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Biden Suffers Brutal Week on COVID, Voting Rights, Economy; Doctors Call Out Spotify for "Menace for Public Health" Rogan; Bills- Patriots Playoff Game Could Be Among Coldest Ever. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired January 14, 2022 - 08:30   ET

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

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But the big things, talk to your friends, talk to your family, people around the country, they're exhausted from this pandemic.

[08:30:02]

So that's the big dynamic, the wind in his face. And, you're right, of late, of late, he's having a bad -- just a miserable streak in part because, again, they let expectations get so high.

Senator Sinema and Senator Manchin are not saying anything different, whether changing the filibuster, whether it's a big reconciliation package, they're not saying anything different today than they were saying on day one of the Biden administration. But the president, through his own optimism, which is his friend sometimes, but in this case, his enemy, raised expectations they were going to get all this done and they haven't.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: We were having a discussion with Nina Turner, of course, of Bernie land, and Jonathan Kott of Manchin land in the last hour and Nina is -- I think she reflects a lot of progressives, she is very upset, she is very frustrated, she wants President Biden to go fire up the jet and go after Kyrsten Sinema and go after Joe Manchin.

Jonathan Kott says, look, Democrats have things they can celebrate, but can they? I mean, do you think they can go and celebrate ahead of the midterms their accomplishments successfully?

KING: It is hard to convince Bernie Sanders himself, that interview at the garden the other day, the Democrats have simply failed and the Biden administration needs a reset.

Look, again, to be fair to the president, he has a five-seat majority in the House and a 50/50 room for error in the United States Senate and the rules essentially say you need 60 votes. So, this is incredibly hard.

As we beat up on Joe Biden, doing any of these big things is not easy. But he keeps saying he can get them done. He did allow the expectations to build.

The challenge here, Brianna, is what happens in a midterm election, what happens in a midterm election when he needs Nina Turner and all the people who follow Bernie Sanders and Nina Turner progressives who are mad right now. They wanted voting rights. They wanted the $6 trillion reconciliation bill, that became $3 trillion reconciliation bill that now is nothing, at the moment is absolutely nothing.

They wanted climate provisions. They wanted home healthcare help, they wanted more child care help, they have none of that at the moment. Do they vote in November? Do they vote in November saying we need to try again or say, you know why? My vote doesn't matter.

That's the problem, especially in a midterm, motivating younger voters, motivating disillusioned voters. A lot of them think, what does the government done for me in the last 25 years? Why should I participate?

Well, Joe Biden needs every Democrat to participate. We have been surprised. Right now all the data, all the history tells you the Democrats are in for a shellacking. Just remember, we have been surprised many times in recent years because of the volatility of our politics and people have turned out, both for Trump and for Biden in huge numbers when we thought maybe they wouldn't.

Midterm year tends to be different. But we got a long way to go.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Part of Biden's problem is this unspoken promise that he held for many, right? On the one hand, he was going to get these progressive dreams achieved, that people have been waiting for on the progressive side. But on the other hand, he was going to heal the divide and govern in a bipartisan way like hasn't been done in a long time.

It is hard to reconcile those two things, almost impossible to reconcile those two things and had a hard time doing it.

John, on a separate note, no one covered bill Clinton more than you did. And the way that Bill Clinton dealt with adversity, start getting small things done, start getting anything done just so you can say I did this, I did this, I did this, I did this. Are there those options available for Joe Biden to do the little things?

KING: I do think you will see more executive actions, because you just touched on part of the problem. Bill Clinton worked with Newt Gingrich and Republican house back in those days. We had -- the last time they passed the budget following the rules, the complete rules. More than 25 years ago since they passed the United States budget the way they're supposed to do it.

A president working with the speaker even throughout the Monica Lewinsky and impeachment and all that. They did do some small things. Right now, the Republican Party will give Biden nothing and that's part of the dynamic. That's part of the dynamic.

