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House GOP Set to Vote on Liz Cheney's Replacement; Calls Grow to have Tokyo Olympics Canceled; Candidates for New York City Mayor Face Off in a High-Profile Mayoral Race. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 14, 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]

ALEXI MCCAMMOND, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: This sort of online trolling come to life.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Alexi, it's great to see you, thanks for coming in --

MCCAMMOND: Good to see you, thanks for having me.

KEILAR: In next hour, house Republicans will vote on a new leader and decide the fate and future of their party.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New details on lawmakers' vaccinations. A hint, one party is falling way behind. That's next on NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: A top Democratic economist urging the White House to shift course after the government reported higher-than-expected inflation last month. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers told CNN, quote, "policy makers at the Fed and in the White House need to recognize that the risk of a Vietnam inflation scenario is now greater than the deflation risk on which they were originally focused.

It should now be clear that overheating, not excess slack is the dominant economic risk facing the U.S." Joining me now is CNN economics commentator Catherine Rampell, she's a "Washington Post" opinion columnist. And Scott Lincicome; he's a senior fellow at the CATO Institute.

[07:35:00]

Now, you both think that there are a lot of factors at play here, and you both think we need to wait a little bit to see what's really going on here. But if you'll humor me, I want you both to present the different sides of the equation here, what the argument is about inflation in this economy. And Scott, in 30 seconds or less, I know you love this as an economist, in 30 seconds or less, make the case that we are approaching a threatening level of inflation. SCOTT LINCICOME, SENIOR FELLOW, CATO INSTITUTE: Sure. Well, we have

record savings in people's bank accounts, an economy reopening faster than anybody thought, trillions of dollars in new government spending that came on top of $4 trillion in previous government spending and a bunch of suppliers and supply chains out there that weren't ready for all that demand. You put it all together, then you have a lot of dollars chasing not a lot of stuff and it's a recipe for higher prices and maybe long-term inflation.

BERMAN: Catherine Rampell, on the other hand?

CATHERINE RAMPELL, OPINION COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: So, on the other hand, I would say there -- it may well be the case that eventually some of the Biden policies for example have inflationary pressures, but we wouldn't necessarily know from what we've seen so far.

A lot of the areas where we have seen pricing pressures, prices going up are kind of these weird one-off idiosyncratic things like the pipeline shut down for example, driving up gas prices or other areas where inventories were driven really low temporarily because of the pandemic, and now demand has come back and supply isn't there yet, but it will eventually come back online. That you will eventually see production ramped up to meet those demands.

And as a result, the inflation that we're seeing is basically transitory and that, you know, eventually we'll get to where w need to be. There will be some temporary pricing pressure, but within a few months potentially, things will become more normalized.

BERMAN: Catherine, what could change? What could change this?

RAMPELL: So, I think there are a few things that could change here. The main one has to do with expectations. So, if everybody looks around and says hey, this just seems like a bunch of weird stuff happening in the economy, it's all of this idiosyncrasies about you know, supply -- computer chip shortage, whatever, that's driving up the prices of used cars.

If they see things as transitory, then we're fine. If instead, everybody looks around and says, maybe there is something to this inflation story and I should be worried, then it can become a self- fulfilling prophesy, that people start to fear inflation so they preemptively raise their prices, maybe even raise their wages, and it becomes a self-sustaining inflationary spiral.

I don't think we're there yet based on the data that are available, looking at surveys for example of consumers or interest rates spreads, but that is the lingering risk.

BERMAN: Scott?

LINCICOME: Yes, I agree with all of that. I think that the one thing to note, though, is that the market keeps getting things wrong. Market has undershot the jobs -- overshot the jobs numbers, they've undershot the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index insignificantly. The inflation expectations keep going up. So I agree with Catherine that it's way too early to say what's going on, but I do think that the markets have been a little too nonchalant about what is the potential risks that are out there.

BERMAN: Now, Scott, I am old enough to have worn velour in the 1970s. You know, I was alive during the Jimmy Carter administration. So, when I hear some Republicans saying, oh, my God, we're going back to the days of runaway and facing in Jimmy Carter, I'm like, you know, guys, I was there for that. I may have been young, but I was there, and this isn't that. Am I wrong?

