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Tiger That Went Missing In Houston Now In Animal Sanctuary; "Unhinged": AZ GOP Officials Make Last Stand Against Big Lie. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired May 17, 2021 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

LAURIE RUETTIMANN, HR CONSULTANT: I think it all depends on how leadership values talent. So if you're someone who shows up and produces and does a good job, and I'm using air quotes, you can get away with a lot. And so I guess the question is, is Kevin McCarthy is going to act like a local H.R. leader and let some of this stuff go? Or is he going to step up like a CEO in 2021 and really tackle this head on? I think it remains to be seen.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: If you had a employee who --

RUETTIMANN: Yes.

KEILAR: -- had these moments. And look, they're all documented, right? So these are clear, documented moments of harassment --

RUETTIMANN: Yes.

KEILAR: -- of the very least questionable language of being threatening. Would, look, I don't care about the performance of the employee, would they be fired if you had that kind of paper trail behind an employee?

RUETTIMANN: You know, if I were the human resources director in charge, they would be fired. I've got a strong career, I write about this in my book. But unfortunately, in many organizations, companies will look the other way. Or they will expect the two workers to come to a healthy compromise or productive solution is if they could do that by themselves because if they couldn't do it, they would have done it already.

So the question becomes, are the leaders going to step in and tackle this? Will Kevin McCarthy and Nancy Pelosi come to some sort of agreement about how to move forward? But, you know, you're right, ideally. And any corporation across America, we would say this would never be tolerated. But, you know, that's not reality. And it's certainly not reality in Congress.

KEILAR: OK. So, then a quick final question to you here --

RUETTIMANN: Sure. KEILAR: -- if you were to have -- if you are saying that a lot of companies would have to employees kind of like work it out themselves, I mean --

RUETTIMANN: Yes.

KEILAR: -- hopefully, we're not talking about some sort of cage fight here. But what would that be? Is that like, is that go into a conference room and talk? I mean, what in this position would you suspect it an AOC and Marjorie Taylor Greene in a company might be --

RUETTIMANN: Yes.

KEILAR: -- told to do to work this out?

RUETTIMANN: Sure. Well, it is unfair to put this on someone like AOC, who's really a victim of this.

KEILAR: Yes.

RUETTIMANN: The companies do, do this. So they will bring those two workers into a conference room with a mediator and help them either reach a healthy compromise where the two of them restore their relationship and try to figure out a way forward or a productive solution, which is really the rules of the road on how they're going to work together moving forward. So they may not feel good about one another. But there would be clear boundaries in place and they know what they would need to do.

And there would be some reassurance to the AOC figure that if this happens, again, we're on it. But again, we've had a year of employees going on Glassdoor, in Twitter, in Facebook saying, H.R. does nothing and H.R. is complicit. So remains to be seen.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. This is a one way street, by the way. I mean, this is one member harassing the other. This is not an AOC to fix this at all.

RUETTIMANN: Not at all.

BERMAN: It's not Marjorie Taylor Greene to stop. Laurie Ruettimann --

RUETTIMANN: For sure, absolutely. Yes, thank you.

BERMAN: Appreciate it.

KEILAR: Wow. Wow. John Berman, wow. I mean, I needed a laugh I guess. There are some new questions that are emerging about that tiger in Texas that was just turned in, thank goodness safely. What was the deal with this blinged out collar that he had on?

[08:33:29]

BERMAN: And a surprise guests that is the tiger, that's alive look at India, safe and sound this morning. We will speak with the people taking care of India right now. And also you can see her there. Carole Baskin joins us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: After being spotted out in a Houston suburb a week ago, the search for India the Bengal tiger finally has a happy ending. Houston Police say a call from a concerned citizen led them to the tiger's whereabouts. And this morning India is at an animal sanctuary in Texas that is owned and operated by the Humane Society of the U.S.

Joining us now the Black Beauty Ranch's Senior Director, Noelle Almrud, and also joining us is the founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue, Carole Baskin, who you certainly recognize from the Netflix documentary series, "Tiger King." OK, thank you so much to both of you for being here to continue this story with us. Noelle, tell us we see India behind you. How is India doing? We see India pacing. Tell us what is going on. And tell us about the condition he was in when he arrived.

NOELLE ALMRUD, SENIOR DIRECTOR, CLEVELAND AMORY BLACK BEAUTY RANCH: Well, India is a little stressed. We've got a lot of people here right now, which he's not used to. So he's currently in his quarantine den. Once he will finish quarantine, he'll be opened up into a half acre spacious, naturally wooded habitat. We're so happy he's here. He's doing well. He's adjusting very well. And we're just hopeful he'll be here for the rest of his life.

BERMAN: You know, understandable, with the extra people and the extra focus on him that he's a little nervous right now. And it's good to know that he'll be moving to a bigger place with much more space. Carole based on what you've seen and can see now with India, in his condition, this feels like a happy ending, yes?

