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New Day

Trump Signs Stimulus & Government Spending Bill; Officials Identify Nashville Bomber; TSA Screens Millions of Travelers Over Christmas Weekend. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired December 28, 2020 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R-PA): He'll be remembered for chaos and misery.

[05:59:59]

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He was disengaged from this attempt to find an economic solution. I think it's totally of a piece with his really AWOL behavior on the public health challenge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- of the bomber.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was present when the bomb went off. Right now, there is no indication that any other persons were involved.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Monday, December 28, 6 a.m. here in New York. John Berman's Jim Sciutto joins me.

Great to have you.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: It's great to be here. So much news this week. A little bit of happy news going into the new year.

CAMEROTA: Often holidays are slow news weeks. Not now.

SCIUTTO: No.

CAMEROTA: So let's get right to it, because breaking overnight, President Trump signing into law a $900 -- sorry, $900 billion relief package and government spending bill. But by signing it after 7 p.m., the president averted a government shutdown, but his late action will punish millions of unemployed Americans by letting their benefits lapse for days.

President Trump resisted signing the bill, then spent the holiday weekend golfing in Florida. "The New York Post" is blasting the president's efforts to overturn

the election results with this scathing front-page editorial calling on the president to, quote, "Stop the Insanity" and declaring, "You Lost."

SCIUTTO: When you've lost Rupert Murdoch, that's big news for this president.

We're also following new developments out of Nashville, Tennessee, this morning. We are seeing just incredible video -- there it is -- of the very moment of that blast on Christmas morning. What a thing to see on the streets of the United States of America.

Officials have now identified the man who they say detonated a bomb inside an RV, parked downtown. There he is. And they are now focusing on his motivation, why he did it.

Our coverage with CNN's Boris Sanchez. He is live in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the president is still vacationing.

It took him time, Boris. A lot of rounds of golf, but finally, that signature last night.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Jim. After several days of delays and numerous rants on Twitter, President Trump finally signing that relief bill. But his delay may have actually hurt many Americans who were already struggling.

And now the president faces questions about what he actually won with this standoff. Many lawmakers wondering, what was the point?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (voice-over): A new coronavirus relief package has now been signed. President Trump finally signing the new relief bill, coupled with a new spending bill on Sunday night, narrowly avoiding a government shutdown.

Congress passed the bill last week, and it was flown to Mar-a-Lago for the president to sign on Christmas Eve, but Trump refused, claiming the amount of money allotted for Americans was too low and objecting to some bill line items.

While millions waited for Trump's decision, the president was seen golfing throughout the Christmas weekend.

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): Right now, we're at a point where people are left out in the dark. But to play this old switcheroo game, I don't get the point, unless it's just to create chaos and show power and be upset because he lost the election. Otherwise, I don't understand it.

SANCHEZ: On Saturday night, the president allowed nearly 12 million Americans' unemployment benefits to lapse under two different federal unemployment programs. By signing this current bill, the benefits are reinstating and extending until March. But since Trump did not sign the bill by Saturday's deadline, people will most likely not receive benefits for the last week of the year.

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): It points up his limitation as a president, he really doesn't pay much attention to the details of the legislation that he's working on, or to the impact that it has on people. Or he would have signed this in the first place.

SANCHEZ: The coronavirus relief bill totals over $900 billion. Six- hundred-dollar stimulus checks for eligible Americans, as well as aid for small businesses and schools. The eviction moratorium is also extended.

Trump was mostly on the sidelines during negotiations for this bill. But his advisers, including the Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, played a big role in the negotiations.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Everybody assumed that Mnuchin was representing the White House. And that was the assumption that everybody had. And suddenly, because we have an extraordinary narcissist, pathologically narcissistic, in the White House, he said, Well, yes, I know there were tense negotiations, but you know what? I've now decided that I'm going to jump into the game and want $2,000.

SANCHEZ: President Trump claims he only signed the bill after receiving reassurances from Congress that lawmakers will take up measures to give more stimulus money to Americans, a point that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not publicly acknowledged.

[06:05:04]

TOOMEY: I understand he wants to be remembered for advocating for big checks, but he'll be remembered for chaos and misery and erratic behavior if he allows this to expire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: And perhaps the most fascinating aspect to all of this is that, in his push for $2,000 stimulus checks, President Trump got more support from Democrats than he did from Republicans. In fact, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed to bring the issue of $2,000 stimulus checks directly to Americans before the entire House for a vote later today -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Meanwhile, though, a lot of Americans are going to be waiting for that aid longer. Boris Sanchez, thanks so much.

