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New York Governor to Drop Indoor Mask Mandate; McConnell: January 6 a 'Violent Insurrection' to Prevent Transfer of Power; Trucker Protest Over Mandates Threatens U.S. Auto Industry. Aired 6- 6:30a ET
Aired February 09, 2022 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Wednesday, February 9. I'm John Berman here with Brianna Keilar, who arrived in the nick of time. Let's be honest.
[05:59:42]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Clearly.
BERMAN: Like seconds ago.
KEILAR: You're lucky I'm here.
BERMAN: Barely made it for the show this morning. We are all so lucky she's here, because this morning, you can feel this huge shift around the country. Partly a medical and scientific shift, partly a political shift.
Very shortly, New York's Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, is expected to announce she is lifting the state's indoor mask mandate, ending a requirement that businesses ask customers for proof of full vaccination or require masks be worn at all times. This is according to "The New York Times."
KEILAR: Some experts still recommend patience amid a growing push to lift mandates nationwide, citing cases and hospitalizations across the country are still too high to make any guidance changes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: We've always said that the state and local jurisdictions are the ones responsible for those kinds of policies for masking policies.
Right now, our CDC guidance has not changed. We have and continue to recommend masking in areas of high and substantial transmission. That is essentially everywhere in the country in public indoor settings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And CNN's Athena Jones is with us now on this story. It seems, Athena, that, you know, states are kind of falling like dominoes when it comes to changing these policies.
ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And a lot of people are celebrating that. People are ready to get back to -- back to their normal lives.
This was a rule announced in December. Under this rule, everyone in public venues had to wear a mask unless those venues or businesses asked for proof of vaccination to enter.
And of course, this rule was put in place during the Omicron surge, where we saw case numbers skyrocketing all across the country and here in New York.
Well, those numbers are abating. In New York, the COVID test positivity rate in hovering around 4 percent, down from double digits just a couple of weeks ago.
Nationwide, numbers are down 40 percent over last week, way down from the peak last month.
And as you mentioned, Governor Hochul is joining several other Democratic governors in states like Delaware, California, Oregon, that are also lifting mask mandates.
What's unclear at this point is whether she's going to make any changes to the school mask mandate. Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware and Oregon are all going to be lifting school mask mandates.
The one here in New York is set to expire on February 21. Now, the governor has always said that keeping schools open has always been a top priority of hers. She met with teachers, with school administrators, superintendents and parents yesterday on Tuesday to talk about ways they could continue to keep schools open safely as her office put it, to smartly protect against COVID.
It is important to remember, though, that if you're talking about nationwide, there's a relatively low vaccination rate for 5- to 11- year-old kids. In New York, that number in terms of 5-to-11-year-olds who have completed vaccinations is about 30 percent.
So we have to see what happens with all of this lifting of mandates. But of course, people -- a lot of people are celebrating this, because they want to get their life back to normal. We have, of course, reached out to Governor Hochul's office, other stakeholders, and we'll see exactly what she says today.
BERMAN: She has a news conference. The Illinois governor has a news conference today. It does seem that these states, one after the other, are acting somewhat in concert. And if not in concert, no one wants to be the state left behind here.
JONES: Exactly.
BERMAN: All right, Athena. Thank you very much.
So this morning, what could be a hugely significant line in the sand for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. An explicit rebuke of the RNC censure of Congressman Adam Kinzinger and Congresswoman Liz Cheney for serving on the January 6th Committee. And a rebuke of the language surrounding, calling the surrounding activities "legitimate political discourse."
So for McConnell in doing so, this is a repudiation of the RNC, a repudiation of House Republican leadership, a repudiation of the cable performers who insist there was no insurrection. Mitch McConnell explicitly says there was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Let me give you my view of what happened January the 6th. And we all were here. We were here. We -- we saw what happened. It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election from one administration to the next. That's what it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: With us now, CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox. And Lauren, I noted this last night. Mitch McConnell doesn't say anything by accident. Like, every syllable is carefully chosen. So he did this for a reason.
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And he was very strategic about making this statement yesterday during his Republican press conference.
He didn't comment on this on Monday afternoon when he got into Washington. But we were prepped and ready for Tuesday during that press conference. And he wasn't mincing words.
He also made it clear he was frustrated with the Republican National Committee's censuring of two Republican members of the House of Representatives, saying that that really isn't the RNC's job.
In fact, many Republican senators argued that they had been outside of their lane, that let the voters decide whether or not they want someone like Liz Cheney to serve another term in the state of Wyoming.
Now, McConnell juxtaposed to Kevin McCarthy in the House of Representatives, two very different stories there. You have McCarthy, who is trying to thread that very careful needle, because he may want to be the House speaker, in fact, does want to be the House speaker if the House of Representatives flips in the midterm elections.
