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New Day
Ukrainian Citizens Training for Invasion; Easing Covid Restrictions; Grocery Prices Climb Amid Inflation; Spotify Adds Content Warning. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired January 31, 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]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SERGIY CHURNIK, CLINICAL RESEARCHER AND VOLUNTEER: Really be -- risk that Russian invasion might occur pretty soon. So, this why even civilians have to be ready.
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These men believe that it's their country's democracy that Vladimir Putin fears more than a threat posed by European Union and NATO membership.
MIKHAILO GERALDO RAMIREZ, LAWYER AND VOLUNTEER: In Putin's Russia, all Russian citizens are completely slaves. He feels it's a threat because Ukrainians gave to Russians and (INAUDIBLE) Russians a bad example. We show to our neighbors how each citizen of free will must defend his social and national rights.
KILEY: You wouldn't know that Ukraine's government says that Russia has at least 127,000 troops massed on three sides of the country here in the capital where there are no signs of impending war.
And in the poorer districts, where people hoard (ph) whatever they can to get by, the mood is similar.
SVIETA, STYLIST (through translator): People are relaxed. Although for some I would say not. It depends on the circles you (ph) communicated. If someone in your family is from the military or the police, it's a completely different mood (ph).
KILEY: But aged air raid shelters are being opened just in case.
KILEY (on camera): The Ukrainian government is appealing to its population for calm, but at the same time dusting off these Soviet-era bunkers because there is a threat to a young country's democracy.
KILEY (voice over): This shelter can house about 300 people. It even has a hand-cranked air filtration system. Kyiv has the capacity to shelter 2.8 million of the estimated 3 million residents, in 5,000 bunkers and in the metro system. It's an irony lost on no one here that this shelter was built in 1956 to protest against NATO striking Russia and the Soviet Union. Now it's offering shelter against a possible attack by Russia.
Sam Kiley, CNN, Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And breaking moments ago, Downing Street has just received the government report into the alleged parties that took place in the prime minister's residents during the U.K.'s strict Covid lockdown. What this means and when the public is likely to see it.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And Bette Midler and the governor of West Virginia, why did he say this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JIM JUSTICE (R-WV): Babydog tells Bette Midler and all those out there, kiss her hiney.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:36:58]
BERMAN: New questions this morning surrounding the official benchmark for reducing the Covid restrictions that exist in certain places around the country. Somehow experts are now making the case that even with the higher rate of transmission it could be safe to ease up.
CNN's Jacqueline Howard joins us now.
Jacqueline, what's the way that people are thinking about this now?
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: John, the way that people are thinking about this, most health officials I've talked to say that community transmission is the key metric here. So once a community gets transmission down to low levels, that's when restrictions, recommendations, measures can lift. But if you look at the map here, nearly every single county in the United States right now is still experiencing high levels of transmission. Only a handful, two in rural Texas, one in Nebraska, one in Hawaii, have gotten transmission levels down to low.
And what I mean by low, that's referring to fewer than 10 new cases per 100,000 people in the past week, and a community has less than 5 percent test positivity rate. High transmission is at least 100 new cases per 100,000 people and a 10 percent or greater test positivity.
But what's happening now in this discussion, John, while we have a highly transmissible variant, like omicron, some experts are saying that maybe we should rethink what low transmission means.
Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb brought this up on "Face the Nation" yesterday. And he says, let's rethink this, especially as we discuss lifting restrictions.
Have a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: We may need to rethink that. We may need to decide that once we get to 20 cases per 100,000 per day, that may be the point at which we start to withdraw these things. I'm not so sure we're going to get to 10 any time soon. Right now Washington, D.C., is at 50, New York's at 75. With this new omicron strain that's circulating, we may stall out around 20. And that may be the point when we have to consider withdrawing a lot of these measures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD: So, John -- John, that may be the point. But, the National Association of County and City Health Officials told me they plan to discuss this, this spring. They're going to have brainstorming sessions around what the end of the pandemic might look like starting in April. So we can expect this conversation to continue in the coming months.
John.
BERMAN: All right, Jacqueline Howard, thank you very much.
KEILAR: Americans are feeling the squeeze at the grocery store. Inflation, coupled with the impact of omicron and the ongoing supply chain concerns, are driving up the price of food and related consumer goods.
CNN's Gabe Cohen live for us in Washington with these numbers to tell us exactly what shoppers and Americans are dealing with here.
Gabe.
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Brianna, Americans everywhere are seeing these price hikes at the market and even some shortages. And it's only getting worse as the food spray chain faces skyrocketing costs to get products all the way from farms to store shelves.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE CROWDER, GROCERY SHOPPER: It's real tough.
COHEN (voice over): For Michael Crowder, finding affordable food has been difficult. He's battling cancer and living on a tight budget.
CROWDER: It's hard for me to get out here and work and be around people. Sometimes, you know, you just have to do without some things to eat.