Developing this morning, as well, federal authorities have now identified the man they say detonated a powerful bomb in downtown Nashville this morning. The focus now on why he did this.

They've also released new surveillance video. You see a shot there now from the very moment that motor home blew up. The blast injured three people. It damaged dozens of buildings, knocked out AT&T service in the area.

CNN's Natasha Chen, she's live in Nashville with more details.

I mean, listen, the remarkable headline here, right, is a suspected U.S. suicide bomber on U.S. soil.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim. Anthony Quinn Warner was named as the suspect yesterday by investigators. And just the day before, we spent hours watching federal agents in his home, collecting evidence.

Now, this was processed relatively fast in identifying him. They found enough fragments of that RV in the explosion to have a vehicle identification number leading to the owner.

They also found human tissue at the blast site. And they had Quantico process that DNA very quickly, along with DNA from family members.

And late last night, as you mentioned, police released this new video of the explosion, this orange glow in that harrowing moment. That's exactly how the responding officers described that to us.

The type of explosives used still under investigation, but now those businesses are in ruins. That includes a tattoo parlor owned by Pete Gibson. He told me that he had actually seen that very RV in the previous weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER GIBSON, OWNER OF PRIDE AND GLORY TATTOO: I pulled up in my car, and it was parked in the spot that I always park in, which was right in front of the shop. And I was really upset about that, just for no reason, just being kind of salty someone was in my spot. I don't know what to make of it. After all of this, you know, it just -- I wish I could have done something sooner. I wish I could have known sooner, but what's -- who would have ever known?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: Warner was not on law enforcement radar before this incident. Now they're looking into his history. They don't believe there are other suspects in this case.

The governor has asked for federal aid related to this disaster, but we have not heard yet from President Trump on that -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Natasha, thank you very much for all of that reporting. We will cover this throughout the program.

Meanwhile, more than one million people traveled through U.S. airports on Saturday. It was one of the busiest days for air travel since the pandemic began. So what will this mean for COVID cases?

CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is live at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport with more. How's it looking?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Alisyn.

Somewhat busy this morning. A steady stream of folks behind me. And that is the big question. What will this recent travel mean?

The holidays looked a lot different for some families, but for others, they continued their similar traditions: flying for the holidays.

TSA data shows nearly 7 million people passed through security checkpoints over the last week. And those numbers are concerning. Here's why.

Right now, the U.S. has the most coronavirus cases in the world so far, topping nearly 13 million cases over the weekend. And top doctors warn, we could see some of the darkest days ahead. Here's what Dr. Anthony Fauci had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We very well might see a post-seasonal, in the sense of Christmas/New Year's surge. We described it as a surge upon a surge. Because if you look at the slope, the incline of cases that we've experienced as we've gone into the late fall and soon-to-be early winter, it is really quite troubling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROADDUS: And something else that is troubling for doctors: These numbers coming out in December, another record-breaking month.

For example, more than 64,000 people died because of the coronavirus in December. And in December alone, there were 5.5 million cases.

Meanwhile, data shows nearly two million Americans have already received their first dose of the vaccine. Indeed, that offers a little bit of hope. But the U.S. will likely fall short of that goal to inoculate 20 million people by the end of the year -- Alisyn.

[06:10:12]

CAMEROTA: OK, Adrienne, thank you very much.

So last night, President Trump finally signed the bill for coronavirus relief. But his signature comes very late. It comes with some demands. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Breaking overnight, President Trump finally signing a coronavirus relief and government funding bill into law, thereby averting a government shutdown. But the president's 11th-hour demand for larger, $2,000 checks is not going away.

Joining us now, CNN political analyst Toluse Olorunnipa. He's a White House reporter for "The Washington Post." Also with us, CNN political analyst Margaret Talev. She's a politics and White House editor for Axios. Great to see you guys.

Margaret, I don't understand what happened. I don't -- I don't understand what the president did. Had he signed it by midnight on Saturday, no benefits would have lapsed. But by waiting 12 more hours -- whatever, until 7 p.m. last night, 12

million people are left in the lurch this week. Their benefits will be retroactive, but this week or next week, wherever their check doesn't show up, because it was signed late, they won't be able to pay for groceries.

Why did we do this?

MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, Alisyn, that's right. And many Republicans this morning are also scratching their heads, asking themselves precisely the same thing.

The ultimate outcome of this is no different than if the president had just signed this on time, except for the fact that people who Steve Mnuchin, the treasury secretary told, you'll be getting your $600 this week, that's probably not going to happen this week. And that first expanded $300 is now, in the best case scenario, pushed back by a week if you get it retroactively on the back end.