CAROLE BASKIN, FOUNDER AND CEO, BIG CAT RESCUE: This is as happy and ending as you can have for a cat who was born in captivity because unfortunately, no cat born in a cage can be set free. And people might be concerned about India being in quarantine. But the reason they do that is because most of these cats come with a huge parasite load because people don't know how to take care of them. So they have to make sure that they completely derid (ph) him of all of those kinds of parasites before he goes out into the grass.

KEILAR: That's a -- that is a very good point. Noelle, is that is that part of what's going on here?

ALMRUD: Absolutely. He will be isolated for 30 days just to make sure that he's not I'm going to pass on anything to our other animals. We have a full time veterinary staff that will take excellent care of him.

[08:40:08]

KEILAR: And Noelle, tell us about the collar. Well this this was a, a kind of blingy collar that India arrived in studded with rhinestones. Tell us about this thing.

ALMRUD: Yes, it was unfortunate but when we transferred him to our caging we took the collar off of him, he'll never wear a collar again because he's not a pet. He's a wild animal and he deserves the dignity to live without a collar. So we were happy to take that off.

BERMAN: And Carole, this collar is really indicative of the larger issue and the larger problem here. I mean, this is a tiger. You know, these animals are not supposed to wear collars at all, let alone these blingy trophy things.

BASKIN: I think it really does speak to what people have in mind when they have a tiger. They want to show off. They want to say look at me, pay attention to me. And they choose the most magnificent animal on the planet in order to show their dominion over that animal by forcing it to be walked on leash and wear a collar. And I think it's just one of the happiest things that we can do is to cut those collars off until that cat never ever again are you going to be put through that.

KEILAR: The attorney, Noelle, Victor Cuevas's attorney released video. And to this point of this cat wearing a collar, it shows Cuevas is playing with India like he is a dog. According to the attorney India was potty trained, maybe you can speak to that. And Cuevas would actually sleep with the tiger at times. How dangerous is that type of behavior for a tiger's caretaker and also for the cat himself.

ALMRUD: It's extremely dangerous. These are wild apex predators. You never know when they're going to feel threatened, when they're going to get scared, and they will react as a wild carnivore. They will defend themselves. And so while, you know, you see these videos of people playing with big cats and petting them and loving on them, yes, they're beautiful creatures. But it's not worth it to put the public in risk to potentially hurt people because of these wild animals.

BERMAN: Carole, you would offer a $5,000 reward for anyone with information leading to authority, leading authorities to find India. I guess it was Victor Cuevas's wife, I think who helped locate India ultimately. Are you going to give the reward to her?

BASKIN: Well, I think it's unclear as to who actually turned in the cat. I've read conflicting reports that Gigi Cuevas turned in the cat and that some other person turned her in and then managed to get the cats turned over to the animal shelter, who then turned it over to Black Beauty Ranch. So my $5,000 reward is one that the cat-go to an accredited sanctuary check. They got that part, right. And the other part was that they bring to justice the people involved in the sale and transfer this cat because I believe that there was illegal activity involved.

I think that's why they've been hiding who has been involved in this. And I want to know, where was this cat born? Who sold this cat to them? Nine months ago, as they said they've had it for nine months. You know that they did not get it for free if they got it as a newborn cub, because they're valuable for the first 16 months that people can pimp them out. So as soon as that part of it is met, I'm happy to pay whoever is involved in it.

KEILAR: You pointed out one, yes, this is a wild animal. It's an apex predator. But you see, I mean, we see now look, this is a beautiful, beautiful animal. They're very cute as cubs. And you say that as they get older people who own them realize, oh, this is more than I bargained for. And then you end up with a problem, which is many of these animals. This speaks to a bigger issue, Carole, if you can talk about this is a problem that needs to be confronted and you want Congress really to act.

BASKIN: Right now before Congress, we have a federal bill that would have prevented this tragedy from happening. And when I say tragedy, I mean it was a tragedy that India was born into the captive pet trade, probably used as a pay to play prop and then ended up loose and it's -- at the other end of a gun where the cat could have been killed. India was so lucky to end up being rescued and sent to Black Beauty Ranch.

But we could end this problem for all of these cats by passing the Big Cat Public Safety Act. All we need is a vote in Congress. We have 170 cosponsors in the House and 20 in the Senate. And we are better positioned now than ever before to end cub handling which drives 99 percent of the abuse and to phase out private ownership. So people who have them can keep them they just can't buy or breed more.

BERMAN: I have to say its unfortunate as this whole incident was and dangerous as it was, I think we've all learned a lot from it about what's going on in Texas specifically, but also around the country. Noelle, just leave us with a picture of what life will be like for India once he's out of quarantine, once he's able to go from this cage to where he will be living, I guess the rest of his life.

[08:45:21]

ALMRUD: Yes, so, India like the rest of the tigers here at Black Beauty Ranch will be in naturally wooded spacious acreage of habitats. There's a pool for him to swim in. Tigers love to swim. There's tall platforms, there's tall trees, he can send himself in the tall grass, and just live as a wild tiger should.

