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North Carolina Gas Prices Hit 7-Year High; Ash Barty Advances in Australian Open; Tennessee School Bans Holocaust Book; Spotify Removes Neil Young. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired January 27, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Each time one of these fills up. $200 more per truck on average from a year ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any cost that goes up will hurt your profitability.

YURKEVICH: In North Carolina, prices have seen the biggest annual increase in seven years, up five cents a gallon for regular fuel in just the last month, in line with national increases.

TIFFANY WRIGHT, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, AAA CAROLINAS: Gas prices really have been a roller coaster ride. These are places where gas prices don't tend to drop as they do in other places around the country because they are year-round destinations.

YURKEVICH: And with the price of crude oil, which makes fuel, jumping 30 percent since December due to increased demand but less product on the market, the cost to fill up could continue to rise.

ELLIS HUNTER, NORTH CAROLINA DRIVER: It's like the necessity of food. It's not something that you can put down. Gas is a must. You cannot get from here to there without the gas. So, there's no way of getting by it.

YURKEVICH: But some drivers have found a way.

YURKEVICH (on camera): We're here in South Carolina.

I saw you have North Carolina plates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, looking to save some money. For 10 minutes I can save 20 cents.

YURKEVICH (voice over): Just a short drive from Charlotte, North Carolina, into South Carolina, can save drivers 10 to 20 cents a gallon on average.

CHRISTINE CARDELL, NORTH CAROLINA DRIVER: If we're working over here, we always get gas over here on this side.

YURKEVICH: Christine Cardell works for a landscaping company that services North and South Carolina. She says the price of gas in any state is too much.

CARDELL: It's cost me well into, you know, $140, $150 just to fill up.

YURKEVICH (on camera): When you look at that price, what do you think?

CARDELL: I think it sucks. It can put me out of business. There are some jobs that I don't even take now because it costs me too much to get there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH: And about half the drivers we spoke to say that they don't feel like they have any control over gas prices, they just have to pay it. The other half did believe that the federal government, Joe Biden, did have some control over these gas prices. We know the president authorized the release of about 50 million barrels of oil from the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. We'll see if that makes an impact.

But, Brianna, when you're thinking about gas prices, what you pay here at the pump, you have to think about it globally. There are so few countries that control the oil market. They're called OPEC. And they have said they don't plan on releasing any more oil, which means that you're probably going to get stuck paying these prices and maybe even higher here at the pump.

Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you for that.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: While you were sleeping, world number one tennis player Ash Barty punching her ticket to her first ever Australian Open final. She is good and playing great.

Andy Scholes has this morning's bleacher report.

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John. A special moment for Ash Barty. Australia is her home. Been a dream of hers to win the Aussie Open. Now she's a win away from making that happen. Barty cruising to a straight set to win over Madison Keys this morning in the semifinals. She's now the first Australian woman to make it to the Aussie final in 42 years. The 25-year-old is the reigning Wimbledon champ. She won the French Open in 2019. But winning the Aussie Open would be extra special.

And Barty is now going to face American Danielle Collins in the final. She was ranked 27th in the tournament. Collins' amazing comeback just continues after collapsing on court last year and undergoing surgery to remove a tennis-ball sized cist from her ovary. This is going to be Collins' first ever grand slam final. Should be a great one.

All right, yesterday marked two years since Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gigi, and seven others lost their lives in that tragic helicopter crash. Current and former NBA players like Luka Doncic, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade and many more posting tributes to Kobe throughout the day. And a statue of Kobe and Gigi was temporarily placed at the crash site yesterday. It was created by sculptor Dan Medina. It shows Kobe in his Lakers' uniform with his arm around Gigi, who's also wearing a basketball uniform. The base of this statue also had the names of all of the crash victims. It also had the words, "heroes come and go but legends are forever."

Guys, just, you know, hard to believe it's been more than two years now since that terrible helicopter crash.

BERMAN: What a beautiful statue. I hadn't seen that. That is really lovely and sad.

