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New Day

McConnell Moves on Potential Bill; Developments in the Breonna Taylor and Tamir Rice Cases; Nashville Police Previously At Bomber's Home; Biden and Harris Campaign in Georgia; Battle for Senate in Georgia. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired December 30, 2020 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

RACHAEL BADE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: To vote for this to give themselves political cover back home, but also make sure the bill dies. I mean if you look at some of these -- these two senators who are running in the Georgia special election, it's no surprise that both of them have come out and said they support $2,000 checks, when previously the party did not, the Senate Republicans did not, right? And so, clearly, Republicans right now are feeling some heat because people are hurting back home and they're telling their senators that they need more money. But, again, Republicans don't support this bigger package. So what McConnell is doing is loading it up with these ideas that Democrats despise, therefore the Democrats will vote against the bigger bill and he can say, look, we tried.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Maybe we should listen to McConnell in his own words try to explain this, Toluse. This is S-5 (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): During this process, the president highlighted three additional issues of national significance, which he would like to see Congress tackle together.

This week the Senate will begin a process to bring these three priorities into focus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Three additional issues of national significance, Toluse. Is he talking about the 3,745 Americans who died yesterday from COVID? Nope. No, he's not. He's talking about a voter fraud commission.

We've tried that already. That's one of the things that President Trump did immediately when he entered office. He was desperate to find this so-called, you know, bogeyman of widespread voter fraud. And the commission found nothing and disbanded. So he's revisiting it. That's what he thinks is of national importance.

And as Rachael was saying, Section 230. OK, it sounds like a place where space aliens land, but it's not. It's something that is, I think we would all agree, not at anybody's dinner table that they're discussing tonight, unlike the $2,000 checks that would help Americans.

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, you've got $2,000 that could help, you know, millions of Americans, and then you have two of the president's pet peeves, and that's what they are. Section 230 is a pet peeve of the president. This idea of a voter fraud commission is another pet issue. He could do it again if he wanted to, you know, stand up another commission in the executive branch. The first one failed. It essentially fell apart and they found nothing. He could do it again if he wanted to find voter fraud in the 2020 election and go on a wild hunt for that, as well.

Trying to put it before Congress is kind of a waste of time because it's not likely to pass. Democrats in the House are not going to support it. And it's something that's getting in the way of actually, you know, having real legislation. The president has one last shot to get real legislation on his desk that can actually impact the lives of Americans before he leaves office.

Having Mitch McConnell load up these $2,000 payments with this poisoned legislation, focusing on Section 230 and focusing on election fraud, essentially stripping the president of the ability to sign his name on checks going to millions of Americans. Now, it's not clear if the president realizes that Mitch McConnell is essentially playing him, but that is what's happening. Mitch McConnell is saying, we do not want these $2,000 payments to go forward, but we're telling the president we're -- that we're going to put it up for a vote and allow, you know, Republicans to, you know, stand up on this issue, even though it's not actually going to happen.

So it really remains to be seen. There have -- there have been a number of communication breakdowns between The Hill and the White House. So President Trump may not be onboard with Mitch McConnell's gambit here, especially since it's going to strip him of his ability to actually sign legislation into law before he leaves office.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: It's a great point, Toluse. I mean he -- McConnell's effectively torpedoing something the president's demanded here.

But I want to ask about the background here. This country, Rachael Bade, is entering -- it's already in a dark, dark period of this pandemic. I mean record number of deaths. A new variant here, which is more transmissible, a flagging, at best, rollout of the vaccine desperately needed in this country. I just wonder, is -- is that -- and, by the way, a Republican congressman-elect just died of this at the age of 41. No health preconditions.

Is that piercing the bubble of dysfunction on The Hill right now, right? I mean is that reality piercing this? It's just amazing to me, and I'm sure people watching at home can't believe that we're still, you know, debating trying to get people some money in the midst of this.

BADE: Yes, it certainly looks mighty ugly, right? I mean, think about it, what is Section 230? This -- we're talking about liability protections for Internet companies, to keep them from being sued by users who might post something that, you know, they could be sued for. What does this have to do with money that people need right now in their pockets? And I think, you know, that's, obviously, a question we're seeing all Democrats on The Hill ask, even perhaps some Republicans privately. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if over the next couple of days we see a couple of Senate Republicans come out and say they do want to have a clean vote.

