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New Day Sunday

Senate Passes Bill to Avoid Govt. Shutdown; Protesters Call for End to Police Killings

Aired December 14, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Don't panic, it's 8:00, you're not running late. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Maybe you are. But stay with us, anyway. I'm Victor Blackwell. It's good to have you this morning.

PAUL: It is.

Listen, we want to get some breaking news overnight. The Senate has taken the threat of another government shutdown off the table, at least for the time being. In a rare bipartisan weekend agreement, lawmakers approved the controversial $1.1 trillion spending measure and sent the bill to President Obama, who is expected to sign it into law.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Erin McPike is live in Washington with the latest for us this morning.

Do we know when the president will sign this?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, we don't know that yet. Of course, President Obama did sign that short term funding measure last night that will fund the government through Wednesday. But how they got this done, it was a bipartisan vote, 56 senators voted in favor of it, but there were 40 who voted to oppose it, 21 Democrats, 18 Republicans, and one independent voted against this measure.

And that's what we're going to be talking about going forward. I want you to listen here to Republican Senator Ted Cruz talk about immigration last night because that's what held this bill up in the first place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Tonight, both Democrats and Republicans will have the opportunity to show America whether they stand with the president who is defying the will of the voters or with the millions of Americans who want a safe and legal immigration system. This point of order is targeted not to the entire omnibus, but specifically to the DHS funding that the president has announced will be spent unconstitutionally. If you believe President Obama's amnesty is unconstitutional, vote yes. If you believe President Obama's amnesty is consistent with the Constitution, then vote no. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: Now, that particular vote failed, even 20 Republicans opposed it, but in this particular funding bill that funds the government through September 30th, the money for DHS programs that would fund President Obama's immigration executive order runs out at the end of February and that sets a big clash going forward when Republicans will try to strip back this particular executive order on immigration, Christi and Victor.

PAUL: Right. So, in other words, the battle isn't over. Now, I'm wondering what this particular incidence tells us, Erin, about the job that Mitch McConnell is going to have when they come back and reconvene next month.

MCPIKE: Well, Christi, when Republicans took control of the House, over the last few years Speaker Boehner has had quite a problem with the Tea Party Republicans in the House. He can't seem to keep them in order and they've had a lot of difficulty trying to get anything done. Now that Republicans will be taking control of the Senate in January, Mitch McConnell will face much the same thing. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, the two Republicans junior senators who held up this bill on Friday night, they have shown that they are willing to go to unusual lengths to make their point and that is what Mitch McConnell is certain to face come January.

I'd also make the point that President Obama and the Democrats will have problems of their own. Elizabeth Warren also opposed this bill. She voted against it because it rolls back some regulations on Wall Street reform and you can be sure that she will make those points in the come year as well.

PAUL: All righty. Erin McPike, so appreciate it this morning. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Erin.

We're learning about a frightening incident in the skies.

PAUL: A Russian military intelligence plane, we've learned, nearly collided with a commercial passenger jet. This is according to Sweden's air force chief, who tells CNN that this happened Friday in international air space over the Baltic Sea, after the passenger jet had taken off from Copenhagen, Denmark, bound for Sweden. He says Swedish fighter jets were deployed and identified the Russian aircraft.

BLACKWELL: And he says the Russian aircraft transponders -- the transponders were turned off to avoid radar detection. Russia is denying one of its war planes was involved.

PAUL: Well, this morning, protesters across the country are hoping Congress will hear their pleas for justice and change against police violence. Thousands of demonstrators turned out in cities across the country. We're talking from Ft. Lauderdale and Boston to San Francisco and Chicago yesterday. BLACKWELL: But Washington is the city where four moms took their

voices, the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner -- all unarmed black men and boys killed either by bullets or by police. They joined tens of thousands of demonstrators in the nation's capital.

PAUL: And we need to point out, most of yesterday's nationwide protests were indeed quite peaceful. However in New York, two police officers are recovering in the hospital after officials say protesters attacked them on the Brooklyn Bridge last night. And then in Oakland, California, at least 45 people were arrested after protests there.

BLACKWELL: Demonstrators calling yesterday's big march in Washington an historic moment, a history-making moment as thousands marched to the U.S. capitol demanding change.

PAUL: CNN's national reporter Nick Valencia has more for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHANTING)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL REPORTER (voice-over): They came by the hundreds for a justice march in the nation's capital. Some were bussed in by organizers from nearby states.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I live in New York.

VALENCIA: Others walked a few minutes to get here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from D.C. I'm in Glover Park.

VALENCIA: Power in numbers from across the United States.

This man says he showed up with his familiar I had to show his infant son that his future can be better than his present.

ANTHONY PASSMORE, DC RESIDENT: Ii want a future for them to actually be able to do what they want to be, be what they want to be. They say this is the land of opportunity and land of freedom. Let them live life. Let them choose the direction and which way they want to go.

VALENCIA: Eleven-year-old Wallis was one of the youngest demonstrators.

