Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Truckers Now Blocking Roadways In Out Of Control Protests; Peloton's John Foley to Resign as CEO, Taking Executive Chair Job; Probe Coming Over Seniors Duped Into Switching to GOP. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 08, 2022 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Breaking news this morning, some big changes, afoot at Peloton. The company will be cutting 2800 jobs replacing its embattled CEO John Foley and overhauling its board after recent slowdowns in the market. Let's bring in CNN's Christine Romans who has been following these latest developments. I wonder what you think about this, because of course, Peloton boomed during the pandemic and we're sort of moving along.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR, EARLY START: Yes, it really was a pandemic winner and now it's looking at the next mile for this company that's been public for just a couple of years. During the pandemic, a lot of the Peloton watchers in the market said, it was starting to invest and behave as if the pandemic was going to last forever. And of course, it isn't. People are starting to go back to their gyms and some of the need and the fad of getting the Peloton has worn off, it does still have a very big, loyal customer base. And that is why this is not really an existential crisis for Peloton.

But a restructuring is what you're going to see here. The co-founder John Foley is going to be now the executive leader of the board. And they're bringing in a new CEO, Barry McCarthy, the CEO - with the CEO and President, you've got 2800 job cuts coming, showing you how this company got too big for the post-pandemic world. That's about 20 percent of its workforce. And it's going to shrink - slim down its warehouse footprint and also its delivery team.

So again, I'll call it the next mile for this company. After two years, the stock fell below, its IPO price, there was an activist investor stepped in and said, it needs to consider all of these different changes. And we learned Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Nike and Amazon are maybe circling to see if this could be a takeover target. You could see at one point at its peak there, it was worth $50 billion, the company and then it was down to something like 8 billion, it popped on Friday on those talks of other companies circling to get it.

But just kind of like I think a pandemic story stock that is now entering the next phase here.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Too much of a story, right? They were in the news almost every day, sometimes good, but a lot not so good.

ROMANS: Well, and you know, right, there was a trend. And this isn't just a bike company. This is a bike. This is a tread, right, and there was a treadmill, a fatality with a child who was playing around a treadmill. And you also have like the digital content and the people who are the instructors are household names. I mean, they have social media followings and the millions of people who are really know this company. So, it's one of those companies that everyone's heard about during the pandemic and everyone has watched and now you're seeing for the first time in a couple of years since it became a public company, a restructuring here as it gets ready for the next phase.

KEILAR: I wonder where the Mr. Big Dip was on that chart?

ROMANS: Yes, right. But it is a household name for a company with $8 billion. It is a household name.

KEILAR: Yes, certainly is. All right, Christine. Thank you so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

BERMAN: All right, happening now in Ottawa. Out of control trucker protests against Canada's Coronavirus restrictions now blocking one of the busiest border crossings in North America. Please say part of the road to the Ambassador Bridge outside of Detroit which spans the U.S. Canadian border is closed, isn't making traffic chaotic and clogging a major supply chain artery? CNN's Paula Newton live in Ottawa for us with the very latest. Paula.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, you know for political leaders and police trying to stay one step ahead of these protests. It has been literally impossible. You just mentioned that border crossing between Detroit and Windsor. Another one has been blocked for about 10 days between Alberta and Montana. It goes on and on.

I am here in the downtown core of Ottawa. This is the nation's capital, John, it has been gridlocked, tractor, trailers right outside the prime minister's office, outside Parliament. Behind me here keeping a major mall closed for more than a week now and there does not as I said, seem an easy end to this. The police chief here mincing no words, saying look, he is absolutely outnumbered, I asked him for at least two times the people that he already has on staff. And it seems that every level of government is paralyzed here.

What was interesting last night and quite frankly dramatic John is, we hadn't seen the prime minister in-person for 10 days. He had been isolating because he and a few of his family members contracted COVID. He finished his isolation, came here to Parliament again, tractor trailers gridlocked right outside for an emergency debate on this.

I want you to listen to his firm message for protesters take a listen.

