Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Biden: $900 Billion Stimulus is Good Start But Not Enough; Some Officials: Do As I Say, Not As I Do; Georgia's Secretary of State Relies on Faith Amid GOP Attacks; U.S. Intel Chief Warning China Looking to Dominate World; What's Next for Don Jr, Ivanka and Eric. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 04, 2020 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the COVID pandemic hasn't just been a public health crisis, it's been financially devastating for millions of American workers and business owners. In an exclusive interview with CNN, president-elect Joe Biden talked about the need for Congress to provide a lifeline as soon as possible.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: This week, a bipartisan group of Senators unveiled a compromise Bill that is more than Mitch McConnell wants but less than Nancy Pelosi wants. Do you support that bill? Do you think that should go to the floor of the Senate?

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: I think if they can get the 900, what they're talking about, the number, I think it was 900 billion.

TAPPER: Yes, 900 billion.

BIDEN: That that would be a good start. It is not enough. It's needed and they should focus on the things are immediately needed. And what's immediately needed is relief for people on their unemployment checks. Relief for people who are going to get thrown out of their apartments after Christmas because day can't afford to pay the rent anymore. Relief on mortgage payments, relief on all the things that are in the original bill the House passed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And getting stimulus passed is becoming an imperative on Capitol Hill as the end of the year approaches and time is running out to get an agreement done. CNN's Manu Raju has more now from Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Negotiations on Capitol Hill are intensifying after months of deadlock and impasse and frankly no discussions happening for some time. But that has changed in recent days as lawmakers are facing a critical deadline of December 11th to keep the government open, as well as so many people demanding action from Washington as they have been hurt by this economic recession, by the impacts of the pandemic. And both sides recognizing this is the last chance to get something done before the end of the year and trying to see what they can reach.

Now they have been at odds for months over the size and scope of the proposal. Democrats have wanted something more than $2 trillion. Republicans in the Senate have wanted about $500 billion. Right now they're talking about something in the range about $900 billion but there's still so many things that they need to sort out over the next several days.

That includes money for state and local governments that the Democrats demanded. How to deal with the unemployment insurance for people who are out of work, as well as how to deal with lawsuit protections. Republicans are asking for these liability shields for businesses, for workers, for hospitals and the like. Democrats have concerns with that language.

But there are negotiations that are happening, a bipartisan group of Senators who have tried to advance the $900 million proposal actually met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell behind closed doors on Thursday, and McConnell himself had a conversation with the House Speaker who has embraced using that $900 billion plan as a starting point for negotiations. And McConnell and Pelosi both are indicating that those initial talks between the two of them have been positive.

Still, so many things they need to resolve. Can they get this resolved in the next few days, and can they attach it to that bill to keep the government open. A lot of major questions, a lot of people waiting for action from Washington.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And there are of course, lots of recommendations about how to fight the coronavirus. Wash your hands, keep your distance, wear face masks. And people look to their political leaders to set an example. But too often, their messages boil down to do as I say, not as I do as our Brian Todd points out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, and in a video posted on Facebook, Steve Adler, the mayor of Austin, Texas, begged residents to take precautions.

[04:35:00]

MAYOR STEVE ADLER (D-TX), AUSTIN: We need to, you know, stay home if you can. Do everything we can to try to keep the numbers down. This is not the time to -- to relax.

TODD: But Adler posted that video while he was in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, a trip that, according to the "Austin American Statesman" newspaper, Adler took with seven other people, on a private jet, following his daughter's wedding. Now Adler says, while he followed safety guidelines, he regrets that trip.

ADLER: Now, I fear that the travel that I did, which took place during a safer period, followed the color-coded rules, could lead to some taking riskier behavior now.

TODD: But Adler is not alone, last month, California Governor Gavin Newsom, among the local leaders who have recently urged state residents to be extra vigilant, stay at home, make sacrifices, went to an upscale restaurant in Napa Valley called the French Laundry. Photos obtained by KTTV showed Newsom sitting with several others at an outdoor table, none of them wearing masks. Newsom calls it a mistake.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): The spirit of what I'm preaching all the time, was contradicted, and I've got to own that. And so I want to apologize to you, because I need to preach and practice, not just preach.

TODD: The day after Newsom was there, San Francisco Mayor London Breed went to a birthday party at the same restaurant, with seven others at her table. CNN affiliate KGO reported that a statement from Breed's office said she didn't violate COVID protocols for that location. But at the time, gatherings like that were discouraged by state guidelines.

ERIC DEZENHALL, CRISIS MANAGEMENT EXPERT: There are two things Americans hate, and that is hypocrisy and the sense of superiority. And so when you have leaders telling you one thing, but doing another, it -- there's a lot of outrage.

TODD: The pattern is almost dizzying. After voting to close outdoor dining recently, at L.A. County supervisor Sheila Kuehl was seen eating at a restaurant, just before the order took effect. Kuehl's office says she felt bad for the struggling restaurant industry but won't dine out again until the county allows it.

