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New Day

New Polls Show Biden Losing Young Adults And Black Voters; North Dakota Trooper Delivers Lifesaving Blood In A Snowstorm; Russians Bomb Kyiv While United Nations Chief Was Visiting. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired April 29, 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]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: So if we did not really see this change among young voters in their choice for Congress, look at Black adults. Look at this -- choice for House of Rep among Black voters.

In April of 2022, look at this. You have this lead right here of 62 points. Now you may say oh my goodness gracious -- 62 points -- a lead for Democrats among Black voters. That seems huge. But look at where we were in the 2020 election. Democrats won that group by 77 points. So that is a drop if I'm doing my math correctly of 15 points.

This is a huge, huge drop among Black voters and puts this a little bit from where we were in the last -- if we look back at all the elections over the last 22 years, Democrats have won Black voters by 75 points or more in every single House election. I can pick up my pen there -- it's not set -- in every single House election this century.

So the idea, if you go back and you see that they're only up by 62 points, that is quite the drop from the elections that we've previously had this century for the House of Representatives.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Well -- so the question then is what's happening here? Why are we seeing this?

ENTEN: Yes. So, if you look at the historical trend -- I'm going to jump back to president -- and you look here, what do we see? We see that in the last election we saw that Joe Biden won Black voters by 75 points. This is a drop -- 81 points, 87 points, 91 points. We look a lot more like we did back at the 2004 election.

Now, let's just compare 2020 and 2016 and we're going to take a look at ideological groups. About 20% of Black voters consider themselves conservative. Look here -- conservatives in the 2020 election. Joe Biden won Black conservatives by 20 points. That's not bad, right? But look at the 2016 election. He won them by 58 points. That's a 38-

point drop. If you look at all other groups -- so, moderates and liberals -- the margin stayed the same.

So what we're seeing is the polarization that has hit the rest of the electorate with conservatives going towards Republicans and liberals going towards Democrats is now applying themselves to Black voters.

So I think the real question going forward Brianna is what happens with conservatives. Do they continue to go towards the Republican Party? If they do so, Black voters may not be as Democratic as they once were.

KEILAR: Yes. Look, both parties are watching this trend very carefully and we'll see if they tailor their message accordingly.

Harry, thank you so much --

ENTEN: Thank you.

KEILAR: -- as always.

ENTEN: Thank you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's dig in a little bit more. Joining me is CNN political commentator Van Jones. Hey, Van, nice to see you.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to see you as well.

BERMAN: I think Harry used like, what, four or five bigs in terms of how he was trying to describe the drop in approval among Black voters.

JONES: Yes.

BERMAN: What do you see happening here?

JONES: Well, I think that there's a disappointment factor that's set in. I think a lot of Black voters feel like the Black community gave the most during the election -- the historic election of 2020 -- and have gotten the least. If you look at voting rights -- so far, nothing. You look at some of the student loan stuff -- very little.

So what was motivating African American voters left, right, and otherwise, were that somebody was going to come to our rescue. The day-to-day reality for Black folks hasn't improved. In fact, because of inflation and other things, it's gotten worse. And so, you're starting to see that disappointment factor set in.

BERMAN: Do you think it will change the voting patterns?

JONES: Well listen, I think -- I think that it may well. Also, don't forget you have had a concerted effort on the part of conservatives to recast the Republican Party as the party of the multiracial working class. Republicans have moved right on cultural issues. We react to that. They've moved left on some economic issues. You see Republicans more

open to tariffs, more open to protecting American workers -- that kind of stuff.

And so, I think we underreact as Democrats to the left move of the -- on economics from Republicans, and sometimes overreact to their move to the right on culture, and are missing a big, big chunk of folks who are moving away from us in the Black community.

BERMAN: The president's approval rating is down overall --

JONES: True.

BERMAN: -- not just among Black voters here.

JONES: True.

BERMAN: What do you think is going on there?