[07:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: This pandemic has sucked for all Canadians. But Canadians know the way to get through it is to continue listening to science, continuing to lean on each other, continuing to be there for each other. Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens daily lives. It has to stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: OK, it has to stop. The question is how John and not many people have been able to enter into this in terms of try and have some mediation, of course, everyone is trying to avoid any confrontation or violence. The protesters as well say they do not want any part of that. What they want mediation and the bottom-line, they want an end to all COVID health restrictions, something all governments say they will not be doing.

And John, there's no horn honking that is a small victory here. There are residents in this downtown core launched a class action lawsuit for 10 days. They were granted an injunction. So, no horn honking. I'm sure the truckers are relieved as well. It has been so quiet here this morning. The quietest I've seen it in 10 days. It is a small margin of victory here for the residents themselves, I will add. No leader did this. John.

BERMAN: Maybe these small steps are what's needed though to get through this because as you said, other than that, no path obvious going forward. Paula Newton, thank you very much.

KEILAR: A series of posters protesting the Winter Olympics in Beijing by highlighting human rights issues in China is creating a firestorm at an American university. These are posters that created by exiled Chinese dissident artists Badiucao where these were posted around the campus of the George Washington University in Washington, DC. You can see here; this is one of them showing a snowboarder riding atop a surveillance camera. There is an ice skater skating over the flag of Hong Kong. There's an ice hockey player pinning down a Tibetan, a curler, pushing the Coronavirus across the ice and a Chinese athlete pointing a rifle at a bound and gagged Uyghurs.

After reportedly receiving some complaints, some concerns about bias and racism against the Chinese community. The university's president said he was personally offended by the posters and was working to have all of them removed as soon as possible. But then just one day later, he completely walked this back. He said upon full understanding, I do not view these posters as racist. They are political statements.

Joining me now is the artist behind these posters, Badiucao. He is with us now from Melbourne, Australia. Thank you so much for being with us. And let's start at the beginning here with the initial response of the university seeing your work as offensive. How did you react when you heard that?

BADIUCAO, ARTIST: Well, firstly, I'm happy to be here. Well, this kind of smear campaign against me and my art and frame myself as racist or anti-China is not a stranger to me. This has happened numerous times. It has happened to other artist as well, like Chinese famous artists, Ai Weiwei.

Just couple months ago, my Italian show was kind of sabotaged by the China's Embassy in Rome. And they're using exactly the same words, calling my art as anti-China, or hurting the Chinese feeling. But in fact, you know, I am a China born. I lived in China for 20 years. And now even though, I may in exile, I care about the people in China. I worry about my people being subjected to this very brutal regime, decades and decades. That is why I create those arts to taking on the Chinese government to calling out its human rights abuse.

However, the Chinese government is always very good at using this kind of misleading term to kind of confuse the idea between people, country, and government. In another world, they would cancel your legitimate criticism against Chinese government by framing it as racism and anti-China. This is their way of strategy.

KEILAR: And I wonder, it comes at a time certainly in America where there has been a huge uptick in anti-Asian violence that I think so many people are sensitive to. Do you think that that clouded the university's judgment of your art for what it is?

BADIUCAO: Well, I think in United States, there is systematic racism problem. There is hate against black people, there is hate against Asian people as well. Pretty much because of four years Trump's presidency, which leading to this rise of Far Right. We shouldn't deny that. We do have problem like this in America.

However, I think it is not a good thing that we're just using this as an excuse to kind of being silent on human rights abuse in China.

[07:40:00]

I think the problem for GW University is that they didn't really examine the word carefully. When the president giving a response to the Chinese government affiliate group, and students, he actually admitted that now that he rushed the judgment, He didn't really do a good research of the artwork or the message behind. So, this is the problem.

KEILAR: And he did reverse right, we heard that statement, he reversed it in the end, not only have students at GWU seen this artwork, this has been seen around the world. In the end, how do you think that this has developed considering now you actually have a much wider audience for your statement?

BADIUCAO: Right. Well, obviously, I think this is a good direction for GW to make this decision, to revoke the calling of my art as racist and taking them down. However, I just don't think it's good enough. Because to be honest, the students who told me about incident are still in fear of manhunt against them from those Chinese government affiliated groups. There are Chinese student actually helping me and putting up posters.

