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House Vote Expected today on Government Funding; House Dems Test GOP on Shutdown; Biden Addresses World Leaders; Search for Laundrie Returns to Nature Reserve. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired September 21, 2021 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Share these inspirational stories all week. And you can be sure to turn in on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern for the "Champions for Change" one hour special. It's going to be fantastic.

CNN's coverage continues right now.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Erica Hill.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto, live at the United Nations on a gorgeous September day.

This hour, a critical meeting of world leaders in New York. President Biden set to speak shortly, right here at the U.N. General Assembly. He is expected to advocate for a global response to some of the major issues currently facing the world, emphasizing the importance of alliances. Among those issues and challenges, the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, human rights, and the assault on democracy in countries around the world.

We will have much more on his trip in just a moment. And we will bring you his speech live as soon as it begins later this hour.

HILL: We are also keeping a close eye this morning on Washington because it is make or break time for the U.S. economy. With a government shutdown looming, Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the next 48 hours are critical. Democrats trying to pass a sweeping economic package. Today, the House is expected to vote on a short-term funding bill to keep the government running through December. It would also suspend the debt limit through 2022.

Now that vote expected to trigger a major showdown between Democrats and Republicans. One that has direct implications for the American people because without a debt limit increase, keep in mind, Social Security checks would stop, child tax credits would be halted, paychecks for the nation's troops would be delayed.

Let's begin with CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox, who is following all of the developments from Capitol Hill.

So, Lauren, I mean, just put this in perspective. Speaker Pelosi says next 48 hours are critical. What does that break down to? LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Democrats are

really needing to pass four different issues. And I think that that's the real crux of their problem right now is that they have so much on their plate. Let's break this down a little bit.

Over the next couple of hours, you are going to see Democrats begin debating that continuing resolution or that government funding bill, as well as an increase in the debt ceiling. We expect a vote on the House -- in the House of Representatives today on that package. That's essentially daring Republicans to vote to shut down the government. Democrats have been arguing that they believe it is the responsibility of both the Republicans and Democrats to increase the country's borrowing limit, but Republicans have been arguing it's Democrats' responsibility. So in order to get around that, Democrats have attached the two items, arguing that this is potentially a way to put pressure on Republicans.

In the House, they don't need those Republican votes. But once it goes over to the Senate, they will. And we are being told from many Republicans, including Mitt Romney, who I talked to yesterday, that he is going to vote no to increase the debt ceiling no matter what it is attached to. So that's going to be a major issue.

Then you had Democrats needing to work through their own infrastructure agenda, as well as that big social safety net bill. Those are two separate agenda items. And as you know, Erica, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had promised a vote next Monday on that bipartisan infrastructure bill that already passed in the Senate.

But now you have some progressives saying that they will vote no on that proposal unless she can also muscle through that $3.5 trillion social safety net bill. There are still major sticking points that remain for Democrats on that major piece of legislation, including whether or not to increase taxes for many wealthy Americans, how big that bill should be, as well as whether to include a prescription drug proposal that's controversial among the Democratic caucus.

So, there's not much time. And when the speaker says the next 48 hours are critical, she means the next 48 hours are critical to seeing if Democrats can be united in the path forward.

Erica.

HILL: Yes, and that is a big, big question this morning.

Lauren Fox, appreciate it. Thank you.

Joining me now to discuss, CNN's senior political analyst Ryan Lizza, chief Washington correspondent for "Politico," and co-author of "Politico's Playbook."

Ryan, good morning.

I mean as we look at all of this, there isn't much time. I think Lauren's last point there was so interesting, right, because it's really about can Democrats come together here. The reality is, there doesn't seem to be a plan b in much of what we're witnessing as we talk about what we're really focused on today in terms of looming deadlines.

The speaker tweeting this morning, two years ago Leader McConnell said America can't default, that would be a disaster, yet now he and Senate GOP are trying to force the first ever default of the U.S. All members must come together in the spirit of bipartisanship.

