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House GOP Passes Debt Limit Bill, Hopes to Force Biden to Negotiate; Now, Husband of Accused of Murdering Wife to Appear in Court; Hunter Biden Lawyers Meet with Justice Department. Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired April 27, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Kevin McCarthy just passed his toughest test yet as speaker, but his drive to keep House Republicans in line is about to hit a brick wall. The fight over raising the debt ceiling agreement is no further along but speeding ever closer to catastrophic default on the nation's debt. What is President Biden's next move? We're live at the White House.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Republican lawmakers across the country introducing bills restricting access to gender-affirming care, a new effort this morning to fight these bans.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: He's accused of killing and dismembering his wife. Soon, Brian Walshe is expected to appear in a Massachusetts court for his arraignment. We are following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: This hour, we are starting on Capitol Hill. Kevin McCarthy, he pulled it off. On Wednesday, House Republicans passed a bill that would raise the nation's $31.4 trillion debt limit by an additional $1.5 trillion. But to do that, Republicans wanted spending cuts. Because in this bill to passed include repealing green energy tax credits, ending student loan forgiveness and killing new funding for the IRS.

The non-partisan congressional budget office says that the bill would trim government deficits by $4.8 trillion over ten years.

The final vote in the House was 217 to 215, with four Republicans voting against the bill, which you add it all together, that's just the right number for Republicans to still pull it off and pass it.

Despite that success, we are no closer to resolving this crisis. This bill has no chance of passing the Democratic-led Senate and President Biden has repeatedly said that he will not negotiate on the debt ceiling. Speaker McCarthy, he's challenging the president to change that position. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (D-CA): So, what's changed, Mr. President? You've gone so far as you won't even negotiate to put America in debt? That's not how the leader of the free world should act. That's not how American wants you to act.

You said at the very beginning we had to show you a plan, even though the Democrat had shown no plan. Not only that we show you a plan, we're the only one to pass a plan. So, I think it's up to you now, whether the economy goes in any travel, it's you, because the Republican raised the debt limit, you have not.

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BULDUAN: Oh, the public posturing before the actual negotiating.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is live at the White House with details on this. Arlette, what are you hearing from President Biden, from the White House about this today?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, for the time being, the White House has not budged from its position that President Biden wants to see a clean debt ceiling increase. But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had really hoped that passing this plan in the House with his Republican support that he would bring President Biden to the negotiating table, but so far, we have not seen any movement on that front.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said the bill is dead on arrival in the Senate, and the president yesterday, just before the bill was passed, reiterated that he does not plan to negotiate when it comes to the debt ceiling though he is open to conversations about the budget.

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JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I am happy to meet with McCarthy but not on whether or not the debt limit gets extended. That's not negotiable.

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SAENZ: Now, instead of the actual talks between the two leaders, what we have seen the White House engaging in is trying to point out some of the cuts that this plan from McCarthy and Republicans would make, including things like food assistant programs, as you talked about clean energy credits as well.

But it is comes as the clock is ticking towards that so called X date, the date were people expects that the U.S. could default on its debt. Recent analysis has shown that that date could occur as early as June.

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We are waiting to hear from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is very soon expected to provide an update for when they believed that that might be hit, but it all comes at a very precarious moment as a potential default could lead to catastrophic consequences for the economy. So, we will be watching to see whether President Biden might make any moves when it comes to this latest bill that was passed by the House. But for the time being, the White House has insisted that they only want to have a clean debt ceiling passed.

BULDUAN: As we've seen done many times before in multiple administrations, Republican and Democrat. Arlette, thank you. John?

BERMAN: All right, Kate.

We're joined now by Independent Senator Angus King and Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Thank you both so much for being with us together. And you were part of a new bipartisan effort for Supreme Court ethics reform, which we will get to in just a minute.

But, first, I want to hear from you both on the debt ceiling. Senator Murkowski, you say, there needs to be discussions between President Biden and Speaker McCarthy, but discussions about what exactly? Cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, a quid pro quo?

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): Well, I think we've seen that the House has advanced a proposal. It passed. I think the president needs to take a look at that. Keep in mind it has not even been 24 hours since this measure has moved through. So, let's not declare this dead.

