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Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) is Interviewed about Infrastructure; U.S. Economy Grows at 6.5 Percent Rate; Jeremey Bloom is Interviewed about Mental Health in Sports. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired July 29, 2021 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:32:04]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Senate has voted to open debate on a bipartisan roughly $1 trillion infrastructure package. We're still learning details about what's in the bill, but this is what we know so far.

$550 billion in new federal investments in infrastructure. That includes $110 billion for roads, bridges and major infrastructure projects. $40 billion for bridge repair and replacement alone, which the White House says is the largest single dedicated bridge investment since the 1950s. $17.5 billion for what the White House calls major projects too large or complex for traditional funding programs. $11 billion set aside for transportation safety, things like programs to reduce crashes and fund safety efforts on highways and pipelines. $1 billion to reconnect communities that were divided by highways or other infrastructure. $39 billion will be dedicated to modernizing public transit systems. A separate $66 billion set aside for Amtrak to do the same. Airports and waterways, $17 billion will be set aside for port infrastructure. And $25 billion for airports. The bill would invest $73 billion to rebuild the electric grid. $55 billion to upgrade water infrastructure. Another $50 billion that will go towards making the power system more resilient to extreme weather or cyberattacks. The bill sets aside $65 billion to expand access to high speed broadband Internet. There is still a question how Congress will pay for it. Within this agreement they apparently are leaning into the notion of using unspent COVID relief dollars from some of the past rescue measures.

Joining me now is Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware. He, of course, a close ally of President Biden. And Senator Coons was involved in some of these bipartisan talks on infrastructure.

Thank you for being with us.

That's what's in it. And we've talked a lot about this achievement last night, getting 67 senators on board, including Mitch McConnell, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. That's some group right there.

But you know there are potential issues ahead, particularly in the House of Representatives, where Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among others, are a little bit unhappy about where things are head.

How do you get progressives on board?

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, John, let's first focus on the good news of the day, which is that we've got a strong bipartisan group that has agreed to precede with this bill in the Senate. It will be the largest investment in our nation's history in a wide range of things, from grid resilience and broadband, the infrastructure of the 21st century, to fixing our roads and bridges, our rail, our tunnel, our airports. All sorts of things that we haven't invested in enough over the last 50 years.

This will make us stronger and more resilient to climate change. It will create at least 650,000 new jobs a year. These are high skilled, high wage jobs. And, frankly, it's a key piece of President Biden's agenda.

One thing that as I've heard commentators talk for and against this, one thing that is often overlooked is that we have to have bipartisan legislation in the Senate to authorize new programs.

[08:35:09]

And there's a dozen new programs authorized in this bill. We can spend a lot of money with Democrats only through something called reconciliation in the Senate, and we will turn to that next. But we had to have a bipartisan infrastructure bill to authorize things like new programs for electric school buses or electric charging stations, which are in this bill.

BERMAN: You know, former Obama pollster Joel Benenson told us that he thinks it's a risk for some of these progressive Democrats, maybe in the House, who want more. He thinks there's a risk in trying to, as he puts it, overshoot the runway here on wanting to get more.

What are the risks there, do you think?

COONS: Well, the key risk here is that we will fail to get authorization for new programs. And, John, that means we would get nothing in terms of new program spending in areas that don't currently have an authorization. So there's lots of areas in transit and in climate that are important to progressives where we have to get this bill done in order to get something out of the Senate and to the president's desk.

BERMAN: So, again, just to -- just to frame that I think exactly as you're saying it now, you would say to progressives in the House, you know, don't push too hard. If you want too much, you could get nothing?

COONS: I think what's going to happen is we're either going to get both, the bipartisan infrastructure deal, the hard infrastructure deal, and the robust, ambitious, multi-trillion dollar Democrats only bill out of the Senate and over to the House, or we'll get neither. So, yes, we either get both or neither.

BERMAN: Do you think that Democrats should hold out for both at the risk of getting neither?

COONS: Well, frankly, that's the path we're on right now is getting both done. We've moved towards this infrastructure bill where we've got real cooperation between Democrats and Republicans. And I want to congratulate Senator Sinema and Portman, Collins and Manchin. There were so many in the core group of ten senators who really made this happen, collaborating closely with the White House.

But we are promptly going to move to the other bill before we end up leaving for our probably brief August recess. So it will be clear to the House whether they've got both coming or neither before they have to take them up.

BERMAN: I want to ask you about vaccines. Our Kaitlan Collins, our senior White House reporter, says that the president, your friend, Joe Biden, thinks we've hit a -- something of a brick wall when it comes to vaccinations and can't quite understand why people are so hesitant -- some people remain hesitant to get the vaccine. Do you sense a frustration there?

