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Trucker-Inspired Protests Cut Off Three Key Border Crossings; Senators Say, CIA Collected Data on Americans in Warrantless Searches; What America Learned from NFL's Handling of Pandemic. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 11, 2022 - 07:00   ET

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

BIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEW DAY: And I'm Brianna Keilar with John Berman.

[07:00:02]

And this morning, a trucker-inspired protest over COVID mandates is intensifying, bringing pain to workers and economics on both sides of the U.S./Canadian border. And now the U.S. is on high alert for protests to begin here at home. Demonstrators have been occupying critical roadways between the two countries for several days. This morning crossings in Michigan, North Dakota and Montana are now choked off.

And today marks the fifth day that protesters have halted traffic on the Ambassador Bridge, which connection Detroit to Windsor, Ontario. That bridge is the busiest international crossing in North America. Nearly 30 percent of all trade between the U.S. and Canada crosses the Ambassador Bridge with 10,000 commercial vehicles carrying $325 million worth of goods every day, 50 million of that in auto parts alone.

The blockade is hurting major car companies in particular. Ford, General Motors, Stellantis and Toyota all announcing production issues as the protest disrupt supply chains. Workers in the Michigan auto industry could lose up to $51 million in wages this week, according to an industry analysis group.

And Governor Gretchen Whitner, who is obviously following this very quickly, is joining us now. Governor, thank you so much for being with us.

This isn't just a Canada problem anymore. We're talking about $51 million in lost wages just this week. What's this doing to people in your state?

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): Well, it's never been just a Canada issue. It's been hurting us in Michigan from day one. Every minute this goes on is lost wages. It's damage to our businesses. This is an illegal blockade. And while people have the right to protest, they don't have a right to illegally block the largest land border crossing in North America. Hundreds of millions of dollars a day are being lost. There are Michiganders who are hard working, simply want to show up to their job, and they are out of work right now. This is having a huge impact and we are pushing on the Canadian government to resolve this swiftly and safely because every minute this goes on is incredibly damaging to our economy and to our people.

KEILAR: I think there is a concern about swiftly and safely maybe not overlapping here. There are Windsor officials, who are getting subpoenas, they're trying to start clearing, that's in their effort to try to start clearing trucks and vehicles in this blockade. The mayor has suggested the police may actually physically clear protesters. How worried are you that this could turn violent?

WHITMER: Well, I am worried. I think every leader should be worried about that. But my biggest concern as the governor of Michigan is that we are at an economic crisis in this moment because of this illegal blockade. And as I said, protesters have a right to protest their government. They do not have a right to illegally block these international borders where we have so much commerce. This is a homeland security issue, quickly becoming. This is not just about the Michigan economy. This is for working people all throughout the Midwest, all across my state, and working people in Canada too.

So, while they have a right to protest, they do not have a right to illegally block this border crossing. And the Canadian government has to do whatever it takes to safely and swiftly resolve this.

KEILAR: Right-wing media, as I'm sure you're aware, is really fueling this. So, let's take a listen to what we're seeing there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: The question is how long before protests like this come here?

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Will we need our own trucker rally to end all of this insanity once and for all?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the trucker convoy coming to America?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: What is your response to that encouragement?

WHITMER: Well, obviously, we cannot incite and encourage people to break the law, especially when it means they are throwing other Americans out of work and creating an economic crisis that we were just recovering from. It is incredibly dangerous. It is --

KEILAR: All right. I think that our signal with the governor has frozen a little bit. We're going to try to get -- oh. And she's back. All right, Governor Whitmer, I'm sorry, I was asking you about this encouragement by the right-wing media of this blockade.

WHITMER: Well, it's dangerous. They're inciting and encouraging people to break the law, and to do so in a way that devastates so many hard-working people. This is families, this is businesses and America that rely on commerce free flowing. This is five days and it is already taking a toll on tens of millions of dollars. That number compounds over time. And any encouragement for people to replicate this and break the law and devastate our economy is not just devastating to our national bottom line but to individual households, to businesses, to agriculture.

[07:05:04]

So, it's incredibly, I think, again, unhelpful and downright dangerous.

KEILAR: The snowball effect goes into Michigan, it goes to other auto centers across the U.S. Are you getting what you need from the White House?

