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House Dems Will Attempt to Vote on $2,000 Stimulus Checks; Alex Padilla to Fill Kamala Harris' Seat, CA's First Latino Sen.; Early Voting Continues in Crucial Georgia Senate Runoff. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 24, 2020 - 08:30   ET

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

REP. RAUL RUIZ (D-CA): Then I fully embrace the $2,000 per person for extra cash in the American people's pocket. In fact, this is what Democrats have been advocating for since day one.

So now we're at a showdown where all eyes are going to be on Sen. Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, because the day Speaker Pelosi is going to introduce under voice vote unanimous consent to change the stimulus package or the coronavirus aid package so that the stimulus checks can be $2,000 and that would be celebrated throughout America and especially amongst Democrats and those that are really in need of that money.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You do not hope that the President vetoes this. You want the more money, if you can't get the $2,000, I assume you hope he signs the bill.

RUIZ: Correct.

BERMAN: One of the things we should note in the introduction here, you're a doctor and you have continued to treat patients while serving in Congress on the frontlines dealing with the coronavirus, getting people tested all over your state. California has seen such a surge in cases and hospitalizations.

In what is sort of a third round here, the IHME model which forecasts deaths through April has actually just gone up, because cases in California alone are much higher than they had anticipated. Why? What's gone wrong in California?

RUIZ: The two biggest driving factors for the surge upon surge upon surge is the sequence of holidays that we've been having where people are congregating and mixing households in private, also out in public. And it's very difficult to really rein that in and really hopes that people maintain their physically distance, especially during the holidays when people want to see their family.

So, we can really urge the American people and we need to. We need to tell everybody that this is not the time to have large indoor mask less parties, holiday parties, this is the time to hunker down because we're going to go into Christmas, so two weeks after that, you're going to see another surge where you're going to go into New Year's Eve and the festivities there. Two weeks after that you're going to see another surge. So, we're going to see maximum numbers at the end of January, early

February, before we start to come down, not only because there'll be less festivities but also because the effects of the vaccine.

BERMAN: So, Congressman, as we mentioned you were just elected chair, the co-chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Something's happened in your own state of California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has picked Secretary of State Alex Padilla to fill the senate seat from Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Follow the bouncing ball here, Alex Padilla will be, I believe, the first Hispanic senator from California which is what 40 percent. I just want to play the moment when the Secretary of State was offered the job here because it's pretty emotional.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX PADILLA, CALIFORNIA SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm honored, man. And I'm humbled. Because of them. Can't tell you how many pancakes my dad flipped or eggs he scrambled trying to provide for us or the many, many years of my mom cleaning houses ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So that was Alex Padilla's reaction when he got the news. I'm wondering how it hit you when you heard that California was going to have his first Hispanic senator.

RUIZ: It really was inspiring, and it really shows that Gov. Newsom had a very difficult decision to make. And I applaud his decision, it was a decision of courage he saw that he recognized the largest ethnic group in California, Latinos make up 40 percent of the population in the most populous state of the whole nation. And this is their first Latino-Hispanic senator in the history of the State of California.

So, it just shows that he recognizes and appreciates the contributions of Latinos in California for California and the nation. And it also shows his judgment in choosing an exceptional public servant, who's going to represent all Californians, all middle class, all seniors and veterans, women to make sure that he puts their priorities and gives opportunity with dignity.

Look, as chair-elect of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, I'm going to welcome Sen. Alex Padilla into our membership so we can get some real results for the American people in Congress. And I'm thrilled, I'm also thrilled by the way, John, of President-elect Joe Biden choosing Miguel Cardona for a Secretary of Education. We have a lot of firsts in this administration.

[08:35:01]

BERMAN: Well, let me ask you, because last time you and I spoke, you were not happy with the number of Hispanics that President-elect Biden had announced to be part of his cabinet, wasn't enough, as far as you were concerned, is it now?

RUIZ: Well, at that point we had one Hispanic in the cabinet, now we have two more. So we broke the two Hispanic cabinet member threshold. Now, look, we're not stopping because the Hispanic community is the largest minority population in the entire nation. And we need a Latina, we need a woman in the cabinet and so we're really looking forward there's for a woman to be the director of the small business administration.

And at this momentum that we have and these recent victories for the American people, I think that we're going to be able to accomplish that. President-elect Joe Biden has really followed through with his word and creating a diverse cabinet. But we're still got to push for another Latina.

BERMAN: Cong. Raul Ruiz, thank you for being with us this morning. Thank you for the work that you've done in the community as a doctor in California. We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas.

RUIZ: Thank you, Merry Christmas.

BERMAN: All right. Survivors of the Blackwater Massacre in Iraq are speaking out on President Trump's decision to pardon the man who opened fire, killing 17 civilians. You'll hear from them next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:49]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Some of the most controversial pardons from President Trump with four former Blackwater security contractors who were serving time for killing 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007. The pardons have stoked outrage in Iraq and beyond and they've reopened emotional wounds.

