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Products Flying off Shelves in Reopening; Long-distance Driving Jobs in Short Supply; Teen Pushes Bear off Wall; Seattle Man Arrested on Terrorism Charges. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 02, 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]

CHUCK HAGEL (R-NE), FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Our Capitol was attacked, occupied, people died. And how deep is this? How deep in our society is this? What -- how big a problem is this. And is -- I just think it's so clear that we need an independent investigation.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I've got to let you go, but a quick reaction to the fact that the former president is apparently telling people he expects to be back in office by August, reinstated as president by August?

HAGEL: Well, that's an interesting statement. I don't know if the sun is getting to him or if it's too much golf down there or what, but I suspect that that's just not going to happen.

BERMAN: Yes.

HAGEL: I mean in somebody's dreams it is, but that's not going to happen.

BERMAN: Secretary Hagel, a pleasure to have you on this morning. Thank you so much.

HAGEL: Thank you.

BERMAN: Up next, America on the move during the pandemic with one problem, not enough drivers to get them there.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And a rising tennis star shocks the sports world by putting mental health first. We'll hear from an Olympic legend who can relate to her struggles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: The masks are coming off, which means it is time to buy makeup for the lower half of your face. You can know my pain for the last year. The proof is in what Americans are buying now.

And CNN's Christine Romans has more on the cosmetic comeback.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Cleaning up and heading out. Vaccinations mean busier social calendars.

[08:35:03]

After 15 months of doing everything from home, a vaccinated 2021 means going out to birthday parties, concerts, confirmations and vacations. The masks are coming off and the lipstick is back on.

Lipstick sales hit $34.2 million in the four weeks ending April 18th. That's up 80 percent from last year. Oh, and it's not subtle. Estee Lauder said expect to see bright pink, orange, magenta and purple this summer. Estee has been preparing for a makeup renaissance for the past six months.

And there's a romantic renaissance, too. Condom sales, $37 million in the same four weeks. That's up more than 23 percent. Durex sales rising where social distancing rules have eased and Trojan earlier this year said 18 to 24-year-olds can't wait to get their social lives back.

"The Wall Street Journal" put it this way, Americans are cleaning up nicely, buying teeth whitener, nail polish, deodorant, oh, and new luggage, too. Retail execs say consumers are optimistic and still have money in their pockets from those stimulus checks.

Yes, it's a boom for looking good but a bust for hand sanitizer. The market so flooded with that stuff, retailers are slashing prices to get it off the shelves.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Go with hand makeup. Maybe that's the way to make some money.

A nationwide moving spree during the pandemic has sent demand and pay for delivery truck drivers through the roof. But that hasn't persuaded enough people to take the long-distance driving jobs that the industry needs to fill.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joins us now with that.

Vanessa.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: John, this was an industry that was already down tens of thousands of truck drivers before the pandemic. So when you add demand from nearly every other industry on a workforce already stretched thin, that means there's higher prices and increased pressure on drivers to pick up the slack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIAN MARTINEZ, TRUCK DRIVER, ROADWAY MOVING: Been doing it for over 15 years and driving trucks over 16 years.

YURKEVICH (voice over): Julian Martinez is a veteran truck driver. But in this last year, working for Roadway Moving, he's logged more miles and hours on the road than ever before. MARTINEZ: I go out on a trip and then when I come back usually would

take two or three days off or maybe five in the winter, but this time we couldn't because it was so busy.

YURKEVICH(voice over): The trucking industry has been short drivers for years. In 2019, it was shy 61,000 drivers to meet demand. And the pandemic made it worse, leaving drivers like Martinez to pick up the slack.

YURKEVICH: How much pressure does that put on you?

MARTINEZ: It do put a lot of pressure because, you know, sometimes you want to get some extra rest. But, you know, we understand what's going on, so we have to fill in.

YURKEVICH (voice over): In the U.S. economy, 73 percent of goods is moved by truck. Everything Americans eat, buy, grow and now even COVID-19 vaccines. The pandemic sparked high demand while closing up driving schools. That, plus stricter drug testing requirements put pressure on a workforce already stretched thin.

CHRIS SPEARS, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATION: That part keeps me up at night. It's a compounding effect. If you throw too many of those things on at one time, there's a break point.

ROSS SAPIR, FOUNDER AND CEO, ROADWAY MOVING: It these boxes it like separates customers, right? Each one represent a customer.

