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Biden Scores Big Wins On Infrastructure And Budget If Deals Hold; Average Pace Of New Vaccinations Tops 500,000 For First Time Since June; Dominion Voting Systems Suing Newsmax, One America News, and ex-CEO Of Overstock. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 11, 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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[07:33:35]

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After years and years of "infrastructure week", we're on the cusp of an infrastructure decade that I truly believe will transform America. We've proven that we can still come together to do big things, important things for the American people.

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: That was President Biden praising the Senate for passing the historic sweeping $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package.

Joining me now to discuss is Energy secretary and a member of President Biden's Jobs Cabinet, Jennifer Granholm. Secretary, thank you so much for being with us.

The bipartisan deal -- Mitch McConnell, Elizabeth Warren -- you know, hand-in-hand, at least metaphorically, voting for the same bill. How surprised were you to have McConnell on board, and how big of a deal is that bipartisan passage?

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: I mean, it's a huge deal, obviously. I mean, Mitch McConnell knows and he has seen what the benefit of this for Kentucky is. This will help his state and every single state.

You've got this massive investment in roads and bridges, which everybody needs. You've got a massive investment in making sure that we can have broadband everywhere. That will help Kentucky. It will help these states of the other 19 Republicans who joined. They see this and Americans see this as a huge benefit for investing in the bones of our country. So, it's a -- it's a big deal.

[07:35:02]

BERMAN: If it is such a big deal and will do all those things, why not ask Nancy Pelosi to have the House pass it this afternoon? Why wait on something else to happen to have this become law?

GRANHOLM: Yes. I mean, the president is committed to both pieces of his agenda. So this bipartisan infrastructure plan was one piece, and the second piece is going to be the follow-on bill that was -- the budget resolution was passed late last night or early this morning. And the president is going to be pushing for both.

Obviously, Congress is going to figure out what the order and the sequence is and the president respects that. Nancy Pelosi certainly knows what she is doing.

So it is a big deal. I think we're going to have support for this in the House. It's the first step. It's got to be passed by the House. That is going to happen. And hopefully, the second piece happens as well.

BERMAN: You keep saying hopefully. I mean, is the bipartisan infrastructure deal a big enough deal on its own without the $3.5 trillion budget plan?

GRANHOLM: It is a huge deal. There is no question about it. But the president has a Build Back Better agency, which includes both pieces, and he's going to be pushing for both pieces.

BERMAN: How involved are you in possible conversations with the likes of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema? And you're going to need to get them on board and keep them on board to get this $3.5 trillion plan -- or most of it or parts of it, or whatever that becomes. They're going to need to support it because you need all 50 Democrats.

GRANHOLM: For sure, and they voted to support the budget resolution yesterday, which was at that amount. And they also see that this second piece -- I mean, this is -- it's the support by the American people for the second piece -- for the second -- the human infrastructure if you will, John. It's really through the roof.

I mean, over 70-80 percent of people support, for example, making sure that seniors have affordable access to prescription drugs, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, or getting hearing aids, or making sure that we have support for senior care or childcare.

So there's -- you know, this -- the components of the second part and making sure not that we just lower costs but that we also lower taxes for working parents with children. And that it's all paid for and paid for by people who earn more than $400,000 a year and corporations who have not paid their fair share. That seems fair to people.

And so, it's paid for. It will be proposing -- it will be putting forth programs to help everyday citizens. You know, there is a lot to like for Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Manchin, and all of the other senators.

BERMAN: You know, there are Democrats who will look at this and say the $3.5 trillion plan -- it's the biggest rewriting of the social safety net since the new deal -- and they go yay. And then there are Republicans who will look at that and say it's the biggest re-creation of the social safety net since the new deal, and they like uh. Which side are you on?

GRANHOLM: Well, clearly, I'm on the side of the president, making sure that we put forth the things that Americans care about. I mean, whether it's --

So, I'm the energy secretary and we have just got a big report from the international governmental panel on climate change from the U.N. and it should set our hair on fire. And so, part of the second step will make sure that we have clean electricity standards, which sends a signal to the market that we're going to get 100 percent of our electricity from clean sources and not contribute to that carbon pollution that is causing the temperatures to rise.

So that is also in the second piece. I mean, we need to have this because you see what's happening in the west in terms of wildfires and droughts. And Siberia -- Siberia is on fire. It's the largest fire -- if you combined all other fires, Siberia's fire, right now, is larger than any of them. We have got to address this.

So this second piece is so important for both individuals, for our planet, for our shared home.

