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New Day
Biden Touts Company Potentially Worth Millions For Secretary; New Jersey Man Stuck In India After Traveling To Visit COVID-Stricken Father; Trump And Lawyers Approached About Rudy Giuliani's Legal Costs. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired May 06, 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]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: So I think we just want to be very clear to people to look at what that guidance says.
But one of the things you also talk about -- I mean, this piece is fascinating. You cover so much in it. You talk about the behavior that is coming out of the White House that is coming from the president.
And I guess the question I have for you is are you seeing behavior being modeled appropriately for what vaccinated people should be doing?
EMMA GREEN, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: Well, I certainly think that we've seen a shift from the Trump administration to the Biden administration. They've engaged really directly with not only the need for safety and precautions but also the grief and the trauma that so many people feel.
But what I did notice and what was really interesting talking to scientists like Monica Gandhi, who is a doctor at the University of California San Francisco, is a kind of frustration with certain public officials, such as Anthony Fauci, still preaching caution over and above what his own agency has recommended.
For example, he had an interview in April where he said he wasn't going to go to a restaurant or travel even though the CDC has put out guidelines saying that fully vaccinated people can do that safely if they take certain precautions.
So I think there is some frustration among certain doctors and epidemiologists that the communication is a little bit patchy in terms of what's safe and also really telling people these vaccines are great, they're very effective and hopefully, they're going to enable us to get back some of that community life and family life that so many Americans have been sorely missing this year.
KEILAR: Yes, there does seem to be a reticence for that rhetoric to catch up with the guidance when you have so much of the country unvaccinated, which appears to be playing into this.
Emma Green, thank you so much. GREEN: Thanks so much for having me on.
KEILAR: Leading conservatives love to rail on cancel culture despite having a mouthpiece to millions. We will roll the tape.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, ethics concerns over President Biden's push for electric cars. Is there a conflict of interest inside the administration?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:36:05]
KEILAR: On Tuesday, "The Washington Post" invited Republican Sen. Josh Hawley for a livestream appearance while he's promoting his new book when the reporter interviewing him asked if he believed Biden was legitimately elected. It's an important question since Hawley infamously objected to the certification of Electoral College votes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAT ZAKRZEWSKI, TECH POLICY REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Do you believe that Biden is the legitimately elected President of the United States?
SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): Yes, I do. That was the heart of my objection. That was the objection that I filed.
In fact, the Supreme Court -- the Pennsylvania Supreme Court did not hear or adjudicate the merits of the claim -- of the constitutional claim that Pennsylvania had violated its own state Constitution in allowing universal mail-in balloting. The Supreme Court specifically declined to hear it -- this account, itself.
ZAKRZEWSKI: Senator, I just want to step in here if you're going to challenge this on saying that they didn't hear the merits of the case because there was an appeals court that ruled that the case lacked merit. So it's difficult for a court to rule on the merits when they don't exist -- the point that you said.
Do you believe Biden is the legitimately elected President of the United States?
HAWLEY: Well, no, no, no, no, no -- hold on. No, no, no, no, no. No, you can't have it both ways, Cat. No, you can't have it both ways. You can't say that they -- that they heard the merits and dismissed it. That's wrong.
Listen, it's an important point. Don't try to censor, cancel, and silence me here. You raised the issue.
ZAKRZEWKY: Senator --
HAWLEY: So if you raise the issue --
(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: Yes. He complained about being canceled, silenced while a guest on a major media platform.
His sensitivity to being so-called canceled became glaringly obvious in January when Simon & Schuster dumped his upcoming book.
The publisher explained, quote, "We did not come to this decision lightly. As a publisher, it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints. At the same time, we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens and cannot support Sen. Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom."
You may recall that Josh Hawley, before the riot, went outside the Capitol and raised his fist in an effort to show solidarity with the Trump supporters outside the Capitol.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAWLEY: When I walked by, that particular group of folks were standing there peacefully behind police barricades well off of the plaza. And I waved to them, gave them the thumbs up, and pumped my fist to them, and thanked them for being there. And they every right to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: His defense, they were peaceful when he went to show his support for them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
U.S Capitol rioters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: But then after this -- after it was clear they were not peaceful, after it was clear they may be showing support for people who were about to violently break into the Capitol was a bad idea, Hawley still promoted the very idea that spurred the break-in just a few hours later, baselessly undermining the election results.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAWLEY: This is the place where those objections are to be heard and dealt with, debated, and finally resolved. In this lawful means, peacefully, without violence, without attacks, without bullets.