However, they still do not feel safe. Even after the new announcement from GW. I think the university should do more to protect those students who are brave enough to speak up. But however, by just stopping taking those posts down is not enough. I hope GW will actually putting - helping those students putting up the poster.

But I think the more important thing is starting conversation with more students to talking about the topics behind my art. And that's the most essential thing that a university should do.

Now, for me, it's more like a PR management, saying, OK, this is a crisis, let's just end it, without actually helping the student, feeling much safer, or giving opportunity to talk through those very important topics.

KEILAR: We'll look, we'll see what the university does. We'll be watching. Badiucao, thank you for being with us this morning.

BADIUCAO: Thank you. Pleasure.

KEILAR: Florida senior say that they were duped into changing their voter registration from Democrat to Republican. We have a CNN investigation on this ahead.

BERMAN: And Tom Brady who just announced his retirement from football. It's done, goodbye. We're all coming to grips with it. So, why did he just say these three words? Never say never?

KEILAR: So, you're saying there is a chance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:00]

BERMAN: This morning heightened calls for an investigation after several Miami voters say their party affiliation changed from Democrat to Republican without their consent, following interactions with Republican canvassers. CNN's Randi Kaye spoke to some of the voters who were targeted. They tended to be elderly, and did not speak English as their first language.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You were a lifelong Democrat?

JUAN SALAZAR, FLORIDA VOTER: From 1970.

KAYE: And now all of a sudden you're a Republican.

SALAZAR: Republican.

KAYE: You don't want to be a Republican.

SALAZAR: I don't want to be.

KAYE: This is the old car.

SALAZAR: That's an old car.

KAYE: And it says right here Democratic Party and the new card says Republican Party of Florida. And that's not what you want. SALAZAR: No. I want to be Democrat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The Republican Party of Florida executive director told CNN a statement, the party conducts voter registrations in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. Election integrity is important and continues to be a priority for the Republican Party of Florida.

Miami Dade County's Mayor Daniella Levine Cava joins me now. Mayor, thank you so much for being with us. How many voters have you heard from here? And what are you asking for? You're concerned about this?

MAYOR DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA (D) MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FL: Yes, John, we're very concerned. We first learned about this in September. And we immediately brought the case to the attention of the state attorney's office. And then in December, there was a new story, and we followed up. And now in February, we actually have photographs of a person who was admitted to this building. And we've heard now from dozens of people. And we're working with the state attorney's office to make sure that every single case is investigated, and corrections made and that we can find and resolve this.

It's really a shameful situation. Here we have our democracy under attack, people who were really very vulnerable to this kind of fraud. So, we're doing everything we can to resolve it and fix it.

BERMAN: What are you hearing from authorities on this about their investigation?

CAVA: Our State Attorney Kathy Rundle has issued a statement that she is going to fully investigate these cases. And my office is continuing to do its due diligence to bring cases forward.

BERMAN: Now, one of the things in my understanding is, Florida, you don't have to do anything. If you're registered as a Democrat in Miami Dade County, and you live in one place, you never have to change anything. So, this is someone actively going in and somehow doing something with you to get your documents shifted here. So there does appear to be at least some concerted effort from somewhere going on.

CAVA: So, I've understood that at some people have been approached by saying, would you like your new voter registration card? So, obviously people who are regular voters, they are concerned, they want to be sure they're up to date and everything is ready for the next election. So, I think that people really are very, very vulnerable to this.

BERMAN: Have you heard from the governor at all on this?

[07:50:00]

CAVA: No, I haven't. Certainly, we believe that this is something that should be of great concern to him and to the legislators who want to be sure that our election process is free and fair. And we hope that the Republican Party will, Florida will be doing its due diligence to make sure that all of their voter registration outreach is done correctly.

BERMAN: And just finally, up until this point, have you heard of any cases or many cases where people's registrations are being shifted from Republican to Democrat?

CAVA: No, sir, I have not.

BERMAN: Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, we appreciate you being with us. I hope that the authorities do get to the bottom of this.

CAVA: Thank you. We do.

BERMAN: American road deaths rising at a record pace? What officials are now blaming?