So what my colleague, Mike Allen's, reporting says it very well. This was sort of like a hostage negotiation in the final day or so. Where you had this public campaign for Republicans, as well as Democrats, telling the president, you've got to do this, you've got to do this, you've got to do this.

[06:15:02]

There was also a private campaign behind the scenes. And this is one that involves Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader. It involves Mnuchin. It involves Senator Lindsey Graham.

This involves Republicans talking to President Trump off-camera, behind the scenes, saying, Look, this is a win, you know. You want to be on the winning side. You don't want to be on the losing side. And sort of convincing President Trump, cajoling President Trump to actually go ahead and sign it, because it was negotiated by his party, as well as the Democrats.

Because this was the best scenario he was going to get at the time being, and because to delay it further would actively hurt the people who he is messaging that he's trying to help.

SCIUTTO: Listen, for so many millions of -- tens of millions of Americans who don't have a few hundred dollars to tide them over crises like this, this makes a real difference.

And Toluse, as so often happens, I mean, ego massage was a factor here. Those advocates like Lindsey Graham had to convince them what a difference he made to the stimulus deal.

But part of the message is that this $600 down payment, in effect, that this benefit would be a down payment on the way to the $2,000 that the president said he desires.

Is that actually true, though, right? Because Republicans -- I mean, Democrats may support that, but Republicans aren't on board. TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. If you look at the

statements coming from the leadership in the Republican Party, including Mitch McConnell, they are not getting onboard with this idea that this was all a great thing that the president did in order to get people $2,000 checks.

Mitch McConnell said he was happy that the president signed this bill, that it would deliver much-needed relief to the American people. He did not sign onto the idea that he's going to bring up a vote and he's going to support and whip votes for $2,000 checks for the American people.

Republicans have been resistant to that level of stimulus, that amount of money going to the American people. And President Trump had an opportunity early in the negotiations to try to get people to talk about that, to try to get his Republican allies to get onboard with larger checks. He did not do so. He waited until the last minute.

And as Margaret said, this is sort of like a hostage negotiation, where President Trump is both the kidnapper, and he wants to be the hero who comes in and saves the hostage at the end.

It doesn't quite work that way in Congress. And I think there are a lot of Republican senators who are unhappy with the way the president handled himself. And they are not likely to go out on a limb and change their votes and change their opinion about these $2,000 checks to appease him after he did not acknowledge them and he did not work with them during the actual debate.

CAMEROTA: It's such a great point. I mean, it's the arsonist putting out the fire. And just to recap for people who might have missed this yesterday, you know, Republicans were speaking out about this and about -- I was struck by Senator Pat Toomey. I mean, he spoke in, you know, very colorful, clear language about what he thought was happening here. So let me just play that to recap for one second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOOMEY: I understand he wants to be remembered for advocating for big checks, but the danger is, he'll be -- he'll be remembered for chaos and misery and erratic behavior if he allows this to expire.

KINZINGER: Fine. If you want to make it $2,000 checks, negotiate that from the beginning. Let's have the discussion after this bill is signed, because right now, we're at a point where people are left out in the dark.

But to play this old switcheroo game, which is just kind of like, I don't get the point. I don't understand what's being done, why. Unless it's just to create chaos and show power and be upset because you lost the election. Otherwise, I don't understand it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So that, Margaret, is what was happening publicly. I mean, they were just saying, Captain Chaos, you know, basically, is at it again. Those were Republicans, obviously.

And so, now, next up, the defense -- the National Defense Authorization Act that he vetoed. And do we think that Republicans are going to override that veto?

TALEV: I do. Let's put it another way. If that doesn't happen, we're in wave three of real trouble. Because, you know, there are major implications for U.S. national security. Again, all of the things that the president says that he is a proponent of. And a delay would be very impactful.

But I think the Republicans, at this point, are showing their cards and their patience running out, you know, with this being the end game for the president in the waning days.

So we will see what happens, but I think at this point, that this override is on track and is going to proceed. I understand that, you know, it relies on Democrats and Republicans all behaving, you know, according to script, but I think that script is going to hold at this point. But we'll wait and see.

SCIUTTO: I mean, the NDAA, it's a guns and butter issue, right? Because it's not just weapons. It is pay raises for U.S. troops. I mean, the political implications of that.

TALEV: Space Force!

SCIUTTO: Well, Space Force, our favorite new force.

Alisyn played comments from Republicans publicly criticizing the president, but this happened this Monday morning, as well. This is a notable moment. I want to show the cover of "The New York Post" this morning, the Rupert Murdoch-owned "New York Post."

They've been behind this president through thick and thin. The headline this morning, "Stop the Insanity, Mr. President."