LINCICOME: No, and certainly not that. And if you look at what the Consumer Price Index is, when you look at what price pressures were doing back then, this was month-after-month-after-month of things that looked like the one month we just had. And I think the real issue is if we keep seeing these numbers -- so they come back in May and June like this, then I think that's where we really need to start to worry. You know, again, too early to say, but you know, with the --

BERMAN: Yes --

LINCICOME: Price pressures, with the wage pressures, and, again, with a lot of government money coming online with a lot ultra easy monetary policy, it certainly should be a risk. It's not something we can just blow off.

BERMAN: Last word, Catherine?

RAMPELL: I'd generally agree with that. I am not freaking out now, I would urge the audience not to freak out either. These are things to keep an eye on, but again, most of the price pressures that we've seen do not reflect broad-based inflation, they do not reflect any sort of indication that we're about to embark on a self-sustaining inflationary spiral. It looks like a bunch of weird idiosyncratic things that relate to growing pains from, you know, massively reopening the economy after we had massively shut it down last year.

[07:40:00]

BERMAN: Catherine Rampell, Scott Lincicome, I feel like I just got smarter, I mean, it's a low bar for me, but I really appreciate -- I really appreciate the discussion. Thank you both so much.

KEILAR: Is not a low bar.

BERMAN: Brianna --

KEILAR: Is not a low bar --

BERMAN: There's just two really smart people having a smart discussion. It's nice just to be a fly on the wall for something like that --

KEILAR: No, it was a great conversation. I loved it. So, fresh off of ousting Liz Cheney, house Republicans are moving quickly to fill her open leadership position, and next hour they're going to meet before ultimately voting on a new caucus chair, a new conference chair.

Signs point to that person being New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik who's a Republican moderate, turned, quote, "handmaiden" of Trump as one former GOP congresswoman put it. And on the heels of the CDC's new guidance that vaccinated Americans can start to drop the mask indoors, CNN has learned congressional Republicans are way behind when it comes to getting these shots. CNN's Lauren Fox is live for us on Capitol Hill. OK, just how far behind are we talking here?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, they're pretty far behind, Brianna. And that is part of the reason why yesterday, you saw House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after that new CDC guidance came out saying, not so fast on taking your mask off on the house floor. She's arguing that she needs to see a broader vaccination rate. And it was, you know, one of those things where CNN had been working for several days on another project, following up on our March reporting, about how many lawmakers were actually vaccinated.

My colleagues Sarah Fortenski(ph), Ali Zazlav(ph) and Christine Wilson(ph) worked with me on this project to sort of look at what the vaccination rates are. And what we found is that there are a number of Republicans, 112 Republican offices that did not respond to whether or not they were vaccinated enough.

So at this point, what we are seeing is that 100 percent of Democrats in the house and in the Senate, they're all vaccinated, every single one of them. But in the House of Representatives, all we can see is that at least 44 percent are vaccinated. That number could be higher but because we didn't have a large response rate, we just don't have a good sense of what that number is.

In the Senate, there's 92 percent of Senate Republicans who are actually vaccinated. And a couple of them have been forthcoming about the fact they don't plan to get vaccinated at all. Those Senators, of course, Ron Johnson and Rand Paul. Both of them had the coronavirus.

They argue they already have antibodies, they don't need to be vaccinated. Of course, that flies in the face of CDC guidance, that even if you had this virus, you should go and get the vaccine. There are two others Mike Braun and Kevin Cramer who are refusing to say whether or not they got vaccinated.

So at this point in the House of Representatives, those rules still apply. You still have to wear your mask on the house floor because Speaker Pelosi is arguing, look at these vaccine numbers. We just aren't confident enough that enough of the House of Representatives is vaccinated to go ahead and ditch masks at this point. So frustrating for those lawmakers, of course, who have already been vaccinated and are hoping for a little bit of freedom up here on Capitol Hill. Brianna?

KEILAR: Indeed. Lauren Fox, thank you so much for that. You know, John, it just makes you wonder if there are members of Congress who are vaccinated and don't want to admit it. What does that tell you?

BERMAN: Yes, sure, I mean, I think that's been a thing. That's been something we've seen, just look at the former president who waited so long to announce that he'd received the vaccine dose. Why? Well, look, there was an anti-vax rally in Washington at the same time as the insurrection on Capitol Hill. There's political overlap. I wonder if they're nervous that they would lose support if they admitted to getting the vaccine.

