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Biggest Protests in Decades Erupt Against Cuba's Communist Regime; Pfizer to Brief U.S. Officials on Potential Need for a Booster; Rate of New Infections Surges Across America; CPAC Crowd Cheers that U.S. Hasn't Met Biden's Vaccination Goal; England Players Hit by Racist Abuse After Team's Defeat; Police Feared 'Las Vegas- Style' Shooting Over Cache of Weapons. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired July 12, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman with Brianna Keilar on this NEW DAY. Breaking this morning, Cubans taking to the streets in the largest protest in decades. And now the authoritarian government is blaming the United States.

[05:59:18]

Plus, as the Delta variant surges across the United States. Today a critical meeting where Pfizer will push for booster shots.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Lies, conspiracies and conservatives. How CPAC turned dangerous by giving a platform to Donald Trump and his demagoguery.

And outcry this morning after England's players are hit with racist attacks following the team's championship loss.

BERMAN: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Monday, July 12. Images, the likes of which we have not seen in generations in Cuba.

Thousands of protesters on the streets in Havana and other cities and towns nationwide, staging one of the biggest anti-government demonstrations in decades. The protesters there complaining about a lack of freedom and the worsening economic situation as that country grapples with a resurgence of coronavirus.

KEILAR: And overnight, the Biden administration voicing support for peaceful protesters and saying that the U.S. would strongly condemn any violence against them.

Cuba's president blamed the U.S. for the protests saying that sanctions are fueling economic problems there.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann is reporting live for us this morning from Havana -- Patrick.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning. Large-scale protests are something that you don't see in Cuba, because the government does not allow it. That all changed on Sunday, though, as thousands of Cubans took to the

street not just here in Havana but across the island. The largest protests we have seen in decades.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPPMANN (voice-over): Calling for liberty, protesters take to the streets in Havana. In front of police, the crowd yells, "Fatherland and life." A new opposition slogan that has gotten people who say it in public arrested in Cuba.

But Cuba on Sunday seems a very different place, as thousands of people in cities across the island took to the streets and took the government by surprise. These are the largest mass protests in years, perhaps decades.

Usually, any anti-government activity leads to immediate arrest. Protests criticizing the state are simply not allowed here. But on Sunday, though, thousands of people voiced their anger openly, and many people told us they simply have lost their fear.

Police surrounded the protesters and arrested some of them, but for the most part, they did not or could not stop the demonstrations. The protests are only the latest sign of the unprecedented crisis facing the communist-run island, even as Cuba produces is own homegrown vaccines, the number of COVID cases has skyrocketed.

On Sunday, health officials announced the highest single-day increase in new cases and deaths. For months, the Cuban economy has spiraled further and further downwards. The island has been hard-hit by increased U.S. sanctions against the Trump administration which have continued under President Biden.

The pandemic has cut off tourism and the ability to receive help from relatives abroad for many Cubans. Lines for food now stretch around the block and can last for hours.

For many in Cuba, waiting for scarce food and medicines has become their life.

"Every day there are people out here for whatever there is. Some days you don't know what products they're going to be selling," Rachel (ph) says. "You have to be out here if you want to have food."

The economic misery is already leading to desperation as Cubans are now taking to the sea on rafts in the greatest numbers since 2017, when then-President Obama ended the wet foot, dry foot policy that allowed Cubans reaching the U.S. to stay.

Cuba is confronting the worst crisis in decades without a Castro at the helm, as Raul Castro stepped down from his last leadership role in April.

On Sunday, Cuba's new leader, Miguel Diaz-Canel, blamed the island's economic troubles on the U.S. and vowed to crack down on the protesters. "The order to combat has been given," he said. "Revolutionaries need

to be in the streets."

As Cuba edges closer to the edge, neither side appears they are backing down.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OPPMANN: And there doesn't appear to be any organization or leadership behind these protests. It's not clear how they will be able to continue when the Cuban military and police have been mobilized against them, but what is clear is the anger and resentment driving these protests isn't going anywhere -- Brianna.

KEILAR: It certainly isn't. Patrick, thank you so much. We will have more on this ahead.

BERMAN: All right. Today Pfizer is expected to brief top U.S. health officials about the company's view on vaccine booster shots. It comes after Pfizer said last week that immunity from its two-dose vaccine weakens over time. Dr. Anthony Fauci tells CNN that, as of now, he does not think a third shot, a booster shot, is necessary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: There are studies being done now, ongoing as we speak, about looking at the feasibility, about if and when we should be boosting people. So this isn't something that we say, no, we don't need a boost right now. The story is ended forever. No, there's a lot of work going on to examine this in real time to see if we might need a boost.

But right now, given the data that the CDC and the FDA has, they don't feel that we need to tell people right now you need to be boosted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: But maybe some time in the future but not yet. Coronavirus cases are continuing to rise across the United States.

