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New Day

Liberal San Fran Mayor Cracking Down on "BS" Crime. Aired 8- 8:30a ET

Aired December 16, 2021 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You, unfortunately, are speaking from experience in terms of tragedy, families that have lost people. What do you say, what did you say to these four families to help them? Anything you could pass along or share with us?

JILL BIDEN, U.S. FIRST LADY: I think that they have shown us the resilience, and they keep going. They find purpose. And I think that's the way that you deal with a tragedy. Look at the grannies. They already have been out again, the high school band has already been out again. And I think that's one way that certainly our family has found to heal.

BENNETT: Just switching gears, you're both the messengers of the administration. You have been to more states I think than both of your spouses individually. What does it feel like to be the surrogates? Is it something that you knew was coming for you? You're a seasoned political spouse, but how does it feel to be that messenger?

EMHOFF: It's an honor to be in this position. And I think as Jill and I are very similar, it is like we just raise our hand and do what's needed to help, not only our spouses. We love our spouses, obviously, but it's to help the president, the vice president, this entire administration. And by doing that, if we have to travel all over this country to do that, we're going to do that.

JILL BIDEN: Yes, we want Americans to know that the president and the vice president and Doug and I care about them and their families.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BENNETT (on camera): Now, John, the reason I asked that question is people don't know maybe not know, the first lady has been to 35 states, the second gentleman has been to 31 states, far more than their spouses, as I said there, pushing everything from vaccines to the American Rescue Plan, and obviously being consolers around the country when grief and tragedy happens. So doing the behind-the-scenes work, often first ladies do, and now the second gentleman. So it really has been part of their massive travel schedule yesterday to visit these victims in Waukesha.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I didn't know those numbers. That's an extensive schedule for a first year in office.

BENNETT: Absolutely.

BERMAN: Kate Bennett, thank you very much.

BENNETT: Thanks.

BERMAN: NEW DAY continues right now.

Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Thursday, December 16th. I'm John Berman with Brianna Keilar. And this morning, the dilemma facing colleges and really the country as coronavirus cases shoot up, and cases are rising a lot. Cornell University encapsulates the situation. About 1,000 new cases reported on campus. But the university president reports they are seeing no severe cases among students. None. So what do you think the most important medical headline there is, 1,000 new cases or no severe cases? And what's the right reaction to it?

Cornell, Princeton, Middlebury College all moving fall semester final exams online. NYU says it strongly encourages students to take their finals from home as well. Is that necessary with almost no severe cases? Several schools have issued booster shot requirements in recent weeks. Others say they are now thinking about it.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: This as both flu and COVID-19 cases are on the rise, which has led growing -- led to growing concern that health systems may be overwhelmed this winter. Coronavirus hospitalizations are up 43 percent from one month ago, and the CDC is projecting that virus deaths will increase over the next four weeks. However, the number of fully vaccinated Americans surpassed 200 million earlier this month, just over 60 percent of the population. And in the past week, the doses being administered jumped 35 percent from the week before. But there are still millions who have not received a single dose, and many of them insist they never will.

BERMAN: CNN's Polo Sandoval joins us now with what we're seeing. Polo?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Brianna, good morning to you. That so-called considerable acceleration in COVID cases first detected here at NYU, school officials stressing there's certainly no cause for alarm, but certainly a reason to be cautious, and certainly to take action. And that basically brings us to where we are today where the university officials are now encouraging faculty members to take a remote approach when it comes to finals.

Also, there's not a lot of nonessential events on campus, being canceled or recommending that they be canceled, and also suspending the use of common spaces like athletic facilities, meeting spaces and what have you. As you mentioned, NYU is not alone. There is Princeton and Cornell.

The silver lining on this is many of these campus counts on an extremely high vaccination rate among students. I checked Princeton just a little while ago. It's between 98 and 99 percent. So that certainly goes, or at least explains why many of these breakthrough cases have not been severe. But look, you are seeing multiple steps being taken throughout the northeast, here in New York over the last several days.