KEILAR: And you -- as you have done some great segments with Harry Enten, there's that overlap between the no-vaxxers and the no-maskers. So, it's like a disaster kind of waiting to happen. And you know, this is Congress. They need to be in action. They need to not be sidelined by coronavirus.

BERMAN: Right, isn't that a bad overlap? Like --

KEILAR: It's terrible --

BERMAN: That's an announcement saying I'm not going to do anything to help here. I'm not going to do anything to overcome this pandemic. It's a sad state of affairs. But look, a lot of members are vaccinated. Good for them.

KEILAR: Yes, it is good. There is a state of emergency in Japan. There are calls to cancel the Olympics with opening -- with the opening ceremony just 10 weeks away.

BERMAN: Andrew Yang taking virtual center stage, candidates running to be New York City mayor face off but not face-to-face. Just ahead on NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do you think the government has been so forceful in its determination that they will still go ahead despite the public opposition including from business leaders like yourself?

HIROSHI MIKITANI, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, RAKUTEN: I don't know. To be honest.

(LAUGHTER)

I call this a suicide mission to be very honest. I think we should stop. I'm trying to convince them, but not successful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Suicide mission. That is what the CEO of one of Japan's largest e-commerce companies is calling the government's decision to move forward with the Tokyo Olympics now just 10 weeks away. Overnight, the state of emergency in Japan extending to three more regions amid a sharp spike in cases and deaths leading to the games.

Joining me now is Jules Boykoff; a political science professor who is calling for the games to be canceled in a "New York Times" op-ed. Thank you so much for being with us. You're actually a former athlete yourself. You understand the value of the Olympics, certainly to the athletes, and yet you say they should be canceled. Explain this to us.

JULES BOYKOFF, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, PACIFIC UNIVERSITY: Sure. Well, medical officials inside Japan and around the world are clamoring for the Olympics to be canceled. As amazing as the athletes are to behold, let's not forget that the Olympics are an optional sporting spectacle, not an essential service to humanity.

[07:50:00]

And so scientists are concerned that by bringing thousands of people around the world to Japan, you could create this massive, dangerous petri dish. And so, I argue in that essay that you mentioned, that for the sake of global health, it's time to listen to the scientists, and we should cancel this Tokyo Olympic games.

KEILAR: You point out in your column that less than 2 percent, I think we have it at 1 percent of folks in Japan are vaccinated. You know, here in the U.S., it's about a third of people who are fully vaccinated. There, it is just minuscule. And you say that the Tokyo games are on for three reasons, money. Explain that.

BOYKOFF: Sure. The Olympics generate loads of money for the International Olympic Committee and Tokyo organizers and any hosts of the Olympics. That money tends to trickle up. I think it's a good example actually of trickle-up economics and land in the pockets of those who broadcast the games, those who are corporate sponsors of the games and certainly those who manage the games.

And so, the International Olympic Committee has a built-in desire to make sure the games go ahead no matter what. That's why they're satisfied to have a made-for-TV event with no spectators. They've already said there will be no overseas spectators.

We'll see if they allow domestic spectators. So, money does explain a lot when it comes to figuring out why they're pressing ahead during pandemic conditions.

KEILAR: We had a Canadian swimmer on yesterday who is ready to compete in the Olympics. I'm sure you understand her frustration. You played for the U.S. Olympics soccer team. I mean, these are athletes, and what they want to do is compete. What do you say to them? This is what they have dedicated their whole lives for. This may not be an essential to humanity thing as you put it, but this is a once in a lifetime shot for them.

BOYKOFF: I'm really glad you mentioned that because I'm definitely not a grumpy-delic academic with a knee-jerk built-in penchant for crashing sports. I actually love sports and believe in their power. And what I would say to athletes for whom I have enormous respect, is that I can understand to a certain degree what you're going through, canceling the Olympics would be absolutely devastating. I definitely understand that. I would also say that regardless of what happens with these Olympics, I will continue to fight for athletes' rights as I've been doing.

I'll continue to fight for athletes to get a bigger piece of the Olympic pie because they absolutely deserve it. And if the games are canceled, I will fight for extra funding to go to athletes for mental health support as well as counseling. But there's no question, the brilliance of the athletes is what makes this complicated. Were it just a matter of science and listening to medical experts, this case is an open-shut one.

KEILAR: Yes, we watch to see them. Jules Boykoff, thank you so much for being with us.

