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ESPN Host Breaks Her Silence On Fallout With White Colleague; Construction Industry Will Need One Million More Workers To Meet Demand; Rapper Reworks Hit Into Pro-Vaccine "Vax That Thang Up" Anthem. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 08, 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]

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Record of everything the president might have said or done in the run-up to it.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Methinks this might just be a fundraising ploy, which is what we have seen it for -- hmm, it is.

WILLIAMS: Curiously, hmm.

KEILAR: Elliot, thank you so much.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

KEILAR: And new this morning, ESPN host Maria Taylor breaking her silence over the racial outcry involving her on-air colleague.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And Republican Congressman Chip Roy and his pledge to obstruct the Democratic agenda.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This morning, ESPN's Maria Taylor is making her first public comments since the tumult involving colleague Rachel Nichols, who is white, and suggested Taylor rose to her position at ESPN because of diversity issues.

Taylor tweeted about moving forward in dark times, saying quote, "I've taken some punches but that just means I'm still in the fight."

[07:35:00]

Growing controversy over race, shining a harsh light on ESPN.

Let's get the latest from CNN's Brian Stelter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT, ANCHOR, "RELIABLE SOURCES" (voice-over): The biggest story of the NBA Finals is off the court and on T.V. as a candid and cringey recording roils ESPN. "The New York Times" revealing the tape of host Rachel Nichols, who is white, griping to a friend that the network gave a coveted job to a Black reporter, Maria Taylor, instead of her.

RACHEL NICHOLS, ESPN REPORTER: I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world. She covers football, she covers basketball. If you need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity -- which, by the way, I, myself, like know personally from the female side of it -- like, go for it. Just, you know, find it somewhere else. Like, you're not going to find it with me and then take my thing away.

STELTER (voice-over): Nichols thought she was speaking privately but her words were beamed back to ESPN through a camera set up for her live shots. The recording, which she called a spy video, made the rounds inside ESPN last summer, stirring racial tensions amid a nationwide reckoning about racism.

ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: This is just a really unfortunate situation.

STELTER (voice-over): Now it's public and even the NBA commissioner is weighing in.

SILVER: I think it's particularly unfortunate that two women in the industry are pitted against each other.

STELTER (voice-over): ESPN management is coming under scrutiny.

CLAY TRAVIS, FOUNDER, OUTKICK: It's a huge mess for ESPN.

STELTER (voice-over): Fierce ESPN critic Clay Travis -- the founder of a conservative sports media company, OutKick -- calling Nichols a hypocrite.

TRAVIS: Many of these super-woke white people love the idea of diversity and inclusion as long as their own jobs aren't impacted by that diversity and inclusion push.

STELTER (voice-over): Others are pointing out that this tape leaked right as Taylor's contract is about to expire, possibly giving her more leverage. She is not commenting.

But the "Times" quoted her e-mail to executives last summer citing complaints about racial insensitivity. She said, "Simply being a front-facing Black woman at this company has taken its toll, physically and mentally."

Nichols is apologizing --

NICHOLS: -- for disappointing those I hurt -- particularly, Maria Taylor.

STELTER (voice-over): -- and saying she's grateful to be on the team.

ESPN pulled her from sideline duties and appointed Malika Andrews who is Black. And it was Taylor who introduced Andrews on Tuesday night.

MARIA TAYLOR, ESPN REPORTER: And now it's my pleasure to welcome in Malika Andrews who will be on the sidelines for the first time in an NBA Finals game in her career.

STELTER (voice-over): Now, as onlookers speculate about Nichols' and Taylor's future at ESPN, the NBA commissioner is speaking out against cancel culture.

SILVER: People recognize that people make mistakes -- that careers shouldn't be erased by a single comment.

STELTER (voice-over): Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Let's talk about this now with journalist Mara Schiavocampo. She is the host of "Run Tell This," which is a wonderful podcast.

