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Biden Scores Big Wins as Senate Approves $3.5T Budget Plan; YouTube Suspends Rand Paul for Claiming Masks Ineffective; Poll: Most Parents Want Schools to Require Masks; Poll: 20% of Parents Will 'Definitely Not' Vaccinate Kids; Docs Who Studies 1 Million Students: Universal Masking Works; Texas Republicans Vote to Arrest Dems Who Left to Block Bill. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired August 11, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[06:00:02]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm John Berman, side by side with Brianna Keilar this morning. It is Wednesday, August 11.

And we do begin with breaking news. It happened just moments ago in the U.S. Senate and is a big victory for President Biden and his domestic agenda.

Topping off 24 hours, a big 24 hours, for this agenda, and a sign that maybe there's a possibility for the path that he has set going forward.

After an all-nighter, Senate Democrats approved a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, paving the way for Democrats to pass the plan without Republican support later this year. The measure passed 50-49. It was a party-line vote, following a lengthy series of amendments, known as a vote-a-rama.

The budget lays the ground work for a sweeping expansion of the country's social safety net, and it would allow Democrats to fund their battle, the climate crisis, you know, fund some healthcare initiatives, education measures; and it would also increase taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Senate Republicans did block an attempt by Democrats to advance voting rights legislation that they say is critical to counter efforts by states to restrict voting access.

Senator Ted Cruz called it a Democratic power grab and a federal takeover of elections.

BERMAN: All right. Joining us now to discuss, senior political analyst John Avlon; and sitting down at the desk moments ago, I just saw CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: How about that?

BERMAN: I hope she's here to talk about this. I don't know what else we have to talk about. So it's nice to see you here, as well.

Look, I think we need to frame this, this last 24 hours, the right way. What you had is a bipartisan infrastructure deal that Mitch McConnell and Elizabeth Warren both voted for. OK.

AVLON: Yes.

BERMAN: That is the Joe Biden path forward that so many people said this doesn't exist. We don't have the possibility for bipartisanship in Washington. That passed the U.S. Senate.

Within the same 24-hour period, you had Democrats on their own passing this huge budget resolution. This doesn't make it law. This opens the door to basically write the legislation for $3.5 trillion worth of new programs that people say, Christine Romans, are you know, the most ambitious programs since the New Deal.

When you take these two things together, what you see is big movement in the Biden agenda.

AVLON: Big time. You cannot really overstate what happened last night in terms of this administration's legacy.

First of all, Biden bet so much on the idea that there could be bipartisanship on something like infrastructure. He negotiated. He brought the senators in. He did interpersonal diplomacy. He was patient. He was determined. One trillion dollars in infrastructure got done, at least through the Senate.

And keep in mind that a decade ago, Republicans Heismanned -- they killed -- a $60 billion infrastructure bill. So this is a big deal in terms of America's economy, in terms of showing we can build again, and in terms of Biden's agenda.

The 3.5 trillion budget that they just opened the door to reconciliation also is a big deal for Democrats and the Biden administration. Totally different process, totally different agenda. Not bipartisanship, except -- but a rebuilding, in some ways, of Democrats' commitment to the social safety net and government programs.

But taken together, this is a momentous day for the Biden agenda.

BERMAN: Just one more thing here, and I don't want to get all processy here. This is the process that Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi told us that they were going to use to get all of this passed. And it hasn't been totally clear that it would work. So far it's working.

One of the necessary ingredients was to pass the Senate bipartisan deal, and then a necessary agreement was to get the Democrats on board to begin this $3.5 trillion process. You didn't have this, you're not going to get any of it.

AVLON: Correct.

BERMAN: So far it's still working. I don't know if that's going to last, but so far on they're on track.

KEILAR: And also, if you have two bills, one that has the support of 19 Republicans and the other one that has the support of none, but then you have Americans looking at how this affects them, I wonder if they really discern, Christine, between these two things? I mean, when you look at -- assuming that everything moves forward, how are Americans going to feel this day to day in their lives?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: So they're different but absolutely completely related. Like, this infrastructure bill, it's 550 billion of new spending. And this is -- this is an intelligence test that Congress likely just passed, right?

Because investing in your infrastructure is really easy, should be easy to do, and they haven't been able to do it. And people will feel it. When you have fewer potholes on your road, you have -- your car -- your payments are -- or your car costs are lower. You know, your commute is easier.

All of these things are incredibly important. High-speed Internet for the entire country. These are investments that will matter to people.

Now the bigger $3.5 trillion package, there are things in there for everyone: pre-K, universal pre-K. Any young family will feel this. People who are on Medicare, Medicare recipients, you would have dental. You would have other advantages that they don't currently have, many don't have now.