But, you know, again, McConnell is -- he's an operator that he's been doing this for a long time. He -- he has the ability to whip his conference together and keep them together. And so we'll just have to see if he can hold this position, particularly if the president himself comes out and says, drop these two other provisions, let's do a clean vote, which perhaps the president needs to do if he really wants this to pass.

[06:35:11]

CAMEROTA: Toluse, the reporting is that President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will also be going to Georgia on Monday to help with the campaign, with the runoff elections there. President Trump will also be. It's going to be, you know, a very feisty Monday there.

And, obviously, this is such high-stakes. Do we think that some of this craziness will end after Tuesday? I mean do we think that some of this, all of these machinations that we're seeing are about the Georgia Senate race or is something else at work?

OLORUNNIPA: Well, the stakes are incredibly high for this race. And it can go one of two ways. Either Mitch McConnell keeps the gavel in the Senate, and that means, you know, President-elect Biden's administration is going to run into a number of headaches and obstacles if it tries to push forward any kind of major legislation, and it could hamstring Biden's ability to get anything major done in Congress, or it could go the other way in which Democrats would take control of the Senate, and that would be a major change in power. Mitch McConnell would be out of power for the first time in more than six years and Biden would have the ability to at least put forward some significant legislation that would be, you know, that would still be an effort to get all -- all Democrats onboard. But having 50 Democrats and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as a tiebreaking vote could change a lot of things in Biden's administration.

So that's why you have hundreds of millions of dollars being spent there. That's why you have a lot of craziness happening in Congress ahead of the vote. You have lawmakers and senators changing their position on the deficit and on the debt and on how much we should be spending. All of that is the run-up to this major election that's going to really change the fate of Biden's administration and the fate of the country depending on the results.

SCIUTTO: Well, listen, and if it's close, it ain't going to end on January 7th, right? I mean imagine (INAUDIBLE).

CAMEROTA: We've learned that. If there's one thing we've --

SCIUTTO: We've learned that. We've learned that.

Rachael, Toluse, thanks so much, as always.

There are new clues now in the Nashville bombing investigation. We'll tell you what led authorities to the bomber's home -- listen to this -- last year. What did they miss? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:49]

SCIUTTO: Lots of news this morning.

We have two major developments on high-profile cases of deadly police shootings involving black Americans.

The Louisville police officer who shot and killed Breonna Taylor, whose death set off a wave of protests across America, that police officer was told he will be fired.

And two Cleveland police officers will avoid federal criminal charges for their role in the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Ohio in 2014.

CNN's Jason Carroll has the latest on both cases.

Jason, just remarkable developments here. I mean the Tamir Rice case in particular.

How did this happen?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Incredible.

Look, a lot of developments happening overnight.

We're going to start with the developments actually involving the Breonna Taylor case.

Late last night, attorneys for two Louisville metro police officers confirmed the department does intend to try to fire them, according to their attorneys. Detective Joshua Jaynes, who obtained that no-knock warrant that night, and Detective Myles Cosgrove, who fired that fatal shot, received pro-termination letters yesterday. The letter from the interim police chief sent to Officer Jaynes said in part, your actions have brought discredit upon yourself and the department. I cannot tolerate this type of conduct or untruthfulness by any member of the Louisville Metro Police Department.

Jaynes' attorney telling CNN, his client is being made a scapegoat and called the investigation into the officers a fiasco. A police hearing on the matter is scheduled for tomorrow.

And, Jim, it should also be noted that none of the officers involved in the Breonna Taylor shooting were ever charged directly in connection with her death. And then, again, in a separate case, late yesterday, the Department of

Justice announced that there is not enough evidence to support criminal charges against the two officers involved in the shooting of Tamir Rice. Rice, you remember, was killed by two Cleveland police officers back in 2014 who mistook a toy gun the 12-year-old was playing with at a party for a real gun. According to a statement from the Department of Justice, federal prosecutors could not prove that Rice's constitutional rights were violated or that the officers obstructed justice. That statement reads in part, an officer is permitted to use deadly force where he can reasonably believe that the suspect posed an imminent threat of serious physical harm, either to the officer or to the others.

Now, late last night, Jim, I spoke to an attorney who represents the Rice family, who called the DOJ decision a miscarriage of justice. He went on to say that this was a tremendous blow to Rice's family, especially her (ph) mother, who is now beside herself with grief and disappointment.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Yes. We can only imagine how frustrating and heartbreaking this is for their families.

Jason, thank you very much.

