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New Day

Manchin's a No on Build Back Better; 3rd Graders Asked to Reenact Holocaust; Monika Bauerlein is Interviewed about Her Op-Ed. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 20, 2021 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

JACKIE ALEMANY, AUTHOR, "THE WASHINGTON POST'S "THE EARLY 202": I think the White House has currently had a win to figure out how to recalibrate. There's also a feeling that is Joe Manchin actually final in this decision? He has a tendency, as one Senate Democrat phrased to me last week, to be the boy who cried wolf, to flip-flop and waver on these decisions. They're often and at the spur of the moment. There are people who are waiting for his 10:00 hit on local West Virginia radio station right now to see if maybe he'll slightly walk back his comments.

That being said, this is the most definitive comment that Joe Manchin has made when it comes to quashing the Build Back Better bill and the White House realizes that there's a lot on the line here for Democrats who were to enact this historic economic agenda and that they're going to have to figure out a different way forward if they want Joe Manchin to ultimately sign on to something.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Mara, in terms of what's on the line here, it's not just Build Back Better, and all those programs. There's a lot more at stake here for Democrats. This is yet another PR headache that they don't want nor do they need.

MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO, JOURNALIST: Yes, and it speaks to problems with Biden's entire legislative agenda because if they can't get this through, then what does that mean for voting rights. And it's significant in the midterms as well. You know, if Democrats are going into the midterms without a big legislative win and without something that has changed and touched people's lives swiftly and tangibly, then that really is going to affect a lot of Democrats that are vulnerable.

And when you look at Joe Manchin and his motivation here, I think it's really important to remember that this is the lone Democratic senator from a state that Trump won by 40 points twice. And I think you can also take some cues from the fact that he made his announcement on Fox News. And, you know, he is citing in his decision concerns about things like inflation. But he -- when you look at that logic, it really doesn't stand up to scrutiny because the economic analysis suggests that these measures, in the short term, would not contribute to inflation and the net benefit is to low-income Americans and this is a senator who represents one of the poorest states in the country.

And when it comes to the way forward for Democrats, you know, they have the option to potentially break this up and to focus on some of the more popular measures, to isolate those and try to get them through. But short of that, it's really hard to see how they're going to move forward with this and with voting rights.

BERMAN: You know, Mara, it is interesting, sticking -- one more question for you. There are people who complain, progressives, that there isn't enough focus on what's actually in the bill. There's all this focus on the gamesmanship. Unfortunately, you know, you can't get what's in the bill without the gamesmanship. It's got to pass in order to count. But what -- why isn't what's in the bill enough for Joe Manchin, given the perceived need in West Virginia?

SCHIAVOCAMPO: Yes, you know, John, that's a great question and that's not one that I think Senator Manchin has provided an adequate response to, because the things that he cites just don't stand up to scrutiny. He cited rising inflation. As I mentioned, economic analysis does not support that. He cites geopolitical concerns, saying that we need to, you know, keep -- preserve the money, so to speak, for geopolitical concerns when he just voted last week to give 25 billion to the defense budget more than what they asked for.

So, it's really not clear not only what he wants but what really is the reason here. And cynics would say perhaps he's being motivated by special interest money, perhaps he's motivated by ego and being right now the most powerful man in Washington. And the fact is that all of those things can be true at the same time.

HILL: They all can be. They all may be at the same time.

Jackie, in terms of where we do stand this morning, though, there was a fairly optimistic, I guess, dear letter -- dear colleague letter from Speaker Pelosi. Senator Schumer, in his letter this morning, making it clear he still wants to bring this bill to the floor in January. But, realistically, does that help Democrats to push that vote come January or are they better off trying to reconfigure this in another way?

ALEMANY: Yes, well, I think Mara really hit the nail on the head here when saying that it's still unclear what Joe Manchin wants. And I think that is what is most frustrating to his Democratic colleagues, that he doesn't necessarily have a reason that is grounded in solid policy for why he doesn't want this bill through. So it's hard for them to decide what will go in the bill, what should come out of the bill in order to appease Manchin.

That being said, there are some discussions right now that maybe they'll -- Democrats will try to hammer out some of these policies and standalone bills. The only problem with that and the reason why we had Build Back Better in the first place was because of the 60-vote threshold. And without -- and so Democrats wanted to do things via reconciliation in order to sort of skirt around that and that these standalone bills can't be done -- they can't get done in the reconciliation process, they most likely won't get done with any Republican support.

There's also been other conversations about how to continue to negotiate with Manchin to -- on various rules changes.

[08:35:08]

That maybe if they can get him to agree to that they can find some sort of work-around. But, again, it's still hard for Democrats, I think, to find a path forward since they're not quite sure what Manchin wants or where he stands.