So it touches just about every single aspect of an American family's life. This -- this, what they want to do would. And that's what the White House is going to have to really sell and Democrats will have to sell.

BERMAN: The part of this that we don't know is how the Senate -- which I guess is now on recess until September 13. You cover the place.

KEILAR: Wouldn't that be amazing?

BERMAN: That's a great schedule.

KEILAR: A month-long vacation.

BERMAN: And the House is out.

KEILAR: It's like a unicorn.

BERMAN: The House is out for the next week or so. But the trick here, not with the bipartisan deal but this $3.5 trillion plan, is how does Nancy Pelosi really, and how does the Senate on their own, put together a plan that Nancy Pelosi can get progressives on board with in the U.S. House and that Chuck Schumer can get Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema on board with in the Senate? I'm not sure I know what that sweet spot is. I suppose the question is, is there a sweet spot?

AVLON: There is a sweet spot. This is the art of governing. This is the herding of cats, the making of sausage. But given that it's Democrats negotiating between themselves, despite all the disparate, you know, the ground between the AOCs and the Joe Manchins of the world, this is too big an opportunity for Democrats to screw up. Although God knows they're capable of it.

But this is a big deal, and they will find a way to move this forward. Not everyone will get everything they want. But -- but you know, even though Pelosi is saying, Look, I've got to pump the brakes on passing infrastructure tomorrow, which is not going to satisfy some folks, this is in -- the ball is in the Democrats' court right now. And they will find a way to have something resembling common ground, for all the squabbling that will inevitably occur.

BERMAN: Christine Romans, John Avlon, great to see you both here.

ROMANS: An intelligence test.

BERMAN: Boom.

ROMANS: I tell you, infrastructure is an intelligence test.

KEILAR: That is --

AVLON: We didn't eat the marshmallow.

KEILAR: It is affirming, though. It is -- it is good to see, right? It is good to see that they can pass something substantive.

ROMANS: And you know, yesterday you heard Joe Biden, the president, say, Everyone said I couldn't do this. We're doing this. We're doing this. We're going to get this done, you know.

AVLON: Credit where credit is due.

BERMAN: All right. Developing overnight, truth hurts. At least, it hurt Senator Rand Paul.

The Kentucky Republican says things that are not true, which is bad enough, but he also says things that can be deadly. And this morning, there are consequences.

YouTube has suspended Paul for posting a video replete with misinformation. The truth is -- the truth -- is that masks work to slow the spread of coronavirus. The lie is they are ineffective. That's what he said. And he's now been blocked by YouTube for seven days for spreading that nonsense.

Now, it came within 24 hours of when Twitter banned Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene for lying about vaccines.

Now, it's pretty revealing, right? One can choose either to work to fight to overcome this pandemic, or it seems you can choose option "B," as Paul and Greene have. Meanwhile, Florida and Texas are now seeking help from other states

and the federal government to fight deadly COVID surges. This as the Republican governors are trying to restrict the freedom of towns and schools from making their own decisions about how to protect children. Both states now have more minors -- kids -- hospitalized than ever before.

KEILAR: And in Texas, Governor Abbott is requesting help from out-of- state nurses and delaying elective procedures to deal with an overwhelming surge in cases there.

A health official says only 329 ICU beds are available in the entire state. And that includes just 27 in the Houston area where there are 7 million people.

A source is telling CNN that the federal government has recently sent hundreds of ventilators to Florida. Remarkably, Governor DeSantis claims to know nothing about that.

Whitney Wild joining us now for more on Rand Paul YouTube's suspension. This is -- you know, this is going to definitely punctuate the fact that he, at this one specific time, is putting out a lot of misinformation, but that he has a pattern of it, as well, Whitney.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. This is another example of what a lot of people have been calling for, which is these social media sites to take on more responsibility for perpetuating misinformation.

So now they're taking a more hardline approach, just getting rid of this information when they see it. Rand Paul is the latest example of that.

YouTube gave the Kentucky senator his first strike, which prevents him from uploading any new videos on the platform for seven days, as you had mentioned before.

A spokesperson for YouTube said that they made the decision after a video he posted to his channel Tuesday included multiple statements contradicting health authorities. We don't want to give too much oxygen to misinformation out there. We don't want to use it out of context or for people to just hear a little bit of it. But for context in this situation, I think it's important you guys hear this.

So according to a spokesperson, Senator Paul falsely said, quote, "Trying to shape human behavior isn't the same as following the actual science, which tells us cloth masks don't work."