[06:05:07]

Joining me now is CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten. And Harry, the rate at which cases are rising right now extremely high.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the rate. And what we're talking about rate first, and then we'll talk about absolute numbers. Take a look at the rate right now, this is the 14-day trend line.

Look at this. Look at this. Nearly 40 percent rise over the last seven days. That is huge. That's one of the highest. In fact, it is the highest that we've seen since the beginning of this year.

And if you look across the country, you know, we showed this map over and over and over again. Red is bad. Orange is not nearly as bad but still as bad. A lot of red and orange across this country. Very little green, which means in most places, in fact, rates are rising this week as compared to last week.

BERMAN: Like a month and a half, we were doing dancing almost literally that this whole map was green and now it's almost all red. So that's the big change. The rate is going up. But in terms of the absolute number of cases, what's the situation?

ENTEN: Right. You know, I think it's just so important to point out, just because your rate is rising, if you're at such a low level, then any sort of rise will really accelerate your rise in terms of a percentage.

But in terms of absolute number, you can see, we're still all the way down here, right? This is new coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents. And it's well south of 20 at this point. That is way below where we were during the December, January spike in the beginning of the year.

So, yes, rates are rising as a percentage, but in terms of the absolute number, they're still fairly low. So there are some warning signs, but we're not in the deep, bad territory just yet.

BERMAN: Warning signs. You want to stop the direction it's headed, but where it is right now, not awful.

ENTEN: Correct.

BERMAN: So, where are things worse at this point?

ENTEN: Right. So you know, there are a few danger zones that I would sort of point out. So again, this is the seven-day average of new corona cases per 100,000 residents. The red is really bad here, and there are a few trouble areas.

These are the top five states where numbers are rising as a pure number, and what we see is Nevada here, 15. That Missouri and Arkansas really bad here with 23. And then again, Louisiana to Florida, 15 and 16.

But again, this, I think, is the real, real trouble area. Missouri and Arkansas, where we know the Delta variant is quite high. These are very bad areas.

BERMAN: What do we know about how many people are vaccinated in these states?

ENTEN: Yes. This, I think, is important to point out. Look at this, the fully vaccinated in these five states, the national average is 48 percent.

Look at this, all well below it. Missouri and Arkansas well below it. Forty percent and 35 percent. So, look, this is not what we want. We see cases rising in the places where a lot of folks are not fully vaccinated but well below the national average. BERMAN: We're going to talk to a doctor from Missouri who tells us

that everyone he's seeing unvaccinated, 100 percent of the patients he's seeing, he says, are unvaccinated. What else do we know about this day?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, look, these are all Trump states, right? And so these are states that Donald Trump won where the cases are rising. We know across all of those is look at this. In the Biden-won states, the 30-day average of coronavirus hospitalizations, not just cases hospitalization, which are very bad cases.

Look at that, the Biden states, they're down over the last 30 days. They're down 21 percent.

But look at the Trump-won states, including Arkansas and Missouri, look at that: they're up 14 percent. They are rising, and the current level is significantly higher per million residents. Look at that: 79, versus in the Biden states, just 53. We see cases rising in the Trump states, and we also see that, unfortunately, the hospitalizations are also up.

BERMAN: And we're not saying this is Trump's fault. What we're saying is there is a political nature behind some of this vaccine hesitancy, which is driving the case.

ENTEN: That's exactly right. You know, I just go back to this graphic again. Look at this. These are all Trump's -- not Nevada. But these are mostly Trump states, and what we see here again, look at that. Nevada is the one exception here.

But otherwise, Trump states many fewer people vaccinated, and what we see as a result of that, potentially, is this, where you see that the hospitalizations are up.

BERMAN: We love having you because, of course, you are smart enough to be a brain surgeon, but this isn't brain surgery to understand what's happening.

ENTEN: A to B, pretty simple as far as --

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: As coronavirus cases there surging once again, attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference this weekend erupted into cheers other the Biden administration's failure to hit its vaccine goal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX BERENSON, JOURNALIST AND WRITER: Clearly they were hoping, the government was hoping, that they could sort of sucker 90 percent of the population into getting vaccinated. And it -- and it isn't happening, right? There's --

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right. That is a prominent anti-vaxxer there.

And joining us now is CNN political commentator and former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent. Charlie, what do you think about this? Cheers for a lack of vaccinations?

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Brianna, what's happening down there, this CPAC has always been kind of an odd gathering. Now, it's taken over by a bunch of radicals, anti-vaxxers. It's a land of misfit toys. It's a political freak show. It's like the "Star Wars" bar. I mean, this is just bizarre.

[06:10:04]

And the fact that they're celebrating that we're not meeting our vaccination targets is actually reprehensible. We all know this. I mean, I just can't imagine that serious people are not showing up to this thing.