Look, as Lauren just said, that's unlikely in the Senate, pointing out her conversation with Senator Mitt Romney. What options are left?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, Lauren laid it out really well. If Mitt Romney is not going to vote for this, it's unlikely they're going to find ten Republicans.

[09:05:00]

One option was that, you know, they do what's called a unanimous consent agreement, and it's -- Republicans don't object to that, and then Democrats go forward with their own caucus 50 votes and vote for this, but other Republicans have now ruled that out.

So, look, there is a plan b, right? We've heard this from the beginning. They can go back, open up this process called reconciliation and put the debt limit in that. It will then be tied to the larger reconciliation package that the Democrats are struggling to put together.

It's much more time consuming. But I think first they want to dare Republicans to vote against this and, politically, have Republicans take ownership of voting against this and be responsible for whatever market anxiety comes as we approach this vote and any sort of fallout.

But, at the end of the day, Democrats control the Senate, the House and the White House. They are not going to let the government shut down and they're not going to allow a debt default. So I think we're in that stage of threats and anxiety and a lot of uncertainty. But at the end of the day, they have the votes to do this and so they will get it done.

HILL: Which triggers, I think, a lot of frustration for the American people and pretty much anybody outside of Washington as they're watching all of this here, you know, this sort of political game of chicken as we look at it.

Look, as Lauren pointed out, there are four major issues that are essentially under the gun right now when it comes to what needs to get done in Washington. Looking quickly at infrastructure, supposed to be a vote, right, on Monday. But in terms of --

LIZZA: Monday.

HILL: Supposed to be, right?

In terms of where we're at, this was supposed to be a big win for Biden, looking at infrastructure. Now it's turned into a bit of a mess. Is it salvageable at this point?

LIZZA: It is, but, look, the -- the progressive view of this is, they want to have negotiating leverage over moderates so they want the bigger -- they want their prize, the reconciliation package finished, wrapped in a bow and ready to vote before the moderates get their prize, the infrastructure legislation. So those two groups of Democrats have been trying to remove leverage from each other for months and months and months now. And the biggest piece of leverage that the progressives have is keeping the infrastructure bill from being voted on until they get moderates to completely buy in to the highest -- to the -- what they -- what progressives consider the best possible version of the reconciliation bill.

So, there's a chance that bill could be voted down if it's put on the floor Monday. The House leadership has been very clear. They -- they have -- you know, they have said they don't have the votes to pass it. And so in the best case scenario for Democrats is that Monday deadline forces the moderates and progressives to come to some accord on the reconciliation bill by Monday, and then progressives are given enough guarantees that they don't vote that bill down and then they move on to the reconciliation bill.

But nobody -- that's probably a very optimistic scenario.

HILL: I was going to say, yes, very optimistic. It would be lovely, right, if everybody could come together, but there are a whole lot of ultimatums being thrown out publicly. We shall see.

Ryan Lizza, good to see you. Thank you.

LIZZA: Good it see you.

HILL: Jim.

SCIUTTO: We are live at the United Nations General Assembly in New York as President Biden's domestic agenda hangs in the balance. He is set to deliver one of his most critical addresses to date as commander in chief. His first as president here at the U.N.

Within the hour, the president will speak to dozens of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly as he juggles multiple crises around the world in his foreign policy.

Joining me now, CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny and "New York Times" White House and national security correspondent David Sanger.

Good to have both of you.

Jeff, if I could begin with you, the president's message today will be one of restating America's commitment to alliances. I wonder, is he facing a skeptical audience today?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Jim, much more skeptical than President Biden likely could have ever imagined. He ran, he campaigned on strengthening these alliances. This is his place. He believes in the mission of the United Nations, unlike former President Donald Trump, who came here and criticized the U.N. So President Biden believes in this mission.