JONES: Inflation, inflation. I mean, listen, that's -- at the end of the day, ordinary folks -- they're looking at their bills and they're looking at gas prices when they're up, Republicans -- not Republicans -- presidents suffer. So that part of it is baked into the cake.

But I think that when you have a community that feels that it rescued the Democratic Party and maybe rescued American democracy and can't get police reform done after George Floyd, that there's something wrong and that disappointment factor is starting to show up.

BERMAN: Did the Democrats overpromise?

JONES: Overpromised, underdelivered, so far.

BERMAN: How so?

JONES: Well, again, this idea Trump was here, he's terrible, we're going to replace him, and we're going to give you 100% of what you want with 50% of the votes in the Senate. The math never made sense. So you could pass these big bills through the House but you couldn't even sometimes get a hearing in the Senate. And so, you begin -- by the time you get to summertime, it's like hey, I'm hearing all this good stuff is supposed to be happening but it's never getting signed by the president.

[07:35:05]

And so, when you overpromise so much in the beginning of the year and you're underdelivering at the end of the year -- and don't forget Build Back Better, et cetera -- you suddenly wind up with a disappointment factor, plus inflation.

BERMAN: Any way you can fix that?

JONES: Listen, I just think that there's some things that could get done. That you can do something narrow on voting. You could probably still do something narrow on police reform or at least executive orders. You've got to signal the people that the people that brought you to -- brought you to the dance -- young people and Black folks -- are going to get something out of the government or people are not going to want to vote.

BERMAN: All right. I want to talk to you about your documentary --

JONES: Yes.

BERMAN: -- which airs tonight -- "THE FIRE STILL BURNS," which is about the L.A. riots which were how long ago now, Van?

JONES: Thirty years ago today.

BERMAN: That's already --

JONES: Thirty years ago today.

BERMAN: Now, which makes it history --

JONES: Yes.

BERMAN: -- as you noted to me.

JONES: Yes.

BERMAN: But there's so much to learn. I also know it was so personal --

JONES: Yes.

BERMAN: -- for you. And before we talk about it let's play a little clip of this because it's a really wonderful documentary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: April 29, L.A. went up in flames. Then we had protests all across the country, including here in San Francisco.

You were a young lawyer. I was still in law school. Our boss, Eva Paterson, told me -- she said the protest was going on. It's good to have legal observers there. Have you ever been a legal observer at a protest? I said no, ma'am. She goes, go down there and observe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'd been to many protests, and marches, and rallies. It was a Friday night. I was going to go do this thing and then go home.

JONES: We didn't make it home. We did not make it home -- not that night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is really where I think things started getting heated. The route was supposed to keep going down Church Street. This intersection is where that police presence really started, like, closing in. As we were heading up Market Street, I saw that there are a whole hell of a lot of cops up there and that's ultimately where we got stopped and arrested. JONES: Yes. We were done for. They brought out the big plastic bag and they poured out plastic handcuffs on the ground. And then they brought the city buses -- empty city buses. I remember I went up to one of the police officers and I said hey, listen, I'm a law student. This is a problem of police not letting us have our rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Oh my goodness.

JONES: Yes. Thirty years ago I was a young law student. I was out there just being a legal observer. They arrested everybody, including myself, including my attorney who was there training me, and I spent a night in jail for the first time.

It changed my life. It changed my life because I'd seen a brutal beating -- Rodney King. I'd seen an unjust acquittal from my point of view -- the cops who got off. And then I, myself, was arrested unfairly. And I walked out of that jail cell and I said I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to fix this, and I have.

BERMAN: How do you think it changed America -- or how would you compare the change, if any really took place then, to what took place two summers ago with George Floyd?

JONES: The big difference 30 years later is that was the first time we'd ever seen a video like that and it shocked the world. Now you see those videos all the time. So what that means is the problem is better understood. That's good. You don't have to argue with people is there a problem with policing -- can policing be improved.

The challenge is we still don't have federal legislation to fix it. And so, you've had some changes at the local level but you've got the problem is well understood but I'm still committed to getting the problem solved at the federal level, and that fight continues.

