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The House Passed A Relief Bill Overnight That Increased The Amount From $600 To $2,000; A Federal Court Has To Intervene To Stop Georgia Voters For Being Purged; Donald Trump Plans To Go To Georgia The Day Before The Election. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired December 29, 2020 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: New overnight, Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff slamming Republican Senator David Perdue for opposing that $2,000 stimulus check. It was just approved in the House for all of the struggling Americans.
The House passed a relief bill overnight that increased the amount from $600 to that $2,000. President Trump pushed them to do it but Perdue's fellow Republicans in the Senate have thus far been against it.
Joining us now is Jon Ossoff. I would like to note that we also extended an invitation to his opponent Senator Perdue to come on the show but he has not agreed to. Jon Ossoff, great to see you.
JON OSSOFF, GEORGIA U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE (D): Alisyn, good morning.
CAMEROTA: OK. So let's talk about what happened last night. So, these two -- the House including dozens of Republicans in the House went along with increasing the payments to the hardest hit Americans to $2,000. This is something that President Trump had pushed them to do.
I know that as of this morning your opponent David Perdue has not gotten onboard with that. But do you worry that because President Trump has pushed this that it will somehow end up hurting you and helping David Perdue in your race?
OSSOFF: Well, I want people who are suffering to get the relief that they need. The Senate must act immediately to pass these $2,000 checks. And let me just note that my opponent who personally profited from this pandemic buying medical and vaccine stocks before the rest of us knew what was coming.
He opposed even the first round of $1,200 stimulus checks. So, he needs to get with the program. President Trump, President Elect Biden, Democrats and some Republicans in Congress all recognize that people who are desperately hurting right now, gas bills they can't pay, rent piling up, prescription drug costs. In a COVID economy that's hurting people through no fault of their own $600 is a joke. The Senate needs to pass $2,000 checks within 48 hours and get this relief to the people.
CAMEROTA: It does add -- excuse me, by our math $464 billion to the country's credit card. Does that bother you?
[07:35:00]
OSSOFF: Well, have you ever noticed that when it comes time for tax giveaways for wealthy donors or bailouts for investment banks no one complains about the price tag. But when it comes time to help working families in this country who are suffering in one of the gravest crises in generations suddenly folks say that we can't afford it.
We're the wealthiest country in the world. People are hurting and they need help now. And this is why we have to win these Senate races in Georgia. Mitch McConnell and his colleagues in the Senate they will block the COVID relief that we need.
They will block the civil rights legislation that we need. They will block the voting rights legislation that we need. By the way, Alisyn, right now the big story in Georgia is that the GOP is pulling out all the stops to disenfranchise black voters and suppress the vote. Just last night--
CAMEROTA: I've heard you say that.
OSSOFF: -- a lawsuit.
CAMEROTA: Yes, give us an example.
OSSOFF: Just last night a federal court had to intervene to stop thousands of Georgia voters from being purged for the roles and forced to cast provisional ballots. They have been trying to remove ballot drop boxes. They have been trying to disenfranchise people who have registered since the November election.
And this is why I'm asking everybody out there, look, if you're on the go right now, if you're listening in the car, if you are at home wondering what's going on in Georgia worried about these races we need you to recommit to helping us defend the franchise in Georgia because the GOP is trying to disenfranchise black voters.
They are launching lawsuit after lawsuit. And for us to mount the kind of turnout effort that we must, for us to be prepared for the litigation that's necessary to defend the franchise we need help. It's ElectJon, Elect J-O-N.com and I'm asking folks to invest in voter protection here.
CAMEROTA: Jon, I want to ask you about that money because you have raised an astronomical sum, I mean its shattered records. $107 million I believe that you've broken record of any U.S. Senate candidate in history.
And yet, I think your campaign -- I mean the impression I get is that you feel as though you're somehow in financial trouble from -- in terms of spending. So how does that math work?
