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Soon: Senate Votes On Infrastructure Bill With Fate In House Uncertain; Taliban Seizes Sixth Afghan City In Faster-Than-Expected Takeover; 30 Officers Turn Their Backs On Chicago Mayor During Hospital Visit. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 10, 2021 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:32:13]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: In just a few hours, the Senate will vote on the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package. It is the product of months of intense negotiations on Capitol Hill and the White House. It's still to be seen how many Republicans give their final approval.

Joining me now is Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg. He was a big part of these negotiations.

Mr. Secretary, this is no test vote, this is no amendment. This is the -- you know, the whole deal. The big deal in the Senate -- in the Senate, at least.

So as you're looking forward today -- to today's vote, what's the significance?

PETE BUTTIGIEG, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Well, this is a big day. Of course, we're awaiting those final hours until the official vote takes place, but it's looking good.

And what we see in today's bitterly divided Washington is Republicans and Democrats coming together with the president to say we need to do this. We need better roads and bridges in this country. We need to invest in our ports and or airports. We need to look after our water infrastructure.

And some things that weren't considered infrastructure in the past, like broadband internet and getting good internet -- fast, affordable internet out to every American. Funding for trains, transit, and so much more that we just clearly need as a country.

So it's a good sign for the economy. It's a good sign for our democratic system. Of course, there are more steps to go, but very encouraged by the dynamics here and, of course, looking forward to seeing that officially clear the floor.

BERMAN: What is your message to some House Democrats who look at this and say OK, this is fine but we're not going to vote for this unless we get the $3.5 trillion budget plan through? What is your message to those who want to tie them together? BUTTIGIEG: Well, my basic message is this is good policy and it's good funding. What we're talking about here represents the most significant infrastructure funding that we've done in my lifetime and then some. Historic levels of support for transit. Historic levels and new levels of support for things we hadn't done before as a country in a big way, like supporting electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

And this, by the way, especially important in light of the extremely alarming report that came out yesterday from the global scientific community on just how dire things are with climate change. Transportation is the biggest emitting sector of greenhouse gases in the U.S. economy, which means we've got to have a lot of solutions. And a big part of that comes from things like the support for transit, like the support for electric vehicle charging infrastructure that are in this bill.

Now, of course, we believe in the second track, too. That's the other part of the president's economic vision. But this bill, if you just look at it, is going to do a lot for this country and a lot of things that Democrats, not to mention quite a few Republicans and Independents, have been calling for, for a long time.

[07:35:04]

BERMAN: There's going to be a lot of contracts if this becomes law. A lot of contracts going out and a lot of people will work on various aspects of infrastructure. Do you believe -- or how would you feel about vaccine requirements for the contractors who will receive federal infrastructure dollars?

BUTTIGIEG: I haven't heard of that concept before. I think, often, you do see employers deciding to take steps to protect their workforce. And, of course, we're seeing that as a federal workforce, too, with the president's guidance that -- in our department, for example, we're making sure that we're taking the steps so that we know that somebody's either vaccinated or need to take safety measures like masking and distancing so the whole workforce is safe.

What I will say about contracts is that's where our department comes in to make sure that those taxpayer dollars are being spent well. We're talking about more than a trillion dollars that would go out in the years to come. And we take very seriously our responsibility to ensure that every penny of that is well spent, that it's documented, that it's transparent, and it is going to the many places around the United States that need that infrastructure investment so much.

BERMAN: You, of course, a veteran among other things -- served in Afghanistan. How would you feel about this new vaccine requirement for active-duty troops?

BUTTIGIEG: Well look, when I was in the military I got vaccinated all the time. We would have medical day. You'd go through all your stops. You'd get your vision checked, you'd get your shots. I mean, it was the most routine thing imaginable.

And, of course, it's about keeping our troops safe. But also, by keeping our troops safe, we're helping to keep our country safe.

Remember, anytime an unvaccinated person is infected with this variant, that's one more person, one more place, one more body where this virus can not only cause direct harm, not only go on to infect somebody else but can also mutate and turn into another variant. That's why so many people's lives depend on every individual making that choice or responding to that requirement to get vaccinated.

So, you know, I think most people in the military are very used to this. I can't even remember the list of all the things I got vaccinated for, certainly before I deployed. And it's part of the job and for your own good.

BERMAN: Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, thanks so much for being with us this morning.

BUTTIGIEG: Thank you.

BERMAN: Still ahead, Afghanistan on the brink of collapse. The Taliban capturing another key city overnight as the U.S. prepares to end its military support.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And an unintended consequence of this recent coronavirus surge forcing hospitals to delay potentially lifesaving procedures for non-COVID patients. We'll be talking to one, coming up.