BERMAN: Let me ask you this. If memory serves, you were the first woman to be governor of Michigan, correct?

GRANHOLM: Correct.

BERMAN: I'm curious -- you know, one of the things we're seeing in New York now that Gov. Cuomo has said he's resigning is that New York will have its first woman to be governor ever. And when I read that I'm always like really? Like, you know, it's 2020 -- it's taken to 2021 for the state of New York to get a woman as governor and it has to happen this way.

Be that as it may, as someone who was a pioneer in your state, what's your advice to the incoming governor of New York?

GRANHOLM: You know, I think -- like, whether you're a woman or man you have got to listen to the voices of real people. You have to understand where they're coming from and what their struggles are.

You know, she's going to listen to -- you know, if you look at what people care about, they care about, right now, healthcare, obviously. They care about the cost of that healthcare. They care about making sure that they're able to care for their aging parents and they're crunched because they may have children that are also needing childcare.

[07:40:03]

It's -- you know, it's basic kitchen table issues. Women and, I'm certain, a lot of men, too, care about those issues. And women are great leaders because we are often collaborative and we listen. And I really wish her well. I think she's going to be a great fresh start for New York.

BERMAN: Energy Sec. Jennifer Granholm, thanks for coming on this morning -- appreciate it.

GRANHOLM: You bet, John -- thanks.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The average pace of new coronavirus vaccinations in the United States has topped 500,000 people per day for the first time since June. CDC data shows a 13 percent increase in vaccinations over the past week. But a full 31 percent of the eligible population -- people over 12 -- 12 and over -- have not been vaccinated. Nine states, mostly in the southeast, have vaccinated less than 40 percent of their residents.

So we know you have a lot of questions, so let's get some answers to those about the vaccines, about the variants, with Sanjay Gupta, our chief medical correspondent on this. It is great to have you on.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you -- in person.

KEILAR: I really love these moments where people -- I know, it's great to see you in person. You're real -- you're not a hologram.

GUPTA: Yes.

KEILAR: And very helpful for our viewers because they have a lot of questions for you. So --

BERMAN: And he is real and very helpful.

KEILAR: And very helpful. It's a real guy giving you real answers.

OK, so I want to jump right in here.

GUPTA: OK.

KEILAR: Stephen asks -- Stephen from Florida -- "Is there any research to show the effect of Delta Variant of COVID-19 on vaccinated elderly people in nursing homes or adult living facilities?"

GUPTA: Well, Stephen, thank you for that. This is a really important question because nursing homes are often the sort of forerunner of what happens in the rest of the country. We saw that last spring. Pay attention to nursing homes now.

So let me show you a little bit of what's happening in nursing homes. We've been putting this together.

So just in terms of vaccinations of nursing home residents, they're among the highest vaccinated population in the country -- 82 percent. Staff, closer to 59 percent. Pay attention to that. The country as a whole, 50 percent. So let's look at what happened over the last month -- end of June to

end of July. The country grew 4.4 times. What happened in nursing homes, 3.6 times. It kind of makes sense, right? They're growing slower. They have a much-vaccinated population.

But not all nursing homes are the same and this is where it gets important. If you find nursing homes where you actually had higher vaccination rates, they tended to grow slowly -- that's 3.6 times. But in nursing homes where the staff vaccination fell below 50 percent -- more in line with the rest of the country -- then it was 5.2 times faster. So the growth was actually faster in those nursing homes than the rest of the country, OK?

If you look at specific states -- if we could show that state map again. You go to Mississippi, nursing homes grew 18-fold faster compared to 4.4 for the country. Mississippi, 8.4 times faster.

So we've got to really pay attention to nursing homes. What's happening in nursing homes will give an indication of what's happening in the rest of the country.

BERMAN: What happens inside the nursing homes and then all around those nursing homes in that area right there.

All right, this question comes from Jamie in San Diego. I'm going to read this. Hopefully, you understand what he's asking here.

"What should be the message from the CDC and the NIH to counties with both high vaccination rate and high COVID transmission rate? For example, I live in San Diego. Although over 71 percent of the population is vaccinated, our transmission rate/COVID cases are high."

GUPTA: Yes, so this is an interesting point. People often say OK, we've got enough vaccine out there. Why -- what else do we need to do?

There's two problems. One is that you want to vaccinate people. The second is you want to make sure people aren't constantly being bathed in virus. It's pretty simple.

I mean, you know, somebody said to me if the country, as a whole, wore high-filtration masks -- KN95 or N95 masks -- for three weeks, we could probably bring viral transmission down to containment. Three weeks -- the country, if they did that. And that applies to San Diego.

