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Pelosi and Mnuchin Discuss Bill; Airline Workers Face Job Cuts; Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) is Interviewed about Trump's Comments, Elections, Coronavirus and a Stimulus Plan; Suspect Charged in Ambush in L.A. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 01, 2020 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:30:07]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we received this news this morning. Another 837,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week. And later today, Speaker Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, they're meeting again to try to cut a deal on another round of stimulus. A vote is expected in the House.

You know, Poppy, those numbers seem sort of old news at this point, but that 800,000, it's more than any single week than during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Yes. Yes.

SCIUTTO: You and I talk about this all the time. It's people with families.

HARLOW: I mean you're so right. And you know how I feel about this, that Congress just has not done its job to not get something together here.

Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill with the latest.

It has been months now. Are they going to reach a deal?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That is still a major question. It's still an uphill task to get something across the finish line to the president's desk because the two sides, while they're closer together, there are a lot of dynamics that they need to maneuver in order to get something through.

On one, the price tag. They are moving closer between what speaker Pelosi is now calling for, $2.2 trillion, and what Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said that the White House is now open to. The White House has moved up after the president has indicated that he wants to move -- spend more money. They're around the $1.5 trillion, $1.6 trillion range. So they're moving closer.

But Senate Republicans are not on that same page. Senate Republicans pushed for a $500 billion plan that the Democrats bought in early September. And Senate Republican Whip John Thune told me yesterday that the higher you go in the dollar amount, the more Republican support you're going to lose. So they have to thread that needle.

Then they have to get into the details, and there are still a lot of sticking points, how much they want to spend for schools. Those $600 a week in jobless benefits, will those also be extended? Will they provide more money for election funding that the -- that the speaker has been pushing for? Those are among the major sticking points, not to mention state and local government aid. Democrats are down now to -- pushing for $400 billion or so of that. They initially pushed for $1 trillion The White House didn't want to spend any money on that.

So these discussions will continue. There's a little bit more optimism that the two sides can come together now that they're actually talking after weeks of not even having any negotiations and they're in the same general universe as a price tag between the administration and the speaker. But, guys, watch the Democrats today, they may push their own bill, $2.2 trillion, just to push their own bill along party lines. Republicans won't go for that. They do that, that's a sign that talks are not going in a favorable direction.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: Well, it's always good to be in the same universe when you're trying to get something done for the American people.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: We're glad they've reached that.

Manu, thank you very much.

Add to this devastating economic news. Today looks like it will be the worst day of job losses in the history of aviation.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: More than 50,000 U.S. airline workers look like they'll be out of a job today after Congress has failed to extend the paycheck support program.

SCIUTTO: Yes, something we didn't even see in the wake of 9/11.

HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Of that 50,000, American and United Airlines cutting a combined 32,000 jobs.

Pete Muntean has been covering this.

And, Pete, you know, you heard -- heard me with the American CEO yesterday. He held out some hope that if there was some explicit progress on The Hill, they might be able to delay this. Didn't see that, so it's happening today.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's a bit of a glimmer of hope, as you mentioned, Jim. But the reality is really setting in for these tens of thousands of employees who lobbied along with their unions and their airlines on Congress all summer for another $25 billion to avoid this October 1st furlough cliff by another six months.

But what's so interesting now is that airlines are telling employees that if Congress gets its act together within the next few days, it could reverse these furloughs and bring people back from the unemployment line.

Here are the new numbers from airlines overnight. American Airlines says it's furloughing 19,000 people effective today. United Airlines, 13,342. When you add those numbers together, along with other smaller and regional airlines, 50,000 people are being furloughed industrywide effective today. They are pilots, they are mechanics, they are gate agents, they are flight attendants, like Angela Frid. She is a United Airlines flight attendant out of Newark. She was hired only two years ago, but I'm told that now that these furloughs have taken hold, the most junior flight attendant at United Airlines was hired in 1999.

Here's what Angela said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA FRID, AFA UNITED FLIGHT ATTENDANT: It's all about to be taken away. I don't know if I'm going to be able to find a new job soon with the job market that we're working with. I'm going to be losing my health care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Here is the new statement that United Airlines sent to its employees late last night, giving them a tiny bit of hope that all of this could be changed in an instant.

[09:35:00]

It says, in a continuing effort to give the federal government every opportunity to act, we have made clear to the leadership in the administration, Congress and our union partners, that we can reverse the furlough process if the CARES Act is extended within the next few days. We will see if that hope turns into false hope.

But, you know, it is really hard to wrap your head around the totality of these furloughs that are happening today when you think about the numbers just at American Airlines. It's enough people to fill the Capital One Arena here in Washington, D.C. As you mentioned, this could be the worst single day of job losses in the entire history of aviation.

SCIUTTO: Listen, these are people you meet on airplanes, right, folks watching today. They're the flight attendants, they're the people who welcome you on board and people who have faced a fair amount of risk, right, flying in planes in the midst of a pandemic.

