Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Georgia Senate Runoffs; Stimulus and Spending Bill Negotiations; Trump Final Weeks. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired December 07, 2020 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: You see them there joining us off for Latino voter registration event.

Julian Castro joins us now live from Georgia. I love the elbows there. That's the world we live in. You've got to say hello with the elbow bump. Mr. Secretary, good to see you. What is the goal in the sense? We all know that the turnouts for Democrats tend to go down in these runoffs. I just want to show off some numbers.

In the 2020 general election, election we just had in Georgia, Latino participation was 7 percent. That's a pretty good number, that's up from 2016. What do you hope? What do you hope we get in January?

JULIAN CASTRO, FORMER SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT: Well, look, we know there are 377,000 Latino voters who are eligible to be registered to vote, about 250,000 who are actually registered. Today is the last day to register to vote as you mentioned, and so we are out here encouraging everybody to register to vote if not already registered.

We've seen as you know, John, even in the elections of November that so many races out there come down to a couple hundred votes, sometimes a couple dozen votes. This is too important in Georgia for people to sit on the sidelines. We need folks to get off the sidelines, into the voting booths, and make sure that Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock win on January 5th, and we can meet the moment we need to meet instead of obstructionism of Mitch McConnell, we can put people back to work, get small businesses up and going, make sure people have health care they need, and ensure we have more prosperity and opportunity for everybody in this country, and I think the people of Georgia understand that.

KING: Help me with your perspective on the ground. I am a little jealous. You know what happens when you have runoff election, the air comes out of the balloon if you will. People are tired, they're sick of politics, we're getting into the holiday season, and yet the consequences here, the stakes of the two Senate races are enormous.

The last day to register is you is today. The run early voting begins on December 14th. You have 29 days, January 5th, 29 days for the runoff. It is mind boggling. More than $350 million has been spent so far on the Senate races. Normally, you know, that's when you're running back home in San Antonio, you're talk about it's all about local issues. It's all about local issues. What do the people here need. How much is the stakes, if the Democrats take the two seats, Joe Biden has a different life in Washington if you will with a democratic majority.

CASTRO: You know, there's a lot of energy out here, John. And I think even though we are going to go through the holiday season as you said, early voting starts December 14th, and Election Day is January 5th. People understand it is so important we make sure Joe Biden has the opportunity to actually invest in getting small businesses back up and going, putting people back to work, making sure the vaccine is appropriately distributed, ensuring we combat climate change and that we invest in our public education system.

So what I sense out here is that yes, folks, of course, there's recognition that hey, we have been through this cycle of more than a year and a half, and we went through November. But they also know that America is watching Georgia and that lives of so many Georgians are going to be impacted by what happens in this election and that they cannot only make lives of Georgians brighter but also the rest of the United States if they come out and vote for Jon Ossoff and Rafphael Warnock, and make sure that Joe Biden has a Senate to work with to do what we need to do in this moment of crisis so everybody is able to not just survive but to prosper in years ahead.

KING: Those signs behind you, I am a campaign guy. So it's a reminder of campaign 2020 extends into campaign 2021 because of the importance of the races. Let me ask you. As you know, there's always a great debate when you have a transition, and President-Elect Biden has promised the most diverse cabinet in history. Xavier Becerra, former representative in the house -- former congressman in the House of Representatives, now the California Attorney General named as the president-elect's pick for HHS secretary.

Your brother, a member of Congress from Texas issued a statement that talking about how in this moment of crisis with COVID-19, devastating Latino communities, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is proud. That California's Attorney General Xavier Becerra, dedicated public servant will be nominated by President-Elect Biden.

How important is this particular nomination to you and the community and just grade the president-elect. He is under a lot of pressure, as you know. The African-American community, Latino community, women and the like, it's part of the nature, part of the challenge when you win, having to keep people happy. How would you grade him so far?

CASTRO: Well, I think so far so good. I mean, you know, President- Elect Biden said that he was committed to appointing a cabinet that looks like America and that seems to be what he is doing. He is committed to that. I was happy to see the nomination of Attorney General Becerra.

[12:35:04]

He lived an immigrant's American dream story. And made so many people proud over the years not only in the Latino community but throughout our country and of course in his home state of California and we need his leadership right now.

I mean HHS is going to be right in the middle of making sure the vaccine is distributed effectively, in a timely way. So we look forward to him stepping up and providing great leadership and to ensuring the rest of the cabinet picks are also diverse picks with people who are going to offer excellent leadership.