BERMAN: You know, he deserves it, honestly. And it's unfortunate that it did come to this. But Noelle, Carole, we thank you both for being with us, helping us understand what is a larger issue. Thank you. And thank you to --

BASKIN: Thank you.

BERMAN: -- India for bearing with us and bearing with our cameras read this interview.

ALMRUD: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, so the Arizona election audit is now so flawed even some key Republicans are getting sick of it. Is the tide finally turning against the big lie? A reality check, next.

KEILAR: Plus new fighting in Gaza and new demands for a ceasefire from dozens of U.S. senators.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [08:50:31]

BERMAN: So the election audit in Arizona's Maricopa County, an audit very much in air quotes here. The audit has become so ridiculous even some Republican officials can't take it anymore. John Avlon here with the Reality Check. John?

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The word unhinged means highly disturbed, unstable, or distraught. And that's what Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer called ex-President Trump's recent claim that the entire database of Maricopa County in Arizona has been deleted. This was a bizarre bald faced lie. And given that Richard was looking at the database, he did what so few Republicans in Congress have been willing to do.

He called the lie out, tweeting, we cannot indulge these insane lies any longer as a party as a state and as a country. He's right. Because backing the big lies just as absurd and underwhelming and is insisting 2 plus 2 equals 5. But that's now the party line. With the new CBS YouGov poll showing that 67 percent of Republicans still believe that President Joe Biden didn't win the election fair and square.

Lately, Arizona's become ground zero for this crazy times carnival. Actually, that's the real name of a comparatively sane operation next door to where 2.1 million ballots are being held. Because the shambolic part is an audit conducted by Florida based tech consultancy group the Cyber Ninjas, whose founder previously tweeted election conspiracy theories failed to complete a third recount in Maricopa County.

CNN spoke to workers on the audit including one Eloise Flagg (ph) who said, I think Donald Trump won the election, firm believer. I hope we come to a point where we're happy with the results and the truth is told. Now there's a lot to work with there, like the blurred lines between thinking and feeling. But this is a cautionary tale for Republicans about the costs of trying to indulge absurdities for political gain.

Arizona State Senate Republicans rationalized the need for a third election audit because their base kept insisting they didn't believe the results. The problem, of course, is not in the ballots. The base doesn't believe the election results because too many Republicans rolled over for a lie. More and more GOP officials are realizing they've been suckered into Bostian (ph) bargain. It makes us look like idiots says Republican state Senator Paul Boyer who initially supported the Arizona audit.

I didn't think it would be this ridiculous. It's embarrassing to be a state senator at this point. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs received death threats for some question, the Cyber Ninja fraud. The dangerous for our democracy are now in full display because democracy depends on losers accepting legitimacy of defeat. But to protect little more than Donald Trump's fragile ego, Republicans have been willing to undermine faith in our democracy while trying to make our election administrations more partisan. While Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger fight lonely fights against the big lie in Congress, we cannot forget the honest and honorable local Republicans who've defied massive pressure, put country over party. People like Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Deputy Gabriel Sterling, Michigan's Aaron Vandevelde, and Philadelphia's Al Schmidt. Now we can add Stephen Richer's name to that list, along with fellow Arizona Republicans jack Sellers and Bill Gates, who recently wrote this, if we encourage this madness much longer, we'll lose credibility with the majority of Americans.

We have been elected to lead not to appease conspiracy theorists. So to save our party, to save our Republic, we need to stop the big lie. And those are the stakes because there is no compromising between truth and lies. And that's your Reality Check.

KEILAR: John Avlon, thank you so much.

AVLON: Thanks Brianna.

[08:54:05]

KEILAR: Just ahead, the struggle with America's new mask rules how the CDC is abrupt policy shift has left plenty of bosses and customers scrambling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Time now for the good stuff, a black bear cub found suffering from burns in Colorado's biggest wildfire is running free today in the Rockies after wildlife officials spent months nursing him back to health. This cub was weak and starving weighing in at just over 16 pounds when he was found back in December. You can see here, park officials kept him awake over the winter instead of letting him hibernate just so that he could eat and gain weight back by springtime. And here's the moment. There it is that he was set free with a little bit of coaxing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come out bear. Go, go, go, go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right park officials say this is a very fortunate bear. I think you know that already. He is a year old now and he has bulked up to 93 pounds. That's amazing.

BERMAN: I will note, Brianna Keilar, this is a wonderful story. We have now in the last half of this broadcast had both tigers and bears on all were missing is lions.

KEILAR: Oh my.

BERMAN: Oh my, exactly. Thank you for being there for me for that right there. That's what I was going for. Yes. Tomorrow, lions and will -- KEILAR: Exactly.

BERMAN: -- as I often tell my kids we saw that bear running off. I don't have to be faster than the bear. I just have to be faster than you.

KEILAR: That's right. I don't know if you are though, John Berman.

BERMAN: Parenting.

KEILAR: They might be faster than you.

[09:00:01]

BERMAN: Parenting.

All right, there was a lot going on handed over to Jim Sciutto and Pop -- Jim Sciutto and Poppy Harlow also some lions, CNN's coverage continues right now.