Toluse, tell me the significance of that, given how much in lockstep "The Post" has been with this president, given the backing for it from Murdoch. Is this a message the president listens to?

OLORUNNIPA: Well, it is quite significant, in part because what we have been seeing over the past several weeks is a president throwing a tantrum because he lost the election.

It's important to say that clearly. That's why he's vetoing the NDAA. That's why he held these -- the stimulus bill and government funding bill up as a hostage for the past several days. He's upset because he lost the election. He's upset because Republicans are not standing with him.

And now you have "The New York Post" essentially saying, Mr. President, it's time to end this long going -- ongoing tantrum. You lost the election. You need to put the country first in these final weeks of your presidency and stop trying to pretend like you are this victim who's aggrieved and who can take, you know, your powers and turn them against the country.

So I think "The New York post" is starting to, you know, break from the president in a major way, in part because this tantrum is really grating on the country in many ways. It's making it hard for Americans who are suffering with all kinds of real problems, from their pocketbooks to their healthcare.

And then the president is on the golf course and sort of just pouting over the fact that he lost to Joe Biden. And it's very clear that he's losing allies left and right and "The New York Post" is the most recent one of those.

CAMEROTA: I think it's worth reading some of their florid language that they use, because it is really striking. Here's one passage: "Mr. President, it's time to end this dark charade. If you insist on spending your final days in office, threatening to burn it all down, that will be how you are remembered. Not as a revolutionary, but as the anarchist holding the match."

I mean, they go on: "Democrats will try to write you off as a one-term aberration and, frankly, you're helping them do it. The King Lear of Mar-a-Lago, ranting about the corruption of the world."

I mean, this is a striking moment.

TALEV: It's eye-popping critique, and I'll say two things. One is that there is a concern among Republicans that if he tries to burn the house down, it's not just going to cement his legacy, but the legacy of Republicans who attached themselves to him and have kind of spent the first three and a half years largely accommodating the tactics that he wanted to employ.

So I think there's some spillover concerns inside the party or the current state of the Republican Party.

But the other is like, look, this elephant in the room that we all know is out there, which is that there are 20-some days until the inauguration and Republicans, as well as Democrats, are very concerned about how the president is going to play this in the final days: what else he is going to do; how it's going to impact those two elections in Georgia.

And so there's a real effort both publicly through criticism and privately through more of ego management or relationship management to try to urge the president to just be the president for his final couple of weeks.

And not the theatrics and the campaign trail machinations and the power plays, but just to preside and steer the country for a few more weeks and then pass the torch to the next president.

It sounds so simple, because that's the way it's been done for generations in both parties. But I think there's a wide recognition that, because that's the way it's supposed to be done, you can't count on that happening.

SCIUTTO: Well, given the last four year, that sounds like something like pie in the sky hope. Let's be honest here, but --

CAMEROTA: There's still 23 days.

SCIUTTO: Fair enough.

CAMEROTA: Margaret, Toluse, thank you both very much.

TALEV: Thanks, guys.

There are some new developments to tell you about in the suicide bombing in Nashville. What we know about the suspect and clues about why he did it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:07]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. Watch this. Police have released new startling surveillance video capturing the very moment there that a powerful bomb detonated in downtown Nashville on Christmas morning. Three people were injured in the blast. Dozens of buildings were damaged. Amazing the human toll wasn't higher.

Authorities have now identified the suicide bomber. That's right, an American suicide bomber, but the motivation, that remains a mystery.

Joining us now, CNN national security analyst, Juliette Kayyem, and CNN law enforcement analyst, Jonathan Wackrow. Good to have you both on this morning.

And Juliette, given your history at the Department of Homeland Security. Just the headline here. This is America, 2020. A U.S. national, a suicide bomber, apparent suicide bomber on U.S. soil. Tell us the significance of that.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Rare, odd, indescribable at this stage in terms of what his motivation is. But let's not, you know, put flowers and roses around it. A very violent person, whatever his motivation was, did a lot of damage to an American city.

And so, you know, we may try to understand him or get his motivation. But in some ways, we just cannot forget the violence that -- that he engineered.

And so what's happening now, I'll tell you the good news. It's not simply that few people died, because of the announcements and because of the great work of the police.

It is also that the U.S. attorney and the other officials that came out yesterday afternoon were very clear that they did not think that there was -- they were very clear, not even think, that there was no continuing threat. That means that their investigation is focused solely on what was he thinking, what was he reading? And what was happening to him personally.

We still don't know if this was an ideological motivation or a personal motivation. And that's where the investigation turns to now.

CAMEROTA: Jonathan, obviously, the term "suicide bombing" carries the connotation of terrorism.