WHITMER: Well, I've obviously been burning up the phone lines speaking with people from the White House to the Canadian ambassador, to our congressional delegation, and the sum of the leadership in the Canadian government. We've got to push to resolve this and it's got to be swift. And, of course, we want it to be safely done as well. But it has to happen. We cannot let another minute go by unnecessarily because this border is too important to our economy, to our homeland security, and to the -- as we grow our economy, it's a crucial moment.

KEILAR: Do police need to begin arresting people in the blockade?

WHITMER: I'm not going to weigh in on how they proceed. I'm going to tell you right now, though, they have to get it done. And using whatever tool it takes to safely and swiftly, and this is what we are calling on them to do.

KEILAR: This might become even more your problem, though. On Sunday, trucker-inspired protester expected to pop up around the U.S. How do you plan to handle that?

WHITMER: Well, Michigan has already responded. We have done a number of things to try to alleviate some of the chokepoints, whether it is rerouting certain parts of the traffic, supplementing with additional people working at the border. But the fact of the matter is this illegal blockade is devastating our economy.

KEILAR: No, but, sorry, Governor, I'm talking about what we are expecting to happen south of the border, so not the blockade in Canada. Trucker-inspired protests in the U.S., potentially in your state, would you forcibly clear people?

WHITMER: Brianna, if people are breaking the law, obviously, we'll assess it at the time. But we are working very closely with our federal partners and the state police. The fact of the matter is we're going to do everything we can to prevent that from happening in the first place.

KEILAR: All right. Governor, thank you so much for being with us. We are sort of watching this happen at the border. And it is really unlike anything. Governor Gretchen Whitmer, thank you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: All right. Joining me now, CNN Political Commentator and former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush Scott Jennings and Bakari Sellers, CNN Commentator and author of Who Are Your People?

So, Bakari, we just heard Governor Whitmer say of the American conservatives who are egging on these Canadian protesters, she said you can't incite people to break the law. And she condemned them for helping throw Americans out of work. To that you say, Bakari?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I mean, this is a very interesting line that Governor Whitmer is walking. I mean, you have to understand the ability for individuals to protest freely and to protest without interference. But what Governor Whitmer is saying is when those protests flow over into disrupting the lives of everyday Americans, then that has to be put to a stop.

Now, I am someone who understands what the value of protests actually means. And when you have things in the United States and particularly throughout the south, that necessitates you making people uncomfortable, I find that to be extremely necessary. I'm not going to speak out of both sides of my neck and condemn individuals who want to protest and make things uncomfortable on one side and then say it's bad on the other, although I disagree with it. That's a thin line and that's a line that individuals are going to try to walk. I mean, you see the hypocrisy from Fox News. I mean, when we march in protest when a black man is unarmed and killed, they throw a hissy fit. But today they want to encourage more of it. I mean, this is the land of the free. Protest and fix the problem and see if we can get people to agree on a solution.

BERMAN: Scott?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I have to say to my friend, Bakari, that was one of the most principled arguing points on any of these debates. He and I have had a bunch over the years. And I just want to commend Bakari for saying what he said about the need for protest when people need people to pay attention. That's exactly what's going on here.

And, by the way, these truckers don't need any egging on from the American conservative media. They have got plenty of egging on from the last two years of lockdowns and mandates and the hypocrisy of the ruling class over coronavirus. It is not about vaccines. Most of these people are vaccinated. It is about the overall hypocrisy of the elites and the laptop class. They've had enough. And this has nothing to do, in my opinion, with being egged on.

So, I just want to commend you again, Bakari. That is a principled view. I don't think a lot of people on the left are going to take the same view. People are saying this protest is bad when we had $2 billion in damage caused in the summer of 2020.

[07:10:03]

And now we are worried about economic impacts of protests? I think protests and civil disobedience have had a long and necessary history in free societies. And this may join those ranks.

SELLERS: What is the laptop class? I don't mean to interrupt your show, Berman, but what is the laptop class? I just heard Scott call us that?

JENNIGNS: I'm -- Yes, I am talking about us. I mean, people who don't have to go out and work with their hands and do things like these truckers do for a living. You know there is a difference between the white collar and blue collar working men and women and the way they experience coronavirus and the way these lockdowns affected them, you, Bakari, know how much differently people like us were able to experience it. We had a much easier life than a lot of these folks who are protesting.

