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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) Shares Death Threat She Received After Boebert Call; CNN: Cuomo Suspended Indefinitely, Pending Further Evaluation; First U.S. Supervised Drug-Injection Sites Open In New York City. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired December 01, 2021 - 07:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:33:42]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar revealing the possible consequences of the bigoted anti- Muslim comments made by Republican Lauren Boebert. Omar posted a voicemail she received.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICEMAIL SENT TO REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): Don't worry, there's plenty that would love the opportunity to take you off the face of the f-- king earth. Come get it b-tch, you f--king Muslim piece of sh-t -- you jihadist. We know what you are. You're a f--king traitor. You will not live much longer, b-itch. I can almost guarantee you that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joining me now, former Minnesota senator Al Franken. He's the host of "The Al Franken Podcast."

That's voicemail is repugnant and it comes after Lauren Boebert repeatedly, we now know, made these just clearly bigoted anti-Muslim jokes about Ilhan Omar. And so, you now see the consequences of this and you see Kevin McCarthy taking no public stand here.

AL FRANKEN (D), FORMER U.S. SENATOR FOR MINNESOTA, HOST, "THE AL FRANKEN PODCAST": It's amazing. He didn't take any action against Gosar who did this -- what's it called?

BERMAN: Fantasy anime murder video.

[07:35:00]

FRANKEN: Yes. And, you know, like any workplace in America it would be like Bob, did you put out a video of you killing one of your -- our employees here? Yes, I did. You know, you can't do that. Really? It was kind of meant to be a joke.

This -- and McCarthy will not -- won't discipline them at all, in fact, but will discipline the 13 Republicans. If they get the majority, take away their chairmanships -- the ones who voted for infrastructure, which the Republicans tried to do and didn't achieve during Trump. They're for infrastructure until they're against it because Biden's the president.

It is so dysfunctional. It is so cynical. It's really a sad -- I can't believe how dysfunctional that place is.

BERMAN: There are some Republicans inside Congress who are speaking out against this kind of behavior.

Congresswoman Nancy Mace from South Carolina condemned what Lauren Boebert said. And as a result, Marjorie Taylor Greene attacked Nancy Mace. And then, Nancy Mace did back down. And I want to play some of the sound from her last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): And what it says to me is that if you say something that's batshit crazy or you say something extreme you're going to raise money. And that is the only reason that she does that. I mean, she's a grifter of the first order and she does it to raise money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now again, she's talking about Marjorie Taylor Greene here.

FRANKEN: I'm offended she said batshit.

(Laughing)

BERMAN: Is that a battle that Nancy Mace can win?

FRANKEN: Probably not in that -- in this Republican Party, which is amazing. It's amazing. They have become -- it -- this is as bad as I've ever seen it and it's just gotten worse and worse and worse, and I don't know when it's going to stop.

This is frightening. And the Marjorie Taylor Greenes and the Boeberts actually not only exist but are popular and have these huge followings. It's frightening.

BERMAN: I want to ask you about Mehmet Oz, television doctor who announced he's going to run for Senate in Pennsylvania. First of all, your immediate reaction to that.

FRANKEN: My immediate reaction is that they don't have a frontrunner. He's a T.V. personality. He knows how to be on T.V. People know him. We've seen that before recently -- me, but also Trump. And so, I think we shouldn't underestimate him.

On the other hand, people should look at -- he's been against vaccine mandates. We have to -- we would stop this if we had mandates -- if everyone got vaccinated.

Also, he's kind of a snake oil salesman. I think people have to go back and look at some of the stuff he's been selling -- supplements and all that kind of stuff.

(Audio gap)

BERMAN: -- ran for Senate in Minnesota. You were much more involved in the political world.

FRANKEN: Yes, so there is a lot of big difference.

BERMAN: But --

FRANKEN: Yes.

BERMAN: But, what did you learn about running for Senate as someone who had been a celebrity beforehand?

FRANKEN: Well, I was -- had been a comedian and one thing I learned is that the press has a vested interest in not getting jokes.

(Laughter)

FRANKEN: So, I don't know if they'll have a vested interest in calling out stuff like making profits off of supplements that don't work. I hope they do.