What has to happen are conversations, discussions between the speaker and the president, and real discussions, not discussions that are held through the media right now. The two of them need to sit down. They need to talk about how we're going to move forward, because I think, I hope, that everyone agrees that this country cannot default on our debt, period.

BERMAN: And, Senator King, I'll ask you the same questions, discussion about what? Because you say, there should have to be a quid pro quo. The debt ceiling should be raised as a matter of course.

SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): Well, there should be discussion, but they should be in context of the budget negotiations, that's what really this all about. The debt ceiling should not be used as a leverage and threaten the, really, a catastrophic problem for our entire economy. The debt ceiling was raised three times during the Trump administration without a great deal of excitement and we ought to do it again.

This isn't about -- somebody, one of the leaders in the House yesterday said, we're not going to give Joe Biden a blank check. That's a misstatement of what this is all about. This is not about future spending. This is about whether we pay bills we've already incurred. At the end of the month, you don't balance your checkbook by tearing up your credit card bill, you pay it. And not do that would just, as I say, be catastrophic.

So, yes, we need discussions but that's what budget negotiations are all about and let's have those discussions, but not in the context of threatening a financial catastrophe on this country and indeed a lot of the world. BERMAN: Senator Murkowski, just very quickly, I saw you nodding when Senator King said there shouldn't be an argument about giving President Biden a blank check. What were you nodding about?

MURKOWSKI: It's not about a blank check. And, again, when the rhetoric gets amped up, it's hard to focus on what are we trying to accomplish here. So, let's cool some of that down. Let's have the conversation.

And we have to say what we have to say in public, unfortunately, but the reality is, is these discussions must go on. They need to be at the highest level and they need to be sooner than later. This X date, whatever that date may be, it's our reality.

To Senator King's point, we have obligations that we have to pay up on. So, how we do that without avoiding any kind of catastrophe here? This is the hard job of leadership, quite honestly.

BERMAN: Senator King, I want to ask you about this bipartisan Supreme Court ethics reform measure that you are introducing together. Now, this would call for the Supreme Court, within a year, to write its own code of conduct. It would call on the Supreme Court to name an individual to handle complaints for code violations and it would give the Supreme Court authority to initiate investigations if a justice violated that code.

You say, Senator King, you want to help the Supreme Court help itself, but didn't the court just tell us it doesn't want to help itself? Did Justice Roberts, the chief justice, just sent a letter that all nine judges there signed saying, we've got this, we don't need to change anything?

KING: Yes. And the letter was really, I think, just didn't meet the moment. I don't understand why the chief justice is resisting this. As you characterized it, our bill, very accurately, it's a three-page bill, it's very simple.

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We're not prescribing what the rules should be for the Supreme Court. We're just saying, have some rules, and tell us what they are.

And, by the way, there is nothing radical about this idea. Every judge in the country except the nine justices of the Supreme Court are subject to the canons of the judicial ethics. They got it -- in our bill, we say they have a year to put this together. They could probably do it in a weekend, because all they have to do is take the federal canons of judicial ethics, which were already in place for every federal judge in the country and apply it to the Supreme Court. I am trying my motivation and I think Senator Murkowski is, we're trying to help the Supreme Court to rebuild public confidence in it as an institution. And like I say, we're trying to help them help themselves, and this really an institutional move to shore up public confidence. Otherwise, this is going to continue to fester.

BERMAN: Senator Murkowski, what specifically needs to change or what would change with your legislation, for instance, Justice Clarence Thomas? Would he be allowed to accept the gifts that he accepted without disclosing them, like he did?

MURKOWSKI: Again, to Senator King's point, our legislation does not prescribe what that code of conduct should look like. We provide that to the Supreme Court to make that determination. And that's why, in my view, it's relatively benign in terms of how the Legislative Branch reaches into the Judicial Branch to tell them what to do. We're not doing that.

What we are trying to do here, though, is to help rebuild I think some of the credibility gap, the integrity gap that we're starting to see right now. When our institutions are not viewed as fair, as transparent, even if you are the nine black robed justices sitting on the highest court of the land, people want to know that there are protocols, that there are rules, that there are standards and that there is a level of transparency there so that they can basically count on that.

So, again, this is not radical legislation. This allows the court to determine what their code of conduct will be. It will be available for all to see. But why push back on this and say, no, no, no, what we have in place is good enough now? I think if you ask the American public if they think that some of what they have seen of late is okay, they would say, no.