HARLOW: Oh, yes. SCIUTTO: Pete Muntean, let's hope those slivers of hope turn to real hope. Thanks very much.

Well, the other story we're following this morning, the president making racist, xenophobic attacks just hours after he failed to condemn white supremacy during the presidential debates. The target, a woman of color, a sitting member of the United States Congress.

So what do members of his own party say about this? We're going to ask the number three Republican in the Senate, next.

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[09:40:34]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

The president's refusal to clearly condemn, in no uncertain terms, white supremacists on the debate stage and since then has drawn criticism from Democrats, even a rare rebuke from the Senate's top Republican. Senator Mitch McConnell called it unacceptable. Senator Tim Scott, the lone black Republican in the Senate, says he believes President Trump misspoke and should correct it.

Well, I'm joined now by Republican Senator John Barrasso from Capitol Hill. He's the number one -- number three, rather, senator in the GOP.

Senator, thanks so much for joining the broadcast again.

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): Great to be with you, Jim. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Trump is the leader of your party. You've endorsed him to be re-elected. You know the perilous moment in this country in terms of race relations. I just wonder, must the president say, in no uncertain terms, these groups aren't right. I explicitly call them out and condemn them. Should we hear those words from the president?

BARRASSO: I think we should hear them from the president and from every American. I certainly condemn what we've been seeing in terms of white supremacy, in terms of racism, anti-Semitism, all of those things. I stand with Senator McConnell and Senator Tim Scott with the comments that they've made.

SCIUTTO: Good for you.

I want to move on now to the election, because, well, we're just about a month out from the election. The director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, of course appointed by this president, he testified under oath there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud, that the FBI -- you know, he's the top law enforcement official in the country, says it's seen no evidence.

You've seen the president's claims every day that this is going to be a fraudulent vote. Oftentimes, and even on the debate stage, citing things that just aren't factually true. I just want to ask you, who do you believe on the integrity of this upcoming elections and the prevalence of fraud? Do you believe the FBI director or do you believe the president?

BARRASSO: Well, I'm not going to say -- take a choice of that -- that you put a choice that way. I believe the American people want a fair election. I know that it's a state by state process. I'm very happy with the way things are done in Wyoming. We have many people vote by mail-in ballots, as well as those who vote early and vote in person.

But I will tell you, in other states, there are some concerns as laws are being changed, adjusted, and courts are ruling. You want to make sure that people vote, the ballots come in on time and those votes are all counted. And you do get concerned about some states where we already hear of ballots being found that have been discarded. So there is some concern, but I think widespread fraud, I have not seen evidence of that at all at this point.

SCIUTTO: Do you worry then when the sitting president repeats claims of widespread fraud? By the way, he doesn't say there have been a few ballots here and there. He says this will not be a free and fair election very publically to his many millions of followers and to people at his rallies, et cetera.

What threat does that pose to the vote, because you're going to have people in this country who don't accept the results of this election potentially?

BARRASSO: Well, I believe it will be a fair and free election and I would encourage everyone to vote and do it early, do it on time, do it on Election Day. Whichever is the best way for you to vote, I would say vote.

SCIUTTO: OK.

You know, last night, I'm not sure if you saw this, but we watched as the president was at a rally in Minneapolis and he took aim, you know, again, in the midst of waiting for him to say, as you have said just there, we will not stand for white supremacy, we will not stand for xenophobia, et cetera, that the president attacked a sitting member of Congress, right, an elected member of Congress, Ilhan Omar, who also happens to be a woman of color.

What's your reaction when you see that?

BARRASSO: Well, I didn't see that and don't know exactly what you're referring to, but there's no reason for this -- the kind of attacks and insults and the things that we saw in the debate the other night I thought were discouraging. I think we -- we -- you want to be able to have a civil discourse, talk about the future direction of the country, where we need to go in terms of getting the pandemic behind us, in terms of getting the economy moving forward. And when we're talking about other things, we're being distracted from what I think most people that I talk to and hear from in Wyoming want to hear more about.

[09:45:02]

SCIUTTO: To your credit, Senator, and I'll remind our viewers, you're a doctor. You've been very explicit on this air about steps that people need to take to protect themselves and others, wear a mask, for instance. You know, you haven't hemmed and hawed, you said, wear a mask, it makes sense.

The president is holding more of these rallies. I mean they're outdoors but they've got people packed together. They're not socially distancing. Most people are not wearing masks.

As a doctor, would you advise your patients to go to one of those rallies and not take those precautions?

BARRASSO: Well, you want to take precautions and outdoors is certainly a lot safer. But, you're right, I have my mask here right with me.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BARRASSO: I have it with me at all times. People in Wyoming, you go to the grocery store, people have masks on. And even though when you're out and about you don't necessarily need it if you're spread out from other people.

We know what works in terms of lowering the risk of coronavirus. It's social distancing, it's wearing a mask and it's proper hygiene. And I'd continue, as a doctor, to recommend that until we get the vaccine and a broad distribution of the vaccine. And that's the way we get this completely behind us.