The outcomes for our children, the outcomes for our lives were much different than these working class folks. So, do I understand their anger? Heck yes. Am I worried about the safety and transportation issues they're causing? Yes. I think that is a real issue. But do they have every right to be pissed after two years? Oh, yes.

BERMAN: Bakari.

SELLERS: No. I mean, I hear Scott. I mean, I don't like the language of the laptop class. We always hear this verbiage from the right that is more divisive than helpful. It's something that make people aloof for, as if they don't care simply because they had a career path. You hear it oftentimes when you pit middle America versus everybody else or working class versus everybody else. But the overarching theme is still the same.

And this is something I identified last night and it's something the White House and this administration have to do a better job of, which is hearing the pain of Americans. But whether or not you are driving a truck or whether or not you're trying to make sure your kids go to school or whether or not you are just wanting the president to deliver things that you know would curb inflation because the price of flounder and whiting are too high at the piggly-wiggly. I mean, all of these things are converging together.

Now, one thing that I want people to be extremely clear about, as we make these arguments, and we're on CNN and we can be nuanced, there is no similarity between what happened two summers ago and what is happening today. What I will tell you however is that civil disobedience is a righteous act than civil disobedience. Even if I disagree with it and think your premise for it is wrong, but civil disobedience is as American as American can be.

BERMAN: Everyone was talking about the pain that Americans are feeling. And one of the things people are feeling is inflation. And I quickly want to play an exchange that President Biden had with Lester Holt last night. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: I think it was back in July you said inflation was going to be temporary. I think a lot of Americans are wondering what your definition of temporary is.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, you are being a wise guy with me a little bit. I understand. That's your job. HOLT: When could Americans expect some relief from this soaring inflation?

BIDEN: According to Nobel Laureates, 14 of them that contacted me, and a number of corporate leaders, it's ought to be able to start to taper off as we go through this year. In the meantime, I'm going to do everything in my power to deal with the big points that are impacting most people in their homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I want you both quickly on this, starting with you, Bakari, because you were talking about criticism of the administration maybe not feeling some of the different types of pain that Americans are. What did you think of that response?

SELLERS: Yes, it was a terrible answer, and I would tell them that if they were looking me in the face. The fact is that nobody that Scott and I are talking about want to hear what Nobel Laureates actually say about the problem. In fact, in that answer, we would care more about the solutions, or maybe if there are no -- and, look, inflation ain't caused by Joe Biden. We know why we have inflation. Inflation it is because we were home for a year. Inflation is because we went through this COVID period. But the problem is yours to fix now.

And so (INAUDIBLE) solutions or simply, I feel your pain, which is a better answer than whatever economists from Wharton decided to tell whoever.

BERMAN: Scott, Bakari is making it very hard for you to get angry at him this morning.

JENNINGS: I know. I just want to come down to South Carolina and go out to breakfast, Bakari. I feel like you and I are having quite a moment here.

Look, Joe Biden's lashing out at Lester Holt for asking a question that virtually every American has right now tells you that they're out of answers and they know the political damage that's being done by the rampant inflation. And they really know that it's out of control and there's not much they can do about it at this point.

I do think Bakari is right. A little bit of the supposedly famous Joe Biden empathy here, you know, is what he needs. I mean, he can't fix it overnight, I guess, but he can say, I get it, I understand. I know what you're going through. I understand the urgency of the problem, and I'm going to do what I can about it.

[07:15:01]

But lashing out at Lester Holt for asking a question that every voter is thinking about before they walk into the polls in November, that ain't going to cut it, Jack.

BERMAN: All right. Well, one thing that three of us can all agree on is breakfast. That sounds terrific. Bakari Sellers, Scott Jennings, thank you both very much for that.

KEILAR: Two member of the Senate Intel Committee are raising concerns about the CIA conducting what they call warrantless backdoor searches of Americans. Yes, pardon my hiccups there.

So, I want to bring in CNN Reporter Katie Bo Lillis, who does not hiccups, but she has new reporting. What can you tell us.