So we can see what's happening in San Diego County. First of all, you're right. It's around 69 percent have received at least one dose, 60 percent fully vaccinated. But San Diego does something really interesting where they bifurcate who is vaccinated -- where the case rates are falling between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. I mean, the numbers tell the story.

BERMAN: Yes, there's no ambiguity in that graphic.

GUPTA: We know who is becoming infected right now in San Diego. But the message, at least for the next few weeks until the viral transmission rates come down -- if you live in a place with high transmission, wear masks indoors.

KEILAR: I'm so glad that you have that graph because the COVID infections -- if they're breakthrough they're not the same as other infections when you look at the risk of death, right? So you really want to break out those numbers to see that.

And speaking of someone who would not be included necessarily in that -- in that white part of the graph, Jim asks, "Why should someone who has already had COVID-19 get vaccinated. Doesn't he or she already have antibodies?"

GUPTA: Jim, this is probably one of the most common questions I get, and the answer is yes. You do have antibodies and you probably also have these cells that are called T cells that's another part of your immune system. That is true.

[07:45:06]

And there's even been throughout history examples where people who are naturally infected had even stronger immunity than what a vaccine could provide. That's not the case here and that's just because we have the data now. In fact, there was a study last Friday showing those who are vaccinated are half as likely to become re-infected as those who weren't.

Again, we didn't know this for certain at the beginning, but these vaccines are really good. There's more variants coming. What they're finding is the vaccines are more durable, lasting longer, and they're broader -- offering broader protection against the variants as well.

BERMAN: You know, people who've had COVID, the data is clear here. They can have their cake and eat it, too. Get the vaccine. And they're wicked protected --

GUPTA: That's right.

BERMAN: -- as they would say in Boston.

GUPTA: That's right.

BERMAN: I mean, it's a really high level of protection. Go get the vaccine. You're better off.

This is from Carlos. "I'm fully vaccinated and I'm exposed to somebody who got COVID. What should I do and do I have to quarantine?"

GUPTA: Well, first of all, Carlos, you're vaccinated, so that's the really good news. And the -- and the recommendations are going to be pretty simple. If you've been vaccinated and you have this exposure you do not need to quarantine.

They do say you should get tested now. Remember, they said if you don't have symptoms, in the past, you don't need to get tested. Now they're saying even if you're vaxxed and have had an exposure, you should get tested three to five days after and wear a mask indoors until 10 days. If you have symptoms, obviously, isolate, get tested -- all the things you would normally do.

Keep in mind -- look, if you have symptoms, no matter what, stay home. I mean, you don't know if it's the flu, if it's COVID, RSV. There's all these things circulating. If you're symptomatic, that advice is clear. This is -- this is for people who don't have symptoms.

KEILAR: If you've been exposed, you don't have symptoms, you are vaccinated -- so you don't need to quarantine. But what if you have children?

GUPTA: What if you have children? Well --

KEILAR: Small children.

GUPTA: Small children.

KEILAR: I'm asking for a friend.

BERMAN: Yes, asking for a friend.

KEILAR: I'm asking for myself.

GUPTA: You've had the -- if you -- if you have symptoms obviously you isolate within the home. If you don't have any symptoms get tested, and if you have the virus then you may want to wear a mask or something like that -- or stay away from the kids. But if not, I think you're OK.

KEILAR: In the interim then, as you are waiting to be tested after exposure, that's the -- that's the tricky part, right?

GUPTA: Yes. If you really are worried about it -- I mean, I think that if you're vaccinated, the risk is really quite low. I mean, is it zero, no, but it's quite low. I don't know what specifically you would do differently but I think during that -- I would definitely get tested.

KEILAR: Yes, definitely.

BERMAN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, even better in person --

GUPTA: Yes, I'll have to do it more often.

BERMAN: -- I have to say. Yes, yes, bring it on. Thanks so much, Sanjay.

GUPTA: You got it.

KEILAR: A once-in-a-lifetime musical event here in New York celebrating the city's comeback from COVID-19 -- "WE LOVE NYC: THE HOMECOMING CONCERT" is Saturday, August 21st only on CNN.

And still ahead, Dominion Voting Systems is suing two cable networks over the big lie. We're going to talk with the lawyer who is leading their defamation case, next.

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[07:52:12]

KEILAR: Dominion Voting Systems announcing that they are suing right- wing networks Newsmax and One America News for defamation for broadcasting unfounded election claims. Dominion is also suing former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne for what they describe as bankrolling and promoting a viral disinformation campaign against their company. All told, they are seeking nearly $2 billion in damages.