And so, Mr. President, let me just say now briefly in lieu of speaking about it later, a word about Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Seven weeks later, Hawley dined out hard on that moment at the Conservative Political Action Committee Conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAWLEY: On January the sixth, I objected during the Electoral College certification. Maybe you heard about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: He also dined out on being dumped by Simon & Schuster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAWLEY: The last six weeks, the radical left, their corporate allies, the liberal media have tried to cancel me, censor me, expel me, shut me down, stop me from representing the people of Missouri, stop me from representing you.
And guess what? I'm here today. I'm not going anywhere and I'm not backing down. Not a chance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[07:40:03]
KEILAR: Not a chance because Hawley has not been canceled -- au contraire. Just try to get away from Sen. Hawley. It's like trying to escape the Kardashians. It's impossible because he's everywhere -- Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram -- two accounts on Instagram.
And Fox on Monday night, Fox on Tuesday morning, Fox on Tuesday night. You get the point. He's on Fox as often as you brush your teeth. And in these appearances, he rails against Biden's agenda. Socialist, he calls it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAWLEY: I can't imagine that there's Republican support for bringing socialism to America, which is basically what his plan is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And while he complains of being canceled and muzzled, he's doing it on national television.
And don't forget as he complains about being silenced, he also has a platform so exclusive that only 99 other Americans have access to it -- the floor of the United States Senate. He holds the mic there. He talks into the mic. He appears in committee hearings -- silenced, he says.
And his book was picked up by another publisher. It's 200 pages and he's quick to point out you can buy it on Amazon.
So silenced, he says, but he's not and he knows it. He's a smart man who sees opportunity in acting like a martyr.
No, Josh Hawley is not being canceled. He's facing minor consequences -- something he is certainly familiar with as the father to small children.
But something we parents to small children are also familiar with, Hawley's difficulty with being told no, which is strange considering his legislative style is best described as no, no, no. He's voted no on practically every single Biden agenda item since January, including the nonpartisan ones -- the bipartisan ones, like an anti-Asian hate crimes bill that every single one of his Republican colleagues voted yes on.
So, canceled? To quote the junior senator from Missouri, nay.
BERMAN: Canceling, canceled. Where's my camera? I'm being canceled. Where's my camera? How's my makeup? Canceled, canceled.
KEILAR: The makeup's pretty good, though. You know that as a man on television. The makeup's pretty good.
BERMAN: Not judging, not judging. That was fantastic.
So, President Biden touting the work of one electric car company and selling his green agenda and infrastructure plan. The pitch is raising questions about a possible conflict of interest in his administration.
CNN's Kristen Holmes joins us live now with more. So, Kristen, explain what's going on here.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, this is really interesting.
So the company that we're talking about is Proterra. It's a private electric vehicle company. And you might have heard of it because out of the hundreds of electric vehicle-related companies in the U.S., President Biden did a virtual tour of this one. He also praised the CEO who later spoke at the U.S. climate summit.
Now, the potential conflict of interest here is with the Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, who owns millions in stock options in Proterra.
Now, here's where it gets complicated. Granholm has pledged in her ethics agreement to get rid of all of those stock options in 180 days. That is the same timeframe in which Proterra is slated to go public, meaning -- from experts who have told us this -- that any sort of promotion, particularly by the President of the United States, could, in fact, increase her profits.
Now, the White House -- White House and Granholm both say that they had -- that she had nothing to do with this trip. That they chose this particular location and this company because it is the leading manufacturer in the U.S. of electric buses. But again, any promotion, particularly by the President of the United States, could potentially increase her profits.
Now, this is what we heard from the Secretary of Energy's spokesperson. They said, "Secretary Granholm has acted in full accordance with the comprehensive ethical standards set by the Biden administration. She is in the process of divesting all holdings in the company within the 180-day period permitted by her ethics agreement."
