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New Day
Johnson Downplays Riots; New York Presbyterian Mandates Vaccine; Bishop William Barber II is Interviewed about Joe Manchin. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired June 14, 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]
KATIE HILL (D), FORMER CALIFORNIA CONGRESSWOMAN: Legal battles and legal debt to go in the meantime.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Well, we will keep asking.
Congresswoman, thank you so much for coming on. Appreciate it.
HILL: Thank you. Good to talk to you.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Not a no. Not a no, though, notably there.
KEILAR: No.
BERMAN: In the meantime, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson says stuff that isn't true about the Capitol insurrection. That could be a recurring segment on the show but it would be an offensive one, offensive to the Capitol Police officers, offensive to their families, offensive to the members of Congress and staff members, offensive to the people beaten in the riot or who died in the days after. So despite the facts, despite the reams of visual evidence, despite the truth about what happened, this is what he says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): We've seen plenty of video of people in the Capitol, and they weren't rioting. They don't -- it doesn't look like an armed insurrection when you have people that breached the Capitol, and I don't condone it, but they're staying within the rope lines in the Rotunda. That's not what an armed insurrection would look like.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson.
John Avlon back with us.
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, this -- just because we've heard this before doesn't mean it shouldn't still outrage you because this is a U.S. senator who is trying to normalize an attack on our democracy. If you can't tell the difference between tourism and terrorism, which is -- BERMAN: He can tell the difference.
AVLON: Oh, well, no, but he's -- he's clearly playing to the base or this echo chamber ecosystem that he's in has twisted his mind to deny what he saw. What do they need to see? Did they actually need to hang Mike Pence, did they come for him personally? Because the fact is that this is what we're seeing on the far right, right now. It's actually going beyond the far right. And this is exactly why, by the way, there needs to be a commission. There needs to be a House subcommittee. The Senate rejected a bipartisan commission, which is an insult. There needs to be a House committee that Nancy Pelosi needs to address, because these sorts of denialism needs to be pierced by facts, more of them.
BERMAN: He's either demented, lying, or both.
AVLON: Or all three yes,
BERMAN: Yes, all of the above.
AVLON: Yes.
BERMAN: All right, John, thank you very much.
AVLON: All right.
BERMAN: One of the biggest hospital groups in the nation now requiring staffers to get vaccinated against coronavirus. The chief executive of the New York Presbyterian Hospital System will join us next.
KEILAR: And why Senator Joe Manchin is about to get an earful from some voter whose are close to home today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:36:20]
BERMAN: New York Presbyterian, one of the nation's largest and most respected hospitals, has a message for its employee, get vaccinated or you could lose your job.
Joining us now is Dr. Steve Corwin, he's the president and CEO of New York Presbyterian.
Doc, thanks so much for being with us this morning.
Why did you make this decision? Why are you requiring vaccinations for your employees?
DR. STEVE CORWIN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN: Look, our first priority, our only priority really, is to make sure that patients who come to us are safe. We're only at about a 70 percent vaccination rate. That's not sufficient in my mind. Thirty percent of our staff are still not vaccinated. That's after six months of education, trying to overcome vaccine hesitancy. We've just got to make sure that our employees are vaccinated for the protection of staff and for the protection of our patients.
BERMAN: You're a hospital system. I mean how do you explain how 30 percent of people who work in medicine aren't yet vaccinated?
CORWIN: I wish I could give you an answer for it. I know in certain of our groups there's vaccine hesitancy, but we've really worked very hard to overcome that. Also in our communities. And you see we're struggling in many states to get to even a 50 percent vaccination level.
Look, we require vaccination for measles, for rubella, for chickenpox, for flu. Six hundred thousand deaths in America, I think we have to get vaccinated.
BERMAN: What's going to happen to these employees if they don't get vaccinated?
CORWIN: It's going to be a condition of their employment. Religious exemptions, of course, medical exemptions, of course. I don't want to lose a single employee, but I can't look patients in the eye and say that 30 percent of my employees are not vaccinated.