Joining us now is Stephen Shackelford. He is legal counsel for Dominion Voting Systems. Stephen, thank you so much for being with us today.

Just tell us how you came to this $2 billion figure and how Dominion's business has been impacted by the airing of these conspiracy theories.

STEPHEN SHACKELFORD, LEGAL COUNSEL FOR DOMINION VOTING SYSTEMS: Good morning, Brianna. Thanks for having me.

The $2 billion figure has a number of components that we outline in the complaints that we filed.

Let's start with the value of the company. Back in November before this campaign of lies started, Dominion was a billion-dollar company if you look at their earnings and compare them to comparable companies. But the value of the company has been decimated as a result of this campaign of lies. The company is radioactive. So that's one element of the damages is the tremendous loss and value of the company.

If you also look at the historic rates at which Dominion was renewing its long-term contracts with local governments for their voting equipment and the rates at which Dominion was gaining new contracts, that has also taken a huge hit. And that has quantified it around $600 million of future profits that have been lost as a result of this campaign of lies.

So those are two examples of specific damages.

And on top of that, we're seeking what are known as general damages in defamation claims, which can be multiples of those amounts. And we're also seeking punitive damages against each of these defendants.

KEILAR: So, Patrick Byrne and One America -- they didn't respond to request for comment from us.

Newsmax, though, told CNN this. "...in its coverage of the 2020 presidential elections, Newsmax simply reported on allegations made by well-known public figures, including the president, his advisers, and members of Congress. Dominion's action today is a clear attempt to squelch such reporting and undermine a free press."

I'm sure you're going to expect a lot of that coming at you in these cases. How do you prove that it's defamation? SHACKELFORD: So, first of all, what Newsmax has said is just not true. And Fox, who we also sued earlier, is trying much the same defense. They did not just report on allegations of the president or his advisers.

Newsmax, for instance -- its own anchors were saying things like the truth is finally told or claiming that they had done their own internal investigations that corroborated these lies they were putting onto their air. So it's just not the case that they were covering President Trump. They were actually courting President Trump and his supporters by broadcasting these lies.

[07:55:01]

In terms of what we have to prove, at the very most, what we have to prove is that these defendants recklessly disregarded the truth, and the evidence of that is copious. If you look at our complaints, starting in early November 2020 and going all the way to the present day, you have a parade of officials -- Republican, Democrats, and Independent officials who explained over and over again that these were lies and that they had done audits and hand counts and so forth that confirmed the accuracy of the tabulation of votes by Dominion machines. And that's one point that I think your viewers need to understand.

For these jurisdictions, like Georgia and Maricopa County, they have paper ballots. A voter votes and can see on their paper ballot who their vote was recorded for. And the governments store these ballots so they can later conduct these hand counts to confirm the accuracy of the machines.

So these fantasies of a vote-rigging done through computers -- they just can't work when you consider that they have these paper ballots that they store and they later count.

So that -- we have a tremendous amount of evidence already about how these defendants knew the truth. They knew about these hand counts. They knew what all the officials were saying, confirming the accuracy of the counts. And yet, they proceeded to broadcast these lies over and over and again anyway.

KEILAR: What about Trump?

And I do just want to note that, for instance, Fox News, who you have sued, edited out some election fraud claims on the version of the interview of Trump posted online. This is something that he -- a spokesperson for him said.

What about Trump, though? You've sued Fox News, Mike Lindell, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell. Are you considering suing Trump?

SHACKELFORD: So, we continue to take an evidence-based look at all the other participants in this campaign lies, and we haven't ruled anybody out at this point.

KEILAR: But if -- can I just ask you. If he's where it starts, is it just sort of like maybe working toward that? Why not start with where it starts?

SHACKELFORD: Well, I don't want to say that President Trump is where it starts. These defendants all produced plenty of their own content espousing and promoting these lies well beyond what President Trump ever said. So, President Trump certainly participated in this.

But each of these defendants is responsible for the lies that they, themselves, espoused on their air and for the many other -- the cast of characters of unreliable sources that they put on their air to also tell these terrible lies about Dominion.

KEILAR: Stephen, we know this is ongoing. We'll be keeping an eye on it. Thank you, Stephen Shackelford, for coming on.

SHACKELFORD: Thanks for having me, Brianna.

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: A spike in child COVID cases. One hospital in Louisiana has run out of beds for pediatric patients. The head of the hospital's pediatric ICU joins us just ahead.

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