You know, Donald trump four years ago said that he was going to pick the best people to serve with him. That turned out not to be true. But Joe Biden actually is picking some of the best people to serve.

KING: Secretary Castro, grateful for your time. It's good to see you, sir.

CASTRO: Great to be with you.

KING: Up next, Congress needs to make a big deal to keep the government running. And part of the debate is will there be new coronavirus stimulus spending.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:40:26]

KING: There's a big week up on Capitol Hill, a week where a pandemic relief bill either comes together or falls apart. If Congress fails to act, 12 million Americans face losing unemployment benefits right after Christmas. That's just one of the big decisions facing Congress this week in what is expected to be a consequential but perhaps a messy week for lawmakers. CNN's Manu Raju is live for us up on Capitol Hill.

Manu, they always let it go until the end. And now they're busy.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's all part of what's common on Capitol Hill, the end of the year crunch. But what's different about this year is we're in the middle of a pandemic and economic crisis, and there's a toxic mess Congress has to clean up after months of partisan bickering led to stalemate on key issues, namely a COVID relief package we talked about for so many months, it has been stalled for months over a number of disagreements.

But there's a lot of focus on a bipartisan group of senators and House members who are trying to see if they can resolve key sticking points. $900 billion bill is now under discussion, but according to several sources, some major sticking points remain that includes liability protections for businesses and for workers. Some of the Republicans have been demanding as well as funding for state and local governments. Those are two key issues.

But John, that is all part of a mix of things they need to get done, including funding the government, funding that runs out this week, probably extend an additional week, as well as a major defense bill that the president threatened to veto. And Republicans and Democrats may override that veto, all of which is adding to a very busy couple of weeks as Congress tries and struggles to get it out the door here, John.

KING: Manu Raju, busy few days ahead up on the Hill. We will keep in touch, see if they answer and compromise on these questions. Manu, thank you.

Up next for us, the U.K. gets ready to administer its coronavirus vaccine, and here at home, a warning from the New York governor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): If we don't get the rate under control and you are going to overwhelm your hospitals, we will have to go back to shutdown. How can you talk about close down again, that was terrible. Because it's the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:47:10]

KING: South Korea's president now recruiting the country's military and its police to help with COVID contact tracing, and the country's testing centers also extending hours of operation. More global coronavirus developments from our correspondents around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN LONDON BUREAU: I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London where the first vaccinations are set to take place in less than 24 hours. Officials here are saying it's going to be marathon, not a sprint.

There are 50 hospital hubs set up across England. And they begin giving vaccinations for people over 80 that have an appointment as well as care home staff or nursing home staff and front line health care workers.

Now, officials here are saying this is the beginning of the end of the pandemic, but there will be challenges. The U.K. is right now negotiating its exit out of the EU. That could complicate transporting the vaccine. That's why one official said the army could be used potentially to bring in doses from abroad.

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Fred Pleitgen in Berlin. As Germany continues to grapple with surging numbers of daily new coronavirus infections. If we look at the numbers that were put out by the German Centers for Disease Control today, it's about 12,300 new infections. And that's about 1,200 more than we saw Monday of last week.

And one of the things that the German government has acknowledged, is they say that the light lockdown measures that they've had in place so far have managed to flatten the curve somewhat, but certainly haven't managed to bring the numbers down.

Now some German states are really feeling the heat about this. In fact one state, Bavaria, says it will unilaterally put new lockdown measures in place in an effort to try bring the numbers down.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

KING: Up next for us, one member of the Trump cabinet weighs leaving early. Another thinks of his political future.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:53:33]

KING: It's a new reporting today that the Attorney General William Barr smelling an early departure from the Trump administration. A source familiar with Barr's thinking tell CNN no final decision has been made, but the attorney general isn't happy with the president right now, specifically not happy with the president's reaction to being told the justice department found no evidence of any major election fraud.

That source telling CNN's Jamie Gangel, Barr is, quote, not someone who takes bullying and turns the other cheek. Jamie Gangel joins us with more. That's a colorful, interesting quote there, Jamie.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: We have two very tough personalities and John, we have seen this movie before with other cabinet members. Look, Attorney General Barr we know has carried plenty of water for President Trump going back to his getting out front with summary of the Mueller report.

So there is a lot of history of the two men being on the same page. But we are now seeing a very public break. And those that know Barr well will tell you he has a strong personality. He does not take kindly to Trump oral ice calling him out. And from what I'm hearing from a source with knowledge, they may have gone too far.