BERMAN: Will they get a last warning. Will they say, OK --
CORWIN: Yes, we'll give them a last warning. We're giving them until September 1st to get vaccinated. August 1st to give us an exemption list. And then we'll give them a final warning after September 1st.
BERMAN: A federal judge ruled in this Houston case, similar issue where the hospital says they tried to require it.
CORWIN: Yes.
BERMAN: People objected. The federal judge ruled for the hospital. Does that give you encouragement?
CORWIN: I know Mark Boom at Houston Methodist. He's a terrific guy. I know Kevin Mahoney at Penn Med. I know Dennis Murphy at Indiana University Health. I think they're taking the right stance.
But, yes, it gives me encouragement that we've made the right decision.
BERMAN: Let me ask you about what's happening in the United Kingdom, because it's not unrelated to the United States and it's certainly not unrelated to your hospital. The United Kingdom today is going to announce a delay in its full reopening. They wanted to be fully reopened within the week. That's not going to happen. They're pushing it back a month because of the delta variant that was first seen in India. They're seeing a rise in cases. They're seeing a rise in hospitalizations and their vaccination rate is very similar to here in the United States.
So how much concern does that give you?
CORWIN: A lot of concern. The more virus you have circulating around the world, the more likely there is to be a mutation, the more likely that mutation is going to self-select to be more infectious or more deadly. That's why, as we open up, as the economy comes back, as we feel better about doing things like going to ball games, we all need to get vaccinated.
BERMAN: Dr. Steve Corwin, thanks so much for being with us.
CORWIN: Thanks, John.
BERMAN: We appreciate your time, really
CORWIN: Appreciate it. Thank you.
BERMAN: All right, up next, new backlash today to Senator Joe Manchin's decision to block a key voting rights bill.
KEILAR: And the last months in office for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. We will roll the tape on some moments that are strange, even by New York standards.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:43:05]
BERMAN: Happening today in Charleston, West Virginia, demonstrators taking the fight over a sweeping federal voting rights bill named the For the Act People, directly to the doorstep of the state's Democratic senator, Joe Manchin. Joe Manchin has come out against the proposal citing its lack of Republican support and his opposition to changing Senate filibuster rules to push it through with a simple majority.
Today's Moral March on Manchin, as it's called, is organized by the Poor People's Campaign, a faith-led grassroots organization that works to highlights the issues of poverty and economic inequality in the U.S.
Joining us now the co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, Bishop William Barber II.
Bishop, thanks so much for being with us today. What's your goal going to West Virginia today? What are you trying to accomplish?
BISHOP WILLIAM BARBER II, PRESIDENT, REPAIRERS OF THE BREACH and CO- CHAIR, POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN: Well, the people from West Virginia said come here, we need to talk to Manchin and deal with him directly in his state. So we have miners, white people from the mountains, poor people, black people, excuse me, from the hood, clergy, veterans, young people. They're going to speak. They want the nation to hear they are tired of Manchin acting as though he's speaking for West Virginia. They're going to tack their demands on his office. They're going to speak on June 21st on a virtual mass Poor People's assembly, low wage worker march on Washington. And then on the 23rd, they're coming by bus to march on Manchin and McConnell and the Russell Building and demand a meeting with clergy, voting rights lawyers and themselves. You see, they're going to show real West Virginia. They're tired of
being blamed and he's saying that he's supporting them when 70 percent plus of West Virginians want the For the People Act. They want restoration of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. In fact, they want living wages.
You know there's 700,000 poor and low wealth people in West Virginia, over 47 percent of the people. There are 350,000 people in West Virginia who make less than $15 an hour. They need living wages. They need health insurance.
[08:45:01]
There are 133,000 people in West Virginia without health insurance. They need infrastructure. Forty-six percent of the census tracks in West Virginia can't hardly afford water. So they're tired of Manchin supporting a filibuster and not supporting them. Talking about bipartisanism rather than talking about the needs of West Virginia.