CNN's Arwa Damon reported from Baghdad in the aftermath of that massacre and I know you've stayed in touch with so many who were affected and Arwa joins us now. Arwa, good morning.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Erica. I mean, people who were talking to survivors, they are just absolutely shocked, stunned by this decision by President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON (voice-over): The horror-filled memories of that day in September 2007 still haunt those who survived, whose physical scars may have healed. But who grappled with the psychological trauma nearly every day?

"I remember seeing a woman and her son. Their car was in front. It was on fire. She was crying out until she burned to death with her son," Hasan Jaber Salman says.

"There was so much gunfire, it wasn't normal. Bodies just fell in the street. I wasn't wounded yet. I moved my car to get away. And I was shot multiple times."

It was a sunny day in Baghdad, one where the population would almost pretend their country was being ravaged by violence. But these illusions shattered quickly in Iraq. In an instant, a busy Baghdad roundabout, al Nisour Square (ph), turned into a street of blood.

Ali Abdul Razzaq was the youngest victim, just nine years old. Shot in the head in the backseat of his car as his father helplessly watched him die.

"My son was the heart of our family," his father, Mohammed, told us years ago. The shooting rampage was carried out by what was then Blackwater. A private security company notorious for its brutish and trigger-happy behavior.

Blackwater claimed its personnel were under attack, though numerous accounts said that was not true.

From his hospital bed at the time, Salman had described how Blackwater operatives opened fire indiscriminately at civilians.

"No one fired at Blackwater. They were not attacked by gunmen. They were not targeted," he said.

Salman travelled to the U.S. to testify, almost seven years after the massacre. In the end, one of the Blackwater operatives was sentenced to life in prison. Three others sentence from 12 to 15 years. Salman, a lawyer himself, felt that as if there was a semblance of justice. It renewed his faith in American ideals, not anymore.

President Trump, the first recent U.S. president to pardon convicted killers, left the murderers, the men who destroyed his life walk free.

"I say to him, your decision, you're going to have to face God on this," Salman says. "You did not fulfill justice. You pardoned the criminals and the killers. The blood of the dead and the wounded is on your hands."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON (on camera): And Erica, Salman also warned about the dangerous precedent that this is setting that if a country like America is willing to let killers, murderers walk free, what kind of standard does that set for the rest of the world?

HILL: There's also the question of the message that it sends to the rest of the world and specifically to the region, Arwa.

DAMON: That's right. I mean, America quite often when it does end up interfering or getting involved in the region comes at it from this perspective of being a Democratic nation with high ideals and morals. And so for that kind of messaging to all of a sudden be turned into actually America, justice, not so much, not necessarily. It can all be turned on its head.

[08:45:05]

It really sends a couple of messages. The first being that, you know what, maybe America isn't exactly on the moral high ground that it claims to be. And the other is, life is cheap. Iraqi life is cheap. Arab life is cheap. And this is something that a lot of Iraqis have actually felt very deeply and very profoundly, only to have it validated once more.

HILL: Yes. It's a terrible message. That's for sure. Arwa Damon, appreciate it. Thank you.

BERMAN: So President Trump's threat to veto the stimulus bill could have an impact on the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. We're going to break down the poll numbers from the crucial runoff races in Georgia next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:49:26]

BERMAN: So just under two weeks until the Georgia Senate runoff elections that will decide the balance of power in Washington. Joining us now Harry Enten, CNN's Senior Political Writer and Analyst. Harry Enten, it was Mariah Carey who once said all I want for Christmas is Harry Enten.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: I don't think she ever said that.

BERMAN: She did. She did. It was a bit hit.

ENTEN: Uncle Neil might have said that. Neil Sedaka might have said that, but I don't think Mariah Carey ever said that.

BERMAN: Pretty sure it's the end of love actually, sorry, Harry Enten. Listen, Harry, the Georgia Senate runoff, we are relearning everything we thought we knew about senate runoffs. One of the things that we thought, or we knew or saw happen in Senate runoffs in Georgia before is that the turnout always dropped from the November election to the runoff election.

[08:50:08]

What are we seeing this time?

ENTEN: Yes. I just think this is so fascinating. So far if you take a look at the early vote absentee voting, you compare it to the same point that we were in the November election, there hasn't been any drop off at all, 1.9 million, 1.9 million. Now, I should point out, of course, as we have the Christmas holiday coming up tomorrow and then new year, so we may fall a little bit behind come January 5th when the election actually is. But at this point, the idea that there's been any drop off in the votes, very minimal, if at all.

BERMAN: And another thing that has set Democrats back in the past is that the percentage of black turnout has dropped precipitously from the November election to the runoff. What are we seeing now?