[08:05:00]

There have even been some sporadic cancellations of some really popular Broadway shows, including "Hamilton," "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," "Tina," and the list goes on here. Again, these were sporadic and temporary cancellations because of breakthrough cases, and because of that, of course, authorities are certainly making sure that people remain safe.

But look, at the end of the day, what we're seeing here throughout the northeast is you're seeing these tactics deployed that we have seen before in an effort to curb the spread of this virus as this winter surge continues to threaten. And many officials, Brianna and John, maintain that surge is already here.

BERMAN: I don't think there is any question about it at this point, Polo, when you're seeing things like 1,000 new cases at Cornell. But, again if there are no, you say not many breakthroughs, there are no severe cases at Cornell according to the university president there, no severe cases. So I do think one of the questions that will be asked going forward is, are the systems, are the right systems in place for the long-term, because can schools like that just shut down indefinitely if they see rises in new cases? These are questions that the schools have to answer as they head into the winter months. Polo Sandoval, thank you very much for that.

SANDOVAL: Thanks, John.

KEILAR: Unprecedented weather is striking across the U.S., and it is bringing dangerous threats to those in its path. The record December heat is creating what the National Weather Service calls never before seen forecasts, and this includes tornadoes, hurricane force winds, and, yes, even fires. Lucy Kafanov is joining us now. This isn't normally what you get in December. This isn't what you ever get in December, Lucy.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not at all, completely unusual, and this line of storms moved incredibly fast, up to 100 miles an hour in some parts of the central United States. Winds kicking up storms, fueling wildfires, knocking down power lines, nearly 450,000 customers left without power.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

KAFANOV: From the Rockies to the Midwest, an intense storm system pummeled the region, producing tornados and hurricane-force winds in nine states. The massive storm system resulted in the most hurricane force winds in a single day. In Minnesota, the National Weather Service office in the twin cities confirming a tornado touched down in Plainview. Police calmly take shelter, they tweeted out. This is the first tornado reported in the state during the month of December. In Colorado, clouds descend on to Boulder, bringing with it strong

gusts of wind. In El Paso County, high winds were responsible for knocking over tractor trailers, and the cause of delaying or canceling many flights at the Denver International Airport on Wednesday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They canceled our flight. And I went to customer service, and they didn't have any flights going out until Friday.

KAFANOV: Down in New Mexico, intense winds flipped this small plane over at the Santa Fe Airport.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the first time since I've been here that we've had this kind of extensive damage, especially to aircraft.

KAFANOV: Over in the plains, winds are producing dust storm conditions. In western Kansas, visibility on Interstate 70 is virtually nonexistent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is like a tornado.

KAFANOV: Intense winds whipping up dust and sand, shutting down parts of the road for several hours. While over in Garden City, Kansas, all flights were canceled to and from the airport. The severe weather has left hundreds of thousands of people without power and comes less than a week after tornadoes ripped through eight states in the Midwest and the south.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

KAFANOV (on camera): Now, this region has been experiencing an unusually warm December. Don't be fooled by my get up. It was 75 degrees right here in Davenport yesterday. That in part is what has given rise to these tornadoes. But the bigger picture here, this is what climate change looks like. The extreme weather is here. The question is what we collectively do to try to stop that trajectory. Brianna, John?

KEILAR: We all know what you wear to Iowa in December, and it's not what you're wearing yesterday for sure. Lucy, thank you so much.

BERMAN: So this morning, there is written textual evidence that some Republicans, including members of Congress, wanted to overrule or throw out the election results in 2020, you could reasonably say steal the election. We see it in the just released correspondence with former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Here is just a few of them. On November 4th, the day after the election, Meadows received a text suggesting, quote, "an aggressive strategy" for Republican-led state legislatures to just send their own electors to Congress and let the Supreme Court decide who won the election.

On January 2nd, Trump spoke with Georgia secretary of state urging him to find votes during that call. A state official texted Meadows, quote, "Need to end this call. I don't think this will be productive for much longer."

On January 3rd, Meadows sent a message to an unknown member of Congress recounting a conversation he had with Trump regarding whether Pence could overturn the Electoral College results. He wrote, quote, "He thinks the legislatures have the power, but that the VP has the power, too."

