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Barr Considers Stepping Down; Gospel Music Family Battles Coronavirus; Elena Parent is Interviewed about Death Threats after the Election. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 07, 2020 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: David, I'm just curious, your thoughts on this. We get to the point that now Bill Barr is apparently so unhappy he may leave before the president leaves office, David.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, this is a little clash of egos here because we're down at the -- at the end of the administration.

Look, the story of Bill Barr as attorney general is going to be a bit of a windy one. This is one where he wanted to assert some independence in some areas but was very clear and very careful to do the president's bidding in other areas. Democrats roundly criticize him. You heard that just a few moments ago. But any president wants someone in their attorney general who, yes, is independent, but who's looking after them to some degree.

Let's not forget, Bill Clinton clashed with Janet Reno, too. The Clinton White House was not happy with her as attorney general. So it's not unprecedented.

Here I think you see Barr going only to a certain point on this election fraud madness and no farther. And the president wants everybody all-in on these baseless claims. And I think that's all we can read from this. And I think Barr wants to inflict some damage by saying I'll walk out the door just a few weeks before you do just to make the point that how -- how off base you were.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Bill Barr has been around for a while. I mean he's -- he knows Washington. He knows the message it sends, even just to have this story out there --

GREGORY: Right.

BERMAN: Natasha, that's not willing to wait 44 days, he's so disgruntled with this, he can't stomach 40 more days of this?

NATASHA ALFORD, VP, DIGITAL CONTENT AND SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, THEGRIO: Right. I wonder if this is courage or if this is just seeing that the writing is on the wall. And I think it's interesting that certain political figures are now speaking up when they've allowed that line to be pushed in terms of what's right and wrong. We know that Bill Barr, he requested the powers of the Department of Justice to defend Trump in a defamation case. I mean there were so many lines and moments of not standing up. And so I'm not necessarily impressed that he's willing to walk out of the door, but I think we're seeing a moment where, you know, this is the classic story of the emperor has no clothes, and people are tired of playing along. And so this line, in terms of the election and calling it, it's a done deal. Trump has already lost this election. And so, you know, William Barr is now joining a few others who have finally spoken up and said, you know, we can't play along anymore.

HILL: Now --

GREGORY: Can I make one other point that I think -- what Natasha's referring to as well is -- is some successful part of resistance during this administration to access (ph), and that is our -- the judicial branch of the government. The courts, who have pushed back, these Republicans and, you know, judges appointed by Republicans and then Democrats who have stood up to the president. And Barr has had to navigate that line. He could assert more control that a lot of people thought was inappropriate around the Mueller investigation, but even the investigation that is led by -- his name is escaping me -- Durham, the U.S. Attorney Durham and others, that they're only going so far because they have to respect the courts and what limits the courts will place on some of these charges and some of these investigations.

HILL: Natasha, just out of curiosity, what does this do? I mean let's say Bill Barr leaves, right, and then -- I mean technically we know what happens. But what could this do to the Department of Justice for the next 40 some odd days?

ALFORD: I actually -- I actually don't think it makes a difference, really, at this point. I mean we're moving into a new era. President- elect Biden has a vision for what he is going to do. And so we've seen a lack of leadership on so many different issues. Again, I think that people are just sort of biding their time. And for the folks who actually will see some sort of political consequence, you know, the people who are running for office in 2024 or in 2022, those are the folks who really have to be careful about what they say and coming out too strongly against President Donald Trump because he has such a powerful misinformation campaign that there are people who are ready to retaliate and to punish these folks.

So I don't really think, again, I think all his courage at the last minute, it makes for a great headline, but -- but, really, what does it amount to when we watch so many barriers that were supposed to protect democracy kind of fall over the past four years.

BERMAN: So, David, the Shakespearian characteristics of this whole thing are off the charts. I mean I don't even think Shakespeare, you know, could have written a plot like this. And King Lear, where you have the president -- Peter Baker really wrote an amazing piece over the weekend about this. Peter Baker writes, you know, the president's ranting about the election results. He's barely working. He's barely showing up to work on coronavirus at all, if that. And how his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and I hope -- I hope Mayor Giuliani is doing well here, Giuliani is in the hospital right now with COVID after flying around the country all week trying to convince Republican legislatures to overthrow the election.

[08:35:09]

GREGORY: It's just -- I'm sorry, I mean Giuliani's behavior was just reckless and he got sick. It's not a surprise that he got sick. I hope he gets better, too. I don't wish anybody ill. But, come on, I mean putting aside what he was in pursuit of, which is ridiculous, the public example he was setting and that the president's setting, we've already gone down that road. We've already established how reckless all of that is. But these are pretty bitter end days here for the president in office and what is -- what is so derelict is that we're in the middle of a crisis where this transition is so important in responding to the pandemic. And beyond that there is just the mistreatment of our democratic institutions by someone who doesn't care about the presidency, which is something I have felt from day one of this presidency. He, Donald Trump, doesn't care about the presidency, he cares about himself. And that is just on display in these bitter days.