SCIUTTO: Thank you for being explicit.

Then, is it a mistake for the president to hold those rallies without making that same, explicit statement that you have here?

BARRASSO: Well, it was -- it's -- it's advisable for people to follow that advice when they go to the rallies and I would recommend that for people attending to take common sense precautions that we know work.

SCIUTTO: OK.

You're aware of the continuing spread between the Democratic and the Republican position on a new stimulus plan, though it is getting closer, $2.2 million -- trillion, rather, from the Democrats, about 1.5 from -- from Steve Mnuchin. That's at least within the same galaxy, right, where the difference was further apart.

Would you be willing to go higher for that to vote for something closer, maybe perhaps just below $2 trillion, to get help to worker, particularly on a day when you have tens of thousands of airline workers who have now lost their jobs?

BARRASSO: Well, there are people that still need help, people that are still out of work. You want to make sure that there's paycheck protection money available for them. We want to make sure that our kids can safely get back to school so they don't fall further behind. And we need to make sure there's money for testing and the vaccine.

So the question is not just the cost, it's also the content of the legislation.

And the list that I've seen continues to include many things, Jim, that are unrelated to coronavirus. When I look at the -- what I've seen come out, and I think people are actually working together in good faith. We need to eliminate all the things from the bill that have to do with, you know, tax breaks for millionaires in California and New York and some of the things that you talk -- they mentioned jobs a lot less time in the bill than they mentioned cannabis and banking for people dealing in the marijuana trade. I mean there are just things that need to get out of that.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BARRASSO: If we can just stay focused on kids back to school, people back to work and the disease, I think we can get to a solution.

SCIUTTO: All right, well, hopeful words that maybe there's an opening there.

Senator Jim Barrasso, we appreciate you coming on. You're always welcome on this broadcast.

BARRASSO: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: And we'll --

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[09:52:34]

SCIUTTO: Welcome news here. A suspect has now been charged in the ambush shooting of two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies that, of course, made national headlines.

HARLOW: Police are now revealing that the suspect was already in their custody for a separate incident.

Our Stephanie Elam has more.

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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A brazen ambush of law enforcement that shocked the nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was a cowardly act.

ELAM: Two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies shot in cold blood as they sat in their cruiser outside of a transit center.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have found our suspect.

ELAM: Now the sheriff's department says it nabbed the suspect, 36- year-old Deonte Lee Murray, after connecting the dots to a crime on September 1st.

JACKIE LACEY, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Murray was arrested two weeks ago and charged in connection with a carjacking of a man driving a Mercedes-Benzes in Compton, and he was charged with also shooting the driver of that Mercedes.

ELAM: That car would turn out to be key. On September 12th, the deputies were ambushed. The female deputy going to great lengths to save her partner's life. During their investigation, officials identified the vehicle in surveillance video from around the scene.

CAPT. KENT WEGENER, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: The case of the carjacking was identified. At suspect was subsequently identified and an arrest warrant was obtained for him.

ELAM: Then, on September 15th, LESD deputies found the suspect and attempted to stop him.

WEGENER: The suspect fled in a 2006 Toyota Solara, which major crimes detectives pursued. During that pursuit, the suspect threw a pistol from his car. That pistol was recovered and held as evidence.

ELAM: After a more than ten-hour manhunt, officials say the suspect was finally arrested. The black Mercedes was also located.

While this was ongoing, however, law enforcement was saying the suspect had nothing to do with the ambush.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva on CNN's Erin Burnett "Out Front."

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR, "OUT FRONT": Is this connected to the manhunt for the gunman?

SHERIFF ALEX VILLANUEVA: No, that is a separate carjacking suspect.

ELAM: Through testing officials determined the recovered pistol was used in the ambush and was also connected to the suspect.

WEGENER: When I said the gun matched, both ballistically and forensically, that was days it later, days after his arrest. It would have been irresponsible for us to put his name in the -- in the papers as being the guy we're looking at because that's irrefutable.

ELAM: On top of the charges related to the carjacking, Murray is now also charged with two felony counts of pre-meditated attempted murder of a police officer.

[09:55:07]

If convicted, he could face life in prison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: And, Jim and Poppy, just to let you know that this suspect did make his first court appearance in this case yesterday. He pled not guilty. His bail is set at more than $6.1 million.

It's also worth noting that those two deputies, according to the sheriff in his update, he says that they are both home, recovering, and that he does expect that they will return to work once they heal, which is completely amazing when you take a look at that surveillance video and look at how closely they were shot in that car. It's just amazing.

HARLOW: Yes. Yes.

SCIUTTO: He shot towards their heads. I mean a remarkable recovery and quick work by the police there.

Stephanie Elam, thanks very much.

HARLOW: Well, ahead, a devastating day for the airline industry. Thousands of jobs cut. Delta's CEO is with us, ahead.

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