OSSOFF: Well, Georgia voters are in trouble because of these efforts to disenfranchise them. We are running the largest get out to vote effort in American history. We have called more than five million Georgia voters in recent weeks. We are knocking on tens of thousands of doors per day.
And all of this turnout effort -- this money isn't just going to television ads. This is turnout work and voter protection work. But when there's this kind of on slot against voting rights, when the GOP is working to disenfranchise black voters remember what they've been doing since November.
They thought that voter suppression in Georgia would entitle them to victory and they're furious because the will of the people boiled over and they were unable to suppress enough black voters to win and now they have to justify their power. That's why they're trying to purge the roles.
That's why they're trying to shutdown access to the franchise. And I'm asking people for help because we need the resources and its ElectJon.com to fight back and defend voting rights in Georgia.
CAMEROTA: President Trump plans to come to Georgia the day before the election to help David Perdue your opponent. Do you worry that that will put Perdue over the top?
OSSOFF: I don't. President Trump does little at his rallies but spread COVID sadly. And Alisyn, I got to keep coming back to this, people really need to be aware of the lengths that the GOP is going to disenfranchise.
I haven't seen much coverage of this but for the last several weeks -- and this is frankly much more significant than the president coming to town. They've been filing suit after suit as I said to try to rip the sacred franchise away from folks. Look, I cut my teeth working for John Lewis. People gave blood and their lives for voting rights.
And for politicians, for sitting United States Senators to be abusing their power and their office and abusing the courts to try to rip the sacred franchise away from the very people they represent is an affront to the basic principles of our democracy.
It's a disgrace. And that's why I'm asking everybody again to help us defend voting rights in Georgia.
CAMEROTA: Jon Ossoff, we'll be watching. Thank you very much.
OSSOFF: Thank you. Appreciate it.
CAMEROTA: OK. Georgians are voting in two races that will decide control of the U.S. Senate. CNN's Election Night in America special coverage begins next Tuesday at 4:00 P.M. eastern right here on CNN.
All right. So, mother nature is living up to the 2020 reputation of, how bad can it get? The stormy and messy New Years forecast is next. [07:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CO-ANCHOR: (Inaudible) for maybe some bad weather news. Nearly 40 million Americans in the central U.S. are under a winter weather alert bracing for rain, snow and ice to close out the great year of 2020.
CNN's meteorologist Jennifer Gray has your forecast. How bad is the storm and how broadly will it sweep through the middle part of the country?
JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. This is very 2020 like to round the year with a big storm but it is going to impact millions across not only the central portion of the country but as this marches to the east folks along the southeast and the east coast need to be aware as well.
Look at this. All this snow starting to build together across the Midwest, the plains and not only the snow and the rain but there's a huge ice component to this so it could bring some towns to a stand still over the next couple of days of possible power outages, tress down, power lines, things like that.
Winter storm warnings as you've mentioned. Winter weather advisory stretching from the Midwest all the way back to the Rockies.
[07:45:00]
And here's the radar, as we go forward in time you can see the snow, places like Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha. And then we could get a wintery mix on the back side of that stretching all the way back to the Texas panhandle. So we're talking about a large area that could see this ice component with this storm.
The south side of it is all going to be rain but here's your forecast accumulation as far as the rain and snow goes. You can see all of the snow in places like Chicago like we mentioned, Minneapolis to Omaha and then rain on the south side.
Could see several inches of rain. This is the New Years Eve forecast for midnight and temperatures are going to be in the 30s across the northeast, warmer in the south. But messy, Jim, as we round out the New Year.
SCIUTTO: Yes. That phrase wintery mix, that means messy. Thanks so much. We'll be looking out--
GRAY: Never good.
SCIUTTO: -- for it.
GRAY: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Well, there is no such thing as a slow news day in this year 2020. Major headlines broke so fast that historic events were often overshadowed. We're going to look back on a year like no other. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:50:00]
CAMEROTA: There were so many memorable political headlines in 2020 that it's easy to forget the year began with the assassination of Iran's top general and President Trump's impeachment trial. CNN's Abby Phillip takes a look back at a year like no other.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAP)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: 2020 was a presidential election year for the history books, an unpredictable Democratic primary, a pandemic and a president refusing to concede. Here are Washington's most unforgettable stories of 2020.
