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New Day
Democrats Face Backlash from Frustrated Suburban Moms; Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) is Interviewed about Covid Frustration; Judge Greenlights Special Grand Jury in Georgia. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired January 25, 2022 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00]
ANGIE SCHMITT, WRITER: Double vaccinated and already had corona, masking 40 hours a week. That's another thing, I think Democrats have been way to dogmatic about that.
EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're an involved mom in a swing state who was a Democrat and now -- now what are you?
SCHMITT: I -- probably -- probably I'm still a Democrat, but I think I'm a lot closer to the independent category. Like, whereas before, I would not -- not have even considered voting for a Republican. Now, I'm just looking for these magic words, who's the politician that's going to say, school's important, we're keeping schools open.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): Moms in the suburbs helped get President Biden elected. Now some people in Washington are wondering if they may help the Republicans in the fall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could school re-openings or closures become a potent midterm issue for Republicans to win back the suburbs?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, I think it could be.
KATIE PARIS, FOUNDER, RED WINE AND BLUE: Hi!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Katie, how are you?
PARIS: Thank you for coming.
So, this is Marla.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Back in Ohio, these moms are popping the cork on a plan for Democrats to go back on offense. PARIS: I've been hoping and wanting, you know, the White House to pay
a lot of attention to those conversations that are happening at the bus stop.
DR. VIVEK MURTHY, SURGEON GENERAL: But, you know, even more important than speaking to you as surgeon general or as a doctor, I want to just talk to you as a parent.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Last week, the Biden administration hosted first ever White House Covid-19 parent checkup. Katie Paris came up with the name. She runs Red Wine and Blue, a group that tries to get suburban moms to vote Democratic.
PARIS: The White House reached out in the midst of all these legislative battles going on and said, you know what, we want to prioritize listening to parents.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just watched so many moms suffer through that. I think the pandemic just identified, we need help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like, all moms need help, regardless of if you vote or don't, if you're a Republican, Democrat. We all have been in the trenches with this.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (on camera): You all are particularly plugged into this in a way that I think a lot of folks are not. Should Dems be worried? Do they worry about (INAUDIBLE)?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They should be worried if they duck. They should be out there, proudly, I want paid leave, I want universal childcare. Say it proudly. Say it loudly. Don't duck. And then, if they don't do that, they should be scared.
PARIS: And say that we want to keep our schools open. That we're going to make sure that parents and teachers have all the support they need and be able to do that safely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
PARIS: And not avoid the conversation because it feels like a political land mine.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO: This was the first ever of one of these White House calls today, right?
PARIS: Yes.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Too little, too late, or is there still time?
PARIS: I would hope that this is just the beginning of these conversations. I don't think that most parents are thinking about, like, how many days or months are there until the next election? Like, they just want to be heard.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So, John, the pandemic policy is all behind us now. The question is what comes next this year, this election year.
Now Katie says what Democrats need to do is just not seed any ground on this and go on offense. But you could hear in the room with her own friends and her own people in her group, there's frustration about some of the things Democrats haven't done, like paid family leave, the, you know, child tax credit, things like that. You can see what a tough position Democrats are in right now. And this messaging about schooling is not helping them at the moment.
John.
BERMAN: Evan, that was a terrific discussion you had with them. Important as well. Thanks so much for doing that.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Thank you.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Well, let's continue that discussion now with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
Governor, thank you so much for being with us this morning.
And I'm sure that as you listened to some of those parents, some of those mothers in that piece, it echoes some of what you have heard from frustrated parents.
What do you say to them? What are you hearing?
GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): Yes, it absolutely does. And I don't begrudge any of their frustrations for one second.
Listen, learning loss has been overwhelming. Mental health impact has been overwhelming, with kids, with educators, with staff, with families. So we have done everything we can and we will continue to safely and responsibly always, but to keep schools open, number one. And that's -- that is our overwhelming objective.
Secondly, I think the comments about lack of progress in Washington also bother folks. We're doing a lot of what they had tried to do in Congress and New Jersey. We know it works. We know expanding pre-k works. We know expanding childcare, access to community college, whatever it might be, we know those steps have huge, positive impacts on lives. And I can appreciate frustration with folks who say, you know what, why, if we know something works, are we not getting it done across the country. So, I don't begrudge any of that frustration for one second.
KEILAR: There is this, you know, emphasis on keeping schools open. You have it. We've heard that from the Biden administration. But the fact is, so much time has passed since the began, and there have been, you know, just so many school closures for so long.
MURPHY: Yes.
KEILAR: In retrospect, did Democrats make mistakes on their approach to schools and school closures?
[08:35:07]
MURPHY: Listen, nobody's perfect. I can't speak for Democrats as a general matter. In new Jersey, when we closed them down in March of 2020, it was at the -- at the -- in the face of a pandemic about which we knew nothing, any of us. So, you had no choice at that point.
In this school year that we're in, we have, I think, at least in New Jersey, we have succeeded overwhelmingly by safely and responsibly keeping schools open, and then also investing heavily in programs to address learning loss, mental health impacts from the pandemic, to try to make up for that lost time from the early days, where we had no choice but to close schools.