And, Mara, you've been tracking this story. This is something that's been going on for months but it's very much coming to a head with this "New York Times" story here recently coming out. What do you think about what you're seeing at this moment?

MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO, JOURNALIST, HOST, "RUN TELL THIS" PODCAST: Yes. So, the problem here is not that Rachel Nichols was trying to defend her turf, right? That's understandable and that happens all the time in television. The problem is that in defending her turf she goes directly to explicitly saying that she thinks Maria Taylor got that job because she's Black, not because she earned it and not because she deserved it.

And that's something that a lot of Black people from all walks of life can identify with. We are often viewed as unqualified for the spaces that we're in based on the assumption that we're some type of diversity token. When the reality is we are almost always having to be twice as good to get half as much, overqualified, and undervalued.

There's also a point here that's kind of interesting in that Rachel Nichols is saying this. Rachel Nichols is the daughter of an Academy Award-winning director. She is the stepdaughter of Diane Sawyer.

Now, by all accounts, she's very hardworking. She's very good at her job. But it would be hard to convince me that she hasn't benefited somewhat from those associations. But for her to be making that claim that Taylor didn't earn her position is a little ironic.

KEILAR: I think that default, too, in her comment is something that is lost. I've talked with so many people about this and a lot of people -- white people -- don't kind of key in on that assumption that is made -- oh, that it's because Maria Taylor's a person of color that she's being given this assignment.

But, you know, you and I -- I mean, we were babies together in news --

SCHIAVOCAMPO: Yes. KEILAR: -- and you and I have talked for years about this. You personally have experienced this as a Black woman -- as someone -- just speak to this. You got a full ride to journalism school and people would make assumptions about you because of this trope.

SCHIAVOCAMPO: Yes, you and I go back like babies and pacifiers, right?

KEILAR: Right.

SCHIAVOCAMPO: And I have faced this in my life many, many times. I remember in graduate school often being made to feel that I was there as a diversity token when the reality is I was there on a full academic ride and I finished the graduate program with a perfect GPA. So we are always having to prove and over-prove ourselves.

[07:40:01]

Part of the issue with what we're seeing now with ESPN is not just in what's happened recently but that they have had a year to deal with this. This happened a year ago. They didn't respond to this because it happened, they responded to it because it became public.

And when you look at the way they responded initially, when the very first statement was put out last July, they didn't mention Maria Taylor by name at all. Their statement was complaining about how Rachel Nichols' privacy was violated by the leaking of this phone call.

In fact, Maria Taylor, according to reports, says the first time they reached out to her was not to see how she was doing but to ask her if she had leaked the tape.

And to this day, the only ESPN employee who has faced any kind of disciplinary action was the Black video producer who shared it with Maria Taylor as a courtesy to say you should see this. She was suspended for two weeks and has since left the company.

ESPN has a long history of complaints about being insensitive to racial diversity issues and that is why NABJ made the statement that they made. And I spoke with some folks at NABJ yesterday and what should be noted in NABJ's demands -- they're not asking to speak just with ESPN, they want to speak to Disney. They want to speak to their bosses because they don't have any faith that ESPN can manage this.

KEILAR: Yes, this story isn't going away.

Mara, thank you so much for your perspective on this.

SCHIAVOCAMPO: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: Coming up, Britney Spears' mother weighs in on her family feud over the popstar's conservatorship.

BERMAN: And a 90s classic gets a new twist thanks to the pandemic. Juvenile joins us live, next. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUVENILE, RAPPER: "Vax That Thang Up."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:52]

KEILAR: The construction industry, facing major shortages, will need one million workers just to meet demands by 2023. The industry was already facing a labor shortage before the pandemic and now increased demand in new home construction means it will need 430,000 more workers just this year.

Vanessa Yurkevich has been following this story. Vanessa, how is the industry looking to solve this?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, this labor shortage was made worse by that demand in housing. People were moving out of cities looking for new homes. And those who were staying home and working at home were looking to do home improvements.