I mean, look what happens. They have their stupid straw poll, and they have a rank choice straw poll, too, apparently now.

But this whole group, it's not serious. And one doesn't know if you should laugh or cry or be alarmed about what we're watching and witnessing at these CPAC gatherings anymore.

I stayed away from them when I was in Congress, because I represented a marginal district. I never wanted to be associated with some of the types who showed up there. But, you know, again, it says a lot that serious aspirational presidential candidates weren't there.

BERMAN: But Charlie, you're the one not in Congress anymore. I mean, they're the ones driving the party. You keep calling it a freak show. How do you know this isn't the main event at this point among the Republicans?

DENT: Boy, well, you know, look, thank heavens for Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney and others.

BERMAN: There's like five of them. But there are, like, five of them, and there are hundreds of others.

DENT: Yes. There are plenty of them, though, who feel the same way that they do. They're just -- they're just biting their tongues, John. That's what's happening.

And look, CPAC again, they always had those straw polls and always nominated either Ron Paul or Rand Paul. Again, not very reflective of the broader Republican electorate.

Boy, if that is the Republican electorate, you know, we all better be scared to death. But I don't think that is. I think Republicans are looking for leadership, real leadership, not this politics of resentment and grievance and hostility. I mean, it has to become more aspirational. Everybody knows this. And

until, I think, the current elected officials stand up and ask for something better, it's not going to change. I mean, I'm despondent about what I'm witnessing there.

KEILAR: You say they're biting their tongue. I wonder if they've swallowed their tongues. I wonder what -- how do you come back from this? You know, and I know you don't like the straw poll, but Donald Trump won it by a landslide.

Seventy percent of the votes there among these GOP presidential candidates, Ron DeSantis, you know, distant second, and then everyone else hardly registered on this kind of Richter scale there. What does it mean for Republicans that he has essentially frozen the race right now with the base?

DENT: Well, I think what's happening is you're right. He has frozen the field. And I don't think there are many people who actually believe that Donald Trump will run for president again in 2024. He is a diminished figure. He's still dangerous. He's still destructive, but I just can't imagine him running again. And I think he's going to threaten to run right up until the final hour.

And, you know, again, I think if these candidates, you know, want to become the president of the United States, they need to stand up and offer a vision quite different what we're seeing with Trump and Trumpism and this politics of grievance and hostility.

I mean, it's not -- There's no future in it. Everybody understands this. How you grow apart, I'm sitting in the city of Philadelphia. You know, the collar counties of Philadelphia, the suburbs, have been a killing zone for Republicans. I mean, these are areas that we have to win if we ever hope to be a governing party and especially want to win a national election.

I don't know how they think they're going to be able to pull this off if we're just going to continue down this road of, you know, political insanity.

BERMAN: So, the former president was on FOX News last night. And he was asked about the possibility of Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, testifying to the select committee looking into the insurrection. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On that day, January 6, you did speak with Kevin McCarthy. Let me just point out that Nancy Pelosi is going forth with a commission to investigate all of this. It may very well be that Kevin McCarthy is called to testify under oath. Do you want to tell us what took place on that phone call?

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (via phone): No, I don't have to, because Kevin will speak. And I'm sure Kevin will be, you know, very good from that standpoint.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: "Kevin will be very good from that standpoint." Sounds like he's talking about Frankie Pentangeli, like "Godfather II." It sounds like Trump knows about what -- that Kevin McCarthy would never say anything to hurt him.

DENT: Well, John, we kind of know what was said. I believe Donald Trump made some comment to Kevin McCarthy to the effect that these -- these protesters are more concerned about the election than you are.

And Kevin McCarthy, apparently, shared that conversation with several members of the House Republican conference, including Jaime Herrera Beutler, who had spoken about it quite publicly.

And so I think Kevin McCarthy is -- if he is asked to testify, will have to state the truth. And if that comes out, that's not good for anybody. It's not good for Donald Trump.

And it's clear that, you know, the former president, you know, was egging and inciting the rioters. I mean, that's what we have going on here. So if you're Kevin McCarthy, I understand why he didn't want to have an independent commission or select committee, because he's probably going to be asked to testify and answer that question, because there are others -- if he says something different than what was reported, then he could have a problem.

[06:15:08]

KEILAR: Yes. It's going to be months longer before he testifies. It's been six months since the insurrection. So we'll see if maybe he doesn't recall things, and that works to Donald Trump's favor. We'll have to see.

Former Congressman Charlie Dent, thank you so much.

DENT: Thank you, Brianna. Thank you, John.

KEILAR: After their defeat in the Euro final, England's players have been hit with racist attacks.

BERMAN: Plus, why police feared a Las Vegas-style shooting after a hotel maid made a disturbing discovery.