ENTEN: The exact opposite. So, you can recall back in November, even though Biden carried the state of Georgia, the Senate Democrats actually ran slightly behind the Senate Republicans in those key Senate races that obviously we have the runoff for. And one of the ways they thought that they might be able to catch up was if the black share of the Georgia elector climb, which would be historically unusual.

But at this point, that's actually what's occurring in that early vote. African Americans are making up a larger share than they did back in November. Now, obviously, we'll have to wait and see if that actually holds, but so far, Democrats are getting what they want, they are getting their voters to turn out and it might, in fact, indicate that the Trump effect, the idea that Trump would drive Democrats to the polls, even though he's leaving office in about a month's time, may still be working for Democrats in Georgia.

BERMAN: So, one other dynamic that really just popped up has to do with the relief bill, the stimulus plan, which is something that both Georgia senators had actually supported, who are running for reelection there, correct? And now the President is perhaps threatening to veto it. We don't know for sure.

We have no Georgia specific polling on this matter, but we do have a sense overall what people think about it, yes?

ENTEN: Yes. Pass the darn bill, sign the darn bill, get these folks their stimulus money. Look at this, 86 percent overall of registered voters nationwide approve of Congress passing the coronavirus stimulus. And look at this, Democrats, Independents, Republicans all 79 percent plus, they want that money in their pocket. Voters are hurting and when the Georgia Republican senators are going out there saying, see I got you this money, and now all of a sudden that money might not be coming to those folks and they might not, in fact, sign a bill by the time these runoffs occur.

It's not good news for Republicans because then those two Democratic challengers can say, look, Washington is broken, we'll get you that money. We know you're hurting.

BERMAN: David Perdue had cut an ad talking about his support for getting the money and all of a sudden, it isn't coming at least not yet. Let's talk about President Trump's standing since Election Day, how he's moved or whether he's moved at all and also Joe Biden since November 3rd, what are we seeing?

ENTEN: Yes. So one of the questions, obviously, was whether or not Trump's approval rating might climb. We oftentimes see that when a president is basically turned back by the voters, their approval rating may climb. Oh, it turns out maybe he wasn't as bad as we might not necessarily thought. We saw that with George H.W. Bush back in 1992.

But Trump's approval ratings, basically, about the same. If anything, it's dropped a point or two nationally. I remember Georgia was a particularly close state, so all of a sudden, if Trump is even a slight bit more unpopular, that could hurt the Republican candidates down in Georgia. And in that graphic, what you saw was Joe Biden's, his approval rating on the transition, 62 percent. That's considerably higher than his favorable rating was back just a few months ago.

So, all of a sudden if you have this national environment, these national impacts and Biden is more popular than he was and Trump was less popular. And you get those Democrats turning out, those African Americans, all of a sudden, that battlefield, which may just shift a little bit, but that's all Democrats need, and this could be quite helpful to them.

BERMAN: All right, very quickly, Harry, posterity in President Trump, what are we seeing?

ENTEN: Yes. This is one of my favorite questions. I always look at it when presidents are going adios amigos. And look at this, how will history remember Donald Trump, 42 percent of Americans or voters say as one of the worst presidents of all time. They've asked this question all the way back since Gerald Ford back in December of '76. That 42 percent is the worst ever. It is the highest ever who said that hope you remember he's one of the poor or worst presidents, not exactly something you want in the closing days of the Georgia runoff elections.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you so much for being with us this morning. I thank you. Mariah Carey, thanks, you. We all thank you.

ENTEN: John, I just want to say Merry Christmas to you and you are one of my biggest fans. I truly appreciate it.

BERMAN: I am one of your biggest fans.

ENTEN: You're such a professional. Thank you for having me on and putting this pudding (ph) on your television.

BERMAN: American needs it. Mariah Carey needs it. Thanks, Harry.

ENTEN: Thank you, John.

[08:55:02]

HILL: My morning is almost complete because there was Harry Enten, but now we've got Santa too and the pandemic is not keeping the big man home this year. Do not worry. Santa being Santa, he's listening to health officials. He's wearing that mask. And look, you can see where he is right now, NORAD's annual Santa Tracker is up and running. I think my son may be looking at it right now. He's been waiting.

Also, good news, in case you missed our CNN Sesame Street Town Hall last weekend, you can still catch it online, it's there. Dr. Anthony Fauci was with us and he was asked about Santa. John, he says he actually went to the North Pole, took care of the vaccine for Santa. Santa, in the words of Dr. Fauci is good to go, which is good because he's already at work. He's also an essential worker as we know.

BERMAN: That's fantastic. Our thanks for, Dr. Fauci.

HILL: Dr. Fauci, by the way, it's his birthday today. Happy birthday, Dr. Fauci. BERMAN: Happy birthday, Dr. Fauci. Merry Christmas.

HILL: Merry Christmas, my friend. I'll see in the new year.

BERMAN: Let's do it. All right. A lot of news this morning, a lot of Santa music to come, our coverage will continue today.