Yesterday he said this when asked by our colleague, Manu Raju, about whether he thought January 6th was legitimate political discourse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The RNC resolution last week referred to the events of January 6th as a legitimate political discourse. REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): That's not correct of what the RNC was
talking. They were talking about -- everybody knows, anybody who broke in and caused damage, that was not called for. And those people, we've said from the very beginning, should be in jail.
What they were talking about is the six RNC members who January 6th has subpoenaed who weren't even here, who were in Florida that day.
RAJU: So you're supporting that resolution?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX: Clear as mud there, John, you see from that response. He was asked again later from our colleague Andy Grair (ph) whether or not he thought it was legitimate political discourse. He said that, yes, there was some political discourse that day. He said those who broke inside the Capitol were not acting that way.
But obviously he is trying to be very careful in how he reacts to this, in part because he feels like, and has consistently felt like he needs Donald Trump, he needs his supporters, if he is going to take back the House and if he is going to win support among his conservative members to become the speaker of the House -- John.
BERMAN: All right. Lauren Fox in the middle of an intramural feud on Capitol Hill. Thanks so much, Lauren.
Joining us now, Team Senior: CNN senior political analyst John Avlon and CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig, a former state and federal prosecutor.
John, Mitch McConnell went after what happened at the RNC on the substance of it, saying it's wrong. So -- and also the politics of it, saying it's bad politics. And he didn't have to do it as forcefully as he did. How significant is this real split within the Republican Party?
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: miThere is. The cracks in the cult are showing. And it wasn't just Mike Pence on Friday.
Having Mitch McConnell weigh in this way, as you noted, with really precise language about what the insurrection was, not legitimate political discourse. And putting some distance with himself.
The secret -- There's no secret about the loathing that exists between Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump. But Mitch McConnell is careful; he is calculated. Now, he may be calculating that Donald Trump is crazy, his -- the refusal to back away from the most extreme demands of the big lie on the Republican Party, may actually be a net political negative.
And so you're seeing other senators step away. Bill Cassidy, you know, for -- of Louisiana. Mitt Romney is a given. But you've got about a half dozen senators speaking out now, denouncing the RNC for this dumb decision and distancing themselves from Donald Trump as a result. KEILAR: He's doing this because he has reason to believe this to be
true, what Avlon is saying, Elie. He's doing this because he has some evidence. Right? He's not just sort of surmising that this is going the wrong -- they're they're going the wrong direction with all of this.
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, it's kind of hard to ignore the evidence we've been seeing coming out almost on a daily basis from the January 6th Committee. And I think you have to draw a line somewhere, right?
I think when you're at the point of just saying this is legitimate political discourse, you lose all credibility. So I think -- I suspect what Mitch McConnell is trying to do here -- I'm not the political expert -- is give as much ground as he has to give but no more than that.
BERMAN: And again, the specific language, an insurrection, you know, trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power. That's specific legal language.
And now I'm going to now turn it over to John Avlon on one of his pet peeves here. Because this has to do, maybe, with something that's going on in Georgia right now, Madison Cawthorn, a congressman there.
There is a lawsuit to get him off the ballot, because the lawsuit says he engaged in the insurrection, which -- which in North Carolina law, would mean he's disqualified from the ballot, potentially. This has to do with the Fourteenth Amendment. I'm going to read this. I'm sorry this is such a long preamble, but it sets people up here.
"No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector of president or vice president, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, any state, who having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, as an officer of the United States, or as a member of Michigan state legislature," so on and so on, "shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
So John --
AVLON: Yes. Now you're in my wheelhouse.
BERMAN: Go.
AVLON: All right. Look, the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3 is what a lot of folks have been warning could apply to the insurrectionists who are members of Congress, if any were found to have participated or given them aid or comfort. That's what's really being questioned here with Madison Cawthorn, based on what we know.
The North Carolina board said they will look at it. This is a long ball as it applies to Madison Cawthorn. I want to be very clear.
If we find out later that other members of Congress were working with the insurrectionists to try to stop the certification of the election, then that could apply directly to them.
[06:10:03]
Who else could it apply to? Obviously, potentially Donald Trump.
This has been done before. This is the lesson of the Civil War generation to stop a future insurrection. Here's why it matters for Trump.
Now, if he had been impeached, this would all be a moot point. But Republicans pulled their punches at a critical moment. He obviously was not convicted in the Senate.
But what some members of Congress will tell you is that because the letters -- the articles of impeachment specifically mention insurrection for Donald Trump, and because a majority of both houses voted for it, despite the fact they didn't convict, it could apply. Because that's the threshold for imposing the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3. Boom!
KEILAR: OK. I would just -- you react to that, and then I have a question for you.
HONIG: OK. Here's the problem. The Constitution is a brilliant, wonderful document. But it has this annoying habit sometimes of telling us something really important but telling us nothing about how it's supposed to work. And that's the problem with the 14th Amendment.