I have also been told by multiple sources that Barr has always maintained certain personal distance from Trump. Trump told one of my sources, quote, he does his own thing. And Barr always has had sort of to use the phrase a Trump card in his back pocket, if pushed, he would walk.

[12:55:06]

So I think the question now is, John, is he bluffing, is this push back on the White House, or is he ready to resign. Two other things we always know with Donald (ph) or Barr, he could fire him. So it's a possibility that the attorney general is trying to get ahead of that. And the other thing is we have heard a lot about the president possibly pardoning members of his family, possibly pardoning himself. It may be that Bill Barr doesn't want to be having those things happen on his watch. John?

KING: A lot of drama left in 44 days until the next inauguration. Jamie, grateful for the reporting. Thank you so much. Keep on top of it. Come back when we know more. Mike Pompeo telling "The Wall Street Journal" he's looking forward to time home in Kansas when team Trump leaves town next month.

The Secretary of State is ambitious to say the least. Kansas Republicans would love him to run for governor next year. The state GOP chairman saying in a journal article, quote, he can do whatever he wants.

Bt pay very close attention to Secretary Pompeo's wording right here and this answer to the "The Wall Street Journal." His sights are seemingly set a little higher than Kansas. I haven't given half a second's thought, he said, to the political races in the state of Kansas.

Our global affairs analyst Susan Glasser joins me now. Not thinking about Kansas because he is thinking about 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue maybe?

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well that certainly could be. In fact, it was just announced this morning that he is going to taking one of his final trips as Secretary of State not to the republic of Georgia but to state of Georgia where not coincidentally there are two crucial runoffs for the Senate as you know and it seems like quite notable timing to say the least the Secretary of State will be there to talk about China ostensibly Georgia Tech.

In fact, in general, right, Pompeo has had a strikingly partisan and political approach to the Secretary of State's Office, far more so than any recent predecessor, including speaking at the Republican National Convention, violating a sort of unspoken rule of secretaries of state he were seen in the past as trying to be above partisan politics. That's very different than the approach that Mike Pompeo has taken.

KING: And Susan do you know this well, whether you're Mike Pompeo, whether you're Mike Pence, whether you're anybody in the Republican Party, what President Trump does when he leaves office? Is going to be cloud over you, if you will. If you have your own political ambition, especially if you have presidential ambition, which is why I found this really interesting in the journal article.

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan praised Mr. Pompeo in an interview for cutting against the grain of the State Department. Another former speaker, John Boehner of Ohio, who tapped Mr. Pompeo to serve on the House Intelligence Committee when he was a congressman, said, whatever he would do, I'd be supportive.

Not surprising the former House colleagues would say something nice about Mike Pompeo, but Boehner and Ryan are not Trumpees. So if Pompeo is looking for space in the party I found that a little bit interesting.

GLASSER: Well, he is sought to carve out this identity for himself essentially using his official platform as Secretary of State to create persona as a very hawkish kind of national security tough guy in the world. Often, interestingly, that has left him pursuing a policy that was really at odds or not policy that Donald Trump would necessarily have when it came to places like Russia or China.

You know, you hear Mike Pompeo talking a lot more about say China's violations of human rights or problems in cracking down on democracy in Hong Kong than Donald Trump who lectures his advisers tends to praise those leaders.

And yet Pompeo is also notable for being perhaps the most slavishly devoted to Trump of all his advisers, very different than Bill Barr's approach, for example, much more akin to that pursued by Vice President Pence.

And remember, Mike Pompeo would not be anything in national politics if not for Donald Trump. He was essentially an obscure House member who did not serve very long, not in a competitive district from Wichita, Kansas. And so Donald Trump has made his persona and career on the national stage. It's hard to see him being able to break away from him fully.

KING: And that's what gets so hard if you will, if you try to understand Pompeo's calculation. They would love him to run for governor of Kansas, they have a Democratic governor right now. They think he would be competitive. But some people think after being Secretary of State, you have national ambitions, you've travel the globe, do you want to be a governor, right?

GLASSER: Well that's exactly right. To me that's why he didn't run for Senate. They try to recruit him this past year to run for Senate and Pompeo took a pass. That did not surprise me. He is flying around the world in a big plane with United States of America on it. I always figured he would keep that job as long as he possibly could. He loves the national and international stage, John.

KING: Susan Glasser, grateful for your insights. We'll watch. A lot of interesting calculations as this plays out. Thanks for spending your time with us today. Hope to you see back here this time tomorrow. Don't go anywhere. Busy news day, Brooke Baldwin picks up our coverage right now.

[13:00:00]