A brazen assassination within days of the New Year.
SCIUTTO: Iran is vowing harsh revenge after the U.S. killed its top General Qasem Soleimani.
PHILLIP: The operation carried out after an order from a president under siege in a different way.
UNKNOWN MALE: The clerk will call the roll.
PHILLIP: President Trump had already become one of just three U.S. presidents ever to be impeached and during his reelection fight under a cloud.
UNKNOWN MALE: If 67 Senators, two-thirds of the U.S. Senate vote to convict he will be removed from office.
PHILLIP: Meantime, a quiet killer had already arrived on American shores.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: The first case of the fast spreading coronavirus confirmed in the United States.
PHILLIP: By late January, Trump moved to establish a White House COVID-19 task force and suspend most travel to and from China.
UNKNOWN MALE: Foreign nationals who have traveled in China will be denied entry into the United States.
PHILLIP: Meanwhile for the Democrats, a crowded primary contest was dwindling (ph) down in the frigid flat lands of Iowa. The caucus night would end with a cliff hanger.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, 0 percent of the pressings (ph) have reported the results.
PHILLIP: Back in Washington, after Senate Republicans largely resist new witnesses Trump was quickly acquitted. The 2020 presidential race already underway in Ernest but assumed front runner Former Vice President Joe Biden languish at the back of the pack.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: It looks like he's headed towards not even placing in the top four.
PHILLIP: Until a key endorsement from South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn helped to turn the tide.
BLITZER: CNN projects that Joe Biden is the winner in South Carolina.
UNKNOWN MALE: We've seen in a 72 hour period Joe Biden go from being a joke to a juggernaut.
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT ELECT: Guess we can say hi, right?
PHILLIP: As Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders plotted his last stand the reality of COVID-19 hit.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Abby, Senator Sanders is cancelling a rally tonight, right?
PHILLIP: Anderson, it is the first time we have heard of a campaign event being cancelled due to coronavirus concerns.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: And we're just hearing from their deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield that they are also cancelling their rally here in Cleveland tonight.
PHILLIP: The next day, a rare Oval Office address.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: My fellow Americans--
PHILLIP: As the threat of the virus became impossible to ignore.
UNKNOWN MALE: Trading had to be halted for 15 minutes so as to prevent a freefall.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: The NBA overnight suspending its entire season.
PHILLIP: President Trump continued to doubt the severity of the virus in public second guessing the science.
TRUMP: By April in theory when it gets a little warmer it miraculously goes away, I hope that's true.
PHILLIP: And pushing unfounded cures culminating in this unforgettable moment he later claimed was sarcasm.
TRUMP: But I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute and is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning. As you see it gets in the lungs.
PHILLIP: As most of the nation grappled with shutdowns and the push to contain the virus the country erupted in protests over racial injustice and into flames.
President Trump seizing an opportunity to make the unrest an election issue.
TRUMP: I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem.
PHILLIP: A president with a penchant for drama staging his own dramatic march.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: Now he's standing there looking around after what was frankly a pretty undignified approach to St. John's Episcopal Church.
PHILLIP: After months of isolation in the White House due to the pandemic the president eager to escape hatches a plan to return to the campaign trail.
[07:55:00]
TRUMP: The event in Oklahoma is unbelievable. The crowds are unbelievable. They haven't seen anything like it.
PHILLIP: But those expectations didn't become reality.
UNKNOWN MALE: This event has fallen well short of the Trump campaign's own expectations.
PHILLIP: I've been watching this space all afternoon. It is virtually empty.
Back in Wilmington, Delaware, the Democratic primary came to a quiet virtual end.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: CNN is projecting Joe Biden now has the number of delegates needed to officially secure the Democratic presidential nomination.
PHILLIP: And Democrats and the nation lose a civil rights hero.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I like so many Americans owe a great debt to John Lewis.