Democrats when we pick on the president say what about the Republicans and they're absolutely right, but the way I put that into context, Joe Biden knew that on day one. Joe Biden has known since day one of his presidency the Republicans are going to say, no, and he has to try to navigate this environment. So, John, yes, I think you will see can they break pieces, can they

break the climate pieces out, can they break a child credit out, can they break home care out? Will they do incremental things? Washington has run away from one thing at a time in the last 25 years and maybe that's the way for the president to start and try, but every day we get closer to the election, Republicans are going to say, no. One other quick footnote, the numbers are bleak now. We talk about that inflation. 40 years. Inflation hasn't been this high in 40 years.

Ronald Reagan was that president. Did not do well on the midterm election, he won 49 states in the next presidential election. That's not bad. 49 out of 50 states, I'm pretty sure that's pretty good.

KEILAR: He only got 49, though. There was one -- there was one more.

KING: I say that not to say Joe Biden is going to win 49 states in a few years. I say that to say we have these conversations in the moment, we need to be careful. Things can change.

If the COVID numbers by Easter or by Memorial Day are a ton better, if the economy is roaring back by Easter or Memorial Day and it looks better, we'll have to have this conversation again.

[08:35:04]

Everything -- the COVID funk in the can country is something we need to go through every day, every week to see if it changes.

BERMAN: It's a bad funk. It's not the Bootsy Collins kind of funk. It is the kind of funk you don't want.

KING: I got nothing on that. I got nothing on that.

KEILAR: John, thank you so much. Of course, we'll be watching you at noon today on "INSIDE POLITICS."

Up next, a menace to public health. That's what our next guest is calling podcaster Joe Rogan as hundreds of health experts call on Spotify to take action.

And which team plays better in sub-zero temperatures? The New England patriots or the Buffalo Bills. A very important debate coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Podcaster Joe Rogan who is a frequent spreader of COVID misinformation was fact checked on his show in real time. Here it is.

[08:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ROGAN, HOST, "THE JOE HOGAN EXPERIENCE" PODCAST: I don't think it's true that there's an increased risk of myocarditis from people catching COVID that are young, versus increased risk of myocarditis from the vaccine. JOSH SZEPS, AUSTRALIAN TELEVISION AND RADIO BROADCASTER: There is.

ROGAN: Let's look that up. Because I don't think that's true. At a rate of 450 cases per million infections, this compares to 67 cases of myocarditis per million of the same time following the second dose of Pfizer.

SZEPS: Yes, so about eight times likelier to get myocarditis from COVID than the vaccine.

ROGAN: That's interesting. That is not what I've read before, but also, it is, like, even when we're reading these things, it is, like, what are we getting this from?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Talk about moving the goal post.

Now, 270 health experts are calling on Spotify to take action, writing in an open letter, quote, by allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions, Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust and scientific research and so doubting the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals.

Let's talk about this now with an epidemiologist who signed that letter, Dr. Katrine Wallace.

Doctor, thanks so much for being with us this morning.

Can you speak broadly, I want to ask you about the moment with Joe Rogan, but, first, can you just speak broadly with the large fan base that Joe Rogan has, what is the Joe Rogan effect on his listeners?

KATRINE WALLACE, EPIDEMIOLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, CHICAGO SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Thank you for having me. Yes, a podcast of this size that Joe Rogan has, and the effect of misinformation spreading to such a large audience, they have sort of a responsibility to the public during a public health emergency to protect the public from this kind of misinformation and harmful information going to the public.

And right now, we have 26 percent of our population that is still unvaccinated, and misinformation like this directly contributes to that.

KEILAR: Is part of what he was making there the case against vaccines, was he was trying to say there is such a risk of myocarditis for a certain age group with the vaccine, in fact, he was fact checked that the risk of myocarditis from actual COVID is many times higher.

What did you think of his response to that when he then went on to say, well, where are we getting this from?