Developing this morning, CNN has obtained documents that offer new clues on the man police say detonated that bomb in downtown Nashville on Christmas Day.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is live in Nashville with more.

So what have you learned, Shimon?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, Alisyn, we should note that this only came to light because of the local newspaper here. "The Tennessean" reported this. And what we've learned is that back in August 2019, so nearly a year and a half ago, the then girlfriend of the man that police say constructed this bomb, put it in this RV, called police because she was in distress. They say they went to her house to talk to her over suicidal threats. And when police got to her house, they saw two pistols near her. But what she told police is very alarming. At the time she said that her then boyfriend, this man, Anthony Quinn Warner, was building bombs inside his RV.

There was also a lawyer present with her. A man by the name of Raymond Throckmartin (ph), who also told police that the suspected bomber knew what he was doing, that he was capable of making bombs. But this lawyer also represented Anthony Warner, the suspected bomber.

[06:45:02]

He would not allow police to talk to him. Police went to the home. They said they couldn't get inside. They said they couldn't look at his RV. And then about a week or so afterwards, police followed up with the attorney and the attorney refused to allow police to talk to him, to inspect the RV, and the lawyer said that they wanted nothing to do with the police.

The FBI was also called. The local police here called the FBI. They wanted them to do a database check. They did the database check and they found nothing. The police say there was really not much more they could do legally and so, therefore, they did nothing more. And so now we have this situation.

And, of course, we should note that we have been asking the police if this man had ever been on their radar. They have said no. The attorney for Anthony Warner, he did not respond for any comments when CNN called him.

CAMEROTA: Shimon, your reporting paints a much more complex picture that we had in the initial hours of this. Thank you very much.

So we're days away from that crucial Senate runoff in Georgia. President Trump and President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will all travel there next week. The stakes are very high. We explain what to expect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:04]

SCIUTTO: New this morning, CNN has learned that President-elect Joe Biden will travel to Georgia next week to campaign with the two Democratic candidates on the eve of crucial Senate runoffs there. It comes as the two independent Republican senators back President Trump's push to expand coronavirus relief payments.

CNN's Ryan Nobles live in Atlanta with more.

Ryan, I know that Democrats in the states have been hoping for Harris and Biden to come. And I always wonder when this happens, does this mean they believe they really need the help right now or they think they can push these candidates over the top?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, more than anything, what this demonstrates is how important Joe Biden and Kamala Harris understand that these Senate runoffs here in Georgia will be to the early days of their administration. Of course, Democrats need to win both of these seats if the Democrats are going to take control of the United States Senate. And both Biden and Harris truly believe that they need Democrats in control to at least get the early parts of their agenda moving.

And so Kamala Harris will be here in Savannah on Sunday. This will be her second visit to the state. The president-elect, Joe Biden, going to be here on Monday. That, of course, the night before this runoff concludes.

He's not going to be the only one here in Georgia on that day. Of course, President Trump has promised to return for his second rally in support of the Republican candidates on Monday. And even though President Trump has endorsed David Perdue and Kelly

Loeffler, the two Republicans, and is going to make two trips here for them, he certainly hasn't made their lives easy. And you mentioned that coronavirus relief package. This is something both Loeffler and Perdue originally had advocated for, they lobbied for in the United States Senate and they voted for it when it only included that $600 direct payment. They never talked about the $2,000 increase until after President Trump said that's what he wanted. It took both Perdue and Loeffler about a week to come around to the conclusion that they, too, supported the $2,000 checks. They came out yesterday saying that they're going to back it.

But perhaps this illustrated how important these Senate runoffs are because it doesn't matter so much that both Perdue and Loeffler support the $2,000 checks because Mitch McConnell is only going to advocate for them if they include some other provisions that likely will make this legislation dead on arrival. So it's very clear here that control of the United States Senate is just as important as the two people that are going to ultimately inhabit these seats from Georgia.

And it's also very important to keep in mind that voters are casting their ballots right now in this state, and they have been for more than a week and a half. There are some 2.2 million ballots that have already been cast in Georgia. That's 30 percent of the registered voters in this state.

So while Election Day may be January 5th, we're really talking about an election season in this state. And when Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, and President Trump make their final pitch, it will be about pushing those final votes over the hump, in what is expected to be a razor sharp, close election here on January 5th.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: It's also just so interesting, Ryan, how malleable candidates' positions can be six days out away from the election.

Thank you very much for all of that background.

Joining us now is CNN's senior political writer and analyst Harry Enten.