YURKEVICH (voice over): Customers waiting for their belongings to be driven cross-country.

SAPIR: Could to be Florida. It could be to Tennessee, as you've seen over here. It could be to California.

YURKEVICH (voice over): About 12.7 million Americans moved during the height of the pandemic, according to Pew Research. Roadway Moving says it averaged 20,000 inquiries in just the past two months.

YURKEVICH: What percentage do you have to turn down of those 20,000 calls?

SAPIR: Most of it.

YURKEVICH: Most of it?

SAPIR: Most of it. I would say 80 percent of it.

YURKEVICH (voice over): Ross Sapir has tried everything to attract drivers, increasing wages by 25 percent and offering $10,000 in signing bonuses. He's even turned to trains to move people's belongings cross-country.

SAPIR: I think the issue is a lot more serious than people believe it is. I just got a message from the rail that they don't have drivers. So I don't know about that solution for the summer. YURKEVICH(voice over): Demand means rising prices. A move costs 15

percent more at Roadway. And in the grocery store, produce is up 30 percent at Morton Williams.

MARC GOLDMAN, PRODUCE DIRECTOR, MORTON WILLIAMS SUPERMARKETS: Everything gets here by truck. So that affects the price. It costs us $10 to get it here from California without paying for the merchandise.

YURKEVICH(voice over): In an economy where time is money, shortages only increase pressure to deliver.

YURKEVICH: Do you feel like with the increased demand, the lack of drivers, are you still able to make your trips on time?

MARTINEZ: Yes, we are. Some customers, a couple of days behind, but, you know, but we still make it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH (on camera): Now, the American Trucking Association says that some of these short-term issues, like the driving school being closed and demand are going to work themselves out by the end of this year.

[08:40:02]

But the longer term issues, like attracting new drivers and retention will take a little bit longer.

And, John, one of the ways to do this is actually legislatively. There's a Drive Safe Act that's making its way through Congress that would change the legal age that a driver can go cross state in these big tractor trailers from 21 to 18. The Trucking Association thinks that they'll get a larger pool of people to choose from to attract them to the industry and then replace some of these drivers who are a lot older now that are going to be retiring very soon.

BERMAN: Figure out how I think about that. I guess 18 is better than 16.

YURKEVICH: Yes.

BERMAN: Man, moving is so brutal to begin with.

YURKEVICH: Stressful.

BERMAN: Anything that makes it harder and more expensive, even worse.

Vanessa, thanks so much for that report.

Up next, Naomi Osaka putting her mental health before tennis. Olympic legend Michael Phelps tells us about his own struggle with anxiety and depression.

KEILAR: Plus, a teen girl with no fear. Yes, that is a bear. Those are her dogs. Watch what she does. She'll join us live. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: All right, it is time for "The Good Stuff" this morning.

A mama bear protecting her cubs proves no match for a 17-year-old girl protecting her cubs/dogs in a TikTok video that has gone viral. Watch how this unfolded.

(VIDEO CLIP)

[08:45:29]

KEILAR: Is your heart beating? Mine is. That was Hailey Morinico. And this is Hailey Morinico. You saw her there pushing the bear off the wall, scooping up her dogs. And here she is with the littlest one.

Hailey, thank you for joining us this morning.

HAILEY MORINICO, CALIFORNIA TEEN WHO FOUGHT OFF BEAR IN HER BACKYARD: Of course. Of course. Hello.

KEILAR: OK, what was going through your mind in that moment we just watched?

MORINICO: Well, honestly, there was nothing really going through my mind except that I had to protect my dogs. The bear, he was picking up this dog, Valentina, and she was literally off of the ground. And I had to do what I had to do. So I knelt down and I had about, I'd say, two seconds to think and the first thing that popped into my head was to push the bear off the ledge.

BERMAN: You make it sound matter of fact. You basically just pushed -- you went and fought a bear, Hailey, to save your dog. I mean what possessed you to do that?

MORINICO: Well, I was -- as I was saying, this dog, Valentina, she was in danger, really. And she's so important to the family. She's my mother's emotional support animal. And I couldn't bear to let anything happen to her because I know, like, the pain would have been way too much for like my mom to handle and really, like, I think that I did this for her.

KEILAR: Yes, I mean, you clearly did, right? This is her sweet three- year-old Yorkie. And did it register for you in that moment? I mean what was it like being so close to that bear? Just can you describe that to us? We get kind of a long shot here, but what was it like?