BERMAN: Poor Mehmet Oz. We'll just have to try to not make jokes.

You know, one of the other things --

FRANKEN: I actually don't think that's a problem with him.

BERMAN: Al Franken, I appreciate you being with us. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.

FRANKEN: My pleasure.

BERMAN: So, the prosecutions for the January 6 insurrection. Why isn't the Justice Department using all the legal weapons that they have? A reality check is next.

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[07:43:53]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The commission investigating January sixth continues to try to get to the bottom of that terrible day for our democracy if only to prevent it from happening again. But what if I told you there are already laws on the books designed for just that purpose.

John Avlon has a reality check.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Donald Trump really doesn't want you to see the White House documents about attempts to overturn the election around January sixth. And that's why his lawyers were back in court yesterday desperately trying to block the release from the National Archives and Records Administration. Keep in mind, these are your documents. They belong not to him but to the American people.

And what they're trying to avoid -- it's not just legal accountability but transparency knowing they'll be judged not only in court but in the eyes of history.

And we've never had a sitting president attempt to overturn an election before but that doesn't mean we've never confronted insurrection and sedition before. The Civil War was sparked in part by refusal to accept the legitimacy of Abraham Lincoln's election. The Confederate secession to preserve slavery was a violent insurrection.

[07:45:00]

In the aftermath of the war, the Civil War generation passed laws designed to protect America from insurrections in the future. Those laws might have once seemed like historic relics but lately they've been getting another look, and with good reason.

Last week, a jury in Charlottesville, Virginia awarded more than $26 million in damages against the white nationalists who organized and participated in the violent 2017 Unite the Right rally. The case, spearheaded by civil rights group Integrity First for America, demonstrated that the defendants, including neo-Confederates and neo- Nazis, were guilty under state law of conspiring to intimidate, harass, or commit acts of violence.

And while the jury deadlocked on federal charges, it was significant that the plaintiffs evoked an 1871 anti-KKK law known as the Enforcement Act. The 150-year-old law, not often used in modern-day civil cases, makes it a federal crime to conspire to commit racially or politically motivated violence. For example, using force, intimidation, or a threat to prevent someone from voting or holding office.

So, given that, it shouldn't be a surprise that this was the same law that Congressman Bennie Thompson invoked in his lawsuit against ex- President Trump, lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, accusing them of conspiring to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's win.

And while Thompson dropped his suit to avoid the appearance of conflict with his role as co-chair of the January 6 Committee, that same law is the basis for an ongoing NAACP lawsuit alleging that the Trump campaign tried to disenfranchise Black voters by trying to overturn the results in key battleground districts.

And that's not the only post-Civil War law that could impose some accountability for insurrection. The 14th Amendment of the Constitution, section three, was designed to bar people who participated in an insurrection from holding elected or appointed office going forward.

And this wasn't supposed to be limited to the Civil War, as a senator explained at the time. Being a permanent provision of the Constitution, it is intended to operate as a preventive of treason hereafter -- a measure of self-defense. But if applying that constitutional prohibition seems like too high a

bar for you there's also a criminal penalty for insurrection, which specifically covers incitement. And if that's not enough there's even a separate criminal statute for seditious conspiracy.

But while initial January 6th investigators indicated there would likely be seditious conspiracy charges against some of the rioters, so far, they have not emerged under A.G. Garland -- even in the new case of new conspiracy indictments against members of a group called Patriots 45 MAGA Gang, which included one defendant who allegedly messaged his crew ahead of January sixth we need to violently remove traitors. And if they're in key positions, rapidly replace them with able-bodied patriots.

So, the line from the DOJ to date seems to be conspiracy, yes; sedition, no. But if January sixth wasn't sedition or insurrection, what the hell is?

These are book -- these laws are on the books for a reason. They are the tools we were given by the Civil War generation to defend our democracy and hold insurrectionists accountable. And if we fail to apply the hard-won lessons of history to our current situation, we are only inviting further escalation because as Berman and Bri like to remind us, without accountability an attempted insurrection is just practice.

And that's your reality check.

KEILAR: Yes. We borrow that phrase and we borrow it often because it is true, John Avlon. Thank you for that great reality check.