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[07:42:02]

KEILAR: Breaking overnight, the Taliban seized its sixth provincial capital in Afghanistan as the security situation there rapidly is deteriorating. There are growing concerns about whether the Afghan military can prevent the Taliban from overrunning the country once the withdrawal of U.S. and western forces wraps up here in a few weeks.

And joining us now is Army Reserve Capt. Matt Zeller. He is also the co-founder of No One Left Behind, which is a non-profit that has helped thousands of interpreters escape danger and start a new life in the U.S.

Matt, we really want to thank you for coming on and putting a human face on what we're seeing happening there. Tell us about your story. Tell us about the interpreter who saved your life.

CAPT. MATT ZELLER, U.S. ARMY RESERVE, CO-FOUNDER, NO ONE LEFT BEHIND, FELLOW, TRUMAN PROJECT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY: Sure. Well, thanks for having me.

I'm only sitting here talking to you today because of my Afghan interpreter -- my brother, Janis. On my 14th day in the war, he saved my life by shooting and killing dead two Taliban fighters who were about to kill me in the battle. I made him a promise that if I could ever repay that life debt all he had to do was ask. But I'm not the only American service member with this story. I mean, there are hundreds of us, if not thousands, who can point to our Afghan wartime allies and say these people stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us. You know, when my tour of duty was over, I had the luxury of coming home. They went on to the next unit and the next mission over and over again.

Janis never used to veil his face and I would ask him why don't you cover your face? And he would look at me and he'd say I want the Taliban to remember this face. This is my country. They should fear it.

These people are brave but they're now being outgunned, they're outnumbered, and unless we go and save them, they're going to die.

BERMAN: Go and save them -- what does that entail, though? And what is it exactly that you think the United States should be doing differently this morning on the field of battle?

ZELLER: So, the Afghan military is being just defeated everywhere in Afghanistan right now. Now, in some places, they've fought the Taliban to a standstill. But in the north, for example, they have lost five provincial capitals.

And now, the largest city in the north, Mazar-e-Sharif, is completely surrounded. In 1998, when the Taliban took Mazar-e-Sharif, they literally went door-to-door killing people and feeding their bodies to dogs.

These are horrid individuals that we're now fighting and they're fighting a war of attrition against the Afghan military. The idea is that they can just continue to suffer these losses so long as they wear down the Afghan military because they've got, seemingly, an endless supply of fighters streaming in from Pakistan.

So here's the so-what of all this. The Afghan military can't defend and protect our wartime allies. The Afghan government can't do it. We're the only people on the planet who can.

These people are trapped in the cities in which they live. There is no means to get to the one airfield that we're evacuating people from in Kabul. So unless we physically go and get them, the Taliban are going to hunt them down one by one and murder them.

[07:45:00]

KEILAR: I mean, we've heard stories from people trying to get their families out where to get to Kabul they had to make their way through multiple Taliban checkpoints. And truly, it was by the grace of God that they were even to get to Kabul.

At this point, we're hearing the Afghan president this morning and he's calling for public uprisings against the Taliban. You know, what are you expecting here, and are you expecting that is anything that could counter the will that Taliban fighters have? ZELLER: I expect the Afghan military to lose, unfortunately. They're just fighting in too many places at once. And we seem to have told them that there's an end date to our bombing. That seems to be the only thing that's keeping them engaged in the fight is our air dominance.

Once we leave, the Taliban have already purchased surface-to-air missiles from places like Russia and China. They've been very clear that they intend to shoot down the nascent Afghan Air Force, which is the only strategic advantage that the Afghan military has over the Taliban. Once that air force is shot down -- they're also, by the way, assassinating their pilots, so they might not even need to shoot down the aircraft if they simply just kill the people who can fly the planes and the helicopters.

But once the Afghans lose that strategic advantage, places like Kabul can't be defended. That's the whole point of this strategy. They're killing the Afghan military outside of the major cities so that there is no one to defend the cities once the Taliban launch their final assaults.

All of the Afghan cities are encircled. Think of it as a tightening noose and we're the only people on the planet that can put a stop to it and we, seemingly, have lost the political will to do so.

BERMAN: I don't think there's any question that we've lost the political will to do so. The argument that you would get from both the Trump administration and the Biden administration, though -- or the question they would ask you, Captain, is how many U.S. troops and for how long would you use to prevent this catastrophe?

ZELLER: How many it takes for however long it takes. People like me looked these people in the eye and made them a promise. If you want people like me to come home from future wars you have to save these people's lives now. No one is going to trust us going forward.