And how will the Jeff Bezos trip to space be different from Richard Branson's? We'll explain as space tourism begins.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Developing overnight, Prince William and the elected mayor of London both condemning racial abuse on social media. The abuse targeting some of England's players following their crushing loss to Italy in the Euro final.

[06:20:12]

CNN's Alex Thomas live outside London's Wembley Stadium. Alex, I've got to say, reprehensible stuff overnight on social media.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: You're right, John. You know, this is a soccer-mad nation, so England's men's national team getting to a major final for the first time in 55 years was more than just a sporting occasion. It was a cause for national celebration.

But fans drank too much too soon for an 8 p.m. evening kickoff here at Wembley stadium in Northwest London, and the scenes turned very ugly and sour, indeed. Bottles being thrown, fights breaking out, kids in tears, stewarding and security overrun.

Ticketless fans got inside the stadium, but the atmosphere there was good for a game that finished one-all after extra time. And in a penalty shootout, Italy won to become European champions second time after three England players in succession missed their spot kicks: Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukaya Saka.

And that led to an outbreak of racist abuse of those players. Monkey emojis left in the responses to their social media posts.

Prince William, who's president of England's Football Association, saying, "I'm sickened by the racist abuse aimed at England players after last night's match. It is totally unacceptable the players have to endure this abhorrent behavior. It must stop now, and all those involved should be held accountable."

Real frustration among sports governing bodies that social media companies don't do enough. The Football Association, the governing body for the sport, said that "We could not be clearer that anyone behind such disgusting behavior is not welcome in following the team. We'll do all we can to support the players affected while urging the toughest punishments possible for anyone responsible."

These England players become national icons. They take the knee before each match in protest against racism. And John, after what we're seeing overnight, the need for them to do that is more urgent than ever.

BERMAN: I have to say, Alex, some of these players have been booed for taking the knee over the last few weeks to protest racial discrimination. Now you see the need. Now you see why they've been doing it.

As I said, you know, heroic effort by England. Italy, great game by them also. Just ugly stuff overnight, though. I appreciate you being with us, Alex. Thank you -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Four people are under arrest in Denver after police seized more than a dozen weapons and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition from a hotel room on Friday night.

This is a hotel that is about a block away from Coors Field, the site of tomorrow night's Major League All-Star Game, and according to one local press report, authorities feared a Las Vegas-style shooting during the game when they were tipped off about the weapons by a hotel employee. CNN's Josh Campbell is joining us now.

Josh, what can you tell us here?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT AND NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Brianna. This incident here certainly garnering a lot of attention. Authorities say that four people were arrested on Friday after an employee at this hotel, the Maven Hotel, saw something suspicious and called police. That leading authorities to obtain search warrants on two hotel rooms.

Now, during the course of that search, they located this cache of weapons. Certainly, concerning there for authorities. As you mentioned, this hotel was a block away from where this baseball game is set to take place tomorrow on Tuesday.

Now, one local media report citing law enforcement sources indicated that police feared that this was possibly preparation for some type of mass shooting that causing the Federal Bureau of Investigation to come out very quickly with a statement trying to ratchet down any talk of terrorism.

I'll read you their statement: "We have no reason to believe this incident was connected to terrorism or threat directed at the All-Star Game." The FBI said, "We're not aware of any threat to the All-Star Game events, venues, players or the community at this time."

What's interesting, I can tell you in my experience, you don't often see daylight between the feds and local law enforcement in these types of incidents. But the police chief in Denver was asked yesterday whether he believes this was preparation for some type of mass shooting. He said that his department is not ruling anything out. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF PAUL PAZEN, DENVER POLICE DEPARTMENT: We don't make it a practice to rule things out, right? When you're talking about an investigation, you want to make sure you're looking at every possible angle.

What I can say is that we have recovered weapons, and we have recovered narcotics. Anything beyond that speculating as to what an individual's intent is. You can't do that. We can't do that.

We need to identify exactly to the extent possible why individuals were here in the first place, why proximity to downtown -- and we don't have those answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now after these arrests, authorities say they don't believe there was any ongoing threat to the community. The charges here for these four individuals range from the unlawful possession of firearms to the unlawful possession of controlled substances.

[06:25:07]

No indication yet of terrorism as this investigation continues, but certainly, getting the attention of authorities where you have this large cache of weapons found in close proximity to where a lot of people were gathered in downtown Denver come tomorrow.

KEILAR: Yes. What was their intention there? We know that you'll track this. Josh Campbell, thank you so much.

Coming up, a brand-new interview with the chair of the January 6th Committee. What he says about the possibility of subpoenaing former President Trump.

BERMAN: Plus, why some Democrats are now saying that wokeness has gone too far.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: New this morning, an interview with the chair of the House committee that is investigating January 6th. Congressman Bennie Thompson telling CNN that the investigation will go on as long as it takes to uncover the truth.