WALLACE: It is very concerning because, you know, Joe Rogan is an entertainer, he is not a public health or medical professional. And listening to, you know, the -- there has been rare cases of myocarditis detected in young males after the second dose of the mRNA vaccines, however as the guest correctly pointed out, the risk in COVID-19 is far greater than in -- with the vaccine, so actually with the amount of transmission we have of COVID-19 right now, we're actually preventing myocarditis by vaccinating because the risk is so much higher in COVID-19.

KEILAR: Eight times higher, you know, as we saw there. It's actually very illuminating moment. So you sign this letter, how do you want Spotify to address his misinformation?

WALLACE: We would just like Spotify to have a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on their platform because as I mentioned before, we're in a public health emergency, so it is the responsibility they have to the public to protect them from this kind of harmful information. When information like this is on a huge platform, it creates a false balance as if there is two sides to the scientific information, and really there is not. The overwhelming evidence is that the vaccine works and they are safe.

KEILAR: Yeah, so well put. Dr. Wallace, really appreciate you being with us this morning.

WALLACE: Thank you so much for having me.

KEILAR: And here's what else to watch today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: So despite a parole board recommending it, California Governor Gavin Newsom denies parole for RFK's assassin. Hear why.

KEILAR: And it could be one of the coldest football matchups in NFL history. So who will prevail here? If only we had some Patriots and some Bills fans here at CNN to discuss.

[08:45:04]

Oh, wait, we do.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: It is wild card weekend in the NFL. A whole bunch of games on the schedule, but really only one that actually matters.

AFC East rivals the Buffalo Bills set to host the New England Patriots tomorrow night in what could be one of the coldest NFL games in history. The temperature expected to be in the single digits with the wind-chill in the minus 10 to 15 range. The Bills are about a five- point favorite to win, which means the Patriots have them just where they want them.

Joining me now, CNN senior data reporter and Buffalo Bills super fan, Harry Enten. In his full gear, ready for the cold weather there.

Harry, I have an important question for you. Namely, talk to me about these to teams in this frigid environment. [08:50:04]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: I mean, look, what do we know about the Bills and what do we know about the Patriots? We know they both have very good defenses. The Bills are ranked number one. I believe the patriots are ranked number four.

They're both in the top half of the league in offense, but the fact is that the bills have a far superior offense, about ten ranks ahead, they're in the top five in offenses, the patriots are right near the middle of the league.

Why is that important? Because if we look back at the last few games that the patriots and bills have played against each other this year, what do we know? We know the Patriots won one of those games. We know that the Bills won one of those games.

But the game that the bills won was when the weather was just right, it was nice, up in New England. When the Patriots won, it was quite windy, it was quite windy in Buffalo and you mentioned this third matchup, single digit temperatures are forecasted, so we're looking more in the bad weather than the good weather so maybe your idea that the Bills are favored, maybe not so much in the cold weather.

BERMAN: Interesting. I like where you're headed with that.

Harry, in general, how does cold weather affect games?

ENTEN: If we look back at playoff games since 1980, I went on my computer, I went to stat head, and basically what we see is that in colder weather, when the temperature is ten degrees or below, the average offense gets about 296 yards. Versus when it is above ten degrees, they get 338 yards.

So this is an indication that offenses may in fact struggle when the weather is quite cold out there, and, of course, that's an important point because the Bills have the far superior offense to the Patriots than compared to the defense with the Bills even though they have a slightly better defense than the Patriots, they're far closer ranked in offense.

If this is a shootout, the Bills win. The Patriots want to keep it low scoring. To keep it low scoring, they can win like they won in the first meeting in Orchard Park.

BERMAN: Oh, my God, look where we are right now, we're in "THE SITUATION ROOM". And in this case, the situation room appears to be Wolf Blitzer's basement on his treadmill.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Very low tech Situation Room here in the situation room home edition. Just got off -- just been working out on the treadmill. I'm watching you guys.