(on camera): Show me what's on your shirt. What does that shirt say?

WALLIS KYLE, YOUNG PROTESTER: I can't breathe.

VALENCIA: Why are you wearing it?

KYLE: To like show that, like, it's unfair what happened to Eric Garner. VALENCIA (voice-over): Garner's family spoke to the crowd, so

did relatives of others that lost their sons at the hands of police, including the father of Mike Brown, the unarmed teen killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

Their message --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will get justice for our children.

VALENCIA: Also in the crowd, Washington, D.C.'s police chief who said she showed up to stand in solidarity with the community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For many, many years, there's been a feeling that the justice system doesn't treat everybody equally. That's been -- you know, when I was coming up through school and studying law enforcement, the justice system has to treat everybody equally. Black, white, rich, poor, and that's always been an issue. This is not a new issue. It's just an issue that now is very, very emotional, and very, very wrong. It has to be addressed.

VALENCIA: Addressed here in Washington, D.C., and beyond.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: And demonstrators I spoke to yesterday called this justice for all, a symbolic march on historic avenue, they say it's the first step in a long road ahead, many equating it to the modern civil rights era movement they say that they will continue to put the pressure on police to change their tactics and get more attention to these deaths of unarmed civilians -- Victor, Christi.

PAUL: All righty. Nick Valencia, thank you so much.

VALENCIA: You bet.

PAUL: This morning, thousands of churches across the country are hosting "Black Lives Matter Sunday" to remind the nation how important the lives of African-Americans are. We'll have more just ahead as we're joined by a couple of pastors, so this movement from yesterday, today and well beyond.

PAUL: An important conversation. You want to stay with us for that.

Also ahead, new details into what the grand jury in Ferguson heard and why they decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

PAUL: And high drama from a low speed car chase. Woman tries to evade police but listen to this -- she was driving with her six kids in the car.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The St. Louis prosecutor's office is apologizing this weekend after it failed to make public all of the documents in the grand jury inquiry into Michael Brown's death. Hundreds of previously secret documents have now been released, and that includes the transcript of an interview that Dorian Johnson, the friend who was with Brown, when he was killed by an officer, had with the FBI days after the shooting. That interview is consistent with others Johnson did including his testimony before the grand jury.

In them, Johnson says Officer Darren Wilson grabbed Michael Brown, that Brown was shot while running away from Wilson and that Brown's hands were up when he was shot.

This morning, thousands of churches across the country are taking part in "Black Lives Matter Sunday". And some churches, are asking people to show their solidarity with them by wearing all black clothes, bringing a picture of a loved one lost to violence, participating in a prayer vigil, committing to doing follow-up call with an elected official tomorrow and possibly pledging to participate in a five-point plan to form a circle of protection.

PAUL: Pastor Mike McBride in Berkeley, California, and Pastor Chris Beard of Peoples Church Cincinnati joining us now.

Gentlemen, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.

We wanted to ask you and I'll start with you, Pastor Mike. What are the conversations you hear at your church about all of this?

PASTOR MIKE MCBRIDE, THE WAY CHRISTIAN CENTER: Well, we're certainly glad to be here and want to continue to offer our condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones to violence both men and women.

We are in this moment continuing our phenomenal vision that flows out of three women, Patrice, Opal and Alysia that started after the Trayvon Martin verdict, calling on all of us to affirm that black lives matter.

And today, we take across the country thousands of faith traditions at organizes, churches, lifting up their voices, affirming the truth that regardless of your background, regardless of your social location or sexuality, regardless of religious affiliation, that our lives matter and we deserve to be protected by the laws of this land, and there is a unique role for the church to play in modeling racial solidarity and Christian unity around this particular truth. And it's so much of a blessing to see black and white congregations coming together to do that.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about that specific angle, Pastor Chris, because we know George O. Wood who heads the Assemblies of God, asked his congregations, his denomination to join with those in the Church of God and Christ, which is mostly African-American, joined in Black Lives Matter citing First Corinthians saying if one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it.

In churches that are not majority African-American, is this something part of the conversation? CHRIS BEARD, LEAD PASTOR, PEOPLES CHURCH CINCINNATTI: Well, it

certainly should be. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a reconciling gospel, and the church hasn't always gotten that right, in particular the white part of the church. So, I'm very excited to be joining with brothers and sisters across the nation, as well as of the lighter hue, and say that black lives matter and, of course, all lives matter.

But right now, our black brothers and sisters are really hurting, and it's important that we stand with them at this time.

PAUL: So, you just heard Pastor Mike saying how grateful he is that both churches of black folks and white folks are coming together to do this.

Pastor Chris, what do you think the impact will be overall of seeing churches, regardless of race, come together for this movement?

BEARD: Well, I think like Dr. Tony Evans said and put out on the video, one church under God will change our nation. The Church of Jesus Christ is to be a church of all people and when the church is loving each other deeply, learning each other's realities, that has implications for society.

A segregated church leads to a segregated society, and segregated church simply is a New Testament church.