San Jose Mayor, Sam Liccardo ignored state restrictions during Thanksgiving when he went to a family gathering with his elderly parents that included people from five different households. Before that, Liccardo had tweeted, quote, cancel the big gatherings this year. Liccardo has since apologized.

DR. PETER HOTEZ, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: All we have left are local leaders, and so we really need our local, city, county leaders to step up and really provide an example. And when they don't do that, it just makes things all the more dangerous for most Americans.

TODD (on camera): The common thread among all the leaders that we've mentioned here. They're all Democrats, from the same party that has relentlessly hammered President Trump for his lack of leadership during this crisis.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, jumped on that during your briefing in recent days, calling out those Democratic leaders, for not following their own edicts, and for doing things that their citizens are discouraged from doing. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Georgia certifies its presidential election recount on Friday confirming President-elect Joe Biden's victory there. And the current President heads to Georgia on Saturday. He is campaigning for Republicans in two Senate runoff races. Mr. Trump has repeatedly attacked Georgia's Secretary of State who despite that says he still supports the President and says he's relying on his faith. Amara Walker spoke with him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: My faith really is part of me. It's part of who I am. It becomes part of your character.

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Character, faith and family, they've lit the way for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in his darkest times.

RAFFENSPERGER: You know, we've through an awful lot, losing a child, I think Trisha said it best, it doesn't matter how old you are, you could be halfway carrying a child and lose that child in a miscarriage. They could be six weeks old and they could be 6 years old or 60 years old, it will always be your child. It's an incredible hurt.

WALKER: The hurt still evident in Raffensperger's eyes, he lost his 40-year-old son almost three years ago after a fentanyl overdose.

RAFFENSPERGER: When he was 25 years old, he was hit with cancer, stage 3B, Hodgkin's lymphoma. This is the same child, right, that he would be clean and sober, and then, you know, maybe some incarceration, and clean and sober, and things like that. So it was a struggle throughout his life, but every one of those times that we had, you know, that he struggled, you know, God was there for us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

WALKER: And he said that God is watching over him, his wife Trisha, their two grown sons and three grandsons right now. Even as the death threats and vulgar messages continue to pour in from many who are vying into President Trump's repeated and baseless attacks on Raffensperger and false claims of widespread voter fraud in Georgia during the presidential election.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's an enemy of the people. The Secretary of State.

[04:40:00]

RAFFENSPERGER: Trisha got the first ones. For some reason they targeted her. I think first of all they said, tell Brad to step down, you know, and that type of thing. But then they just really, you know, ramped up. And I think that's what has been so disheartening and the language that they use and threats that they use, it's just really unpatriotic.

WALKER: Despite the unsettling threats and the incessant incoming fire from fellow Republicans and the president for whom he voted, Raffensperger says the hard times he's endured helped prepare him for this moment.

RAFFENSPERGER: I do lean into the Lord because I know what he calls us to do in all things, is to be honest and treat people with dignity.

WALKER: Raffensperger succeeded now Governor Brian Kemp as Secretary of State in 2019. He describes himself as a conservative Republican and insists that he still supports President Trump. But in an editorial published by "USA Today" last week, Raffensperger wrote --

My family voted for him, donated to him and are now being thrown under the bus by him.

Do you think the President shares your values of civility and compassion and understanding and truth, and integrity?

RAFFENSPERGER: Well, I really don't know. I just know that at the end of the day, my job is managing myself. A lot of times it's bigger than the person. It's really a philosophy. And so, Republicans we have a philosophy, I hope we still do of small, limited, effective government.

WALKER: Do you feel abandoned though in any way by other Republicans, and more influential ones who haven't come out and spoke out to stop this kind of rhetoric and false, baseless claims of fraud?

RAFFENSPERGER: Well, I know that some people may be think it's not their fight or also they realize that someone has 50 million Twitter followers, maybe more, and they have like me 50, and so they're thinking why would I want to join that fray.

So if you all would just bow your head for a moment of silence.

WALKER: Raffensperger says that in all the chaos lately, he finds comfort in reading the bible. At the end of the day, it's what his family thinks about him that matters the most.

RAFFENSPERGER: They probably understand, and they understand it's a tough spot that I'm in right now. But that's really important that they see my integrity, and they're grateful for it.

WALKER: And despite it all, he hopes there will be many more elections for him in the future.

Will you be doing that again in a couple of years?

RAFFENSPERGER: Yes, absolutely, because I'll be on the ballot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Amara Walker with that report. Well, the Trump administration will come to an end next month, but

that's not stopping the President's intelligence chief from picking a new fight with China. His warnings about Beijing's alleged desire for global domination. That's next.

[04:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: America's intelligence chief is warning that China is out to quote, dominate the world. John Ratcliffe outlined his concerns in a "Wall Street Journal" opinion piece writing in part that People's Republic of China poses the greatest threat to America today and the greatest threat to democracy and freedom worldwide since World War II.

