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House GOP Hardliners Balk On Bipartisan Spending Plan; Trump In Court For Closing Arguments In NY Civil Fraud Trial; Belichick, Robert Kraft To Hold News Conference At Noon. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired January 11, 2024 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is expected to take first steps today on a bipartisan stopgap spending bill. It will amount to a band-aid. It's aimed at averting a partial government shutdown that could be triggered next week with the chance of a full government shutdown two weeks later.

But make no mistake. There's no grand agreement on a final deal for funding the government. But even this short-term move, just to keep talks going is a hard sell in the House for Speaker Mike Johnson. Hardline Republicans balking and pushing back. Listen to some of these comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ANDY OGLES (R-TN): Now it's a fight. And I want -- I want the speaker to start fighting for us and fighting for the American people, which means we have to close the border.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Seems like you guys are sort of banging your head against the wall with some of these folks.

REP. FRENCH HILL (R-AR): I'm suffering. I've got a traumatic brain injury from banging my head against the wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Manu Raju has the very latest. He's joining us now. Manu, you spoke with Speaker Johnson. What is he saying?

RAJU: He's trying to appeal to those very same hardliners and say that, look, we have a narrow majority -- a razor-thin majority, and we can only do what we can do given the fact that Democrats control the Senate. There's a Democrat in the White House.

But that problem for him is that is precisely the argument that then- Speaker McCarthy made to the same group of hardliners. Ultimately cutting a spending deal. Ultimately getting pushed out as a speaker in historic fashion. And then leaving Mike Johnson with having to deal with funding the government. Johnson essentially cutting a similar deal. Almost the same deal that McCarthy himself caught last spring on funding levels. That is what's causing all the problems at the moment.

And when I caught up with Speaker Jack -- Johnson, I asked him if he's concerned he's facing the same fate as Kevin McCarthy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Are you worried that one of these guys is going to make a move on you?

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): No, I'm not worried about that at all. I just met with all those guys. They're close friends of mine. And we agree on the principles.

Look, I am a lifelong hardcore conservative. I want to get as many policy wins as we can. I want to advance the ball as far as we can.

But the reality is we have a small majority. So, in a -- in a situation like that, you're not going to get everything you want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And the questions that that will be enough to appeal to those very same members. Those members of the House Freedom Caucus, the far- right block right now are meeting with Speaker Johnson in his office trying to figure out if there's a way to move ahead. Because what they did yesterday is they took procedural steps to essentially sink what's known on Capitol Hill as a rule.

That essentially scuttled legislation moving forward on the floor. That is rarely done but it's been done with increased frequency in this Congress to protest majority when members are not happy with the way their leadership is dealing with things. At the moment, they're trying to figure out if there's any sort of accommodation from those very same members who simply have stopped all legislation in his tracks.

And of course, Kate, the big question, can they avoid a government shutdown by the end of next week? That is what Speaker Johnson is struggling to try to avoid. But can they avoid one, given the demands from the right flank for new border restrictions, as well as deeper spending cuts? That is a big question. And then with days here, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And it's -- the comments from Speaker Johnson to you right then are eerily similar to what we would hear from Kevin McCarthy over and over again during the funding fight that eventually led to his ouster. It's good to see you, Manu. Thank you.

RAJU: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: First Lady Jill Biden is speaking out against Donald Trump and House Republicans, and also coming to the defense of her son, Hunter. In a new interview, she did not hold back when it comes to the efforts underway to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JILL BIDEN, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: I think what they are doing to Hunter is cruel. And I'm really proud of how Hunter has rebuilt his life after addiction. You know, I'm -- I love my son and it's had -- it's hurt my grandchildren. And that's what I'm so concerned about that it's affecting their lives as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Her rare public comments about her son come as Hunter Biden is set to appear in a federal court in California today. CNN's Evan Perez is in Los Angeles. He's tracking this. Evan, remind everyone what this is all about today.

[11:35:08]

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, this is a case that the prosecutors -- federal prosecutors have brought against Hunter Biden. They say that he avoided paying his taxes, $1.4 million over a period 2016 through 2019. These charges as they're charged right now, he's facing up to 17 years in prison.

Of course, we don't expect that it'll be anything like that if he is found guilty. What Prosecutors allege or they accused Hunter Biden, they say that during the -- during this period, he was taking a lot of money, millions of dollars from clients, both in Ukraine and in China. And he wasn't spending any of that money paying his taxes.

They say that he was using it to fund a very -- an -- a -- an elaborate lifestyle. Including paying for exotic cars, and exotic dancers. A lot of personal problems during the time that he was struggling with substance abuse.

Hunter Biden, for his part, says that he paid those taxes. And he says and his lawyer -- legal team says that the only reason why he's facing these charges at all is because Republicans have been putting pressure on the Justice Department. You remember, Kate, just a few months ago back in July, Hunter Biden was minutes away from sealing a plea deal on these very same charges.