And they would further go to the point that they thought that the Supreme Court also had a judicial conduct of code, as does every other level of the judiciary in this country, as does the executive branch, as does the legislative branch. So, I think what we're doing is just bringing the Supreme Court to where most Americans expected they were with the judicial code of conduct.

BERMAN: You're doing it together. It's great to have both you, Senator Murkowski, Senator King, together. Welcome to CNN News Central, from the two northern corners of American. I appreciate it, both of you.

Sara?

SIDNER: All right. We're looking at live pictures just behind me of a Massachusetts courtroom where a Massachusetts man accused of killing and dismembering his wife is appearing. It has been almost five months since Brian Walshe's wife, Ana Walshe, went missing. Brian Walshe was indicted last month on three charges related to his wife's death, including murder. Prosecutors have not said whether Ana's body or any remains have been found in this case.

CNN's Jean Casarez is following this story for us. I am sure you are watching what is happening in court now. What are we expecting to learn today?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here is what we are just learning right now. He has pleaded not guilty to the indictment, the formal indictment. And that is why this whole proceeding is taking place, because now this case is in the superior court in Massachusetts, which will be the trial court.

And he was just read the actual formal charges against him. Let's show everybody what they are, first-degree murder of his wife, Ana Walshe, second, misleading a police investigation. Remember, he, according to prosecutors, told investigators he had reported his wife missing, but documentation show he never did that. Actually, her work in the Washington, D.C., area did. And, three, improper conveyance to a human body, it is believed that he dismembered his wife.

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Now, there is so much information that came out prior to this. And today, there may be an issue of bail. This is where we could learn even more. But let's see what we learned before, because they don't have a body. And that is a critical issue right there because juries want to see the cause of death, they want to know that there is a body.

But here is what prosecutors revealed early on. They said that they found in trash receptacles, because they monitored him taking trash bags to dumpsters outside of apartment complexes. They found towels and rags and cleaning agents. They also said that there was Home Depot surveillance video of him pushing a cart with some these supplies such as Tyvek suit, tape, gloves, and then also they found a hatchet in the shopping cart, a hacksaw and cutting shears.

Prior to this, there were Google searches the morning she disappeared of how to dismember a body, is a hatchet the way to go. But remember, his defense attorney said early on, this is a weak case because they're showing so much alleged evidence they have. They really don't have what's important to the prosecution of this case.

SIDNER: It's all circumstantial evidence, but you and I both know that there have been many successful prosecutions with circumstantial evidence. The fact that they do not have the body in this case is, as you mentioned, something that is important.

And as we are watching this, it's still happening right now, we are seeing a very close picture, a live picture of the suspect in this case on his wife. Thank you so much for all those details, Jean Casarez. Kate?

BOLDUAN: A big meeting at the Justice Department, lawyers for Hunter Biden sitting down with DOJ officials, as he is still under criminal investigation. What we know about that meeting.

And transgender rights in the spotlight. Republican state lawmakers across the country making moves to restrict the medical care that transgender youth are allowed to receive. We will be right back.

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BERMAN: A high stakes meeting at the Department of Justice. CNN on the scene as lawyers for Hunter Biden walked in for a meeting with agency officials on Wednesday. They were there to discuss the long- running criminal investigation into the president's son.

CNN Senior Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid is with us this morning. Paula, what are you learning about this?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we have learned that Hunter Biden's legal team requested this meeting in recent weeks seeking an update on the status of this long-running investigation into the president's son. They were invited to meet with Justice Department officials yesterday.

And our colleagues, Aileen Graef and Steve Williams, caught that exclusive video of Hunter Biden's legal team heading into Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. We have learned they have met with the officials from the tax division, as well as officials from the U.S. attorney's office in Delaware. Of course, it's the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, David Weiss, who has been overseeing this case, he stayed on after former President Trump left office to continue overseeing this politically sensitive probe.

But at this point, it's unclear what the status of the case is. We know our colleague, Evan Perez, reported last summer that prosecutors had whittled down potential charges to a few tax crimes and a charge of false statements related to the purchase of a gun where Biden allegedly did not disclose his issues with addiction.