[06:40:00]
COHEN: Grocery costs keep climbing, on everything from meat, to seafood, produce, cereal and much more, with overall prices up 9 percent from a year ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels like I'm paying a lot more at the register when I finally do check out.
COHEN: Now, big name brands are raising prices. Kraft Heinz is the latest, announcing hikes on Velveeta cheese, Oscar Mayer meats, coffee and Kool-Aid, joining General Mills and Campbell Soup and Procter & Gamble, which is raising the price of Tide laundry products.
DOUG BAKER, VP OF INDUSTRY RELATIONS, FMI THE FOOD INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION: So they've put it off as long as possible and now we're going to feel the effect of that for the next few months.
COHEN: The entire food supply chain is facing surging costs, congestion, and a labor shortage, which have hardly improved. The number of cargo ships parked off the California coast hit a record high in January, with more than 100 still waiting. Even after the ports unloaded 13 percent more containers than ever before in 2021. The cost of ingredients, packaging and transportation keeps skyrocketing.
TONY SARSAM, CEO, SPARTANNASH: The extraordinary cost pressure that we're seeing across all different businesses right now is landing in that last resort. And that's why you're seeing the inflation.
COHEN: And omicron is adding to it, peeling workers from warehouses, processing facilities and grocery stores. This month, U.S. pork production dropped 8 percent in just a week, with staff sick or quarantined. With fewer employees, distributors are cutting orders to some grocery stores by 20 percent to 40 percent.
MICHAEL NEEDLER, OWNER, FRESH ENCOUNTER: It's been whack-a-mole. It's one item one day and then, you know, a completely different segment the next.
COHEN: And demand for groceries keeps surging with people suck at home and inflation at a 39-year high.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of times you're limited with what you can get.
COHEN: A recent survey found 37 percent of customers are very concerned about shortages seen on items like pet food, paper goods and cream cheese.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's just not as many things on the shelves.
COHEN: The Biden administration says they're working to ease inflation, accusing some of the largest meat processors of raising prices just to drive up profits. But experts are projecting more grocery price hikes in the months ahead.
BETH MONCEL, CREATOR, BUDGET BYTES: Well, you have to be really strategic and intentional.
COHEN: Beth Moncel runs a blog about cooking on a budget. Her advice, look for sales flyers before shopping, join store loyalty programs, and plan meals around cheap filling items like rice and beans, as well as shelf-stable ingredients, like frozen vegetables. MONCEL: Because every time you throw food away, you're literally just
throwing money in the garbage.
COHEN: Every dollar counts for families struggling to eat these costs.
CROWDER: It's going to be kind of hard. But I -- you know, I've just got to get out here and find something to do and make it work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Now, experts are urging people not to go out and panic-buy groceries. There should be plenty of food. But there may be more limited options in the months ahead. And again, Brianna, those price increases, they're expected to continue with U.S. consumer sentiment already at its lowest point since 2011.
KEILAR: Yes, it's so odd, Gabe. And I'll tell you, I've noticed over and over, there are certain things that I struggle to get. Anchovies, which seems very odd to me, jalapenos, and juice boxes for my kids, really hard to come by.
COHEN: Yes, it's very week to week. Yes.
KEILAR: Yes, it certainly is.
Gabe, thank you for the report.
So, overnight, Joe Rogan responded to the escalating backlash against Covid misinformation on that's on his podcast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE ROGAN, HOST, "THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE": I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Also overnight, a plea deal reached for two of the men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery. What it means for their future behind bars.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:47:56]
BERMAN: New overnight, Joe Rogan has responded to the backlash he has received over the spread of Covid misinformation on his podcast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE ROGAN, HOST, "THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE": If there's anything that I've done that I could do better is have more experts with differing opinions right after I have the controversial ones.
My pledge to you is that I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people's perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view. I don't want to just show the contrary opinion to what the narrative
is. I want to show all kinds of opinions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: This comes after several artists pulled their content from Spotify prompting the platform to add a content advisory warning to any podcast that featured discussion about the pandemic.
Joining us now, cultural commentator and author of "Zero O:Clock," C.J. Farley, and CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp is back with us.
C.J., Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Nils Lofgren, did these -- you know, forgive me -- did these hippie artists effect the kind of change that they were after here by saying, we don't want our music alongside Joe Rogan?
C.J. FARLEY, CULTURAL COMMENTATOR: The '60s are still alive. Yes, they did. They seemed to really influence Spotify, Joe Rogan, to come out and say something. They didn't say much, but they did say something about what's going on because I think they -- they may have underestimated the power of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.
You know, back when I was a music critic, I actually talked to Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. The one thing I found really interesting is that how much other artists would talk to me about Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. They are among the most cited musicians in terms of people saying, they influenced their work.
So when they came out and said, hey, there's something about Joe Rogan's podcast, take a look at it, I think a lot of other musicians, a lot of other fans really took notice of it and now Spotify and Joe Rogan are taking notice of it too.
KEILAR: I wonder, S.E., what you thought about this apology. I personally found it very interesting.