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: Yes, good morning, Brianna. So, last night what we have seen is two members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Martin Heinrich and Senator Ron Wyden, who have made a pretty dramatic allegation. They have claimed that the CIA -- that they have information showing that the CIA has for years been collecting information in bulk that includes Americans' information and that they have been sifting through it in a way that raises concerns about Americans' privacy and civil liberties.

Now, the CIA has declassified and released some materials related to this counterintelligence surveillance program last night. But what they've said is that the program itself must stay classified in order to protect so-called sources and methods, which are really kind of the crown jewels of the intelligence community. It's how they continue to be able to do their job to collect on foreign threats.

So, right now, we don't really know what the data that has been collected that has so concerned Wyden and Heinrich actually entails or how this program really works. The two lawmakers did give us some clues, though, when they said that they're concerned about backdoor searches of Americans' data. So, what do I mean by that? The CIA is a foreign-facing intelligence organization, right? They are not typically allowed to investigate Americans. But sometimes Americans' data is incidentally collected as part of broader surveillance programs. And then CIA analysts are allowed to look at it without a warrant as long as it's part of a validly predicated foreign intelligence investigation.

Now, for Wyden and Heinrich, that so-called backdoor loophole is a big problem. But bottom line right now, Brianna, we still have more questions than answers about what exactly this program covers and what the data that is so alarming these lawmakers is.

KEILAR: Yes. Clearly, authorities have some discretion, and these lawmakers are concerned about how they're using it. Katie Bo, thank you for that report.

Up next, Bob Saget's autopsy results have been released and there is a surprising discovery in them.

Plus, 2021 was another trying year of COVID, and the NFL was no exception. But what can the league teach us about dealing with the pandemic moving forward. Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.

BERMAN: And a new reporting from The Washington Post that some White House documents were clearly marked top secret, but Donald Trump took them to Mar-a-Lago anyway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

KEILAR: Full House Star Bob Saget's autopsy has been released by the medical examiner in Orange County, Florida. And per the report, the official cause of death is actually blunt head trauma.

Joining us now is CNN Chief Medical Correspondent and Neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, I think this was surprise to a lot of people. What does this autopsy report reveal?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think what it reveals more than anything else is that this was not a sort of simple bump on the head. I think a couple of days ago, what we had heard is that he, Mr. Saget, may have bumped his head sort of as he was getting into bed at his hotel room, and that subsequently caused a bleeding on his brain.

But when you read this autopsy report, that still may be the case but it was a significant blow to the head. We can show you, first of all, we put this graphic together just to give you an idea. In yellow, of all the bones that were fractured, it takes a lot of force to do that. And let me show you on this skull model, if I can as well. Basically, there were fractures on the back of his head of here and also an abrasion over here. So, clearly, there was some sort of, you know, impact over here. That fracture extended into the right temporal bone over here. So, that was a hard blow to just do that. But what was noted on the autopsy report was there were skull fractures in the front of his skull over here as well, just above his eyes.

So, in order to do that, I mean, when I first saw this, if I knew nothing else about what had happened, you would think maybe this was someone who had fallen down the stairs and had several impacts to the head or been unrestrained in a car accident. I mean, it was that degree of force. In neurosurgery, you're often looking at the energy that's actually transferred to the skull and the brain as well as the mechanism. And whatever happened here, we may never know the exact, like how he fell or what happened, but it was a significant blow that caused that. And likely the bleeding on top of the brain, as you see there in this image, is likely causing pressure on the brain and subsequently, sadly, led to him becoming unconscious and then dying.

So, what we learned more than anything else is this was significant. Whatever happened, however it happened, it was a significant blow and not something simple.

BERMAN: Yes. And it really is interesting looking at that because it appear somewhat unusual given what we were first told.

Sanjay, I want to talk about sports and COVID here, because it has been a microcosm, something of a lab from the beginning of this pandemic. And now you have taken a really close look at the NFL to try to learn from how they handled COVID for the last two years.

GUPTA: Yes. I mean, I followed all along, from the beginning, when they were thinking, can we actually begin our season. This was back in 2020. But keep in mind, as you said, John, a microcosm, they had lots of testing, they had lots of measures. So, in some way, you get an idea what all these measures that we have been talking about would look like in a very small community and here's what we found.

[07:25:06]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The NFL is postponing three games due to COVID-19 issues around the league.

GUPTA (voice over): Just like the rest of the country, omicron hit the NFL hard.

