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New Day

Piers Morgan Taking Criticism For His Comments About Meghan Markle; There Is A Growing Emergency Unfolding At The Southern Border; The Biden Administration Down Playing Just How Bad The Situation At The Border Is; Much Has Changed Since The Pandemic But One Thing Has Stayed The Same, The Disinformation About The Virus; Chinese Operatives Are Amplifying Codes And Disinformation In The U.S. Via Social Media. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired March 10, 2021 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR & ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks to the British regulator, Ofcom, about Piers Morgan's comments really about the duchess following that interview with Oprah Winfrey. They were very personal attacks. I think he would accept that. Ultimately had a conversation with the Chief Executive of ITV and he resigned.

We haven't - so what subsequently happened is we've learned that the Duchess of Sussex made a formal complaint directly to ITV, not I understand it relating to the personal nature of those attacks but her concerns about the impact it could have on the seriousness of mental health issues, effectively the impact Piers Morgan's attacks could have on other apart from her, effectively the audience here in the United Kingdom.

We don't know whether that was directly playing into Piers Morgan's decision to resign. We're trying to get some more detail about what happened behind board room doors here, but what we have heard from or who we've heard from is Piers Morgan this morning outside his home. This was before we had it confirmed that the duchess has made a complaint, although he may have already known.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIERS MORGAN, FROMER HOST, "GOOD MORNING BRITAIN": If people want to believe Meghan Markle, that's entirely their right. I don't believe almost anything that comes out of her mouth. I think the damage she's done to the British Monarchy and to the Queen, at a time when Prince Philip is lying in hospital, is enormous and frankly contemptible. So if I have to fall on my sword for expressing and honestly held opinion about Meghan Markle and that diatribe of bilge she came out with in that interview, so be it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: She's basically saying it doesn't just affect her. It affects a lot of other people. He's making a freedom of speech issue. He should be able to say whatever he likes about her. I think, you know, other people would say he wasn't just talking about her. He was talking about mental health issues.

They're very serious, and I think a lot of people would sympathize with the duchess's views. It was very controversial, that appearance earlier in the week on ITV. They will I'm sure come up with some sort of comment later on but ITV currently not commenting beyond the fact that they've confirmed Piers Morgan has resigned.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN NEWDAY HOST: OK, Max. And it seems like there's breaking news in this story every hours, so bring us more soon as you have new developments there.

Joining us now we have CNN Business Editor-at-Large and the host of "Quest Means Business", Richard Quest.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Morning.

CAMEROTA: Also with us is journalist and former British talk show host, Trisha Goddard. So Trisha, I want to start with you. How about that Piers Morgan, huh? I mean, who is he to say who is having emotional struggles or mental health struggles?

TRISH GODDARD, JOURNALIST & FORMER BRITISH TALK SHOW HOST: I mean, Piers and I have been colleagues for many, many, many years, and we've had our differences. Most recently just a couple of days ago about the question of what is and isn't racism.

I think the backdrop - well definitely the backdrop is many fold. Number one, I have to declare my hand. I've been a mental health campaigner for many, many years. A patron of my, Mental Health Charity in the U.K., a government advisor of mental health in Australia and so on. And ITV has signed up with mine, with other charities - mental health charities to actually run a really important initiative of getting people to speak out when they are going through emotional turmoil.

So you have a whole network which is geared towards that. But I don't know if you know, but in the U.K. there was a television presenter that was very much loved, Caroline Flack, who took her own life because of press intrusion and a lot of personal issues and so forth. And Channel 4 is about to do a documentary on this.

So it's something that's very, very raw to the British public and very, very raw to the media. In fairness to Piers, after he'd been taken to task about his remarks about not believing the duchess when she said she was suicidal, he did apologize. But the impact, it is very, very dangerous because in mental health we are always trying to get people to speak out before they self harm or things go too far.

So when someone in a very prominent position says, you know what? I don't believe this person when that person has obviously struggled to actually say that they were so desperately wanted to take their life, and it's not just Meghan Markle remember. Prince Harry actually said he went to a very dark side.

So you can't say one is taking, quote, unquote, "bilge" without saying Prince Harry was doing the same. So it's something that Piers did apologize for, but in 24 hours or however long between that apology came a lot of damage can be done.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWDAY HOST: I think that's an important point right there and that if you're saying you don't believe someone crying out for health on the issue of mental health that can have serious damage there. I want to ask a question of a different subject, Richard -

[07:35:00]

which is how the palace has handled this. They did finally put out a statement and said that they are concerned, which I understand means something different in British than in American. That means really worried I've been reliably told overnight as opposed to just sort of, oh, I wonder what that means.