BERMAN: You're working so hard, Van Jones. The documentary is terrific. "THE FIRE STILL BURNS" airs tonight at 11:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN. Thank you --

JONES: Yes, thank you.

BERMAN: -- very much.

Ukraine now moving troops towards its border with Moldova after a series of unexplained explosions there. Could the war widen beyond Ukraine?

KEILAR: And this just in. Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation to attend the G20 summit in Indonesia, and this creates a complicated diplomatic situation as you can imagine. Also, we'll be speaking to the Pentagon press secretary John Kirby about this breaking development.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:43:29]

BERMAN: Growing concerns over Moldova's breakaway region following a series of unexplained explosions in Transnistria earlier this week, which Ukraine described as a planned Russian provocation. The Ukrainian military is now strengthening security at its border with that Russian-backed region in Moldova.

Joining us now is CNN senior global affairs analyst Bianna Golodryga who was born in Moldova. You just went back a few weeks ago. And as you noted to me, not only were you born in Moldova but you lived both in Moldova proper and Transnistria -- this breakaway region.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, this was back in the Soviet Union where it was just Moldova and one republic and part of the Soviet Union.

But, yes. And when I went back a few weeks ago it was the weekend that you had Ukrainian intelligence warn Moldova that they do think that this type of provocation would be possible.

And because you have about 1,600 Russian troops that are located there and have been for years. Remember, this conflict has been going back -- dating back to the '90s. So you've had 1,600 Russian troops there for years. They have been dormant. They have been idle.

But Moldova is a small, poor country. They, themselves, have about 6,000 active military personnel.

So there had been warnings from Ukraine saying listen, we think that Russia's trying to incite something here and to destabilize the country. I asked the prime minister whether they were seeing any intelligence on their end. She was very defiant -- stubbornly so, I would argue -- saying they haven't seen anything of the like.

But now, two weeks later, you are seeing there is increased concern. The president is saying that they are blaming Russians for trying to destabilize the region.

[07:45:01]

BERMAN: And now, the Ukrainians say they're moving troops. They're moving some troops to strengthen the border here near the Transnistria region here. To an extent, maybe that's necessary. But isn't that what Russia wants -- Ukraine to maybe divert its attention and turn its eyes from the east?

GOLODRYGA: Well, I think it's more about just destabilizing the country as a whole knowing that it has gone for more neutrality, which it still legally is, to more pro-EU. Remember that Moldova has filed for an emergency acceptance to be part of the EU.

And what Moldova -- what Ukraine really wants to focus though on is protecting Odessa. Odessa is just 40 miles --

BERMAN: Yes, it's right here. GOLODRYGA: -- from the Moldovan border. So this is why they are trying to ramp up their security here. Because once you get Odessa, God forbid that Russia does get Odessa, they have clear access into Moldova.

BERMAN: Let me ask you about another development that just happened over the last few hours. Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, saying that he's accepted an invitation to go to the G20 summit in Indonesia. The Indonesian president gave him an invitation --

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

BERMAN: -- to come to the G20 summit. Putin says he's going. What does the U.S. do now?

GOLODRYGA: It takes a lot of gall, right, for a man who has been isolated now from the world stage? But that is something that he's always wanted. He's always wanted global recognition and he has been attending the G20 summits in the past. Obviously, the big difference here is that he has now illegally invaded a sovereign country.

The U.S. and President Biden have said from day one that they would prefer Russia not be included, but this is up to the host country, Indonesia. So, what do they do instead? The U.S. and Western allies push for Indonesia to also invite Ukraine President Zelenskyy. We have yet to hear as to whether he will accept that invitation.

BERMAN: It will be interesting to see, if all the leaders are there, how that develops.

GOLODRYGA: I don't think they're going to be meeting with Putin if that develops.

BERMAN: I think you're right about that.

All right, Bianna Golodryga, great to see you. Thank you very much.

