Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Biden Threatens Putin; San Antonio School Removes Books from Library; Ex-Saints Player Dies in Police Custody; Dozens of Confirmations Blocked. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired December 08, 2021 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Including American's support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, a readiness to respond with strong economic measures, and the willingness to provide additional defensive material to Ukraine.

VICTORIA NULAND, UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS: And that was why it was extremely important for our president and for other leaders in Europe to be very clear about the extreme consequences that will result for Russia if they move aggressively against Ukraine again.

SAENZ: But President Biden also offered another option for Russia.

JAKE SULLIVAN, BIDEN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: De-escalation and diplomacy. The United States and our European allies would engage in a discussion that covers larger, strategic issues.

SAENZ: Russia entered the meeting with its own demands, seeking guarantees on Ukraine and NATO. In a press release the Kremlin says Putin, quote, stressed that the responsibility should not be shifted onto the shoulders of Russia, since it is NATO that is making dangerous attempts to conquer Ukrainian territory and is building up its military potential at our borders.

The statement goes on to say that Putin told Biden, quote, Russia is seriously interested in obtaining reliable, legally fixed guarantees, excluding the expansion of NATO in the eastern direction and the deployment of offensive strike weapons systems in the states adjacent to Russia.

Following this high-stakes call with Putin, U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle seem to be aligned.

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD): I think the president's taken the right course here in letting Putin know that the consequences will be severe.

REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): If there's going to be a decision point where Putin does not invade, it's going to be because the United States and our allies took action and were resolved and communicated to Putin that there was going to be a cost higher than he expects for him to turn around. SAENZ: All this as the Biden administration is considering options for

possibly evacuating U.S. citizens from Ukraine if Russia were to further invade the country. The White House is warning Russia its prepared to take stronger action, that the sanctions that failed to stop Russia from occupying Crimea in 2014.

SULLIVAN: I will look you in the eye and tell you, as President Biden looked President Putin in the eye and told him today, that things we did not do in 2014, we are prepared to do now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAENZ: After that call with Putin, President Biden briefed European leaders on the discussion, including the leaders of Italy, France, Germany and the U.K. Tomorrow, the president will speak with the presidents of Ukraine as the White House is waiting to see in the days ahead whether Putin will heed the president's warnings.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Arlette, thank you so much for that report.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, I'm joined now by retired General James "Spider" Marks.

Spider, thanks so much for being with us.

Give us a sense of how the Russians are positioned on the ground.

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, absolutely, John.

Well, certainly here -- here it gives you an idea of where we are. And certainly Crimea, which was lost in 2014. This is what -- what we're seeing right now. These -- these areas right here contain about 175,000 troops. Again, reference of Crimea. What's taking place right now is, in this particular area.

Let me show you what is taking place within those circles that we just saw. This is a tremendous buildup of forces and logistics capabilities. What these -- what this type of imagery indicates is these are staging areas, these are logistics capabilities. And then probably, more importantly, this piece of imagery, when you look at this capability up here, and then you look at open areas in here, this is where logistics were refueling and capabilities that would allow maneuver forces to achieve mobility in the offensive. So you see imagery like this and there's reason to be concerned.

This is what we're looking at now. From the previous graphic, when we -- when we saw the buildup of forces here, what this tells you from a military perspective, the area of interest for Putin is this area in here. This gives him an opportunity to achieve some significant maneuver capabilities to cut this off.

What you wouldn't anticipate would be military operations that would go all the way to Kiev right now. BERMAN: No. First of all, I have to say, it's fascinating to look through this with your eyes here at that satellite imagery on what's there, what's not there and the positions here. You don't have to have a trained eye to see this, which is that they have this region surrounded on three sides here. Now just these two directions, but from here as well.

MARKS: Right. Well, and the terrain, the geography has never been kind to Ukraine. This is essentially flat. And you've got this specific piece of terrain that leads into Russia and has forever.

BERMAN: And, again, a lot of this is actually happening inside Ukraine already where -- where pro-Russian separatists already have a large presence there.

MARKS: And Russian forces have been in support of the Ukrainian separatists in this area for the last many years.

BERMAN: So, Spider, let me ask you, what do you think will really happen here over the next several months?

MARKS: I think an invasion of some sort is inevitable.

[06:35:03]

There are things that we can do now. I think the long game that Putin wants to put in place is to challenge Zelensky in Kiev. That's a longer play.

BERMAN: Politically?

MARKS: Politically. Oh, absolutely. So you -- Putin achieves this. He's already achieved that. He now achieved -- (INAUDIBLE) that. A third of the country is gone. He starts working to invalid Zelensky, and you end up with a coup.

BERMAN: What options does the U.S. have?

MARKS: I think primarily right now diplomacy with allies and partners is absolutely critical. That's number one. There are limits to what you can do unless those allies, Germany, France, Italy and the U.K. step up and say, we're in to help, and the United States, individually, can increase its foreign military sales to the government of Ukraine, the military of Ukraine, with defensive-type weapons systems that provide greater capability to them to resist this possible invasion, but also sends a message to Putin that says, we're not aggressive. We're not -- we're not trying to push. And Ukraine is not a part of NATO. NATO is not going to come rolling in here to start building out this way.