DR. ALLEN SILLS, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, NFL: Things that we had thought that we really understood all of a sudden turned upside-down overnight.

GUPTA: Throughout the pandemic, I've been checking in with NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills. I wanted to understand how the league is riding the waves of this virus.

I think last time we spoke, you talked about the most common scenarios for the virus to transmit, were eating, meeting, greeting. Same with omicron, or did that change things?

SILLS: I think what was different with omicron is it's just so much easier to transmit. One of my colleagues from infectious disease described omicron as almost like a fog that just settled over everybody.

GUPTA: As omicron swept across the country, the NFL says it saw average cases jump from below 30 a week to more than 300.

Now, there is one place that Dr. Sills says COVID transmission remains very unlikely, and that is here right on the field.

Now, before omicron, the NFL did not document a single case of COVID crossing the line of scrimmage. Omicron, no doubt, has blurred that picture, but one thing has remained true, having good ventilation, being outside, is going to be a much safer environment.

Indoors, the league has continued to require masks and implement physical distancing. But when it comes to testing, they shifted to a more controversial strategy.

SILLS: We adjusted our testing and said, you know what, rather than randomly sampling people at certain preset time intervals, we are going to hone in on symptomatic testing because we think that's where we're going to identify the cases that we're concerned about.

GUPTA: One of the unusual things about this virus, Doc, is that it does seem to transmit even among people who don't have symptoms. How does it address that potential spread?

SILLS: Let's just say we were testing someone on a Monday. They test Monday, they test negative. And then on Wednesday they start to have some symptoms. And I think, well, it must not be COVID because they tested negative, you know? So, there was really, I think, almost a disincentive to maybe forward as soon as you are symptomatic. So, I think it allowed us to quickly identify cases, which is what we wanted to do.

GUPTA: So far, Sills says it has worked, but knows these protocols are reinforced by one key thing. Being heavily vaccinated was an important part how we were able to successfully get through the season.

While about two-thirds of the country is vaccinated, the NFL says it has a vaccination rate of 95 percent among its players and nearly 100 percent for its coaches and staff. The league has only seen one hospitalization from COVID this entire season.

But since vaccines and boosters are only mandatory for staff, not players, there have been some high-profile cases.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is now owning up to the fact that he is not vaccinated for COVID.

GUPTA: The story that got the most attention was Aaron Rodgers. How does that happen?

SILLS: I will just say that I think that obviously there's a lot of interest about this issue of how the vaccinated and unvaccinated fared. And in our data, as I said, it's very clear, those vaccinated who were more protected.

GUPTA: But now as the NFL has seen more overall cases, Sills says they are starting to stud the role of natural immunity, that is immunity from a previous infection.

SILLS: I think one of the challenges about natural immunity is it's really variable. I think it is a fallacy to say, well, I had COVID, I must be immune for 3 or 6 or 12 months. I think, while it's just not that convenient, but with vaccines, you can say, I know what happens after vaccination. I know it establishes this amount of immunity.

GUPTA: Sill says the league will continue to follow the data when it comes to protocols, but leading up to the Super Bowl, he feels confident the country can learn from the NFL how to better navigate this virus going forward.

SILLS: We get into this very binary thinking that it has shut everything down or act like nothing is going on. And there is truly a middle ground to be had. I think that's important.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (on camera): They are collecting so much data that Dr. Sills told me they are also sharing that data now with the CDC, again, because they're a very confined community and easy to sort of study this way. But also it may provide us not just a microcosm but also a harbinger or a sort of predictor of what's likely to happen in the country. So -- and that looks good. I mean, what's happening with the NFL, the cases have been coming down dramatically, as we have been seeing in the country, because they have a higher vaccination rate, it may be happening more quickly. But, ultimately, you should see similar trajectories in the country overall.

That has been true sort of through the last couple of years with the NFL, again, sort of being a forerunner to what's happening in the rest country.

BERMAN: It is really revealing when you look at all that data there and what they've learned, and to extrapolate that out to what it might mean for the rest of us. Sanjay, thank you so much for that.

GUPTA: You got it. Thank you.

[07:30:00]

BERMAN: So, why is a Republican lawmaker who spoke out against former President Trump now pledging her loyalty out of Trump Tower.