[06:50:01]
What did you think?
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, listen, I don't think Spotify took a hit to its bottom line. But it's taking a hit to its brand. And I think that's what prompted Joe Rogan to respond. Obviously, he's got his $100 million, and he's going to be fine for now. But, I -- you know, listen, I think Spotify ultimately did the right thing here in publishing its rules for creators. It was kind of the wild, wild west before. And also what will happen to creators if they break the rules. And two of those rules are publishing dangerous information and disinformation. And Joe Rogan sort of addressed that and what he'll try to do to I think he said balance that.
But the question will become for Spotify, why publish or platform dangerous information or disinformation at all? And, again, if that comes up against their bottom line or their brand, as it is a little now, they might have to really take that question on in a more full- throated way than they have.
BERMAN: You know, I don't pretend to understand business, you know, bottom lines and things like that, C.J., but what I do know is I can smell fear. I don't think Spotify ultimately cared about not having Neil Young. They can be fine without Neil Young or Joni Mitchell, as great as the music is. But clearly, they feared something bigger than Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. What would that be?
FARLEY: Yes, yes, here's the thing. You know, they haven't really done much -- I think they wanted to respond quickly to act like they were engaged. But the statement that Joe Rogan put out, it's interesting that he actually -- in a statement that was supposed to be about how he was going to combat misinformation on his platform in the future, he got a key fact wrong. He cited the song that he attributed to Joni Mitchell that Joni Mitchell didn't sing, "Chucky's in Love." So, that's a problem.
I think they've got to do more. I think just saying we have an content advisory, just publishing your platform rules, just saying, OK, we're going to try to do better in the future and test some things out, is it maybe enough to help -- help stall the news cycle, but it won't be enough to really give people confidence in what people are saying in the -- on the platform in the future.
BK; But, C.J., if he's promising that he'll balance views, one, do you take him at his word, and, two, what does that need to look like to actually be effective?
FARLEY: Well, it should look like journalism. That's part of the problem here is that there are all these people who are doing the work of journalists and don't want to accept the responsibility of journalists. That's kind of like a -- kind of like someone scrubbing in and doing an appendix operation and not wanting to wash their hands and then saying, well, I'm not really a doctor, so I don't need to do that. No, you've got to scrub in. You've got to -- if you're going to do the job, you've got to take other responsibilities of the job too, and that means balancing who you're talking to, that means checking your facts, that means being responsible about the misinformation or information that you put in your podcasts. You're a journalist whether you want to say so or not and you've got to take on those responsibilities.
BERMAN: I think Joe Rogan would say he's not anything close to being a journalist.
CUPP: He's not a journalist. Yes.
BERMAN: And doesn't -- and doesn't aspire to be, which is part of the problem here is the definition of what he's doing and how people listen to him.
So, did -- did he blink, S.E.? Did Spotify blink here? And does it matter?
CUPP: You know, he does this -- he does this occasionally when there's a backlash to something he has said about Covid, for example. He'll say, I'm not a doctor and, you know, I want -- you know, he says it after the fact and then he goes on to say more things that are untrue. But listen, he's not a journalist and we shouldn't view him in that way, the way we don't view Tucker Carlson as a journalist. Tucker Carlson's own lawyers, right, at Fox News said no one should take him as factual. This is entertainment. That's the content label people like Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson should come with. This is entertainment. This isn't journalism.
And rather than bending it to fit into journalism, which I think is a lost cause and maybe even a dangerous one, we should allow them to just be entertainers. And that doesn't mean they get to spew nonsense and disinformation without -- with warnings and fact checking. But these are not journalists. We shouldn't make them pretend to be.
BERMAN: The '60s are back and the sign said long-haired freaky people need not apply.
S.E., C.J., thank you both very much. Appreciate it.
The breaking news this morning, Vice President Kamala Harris, when she was the vice president-elect, alarmingly close to the pipe bomb discovered at the DNC last January, days before she was sworn in. And she was next to it or near it for a dangerously long time.
KEILAR: And Janet Jackson facing the music head-on in a new documentary in answering this question about her brother, Michael.
[06:55:02]
BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was there any moment where you thought maybe he did do it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Did you see this feud coming? After Bette Midler tweeted that West Virginians were poor, illiterate and strung out, in response to Senator Joe Manchin's opposition to the Build Back Better plan, or which she later apologized, West Virginia's Governor Jim Justice fired back at Midler saying this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JIM JUSTICE (R-WV): Babydog tells Bette Midler and all those out there, kiss her hiney.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: That was his State of the State Address, by the way.
Midler responded by saying, by the way, here are the state rankings of all the areas and agencies for which the so-called governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, is responsible. Judging from these rankings, I'd say his dog's ass would make a better governor than him.
[07:00:02]
What say you, John Berman?
BERMAN: I say I don't know why we need to bring Babydog's anatomy into this. I feel -- I feel like that's a step too --
KEILAR: Cute dog, though.