So you're going to see the real West Virginia stand up right here in the state, and then they're coming to D.C.
BERMAN: Realistically, though, what's going to change Joe Manchin's mind?
BARBER: Well, we don't know yet. He's never faced street heat from his own people. He's just been talking to the media and claiming he's representing West Virginia. Well, now, West Virginia is going to speak.
You know, all of the things we're fighting for, voting rights, wages, let's remember, in history, those things were never just given, they had to be fought for. And so that's what people are doing.
BERMAN: But, Bishop -- Bishop, can I say -- I mean -- you know, Trump won West Virginia by like 40 percent, right? I mean doesn't Manchin have a read on what people in West Virginia, the majority, wants?
BARBER: Well, listen to the people today. No, Manchin didn't win by 40 percent. And a lot of poor and low wealth people don't -- didn't vote because they don't hear about poverty and low wages. And so -- but this is bigger than just who won. This is about history. This is about the country. He's saying, look, his position doesn't even make sense. He says he's for bipartisanship but he's never going to vote against the filibuster, which means even if he got 59 votes, nine Republicans, that's bipartisanship, he wouldn't vote.
In his own state, even Republicans, 76 percent of Republicans want the For the People Act. They want the restoration of the Voting Rights Act according to one poll. So we've got to get the truth out of this. It's amazing what the truth can do to set people free.
What we can't do is allow him to stand for voter suppression, allow voter suppression that's going to undermine this democracy.
And, lastly, he says he's doing what Robert Bird did. First, Robert Bird blocked the Civil Rights Act and he wasn't proud of it. He repented. But more so, Robert Bird didn't agree with this kind of filibuster. He was for the filibuster where you have to stay there and fight and speak all night. That's not what we have today. What we have today is not a filibuster but interposition and nullification, just people quit stopping the work of the Senate.
BERMAN: Right.
BARBER: And that's not America. And that's not democracy. And that's why people are going to speak out.
BERMAN: Bishop William Barber, as always, thank you for joining us this morning.
BARBER: Thank you. God bless you.
BERMAN: Just ahead, the sprawling data collection of the Trump Justice Department reaches the former White House counsel and his wife.
KEILAR: And some days you can totally tell that New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has only a few months left on the job. We roll the tape, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:51:58]
KEILAR: If you're looking for a good time, look no further. New York's hottest club is de Blasio, located in the metropolis of Gotham City, the creation of NYC's outgoing mayor, this place has everything, dad jokes, meme worthy fashion choices and civics lessons like how pizza toppings can explain the rank choice voting in New York's upcoming mayoral primary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK CITY: I want to illustrate how rank choice voting works.
Here is a sample ballot and it's about pizza toppings.
This is going to be a good opportunity to practice rank choice voting.
Green peppers, ladies and gentlemen, right here, my number one choice. I didn't even have to question what my number one vote would be, green peppers.
Again, I'm going to lean into my heritage, number two, olives, OK. This one's a little controversial. You know, I look at this, I kind of am on the edge between sausage and mushroom. Obviously very, very different. It depends, of course, on the quality of sausage.
Mushrooms is going to get my fourth place right there. Congratulations, mushrooms. You're often maligned. You're misunderstood.
In a sense, by default, I'm going with pepperoni fifth. Pepperoni, there's a lot of boring pepperoni in the world.
Let me tell you what never ever ever should be voted for, this is ridiculous, OK. Pineapple doesn't belong on pizza. We're not in California, OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Green peppers, number one. As you can imagine, the backlash on social media was swift and fierce. One person asking, what kind of monster ranks pepperoni fifth? And another one during (ph), can you impeach mayors, I don't know the rules. Green pepper gate, by the way, isn't the first controversy involving de Blasio and pizza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DE BLASIO: In my ancestral homeland, it is more typical to eat with a fork and knife.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now that culinary travesty was just ten days into his tenure. But de Blasio's more recent, bizarre behavior is not limited to pizza as he touts incentives for COVID vaccinations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DE BLASIO: I got vaccinated. You're saying I can get this, these delicious fries, wait a minute, but there's also a burger element to this? Let me -- let me check with Bill Netard (ph). Is it too early in the day to get a burger? No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you're good to go.