The Taliban, when they murdered these people, filmed these gruesome deaths. They put these snuff films on YouTube and the internet for not you and I to consume but for our future allies. They're trying to teach people that American friendship is a death sentence for them and their families.

This is a national security imperative for our own country. If we want to prevent future casualties and future wars, you have to start saving Afghan lives today.

KEILAR: I am married to someone who is alive because of Afghans. So, you know, that hits home for a lot of Americans, Matt, and I really appreciate you coming on to talk about it. Captain Matt Zeller, thank you.

ZELLER: Thanks for having me.

KEILAR: Emotions are running high in Chicago after a police officer was killed and another critically wounded in a weekend shooting. The city's mayor getting the cold shoulder from rank-and-file officers, literally. We'll have a live report on that, next.

BERMAN: Plus, in a state with one of the country's lowest vaccination rates, the Ole Miss football program says it has a perfect record on the vaccination front -- 100 percent vaccinated. That's astounding.

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[07:52:22]

BERMAN: This morning, three people face charges in a weekend shooting that killed a Chicago police officer. Twenty-nine-year-old Officer Ella French was fatally shot during a traffic stop.

Her partner remains hospitalized in critical condition. Some 30 officers turned their backs on Mayor Lori Lightfoot when she visited their wounded colleague in the hospital.

CNN's Omar Jimenez live in Chicago. Good morning, Omar.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Well, three people are in custody in connection to this shooting over the weekend from a traffic stop that killed Officer Ella French and left her partner wounded as he's still in the hospital.

Now, two of those suspects, Chicago police say, were involved in the shooting. At least one of them has been charged with first-degree murder. A third suspect is in federal custody after allegedly buying the gun used in this shooting in Indiana for one of the alleged suspects who couldn't get one because of a prior conviction.

But when Mayor Lightfoot -- Mayor Lori Lightfoot visited the hospital to show support to the family of the wounded officer, about 30 rank- and-file officers physically turned their backs on Mayor Lightfoot, according to reporting from the "Chicago Sun-Times."

Now, the president of the local Fraternal Order of Police claimed that's because the men and women of the police department have lost respect for the mayor. Again, he claimed that. But, Lightfoot has been at the center of reforming police throughout all of this.

And when her office released a statement she said that this is not the time for divisive and toxic rhetoric -- reading specifically, in part, that "The mayor was present at the emergency room to offer support and condolences to the families involved and the hundreds of line officers and exempts who were there, which she did. In a time of tragedy, emotions run high and that is to be expected. The mayor spoke to a range of officers that tragic night and sensed the overwhelming sentiment was about concern for their fallen colleagues."

Now, in conversations I've had with the Chicago police superintendent here, he has talked about morale being a struggle of theirs, especially when you look back at COVID -- the protests of last year -- and, of course, reality like these grim reminders of the risks of the jobs in this. Before August, 36 police officers had been shot at here in Chicago.

Nine of them had been hit by gunfire. Officer French, however, tragically, the only one to be killed -- shot and killed, I should say, in the line of duty here in Chicago this year, John.

BERMAN: Omar Jimenez for us in Chicago. Omar, thank you very much for that report.

Next, we have a CNN special report. We're going to talk about the growing anger of the vaccinated in America and how so many are losing patience as, at times, it seems the nation is taking steps backward.

[07:55:14]

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KEILAR: Good morning to viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. I am Brianna Keilar alongside John Berman today. And this is a special edition of NEW DAY.

It is time to blame the unvaccinated. That is according to a Republican governor who has lost patience with this new phase of the pandemic. This self-inflicted, voluntary surge -- a spike in cases and deaths that never had to happen. Get the damn vaccine, says another Republican governor.

And for the next hour, we'll be talking about another surge -- a surge in anger from vaccinated Americans as the country falters in its fight against the virus.

BERMAN: First -- you know, one of the ironies here is that from some circles it is the vaccinated -- the people who have taken active measures to battle COVID who have been belittled and marginalized.

Take the statement from the former spokeswoman from Donald Trump's FDA. She writes, quote, "My decision not to get vaccinated does not affect anyone else's health. Full stop. The #Scared Vaccinated are dividing communities and the country."

It's your fault, she says. It's the vaccinated's fault for caring about their health? That's her suggestion?

As thematically problematic as that notion is, it is even more factually suspect. The decisions of the unvaccinated effect everyone.

First and foremost, more vaccinations mean fewer deaths -- fewer families grieving in communities and the country. Someone's decision to get vaccinated affects millions of children who cannot yet get vaccinated, as we see higher rates of children hospitalized in this new phase. Also, millions of the immunocompromised who are more vulnerable.

Scientists say that the more transmission there is, the higher the probability that mutations --