He was going to be able to get away with only a misdemeanor -- pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors. And now, here we are. He's facing these charges here as well as another set of charges in Delaware, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Evan, thank you so much. That's all going to get away in just a few hours. We're watching for updates on that one as well.

Coming up for us. We're going to head back to the courthouse in New York for closing arguments are underway in Donald Trump's civil fraud trial taking a live look. The courtroom doors right there. A lot of updates coming in. We'll bring it to you next.

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[11:41:22] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, I'm John Berman along with CNN Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid. We're outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan.

You're looking at live pictures from inside that courthouse just outside the courtroom where closing arguments are now being delivered in the civil fraud trial against Donald Trump. They've been going on now for about an hour and a half. Trump's attorneys have until 12:45 to finish laying out their case. One thing we still are waiting for, Trump had asked to be part of the closing arguments himself.

He wanted to deliver part of them. The judge said no because Trump won't agree to certain conditions. There's still a small possibility Trump's team, we think, might try to sneak him in at the end.

That may be unlikely. We are watching very closely. In the meantime, Paula, lay out the case that Trump's attorneys are making right now.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So, today, closing arguments by Trump Attorney Chris Kise, just summarizing their theory of the case. He kicked it off by insisting that this is a politically motivated case that was manufactured to go after Trump to interfere with the election. He also insists that his client had no intent to defraud banks when his financial statements and misrepresented the true value of his assets.

Now, they also went after Trump's former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen. Now, Michael Cohen has played an important role in the origin story of this case. Because in 2019, he testified before Congress that Trump had lied to banks and insurance companies trying to get more favorable terms both for loans, insurance, and also taxes.

That is part of what inspired this investigation that went on for four years and has resulted in this civil case. But they also attacked Cohen pretty personally.

BERMAN: Right.

REID: Reminding people that he is a convicted liar. And even brought up an incident recently where he used AI, Artificial Intelligence, to drum up some case citations and handed them to his friend and lawyer David Schwartz. So, they really went after Michael Cohen.

And right now, they're, again, summarizing their argument, insisting that there was no harm that in fact, the bank profited from this. All a rehash. All a summary of the case that they presented over the past three months.

BERMAN: Now, the judge, Arthur Engoron, has stepped in a couple of times.

REID: Yes. We have seen him step in. The first time we saw him step in was when Kise referred to Trump as an industry expert in commercial real estate. I think intelligent minds could have a debate about whether he is considered an expert. But that's actually a technical term in court. BERMAN: Yes.

REID: So, the judge said, no, stop. He has not been qualified as an expert. There's a process. So that's a technicality.

A few other times the judge is interrupted. But, John, what I think he's doing is preserving the record for appeal. He knows whatever happens with his decision is going to be appealed almost immediately.

So, he's making sure to protect the record and interrupt every time he thinks that there's something he just needs to step in. Even though a few times it has felt pretty technical and nitpicky.

BERMAN: And as we said, Donald Trump has been sitting and listening and watching this.

REID: Yes.

BERMAN: There was an issue over the last 24 hours because Trump, they said wanted to take part in the closing arguments.

REID: Exactly. Yes.

BERMAN: The judge said you could do it so long as you don't give a campaign speech. The Trump team would not agree to that.

REID: Exactly. This is highly unusual. The reason you pay lawyers is to have them present your case, present your closing argument. But the judge was open to allowing Trump to participate but said there are going to be some guardrails here.

And for good reason because we've seen Trump during these proceedings, attack the judge, attack the district attorney, attack court staff, and use this really as a campaign event to frame himself as the victim of political persecution. So, the judge said, look, if you want to participate in these closing arguments, you have to focus on material, relevant facts, and you cannot attack your accusers. They wouldn't agree to that.

[11:45:08]

Chris Kise, his lawyer, said that was untenable. So, the judge shut the door on that possibility. We thought that they might revisit this issue. But it was interesting.

BERMAN: Yes.

REID: Chris Kise, who probably does not want his client participating --

BERMAN: Yes.

REID: Got up and just went right into his closing. And so far, Trump has not interjected or really participated at all.

BERMAN: He's got about one hour to finish delivering these closing arguments. Obviously, we're going to keep a very close eye to see if anything else happens there. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right, John, we'll get back to you guys. Thank you so much. And also, this we now have in.

The final inflation report of 2023 is out this morning showing consumer prices closed out the year with a 3.4 percent increase. So, what does that mean for the rollercoaster that was 2023 in the economy?

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is here. She has much more on this. This final report, Vanessa, tells us what?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Tells us that we've had a bumpy road. And we're going to continue to have a bumpy road. Inflation closing out the year, we have the full picture now, up 3.4 percent in the past 12 months, and up about .03 percent in December. That was a little higher than analysts were projecting.