DE BLASIO: This could be breakfast?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're good to go.
DE BLASIO: OK. I want you to look at this and think about, again, some people love hamburger, some don't. I really want to respect all ways of life. But if this is appealing to you, just think of this when you think of vaccination. Mmmm. That's amazing. Mmmm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So, in that moment, he was advertising a free side of fries at Shake Shack if you get the vaccine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DE BLASIO: I have an important, official announcement.
Stop hunting for fouls, Trey. Trey, that hawk's not going to fly in New York City. Come on.
[08:55:00]
Play the game the right way. See if you can win. I think the Knicks are going to teach you a lesson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Well, that trash talk proceeded the quick ouster of the Knicks from the playoffs in embarrassing fashion.
And speaking of embarrassing fashion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DE BLASIO: Like the Nets. Amazing season, number one rated offense in the NBA. Kyrie Irving, historic season.
But the biggest victory for the Nets is yet to come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Not since Woody Harrelson was picked last in "White Men Can't Jump" have we seen such an atrocious basketball outfit, and even then de Blasio may have been worse.
Also here in the last month, de Blasio has been publicly speaking to inanimate objects.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DE BLASIO: We have another special guest speaker who wanted to say something. We'll turn here to my left and -- go ahead. The -- bin is here. You know, I'm confused. I was told the bin had remarks. And clearly it's -- it's a bin. It's very a good-looking, sleek bin, but with nothing to say.
OK, I think we should turn to the sanitation commissioner then.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: De Blasio has also been throwing out dad jokes, even at the expense of innocent animals, like this one, when announcing that sheep would be trimming grass in the city. He said, quote, the shear genius of this idea lives in its simplicity, thanking the animals, quote, for doing their part to bring New York City baaack. Right?
And while talking about vaccinations at the Museum of Natural History, where a blue whale is famously housed --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DE BLASIO: I've been trying to work with different ways to phrase this, different ideas thrown around. I would say it's a whale of an announcement, or perhaps we are whale-coming this new sight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Yes, no, he said that. De Blasio has even taken his show on the road on top of the Empire State Building, great place to take a selfie, he says, and he even went on Nickelodeon's "Wild and Crazy Kids" while at the opening of a children's museum.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DE BLASIO: Everybody, are you ready to throw beautiful colors at each other?
CROWD: Two, one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: The mayor unleash. So what is happening here? What we can say with certitude about Bill de Blasio here in his final months in office that, one, he is very tall. That goes without saying. Two, he is staunchly opposed to pineapple pizza. And, three, John Berman, he clearly has zero you know what's left to give.
BERMAN: I want to go back to the sheep. What sound would you say the sheep makes?
KEILAR: I'm not doing it again.
BERMAN: Well, I just -- I missed it. What -- just tell me.
KEILAR: No. I did it once. It was impromptu. I'm not doing it again.
BERMAN: Tell me what time --
KEILAR: No.
BERMAN: No? No?
KEILAR: No, I'm not doing it.
BERMAN: Because it was really good.
KEILAR: Isn't it -- oh, thank you. thank you.
BERMAN: It was really good.
KEILAR: I can't do it on demand, it has to just come naturally there.
But it's like watching him guest star in "Parks and Rec," you know?
BERMAN: Yes. Like -- it's like one long dad joke or a cry for help, or both, to be sure.
KEILAR: Totally.
BERMAN: All right, President Biden meeting with NATO's leaders right now. He is telling NATO that America is baaaaack, as Brianna would say.
CNN's coverage continues, next.
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