COONS: Well, I think there's concern and frustration among a very wide range of public health leaders, of elected leaders. Frankly, you know, the governor of Alabama the other day said this is a renewed pandemic, a renewed outbreak of the unvaccinated.

John, more than 97 percent of the people currently hospitalized for COVID are unvaccinated. It is concerning, frustrating how so many Americans are not trusting a safe and effective scientifically sound vaccine. It's easy to get now. It's accessible all over the country. And it will protect you and your family. So anyone who's watching, please, get vaccinated. It is the path out of this for our whole country and for the world.

BERMAN: Chris Coons from Delaware. Senator, we appreciate you being with us. Thank you very much.

COONS: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: Just in to CNN, big news about America's economic recovery from the pandemic. The brand-new numbers, next.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And athletes line up in support of Simone Biles' decision to drop out of Olympic events to focus on her mental health.

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[08:42:48]

KEILAR: Just in, some new data on just how much the economy recovered in the second quarter.

Chief business correspondent Christine Romans has the latest GDP report.

What does it say, Christine? CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, 6.5

percent growth for the summer, that's a good number in normal times. It's just a little bit better than the first quarter, but it's not the gang busters 8.5 percent that so many economists were expecting.

Brianna, when I look inside these numbers, I can see -- I can see Congress at work, quite frankly, because you have those direct payments to households starting to dry up, so you had personal income down, personal consumption down a little bit as people didn't get those cash payments from the government. And, instead, rescue money was going to businesses and to state and local government. So you see kind of a change in where the money is flowing in the American economy right now.

To put it into context, this is the strongest growth since last fall. But, remember, we blew a hole in the economy because of COVID shutdowns and the COVID crisis and then the economy roared back at a 30 percent pace last year. So these numbers are a little distorted by just exactly what we have been through. But, still, 6.5 percent growth, that is strong. It shows a recovery.

And we're almost there. We're right there, at the size of the economy, recovering back to where it was pre-COVID. Not all of the same industries recovering, of course. We've got a lot of work to do, especially with these variants here, but indeed an economy that is growing strongly, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, you said you see Congress at work, which is something that oftentimes people just don't say. So that's pretty interesting to look at that.

Christine, thank you so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

KEILAR: What did you -- what did you think of that?

BERMAN: Look, 6.5 percent is a heck of a number. You know, the 8.5 percent that was expected is higher. And we're just in these times where we're dealing with so much that's unprecedented. It's just hard to know. It's hard to predict where things are going.

So sometimes we don't meet expectations, but maybe those expectations were unreasonable. We keep going forward into this -- into this twilight zone with the economy right now. And we all want to be headed in the same direction. We all want to be done with this, but, you know, it's not over yet.

KEILAR: It feels like an economics experiment, right?

BERMAN: It is.

KEILAR: This is going to be studied for generations to come by economists, what we've seen here with this economy shutting down and coming back and where all of this is going.

[08:45:05]

BERMAN: I mean 6.5 percent is good.

KEILAR: Yes.

BERMAN: We should all be happy with 6.5 percent. We should hope for more though.

KEILAR: Yes. Hope for more.

Up next, Simone Biles taking a stand for mental health. We're going to talk to a former Olympian who knows what it's like to perform under extreme pressure.

BERMAN: Plus, Officer Harry Dunn joins CNN on his emotional testimony and his response to right-wing critics of his words.

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BERMAN: Simone Biles thanking fans after making the decision to withdraw from the individual all-around competition, citing her mental health. This is what she wrote on Twitter. She says, the outpouring of love and support I've received has made me realize I'm more than my accomplishments in gymnastics, which I never truly believed before.

The comment is one echoed by multiple elite Olympic athletes in the HBO sports documentary, "The Weight of Gold," which is currently streaming on HBO Max.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew it was the biggest stage that I would perform for in my life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Olympians, that's what defines you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Athletes work their entire lives for this moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's gold, and then what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't develop outside interests.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought of myself as just a swimmer and not a human being.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And joining us now is Jeremy Bloom, a three-time world champion free-style skier who competed in the Olympics twice. He's also executive producer of "The Weight of Gold."

Jeremy, great to see you here.

The statement from Simone Biles that she never realized she was more than her accomplishments, there's something heartbreaking about that.

JEREMY BLOOM, TWO-TIME OLYMPIC SKIER, THREE-TIME WORLD CHAMPION: Yes, there certainly is.

Good morning, John. A pleasure to be here.

But, you know what, it's pretty universally true for professional athletes. We are defined by our sport. And we define ourselves often by our sport.