It tells us you can't hold office again if you've engaged in insurrection or rebellion. But it doesn't tell us who decides that. Is it Congress? If it's Congress, is it both houses? Is it by a majority? Is it by two-thirds? Is it the courts? What's the due process?
So there's -- we are down a road with no map here.
KEILAR: Can I ask a question about, in particular, Madison Cawthorn?
HONIG: Mm-hmm.
KEILAR: So in the case of North Carolina, it goes to, basically, county election officials in his district. Yes, maybe they're going to go for Madison Cawthorn.
But then it goes to the state board of elections, which is three Democrats and two Republicans. So in that case, you can see -- the appeal would go. You can see how they would find against him.
Then where does it go? And -- the court? And are they inclined to agree with whom?
HONIG: If Madison Cawthorn loses at the state board of election, he absolutely will try to get it into the federal courts and up the line.
BERMAN: He already is trying to get it in the federal courts.
HONIG: Right. If he loses at the board of election, that's his -- that's his safety valve.
KEILAR: But his argument is that it's unconstitutional. Basically, what --
AVLON: It is definitely not unconstitutional if it's in the Constitution. So I mean, Madison Cawthorn can say whatever he wants, and often does.
And I'm not saying this is the best application of this particular law. But it was put on the books for a reason.
We do know some of the thresholds. It's a simple majority to impose. It's two-thirds to overturn when it comes to Congress. I mean, two- thirds is written in the statute. And that's how you got some ex- Confederates serving in Congress eventually, after they were Heismaned when they first tried to take the seats.
HONIG: What Congress needs to do, by the way, is pass a law. Congress needs to pass a law saying, here's how the Fourteenth Amendment works, because there's a due process problem. People have to know if they're going to be kicked out of office or prevented from taking office under the Fourteenth Amendment. What's the process? What am I charged with? Do I get a hearing? Do I get a trial? We have none of that.
AVLON: After the Civil War, it was obviously a lot clearer. But also, the people who passed this law made it clear it was designed to apply to future insurrection attempts, not just the Civil War.
BERMAN: Hey, look, just to wrap it all up in a bow here, the fact that Mitch McConnell is calling this an insurrection, explicitly calling this an insurrection for the purpose of preventing a peaceful transfer of power, that language is the legal framework that at least allows this discussion to take place, to me here.
KEILAR: Yes.
BERMAN: And then every time you hear someone say it wasn't an insurrection, well, Mitch McConnell calls it an insurrection.
KEILAR: Maybe Mitch McConnell doesn't want Madison Cawthorn in Congress. Am I going out on a limb to say that? I don't know.
BERMAN: Gentlemen --
KEILAR: Just a question.
BERMAN: -- thank you very much for being with us.
AVLON: Thanks, John.
BERMAN: So the Canadian truckers protesting COVID, it is gaining momentum. Why the standoff now threatens the U.S. auto industry's lifeline.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Donald Trump says those chants weren't real. So what was it, then?
KEILAR: And Pope Benedict is now asking for forgiveness over handling of abuse cases, but he still is not accepting any wrongdoing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:18:07]
KEILAR: The Freedom Convoy trucker protests that started in Ottawa in late January are now clogging up American supply chains. The demonstrators protesting COVID restrictions have been laying siege to the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit for the past two days, and this has blocked one of the busiest connectors between Canada and the U.S.
CNN's Gabe Cohen is live for us in D.C., where we're seeing the effect of this in the U.S.
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brianna, that's absolutely right. That scene in Canada, it is quickly becoming an urgent issue for Americans.
The U.S. and Canada, they trade roughly $700 billion a year in commerce. A lot of that is trucked across the border. And now that process is getting slowed down, and it's getting more expensive.
And customers at the end of the line, who are already dealing with massive inflation, are going to foot the bill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN (voice-over): The busiest international crossing in North America, the Ambassador Bridge between Ontario and Detroit, brought to a halt by anti-vaccine truckers and protesters. A Canadian spectacle that could soon hit American wallets.
The so-called Freedom Convoy has been disrupting Canadian roads and cities for weeks, demanding an end to federal vaccine mandates, including new rules at the U.S. border for truckers heading both directions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're asking for our freedom.
COHEN: Now plans are under way for a U.S. trucker convoy in the coming weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need help. Some of us haven't slept.
COHEN: This trucking turmoil could accept the shortages and brutal inflation Americans are already facing. Between the protests and mandates, fewer truckers are making trips across the Canadian border, creating new delivery delays and more surge in costs.
MARYSCOTT GREENWOOD, CEO, CANADIAN-AMERICAN BUSINESS COUNCIL: Whether it's groceries, whether it's school supplies, whether it's clothing for their kids, everyday Americans will be hit by this right away.