SCHOLES: Yes. It gave a chance for a lot of people to go by and, you know, pay their respects.

BERMAN: All right, thanks, Andy. Appreciate it.

SCHOLES: All right.

BERMAN: A search is underway for a man who snuck into an Iowa hospital and bottle fed a baby. The thing is, the baby wasn't his. The bizarre details ahead.

KEILAR: And a Pulitzer Prize winning novel about the Holocaust banned from some Tennessee schools. We'll tell you why.

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[06:39:25]

BERMAN: This morning we're learning about a story that gives reason to worry about kids' futures. What message are we sending? A Tennessee school board decided to ban the Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel "Maus." "Maus" is a deeply personal, true story by Art Spiegelman about his mother and father inside a Nazi concentration camp. Now, the Nazis in this are cats. The Jews are mice. It is riveting, beautiful, and horrible. It's the only graphic novel ever to win the Pulitzer.

But the McMinn County School Board in Tennessee has banned the book.

[06:40:01]

One board member said, quote, it shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids. Why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff? It's not wise or healthy. Being in the schools, educators and stuff, we don't need to enable or somewhat promote this stuff.

Joining me now, the anchor of "EARLY START," Laura Jarrett.

Laura, lay out exactly what happened here, if you can.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, good morning.

As you mentioned, "Maus" is widely seen as the gold standard when it comes to teaching kids about the Holocaust, given its unique voice, it's unique approach. But if you are an eighth grader in McMinn County waking up this morning, you will not be reading this Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel in English class.

Now, the school says -- the school board says, this is not about Holocaust denialism. We obtained the meeting minutes from when this decision was made and they said it's because the book has, quote, rough language and it has a picture of a naked woman.

Now, you can imagine a lot of books probably meet that standard. And this is getting a lot of pushback. This decision baffling the author of "Maus," Art Spiegelman. He was interviewed about CNBC about this decision and he said this, it's leaving me with my jaw open. Like, what? I also understand that Tennessee is obviously demented. There's something going on very, very haywire there.

Now, I should mention, some teachers at the meeting did push back about this decision. They essentially made the point that, yes, it has rough language because the Holocaust was horrific and it needs to meet the moment on that. But it's, obviously, part of a much larger trend that we're seeing in some conservative states, whether it's book bans, or Governor Ron DeSantis in Florida banning conversations in schools where white kids might feel uncomfortable with some of the subject matters. There's a lot discussion that's happening now about parental choice and what's appropriate context and which history gets told and which one is banned.

BERMAN: I submit, if you're concerned about teaching the Holocaust is too many swear words and too much nudity, you might be thinking about it the wrong way.

JARRETT: I think that's fair to say.

BERMAN: And "Maus" is -- it's a seminal work. It's cats and mice. I mean what better way is there to reach children? How do you want to teach children about the Holocaust, or don't you at all?

JARRETT: Well, and the author said, so many kids have told me, this changed my life. It changed my view about how to look at the Holocaust.

BERMAN: Think about what you're doing. That's all I ask. Just think about what you're doing here.

Laura Jarrett, thank you very much for that.

JARRETT: Sure.

BERMAN: Spotify just called Neil Young's bluff. Why you won't be hearing his music on the platform anymore, but you'll still be able to listen to Joe Rogan.

KEILAR: And Sarah Palin returns to the restaurant where she skirted vaccine rules. This time after testing positive for Covid. What the restaurant is now saying.

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[06:46:51]

KEILAR: Spotify has spoken, and it has chosen Joe Rogan over Neil Young. The rock legend gave the streaming service an ultimatum, demanding that his music be removed from the platform if Rogan's podcast remains on it because he says Rogan's podcast is, quote, spreading fake information about vaccines. Well, it didn't take Spotify very long to decide here.

Joining us now to discuss this and today's other hot-button issues are cultural commentator and author of "Zero O:Clock," C.J. Farley, and we're also joined by CNN political commentator Scott Jennings.