So now, the industry is looking to attract younger talent in order to keep them in the construction industry for decades to come.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH (voice-over): In the 100-degree heat --

MATTHEW MESSER, OWNER, NEW YORK SOLAR MAINTENANCE: The top row needs one more. You might need to nudge it a little bit.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): -- Matthew Messer is spending the day on the roof of his home on Long Island repairing solar panels with his lead technician. He's the owner of New York Solar Maintenance.

YURKEVICH (on camera): It is normal for you to be climbing a ladder and getting on the roof with your guy, doing the work?

MESSER: No, this is not the perfect way to be spending my time right now, but it's what needs to happen.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): That's because Messer says he can't find anyone to hire.

MESSER: It's as bad as I could imagine it being right now.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): It's part of an industry-wide problem. The June jobs report revealed there are 238,000 fewer jobs in construction than in February of last year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pandemic has really tossed in a lot of volatility to the supply-demand labor relationship. We project that we'll need 430,000 workers this year and potentially, another million or more over the next two years.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Demand for residential home construction boomed during the pandemic.

MESSER: The phone is ringing off the hook. I am expanding as quickly as I can but right now, that's governed by the amount of skilled technicians I can bring on.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Despite the average hourly pay being nearly double a restaurant or retail position, construction companies continue to increase wages. Messer has upped entry-level pay by 40 percent in just the past four months.

MESSER: I was offering $18.00 to $22.00 an hour and I got no applications. I increased it to $23.00 and I got none. I increased it to $25.00 and they're starting to trickle in right now.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Schimenti Construction has 51 active projects, mostly in the commercial space. They're looking for 20 people to fill open positions at every skill level.

MATTHEW SCHIMENTI, OWNER, SCHIMENTI CONSTRUCTION COMPANY: It is a constant challenge to a point where we've actually gone and have two internal recruiters full-time.

YURKEVICH (on camera): Have you had to turn down business because of the labor shortage?

SCHIMENTI: Yes, yes.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): The industry shut down for just a few months during the pandemic, but in that time many workers moved on with no new talent coming in.

SCHIMENTI: People have made decisions in their lives to leave the region, leave the industry. And it was like putting a puzzle back together to restart where we literally called a timeout.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Demand for commercial construction is expected to increase as the U.S. moves to return to pre-pandemic times.

YURKEVICH (on camera): What's the fix? What's the answer here?

SCHIMENTI: Well, I think we have to just continue to be proactive in all spaces and try to keep people in the industry. If we wished it was just a bad dream and it would go away and everybody would just come back -- that's not going to happen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH: Now, Brianna, shop classes, which were once taught readily in K through 12 schools -- those are few and far between. And that was actually a feeder system to get kids really interested in construction. It was often the first time they used a tape measure or used a power tool. So now that that's not happening as often, recruiters from construction companies are going into colleges and they're leading with technology, saying this is a big part of the industry. They're hoping that the technology will really get these millennials and Gen Zers interested in the construction industry -- Brianna.

KEILAR: That's really interesting. I'm realizing maybe I'll have to teach my kids to use a tape measure. I'll put them to work in the name of education.

[07:50:00]

Vanessa, thank you so much for that.

BERMAN: So, a hit rap song from the 1990s is getting a 2021 remix thanks to coronavirus and the push to boost the vaccination rate in the Black community. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUVENILE:

You finna online date yea, find a mate yea Open up BLK yea, okay yea Profile pic lookin tight yea, nice yea Gotchya bio readin' right yea, precise yea But before you find a date?yeah,?you?gotta wait yeah Gotta?go vaccinate yeah,?get it straight yea

Girl you looks good, won't you vax that thang up You's a handsome young brother, won't you vax that thang up Date in real life, you need to vax that thang up Feeling freaky all night, you need to vax that thang up Girl you looks good, won't you vax that thang up You's a handsome young brother, won't you vax that thang up Date in real life, you need to vax that thang up Feeling freaky all night, you need to vax that thang up

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Yes, that is Juvenile and Mannie Fresh, together again with their new song "Vax That Thang Up." It's a partnership with the dating app BLK. The original song, of course, was "Back That Thang Up" or otherwise known as "Back That Ass Up."