So we are still into that 180-day period and John, we'll be watching very closely to see if she does this and how she does it.
BERMAN: But she -- OK, but there is some kind of a plan, she says, for deconfliction for divesting?
HOLMES: They say she is in the process of divesting but that is all we know. There has been no outline of a plan. We have obviously asked the Department of Energy. We have asked the Ethics Office is there anything laid out? They have not given us any details on that.
BERMAN: We know you're going to stay on it. Kristen Holmes, thanks so much for that.
India's coronavirus surge continues. Up next, we will speak with one man who cannot return home to the United States as the crisis spirals out of control.
KEILAR: And hear the latest from Congressman Matt Gaetz now admitting he regrets some of his past decisions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:49:05]
KEILAR: The COVID crisis in India has again hit a disturbing new high -- more than 400,000 new cases reported overnight -- and the daily death toll is nearly 4,000. Both of these are new records.
A man from New Jersey recently traveled to his native India to care for his father who had become sick with COVID-19. And tragically, his father died soon after he arrived. And now because of the surge in coronavirus cases, he is stuck in the heart of the global outbreak with no idea when he'll be able to return.
Joining us now from New Delhi is Ashu Mahajan and his wife Neha Mahajan who stayed behind in America with her two children.
Ashu, I understand that one of your children is an American citizen, meaning that you should be eligible to reenter the country. Of course, you are in the middle of this epicenter of an outbreak. Tell us about how you have become stuck there.
[07:50:00]
ASHU MAHAJAN, STUCK IN INDIA AFTER FATHER'S DEATH FROM COVID-19 (via Cisco Webex): Yes, I went to take care of my dad, as you said. I -- I'm in -- I was with him for about three days but after that, I lost him.
And then since then, I've been trying to get an appointment -- a visa appointment at the embassy in New Delhi and across India, but I'm not able to get any appointments since all the embassies and consulates are closed here in India. And that's -- I mean, until I get that stamp, although I have an approve H-1B visa, which is a work visa -- still, if I go and have that stamping on my passport I cannot travel back to the U.S., and that's how I'm stuck here.
KEILAR: Ashu, I'm so sorry for you that you lost your father. You are -- I mean, that is the story of so many people in India and so many people in America who have family in India.
A. MAHAJAN: Yes.
KEILAR: What is it like -- what has it been like where you are, what you are seeing, and what you have experienced?
A. MAHAJAN: I can tell you one thing, what is being shown from like on T.V. and everything, that is nothing. I have experienced it firsthand. The cremation grounds -- right from cremation grounds to hospitals, they are all jam-packed. There are huge lines of people waiting in queues to get (audio gap). That's what I have seen firsthand and it's scary.
KEILAR: Neha, I know you are in New Jersey. I know you want your husband --
NEHA MAHAJAN, HUSBAND STUCK IN INDIA: Yes.
KEILAR: -- to be home. I know that this is a very tough time --
N. MAHAJAN: Yes.
KEILAR: -- for him and for your family.
Do you have any sense from people in America that you've been able to reach -- officials -- that there's anything to be done on this side of things? What have you learned?
N. MAHAJAN: Brianna, you know, the sad part is there are at least a million people like me and my husband and 90 percent of them are from India and China who are approved for green cards but do not have green cards for the last decade. So, you know, our problem is not going to go away whether it's COVID or not. We are going to get stuck for something as simple as the fact that we've been living here since 2008 on an H-1B.
We had our second child here, we built our first home. And the employer, at one point, filed for his green card paperwork, which was approved. But we are never going to see it not until the government gives us to -- gives it to us.
And if you were to compare it Brianna -- you know, my neighbor, my friends, my co-workers who came much after us -- they've got their green card. Because they were born in another country they were able to bring their parents because they became citizens in the meantime, and they were even able to vote in the last election. But we are just waiting and waiting and waiting.
And up until 15 years ago, this stamping that Ashu is talking about used to happen on U.S. soil. So I don't understand given the situation that we are in -- the COVID situation -- why can't the government consider the same exact rule of stamping here in the United States of America or give us the green card that we've been approved for.