But since then, this is the first public event, the first public occurrence related to this investigation since then. And right now, he obviously has not been charged and it's unclear if he will. Both representatives for Hunter Biden and the Justice Department had declined to comment on yesterday's meeting.

BERMAN: Interesting. It will be curious to know if we find out what went on behind those doors. Paula Reid, great reporting, thank you so much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Let's go to this right now. There is a trend across the country right now, Republican state lawmakers pushing to restrict the medical care that transgender youth are allowed to receive. The Human Rights Campaign says by its latest count, there are more than 110 state bills that are currently in the works, barring transgender people from accessing gender-affirming care.

Here is some of what is happening across the country. In Tennessee, for example, the Justice Department is challenging a state bill to prohibit gender-affirming care for minors. In a complaint file just yesterday by the Justice Department, DOJ says that the legislation denies necessary medical care to youth based solely on who they are. And the DOJ says that it is a direct violation of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause and they want the court to block the law from taking effect on July 1st.

In neighboring Missouri, a state judge has temporarily blocked the state's limits on gender-affirming care for minors and adults, but that is temporary move. The judge says that she wants more time to review briefs and announced that a decision could be made by next Monday. As medical care for transgender youth divides state legislatures more and more, we're seeing former Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, who is also a father to a transgender, he has weighed in. Listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you have to say to some of those state legislators who maybe have your jersey in their closets who came and brought kids to your game to cheer for you?

DWYANE WADE, FORMER NBA STAR: You know, that is another reason why I don't live in the state. People don't know that I have to make decisions for my family, not just person individual decisions. I mean, obviously, the taxes is great, having Wade County is great, but my family would not be accepted or feel comfortable there.

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And so that is one of the reasons why I don't live there.

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BOLDUAN: Now, in Montana, lawmakers in the statehouse have taken the step of blocking transgender Representative Zooey Zephyr from the House floor for the remainder of the session. Listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clerk, we have a vote.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Chair, 63 representatives voted aye, 34 voted no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The speaker has been upheld.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guests will come to order.

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BOLDUAN: CNN's Lucy Kafanov joins us now with more on this. Lucy, what can or is Zooey Zephyr going to do now?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, her options to fight back are effectively to keep showing up to do her job despite the constraints imposed upon her by her Republican colleagues. Montana House lawmakers reconvened at the start of this hour. They have about 43 bills setup for debate so far, and Representative Zooey Zephyr's voice will not be heard on any of them as a result of last night's vote along party lines to cast her out. You heard those gasps of surprise.

She was on CNN this morning, saying that she plans to return to the House with her head held high. She plans to find a place to sit with her colleagues, discuss the various bills, but she won't be allowed on the House floor. She won't be able to speak out. She'll have to vote remotely. Yesterday was actually the first time we heard her on the House floor since last week when she told her Republican colleagues they'd have, quote, blood on their hands if they banned gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth. Take a listen to her yesterday.

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STATE REP. ZOOEY ZEPHYR (D-MT): -- rose up and said there is blood on your hands, I was not being hyperbolic. I was speaking to the real consequences of the votes that we as legislatures take in this body. And when the speaker asks me to apologize on behalf of decorum, what he is really asking me to do is to be silent when my community is facing bills that get us killed.

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KAFANOV: And what she was referring to, Kate, is studies that have shown alarming rates of suicides amongst transgender teens, especially when they are not able to get gender-affirming care.

Now, Republicans, her Republican colleagues justified this motion to bar her as effectively punishment for what they said were her breaches of decorum and House rules. Take a listen.

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STATE REP. SUE VINTON (R-MT): This member did not accede to the order of the speaker to come to order and finally to clear the floor, and instead encouraged the continuation of the disruption of this body, placing legislators, staff and even our pages at risk of harm.

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KAFANOV: Now, this disruption was actually her supporters chanting, let her speak, when she was silenced for several consecutive days. And I should add that several rights groups have come out to condemn this vote bar her, describing this as effectively anti-democratic. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Lucy, thank you for following this, thanks for the update. Sara?

SIDNER: The DOJ is looking through 13,000 pieces of evidence. It's part of their review of the botched law enforcement response to the Uvalde school massacre. They are expected to publish a sweeping report.

And this morning, a phone call between top U.S. and Ukrainian generals just as Russia unleashes more attacks on Ukraine.

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