[08:10:07]

On January 5th, Congressman Jim Jordan sent Meadows a message that read in part, quote, "On January 6th, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence as president of the Senate should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all."

And the day after the insurrection, also the day the Electoral College vote was officially read out loud, Meadows received a message reading, quote, "Yesterday was a terrible day. We tried everything we could in our objections to the six states. I'm sorry nothing worked."

I'm joined by CNN political analyst Carl Bernstein. Carl, thank you so much for being here with us this morning. You've obviously seen so much history. These revelations over the last five days, and we have not seen these before.

CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: This is new.

BERMAN: I wonder what you think is most important in them.

BERNSTEIN: What they add up to, which is a seditious conspiracy led by the president of the United States, his chief of staff, and a gang of congressional members in the House and Senate to undermine the very nature and basis of American democracy. There has never been anything like this in our history. You have to go back to the Civil War to see such a seditious conspiracy by our leaders, but never by a president of the United States himself.

This is unique in our history. It is a moment in which it is an ongoing conspiracy heading toward the elections of 2024 because the same tactics and techniques have now been embraced by one of the two political parties. Again, unique in our history.

This is a moment in American history to say stop. Let us in the media, let us in the political system, let us in our institutions in this country pause and see what is happening to our American democracy. It began with this seditious conspiracy, it is ongoing, and we need to take a look at where we are in this country, because otherwise our democracy is overwhelmed by this ongoing seditious conspiracy.

BERMAN: One of the things that is unusual and maybe unprecedented, look, and obviously you lived through Watergate, Jim Jordan has written one of these text messages.

BERNSTEIN: He's one of the conspirators.

BERMAN: OK, but he's also a member of the jury. He's also a potential witness, he's in every part of this. So you have a congressman who may be, a, involved, but, b, somehow involved in being the jury here.

BERNSTEIN: Let's look at history. Let's go back and look at the other seditious conspiracy, which was the Civil War, this was led by Jefferson Davis, a Democrat, a member of the Congress of the United States. We are seeing now in our modern history, in this period, an attempt, so far successful in many regards, to undermine the very basis of who we are as a nation, as a United States of America.

And it's ongoing. There is a piece in "The Atlantic" magazine this month about Martin Gellman that outlines what the strategy of the Trumpist Republican party is. The Trump -- it's not a faction anymore. The Trump element in this country has gained control of a political party and is determined to undermine the whole notion of free elections in this country.

BERMAN: What I found truly revealing about that article is the success they have already had rhetorically with some people there, with a big chunk, perhaps, of the Republican Party. Carl, again, I want to ask you specifically about the committee, what they discovered, and what might still be there, because you've got such key insight into this. If you could find the magic piece of evidence, what would you be looking for now?

BERNSTEIN: I'm not sure this is about a single smoking gun. This is about a matrix that has now been established and was becoming one of the great investigations, despite the opposition of the Republican Party, to make sure that this investigation doesn't happen. They are uncovering with these documents that you have put up here on the screen and read this morning the nature, the specifics, and who the seditionist conspirators are and their own words.

We now know the location, to some extent, of the war room in the Willard Hotel, where the conspirators, not the president, the chief conspirator, but those in the Willard Hotel were in touch with the president of the United States in this conspiracy.

But I think we've also got to look at something that is really unusual, and that is the hero fighting this conspiracy. Someday maybe there will be a statue in Statuary Hall of Liz Cheney.

[08:15:10]

She is standing between the success continuation of our democracy and really the undermining of it in a way that we have never seen in our lifetimes.

This is not about Watergate, where the system worked. The system worked in Watergate because courageous Republicans came forward and said the president of the United States is a criminal president. He has tried to undermine our electoral system, which is what Watergate was in large measure about, and we are not going to allow it, and that president had to leave office.

That's not happened here. What happened here is that one of the two political parties has been captured by the forces of sedition. And we have an opportunity in media, we really should have one major agenda, up until the election of 2024, and that is to reveal every aspect of this ongoing conspiracy and who the conspirators are. And they now include the leadership of the Republican Party, the craven leadership, including Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, who are going along with this party of voter suppression.