KEILAR: Yes.
N. MAHAJAN: If we step out of the U.S. -- yes, go ahead.
KEILAR: Neha, I know -- look, I also know just to -- so that our viewers understand the difference here between holding -- being a resident here in America but holding a visa, you have family members --
N. MAHAJAN: Yes.
KEILAR: -- members who are --
N. MAHAJAN: Yes.
KEILAR: -- they have American citizenship. They have been able to come back.
What I want to know from you -- I mean, I hear you're very frustrated with the logistics of this and, of course --
N. MAHAJAN: Yes.
KEILAR: -- you are focusing on --
N. MAHAJAN: Yes.
KEILAR: -- the logistics of what it takes to get your husband back. Are you worried about him?
N. MAHAJAN: Of course, I'm worried about him. His sister was with him. He's -- she's a U.S. citizen. She was able to fly back because she is a U.S. citizen.
If we had become citizens like the way -- you know, on the basis of our green card approvals, he would have been -- he would not have been in this situation at all.
KEILAR: Ashu and Neha, I want to thank you so much. I'm so sorry that were separated right now at what I know is a really tough time for your family, and we really appreciate you joining us this morning.
A. MAHAJAN: Yes. And Brianna, thank you for having me.
N. MAHAJAN: Thank you. Thank you.
A. MAHAJAN: I just wanted to --
KEILAR: Ashu?
A. MAHAJAN: I just wanted to -- yes, I just wanted to say that I just want to hold my kids and give them a big hug when I -- like, that's what I'm waiting for.
KEILAR: That is the medicine -- N. MAHAJAN: We miss you -- we miss you, Ashu.
KEILAR: -- I understand your need.
Thank you so much to both of you.
Rudy Giuliani is asking Donald Trump for help with his legal fees. Will he flip on his former boss if he doesn't get it?
[07:55:01]
BERMAN: And Caitlyn Jenner sitting down for her first interview in the race for California governor. She had a lot to say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: A source tells CNN that associates of Rudy Giuliani have recently informed Donald Trump and his legal team of his one-time personal attorney's mounting debts. The Trump team has not yet decided whether to get involved after the raid on Giuliani's apartment.
Joining me now is Michael D'Antonio, the co-author of "High Crimes: The Corruption, Impunity, and Impeachment of Donald Trump." Michael, always great to see you.
You just wrote an op-ed for cnn.com titled "Will Rudy Giuliani Flip Against Trump?" What do you think? What kind of pressure do these -- do these financial issues put on Giuliani?
MICHAEL D'ANTONIA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, CO-AUTHOR, "HIGH CRIMES: THE CORRUPTION, IMPUNITY, AND IMPEACHMENT OF DONALD TRUMP" (via Cisco Webex): Well, I think he's under enormous pressure.
What's funny about all of these characters in Trump world is that at one point they all seemed to be quite rich.
I think Rudy's reported net worth was in the $40 million range a few years ago but he's now actually laying off people. His entourage is shrinking. He's canceled contracts with independent contractors who've worked with him. I think he's under a lot of financial pressure.
And we know that Donald doesn't like to pay lawyers for anything, so there's a showdown coming.
As Andrew Giuliani said, I think to CNN just a while ago, the nut may crack. And the nut is his father and he may crack under the pressure.
BERMAN: To what end, though? I mean to flip on what? I mean, that would suggest that there is some kind of actual active investigation directly into Trump.
D'ANTONIO: Well, I think we saw yesterday with Judge Amy Berman Jackson's ruling regarding William Barr and his handling of the Mueller report that a lot of the corruption in the Trump White House is still a live issue. So there may, indeed, be investigations in the future into Trump's behavior around Ukraine. None of those crimes that were committed have had a statute of
limitation run on them. He's no longer covered by the protection that presidents have, according to the OLC ruling in the Justice Department. So Trump, himself, has need for a lot of lawyering.
Rudy Giuliani is running up millions of dollars in bills. You have to remember that he's also defending his law license because the New York Bar is considering taking it away from him.
