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Fauci Warns of Boosters; Small Business Owners Grapple with Masks; Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) is Interviewed about Anti-Asian Hate Bill; New Video of Capitol Attack; Flood Alerts Across the South. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired May 20, 2021 - 06:30   ET

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

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: When you get a booster, you increase dramatically the level of antibodies that would be protected. So the question is, will we be getting boosters? It's highly likely that within a reasonable period of time we're going to wind up requiring booster.

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, Dr. Anthony Fauci telling CNN last night, it is highly likely that Americans will need coronavirus booster shots within a year or so, depending on what the research and the data shows as the level of protection of vaccines start to decline, and especially if more breakthrough infections arise.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now.

I think this is expected, Elizabeth, right?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It very much is expected, John.

What's interesting is, there's been a debate in the public health community, should we be talking about boosters? We're trying to convince 40 percent of Americans to take a COVID-19 shot, that's the number that haven't yet, and do we really want to be telling them, oh, by the way, you'll need a booster. It's sort of like saying, I want to sell you a car but in a year you're going to, you know, need a new engine. That's not exactly a great selling point.

But perhaps what Fauci is feeling is, look, let's manage expectations, let's be realistic, that there will need to be a booster. It's interesting, he didn't say specifically what data points are telling him that there needs to be a booster, but many scientists do agree that there will need to be one. Most vaccines need a booster and that this one will too.

John.

BERMAN: Most vaccines need them. Not unusual at all. It's something just to be aware of.

COHEN: Right.

BERMAN: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.

COHEN: Thanks.

BERMAN: Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: To mask or not to mask, that is the question that many Americans and business owners are grappling with in the wake of new CDC guidance that says fully vaccinated Americans don't have to wear masks indoors, except for in limited situations. Some business owners don't feel comfortable with patrons ditching masks at their establishments and two of them are joining us now to discuss this.

Mike Brey is president of Hobby Work, which is located in Maryland. Nancy Clark owns Trails End Ice Cream in New Hampshire.

Mike and Nancy, thank you so much to both of you for lending your perspective to us today.

You have, Mike, two stores and, to complicate matters even further, they're in two different counties and those counties have not adopted the new CDC guidance that your state has, at least not yet.

How is that affecting your decision about masks?

MIKE BREY, PRESIDENT, HOBBY WORK: Well, on some level it's made it easier for us than some other people around the country because the counties have both, at this point, not loosened the guidelines for indoor masking. They have loosened the guidelines for capacity limits and things like that. But right now, in both counties, you have to wear masks if you're in a store. So that makes it a little bit easier for us and for my employees because we can still blame the law on people who don't want to wear masks.

KEILAR: But if the counties say, you know, we are going to lift this, where are you going to be then?

BREY: Well, that's going to be a little bit tougher. We have a wide array of customers. We sell high-end plastic models, which are an older crowd, and then we sell Legos and Brio (ph) trains and things like that, jigsaw puzzles that are a much younger crowd. One crowd possibly vulnerable and the other group of people probably not vaccinated yet.

So we'll continue to wear masks for some period of time after the guidance is lifted.

KEILAR: I mean you're obviously worried that people who decide not to wear masks may actually be unvaccinated people. And, Nancy, the governor in your state lifted your state's mask

ordinance back in April. You've continued to require masks in your store. Why?

NANCY CLARK, OWNER, TRAILS END ICE CREAM: That's correct. And the reason we're doing that is because our employee base is a young employee base. We range between 14 and 25. And they're a fabulous crew, and they're all in different stages of their vaccines right now given that age range. And we're going to continue to require masks as much to protect them -- in fact more to protect them than to protect our customers.

Our customers are very important to us, but we're continuing to require masks to protect that age group. That's a young vulnerable age group. But until we're certain that everyone is vaccinated in that group, we'll continue to require masks. And we have four -- three locations and a trailer, concessions trailer, and we'll be masking right now indefinitely. We haven't chosen an end date yet.

KEILAR: Haven't chosen an end date.

Have you, Nancy, had any run-ins with folks who don't want to wear masks?

[06:35:03]

CLARK: Fortunately, no, not yet, and we're really hoping we don't. You know, ice cream is a happy business and we've got these -- it really is, which is one of the reasons we bought this. And, you know, we've got this young, vibrant crew that's working there, and I really hope people are respectful.

So, as of last night, we still have had no incidents despite our governor releasing the mandate back in April. And we've been fortunate. Fingers crossed.

KEILAR: Real quick, Mike, you had any run-ins?

BREY: Oh, yes. Well, even at the height of the pandemic, at the peak -- the peak of all peaks, when it seemed like people were dropping like flies we had people trying to come in without masks. So we've had a few -- we've had a few run-ins. It's not pleasant for anybody, but we've spent a lot of time with my managers and our associates. You know, we -- again, like Nancy, we have a great crew. So we spend a lot of time talking about it and how to handle those people, but it's frustrated.

KEILAR: Yes, definitely.

Well, look, they're both happy businesses, hobby building and ice cream, and we hope they remain so as you guys navigate these requirements.