It's apparently part of a Trump administration effort to make it more difficult for president-elect Joe Biden to unwind Trump's China policies. Our David Culver joins me now from Beijing. Good to see you, David. So what's the latest on this and where's this all going?

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, good to see you as well. The message in and of itself is not all that new. I mean, we've seen over the past several months -- particularly during the U.S. elections and in campaign mode -- that the Trump administration was going hard against China. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo even traveled around the world for a series of speeches that was themed the China threat.

But this op-ed, I have to tell you, it's very direct and quite alarming. As you point out, they reference the intelligence. Because obviously, this is the director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe who's writing this. And he said the intelligence is clear, Beijing attends to dominate the U.S. and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically. He goes on to say there are no ethical boundaries to Beijing's pursuit of power.

Now, they say in particular that China is going after American intellectual property, everything from defense technology to medical research.

China is responding, just in the past few hours, Beijing through its spokesperson here in the ministry of foreign affairs really coming down hard against the U.S. and saying it's the U.S. that is the threat to others. And they even specified some polling -- though they didn't give direct information as to what polling they're referring to -- and saying that most respondents considered the U.S. to be the threat to the rest of the world. And go on to say that they hope that some politicians on the U.S. side will respect the facts, stop making and selling falsehoods, stop producing and spreading political viruses and lies.

The timing of all this -- why now. Why is this coming out of the Trump administration, Rosemary? Well a senior national intelligence official says that it's in part to make things difficult for Biden to unwind when he comes into office. Others say this is likely to come to fruition as well. So these are genuine threats that they are warning about. CHURCH: Yes, we'll watch this closely. David Culver, many thanks for

that report. Appreciate it.

Well as the Trump presidency winds down, there is growing speculation over what the older Trump children will do next. At least one may seek a future in politics. That report after a short break.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka is offering to publicly take the coronavirus vaccine to help endorse its safety. It's just the latest sign she may not be away from Washington for very long. So what could the future hold for the President's adult children after the White House. CNN's Kate Bennett reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When January 20th ushers out President Donald Trump, it does the same for his three elder children, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump. The Trump kids, along with Tiffany Trump spent Thanksgiving at Camp David, the rustic Maryland presidential retreat not often used during this administration.

A far cry from opulent family Thanksgivings at Mar-a-Lago or the White House where President Trump dined with Melania Trump. The use of taxpayer dollars for a Thanksgiving just for the kids with Secret Service protection and Camp David staff called into work the visit smacks of the privileges they have enjoyed and will shortly lose.

Each Trump child now faces a different future path than the one they were on pre-White House. Donald Trump Jr. before in the shadows of Trump's public appearances --

TRUMP: Don, tell them what you're looking for?

DONALD TRUMP JR., DONALD TRUMP'S SON: You'll be judged on three criteria.

BENNETT: You Now a Republican fire brand.

TRUMP JR.: I'm outraged about them exporting your and my American dream to countries that hate our guts for the sake of PC nonsense.

BENNETT: One source telling CNN junior is quote, the future of the base.

Sources tell CNN Trump Jr. will also return to his day job at the Trump organization to try to expand global properties. The challenges could be many. His father has disparaged world leaders and junior himself has used his social media to push conspiracy theories to the point that Twitter even suspended him. Trump faces its own struggle.

TRUMP JR.: It's hard to believe after four years, it's hard to believe we're back here, guys.

BENNETT: Which will be Eric Trump's assignment according to those familiar with his role, trying to pivot a luxury real estate and hospitality company and corral the 70 plus million voters who supported his father into now supporting his father's business. As Trump says, we'll see what happens.

And while neither Eric nor Don Jr. are thinking about entering politics now, their sister, Ivanka Trump seems poised to take her lean in approach to the Trump platform.

IVANKA TRUMP, ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT: Washington has not changed Donald Trump.

[04:55:00]

Donald Trump has changed Washington.

BENNETT: While Don Jr. has been whipping up the base back home, Ivanka spent much of the last four years on obscure diplomacy missions with plenty of photo opportunities to discuss things like economic support for women-owned businesses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you sure what worked for you as a first daughter will also work for every other woman in the world.

I. TRUMP: No, I think we represent 50 percent of the population, so there is no one size fits all when you think about women.

BENNETT: Or portray herself on the same footing as world leaders at global summits. According to sources, Ivanka has a desire for a bigger political career. Recently stating her pro-life stance and becoming more vocal in defense of Trump's policies, attracting his base as now many moderates and Democrats will be a more challenging group to draw.

Kate Bennett, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well, koalas usually live among the eucalyptus trees of the (INAUDIBLE), when this young female koala magically appears climbing up Amanda McCormick's fully decorated Christmas tree, well you can imagine the homeowners surprise. McCormick lives near Adelaide where koalas occasionally pop into people's homes. She called a local koala rescue team, who sang, "Tis the season to be jolly," as they release the want a be Christmas tree fairy into the wild. You can't get cuter than that, right. Gorgeous.

And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. "EARLY START" is next. You're watching CNN. Have yourselves a fabulous day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:00:00]