BOYKOFF: Thank you.

BERMAN: That was great. I'm a huge soccer fan. I wanted to ask him about the U.S. men's national team.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: Yes, I bet you do.

BERMAN: All right, the Democratic candidates for mayor of New York City facing off in their first official debate last night. Though they shared the spotlight, they did not share a stage. It was a Zoom debate which took a little bit of a toll on some of the more heated exchanges. CNN's Athena Jones has the highlights.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Over the next two hours --

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first CNN mayoral debate held over Zoom.

LOUIS: Mr. Yang, do you need to unmute? Thank you.

JONES: Dominated early on by two very real and related issues. Public safety and police reform.

(CHANTING)

CROWD: Black lives matter!

JONES: With rising crime a major concern as the nation's largest city tries to stage a post-pandemic comeback, the top eight candidates for the Democratic nomination were pressed on their plans to balance the two. Moderates like former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, whose name recognition has helped to make him the perceived front-runner, using the opportunity to declare their support for law enforcement.

ANDREW YANG, CANDIDATE FOR NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: The police are going to be a core way for us to address the public safety concerns that so many New Yorkers have. And let me be clear, defund the police is the wrong approach.

JONES: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a former New York police officer proposed reinstituting a plain clothes unit of well- trained officers to get illegal guns off the streets. Arguing that problems with similar units in the '90s were partly a personnel issue.

ERIC ADAMS, PRESIDENT, BROOKLYN BOROUGH: We had the wrong officers assigned.

JONES: More progressive candidates like Dianne Morales arguing investment in communities, not more policing, is the answer.

DIANE MORALES, CANDIDATE FOR NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: The reality of it is that our communities are over-policed and under-resourced.

JONES: But everyone raised their hand when asked whether they would make sure body camera footage from police-involved shootings is automatically released to the public. The contenders, a crowded field that includes a former Obama cabinet official, a civil rights lawyer and a former Citigroup executive --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People know me as a guy who's made it --

JONES: Also fielded questions on education and homelessness, how to revive the city's economy and their leadership experience.

[07:55:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll be ready on day one.

JONES: Former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia who won the "New York Times" editorial board's endorsement, telling voters --

KATHRYN GARCIA, CANDIDATE FOR NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: I have been this city's crisis manager for the last 14 years.

JONES: Meanwhile, Yang was pressed on why he hadn't been more involved politically.

LOUIS: The fact that you have lived in New York City about a quarter of a century and not voted in a local race was very striking.

YANG: I've certainly been active in other ways as you know, Errol.

JONES: Part of Yang's answer raising the ire of rival Adams.

YANG: I helped swing those two Senate races in Georgia that have helped deliver the Senate to Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer.

ADAMS: I heard Andrew say several times of the vote that was delivered in Georgia. That is disrespectful and appalling to Stacey Abrams and those black women who organized on the ground.

YANG: Asian-Americans are 4.7 percent of the electorate in Georgia. These races were swung by 1 percent. I helped raise millions of dollars for those races, so full credit to Stacey and everyone else who has been doing the work for years, but it's OK for other people to contribute to their success.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: So, some heated exchanges there. And New Yorkers broadly speaking don't usually tune in to the mayoral race until the final weeks. We're now entering those final weeks. The primary is on June 22nd. So, we'll be watching to see how this debate shapes the race.

And one thing that's important to note is that this year for the first time, New York City will be using a ranked choice voting system which means voters won't just be choosing one candidate, they'll be asked to list the candidates in order of preference. So, it makes it harder to gauge the candidate's full basis support, it really could be anybody's race.

BERMAN: You know --

JONES: John?

BERMAN: It really does change everything and maybe even change the way some of the candidates run. It will be a fascinating final month or so here. Athena, thanks so much for that report. New guidance on masks leaving lots of open questions for families when it comes to kids in school. The president of one of America's largest teachers unions joins us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: A police officer going beyond the call of duty. Bridging the gap between law enforcement and the Hispanic community that he serves. CNN's Dianne Gallagher has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Officer Claudio Jimenez patrols the streets of Charlotte with one goal in mind, changing the way the community perceives law enforcement. Along the way, he greets familiar faces while also meeting new ones.

But for officer Jimenez, the outreach also extends to the air waves. A tool proven to be even more effective in a pandemic.