We saw him on his first foreign trip abroad saying America is back. Well, that has been tested considerably. It's under a great test. And the credibility of America and its leadership, because of the decisions in the Biden administration, are now under close review. So I would say skeptical, no doubt. Definitely more scrutiny on his message because of Afghanistan, because of the relationship with France, because the pandemic in the U.S. is still raging, on and on and on.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

[09:10:06]

ZELENY: So I think this is not the climate that President Biden expected to be walking into for his very first speech to the U.N.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

And questions and perhaps some disappointment about American leadership on, for instance, sharing vaccine resources globally to make the pandemic more of a global fight.

David Sanger, what interesting factor in all of this, right, is that many of America's allies, and perhaps adversaries as well, expected more daylight, shall we say, between Biden's approach to the world and Trump's America first approach to the world. But they're seeing more commonality, are they not, than they expected?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're certainly taking that view, Jim. And the reason is clear. They thought that Joe Biden would come in as the president who consulted them on everything. I think the British felt that the decision on Afghanistan was sort of made and declared to them. And they were scrambling as the U.S. was, as the Taliban came in to Kabul, to get their people out.

And then, of course, there was a very conscious effort to keep the French from knowing that the United States, Britain and Australia were considering the submarine deal, which is actually about submarines and many more technologies, and that went on for months in which the president basically met with President Macron and made no mention of this, which is why they so overreacted to this issue and withdrew their ambassador and so forth.

So I think he's got a lot of repair work to do there and you see he's still trying to get a phone call together with President Macron just to try to patch together America's oldest alliance.

SCIUTTO: Jeff, the reason for this French row, right, of course, is this deal with Australia, sharing nuclear submarines, which is all about China, which is an enormous focus of the Biden administration.

ZELENY: Right. SCIUTTO: Part of the reason they pulled out of Afghanistan, saying, you know, we need to focus our resources and attention, no longer on the Middle East, but on China. Is -- is Joe Biden -- does he have friends on that point? Does he have unity on that point among allies as he addresses the United Nations?

ZELENY: Well, he certainly does in Australia. And that is an emerging strengthening alliance, of course, a longtime ally. But he will also be meeting one on one, President Biden will be, with Prime Minister Morison from Australia at noon today, right after the speech. But -- so certainly he has allies on the China front.

SCIUTTO: Right.

ZELENY: But it makes European leaders worried. What about us? What about the -- you know, the U.S. and European alliances here?

So, as David was saying, I mean the -- perhaps the most remarkable thing is, we could not have predicted that French President Emmanuel Macron, longtime ally, is not in New York. He is skipping this meeting and has not yet scheduled a meeting with President Biden.

So, China, I'm told, is going to be a subtheme of this, but not a dramatic over theme of President Biden's message. He, of course, has been trying to get the world to focus on the rising threat from China, but no one expected this dustup with France. And you have to wonder, could this not have been avoided? With Secretary of State Antony Blinken, of course, and President Biden, all their experience, how did it come to this?

SCIUTTO: Yes.

ZELENY: But it has.

SCIUTTO: Could the U.S. have not messaged that or cut a side deal, right, with France, you know, to bring them in?

ZELENY: Right, a wink and a nod or something, yes.

SCIUTTO: David Sanger, one thing we do not expect to see today is something that had become a fixture of Donald Trump's appearances here at the U.N., which is the fiery rhetoric. I remember standing here a few years ago, the rocket man speech, you know, this back and forth about whose nuclear button was bigger than the other. That sort of drama we will not see from Joe Biden today.

SANGER: Certainly not. I think rocket man has been retired. But the fact is that the problem remains. In fact, after all of those threats that President Trump went through, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said just yesterday that North Korea is moving forward at great speed with their nuclear program.

One of the big side dramas here in New York is going to be Iran. The Iranian -- new Iranian government has shown up.

SCIUTTO: Yes. SANGER: The Iranian foreign minister is here. And yet their program is moving forward and the British said on Monday that they were probably closer to a weapon than they've ever been. So you're going to see it couched in much more broad, multilateral terms. But the problem is probably as severe or worse than it was when President Trump was here.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And that focus -- well, one of the focuses of the Biden foreign policy have been the hope of resurrecting the Iran nuclear deal, but those hopes appear to be fading.