PHILLIP: After a drawn out primary fight and in a year of racial strife Biden chose to make history with his vice presidential pick.
BIDEN: Your next Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris.
PHILLIP: As both political parties barreled toward Election Day with their virtual conventions, a sudden loss of another icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg set off a political earthquake within weeks of Election Day.
TRUMP: Thank you very much.
PHILLIP: In days, Trump selected circuit court Judge Amy Coney Barrett as Ginsburg's replacement, an ideological opposite. Announcing his pick in a rose garden ceremony designed to evoke a scene from another era. That scene would soon take on a different significance.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: The president of the United States now confirming to the world that he and the First Lady of the United States have both tested positive.
UNKNOWN MALE: The announcement of the formal nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett seems to have been a super spreader event.
PHILLIP: Despite multiple Republican Senators testing positive for COVID-19 the Senate moved quickly to confirm Barrett solidifying a six-three (ph) Conservative majority and reshaping the Supreme Court for generations.
By election night, a record number of Americans cast their ballot by mail or in-person but it would be days before a result would be clear.
BLITZER: CNN projects Joseph R. Biden Jr. is elected the 46th president of the United States.
PHILLIP: The election was over for everyone but President Trump and many of his supporters.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: The Trump administration is still refusing to say that Joe Biden is president elect.
PHILLIP: As Biden moved forward building a diverse cabinet, President Trump launched a failed bid to overturn the results of the election and moved to purge disloyal officials.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The president fired a key official at the Department of Homeland Security.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: Supreme Court moments ago speaking and flat out rejecting President Trump's last ditch (ph) effort to steal the election from Joe Biden.
LAURA COATES, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: The jog is up. The president of the United States has no other recourse.
PHILLIP: On Monday December 14, the Electoral College met to make Biden's victory official.
Though Democrats nationwide lost seats in the House and control of the Senate now hinges on two January runoffs.
In the last days of the year, a chaotic president issuing and threatening vetoes and announcing controversial pardons.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: The president uses his final days in office to throw Washington into turmoil.
BERMAN: 24 hours after pardoning corrupt Congressmen, Medicaid scammers and more criminals the president is at it again. This time the big three are his disgraced campaign chair Paul Manafort, his campaign operative and self described dirty trickster Roger Stone and real estate tycoon Charles Kushner. PHILLIP: American democracy ended the year in tact but damaged.
BIDEN: Good evening, my fellow Americans.
PHILLIP: In the New Year, there will be a new president leading a divided nation.
In 2021, can anything restore American's shaken faith in our Democratic process and institutions? Abby Phillip, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: 2020 really over delivered in terms of news. It can take a break next year.
SCIUTTO: One month of 2020 over delivered.
(LAUGHTER)
CAMEROTA: I mean, when you look at all of that stuff that Abby just packed--
SCIUTTO: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- into that piece it is astonishing--
SCIUTTO: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- to look back and think of all the things we reported on this year.
SCIUTTO: It's incredible. Three days to go.
(LAUGHTER)
CAMEROTA: That's right. And New Day continues right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNKNOWN FEMALE: The House of Representatives voting to increase stimulus checks.
UNKNOWN MALE: Every Senate Democrat is for it but unfortunately we don't have the Republicans onboard.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: I've just been waiting for Congress to make some decisions that would be in the best interest of so many Americans like myself.
BIDEN: We've encountered road blocks.
UNKNOWN MALE: We have enemies in America. They know we're vulnerable in these transitions.
UNKNOWN MALE: He's effectively scrapped off that top layer of leadership. That is the layer that has been corrupted. (END VIDEOCLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is New Day with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
CAMEROTA: Morning, everyone. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is New Day. John Berman is off, Jim Sciutto is here. Great to have you here.
SCIUTTO: Good to be here.
CAMEROTA: Thanks for helping out. The House approving a measure to increase coronavirus stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 for the hardest hit Americans. A few dozen Republicans.