But they also say they want to handle the accusations about racism privately. I'm not sure they get to handle it privately. Aren't they trying to have it both ways? If you're going to be the royal family, if you're going to still play this game of the this constitutional monarchy and be the official monarchs of this country, then it's not private. Then if the senior member of the royal family is saying racist stuff it's not private.

QUEST: Well I mean, we were back to square one here, John. You're on your soap box. No, John. They are - they are basically saying this is a family matter, and yes obviously because there is a constitutional monarchy and it is the will of the people that they continue to be the monarch that is the link and that is the relevance. But it does not mean you have to have a full public inquiry and the royals have to then pastorate (ph) themselves in front of everybody.

Now, I can hear you, John. I can hear your blood pressure slowly going higher -

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Quickly.

QUEST: -- as you - as you fume at the prospect of not getting into the nitty gritty, but the British people will basically say, look, we've decided for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health we're going to have a royal family, and the way that's normally dealt with is if it becomes egregious and if it becomes too much then obviously the mood of the people will change and in doing so the royals will have to accommodate that accordingly. That's the way it works.

But this idea that you've got this morning, John, that somehow freedom is almost nonexistent, that the government is regulating television networks left, right, and center is simply not - I don't recognize it. Now something (ph) like Piers Morgan now I don't recognize it as being - maybe I'm embarrassed, but I'm not sure which this morning.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: I may be wrong. The regulation issue - the issue with the royal family and the regulation are two separate issues. They're two separate gripes I may have with the system there, but on the royal family I take your point. I disagree with you, but I take your point.

CAMEROTA: But Trisha, what about that? I mean, they are saying that they have a different recollection of Meghan Markle. Why not come out and clarify that? Wouldn't that help this whole situation?

GODDARD: No. No, it wouldn't, and I think if you look at it, this is a family. Let's put royalty aside. It's a family and things happen. And I can tell you with my daughters or, you know, my parents we have different recollections of similar situations and what have you.

I think to go into the nitty gritty would feed the monster if you'd like. Somebody said something inappropriate, and I think there's a danger of it being a witch hunt as to who said what when, and that completely negates what should be done.

I mean, you've got to understand that the monarchy, the empire was built on what we now call out to be racists and very - some awful atrocities. All countries were built on those. The empire and the royal family certainly was, but the family today obviously needs to hunker down as you'd say here in America and say look. What are - how are we going to deal with this?

And can I just say, you know, and I know Piers not really, really well but as a colleague over the years, and people have been saying oh he's racist. I don't know that. I don't know him well enough, but like many of his age that what they think is OK to say actually isn't.

We've moved on from that, and I'd say to anyone who comes out with a diatribe, the whole thing about Meghan Markle is talking diatribe and Piers was right to call them out because he's on the queen's side, does it strike anyone that the queen and Meghan Markle were actually very close and this would hurt the royal family hearing about the - their grandson's mother being talked about like this day and night and nonstop because we've all got that family member who does things to tick us off, but we don't want other people, you know, going on and on and on and putting them down.

If we're going to say anything we'll do it behind closed doors. You don't want a family member however problematic to be - you know, to have this against them day and night.

CAMEROTA: No (ph).

BERMAN: For the record also, Richard, I would support you being royal. I would give you any number of Royal titles. You've earned them -

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

QUEST: I knight you. I knight you.

BERMAN: You've earned them!

QUEST: I knight you, Sir John.

BERMAN: Which you've earned them, which makes it different - fundamentally different than the other system to begin with. Richard, what happens in a week or two? I mean, where will this go in a week or two?

QUEST: All right. What happens in my view is it sort of - the press (ph) absent Piers Morgan and Ofcom and all of that, it settles down.

[07:40:00]

It settles down into something classically British where nothing is really said or done or moved forward. The tabloids still fume, but over time you might get another statement from the palace talking about changes or new sensitivities. You might get some sort of movement. You'll certainly I think see efforts made of rapprochement (ph) between the Sussex's (ph) and the family only because whether or not they're all going to go for Prince Philip's 100th birthday celebrations later this year.

So I think the calmness comes in. The backbeat behind the scenes takes over. Maybe a statement, maybe a bit of guidance from the palace over time, but the - you know, to use that famous British phrase move along now. Nothing to see here. Move along now. Leave (ph).