Mike Brey and Nancy Clark, thank you.

CLARK: Thank you. KEILAR: An anti-Asian hate bill will become law today. So why did 62 Republicans vote against it? We'll have the bill's sponsor joining us next.

BERMAN: Plus, a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas could be imminent. What's driving this possible de-escalation?

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BERMAN: This afternoon, President Biden is expected to sign the COVID- 19 Hate Crimes Act into law. The legislation seeks to help fight anti- Asian hate in a year that has seen a spike in violence against the Asian-American community. It passed the House with a vote of 364-62, with 62 Republicans voting against it. The bill's sponsor, Democratic Congresswoman Grace Meng, joins us now.

And, Congresswoman, this is a bill that you worked hard to get through. You will be there with the president when he signs it into law. What does that mean for you?

REP. GRACE MENG (D-NY): Well, we are very thankful that we were able to get this bill in such a bipartisan fashion, both on the Senate side and here in the House. And we are so thankful to President Biden, who really from day one of the start of his administration has heard the needs and the concerns and the pain of the Asian-American community and has not only expressed sympathy but has taken action as well.

BERMAN: One of the things that I've heard from the Asian-American community since March, since really this jump to the forefront, is the feeling that it's a community whose concerns have been unheard for too long. How does this affect that?

MENG: Well, definitely. You know, the community has really been suffering from these increased types of incidents for over the past year and half. We really feel like we've been screaming out into the darkness, especially with former President Trump, who not only didn't hear us and respond to our concerns, but continuously used words that were incendiary and just, you know, flamed with tensions of bigotry.

And so we are so thankful that Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Schumer worked so efficiently to get this legislation through. And, of course, this is really helpful that we'll finally be able to get a more complete picture of what's going on in the country. So many of the statistics that you've heard have really been collected by one non- profit organization, and we shouldn't have to rely on them to provide numbers for the entire country.

BERMAN: Right out of the gate you praised the bipartisan nature of the vote. But 62 Republicans did vote against it in the House. Sixty-two people didn't think that this bill was worthwhile.

What does that tell you?

MENG: Look, there's been attention focused on the one member of the U.S. Senate, Mr. Hawley, who couldn't bother to vote for this. I can't explain his decision or the Republicans who wouldn't vote for this. I mean this is something that contrary to what Leader McCarthy previously said, people around the kitchen tables in America are talking about this, Asian-Americans and non-Asian-Americans. And we also so appreciate the solidarity that has been demonstrated by so many people beyond the Asian-American community.

BERMAN: One of the things that also happened yesterday was there was a resolution in the House to condemn the spa shootings in Georgia in March. And the Georgia Republican delegation largely voted against it. Voted against this opportunity to condemn those shootings in a specific way.

Why? I mean what's going on there?

MENG: Which was odd because some of them even expressed condolences the night and the days after the tragedy had happened in Atlanta. Well, this is just one of many steps that we've seen the Republican Party take where they're literally trying to rewrite history. Whether it's this, whether it's with the vote on the January 6th commission, they're literally trying to erase and rewrite history.

BERMAN: Congresswoman Grace Meng, thank you for joining us this morning. I know this is a big day for you. You put a lot of work into this and I know this is something that many people in the Asian- American community look like, you know, maybe -- maybe as a turning point in focus in this country.

Appreciate you being here.

MENG: Thank you.

BERMAN: Disturbing, new video shows Capitol Police being attacked during the insurrection. How the FBI -- now the FBI is trying to hunt down the attackers.

KEILAR: And one House Democrat losing his cool after the majority of House Republicans voted against a commission to investigate the insurrection.

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REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH): We have people scaling the Capitol, hitting the Capitol Police with lead pipes across the head and we can't get bipartisanship.

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KEILAR: We'll talk with him. Congressman Tim Ryan joining us on NEW DAY, coming up.

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KEILAR: We are getting a look at two new, disturbing videos of Capitol rioters assaulting law enforcement officers during the insurrection on January 6th, and the FBI wants the help of the public in identifying the suspects in these videos. In one of them you can see a suspect trying to rip an officer's gas mask off, then picking up a tactical baton and hitting officers with it.

And then, in another video, you can see a suspect punching officers while he is wearing gloves that have metal knuckles on them.

Joining me now is CNN counterterrorism analyst and former FBI senior intelligence adviser Phil Mudd.

And I think, you know, one of the things that strikes me, Phil, about these videos is, we're here more than four months out from the insurrection and we're still seeing these come to light.

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PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Yes, I mean, one of the things you've got to think about, of all the agents and analysts working on this, my guess is most of them, maybe all of them, will never work on a case this complicated again. You're talking about 400 plus arrests so far. Multiple those arrests by interviews, re- interviews, cellphone searches, looking at people's laptops, then talking to their friends, family, co-workers. Man, that is a mountain of stuff to go through, Brianna.

KEILAR: Multiple camera angles.

MUDD: Yes. Yes.

KEILAR: I mean there's all -- all -- think of all the video that they have, just countless hours.