The Republican Party has become a party of voter suppression instead of endorsing and encouraging free elections.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The discussion for another time is whether Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy should be in the same bucket there.

BERNSTEIN: They allowed it, their craven conduct.

BERMAN: I understand.

BERNSTEIN: No, they are not co-conspirators in the active sense of Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows, et cetera. They have enabled it.

BERMAN: Thank you very much for being with us this morning.

A Louisiana judge on unpaid leave after a racist video surfaces, why she blamed a sedative. And San Francisco's Democratic mayor calling for more aggressive law enforcement to address what she calls the B.S. that is destroying the city.

CNN's Don Lemon, I'm told, is here to weigh in.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And big bucks for the boss. What a massive acquisition overnight. We're going to tell you what the entire Bruce Springsteen catalog is worth.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:08]

BERMAN: A Louisiana judge is on unpaid leave after a video recorded at her home captured several people using a racist slur while watching home security footage of a foiled burglary outside of her house. City Court Judge Michelle Odinet first said I was given a sedative at the time of the video. I have zero recollection of the video and disturbing language used during it.

Her lawyer later said she feels humiliated, embarrassed and sorry for what she has done and the harm she has caused to the community.

Joining us now, Don Lemon, host of CNN's "Don Lemon Tonight" and the author of "This is the Fire: What I Say to My Friends About Racism" and the apparent existence of this racist pill, Don.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST, DON LEMON TONIGHT: She took that made her say racist things. It is -- it is sad. Judge Michelle Odinet is now facing pressure to resign. Again she said, you know, I don't remember it, she's also blamed -- she said this is evidence that my son who has an addiction, has been dealing with some issues, what have you, blaming it on her son.

I think she's going to have to probably resign because now they're reviewing all of her cases. The attorneys are asking the officials there to take her cases and look them over again and to free whatever it is or get their clients off the hook because of her racist comments.

You don't take pills that make you racist. You don't take things that make you say racist things, John. If it's not there, it's not in you, then you're not going to do it.

So, I think this judge should face repercussions for that, even though it happened in her own home. She was -- there is no evidence that the person they talked about, you know, that he was violent, that it was, you know, held her up with a gun what have you. There is no evidence the person had a gun.

And what she was saying on the videotape, calling these people the N- word, and then comparing them to cockroaches as well. So how can you sit in a courtroom with Judge Michelle Odinet and think that you're going to receive a fair trial, fair treatment, when she uses that kind of language and she views people as no better than cockroaches.

KEILAR: Yeah, because at issue is how she makes decisions, does she see black people?

LEMON: Yeah.

KEILAR: And you mentioned the crime, look, no one is defending what --

LEMON: Not at all.

KEILAR: -- what this guy allegedly did. It is a violation. But she also describes him as armed when he wasn't.

LEMON: Yeah.

KEILAR: And I think that really speaks, Don, to a pattern as well that we have seen people discussing when it comes to just the baseline perception of black men.

LEMON: Well, it is true. Black men, you know, have -- have always been seen historically as more violent, more aggressive, younger, you know, young people are seen as adults. It is a whole culture of the history of this country we don't really have to go over and litigate. We know that is true, even though people try to pretend that it's not.

And I think we're living in very perilous times now. You have a judge who, you know, who is responsible for whether someone is free or not, life or death situations who is blaming it on a pill and who is saying this isn't who I am, I don't recall that, that is -- that's a huge issue, when you have the kind of power that a judge has in our society, you cannot do that.

Judges should be beyond reproach. They have to set the example. They are the leaders. I don't think that she should be in a position of power when she is calling people the N-word, even if it is in the privacy of her own home, and, look, think about it, how did that tape get out there, what kind of a responsible or irresponsible person is she to have that, first of all, have that kind of conversation in her home with her sons, and then also let that sort of thing get out. It is really irresponsible.

BERMAN: So, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, it sounded like an episode of "DON LEMON TONIGHT", right?

[08:25:07]

LEMON: You heard me say this.