GODDARD: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: On your bike.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: That seems healthy. I mean, that seems - that seems really healthy. That's all I can say.

CAMEROTA: Richard, Trisha, we love talking to you. Thank you for all of the insight. It's really helpful.

GODDARD: Thank you for having me.

CAMEROTA: Now to this. A record number of children are now in custody at the U.S.-Mexico border, so we have a live report on this crisis next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:25]

Today we will hear from the White House about the growing emergency unfolding at the southern border. The number of migrants has surged in recent weeks alarming officials who are strapped for resources, and a record number of children are now in border patrol custody.

CNN's Rosa Flores is live near the border in McAllen, Texas with more of what's happening. Rosa -

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, the Rio Grande Valley is the epicenter of this migrant surge, and Customs and Border Protection during surges drops off migrants at the bus station that you see behind me, but look. The growing concern right now are the number of unaccompanied children that are flocking to the border and ending up in Customs and Border Protection custody because their facilities are more like jail cells and they are not suited for children. They are not child shelters.

Last week Customs and Border Protection had about 1,300 children in their custody. Yesterday that number was 3,400. Now under U.S. law children are not supposed to be held for over 72 hours. Well nearly 1,500 of those 3,400 children have already surpassed that. On top of that Customs and Border Protection only has 500 beds for children.

Now to deal with this surge officials at Customs and Border Protection say that they've been moving migrants away from the Rio Grande Valley where I am now to other sectors for processing.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott calling this a crisis, attacking the Biden administration for, quote, "downplaying the situation", and you know what? Abbott has a point. Publically the Biden administration has been calling this a, quote, challenge. Well we know that internally in an email from DHS Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, he referred to it as, quote, "a surge" and that the numbers were, quote, "overwhelming".

Now the White House Press Secretary yesterday suggested that the Biden administration knew that this was coming because of their change in immigration policies away from the Trump-era immigration policies. So John, that begs the question if they knew that this was coming why did they not prepare? Why did they not do something ahead of the surge?

BERMAN: All right -

(CROSSTALK)

FLORES: John -

BERMAN: -- thank you so much, Rosa. Joining us now CNN Immigration Reporter, Priscilla Alvarez. Priscilla, why are we seeing this surge?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN IMMIGRATION REPORTER: Look, there's a number of reasons that migrants come to the U.S.-Mexico border. The Central America region was hit by the pandemic that decimated their economies. They were also on top of that hit by two major hurricanes.

So those are motivators for the flow, but the key reason that were seeing more unaccompanied children in custody is because the Trump administration took on a policy that they were going to turn them away during the pandemic and the Biden administration said they're not going to do that. So they are taking these children into custody, allowing them in the United States, and the U.S. government is just not prepared to take them on.

BERMAN: How is the Biden administration handling this differently than the Trump administration?

ALVAREZ: Well the key thing here again comes back to taking in these children versus turning them away. So essentially what happened was last year during the course of the pandemic the Trump administration invoked a public health law that allowed them to turn everyone away -- adults, families, children - under the law of public health. But the Biden administration while they're still leaning on that policy to turn most people away said we're not going to turn away children. We're not going to let them in.

And so, that's why more and more we're seeing these kids come into custody, and frankly not enough shelters to transfer them to.

BERMAN: Well what about that being in custody? What do we know about what their conditions are when they are in custody?

ALVAREZ: So border patrol facilities are intended for adults. They are like jail-like facilities intended to process adults. They are never designed to care for children, and border patrol agents are not supposed to really care for children either.

And so, what happens here because border patrol is the first line, they're the first ones to encounter these children, they come into their custody and then they're supposed to work with the Health and Human Services Department to transfer them out of custody into shelter networks.

Now, what's happening here is there's a bottleneck. So the border patrol agents are taking in these kids, but when they're trying to find shelters to put them in with HHS, they just don't have the room, and a big part of that is because of the coronavirus pandemic. A lot of these shelters had been working under limited capacity to comply with health guidelines.

BERMAN: Priscilla Alvarez, you do terrific reporting on this. We're lucky to have your expertise. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.

ALVAREZ: Thank you.

BERMAN: So as we mark one year since the pandemic forced shutdowns, the spread of disinformation has not let up. We have a Reality Check next.