Hi, Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: Hi.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's talk about Georgia and where the race stands.

Joe Biden won that state. So how are the Democratic candidates doing right now?

ENTEN: Right. So I think it's so important to keep in mind that although Joe Biden won in November, the Senate Democrats actually ran behind the Senate Republican candidates, both in the regular, that's the Ossoff and Perdue seat, as well as in the runoff, but that will ultimately between -- be between Warnock and Loeffler.

And this is so important because it suggests that Democrats are going to need to pick up additional support heading into November -- heading into the runoffs in January if they ultimately want to get over the top. And that's part of the reason why Biden's coming in there and saying, hey, if I can get some of these voters that voted for me to vote for these Senate Democrats, they have a better shot of winning.

SCIUTTO: OK, so where is the most likely place for Democrats to pick up those votes then?

ENTEN: I would look in the Georgia's Sixth Congressional District. Why would I look there? That is the place where Biden ran the most ahead of the Senate Democratic candidates. They all did well there. They all got more votes than the Republicans, but Biden ran five points ahead in the Senate special, ran six points ahead in the Senate regular election. And these are well-educated white voters who dominate in the Sixth Congressional Districts, in the Atlanta suburbs. These are anti -- there are a lot of anti-Trump Republicans there. Can the Democratic Senate candidates convert these anti-Trump Republicans into Democrats? That may ultimately determine who wins come January 5th

CAMEROTA: Harry, how about turnout? What are we seeing already?

ENTEN: So, you know, another -- you look -- one way to get voters is through persuasion. The other way is to get them through turnout. And what's so interesting, when you look at these early vote numbers, is you see that Democrats are doing -- they should be encouraged by the fact that African-Americans are making up a larger share of the early vote than -- than they did in the November election at the same point.

[06:55:03]

They are making up 31.5 percent at this point versus 28.3 at this point in the November election. And that may be an indication of two things. Number one, there's been a real effort to get those black voters out to the polls and may also be a reaction to Raphael Warnock being an African-American and perhaps they want to put him in the United States Senate.

SCIUTTO: OK, 2.3 million early votes cast so far. How significant is that and what does it mean?

ENTEN: It's very significant. If you look at Georgia's statewide runoffs, that already beats the previous record for overall. It was 2.1 in 2008. So we're already past that. And I think there was a real fear among Democrats that this would be a runoff election, perhaps voters wouldn't come out and vote. We have a history of that in Georgia. That is not the case right now. Voters seem very enthusiastic. They want to get out there and they want to vote.

And Republicans will have to probably make up a deficit with on- election day voting given the turnout so far looks to be more favorable to Democrats. Now, obviously, they can do that, but they have their work cut out for them on Election Day. CAMEROTA: Harry, how about the money? I mean, oh, my God, it's

breaking records. It shows a lot of engagement, I guess, but it's also obscene.

ENTEN: I wish they'd give some of it to me, to be perfectly honest with you. I mean, my goodness gracious. Look at this, $539 million spent on ads so far. The most expensive race for the Senate back in November was $230 million in North Carolina.

Now, obviously, there's a lot on the line here, but this just gives you an indication.

I'd hate to be watching television down in the Atlanta area. Every single ad would be for these Senate candidates. And it's just -- it's obscene! It's obscene! There's no other word for it.

SCIUTTO: Quickly, unlikely to get results election night in these races if tight.

ENTEN: Yes. If you look back to November, remember, it took 10 days to call the presidential race. It took three days to know that the regular election between Ossoff and Perdue was going to a runoff.

I said it over and over again heading into November, patience, patience, patience. It's better to get it right than to get it quickly. And that, of course, is what we'll be doing come January 5th. And I'm -- I'm sure as heck looking forward to it.

SCIUTTO: We know you'll be there. Thanks very much.

ENTEN: Thank you, sir. Good morning and Happy New Year.

CAMEROTA: And to you, Harry. Great to see you.

ENTEN: Nice to see you.

SCIUTTO: We all need a Happy New Year.

Breaking news this hour, sad news, a new coronavirus strain confirmed here in the U.S. What we know about it and the response from a top health official in the incoming Biden administration. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CAMEROTA: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY.

John Berman is off. Jim Sciutto joins me.

There's so much news this morning, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Lots to cover.

CAMEROTA: OK, so we begin with breaking news on the pandemic. [07:00:00]

The U.S. is now reporting the first case of that coronavirus variant originally seen in the U.K. It's a man in Colorado, in his 20s.