The reality is public health experts agree cloth masks offer at least some protection against the virus.

Still, Senator Paul took to Twitter to voice his frustrations, calling the suspension a badge of honor and adding that "left-wing cretins at YouTube banning me for seven days for a video that quotes two peer- reviewed articles saying clothe masks don't work."

[06:10:11]

So obviously, he's very frustrated.

Again, this comes right after Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was suspended from Twitter yesterday for falsely claiming that vaccines are failing and ineffective.

Both Twitter and YouTube say suspensions like these are consistent with each company's policy. Anybody using them should know that. Those are readily available for anybody, including Senator Paul and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Available for their perusing if they should choose to do so.

For Rand Paul, though, one more strike would mean an additional ban for two more weeks. Two more strikes could result in a permanent ban, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Whitney, thank you so much for that. Whitney Wild.

BERMAN: All right. We have new information just into CNN about how parents feel about masks and vaccines. And it's pretty revealing. I've been poring over the numbers, Harry. But you've been looking at it for longer than I have.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA CORRESPONDENT: I've been poring over them.

BERMAN: I know.

ENTEN: What are you talking about?

BERMAN: I just -- I saw the fact that there were numbers. You actually know what they mean. So let's talk about this.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: Harry Enten is here with me. Mask requirements, how do parents actually feel?

ENTEN: They like them. They like them. Overall, should require mask wearing at school for unmasked schools and students, look at that: 63 percent overall support it. Just 36 percent don't support it.

Democrats -- look, this is a huge partisan split -- 88 percent support it versus Republicans, just 31 percent. But still, 31 percent of Republicans, that's actually a fairly healthy share, given what we've been hearing.

BERMAN: We talk about the partisan divide in the U.S. right now. Thirty-one percent among Republicans is actually a higher number than I was expecting to see there.

ENTEN: Yes. That's exactly right. This is pretty large for Republicans, but overall the key picture here, 63 percent of Americans overall support it. BERMAN: Now, these are the numbers I actually want help understanding.

You -- it's a different story when it comes to vaccine requirements, Harry?

ENTEN: Yes, that's right. And of course, remember, you can't give vaccines yet to those under 12.

But if you look here, again, require COVID-19 student vaccinations at your child's school. This is among parents of age 12 to 17 years old. Here are what we find is something different. Only 42 percent of Americans support that. So a mask -- mask requirement in students' schools, parents support that.

But when it comes to vaccine requirements for students, parents do not support that.

Democrats here, look, plurality, 66 percent, clearly in favor but not anywhere near as where we saw masks, where it was 88 percent. While Republicans, it was 31 percent who supported masks for them. But look at that, just 13 percent on vaccines.

BERMAN: One of my questions was, this is -- this is parents of kids 12 to 17, for whom there is emergency use authorization already. It wouldn't have surprised me if there were parents of kids younger than 12 who didn't have an answer yet, because they haven't been approved in any way.

But this is interesting, because it's parents for whom the vaccines are available right now.

What do we know about where kids are getting sick?

ENTEN: Yes. When we're -- you know, when we're looking at this partisan divide, whether we should have masks or vaccines, and we see that Republicans are far less in favor of them, this is the type of chart that worries me. Right?

This is coronavirus hospitalizations per million residents under age 18. The green is the Trump states. Look at this per a million. Highest of the pandemic so far. So high up it's blasting through my key right here.

If you look at the Biden states, it's actually fairly steady, right? But in the Trump states, what we've been seeing in the South, right, is those hospitalizations really growing very, very high among everybody. And that is being translated into youth hospitalizations, as well, where we're now at the highest point in the pandemic.

BERMAN: That's interesting. The highest point in the pandemic for hospitalizations in those states that voted for Donald Trump. What about vaccinations?

ENTEN: Yes. You now, one of the things I'll also point out is, if you look, right now children with at least one COVID dose -- remember, those under the age of 12, nothing, nothing. But if you look here, age 12 to 17, in the Biden states, look how many more under the age of 18, 12 to 17, have vaccines. About 52 percent. In the Donald Trump states, it's only about 36 percent.

And what I will point out to you, John, which is so important, is remember last year, there really weren't that many kids in school, right? What we saw was, was, or will your child's school be all in person? According to that Kaiser poll that we've been talking about, last year, it was just 24 percent age 5 to 11. Age 12 to 17, it was just 18 percent.

Look at that now. The vast majority are expecting their kids to be in school, which is a good thing, because kids learn better in school. So we better figure out a way to keep those kids safe, because they're going to be able to potentially spread the virus between each other if we don't.