[07:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

One year into the pandemic millions of Americans struggling. The job market is slowly recovering, but that recovery is uneven. Chief Business Correspondent, Christine Romans, joins me now with who, Romans, has been left behind?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, John, a year into this pandemic some perspective here. The devastation has been felt unevenly and the recovery has highlighted inequality in the American work place. The economy, as you know, is still in a deep jobs hole down 9.5 million since February.

At this pace of job creation it's going to take two years - two years to get back where we were, and the pain so far is uneven. The lowest- earning workers are down 7.9 million jobs in the pandemic.

[07:55:00]

The top quarter of earners, those jobs are actually growing for high- income earners. There are more jobs today for those high-income workers than a year ago.

Now recessions reveal realities every time, and the reality here is the American recovery has been slow and not working for everyone. Jobs have not returned to normal for any racial demographic. Employment for black and Hispanic women is down the most. It's why we've been calling this a she session, not a recession.

And if you look between gender - between genders women slipping behind men across the board. For black women almost 10 percent fewer employed than last year. For white men only down 5 percent.

Now the issue here, the millions employed in low-wage, part-time work in the service and hospitality sectors, women make up a disproportionate share of that workforce, John and Alisyn. At the same time women are dropping out of the labor force because of health, child care, and education challenges at home. Alisyn, this has not been a garden variety recession by any stretch of the imagination, but it has revealed real pressures on women, especially women of color. Alisyn -

CAMEROTA: Thank you for explaining all of that and keeping our eyes so focused on this, Christine. So it's been a year since major COVID lockdowns changed the way we do just about everything, but one thing has not changed, and that's the endless flow of disinformation about the virus.

John Avlon sorts it out in our Reality Check. Hi, John.

JOHN AVLON, CNN REALITY CHECK HOST: Hey, Ali. It's been one year since COVID changed the way we live, costing more than a half million lives here in the Untied States alone. While more than two million vaccines are being administered per day, we're still dealing with the effects of misinformation and disinformation raging through our body politic, spreading fear and confusion.

Now at the outset of the pandemic some of the misinformation came from right-wing media and even ex-President Trump, but much of the willful disinformation continues to get pushed by foreign powers like Russia and China.

Now if you flipped over to Fox News one year ago you would have heard Laura Ingraham say this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: The facts are actually pretty reassuring, but you'd never know it watching all this stuff. Now while the number of affected persons is more than 650 now the death toll has increased to 26. The risk to the average person does remain quite low.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: You can say she didn't have accurate information or like some of her colleagues could have been downplaying it for partisan political reasons, but you can't say the same thing for Trump who told the American people this exactly one year ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're doing a great job with it, and it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: He was not telling the truth because Trump already knew it was deadly stuff. And despite all of the information at his disposal, Trump with his false promises and quack cures became the largest single driver of COVID misinformation in the English-speaking world according to researchers at Cornell University, but notice I said English speaking, and that's because China and Russia have been behind a lot of the disinformation that spread confusion and conspiracy theories at home and aboard.

The virus, of course, began in Wuhan, China, and we know the Chinese government tried to initially hide the outbreak, punishing doctors and reports who tried to tell the truth and warn the world. At the same time China pushed their own domestic and global disinformation campaigns to deflect blame.

Last March, a spokesman from Chinese Foreign Ministry suggested via tweet that the U.S. Army actually brought the virus to Wuhan and, as CNN showed, this turned into a full court press by the Chinese government to spread a baseless conspiracy theory blaming the U.S. for starting the outbreak.

At the same time Chinese operative were amplifying coding (ph) the disinformation in the United States via social media and even texts to spread panic and division. Their efforts echoed classic Russian disinformation techniques, but Russia of course was playing their own game as well. First in the E.U. and then spreading it to the U.S.

Now they're pushing disinfo to undermine confidence in U.S. vaccines, fueling antivaxxer fears while trying to promote their own vaccine. Not only that. According to a new report from the German Marshall Fund, those Russian efforts have been echoed by state-backed accounts from China and Iran. Baseless fears around vaccine remain a major stumbling block for a full recovery from this pandemic, but just maybe some of those folks will think again if they've realized they've been getting played by foreign propaganda.

So listen to the science because disinformation can be deadly. And that's your Reality Check.

CAMEROTA: Thank you for that reminder, John. New Day continues right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The American Rescue Plan is transformative.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a left-wing giveaway. It is a left-wing social agenda.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heaven forbid we pass something that's going to help the damn workers!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Texas said to reopen same day its mask mandate expires. The businesses can't keep their own requirements in place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Requiring us now to take a side on the masks isn't right in my opinion.