Coming up, CNN has an alarming firsthand look at the addiction crisis in America.

BERMAN: And we are live at the Supreme Court where the monumental arguments over abortion rights are about to take place.

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[07:52:19]

BERMAN: CNN is suspending anchor and our colleague Chris Cuomo indefinitely. New documents revealed he was more involved than previously known in shaping the defense for his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who faced sexual misconduct allegations.

Brian Stelter joins me now with the news on this -- Brian.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT, ANCHOR, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Yes, some news about our own house here, John. And, of course, Chris, a former co-anchor of NEW DAY, and now CNN's primetime host -- one of the highest-rated hosts on CNN.

This was a long time coming. Cuomo in the news all year long because of his brother and because of the scandal involving the now-former governor. It was known that Chris Cuomo was talking to his brother, giving political advice.

But in the newly-released documents you can see that Chris Cuomo is essentially working as an unpaid adviser -- an aide -- as if he is a staffer of the governor -- giving political advice, giving commentary. Also, working his own sources to try to find out more about what might be revealed about his brother.

Here is the statement from CNN overnight about the suspension, saying, "When Chris admitted to us that he had offered advice to his brother's staff, he broke our rules and we acknowledge that publicly. But we also appreciated the unique position he was in and understood his need to put family first and job second.

However, these documents point to a greater level of involvement in his brother's efforts than we previously knew. As a result, we have suspended Chris indefinitely, pending further evaluation."

So, that's the statement from CNN executives overnight.

I think what's going on here is a little bit complicated, John. You've got media critics condemning Chris, calling on CNN to take action. You have some colleagues here at CNN who were mad at Chris Cuomo for putting the network in a tough spot and wanted to see action. You also have a lot of viewers, though, who love Chris Cuomo and are now ticked off that he's off the air, and they want to see him back.

So, there's a mixture of relief, disappointment. It's a complicated situation. I think the bottom line is that Cuomo is on the bench for now. We're heading into a holiday season. I think it's possible he will be on the bench for several weeks. It's possible he'll be back in January.

But I think what's going to happen now, here at CNN, is a more thorough review of the New York attorney general's document dump in order to find out more about what happened.

BERMAN: Brian Stelter, thank you --

STELTER: Thanks.

BERMAN: -- very much for that.

KEILAR: The nation's first overdose prevention centers are now open in New York City. They -- the city says that the supervised injection sites will provide users with a safer place to administer drugs and get medical care if they overdose. The move comes as the CDC announced that more than 100,000 people died of drug overdoses in the U.S. during a 12-month period that ended in April, and that is up nearly 20 -- or, pardon me, 30 percent.

Joining me now with part two of CNN's new series "United States of Addiction" -- Kyung Lah is with us. Kyung, this is so important -- this reporting. What did you find?

[07:55:01] KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When you look at the numbers, Brianna, on methamphetamines they are just as stark. Nearly every single state in this country that reports data to the -- to the CDC shows that meth overdoses increased last year. It is a problem that is getting worse with a dangerous drug, with an impact that police are increasingly are seeing on American streets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAH (voice-over): Fresno County sheriff's deputy Todd Burk --

DEPUTY TODD BURK, FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Hey, are you OK? Can you get out of the road, please?

LAH (voice-over): -- on his typical graveyard shift, digging away night after night --

BURK: You're out here doing drugs.

LAH (voice-over): -- at a deadly national crisis.

BURK: Out of the road. We're trying to help you. Something is causing her to panic and to be paranoid.

LAH (voice-over): That something is likely the drug law enforcement most often sees in this central California county.

BURK: Methamphetamine. When's the last time you used?

It's very common for meth users that smoke it, but this is also a common way to use methamphetamine -- is they inject it.

LAH (voice-over): This needle belongs to this driver.

BURK: Your car is expired, big time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know, I know, I know, I know.

LAH (voice-over): This man says Deputy Burk can search his car --

BURK: You got any needles in the car?

LAH (voice-over): -- and then talks to us about his addiction. He asked we don't show his face.

LAH (on camera): Do you use a lot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been using a lot, like, on and off all the time, you know, since, like I said, 13 or so.