All right, we continue to follow news out of Mariupol this morning. Officials say an operation to get hundreds of civilians out of the steel plant there is -- or was planned for today. Has it happened? The city's deputy mayor joins NEW DAY coming up.

KEILAR: And back in the U.S., a state trooper going beyond the call to make a critical delivery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:51:24]

KEILAR: What do you do when there is an emergency and someone's life is at stake? A North Dakota state trooper went beyond the call, driving through a blinding snowstorm to make a critical blood delivery.

CNN's Adrienne Broaddus has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Trooper Daniel Johnson gets behind the wheel some journeys are met with obstacles.

TROOPER DANIEL JOHNSON, NORTH DAKOTA STATE PATROL: About two weeks ago, North Dakota had a historic blizzard over a 3-day period.

BROADDUS (voice-over): And that storm dumped 18 inches of snow, closed roads, and canceled blood drives across the region.

SHAY PETERSON, REGISTERED NURSE: It's always hard when you know there's an obstacle that came, such as the weather, and your patient needs blood.

BROADDUS (voice-over): The patient in need of a blood transfusion was 60 miles away at St. Andrews hospital.

JOHNSON: It was going to be impossible for me to get up there on my own.

BROADDUS (voice-over): But Trooper Johnson had help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I work for the DOT driving a snowplow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just got called to take and do a blood run, basically.

JOHNSON: We had to stop a couple of times along the way to clear ice off of our windshield because it was accumulating so bad our windshield wipers weren't able to keep up with it. So I just picked the taillights that I could see on the snowplow and I just kind of followed it as they cleared the way for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little icy. Got slid up the road a little bit.

AARON KLEIN, TRANSPORTATION TECH: And there really wasn't a road. You just drive and try to feel from side to side without going into the ditch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just knew we had to go until we met the Minot trucks with the trooper with the blood and make the switch so we could lead the trooper to Bottineau.

BROADDUS (voice-over): A rural town with about 6,000 people, according to the latest census data; one hospital; and on this day, low blood supply.

JOHNSON: Normally, it would be about an hour's trip but it took us about four hours to get up to Bottineau that morning. We can go a little bit faster than an ambulance can so that's why we do the blood runs often.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When bloods come in that the Highway Patrol has brought in, it's an amazing feeling. You know, when they do things like this it really has the ability to save lives. JOHNSON: I was just praying that we all made it up safe and that we

were able to get up there in time, and that we were able to make a difference.

PETERSON: It's amazing to know that somebody cares as much about your patient as you even though they've never met that patient.

JOHNSON: Thank you guys for the help that morning, and you were instrumental in getting me up there. I don't think I would have been able to do it without you guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A really whiteout. Put a blindfold on and try and drive.

JOHNSON: This blood run was up there with one of the most challenging things I've done with this agency -- just having to get through that snow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are heroes.

BROADDUS (voice-over): And if asked, they'd take that journey again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. I'd do it again tomorrow.

BROADDUS (on camera): Same conditions?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Same conditions.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Adrienne Broaddus, CNN, Minot, North Dakota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Amazing to see that.

Ukraine says Russian forces launched five missiles into Kyiv yesterday while the U.N. Secretary-General was still visiting the capital. Several residential buildings were hit. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accusing the Kremlin of trying to humiliate the U.N. and everything that the organization represents.

Matt Rivers is on the ground in Kyiv with the very latest here. Matt, what can you tell us?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, hard to miss the message that Russia was sending. They knew the U.N. secretary-general was here and yet, they went ahead with a missile strike anyway, with Russia's Ministry of Defense saying they were targeting a military facility here in Kyiv.

We were close enough that we saw the smoke, we heard the explosions.

And it wasn't just us that saw that. We also met a young girl who is currently in a hospital here in Kyiv who would have also seen the smoke from that explosion. She has a fascinating and tragic story. Here it is.

[07:55:01]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS (voice-over): For Kira Obedinsky, her new iPad is everything. She's 12, after all. But the shiny screen is also a welcomed distraction from an ordeal no 12-year-old should ever have to endure. Because just a few weeks ago, the young Ukrainian wasn't safe like she is now in Kyiv, but in a hospital run by Russian-back separatists, forcibly separated from her family.