KEILAR: Plus, what will the CDC and the White House do now that more states are dropping mask mandates in schools? Why the U.S. is at an inflection point for the end of this pandemic?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:55:00]

KEILAR: We have some alarming new numbers just into CNN. U.S. traffic deaths surging amid an increase in reckless driving during the pandemic, setting the fastest pace from January to September ever reported. CNN's Pete Muntean is live for us in Fort Washington, Maryland with more. What is the trend that we're seeing here, Pete?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna locals call this the Highway of Death. Two fatal crashes here and as many weeks and the sad truth is you probably know a spot like this where you live, and now the federal government has a new plan to combat this nationwide problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MUNTEAN: Safety advocates call it an epidemic on our roads. This past Saturday alone, this head on crashed near Fresno killed five, four more died in this fiery wreck on I-75 near Atlanta. And last month in Las Vegas, nine people were killed when police say a driver apparently ran a red light.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is an unfathomable tragedy that has forever altered the lives of so many people.

MUNTEAN: New numbers from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration show in the first nine months of 2021, fatal crashes jumped by 12 percent. The biggest increase in the agency's history. More than 31,000 people were killed in car crashes. The numbers show that speeding and driving without a seatbelt has gone up during the pandemic.

PETE BUTTIGIEG, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: This is a national crisis. MUNTEAN: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg just unveiled the Biden administration's plan to make driving safer. Billions from the bipartisan infrastructure law to help counteract for human error behind the wheel.

BUTTIGIEG: People make mistakes, but human mistakes don't always have to be lethal.

CYNTHIA JONES, SISTER KILLED IN CAR ACCIDENT: It's very tough.

MUNTEAN: It was March 17, 200o, when Cynthia Jones's sister Karen pulled over to fix her gas cap when she was hit by a drunk driver. Cynthia identified her sister's body.

JONES: She would want me out here to make a difference in saving more lives. Because she didn't have to go that way.

MUNTEAN: The crash happened here on Indian Head highway in Maryland. Last year, the highest recorded speed here was 149 miles per hour. Safety advocates call it the Highway of Death.

RON WEISS, SAFETY ADVOCATE: It's a straight shot and view traffic lights. And people use it as highway. If it was me, this is the place to do it.

MUNTEAN: Some of the money from the DOT's new national roadway safety strategy will go to redesigning dangerous roads in hopes of suppressing crash numbers that were going down until now.

JENNIFER HOMENDY, NTSB CHAIR: People should be outraged.

MUNTEAN: National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy was herself rear ended at a Virginia intersection last year, her agency has recommended that automakers install automatic braking and collision warnings in all cars, but regulators have not yet acted.

HOMENDY: So, we have to change. We need all stakeholders to come to the table and we need to build in redundancy so that people survive crashes.

REV. ROBERT SCREEN, ROUTE 210 TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: Both vehicles went up in flames.

MUNTEAN: Reverend Dr. James Screen says 80 people have been killed on this stretch of Indian Head highway in the last 15 years. He says directing more federal funding to combat dangerous driving is only the start of a road to lasting change.

It's going to be hard to see I mean; you're doing this interview and people are whizzing by you.

SCREEN: Yes, yes. That's the part of the indifference that people have about driving. As I say, this contemptuous type of entitlement mindset, I do as I please, whatever I can get away with. And so, we have to hit that head on in some type of way where it won't be all people, but at least most people where we can manage it in a better way than we're doing now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MUNTEAN: If you think this problem is going away, think again, the NTSB points out that driving miles on average are going up as more people are going back to commuting. Here in the state of Maryland, they're averaging one fatal accident statewide for every day of 2022 Brianna.

KEILAR: Too many. Pete Muntean, thank you, A new day continues right now. Good morning to viewers. Here in the United States and around the world, it is Tuesday, February 8th, and I'm Brianna Keilar, alongside John Berman this morning.

Frantic diplomacy underway on two continents this morning as the world tries to avert a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Just a short time ago, French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Kyiv. Macron is meeting with Ukraine's President Zelensky. This is the day after his face-to- face Vladimir Putin in Moscow and this morning the Kremlin now says Russian troops will be withdrawn from Belarus after joint military exercises.

[08:00:00]