BERMAN: David Gregory and Natasha Alford, thank you both so much for being with us this morning. Great to see you.

So, coronavirus nearly wiped out a family, a whole family of gospel singers. How faith and music helped pull them through, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:22]

BERMAN: A Texas family known for powerful gospel found renewed connections to music and prayer after multiple bouts with coronavirus.

CNN's Ed Lavandera in Dallas live this morning with this remarkable story.

Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Well, the coronavirus has inflicted pain and heartache on millions of families across the country. For the Jones Family Singers, it was a test of faith and a reminder that family is everything.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice over): Spiritually charged gospel revival is the Jones family calling, Pentecostal Preacher Fred Jones trained his children early in the power of music.

Some dads want a basketball team. Your dad wanted a band.

ERNESTINE RAY, JONES FAMILY SINGERS: He wanted a band, and he got a band.

LAVANDERA: Long ago Jones and his seven children started dazzling their small town Texas church. But in five years before the coronavirus pandemic, the Jones Family Singers found a worldwide audience, touring hundreds of U.S. cities and nine countries. They're featured in an upcoming documentary "Jesus and the Jones."

BISHOP FRED JONES, SR., LEADER, JONES FAMILY SINGERS: It means literally the world. It is our world. This is what we do. This is who we are.

LAVANDERA: The pandemic brought the Jones family high-flying gospel performances to a sudden halt. To keep the muse alive, the family performed this virtual concert in late June. Fred Jones says he started feeling sick during the show. What no one in the family knew at the time is that many of them would leave the performance infected with COVID-19. Jones and four of his daughters got sick. About a week later, the pastor and three daughters were rushed to the same hospital.

SABRINA FREEMAN, JONES FAMILY SINGERS: For all of us to begin to get sick after my dad got sick, it was like, you know, what's going on?

LAVANDERA: Must be a surreal experience. You're just seeing everybody in your family, boom, boom, boom, they were going -- going down.

RAY: Yes, it was -- it was fast. Yes. We are a close family anyway, but during that time we all pulled together.

LAVANDERA: The Jones sisters spent four days hospitalized, but their 71-year-old father was struggling to breathe. And with a dangerously high fever that left him delirious.

JONES: They said I was saying stuff that made no sense. Oh, they'd say, we going to pray. Don't pray for me. I don't want no prayer.

LAVANDERA: And you're a pastor.

JONES: Yes, that's what I'm saying. And one of my friends told some of the others, said, that ain't him, say he's under attack.

LAVANDERA: Jones thought he had been in the hospital four days and wanted to go home.

JONES: The later said, excuse me, Mr. Jones, but you've been here 14 days. Man, that broke my heart. Time got away from me just that fast.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's all right, daddy.

LAVANDERA: When Fred Jones returned to the healing hands of his family, he had lost 30 pounds, was weak and emotional.

JONES: No, I love you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love you, too, daddy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, daddy, we love you.

JONES: I love you all. LAVANDERA: Sabrina Freeman says a faithful song written by her

brother, who died this summer of heart failure, helped the family survive.

FREEMAN: He wrote a song, "I Can See the Sunshine," you know, through all the rain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): I can see the sun shining through the rain. I can see the sun shining through the rain

FREEMAN: And that song really brought us to where we at now.

JONES: Thank you for everyone who worked to (INAUDIBLE).

LAVANDERA: Five months after getting sick, Fred Jones struggles to breathe at times, but he vows the Jones Family Singers will regain the full power of their soulful rhythms, and return to the stage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are y'all ready? Everybody that came and will, get on your feet and let's party!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (on-camera): And, John, what is remarkable is five months after the family got sick, many of them are still dealing with the effects of being sick with the coronavirus. Pastor Jones has to wear a hearing aid. He believes it's from the high fever that he sustained. Another daughter has painful leg swelling that she deals with. So it was just staggering that five months after they're still dealing with these effects and the family, as we mentioned there, incredibly anxious to get back out on the road again.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, so many people know this lasts a long, long time. What a nice, interesting story and I'm glad they're all doing well. I'm glad that they're singing again.

[08:45:02]

Appreciate it.

LAVANDERA: Yes.

BERMAN: A state lawmaker in Georgia publicly questioned President Trump's lies about election fraud. Since then, she's been getting death threats. She joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: A Georgia lawmaker says she's received death threats after she publicly questioned President Trump's baseless election fraud claims at a hearing. State Senator Elena Parent says she's asked for police protection after finding her address and other personal information posted on social media.