Scott, to you first. I mean, there was an ultimatum, and it was, OK, we'll stick with Joe Rogan.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, the business case for this for Spotify is quite obvious. They pay Joe Rogan $100 million to make the biggest podcast in the world. He's got 11 million listeners every day. I mean this is one of their biggest, most profitable entities. And so the idea they were going to side with Neil Young over this was crazy.

I do think it highlights, though, a startling turn on the political left towards authoritarianism when it comes to free speech. I'm old enough to remember back during the Bush years, when Neil Young went on the tour called the Free Speech Tour, because he was out protesting the Iraq War. Well, he's come a long way. That's quite an evolution when you try to use your -- you know, use your platform to get corporations to silence speech that you don't like.

So, I think it's a troubling trend on the left to try to throw people that you don't like out of the public square. In this case, Joe Rogan won, but I don't think it's going to stop the trend.

BERMAN: C.J., is that the right way to look at it?

C.J. FARLEY, CULTURAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, here's the thing about Neil Young. You really can't peg him politically. In the '70s he was protesting against Nixon, in the '80s he was sympathetic towards Ronald Reagan. And when I talked to him, you know, not too many years ago, he was rebuilding a 1959 Lincoln to reduce emissions because he was concerned about global warming. You know, he believes in things strongly. He's passionate about them. He speaks out about them. He's certainly not going to stop now.

If he has an issue with Joe Rogan, he's going to do everything possible to get his views out there. That's what he did here. I mean he really does not conform to any kind of political type. That's why the people have loved Neil Young so much over the years.

KEILAR: I mean, C.J., he seems consistent in that he's against things that kill people.

FARLEY: Yes, I mean, he is consistent there. And I think that it's hard to cast this in a winners or losers type way. I think if people are unfamiliar with Neil Young, if they're -- feel bad that his stuff is getting kicked off Spotify's platform, they should go to Apple, they should go to another platform and check it out. He has so many great songs that are worth listening to. "Down by the River," "Old Man," "Southern Man," "Only Love Can Break Your Heart." This is one of the greatest singer/songwriters in the history of American music. Although it may look like, hey, Joe Rogan's bigger right now, this guy is a titan. He's a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. I think people are going to continue to love him. I think that other musicians are going to take a look at what Neil Young's doing because he's so well respected and say, should I be on that platform? Should I be doing something? Should I be speaking up? He has that kind of reputation in the industry.

[06:50:01]

BERMAN: You know, Scott, Neil young was willing to put his money where his mouth is in this.

JENNINGS: Yes, he was. And, you know what, I -- if that's what he wants to do, that's fine.

I do think it's interesting that he's trying to rally people against Spotify because they choose to be in business with Joe Rogan. Again, I -- I mean, look, Covid broke a lot of people. I mean Neil Young's obviously one of them. He's given up a huge amount of his own personal revenue by having his music removed from this.

I find it interesting that you have a number of people who generally, I think, identify with the -- with the political left who have gone from being free speech advocates all the way now to being the speech police. And there have always been cranks, and there have always been people who are wrong, and have always been all kind of views in America. It is not normal for us to have an entire political ideology that's moving towards the idea that speech is somewhat violence or that speech is unsafe. This is a country that values the concept of speech and we'll sort it out in the public square.

Young doesn't, obviously, value that unique American thing, the idea that we can all speak and we'll sort it out. I find that to me to be the most interesting thing about this whole episode.

KEILAR: Scott, can you speak a little bit more about that? Just -- you know, we just had a story out of Tennessee -- Kentucky, sorry. Berman, can --

BERMAN: Tennessee. Tennessee.

KEILAR: Tennessee. OK, Tennessee, yes, where, you know, they're ban this Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel about the Holocaust. It doesn't -- this idea of protesting or boycotting something does not seem to be, you know, necessarily one sided if you're going to lump them together.