How important is the public's help going to be in this? That's why the FBI is putting this out.

MUDD: You would be surprised at how important this is. You always think the FBI gets their man or woman. If you look at the most wanted list, you're talking about, if memory serves me, 30-plus percent of the solutions in the most wanted list are people, friends, family, co- workers calling in and saying, I know that person. There were a couple of cases where people were on the FBI tour, in the FBI building, the Hoover Building, not far from here, saw somebody on the most wanted list and said, I know that person, case solved on the FBI tour. Unbelievable.

KEILAR: That is -- that speaks to how many people were involved as well, right?

MUDD: Yes.

KEILAR: OK. So I wonder, we see these videos and I don't know how you look at them and say, ah, that's not a big deal. I mean clearly what's going on, the level of violence that we're seeing here and the fact that it's at the Capitol, how do you think some of the Republicans who are looking at this and basically lying about what it is, how do you think they're justifying that?

MUDD: Two ways. I mean one of the things I learned when I was looking at cases for a lot of years is, people persuade themselves of a parallel truth. We see this every day in life. I didn't do anything wrong today. Actually, you lied to your spouse today. That's wrong. So they're living in a universe where people around them are saying, this didn't happen.

But the other thing is, and we saw it in Republicans saying they don't want to vote for an investigation. We investigated the CIA after 9/11. That was us. The FBI was investigated after 9/11. One group was not questioned after 9/11 in the 9/11 report. Who was that? Congress. Now that the spotlight is on them, they're saying, investigate us? No way, it's too painful.

KEILAR: And what do you think about that? What do you think hearing these members of Congress, including now you have the Republican leaders, Mick McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, publically expressing their support for police officers on one hand, but then on the other saying we're not going for this commission, or at least the signs in the Senate are that they are not.

MUDD: You know, excuse me, but 400-plus people are arrested, including assault on a federal officer, and individuals died in this event. And members of Congress are saying, we'd prefer not only not to look at it, but we'd prefer to pretend to say it didn't happen. These are federal crimes and the people responsible for passing laws in the U.S. say, on our turf, we don't want to answer questions about why that happened.

Do you know how frustrating that is for somebody who is in the business and the people looking at it today? They're doing off-time, white collar crime, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, chasing child molesters, and they've got to go chase a bunch of people now who decided not to go to the circus that day and instead to do this. And the Congress says, we don't want to look at it. Incredible.

KEILAR: Phil, it is great to see you.

MUDD: Thanks.

KEILAR: I know that you have not actually -- we haven't seen each other in person.

MUDD: First time back in 15 months. I feel like I need a cup of coffee to get energized.

KEILAR: We have that. We have all of the coffee.

Phil Mudd --

BERMAN: Don't do the coffee. Don't -- don't put coffee on top of that.

MUDD: Thank you for your support, John.

KEILAR: We're going to do it. We're going to do it. Phil, it's awesome to have you here.

MUDD: Thanks.

KEILAR: New revelations about some tense moments between then candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, including, we should warn you, some expletives.

BERMAN: Plus, we'll talk to one House Democrat who just went off on Republicans for opposing the bipartisan commission to investigate the Capitol riot.

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REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH): This is a slap in the face to every rank-and- file cop in the United States. If we're going to take on China, if we're going to rebuild the country, if we're going to reverse climate change, we need two political parties in this country that are both living in reality, and you ain't one of them.

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BERMAN: This morning, more than 7.5 million people under flood alerts across the south. More heavy rain expected in areas that have already experienced more than a foot so far.

Let's get to Jennifer Gray with the very latest.

Jennifer.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John, we've been a broken record all week long with this torrential rain that's been impacting portions of Texas and Louisiana. The flood threat continues yet again today for these same areas. And I don't think this is going to get wrapped up until at least tomorrow.

Of course, this weather is brought to you by Carvana, the new way to buy a car.

So let's get to the observed rainfall. Look at this, huge area for -- all Baton Rouge area, all the way down past Victoria. Corpus Christi received six to 10 inches of rain. These pockets of hot pink, 10 to 20 inches of rain. We know the Lake Charles area received more than a foot just in a single day.

So here's the radar. And you can see, it looks like a firehose of moisture just pulling in to south Louisiana. We have lots of moisture from the south. The Gulf of Mexico, that's providing this moisture- rich environment. And so that's going to continue as we go throughout the day today.

By tomorrow it starts to weak just a little bit but we still have some showers streaming in. We could see, though Saturday, an additional 6 to 10 inches of rain across southwest Louisiana, southeast Texas. And that's going to extend all the way up to the Midwest.

One other thing to mention, we also have an 80 percent chance of development -- tropical development. Hurricane season doesn't start until June 1st. This is going to stay well away from the U.S.

NEW DAY continues right now.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman, alongside Brianna Keilar on this NEW DAY.

A key vote passing the House to form an independent investigation of the January 6th insurrection.

[07:00:04]

Dozens of Republicans joining Democrats, but what happens in the Senate.

KEILAR: And New York state.