Juvenile is joining us now. As of this morning, your video has already got about a million views. I'm sure it's going to go way higher than that over the next hour or so.

Just tell us how this all happened.

JUVENILE (via Webex by Cisco): Well, BLK reached out to us and they wanted us to remix "Back That Thang Up" and call it "Vax That Thang Up." And they asked if we thought it was a good idea. And being somebody that -- being one of the guys that has been vaccinated -- and like I said, it's a family decision -- I felt like it was a great way to put awareness out there for -- especially for me and people of -- people that look like me.

KEILAR: And look, we know, Juvenile, that when it comes to dating apps, some people want to know the person that they're going on a date with is vaccinated. They actually consider that --

JUVENILE: Yes.

KEILAR: -- a positive. They want that protection as they might get to know someone better.

But let's talk about the creative process here because your lyrics -- I mean, they're just so much fun. Girl, you can be queen after quarantine. You say date in real life, you need to vax that thang up.

Tell us about how you went through this and the writing of this remix.

JUVENILE: Well, they had -- BLK had their own ideas that they came up with and I just -- I wanted it to be more the original song. So I tweaked it a little bit and put some of my ideas in it. But I wanted it to really make -- to make sense.

And, Mannie Fresh came up with his ideas also. And shout-out to Mia X for coming on such short notice, and we all put our ideas together over by Trombone Shorty's studio. So I think it was just a great creative process with us working together.

BERMAN: You know, this is personal for you, as you noted. You're double-vaccinated and you know people who have suffered or even died from the virus.

JUVENILE: Yes.

BERMAN: How important is it to you to get this message out, particularly in communities that are lagging behind in vaccination rates, including communities of color?

JUVENILE: It means a lot, especially for me. And I'm trying to make everybody see it from my point of view. I look at this vaccination like when you was a kid and you first started -- your mom took you to school -- to kindergarten. We had to get these shots. I didn't even know what the shots were then but I knew that I wouldn't be able to go to school without these shots.

And I think some of these same things are starting to happen across the country. I know in a lot of colleges you can't be attending without being vaccinated.

So I just think that we all should take time out and get educated on it, first, and then we all could be vaccinated, hopefully, in the future.

KEILAR: So look, this song is so fun. Everyone who we've spoken with who knows that you were coming on our show this morning was so excited to hear you talk about this. They love the song.

You also know there's been some folks who have been upset on social media, which I think kind of speaks to just how sensitive the topic of vaccine hesitancy is. What do you say to them?

JUVENILE: You know, a lot of people lost family members, so I send out my condolences to them and their family and I want them to know that I hurt just like they hurt. I have the same -- I've lost family members, too, and it's a scary -- it's a slippery slope.

So what I say to everybody else outside as just speaking on it -- man, just get educated. I'm not telling you or forcing you or pushing you to go get vaccinated. I'm telling you make your -- make a family decision. Talk to your family and get educated on it and make a -- make the right decision.

BERMAN: Do you feel better being double-vaccinated at this point?

JUVENILE: Yes, I do -- I actually do. But I'm still wearing my mask, social distancing, and washing my hands, and stuff like that. So I'm still doing the same process. My wife is not having it anyway. So --

BERMAN: There wasn't a lot of social distancing in that video. I just want to be clear.

JUVENILE: (Laughing).

[07:55:00]

BERMAN: A lot of that looked like --

JUVENILE: Yes.

BERMAN: -- it was within six feet and some other stuff.

JUVENILE: Yes. I mean, we try to make -- we try to have a lot of fun with doing it. I'm pretty sure that most people in that video are vaccinated. I'm not sure. But it was a great (audio gap).

KEILAR: I guess it's the message, right? You can get closer if you're vaccinated.