BERMAN: It did. I want to play -- I want to play what she said about progressive policies and the crime she's seeing in her city.

LEMON: Okay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR LONDON BREED (D), SAN FRANCISCO: It is time that the reign of criminals who are destroying our city, it is time for it to come to an end. And it comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement, more aggressive with the changes in our policies, and less tolerant of all the bullshit that has destroyed our city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: She said, by the way, the BS later said, crime is the BS, but still you get the point she's making.

LEMON: I do. I don't think (ph) people misconstrue that. I know what she was talking about when I read it. I didn't see the actual press conference live. She's absolutely right.

It is what we have been saying, what we have been saying during the pandemic, about the rise in crime. It is what -- it is what I have always said about crime. It is what we are experiencing here in New York City with the election of the new Mayor Eric Adams who has promised to be tough on crime, just now installed the first African American woman -- the first African American woman police commissioner.

And, listen, side note, there is such high expectations for Eric Adams. I hope he lives up to it. Everyone is saying, my gosh, New York City needs it. Let's put that to the side. But it is what we're experiencing here. People or across the country, African Americans want good police officers. They want police officers, trained police officer to show up when they call police.

People in cities, in urban areas, want that. They don't want, you know, officers that is going to abuse them. They don't want to defund police. So I think what someone like London Breed who is in a historically liberal city, I think what they're finally realizing is that the silent majority is not the young people who, you know, don't want people to, you know, want all this bail reform and all -- that's not what people want.

That's not what quite frankly that's not what most liberal people in this country want, most people in this country are somewhere in the center. And they want police officers, they don't want police officers that is going to abuse ask people the single most important thing for them, they will say it is money and the economy, but for the most part, people want to feel safe when they're walking down the streets, they want to feel safe in their homes, when they leave their homes, they want to be safe, and if that can't happen, then you should not be in public service.

If you can't make that happen as a leader, as a politician, as someone who is a head of a city, someone in charge of crime, then you're not doing your job. So, I think -- I think, it is not very popular, that people need to stop listening to the people who have gone all the way far left and saying, oh, well, we want to defund the police, we need this bail reform. People who are violent, people who commit crime should be in jail. They should be behind bars.

KEILAR: Yeah, but I do --

LEMON: They should not be out in the street.

KEILAR: I wonder, Don, because, look, she is saying this isn't about liberal policies. What she is proposing is increasing police, let's -- that's the crux of what she's been proposing. With a specific eye to the tenderloin, if you've been to San Francisco, you know this neighborhood, high crime and also a lot of drug use, a lot of untreated mental health issues and homelessness.

LEMON: Mental health and people who are out on the streets, yeah, homelessness, a big issue, people who are out on the streets, and a lot of those people have been put out on the streets recently because of the pandemic. They had them in facilities and because of, remember, cutting costs, cutting money to facilities that house people like that, we have to think about all of those things, has to be a holistic approach. It can't just be about putting a big hammer on crime.

But it is -- we have to figure out how people got there, to where they are, and, you know, that's something that people don't like to think about politically, don't like to talk about politically because it is not easy, right? It is not -- it doesn't help them within their re- election bid. It doesn't help them if you're on, you know, some propaganda network and you're trying to use crime as a cudgel to talk about the difference between the liberal policies and conservative policies.

So, there needs to be a holistic approach to crime. How people got to where they are, why they are in those communities, why they have been let out of those facilities, what is happening with mental illness, and also putting more and better police officers who are responsible to the community on the streets and having people who are in positions of power, like London Breed, like Eric Adams here in New York City, who are going to make sure that they accomplish those goals.

BERMAN: Don Lemon, thank you --

LEMON: That's it?

BERMAN: -- so much. LEMON: I usually get like 25 minutes --

BERMAN: You know, you have a show, the good thing is if you haven't had enough of Don, you can see him tonight at 10:00, right?

LEMON: Yes.

BERMAN: And on New Year's Eve I'm told.

LEMON: You can. In New Orleans.

BERMAN: With?

LEMON: With --

KEILAR: What could possibly happen?