[06:20:03]
COHEN: It's just another strain on the trucking industry, which is driving much of this inflation. Trucking prices are up 44 percent since 2020, with demand for deliveries surging over the past year amid a longstanding trucker shortage.
ANNE REINKE, PRESIDENT AND CEO, TRANSPORTATION INTERMEDIARIES ASSOCIATION: It takes about four to 10 days simply to find a driver. That's one of the direct impacts of taking what we think is about 12,000 to 14,000 drivers out of the mix.
COHEN: Americans could soon see more price hikes on a range of Canadian products, from lumber and auto parts, to meat and grains.
Just take produce. The Star Group in Canada has plenty of it. But without enough truckers, they're waiting days to ship food. And in some cases, dumping supply because it went bad before pickup.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are going to be shortages.
COHEN: And since the protests started, Canadian company Catania Worldwide is paying 20 percent more to ship their produce to the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's a cost that has to be passed on.
COHEN: U.S. produce prices have already spiked 12 percent in the past year. And that may rise, along with many other products.
SpartanNash, a U.S. grocery company, is now funding their own trucker certification and positioning products in warehouses nationwide, in case deliver issues intensify, which would come at a cost to customers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are certainly preparing for the possibility of more disruptions.
COHEN: In December, the Biden administration launched a trucking action plan to streamline the trucker licensing process and ramp up recruitment. But some companies want urgent relief.
KEN CLARK (PH), OWNS COMPANY THAT TRANSPORTS CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT: It's tough. I mean --
COHEN: Ken Clark's (ph) company moves construction equipment. They're now seeing three- to four-week delays from Canada. CLARK (ph): We've seen some prices go up as high as, you know, double,
triple.
COHEN: His equipment goes to a range of companies, from power plants to flour mills, all of which could pass along those price hikes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those costs are going to get pushed into their product eventually.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is taking a firm stance against these protests. He's tweeted, "They don't have the right to blockade our economy or our democracy."
The White House, though, they're not totally backing that, Brianna, seeming to separate the blockades at the border from the vaccine requirements. Though again, the truckers who started all of this, they did so over those vaccine rules.
KEILAR: Yes, they did. Gabe, thank you.
Up next, you may want to skip guacamole at Super Bowl parties this year. That's because prices are hitting a record high just ahead of the game. Or maybe what you want to do is go to your friends for the guac. What other party items are going to cost you.
BERMAN: And the Republican lawmaker who told a female Democratic colleague to kiss his ass. That Democrat joins us live ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:27:44]
BERMAN: This morning, new indications, I should say, that the Olympics turning out to be one of heartbreak for Team America. One of the most solid U.S. medal favorites, American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin, crashed out of her second straight race. This was a shock.
Coy Wire covering the Winter Olympics in China and joins us with "The Bleacher Report." What a bummer, Coy.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. Giant slalom and slalom were Mikaela Shiffrin's two favorite events by far. She said she was going full gas, planned out the most aggressive so there was no way for error.
She said that full-throttle mentality, that's always brought her her best results. But now, John, she's second-guessing everything in the last 15 years, she says.
She slipped on the course. But based on her comments, John, she's slipping a bit mentally, too. And that's a mental space that no athlete ever wants to be in, right?
Shiffrin's hopes of medaling in all five Alpine skiing events now come down to just three chances left.
Here is something the complete opposite of heartbreak. Team USA finally getting their first gold medal of these Beijing games. Snowboard cross Lindsey Jacobellis, in her fifth Olympic games, winning her first ever gold.
Redemption for her late crash while leading at the 2006 games, where she settled for silver.
There was uncontrollable emotion after she crossed that finish line. Inspiration for us all. Thirty-six years old, she's the oldest American woman to ever win gold at an Olympic Games.
And in just four days, the Bengals are going to take on the Rams at their home stadium in the Super Bowl. After having never been before, this is the second year in a row that a Super Bowl team gets to play on their home turf.
The Bengals flew to L.A. yesterday for their first Super Bowl appearance in more than three decades. But Cincinnati will actually be playing as the home team on Sunday. The Rams' SoFi Stadium is technically considered a neutral site for the game.
And this. An annual Super Bowl event taking place this afternoon. Commissioner Roger Goodell holding his annual State of the League news conference. Expect tough questions as the league deals with diversity issues and claims of discrimination.
Over the weekend, Goodell released a memo saying that the lack of black head coaches in the NFL is, quote, "unacceptable."
John, CNN is there. We'll be on the ground through the big game, keeping us up to date on all the latest.
BERMAN: I expect Goodell to be in full-on damage control when he holds that news conference. Coy Wire, a pleasure to see you there. Thanks so much.
KEILAR: So right about now you're hitting the grocery store in preparation for Sunday, right? Well, grocery prices are on the rise.
[06:30:00]