BERMAN: From what Joe Manchin wants to what Stephen Breyer wants, Jackie, because our colleagues and your friends, Isaac Dovere and Manu Raju, report that Republicans are making clear to them that if they take control of the Senate again, they won't -- they will not vote on a Supreme Court nominee from Joe Biden. So if Stephen Breyer wants to retire, they want him to do it now and, frankly, they want him to want to retire most progressives are saying.

So where is this going, Jackie?

ALEMANY: Yes, well, this is another person who has not been very receptive to public criticism or public pressure. And Joe Biden has this Supreme Court commission that's he's established and they're almost done with the process and probably going to be releasing their findings in the next month. I'm not sure on that timing exactly. It's already been delayed a bit.

But I know progressives are eagerly waiting on some of those findings, whether they might further help with this public pressure campaign to urge Breyer to retire early so as not to repeat what we saw happen with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which allowed President Trump to ultimately push through a Republican SCOTUS.

So that is all very much in the air, but yet it is another, I think, tough point that Biden has to deal with here going into the new year and illuminates just how many, you know, just how many priorities he has left with Democrats right now that he has yet to follow through on, that he was very vocal on throughout the Democratic campaign for -- for the president.

BERMAN: Jackie, Mara, thank you both very much.

People, go check out both of your Twitter feeds, but Mara's got a really nice tweet or two on the Covid situation here in New York City that I think people -- would be instructive to people. So people should go check it out this morning.

SCHIAVOCAMPO: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: A group of third graders at a Washington, D.C., public school were allegedly instructed by a staff member to re-enact incidents from the Holocaust. The school has launched an investigation.

CNN's Jean Casarez joins us now with the details on this.

Explain, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, D.C. schools has told CNN this was not an approved project at all. It did involve, as you just said, third graders at the Watkins Elementary School.

Now "The Washington Post" is saying that this actually occurred in library class. That one student was cast as Adolph Hitler, that other students were tasked or cast to shoot their fellow students and other students had the responsibility of simulating digging mass graves. There are also allegations that hate speech was said during this project.

Now, allegedly, the teacher instructor said, do not tell anyone, told the students, but the students went back to their home room school teacher and they told her. And that is how this allegedly got out.

Now, we want to show you -- we do have some statements. First of all, from the D.C. schools. They have told CNN this was not an approved lesson plan, and we sincerely apologize to our students and families who were subjected to this incident.

CNN also received a letter that was sent to the parents by the schools. Here's part of that letter. It says, students should never be tasked with acting out any atrocity, especially genocide and war. Additionally, there were allegations of a staff member using hate speech during the lesson, which is unacceptable and not tolerated at our school.

And, John, the students are being seen by mental health counselors at this point, and a school official tells CNN that that teacher, she's on leave.

BERMAN: All right, Jean, well keep us posted on this, let us know what else you learn.

Jean Casarez, thanks so much.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

BERMAN: So here's what else to watch today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ON SCREEN TEXT: 9:00 a.m. ET, Ghislaine Maxwell trial.

1:00 p.m. ET, White House press briefing.

1:30 p.m. ET, Biden meets with Covid team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The trial of the former police officer charged in Daunte Wright's death takes a big step forward this morning.

HILL: And Spider-man just saved the movie business in America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:44:23]

HILL: Time now for "5 Things to Know for Your New Day."

Moderna reporting preliminary data showed its booster shot significantly increased antibody levels. That is welcome news, of course, as Dr. Anthony Fauci warns omicrons will become the dominant variant in a matter of weeks.

BERMAN: The White House reeling this morning after Democratic Senator Joe Manchin unexpectedly announced that he is a no on President Biden's Build Back Better plan. The West Wing has accused Manchin of breaking commitments, calling his opposition sudden and inexplicable.

HILL: Closing arguments expected to begin today in the manslaughter trial of former Minnesota Police Officer Kim Potter, who killed a 20- year-old black man.

[08:45:01]

Potter choked up on the witness stand more than once last week, recounting the moment she fatally shot Daunte Wright after that traffic stop. She claims that she mistook her gun for a Taser.

Closing arguments set for this morning in Ghislaine Maxwell's trial in New York. The defense rested its case Friday after a Jeffrey Epstein associate decided not to testify. The jury will have two days to deliberate before a court is closed for the Christmas holiday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ever since I got bit by that spider, I've only had one week where my life has felt normal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: "Spider-man: No Way Home" shattering pandemic box office records, earning an estimated $253 million over the weekend. Keep in mind, this is the third highest opening weekend in box office history. That's despite new Covid cases rising and streaming becoming the way millions of Americans have now become used to watching movies from home.