[08:50:00]

And I truly believe that this is the first time that Simone Biles feels like she's more than a gymnast with the outpouring of support for her. Rightfully so, because, you know, what was clear to I think most Olympians watching is that Simone wasn't in the zone. You know, there's this sports psychology term of being in the zone. And it's when athletes find the right mental head space to compete at their best. And we saw Simone, what happened in the prelims, she couldn't find it. She couldn't -- she couldn't gather the ability to be the gymnast she's always been. And she said, you know what, I don't want to lose a medal for my team in the event because I have -- I have the spins, I'm not landing my routines. So she got out of the way. She let the three other young ladies, Suni, Grace, and Jordan, who just did beautifully, win a silver medal. And I think that was incredibly selfless of her.

BERMAN: How encouraged should we be that Simone Biles is saying she now realizes she's more than just her accomplishments or there's been this outpouring of support to allow her to feel that way?

BLOOM: I think we should feel very encouraged. And I think it's a great message to young athletes who aspire to be Olympians and world champions and soccer players and NFL football players that, yes, you have to dedicate every single thing that you have to your sport in order to be the best. There's no question. But it doesn't define the human being who you are. You're more than that sport.

And I think that's a healthy balance that every athlete needs to have because what was clear in the way to gold with a bunch of the Olympians that you just showed, who, by the way, are the most successful U.S. Olympians in history, they didn't have the balance and it really impacted them mentally and they went through, you know, extreme depression, thoughts of suicide. And this is a real problem in our society, and we need to get away from the narrative that it's a weakness in the human spirit or body if somebody's going through these problems and challenges and at elevated levels it's a disease. It's like cancer. It's like diabetes. And we have to treat this that way.

So I think what Simone is doing is sending a message to the world, to people who are struggling, not just the people who are winning and saying, it's OK not to be OK, and it's OK do get out of the way at the world's biggest stage in order to make your teammates more successful.

BERMAN: Look, I know you've lost friends to suicide, both in the skiing world and also football. You, of course, also, among your many talents, played pro football, or were drafted by a pro football team.

Actually, I do want to ask you about that because there are these new vaccine requirements where the teams are going to be penalized if they are forced to cancel games as a result of unvaccinated players being infected. There are some players who are upset about this. I mean what do you think about the push to get players vaccinated?

BLOOM: Well, I believe in science and I know the NFL wants to try to do everything that they can, not only to keep their players safe, but to not allow their players to go spread this disease all over. So, you know, I think it's the right decision. I'm supportive of it. I wish it wasn't such a polarizing topic. I wish we could all be unified in that -- in this, that it's a good thing.

But I understand that there's -- there's people who disagree. So we need to give them space to be able to disagree. But I think the leagues, not just the NFL, but other leagues are trying to do everything they can to keep their players and their fans and the community safe.

BERMAN: Listen, Jeremy Bloom, it's been great to talk to you. I want to thank you for the work that you've done with "The Weight of Gold" documentary and, you know, bringing mental health to the fore. You and other athletes, you are saving lives and that is no small thing. So thank you very much.

BLOOM: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: All right, corporate America taking a tough stance on vaccines. We have CNN coverage just ahead.

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[08:58:26]

KEILAR: A life-threatening lung condition kept her attached to an oxygen tank even when performing on stage. In today's "The Human Factor," this singer, song writer is beating the odds hoping to inspire others facing medical challenges.

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CHLOE TEMTCHINE, PULMONARY HYPERTENSION ADVOCATE: About that judgmental thing.

I was having that dream life singer, song writer, performer. I was recording all the time. And then this whole thing just happened.

I'm Chloe Temtchine. I'm a singer and a song writer and I recently received a lifesaving double lung transplant.

Pulmonary hypertension is high pressure in the arteries of the lungs. It makes your heard have to work too hard and eventually your heart fails.

I was told by one of the nurses, you know, you're going to have to be on oxygen for the rest of your life. And I was like, oh, oxygen, I'm like, I can't be on oxygen, I'm a singer, I'm a performer. The idea always for me was, I'm going to find someone who's thriving with pulmonary hypertension and they are going to be my source of inspiration. All I found was like, die, death, death, death.

So I thought, all right, how can I turn myself into that person? And then it was years of just doing everything in my power to stay alive and to also try to live.

Don't let your life pass you by.

On my treadmill one day, my heart shot up to 175, and then I have a heart attack. I then ended up in a coma for four days.

On August 4, 2020, lungs came in just in time because nobody thought that I could push through much longer.

My mission is to continue to bring awareness to pulmonary hypertension, to the importance of organ donation, and then to inspire hope in people.

You saved me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[09:00:07]

BERMAN: OK, that was awesome.

KEILAR: That was unbelievable.