But just look where we came from. We came from inflation at 9.1 percent in June of 2022. And in December of last -- of 2022, it was at 6.5 percent.

It's sort of like if you set a weight loss goal and you want to lose 10 pounds, the first eight pounds may be easier to lose, some water weight off, but those last two pounds, are really difficult to lose. And that sort of what we're seeing right now. You have the --

BOLDUAN: You're really speaking to a lot of us here.

YURKEVICH: You're seeing no one needs to lose 10 pounds here. But you're seeing the Fed trying to get to that two percent target rate and we're at 3.4 percent now. It's a little bit harder for them to get to that rate.

But in terms of what Americans have seen over the last year or so, food prices still up 2.7 percent on the year. And shelter rents still incredibly expensive. That accounted for half of the monthly increase that we saw in December.

Energy prices, though falling over the course of the last year, down two percent. Airline fares also coming down, 9.4 percent.

BOLDUAN: Does not feel that way.

YURKEVICH: It doesn't. But compared to where we were --

BOLDUAN: So true.

YURKEVICH: When energy prices were so high, it's better. But then motor vehicle insurance is actually up 20 percent in the last year. Probably because of all the interest rate hikes that we saw from the Federal Reserve that obviously trickles down into what people are paying for their car loans, for their student loans, and on credit cards.

But I think it's important for people to realize that when we talk about inflation cooling, we're not necessarily talking about cheaper prices. We're not going to see the prices that we saw in 2019. However, cooling inflation means that prices are just rising slower.

And that is good news. We are headed in the right direction. Will be bumpy, but that two percent target is somewhat in sight right now.

BOLDUAN: Jay Powell counting calories. It's good to see you, Vanessa. Thank you so much.

YURKEVICH: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us still. Today's news sending shockwaves across the sports world, at least the NFL. The head coach of the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick, stepping down after 24 years. More on this news from our Chief Patriot's Correspondent John Berman when we return.

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[11:52:54]

BERMAN: All right, I'm John Berman. I'm outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan where closing arguments are underway in Donald Trump's civil fraud trial. We're watching them very closely.

But there is other major developing news today. And that is after six Super Bowl titles, nine Super Bowl appearances, 24 remarkable years, Bill Belichick is stepping down as coach of the New England Patriots. Again, six Super Bowl titles, changing the lives of everyone in the greater New England area, including me. It is now over.

A news conference about to be held in Foxborough between Bill Belichick and Patriots owner Bob Kraft. Let's get right to Andy Scholes for this monumental, historic development. Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, John. And you were 27 years old when Bill Belichick came into your life as your head coach of your NFL football team, the New England Patriots. And from then on, all you knew in your life was basically winning because that's all Belichick and the Patriots did, won 17 division titles and went to nine Super Bowls.

They won six of them. Belichick, you know has more Super Bowl titles than any other coach in NFL history. It was just a legendary run.

You know, the last four years without Tom Brady obviously have not gone as well. This past season four and 13, his worst record as a head coach in the league. And you know that looks clamoring. They got the fan base going saying can he still be the general manager and pick the players and be the head coach. But it appears here in the next few minutes when the press conference starts that they will be announcing that Belichick will no longer be the head coach of the New England Patriots.

But, John, I don't think he is done coaching by any means. You know, he is 15 wins away from being the NFL's all-time winning as coach. He's just behind Don Shula. 15 wins away from doing that.

So, where's he going to go next? The betting favorite actually for his next job is the Atlanta Falcons. And that would be quite interesting considering he was at the hands of the Falcons' worst defeat, that 28 to three comeback in the Super Bowl.

[11:55:00]

BERMAN: I remember that one. That was one of the six Super Bowl rings they won. It would be amazing.

And I'm not necessarily a good way to see Bill Belichick coaching another team. The last few years of the Patriots, not so great, but I think we're all going to choose to remember the six Super Bowl titles, Andy.

Because as you said, we've known nothing but winning. But before that, it was a whole lot of losing with the Patriots. And now, they've turned into this unbelievable franchise.

Thank you so much, Andy, for that. I know you'll be monitoring that news conference very, very closely.

BOLDUAN: The most perfectly appropriately biased report I have ever heard. Not you, Andy. Obviously, not you. John, we have no time. Do you use -- would you root for the -- for Atlanta if Bill Belichick went there, or are you Patriots forever?

BERMAN: I would not root for Atlanta if they were the last team on earth. No. I'm just kidding. No. I root for the Patriots. I root for the Patriots. I'm just going to root for the Patriots.

BOLDUAN: I just had to confirm.

BERMAN: It doesn't matter who the coach is.

BOLDUAN: I just --

BERMAN: I'm on -- I'm all in.

BOLDUAN: I just had to confirm.

BERMAN: All right.

BOLDUAN: All right. Thank you all. Now, come back to this -- come back to the studio, John. Thank you, guys.

And thank you all so much for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "INSIDE POLITICS" is next.

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