BERMAN: So that's "5 Things to Know for Your New Day." More on these stories all day on CNN and cnn.com. And don't forget to download the "5 Things" podcast every morning. Go to cnn.com/5things. You can also find it wherever you get your podcasts.

HILL: Well, Covid concerns certainly not deterring holiday travelers. We've got the latest from a busy airport. That's next.

BERMAN: First, what if the media covered the war on democracy like an actual war?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:23]

This year began with a televised insurrection that cost lives and vividly showed how delicate democracy really is. Are Americans getting that message? Our next guest asks, what if media cover the war on democracy like an actual war?

"Mother Jones" CEO Monika Bauerlein joins me now.

Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

Look, it's an interesting morning to be talking about the idea that you think we need to be focused much more on the war on democracy. There's this Covid outbreak going on, obviously, which is a big story. There's Build Back Better issues. But you think that talking about what happened on January 6th and the continued efforts, just as important?

MONIKA BAUERLEIN, CEO, "MOTHER JONES": That's right, John. What I was worried about was that, you know, as journalists who are under a lot of pressure to put out, you know, daily content, like you make this show for three hours every day, that's a lot of stuff. And so it can pull us in the direction of covering the stories that we're familiar with, and in politics that's often he said/she said, you know, here is Joe Manchin and Joe Biden fighting over issues, and we can lose sight of the fact that the playing field on which this is all happening is under attack and that American democracy itself is not something that's necessarily going to continue, could be really at risk at this very moment.

BERMAN: Why do you think it's so important to change the way that we focus, as a society, on what happened on January 6th and continues to be happening?

BAUERLEIN: Continues to be happening and I think that's really the thing that we've learned since January 6th is that that was not just an aberration, something that happened that day, but really an expression of how a significant part of our politics is now committed to undermining democracy. We have political actors and you know, even elected officials who are passing legislation that allows states, for example, to send whoever they want to the Electoral College. And that's -- if that was somebody doing it to us from the outside, it would be a huge news story. And I think it needs to be a huge news story when it's happening within our political system as well.

BERMAN: You say cover it like it's an actual war. What would that look like? What does that mean?

BAUERLEIN: I think it would mean we would cover it, you know, all the time, not just every once in a while, like this conversation we're having now. But like a story, like omicron, or inflation, where we find a lot of different creative angles to show people how this has an impact on their own lives, how it's, you know, something that they, as citizens, have an ability to engage with, that it's a big deal, you know, a big, big deal.

BERMAN: Do you think Joe Biden, as president, has focused as much as he could or should on this?

BAUERLEIN: I'm not a great expert at assessing how much he should have focused on it. I think he has tried. He just had a democracy summit. I don't know that he has turned up the volume quite as much as he could have. But we all have a part in this. I think, you know, as journalists we have choices on how much play we give these issues. As citizens we have choices about how much attention we pay. So, the president also has choices about how much he chooses to highlight this over other issues for sure.

BERMAN: Well, the success of undermining democracy depends on people not paying attention.

So, Monika Bauerlein, I appreciate you shining a light on this. Thank you.

BAUERLEIN: Thanks so much.

BERMAN: So, dueling variants in the Covid resurgence in the United States. What you need to know.

HILL: And, what's next for Joe Biden's agenda after Senator Joe Manchin's no.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:58:51]

HILL: Time now for "The Good Stuff."

Actor Gary Sinise holding his annual Snowball Express to give back to the children of fallen military service members. Now, the event is typically held at Disney World, but virtual for a second year because of the pandemic. Kids, though -- oh, look at that, hello, Roy Kent. Kids enjoyed Brett Goldstein, magic by Penn & Teller, a performance by Idina Menzel singing "Show Yourself" from "Frozen II," Tom Hanks, Matthew McConaughey, Kristen Bell, and, again, Roy Kent also took part.

BERMAN: I want to hear more from what Roy Kent said, though.

HILL: I Know.

BERMAN: They were kids. He had -- I mean like every third word was bleeped?

HILL: I think maybe he censored himself -- or maybe he didn't. It's a good -- it's a good question. Roy Kent tied, by the way, for my son's favorite, him and Sam Obisanya.

BERMAN: Oh, that -- that is sort of awesome.

HILL: Yes.

BERMAN: I will say, what's so great about looking at these people, particularly, you know, Gary Sinise and Brett Goldstein there, they're all smiling. They're all getting so much out of this. They're joyful in sharing this moment with these kids. It's so wonderful.

HILL: Yes, it really is. I mean, you know, they're there to spread the joy and they're certainly getting a lot of it back, as you say.

A pleasure to be with you this morning, John Berman.

[09:00:00]

Ahead, omicron cases rising as we're getting new information about just how important those boosters are in terms of protection. CNN's coverage continues right now.