And she joins me now.

Senator, good to have you with us this morning.

I know too that --

STATE SEN. ELENA PARENT (D-GA): Thank you so much for having me.

HILL: Absolutely.

Your local police department had said they would increase patrols near your house in light of all this information. Have you noticed any activity outside your home?

PARENT: No, and the police have been doing a wonderful job to keep myself and my family safe after being attacked by Donald Trump's FaceBook army, and after I called out their baseless allegations during the hearing on Thursday.

[08:50:07]

HILL: And I should point out, you shared some of these messages with us. We're not putting them on the screen because, frankly, they don't need more publicity, but they are disturbing, talking about your family, calling you a traitor.

When you read messages like that, just give us a sense, how has it changed for you? There are always going to be people who don't agree with you as an elected official. How has the messaging, though, changed for you in light of the November 3rd election?

PARENT: I'm going to be very clear. My constituents have elected me to the state senate to do a job for them and to speak the truth. And I am certainly not going to be cowed by these folks all over the Internet.

The real concern here is for the election workers and poll workers who are also doing their jobs, but haven't signed up for a high-profile job, that are also being attacked and threatened due to the continual, baseless lies about the elections stoked by the president and his enablers.

HILL: Have any of those poll workers, have any of those folks come to you with their concerns about -- come to you with specific safety concerns?

PARENT: No. Those folks are being dealt with by law enforcement. And, thankfully, we have good law enforcement who are keeping people safe.

But, let's be clear, Donald Trump and his enablers are going all around the country putting people at risk. Now we have found out that Rudy Giuliani, maskless in this hearing room for hours on Thursday, has tested positive for coronavirus, which is not really a surprise. And now we have had more Georgians put at risk by this baseless side show. The Republican secretary of state, judges all around the country have investigated. They have found no fraud. It's clear that Georgians selected Joe Biden as the next president of the United States, and these baseless side shows are putting Georgians, everyday Georgians and elected officials at risk.

HILL: Georgia's lieutenant governor, in speaking with my colleague John Berman here this morning, was asked very clearly, you know, if the election was rigged, and he said very clearly, no.

Why do you think --

PARENT: That's exactly right.

HILL: Why do you think, though, that message is not getting through to some Georgians at this point?

PARENT: Because the president and his enablers continue to repeat it all around the country, and they don't have regard for America's institutions or, frankly, our voters. And as we see now, continuing this charade is putting health at risk, too. It's putting health at risk in person, when you have the COVID positive Mayor Giuliani in a room maskless for hours with many other maskless people, and it's putting Georgians in danger because our elected officials are not working on getting this pandemic under control and getting more COVID relief to Georgia families. And I want to say, that is why it is so important that we elect John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to represent us in Congress on January 5th.

HILL: Are you concerned about the overall impact on elections moving forward, not just the special election in January but overall the impact on voters that this rhetoric and that these baseless claims of fraud have?

PARENT: Any time you have someone in a position of authority stoking baseless allegations that have been proven false over and over, and are disinformation and misinformation, it causes a crisis of confidence and undermines democracy and America. And, unfortunately, the current occupant of the White House does not care.

HILL: Georgia State Senator Elena Parent, appreciate you joining us this morning. Thank you.

PARENT: Thank you.

I just want to remind Georgians, it's the last day to register to vote for the January 5th runoff. Go to iwillvote.com.

Thank you for having me.

HILL: Thank you.

John.

BERMAN: All right, time now for "The Good Stuff."

So, when Emily Bug and Billy Lewis had to cancel their bit wedding reception due to the pandemic, they saw an opportunity instead of disappointment. The Chicago couple asked the caterer to put their deposit into making Thanksgiving dinners for those in need. The meals were delivered to 200 clients of Thresholds, which serves people with serious mental illness, and where Emily volunteers. Threshold says the couple's kindness has inspired others who have now stepped forward to do the same for Christmas.

HILL: That is "The Good Stuff."

[08:55:00]

BERMAN: It's fantastic. It's a mitzvah as they say for that couple.

HILL: It is a mitzvah indeed. I -- that's what we need more of, too, right? There are so many good things happening out there and people doing the right thing.

BERMAN: You were talking to that state senator for Georgia. We should note that the secretary of state in Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, whose name I always mangle, has announced a news conference for a short time from now. We imagine that will be to once again certify the election results in that state, which Joe Biden won, again. How many times can he win Georgia?

HILL: Is this three or four, because I've lost count.

BERMAN: Exactly.

HILL: Yes.

BERMAN: All right.

CNN's coverage continues right after this.

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