KEILAR: Prime minister of Britain, Boris Johnson, I'm sure you're aware he has lifted some restrictions, including no longer requiring face masks in certain public spaces. He says Covid needs to be treated more like the flu.
Do you agree with that and does the U.S. need to go that way?
MURPHY: I'm not sure Boris Johnson's playbook is the one I'm going to be following as a general manner, but I think that's where it ultimately ends up. I don't think we're there yet, however, at least not in the U.S., certainly not in New Jersey.
It is clearly getting better. The past couple of weeks we have turned the corner without question. And I do -- I do believe, based on conversations we have with the experts, that this will convert into an endemic from a pandemic, something akin it a bad flu season, please, God, sooner than later, but we're not there yet.
KEILAR: You're saying we're not there yet. But do you think that this is -- can we see it from here? Is this the beginning of the end of the pandemic?
MURPHY: Yes, I base the prognostications on conversations that we have with medical and scientific experts. That body of folks feels like it's building toward that reality. And I hope sooner than later.
Again, we're a northern cold weather state. We get into better weather in a few months. We get the omicron surge behind us a little bit more. I think things are clearly looking up. Please, od, that turns out to be the case.
KEILAR: Please, God, I will second that.
Governor, thank you so much for being with us this morning, Governor Phil Murphy.
MURPHY: Good to be with you. Thanks for having me.
KEILAR: Pfizer is beginning new trials for a vaccine to specifically target the omicron variant. So, how quickly could this become available and will we ultimately need it? BERMAN: And, a significant twist in the investigation of the Trump
lawyer who drafted the infamous coup memo. What John Eastman will now be forced to reveal.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:42:28]
BERMAN: Time now for "5 Things to Know for Your New Day."
Up to 8,500 U.S. troops have been placed on heightened alert by the Biden administration for possible deployment to eastern Europe. The White House believes a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent. The Pentagon says the troops will be prepared for any contingencies.
KEILAR: And pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announcing the start of clinical trials for a new vaccine that is engineered to specifically target the omicron variant. The company has already started manufacturing doses and plans to have the new vaccine ready in March.
BERMAN: Police in London now investigating Prime Minister Boris Johnson's lockdown parties. This comes as we learn that he is under fire yet again over a party that celebrated his birthday in June of 2020. Reports say up to 30 people attended, sang happy birthday and were served cake. The rules at the time banned most indoor gatherings larger than two people.
KEILAR: And Sarah Palin's defamation trial against "The New York Times" delayed after she tested positive for coronavirus. Just days ago, Palin, who is not vaccinated, somehow managed to dine indoors in a New York City restaurant where proof of vaccination is supposed to be required. The restaurant owner calls it an unfortunate oversight.
BERMAN: So just announced, S.A.T.s will soon be taken online instead of on paper. It's still being scored out of 1,600 and taken at a school or test center with a proctor present, not at home. Among the changes, the test is two hours long instead of three. Calculators will be allowed for all math sections, and scores will come back in days instead of weeks.
KEILAR: Wow.
So those are "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. Just go to cnn.com/5things.
And here's what else to watch today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ON SCREEN TEXT: 12:15 p.m. ET, White House briefing.
2:00 p.m. ET, Harris and Blinken remarks.
3:00 p.m. ET, State Department briefing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: A major step forward in a criminal investigation focusing on President Trump's election interference.
[08:45:02]
What a district attorney in Georgia just said about potential charges.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You now have the second longest streak in "Jeopardy" history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: How "Jeopardy" phenom Amy Schneider becoming a game show legend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: New developments in the legal trouble for former President Trump. This time in the state of Georgia. The Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis has just been given the green light to seat a special grand jury in her criminal investigation of Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in that state. This will allow Willis to issue subpoenas and gather additional evidence, a step toward pursuing possible criminal charges.
Joining us now is CNN senior legal analyst, Preet Bharara. He served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York before being fired by Donald Trump, and is the author of the new book out today, "Justice Is: A Guide for Young Truth Seekers." Such an important subject. Such a wonderful book. I have it right here, Preet, we'll talk about that in a second.
First, I want your take about Georgia right now. A special grand jury to investigate the president on possible criminal activity there. What specific legal jeopardy do you think he's in?
PREET BHARARA, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, he's in criminal legal jeopardy. I would say that, you know, we've been down this road before where particular prosecutors or enforcement agencies open up investigations of people up to and including the president.
[08:50:04]
And, you know, we all follow it and we think it means sometimes more than it means.
This is very significant. It's very focused. The specific request has been made to investigate criminally the conduct of the president of the United States in connection with the election in Georgia.
But, we're not going to see anything immediately. This special grand jury, first of all, won't begin its work for some weeks, if not months. The specially grand jury itself under Georgia law is not in the position to offer an indictment. It can only write a report and make a recommendation for an indictment from a regular grand jury.
So, it will be a two-step process. It will probably take many months. So it will be a while before we see any fruits of their efforts.