MORINICO: Well, when I knelt down I was literally face-to-face with her. And that was when I had to think. I really didn't think up until then. And that's when I got the idea to push her. And like I had to push her with a pretty good amount of force but it was just enough that she was able to lose her balance and she was able to fall off to the other side. She got off like -- she got off really quickly and -- but those few moments that I had, that's what let me like run away with my dogs and my life really.

BERMAN: I think I see your finger in a splint there.

MORINICO: Yes. This is from when I pushed her. I think I jammed it somehow. But, really, I didn't feel the pain until afterwards, like all the madness and the adrenaline, it -- it didn't make me feel anything really.

BERMAN: I was going to ask you, what did it feel like after? I mean you get the dog back inside. Then what went through your head?

MORINICO: That was the real crazy part. Up until then, it was just my one priority was to get inside with all my dogs. And, afterwards, we were trying to talk through the commotion and communicate what was happening, and it was just craziness all around. My mom was crying after I told her what happened. And I was just shaking so much because it was just so crazy. I didn't think I had that in me. And I still couldn't believe that I pushed a bear.

KEILAR: So your parents, they didn't actually see what happened, right, until this was all over?

MORINICO: Yes.

KEILAR: So were they -- they watched it on -- you went -- what you told them, but then you went back and watched it on the video? What was that like?

MORINICO: Yes, we -- yes, we have a video camera, and it was angled perfectly so that you could see the whole scene. And really when they looked at it, and I looked at it, it was just unbelievable because it just looks so crazy on camera. You can see how fast I'm running and you can -- and the video makes it look like I punched the bear even. But I just like simply pushed it. And it's just so crazy to have that on camera because it's such an amazing story to tell.

BERMAN: Look, I think now the video has some 70 million views. All people who are, I think, astounded by your bravery and your courage.

Hailey, we're so glad you're OK. We're glad Valentina's OK. The bear, OK as well. Probably keep your distance from the bear for a while if you can.

Really appreciate you being with us, Hailey.

MORINICO: Thank you.

BERMAN: Next, a man arrested just before boarding a flight, accused of wanting to join ISIS.

[08:50:01]

Hear who turned him in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: A Seattle man faces up to 20 years in prison on a terrorism charge, accused of plotting to join ISIS and wage jihad on their behalf. He was arrested trying to board an international flight and the kicker here is that the FBI says his mother, his mom, turned him in.

CNN's Whitney Wild joins us with more.

His mom, huh?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was actually over several years. So what his mom was trying to do several years ago when this man was back in high school, he's only 20 years old now, was alert authorities back then that he was displaying these radicalized behaviors and this really pretty extreme interest in ISIS. SO they were trying to sound the alarm.

This also pertains to high school administrators.

[08:55:02]

They also reached out to the FBI trying to sound the alarm about the radicalization of this man. Over a period of time he became more and more radicalized and even in high school, in fact, told others at his high school that he wanted to join ISIS and claimed that the May 2017 attack at a music concert in Manchester, United Kingdom, was justified because the performer dressed provocatively. That was back in 2017.

Fast forward to around 2020, and he was still having these sort of radicalized ideas. However, he left his home in Santa Clara, California, moved to Seattle. And actually a mosque in Seattle tried to take him in, tried to help him, tried to guide him away from these radicalized ideas. And they said, we will take you in. We will help you. We'll give you tuition for a semester of college but you must abandon ISIS. And over time the mosque found out he did not abandon ISIS and so they ended their relationship with him.

Sometime during this time, the FBI says, the prosecutors say, that there was a confidential informant basically who was giving information to the FBI. They were able to figure out he had planned to go from Seattle to Amsterdam onto Egypt where he had planned to support ISIS, join ISIS. And it was at the Seattle airport that they contacted him, arrested him. He's now facing, again, up to 20 years in prison for trying to provide material support to a terrorist organization.

Attorney information for this man was not immediately available. But, Brianna, we do see cases like this from time to time of Americans becoming radicalized here and tending to go overseas and try to join ISIS and getting caught. So the FBI had been watching him for many years and caught pretty recently in Seattle.

KEILAR: You have to think how hard it was for his mom to watch that transformation happening.

WILD: Oh, absolutely. Yes.

KEILAR: Whitney Wild, thank you so much.

BERMAN: President Biden gives a new job to Vice President Kamala Harris, the war on voting. CNN's coverage continues next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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