BERMAN: Spider, I have to say, ominous stuff here will play out over the next several months. But, as you say, there are options. The diplomatic resolve from the countries you can't see on this map does seem stiffer today than it might have been a few weeks ago. So, we'll see.

MARKS: Yes. (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: We'll see what happens there.

Retired Major General James "Spider" Marks, always a pleasure to speak with you.

MARKS: Thank you, John. Thanks.

BERMAN: Brianna.

KEILAR: A Texas school district creating an uproar by removing dozens of books from its classrooms and libraries. The titles that they considered obscene. We'll discuss that.

And, closing arguments about to begin in the Jussie Smollett trial. Did the actor help or hurt his case by taking the stand?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:41:00]

BERMAN: Closing arguments set to begin this morning in the trial of former "Empire" star Jussie Smollett. Jury instructions and deliberations are expected to follow. The defense rested its case on Tuesday after Smollett testified that he was the victim of a real anti-gay and racist hate crime in Chicago in 2019, denying that he staged the attack for media attention. The actor is pleading not guilty to six counts of disorderly conduct, for filing false police reports. A charge punishable by up to three years in prison.

And emotions running high in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial. A tearful accuser using the name "Carolyn" told the court, money will not ever fix what that woman has done to me. The alleged victim says she was 14 when Maxwell told her she had a great body for Jeffrey Epstein and his friends and lured her into years of sexual abuse. Fourteen. Prosecutors say they intend to rest their case this week.

KEILAR: And a San Antonio area school district is under fire because they have removed 75 books from their libraries and classrooms following calls from state lawmakers and the governor to block titles with obscene or overtly sexual content. School officials in the Northeast Independent School District say that these four titles are among the 75 books that were removed, were determined to be questionable. "In the Dream House," "All Boys Aren't Blue," and "Lawn Boy" were removed for descriptive details of sexual encounters, and "The Breakaways" is because of an image of middle schoolers kissing in bed.

Joining us now, "EARLY START" anchor, attorney at law, and also avid reader, Laura Jarrett.

Tell us, Laura, what is going on with this story. The outcome, obviously, is that you have a lot of women and people of color who are authors seeing their books banned. But what's going on here?

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START": So, guys, this seems to be the latest school district in a string of school districts and school boards that are struggling with a concept that schools have usually been able to handle since the beginning of time, which is teaching kids about hard things, teaching kids about racism, teaching kids about sex.

But this all starts when a local congressman in Texas named Matt Krouse (ph) comes up with a list of about 850 books. How exactly he came up with the titles is unclear. But they all happened to, at least the majority involved, concepts around racism and sexism. And so you have to view this within the backdrop of this larger concept, this larger conversation we're having across the country about teaching racism in school, teaching about critical race theory. So Krouse comes up with this list.

But as you might imagine, the U.S. Supreme Court has something to say on this subject of banning books and has basically ruled that, look, schools have a lot of discretion when it comes to taking books off the shelves that have to do with vulgar subjects. And facing a case just like this one in the 1980s where a school board wanted to take off books that were essentially what they deemed as anti-American, as what they deemed as filthy, the Supreme Court said, look, the school boards have a lot of discretion, but you can't violate the First Amendment. You cannot ban books simply because you do not like the content. You cannot suppress the marketplace of ideas. That violates the First Amendment.

Notwithstanding that fact, this school district has put out a statement saying the following, for us this is not about politics or censorship, but rather about ensuring that parents choose what is appropriate for their minor children.

Now, as you might imagine, not all parents agree with this school district. And as of this morning, there's a change.org petition going right now that has about 1,500 signatures. And on that petition they say this, quote, these books serve an important place in our community as they not only provide important educational resources on black history, they also provide a safe haven for young LGBT students who take comfort in this representation.

So this is an ongoing fight, guys.

BERMAN: Look, book bans have a pretty notorious place in this country's history and world history. It's something that you really want to take note of when it happens, to be sure.

JARRETT: Yes.

KEILAR: Yes, certainly. I want to ban books that have poor more narrative ark (ph), but even that, you know, you can't do that. Nope.

[06:45:01]

BERMAN: The Oxford comma, throw them out.

Sorry.

JARRETT: Thanks, guys.

KEILAR: We're focused on the wrong thing here.

All right, Laura, thank you so much.

KEILAR: There's some new question about how a former New Orleans Saints player died in police custody. We'll have the latest on the investigation next.

BERMAN: Plus, a Texas plumber is getting a big finder's fee for what he discovered hidden in the walls of Joel Osteen's megachurch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Alabama officials are investigating how former New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Glenn Foster Jr. died Monday after being in police custody. Jail records show the 31-year-old was booked Saturday after a high-speed chase. He was released Sunday afternoon, then rebooked two minutes later for alleged erratic behavior.

CNN's Nick Valencia following this story for us.

[06:50:00]

He joins us now.