JUVENILE: Yes, especially if want to online date. I think it would be a smart thing to know that the person you want to date is vaccinated.

KEILAR: I know. We spied some eggplant emojis in your video. I mean, this thing -- this thing is very tongue-in-cheek. It's very funny and we love it.

JUVENILE: Thank you.

BERMAN: Juvenile --

JUVENILE: We had fun doing it.

BERMAN: Thank you for the message you're sending and thank you for joining us this morning. I really appreciate it.

And you're going to have to explain the eggplant thing to me, Brianna, at some point. KEILAR: I'm not doing that. (Laughing).

BERMAN: A coronavirus outbreak has struck the Miss Mexico pageant. A local health secretary says that 15 participants and one other person tested positive for COVID-19 just one day before the event.

Authorities say they received an anonymous call informing them that people were suffering respiratory symptoms consistent with coronavirus.

Here now with the details, Maria Santana, anchor and correspondent for CNN en Espanol. And so, what -- I mean, they had symptoms and the pageant went on? What's going on here?

MARIA SANTANA, ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT, CNN EN ESPANOL: Yes -- I mean, this is a very concerning incident and this is what health officials in Mexico are telling us happened.

These contestants were exhibiting symptoms consistent with COVID-19 in the days prior to the event -- so much so that the way that the health department found out was that someone called in an anonymous tip and said hey, at least one of these girls has COVID-19.

So they went in to investigate. The event went on, on July first. It wasn't until July second that the health department said they received results. They required testing the day that they went in, which was the day of the event, for all these girls to get tested. It wasn't until the next day that 15 of the 32 contestants tested positive for COVID-19, and one other person involved in the pageant tested positive as well.

Here is where things get really hairy -- is that there are reports that the pageant organizers knew that these girls were sick and that they pressed ahead and went on with the event anyway. Told the girls to be quiet about it and not say anything to the press. And also, that they -- it was supposed to happen on July third but they moved it up to July first amid all these rumors that there was this outbreak in the pageant.

And what the -- we spoke to the health secretary of the state of Chihuahua, which is where the event took place, and he said that he is going to investigate this but that basically, there could be sanctions for pageant organizers or the event where -- the venue where this all took place.

Now he is telling us that there is a presumption that the organizers knew. It's just a presumption at this point but that an investigation will lead them to see if this -- if this is the case.

BERMAN: That's a lot of people at risk. Is there a sense that it's possible that it spread beyond the people who showed up originally sick?

SANTANA: Well, this is what we don't know at this point because as much as the Secretary of Health in Chihuahua, Eduardo Fernandez, is telling us is we are very concerned about this. We're going to investigate it.

They knew of these test results as of July second and it wasn't until a couple of days ago that this was leaked to the press. And then they came out with a statement saying oh, we're investigating this. So we don't know.

You think about pageants and how they work. How many people are involved -- hairdressers, makeup artists. The girls -- they dorm together, they go to events together, they get bussed around together.

So very hard to know how many people are really affected and if there was any sort of contact tracing going on here.

BERMAN: Maria Santana, I really appreciate you being with us. A real lack of transparency -- a huge risk being taken.

SANTANA: Absolutely.

BERMAN: Thank you.

NEW DAY continues right now. I'm John Berman alongside Brianna Keilar.

On this new day, Afghanistan on the edge of unraveling. President Biden speaks just hours from now with U.S. troops all but withdrawn and the Taliban is gaining ground.

Plus, the White House pushing COVID vaccines while critics on the right push back. The president's health secretary responds here, live.

KEILAR: And just in to CNN, Naomi Osaka speaking out about mental health and the media. What she is saying now as she returns to tennis for the Olympics.

And a new twist in the "Free Britney" case. What the popstar's mother now says about the conservatorship that she's trying to get out of.

BERMAN: Good morning to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. It is Thursday, July eighth.

And just hours from now, President Biden will speak about Afghanistan, which is a country on the edge of unraveling this morning as the U.S. finishes its final exit from the longest war.