JENNINGS: I am a passionate advocate for free speech. I mean, look, if -- I mean I -- the three of you sitting here on this show this morning may say something I vehemently disagree with, but I would lay down on a train track for your right and ability and platform to say it. So I'm a passionate advocate for free speech. But I don't think there is any doubt that there is an impulse on the political left right now to try to silence people on the conservative side of our spectrum. I mean there is an impulse to say, why is this person allowed to speak? Why are they allowed to have a platform? Why are they allowed to espouse views that I find personally hateful?

I get it. You don't like it. But that shouldn't stop you from believing that this is a country that's big enough and strong enough internally to embrace all kinds of speech.

So, Brianna, I'm not for banning speech of any kind. I am always on the side of free speech. And, you know, that's where I'm going to come down on, on this issue.

BERMAN: What -- Scott, if I can just -- you're not for banning speech of any kind. What about -- well, you know, they banned "Maus" in schools. They're banning teaching certain things in schools in certain states.

Are you against the banning of teaching certain things?

JENNINGS: I am not for teaching children that they are inherently evil or wrong or bad because they were born a certain way, which is what parents in Virginia and other places are protesting. I strongly oppose that because I don't think it's true. I'm for speech, but I'm not for indoctrination of children into ideologies that may not be true and if their parents don't know about or certainly haven't had a say in. So I think that's a different issue altogether. We're talking about commercial speech here and the idea of people using their platforms to try to silence folks that they don't like.

I mean, look, Neil Young doesn't like Joe Rogan. I get it. He doesn't have to listen to it. It's his right to put his music wherever he wants. But, at the same time, we have to acknowledge this impulse against speech is very, very damaging, in my opinion, to the United States.

KEILAR: Is it a different thing, C.J.?

FARLEY: Yes, I've got to step -- I've got to step in here about -- and talk about Art Spiegelman and "Maus." You know, I'm interviewing Art Spiegelman. You know, "Maus" is one of the greatest works of literature to really come out in the last 100 years. It's one of the best graphic novels ever. And I think part of this argument is addressed by simply reading "Maus." If people haven't read "Maus," they should order it right now. They should check it out. They should read it and think to themselves, do they want their kids reading this? I think they will absolutely say yes. It's such a great way to learn about history. It's emotional. It's smart. It's incredibly artistic. It's really passionate. It's a great work of history. And that's why it won the Pulitzer Prize.

It's sad that it's banned. And as an author myself, as an author who writes for young people, I understand how difficult it is to reach them. "Maus" is one of those works, along with a few others like "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi, that really manages to get kids to care about history and care about it passionately. It's sad if that's pulled from the shelves for certain kids because it's such a great work. And I think people should check it out if they have any questions about what's going on with it.

KEILAR: Yes, and, look, you do write for young people. So, you're also very aware of what is going on in schools.

Can you just respond to that, what Scott said, C.J. You know, on one hand this idea -- and, look, I -- there are many people who share Scott's view, which is that if you're talking about race in a certain way in school, it's indoctrination, even as arguing that saying you don't want Joe Rogan on the air, that that is, you know, condemning free speech.

[06:55:12]

FARLEY: Yes, I think we have to separate out the idea that we're talking about facts, things that are factually wrong. Hundreds of doctors have come out and said certain things that Joe Rogan has said on the air were factually incorrect, and talking about ideas, a free marketplace of ideas, where people can debate things and talk about things and talk about various ideas. And I think you have to separate out the two competing ideas there, the idea about facts that can be wrong or right, and ideas where people can be differing opinions about what they mean.

BERMAN: All right, Scott, C.J., thanks to both of you.

FARLEY: Thank you.

JENNINGS: Thank you.

KEILAR: Schools in Virginia now dividing students up by those who choose to wear masks and those who don't. Is that a good idea? We'll see the debate on that.

BERMAN: Pressure mounting on Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz as a third witness is now cooperating with the feds in its sex trafficking investigation that could be connected to him. We have new details ahead.

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