LAH (on camera): Why did you get started when you were 13?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I have an older brother who I looked up to and he just felt like that he wanted to introduce it to me, I guess. Of course, since I was a kid, I'm going to say yes to my bigger brother, you know? And then from there on it just took control. LAH (on camera): Would you say you're a meth user?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course. I'm a drug addict.

LAH (voice-over): He'd been in and out of prison and says he just lost his job as a forklift driver that paid $25.00 an hour. He took meth just yesterday, worried about how he'd take care of his family.

LAH (on camera): How old are your kids?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like, seven and five.

LAH (on camera): And how old are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-eight. So, I am trying to stay straight so I can have my kids straight.

LAH (on camera): How many people you know do meth?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone.

BURK: You know, methamphetamine -- it is such an addictive drug they can't -- they can't get rid of it. They can't stop it. There's -- even if they want to stop it, they can't. Their body won't allow them to.

LAH (voice-over): Every single stop Deputy Burk makes on this shift --

BURK: You can't stop?

LAH (voice-over): -- involves meth.

BURK: You having a hard time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BURK: You need a program?

Methamphetamine would be the number-one drug used in Fresno. It's so easy to obtain. It's not difficult. It's all over the streets out here.

LAH (voice-over): New CDC data shows meth is all over the country's streets and it's getting worse. More than one in four overdose deaths this year involved meth and other psychostimulants. That's up nearly 50 percent from last year.

In California, deaths were up 64 percent year-on-year. And in Fresno, no other drug, including fentanyl, comes even close to the death rate of meth.

BOB PENNAL, FORMER DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SPECIAL AGENT: It's not the same dope. It's different.

LAH (voice-over): Former Department of Justice special agent Bob Pennal says dealers used to cook meth from ephedrine in super labs. PENNAL: We'd hit these labs and we'd see nothing but blister packs. You had to have pseudoephedrine, though. And the minute we stopped it, nothing.

LAH (on camera): It was over.

LAH (voice-over): So now, Mexican cartels use common chemical agents in mega labs.

PENNAL: They're like Costco. They're just huge, huge industrial-sized buildings. So, they're basically warehouses.

LAH (on camera): And you can just manufacture it now at a much higher quantity.

LAH (voice-over): Smuggled across the border as liquid and difficult to detect means cheap prices --

BURK: Hey, no warrants, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

LAH (voice-over): -- and high supply, impacting life across Fresno.

JOHN CHAPMAN, FORMER METH ADDICT: It's not even meth anymore.

LAH (on camera): Do you feel different on today's meth than the stuff that you grew up on?

CHAPMAN: More violent.

LAH (on camera): More violent?

CHAPMAN: More violent.

LAH (voice-over): John Chapman lives in the neighborhood Deputy Burk patrols. While he shares a common story --

CHAPMAN: Oh my God, I think I was in -- I was 11, 11 1/2 years old when I started.

LAH (on camera): Who introduced it to you when you were 11?

CHAPMAN: Well, I'd have to say my mom did.

LAH (on camera): Your mom gave you meth?

CHAPMAN: Yes.

LAH (voice-over): At age 55, he managed to quit.

CHAPMAN: My legs would start spazzing and stuff like that from it.

LAH (on camera): Because of the meth?

CHAPMAN: Yes. It gave me nerve damage. What it does is it actually fries your brain.

LAH (on camera): If you had kept going what would have happened to you?

CHAPMAN: Oh, I'd be dead.

LAH (voice-over): There's no lifesaving antidote for meth overdoses. That's why Deputy Burk keeps pressing night after night.

BURK: I want to see somebody who is constantly high on methamphetamine to change their life and become a productive citizen, and I think they want it as well.

You're all done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: Now, while we joined Fresno law enforcement for this story, this is a problem not limited to Fresno, not limited to California. There are eight states, Brianna, that log higher O.D. numbers than the state of California, including Virginia, Massachusetts, and Mississippi -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Look, I just -- I really appreciated you speaking to people who are fighting this and who have fought this. I think it's illuminating and this reporting is just so essential, Kyung. Thank you for it.

LAH: You bet.