As you know, I'm from Buffalo. I love our Buffalo Bills. Always have. Ever since I was a little boy growing up in Buffalo, my dad would take me to Bills games. Harry, you're from New York. Why do you love the Buffalo bills?

ENTEN: Because they're the only New York team, isn't that obvious?

I had a family friend from western New York who helped put me on the right path. Unfortunately, they -- there was a long time where they hadn't won since my bar mitzvah. We have turned that around, Wolf.

And I got to tell you, I am so looking forward to tomorrow night's game. It is going to remind us of the old AFL matchups at the rock pile at War Memorial Stadium.

BLITZER: I remember those games well. And John Berman, you're from Boston. So you want the Patriots to win. I understand that. It makes sense.

But, you know what, we're really devoted bills fans, I go back four Super Bowls in a row the Bills played and unfortunately we lost four Super Bowls in a row. But I have good feelings, I'm nervous right now. But I have good feelings.

BERMAN: Yeah, you just mentioned those super bowls, wolf. I'm curious, how you're going to spend the playoff game tomorrow? And tell me how you celebrated past Bills Super Bowl victories.

BLITZER: Well, unfortunately I haven't celebrated any past Super Bowl victories. I know you celebrated the New England patriots past Super Bowl victories. We're ready. We're moving on.

I will be -- it is going to be cold in Buffalo. I won't be in Buffalo. I would have loved to have been in Buffalo.

I love everybody in western New York. I'm going to be watching it in the warmth of my home on television like millions and millions of other Bills fans. So we'll be ready.

BERMAN: Do you have any good luck charms?

BLITZER: You're seeing it right now. The shirt, you see -- I have a lot of Bills shirts and hats and blankets, all sorts of Bills cups. I have a lot of good bills equipment.

Harry, are you going to be eating Buffalo food during the game? Buffalo chicken wings, for example, or pizza?

ENTEN: You know I'm a huge fan of chicken wings and buffalo wings. I can't help but eat the fried foods. That's what part of the experience is all about when you're watching a football game.

The thing I point out, John, though the Bills have never won a Super Bowl, we did win two AFL titles back in the mid-60s in '64 and '65, able to beat the San Diego Chargers, you lost to that team in 1963 AFL championship.

So, we have beaten a team in the championship game that you did not. So, we have that over you and I have a good feeling, you know, as long as that offense gets going tomorrow night, as long as Josh Alan can throw that ball, we're going to have a nice conversation on Monday. Perhaps even Sunday, I'll give you a call up on your number and drag your nose through it a little bit.

[08:55:06]

BERMAN: And, Harry, how did you celebrate those two Bills AFL championships?

ENTEN: Being it was an altered life and I would like to think I'm a 75-year-old man, I celebrated it with a corned beef pastrami sandwich with a side of Dr. Brown's cream soda.

BERMAN: So, Wolf Blitzer, how about a wager here? If the Bills win, Harry Enten gets to anchor "THE SITUATION ROOM," and if the Patriots -- if the Patriots win, you become our guest on NEW DAY every morning for a full week.

BLITZER: Let's just hope -- I'm a little nervous about making predictions right now. I have been through a lot of Bills games over the years. So, I just want -- I just want to see what happens and I just want our Buffalo Bills to win.

You know, John, I want Brianna to know this as well, I don't know if you know, Eric Hall, your executive producer knows, I watch NEW DAY every day on this treadmill for one hour. Exactly one hour. And I learn a lot about what was going on in the U.S. and around the world and I'm grateful for you guys for what you do.

BERMAN: We're good for cardio and stability. Wolf Blitzer, thank you very much. Harry Enten, appreciate it.

ENTEN: Go, Bills!

BLITZER: Harry, I'll point out and John, I'll point out, I'm a little afraid of the -- so I'm not making any predictions right now.

BERMAN: And my mother right now is saying I know what that means.

Thank you, Wolf. I appreciate it.

CNN's coverage continues right now. I'll explain, Brianna, after this.