BERMAN: I was talking to a doctor in a Louisiana hospital yesterday who has seen more kids hospitalized with COVID than ever before. Zero, zero vaccinated patients, you now, 12- to 17-year-olds. So no one who has been vaccinated is coming into the hospital, at least in this hospital. So there is one path to keep your kids safe.

ENTEN: There is one path if you have a kid who's 12 to 17. Get that kid vaccinated, because there are going to be a lot of kids in school together. It will help keep them safe.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much for that.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: Brianna.

[06:15:02]

KEILAR: As the back and forth over masks in schools continues, my next guests have been working with North Carolina schools, consisting of more than 1 million students and staff members, to study the spread of coronavirus and the efficacy of mitigation measures in schools. And what they found is overwhelming evidence that masks work there.

They write in "The New York Times," quote, "Although vaccination is the best way to prevent COVID-19, universal masking is a close second. And with masking in place, in-school learning is safe and more effective than remote instruction, regardless of community rates of infection."

Those researchers are with us now. We have Dr. Kanecia Zimmerman, who is an associate professor of pediatrics at the Duke University School of Medicine; and Dr. Danny Benjamin Jr., who is a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Duke Health.

I want to thank you both for being with us this morning. And, you now, first to you, Dr. Zimmerman. You know, what you -- you find in this study is fascinating. Tell us what you found in North Carolina and then looking at other states about the effectiveness of masks in schools.

DR. KANECIA ZIMMERMAN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PEDIATRICS, DUKE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Absolutely. Thank you so much.

So we studied, as you mentioned, over a million students and staff here in North Carolina. More than 7,000 people came into the buildings with COVID-19.

We also looked at those who were quarantined. More than 40,000 students and staff required quarantine because of close contact with those 7,000 students and staff. But we only identified about 363 secondary infections.

That means of those who were quarantined, very few -- less than 1 percent -- were actually getting infected.

This has been consistent with our prior data here in North Carolina, in 13 districts, 11 districts both during the community surge and earlier, as well as in places like Utah, Wisconsin, and in St. Louis, as well.

So, there's been consistency in the data that masks can be effective in helping to prevent spread of COVID-19.

KEILAR: So you know, Dr. Benjamin, it's pretty clear and it's not -- it shouldn't be controversial but it is, right? You say kids suffer if they go to school without masks and if they don't go to school. I think, certainly, that if they don't go to school, they suffer. We can all agree on that.

But what about parents whose kids are going to school in a place where there is not a mask mandate? What do they need to do?

DR. DANNY BENJAMIN JR., PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST, DUKE HEALTH: Sure. The most important thing for them to do if their children are older than 12 -- 12 and older, is for them to be vaccinated, as you all just covered.

The second item for parents to do is to advocate for appropriate quarantine policies when children are exposed. And for them to advocate for transparency, for school districts to report how many people are being infected.

We've seen problems with government agencies obscuring how many people are truly infected and the consequences of poor public health policies.

And schools that don't have mask mandates should be held accountable when they put children at risk, which they clearly are doing.

They can mask their own children, and they can advocate for the data from the schools to be seen not only publicly but by trusted third parties.

KEILAR: So there's sort of a work-around is what you're saying, as parents are obviously concerned if there aren't masks.

You know, Dr. Zimmerman, I do think there are a lot of parents who are hoping that not only can their kids go back to school, but that they might be able to participate in fall sports. How do we make that safe?

ZIMMERMAN: I think there are a number of ways that we can make fall sports safe. We know that sports in general have higher rates of transmission than the classroom setting, for example.

Here in North Carolina, we found that 50 to 75 percent of high-risk sports transmission occurred -- sorry. Fifty to 75 percent of high school transmission occurred in the settling of sports during the last school year. So certainly, many of those students are going to be eligible for vaccination. This is something that parents should certainly advocate for. They should certainly get their kids vaccinated.

Districts should be advocating and pushing and creating clinics to get their student athletes vaccinated. That's going to be the absolute safest way for us to do this here in the fall.

KEILAR: Yes, 50 to 70 percent. That is quite a number.

Dr. Kanecia Zimmerman, Dr. Danny Benjamin Jr., thank you so much to both of you, answering questions that are on so many parents' minds right now. We appreciate it.

BENJAMIN: Thank you.

KEILAR: A dramatic escalation overnight as the Texas Supreme Court rules that Republicans can arrest the Democrats who left the state to protest a voting bill.

BERMAN: Plus, hear a fired-up Cory Booker on the Senate floor and a speech directed at one of his Republican colleagues.

And what's happening to Americans who are lying to get a third dose of the vaccine?