When the Russians first invaded Mariupol, Kira's dad Yevin (ph) was still alive. Her mom had died just after she was born. And when Russian bombs started to fall, they sheltered in a neighbor's basement, she recalls.

KIRA OBEDINSKY, RETURNED FROM DONETSK HOSPITAL: (Speaking foreign language).

RIVERS (voice-over): "But they hit the house where we were staying," she says. "We were buried in the cellar. Then, the rescuers took us out of the wreckage." Her dad did not emerge, Kira told us.

Now an orphan, she started to walk to try and find safety amidst chaos. And then, another explosion from a mine.

OBEDINSKY: (Speaking foreign language).

RIVERS (voice-over): "My friend saw something on the ground," she says, "and she hit it accidentally with her boot. The military came after the explosions and took us to a hospital because we were bleeding."

But in some ways, her journey was just beginning. In the chaos, she was picked up by soldiers she says spoke Russian and eventually brought to a Russian-held area in Donetsk.

OBEDINSKY: (Speaking foreign language).

RIVERS (voice-over): "I was taken there at night," she says. "They took shrapnel out of me -- out of my ear. I screamed and cried a lot."

It was shortly after this happened that CNN first learned about and reported Kira's story because Russia paraded it on state T.V.

OBEDINSKY: (Speaking foreign language).

RIVERS (voice-over): State propagandists showed images of Kira in a Donetsk hospital and said she was being treated well. Convinced she was being mistreated, her family went public with her story and it worked. A deal between Russia and Ukraine allowed her grandfather to travel to Russia and bring her back to Kyiv where she told us what Russian state T.V. did not.

OBEDINSKY: (Speaking foreign language).

RIVERS (voice-over): "It's a bad hospital there. The food there is bad. The nurses scream at you. The bed is bent like this. There wasn't enough space for all of us inside." None of that came out on Russian state T.V.

Her injuries have largely healed now though she'll stay in the hospital a little longer. It was there that someone gave her that iPad after a presidential visit came bearing gifts this week. She didn't love all that attention, though. So for now, she says she just wants to see her cat and spend time with her grandfather recovering from the horrors of war one game at a time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS: And Brianna, consider the absurdity of Russian state propaganda here. They're holding her up as some sort of example of Russia's alleged humanity in this war. And yet, the only reason she was ever in their care is because the Russian military killed her father during a war that Russia started. It is just a twisted narrative.

KEILAR: It is so hard to watch all that she has been through, Matt, and it is -- it is amazing to see she is with her grandfather and that she's been returned. That was such a story. Thank you for sharing it with us.

And NEW DAY continues right now.

BERMAN: Good morning to viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Friday, April 29. I'm John Berman with Brianna Keilar.

And we do have breaking news from the battered port city of Mariupol. A Ukrainian operation to evacuate hundreds of civilians from the steel plant there was supposed to begin today, but officials report Russian troops are blocking part of this complex.

Now, this site has become something of a last line of defense for Ukraine in that city. Officials say it was hit by 50 airstrikes in the last 24 hours. The situation is critical. In just a few moments we're going to hear from the deputy mayor of Mariupol.

Among those trapped in the plant, dozens of children -- the youngest just four months old.

Also breaking night -- breaking overnight, new signs of Ukrainian counterstrikes in areas controlled by Russia or inside Russia itself. This is a fuel depot attacked and set on fire in parts of Donetsk. This is an area controlled by Russian-backed forces. Ukraine is not commenting on that.

And the Russians also claim that a checkpoint at a village in Kursk or near Kursk was hit by mortar fire. That is, again, inside Russia but not far from the Ukrainian border.

KEILAR: And some new images this morning of heavy damage in Kyiv. President Zelenskyy is accusing the Russians of launching five missile strikes on the capital on Thursday, all while U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was wrapping up his visit there.