BLACKWELL: Pastor Mike, help us understand if, what the action will be. When there are elections there are souls to the polls. You take people out of the church and take them to the polls. Will there be action outside of the sanctuary in getting these congregations involved?

MCBRIDE: Absolutely. If you look at the many, many plans that are being put out by a number of our partners out in the faith community, you see that people are invited to go outside the four walls of their congregations, to connect to those who are deeply suffering from these issues, to confirm that black lives matter, to resist the racialized narratives of the dominant culture, to boycott businesses and corporations that actually contribute to the criminalization of our communities by the slave labor day report or by the policies that they continue to back up, and then to love one another.

Bishop William Seymour, who we share as a common faith tradition originator of our denomination says that the color line has been washed away by the blood of Jesus. I think part of what our work is about is bearing truth to that fact, and realizing that many of the micro-aggression of racism has to be addressed by people of faith standing in solidarity with one another, and then we pray and hope that it will bubble up to address the structural racism issues that we are all facing on a day-to-day basis.

BLACKWELL: All right. Pastor Mike McBride and Pastor Chris Beard --

BEARD: Pastor Mike, I couldn't agree more, that's powerful. BLACKWELL: Yes, I think that a lot of people appreciate --

BEARD: It's just so powerful. I just wanted to add, I'm sorry.

BLACKWELL: Go ahead, quickly.

BEARD: I wanted to say that is so powerful what Michael just said. William Seymour was the pastor of the Azusa Street Revival that birthed the Pentecostal movement of this century. The Assemblies of God separated itself racially from that movement, in 1914, but Dr. George Wood was one of the leaders who led the way for us to repent for the sin of racism, and that didn't happen until 1995, but it did happen.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

BEARD: And now, as we're beginning to do church together, it has implications for society, for mass incarceration, it has implications for the racialization of communities and neighborhoods and how racial fear affects policing.

I thank God for our police and their protection of us. I pray that they will function in less racial fear and as that happens, we will see less of the kind of injustices and fractures like we've seen with Eric Garner, I think it's sad, with Trayvon Martin, I know that wasn't the police.

But because we live with so much racial fear, there is a problem on our hands and our nation. And I think the church uniting cross- racially as church like heaven on earth will help make a big difference in racial fear in our country.

PAUL: Yes, we'll have to see.

BLACKWELL: Not only black lives matter but all lives matter. Pastors, thank you both.

BEARD: Right, all lives matter, absolutely.

MCBRIDE: Love you, Brother Chris, have a great day.

BEARD: Bless you, Pastor Mike.

PAUL: We'll be right back.

BLACKWELL: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: I want to get back to one of our top story, the bipartisan weekend vote on Capitol Hill approving the massive spending bill and avoiding another government shutdown for the moment.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Candy Crowley joins us now from Washington.

Candy, we saw the sabotage and infighting this weekend. Clearly, a sign of things to come in 2015.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is but, you know, most of the infighting was the most interesting. When you looked at the split in the Democratic Party between sort of the Elizabeth Warren wing, progressives, who objected to what they felt was a bank bailout in this spending bill, and you saw Republicans objecting because they don't want to fund, among other things, they don't want to fund the president's, quote, "amnesty program" as they call it.

So, most of the fireworks and a lot of the enmity was certainly intraparty and it tells you that not just next year, but 2016, both these parties are working and will be fighting to identify what they really stand for and who they are, which wing of the party becomes dominant, so much of that depends on the nominee. Nonetheless, you will see a lot of back and forth inside these parties, 2015 and 2016.

PAUL: So, give us an assessment, how do you think Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will do next month when he comes back to all of this?

CROWLEY: The one thing about the incoming majority chief, Senator McConnell, is that he is a tactician. He understands the Senate and he loves the Senate.

Now, it is on him to get the Senate to work, because both he and John Boehner, the speaker of the House, Republican speaker in the House, have to prove that Republicans can run things, and both of them have institutional pride in the House and in the Senate and in the Congress in general.

I think that it bodes well for some of the not tough stuff, but you're not going to get compromise on the really tough stuff but they'll be able to pass some stuff.

PAUL: All righty. Candy Crowley, we look forward to seeing you today. Thank you so much.

CROWLEY: Thanks.

PAUL: Stay here. "STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY" starts at the top of the hour, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

BLACKWELL: High drama at low speeds, a mother in Utah is facing charges after she leads cops on a low-speed chase. We'll tell you why these charges have been increased. We've got details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: A Utah woman facing felony charges including child endangerment after leading police on a low-speed chase with her six kids in the car. According to CNN affiliate KSTU, the woman had been reported missing and she may have been suffering from mental illness they say. Her children are now in the custody of her husband and her parents.

BLACKWELL: Wow. I mean, they are OK physically but they're definitely going to be some scars from going on that escapade.

Thanks so much for starting your morning with us.

PAUL: Yes, we hope you go out and make some great memories today.

Stock around here, "INSIDE POLITICS WITH JOHN KING" starts right now. Stay close.