KEILAR: Do you think he did anything specifically criminal? And, if so, what?
BHARARA: I'm not going to substitute myself for the grand jury. I think there are a lot of witnesses to hear from, a lot of documents to look at, a lot of emails and communications to scrutinize. But, certainly, the threshold for investigation and serious investigation has been met. And we know that from the public reporting that CNN and other outlets have done.
BERMAN: So, Preet, I'm holding your book here, "Justice Is." And it's beautiful.
BHARARA: Thank you.
BERMAN: And the theme is beautiful.
I happen to think that kids have a keen sense of justice, an understanding in some ways, a purer understanding of right and wrong than some adults do.
BHARARA: Yes.
BERMAN: But talk to me about what you're trying to address here.
BHARARA: I think you're exactly right. You know, kids, especially those with siblings, understand issues of fairness, and unfairness. Watch kids play a game and you'll see that the person who's cheating gets called out right away. And I think that we underestimate that capability in young people, and so together with the publisher, we talked about putting together -- I didn't draw the pictures. They're beautiful illustrations done by Sue Cornelison. I can't draw. Luckily, we found someone who can.
And the idea is to offer up to children, at a fairly young age, concepts of justice and fairness and, even more importantly, introduce them to figures from history, some very well known, some lesser known who are heroic and courageous and stood by their principles.
I remember as a young kid my dad telling me stories about people who he admired. I'm an immigrant from India, and so he talked about Gandhi and some other people who led the movement for independence in the country of my birth. And I remember being fascinated by that. And if some people, as children, get introduce to some of these stories and some of these legendary figures, hopefully it will inspire them to learn more, to care more about their country, to care more about their world and make it a better place too.
KEILAR: And also what's so beautiful about your stories, I will say, is that I think kids looking at this book, they're going to see someone who looks like them, right?
BHARARA: Yes.
KEILAR: You have stories from all over. People from all over. I think that's so important, Preet.
BHARARA: Yes, so we didn't focus on America. We didn't focus on modern times. We have figures from the United States from a couple of hundred years ago. We have figures from South Africa and India and around the world. So, you know, not everyone is going to be interested in every figure or recognize every figure or look like every figure. But we figure that we have enough folks in there that someone could be inspired by one or more of them and want to learn more.
BERMAN: Preet Bharara, congratulations on this book.
BHARARA: Thank you so much.
BERMAN: I love reading it.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
BHARARA: Thank you.
BERMAN: Ukraine's foreign minister speaking to CNN exclusively, moments ago, as the United States puts troops on alert, with Russia building up forces along the Ukrainian border.
KEILAR: The answer is -- the woman who just made "Jeopardy" history, and, question, who is Amy Schneider? We'll have "The Good Stuff," next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:58:09]
BERMAN: Time now for "The Good Stuff."
There is a new champion sweeping "Jeopardy," and her name is Amy Schneider.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMY SCHNEIDER: What is 1912 angry men?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.
SCHNEIDER: What is a magnetic resonance image?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.
SCHNEIDER: What is British thermal units?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct.
SCHNEIDER: What is celery salt? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.
SCHNEIDER: What is "Charlie's Angels"?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.
SCHNEIDER: What is carried?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. You see what they did there, carry.
Now, a 39-day total of $1,319,800. You now have the second longest streak in "Jeopardy" history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Amy Schneider winning 39 games in a row, second only to current host Ken Jennings. She's also the first female contestant to surpass $1 million in winnings and the fourth player ever to do so.
And it's been a joy to watch her win. I -- what I like about her, there are different ways to sort of succeed in "Jeopardy" that we've seen from these last several champions. She's just smart. She just gets a lot of answers right and doesn't do as much of the gamesmanship as we've seen before.
KEILAR: So, you know, I know someone who was on "Jeopardy." Can we put that picture up?
Are you wearing the same -- no, it's not the same tie.
OK, yes, so you talk about the strategy here. Well, what was your strategy?
BERMAN: Oh, panic. You know, the hardest part about "Jeopardy" is the button.
KEILAR: Really?
BERMAN: Is you have to buzz in at the right time.
KEILAR: Really?
BERMAN: Really. I swear to God it's the button. It's -- you have to buzz in -- if you buzz in too early, you get put at the end of the queue. So, it's more of an agility test than anything.
But I want to make one thing clear, which is that the questions that she's answering are so much harder than the ones that we had to do.
KEILAR: Yes.
BERMAN: So we were playing like basically, you know, elementary school "Jeopardy." She's playing grown-up "Jeopardy." And she's really just crushing it.
KEILAR: But if you're a "Jeopardy" aficionado, like yourself, I mean you are, you enjoy it, and her method is just getting everything right --
[09:00:02]
BERMAN: Yes.
KEILAR: I mean is that the more admirable way to win?
BERMAN: I think the best way to win is to win. How -- whatever it takes.
KEILAR: It doesn't matter.
BERMAN: I actually punched the guy next to me. You know -- no, Mo Rocca (ph), who's a friend. And that's how I won.
All right, CNN's coverage continues right now.