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[06:24:08]

KEILAR: Fifty-two politicians from Texas are on a new wanted list. The state Supreme Court clearing the way for Republican lawmakers to order the arrests of Democrats who fled the state last month to block passage of new voting restrictions.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher joins us live with the latest -- Dianne.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, this morning 52 civil arrest warrants that were signed by the speaker of the Texas House last night will be delivered to the sergeant at arms for service.

It came just hours after the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court issued a stay on an order from a Democratic state district court judge that would have prevented these warrants from being issued, at least temporarily, and any sort of detention. Now, of course, this is the second time in as many months that Texas

House Republicans have voted to effectively send law enforcement after their Democratic colleagues, who are absent from the House, and drag them back to the Capitol to make quorum so they can do legislative business.

[06:25:09]

What's different this time, though, is that, while there are more than two dozen Texas Democrats still in the nation's capital, trying to lobby congressional lawmakers to pass federal voting rights legislation, many of those Texas Democrats have since returned to the Lone Star State.

So this does put them at risk for arrest. Because those civil arrest warrants are only good within the state of Texas.

Now, last time, in the month of July, when the Democrats effectively killed that election overhaul bill by -- by denying quorum, only one civil arrest warrant was actually signed. It was for a member who was in D.C., went back to Texas, and then went back to D.C.

So things have escalated from last month, with those 52 civil arrest warrants being signed.

Brianna, look, these are not criminal arrest warrants. No one will be taken to jail. But when I spoke with some of the Texas Democrats, especially those who are in the Lone Star State right now, they're not exactly sure what the next steps look like. They don't know if law enforcement can come to their homes, if they can find them in public and take them, essentially, and drag them back to the capital or how this will work.

One told me that they felt like they were in uncharted territory right now.

There is a hearing for that temporary restraining order that was issued by the district court judge on August 20. The Democrats have until Thursday to respond to the state Supreme Court ruling, Brianna.

But at this point, there's still no quorum, so the state House cannot do any business. Democrats tell me they are in this for as long as they possibly can be here.

KEILAR: Yes. It's a dramatic step. We'll see if it gets even more dramatic if it's carried out. Dianne, thank you so much.

We also are going to be speaking with one of those Texas Democrats coming up in the show.

BERMAN: So it happened just a few hours ago. It is already a viral moment, I am reliably told.

On the Senate floor, Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville called for a vote on an amendment that would punish local jurisdictions that defund the police. His idea was to put Democrats on the record on the issue.

But perhaps that effort backfired after Democratic Senator Cory Booker responded by celebrating the amendment. This is how it played out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): I call on my colleagues to support our law enforcement by voting yes for this amendment, opposing my amendment is a vote in support of defunding the police and against the men and women in blue.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The gentleman's time has expired.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): Madame President.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator from New Jersey.

BOOKER: I am so excited. This is perhaps the highlight of this long and painful and torturous night. This is a gift. If it wasn't complete abdication of Senate procedures and esteem, I would walk over there and hug my colleague from Alabama.

And I will tell you right now, thank God, because there's some people who have said that there are members of this deliberative body that want to defund the police, to my horror. And now this Senator has given us the gift that finally, once and for all, we can put to bed this scurrilous accusation that somebody in this great esteemed body would want to defund the police.

So let's all of us, 100 people, not walk but sashay down there and vote for this amendment and put to rest the lies that I am sure I will see no political ads attacking anybody here over defund the police.

And I would ask unanimous consent to add something else to this obvious bill. Can we add also that every senator here wants to defund the police, believes in God, country and apple pie. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Sashay.

KEILAR: Sashay. I know. That's what stood out to me. Sashay. That was quite effective.

BERMAN: You know, I'm not sure that Cory Booker needs any impetus to get himself revved up on anything, but he certainly jumped all over that. Maybe that's why Tommy Tuberville wasn't more effective as coach at Auburn.

KEILAR: Ooh.

BERMAN: He might still be there if he had more of a sense of strategic planning. Ultimately, every senator, both Democrats and Republicans, did sashay, and they voted in favor of the amendment.

KEILAR: Did they do this? (HOLDING ARMS OUT WIDE AND CLAPPING LOUDLY) BERMAN: Is that what you have to do when you sashay?

KEILAR: That's what he did.

BERMAN: That was quite a moment. Now I know why I'm told it went viral so quickly.

KEILAR: Right? Quite a moment.

BERMAN: In two weeks Andrew Cuomo will officially become the former governor of New York. What's next for him legally, and what do we know about his replacement?

KEILAR: Plus, the Taliban claiming control of another city in Afghanistan overnight. We will have a live report from Kabul.

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