Nick, what's going on here? What's the latest?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

Glenn Foster's family says that they fear local authorities there in Alabama, it could potentially have potentially have delayed life- saving medical care that could have actually helped him. The 31-year- old had been managing a bipolar diagnosis for the last 11 years. Former defensive lineman for the New Orleans Saints was on his way to Alabama -- or to Atlanta from Alabama for a business trip when he led local authorities there in western Alabama on a high-speed chase. Speeds reached over 100 miles per hour. In fact, a spike strip had to be used in order to slow him down.

He was eventually taken into custody, arrested by the local police department there in Alabama, handed over to the sheriff's department where he was booked over the weekend on three counts, including reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and attempting to elude police.

Now, according to nola.com (ph), while Foster was in custody, he got into a fight with another detainee. Two guards had to break that up. His, you know, his behavior was so erratic, according to local authorities, that the local police chief reached out to his family to arrange him to be bailed out on condition that he be sent to a hospital for a medical evaluation.

But on Monday, while his family was waiting for him to be released, the local police chief tells nola.com that, quote, something happened. Here is what he said. We went to bond him out, and something happened at the jail. And they wouldn't let us get him. I really don't know medically what was going on. But based on what I learned, it was not normal.

Now, the family for Glenn Foster says they want to know what that something is. His mother telling nola.com that they don't know exactly what happened, but they want whoever was responsible for this to pay for it.

Now, CNN has reached out to the Pickens County Sheriff's Office, as well as the family. We have yet to hear back. But we understand that the Alabama law enforcement agency is investigating this now. They have yet to release any additional information about his death.

John.

BERMAN: Nick, keep us posted. Thank you very much.

VALENCIA: You got it.

KEILAR: A plumber is getting a big reward for turning in a stash of cash that he found hidden in the walls of Joel Osteen's Texas megachurch last month. The money is believed to be part of a 2014 theft of some $600,000 from the Lakewood church. The plumber, identified only as Justin, says he was repairing a toilet in a public restroom when he discovered about 500 envelopes of cash and checks. He's now getting a $20,000 reward for his good deed.

BERMAN: $20,000 for finding $700,000?

KEILAR: I mean $20,000 for fixing a toilet, or you could look at it that way.

BERMAN: I bet he's a very good plumber. Justin does some good work, I'm told.

KEILAR: Good job, Justin.

All right, so the Biden administration is having a pretty hard time getting senior State Department nominees confirmed. And there's one Senate Republican who really keeps standing in the way.

BERMAN: His name rhymes with Shmed (ph) Shmuz (ph).

Plus, researchers in South Africa say the omicron variant can partially evade one of the vaccines, but, and this is important, the vaccine does provide some protection. Brand new, important data ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:57:12]

BERMAN: The Biden administration has hit a roadblock on its way to confirming several senior State Department positions. That roadblock, Republicans in the Senate. One specifically.

Joining us now, CNN politics reporter and editor-at-large, Chris Cillizza.

What are we talking about here, Chris?

CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Hello, Mr. Berman.

OK, let's go through it.

First of all, let's -- I want to highlight one thing here that is actually good in terms of conformation. Twenty-eight federal judges confirmed for Biden already. What you think of Donald Trump with a lot of federal judges, but compare that to, Trump just had 13 at this point. Obama, six. So this is a place where you're actually seeing confirmation.

Contrast that to -- I'm going to get to this number in a minute, 140 nominees confirmed to major executive branch offices. But this is really, I think, the most important and troubling thing, 85 State Department nominees are pending before the Senate. That means Joe Biden has nominated these people and the Senate is considering them, not a vote.

And this one, no ambassadors confirmed to Africa. None. Zero Zilch. Nada. None. There are no ambassadors in the Biden administration to Africa. OK, you say, why? You know these guys.

OK, so, Ted Cruz started this all out. Ted Cruz is blocking national security nominees because he wants Russia sanctioned for a pipeline going from Russia to Germany. OK. Then Josh Hawley here -- I'm going to write something here, this is unrelated, I'm just going to write 2024, that -- that's not important there. This is what this is about. This is about presidential politics.

Josh Hawley jumped on board and said, well, wait a minute, I want to block nominees too. So he is blocking national security nominees until Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan resigns. So, I'm sure that will happen any time now. That's not going to happen.

And Marco Rubio was blocking a few nominees. Now, he is not as many. He's blocking ambassadors to China and Spain over concerns about communism. So that's that, OK. But mostly it's these two guys.

All right, now, I said I'd get back to that 140 number. This is 300 days in office. Executive branch Senate confirmations. You see this trend line is going in the wrong direction, right, 326 for George W. Bush, 274, Obama, obviously it was going down, 158 for Trump and only 140 for Joe Biden.

Why is this important? Because the government needs to be staffed. We need experts in the jobs.

Now, it is worth noting, the people that Joe Biden has nominated and is significantly more diverse than any of the recent presidents. Look, I don't think it's a huge surprise that Joe Biden's nominees are more diverse than what -- who Donald Trump picked. The one thing I do think is fascinating is, look at this, Barack Obama, 29 percent women, 30 percent non-white, 50 percent women, 39 percent non-white. Right, I think that's telling. And, Joe Biden, from the start pledged that he was going to make that a centerpiece of his nominees.

[07:00:01]

He has done so.