biden, and he's at pretty historic lows overall, and border security is even beneath that for him.
So, seeing this move is interesting, and specifically seeing these Democratic mayors and governors in Illinois and New York starting to take on the White House, this is an issue you'll recall immigration border security, it's always one with crossover appeal, beyond the Republican base, independents, there's no doubt about that. But it has largely been a driving fire for the Republican base, right, a real life force inside the Republican Party.
I think that is changing right now, and I think because of the influx of migrants to some of these bluer areas in cities in the country, the politics of this issue is changing and Joe Biden heading into a re- election year can't keep the same posture that he has had on this.
HARLOW: That's interesting, for sure, the politics of it. Not all Democratic lawmakers, even in the state of Texas, the borders near Texas, are happy about it. Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar saying a border wall is a 14th century solution to a 21st century problem.
But I was saying earlier in the show, David, I think it's really fascinating. It just, I think, speaks to the crisis this is on the southern border, that the Biden administration waived all these things and Democratic priorities, like the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, to go ahead and do this with funding from 2019 during the Trump term?
[07:30:03]
CHALIAN: Yes. It is, I guess, a touch ironic.