David Sanger, "New York Times," Jeff Zeleny, here with me in New York, thanks very much.

Erica, back to you.

HILL: Well, up next, an autopsy is scheduled for today to confirm whether the body found in Wyoming over the weekend is, in fact, that of missing 22-year-old Gabby Petito.

[09:15:06]

And as we learn more this morning, the FBI now headed back to that Florida nature reserve to search for her missing fiance. We are live there, next.

Plus, disturbing video of U.S. boarder patrol agents on horseback, intimidating and assaulting Haitian migrants at a border crossing. The Homeland Security secretary just spoke to CNN about what he plans to do about it.

And this just in to CNN, Prince Andrew officially served with legal papers in a lawsuit accusing him of sexually assaulting a then 17- year-old girl. His response, next.

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[09:20:14]

HILL: An autopsy is set for today on remains believed to be those of Gabby Petito. This morning we're learning investigators are now going back to a nature preserve to look for Petito's fiance, Brian Laundrie. A newly obtained audio from a 911 call in Moab, Utah, reveals the caller saw Laundrie hitting Gabby Petito.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CALLER: We drove by and the gentleman was slapping the girl.

911 DISPATCHER: He was slapping her?

CALLER: Yes. And then we stopped. They ran up and down the sidewalk. He proceeded to hit her, hopped in the car, and they drove off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN's Leyla Santiago joining us now live from Venice, Florida. So, I do want to get to that 911 call in just a moment.

But, Leyla, first, you've moved locations. Yesterday, investigators said they were done searching that nature reserve. What changed this morning?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they had said that they had exhausted all avenues in the search here yesterday morning. And then apparently that changed because we are back here today.

So let's walk you through what we know of the timeline.

We know -- we heard from crews inside right now searching that they were asked to assist at least as of yesterday afternoon. So they had been making plans, we know, to be here searching in this area at least we know yesterday.

What else happened yesterday? The parents of Brian Laundrie were questioned by the FBI after FBI executed a search warrant there. That questioning took place for hours. Remember, Erica, we showed you live as the FBI arrived, surrounded the home, went inside. We saw them taking out paper bags, loading it up into a van. They also towed away a Mustang from the driveway.

So, clearly, we are seeing the search continue. The FBI now involved here. They've been involved for quite a while. But, clearly, you're seeing them really hone in on some evidence that they're following here.

So we are back at the Carlton Reserve where police and search crews were all weekend long, 25,000 acres. And I should mention, before we wrap up here, that the reason they initially were here was because a week ago today, according to the parents telling police, that was the last time that they had eyes on Brian Laundrie. He had a hiking bag and said he was heading here for a hike.

HILL: So many questions this morning. Leyla, appreciate it. Thank you. I know you'll keep us updated on any developments there.

Let's bring in now CNN legal analyst, former New York City homicide prosecutor, Paul Callan, Charles Ramsey, CNN senior law enforcement analyst. He's also a former Philadelphia police commissioner.

You know, as we look at all of this, Commissioner, yesterday we were told they were done searching that Carlton Reserve. As we just learned from Leyla, those who were involved in the search were told yesterday afternoon that they were going back. They're back in a different area today. The FBI is in charge now. What does that tell you?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, it tells me that they uncovered something during the course of that search or the interview of the parents that drove them back to that location, perhaps with more precise information. I mean 25,000 acres is a lot of area to search. According to reports, it's really not the easiest area. You know, kind of a swampy area and so forth. So they got some information that now drove them back there. And we have to remember, you know, investigators always have more

information than what's being made public. And so we don't know exactly what drove them there, but they're not going back there for no reason at all. They have something.

HILL: Yes, certainly not.

You know, as we look at this timeline here, Leyla laid out part of it for us. You know, as the commissioner just mentioned, the parents were questioned yesterday, we know. From the beginning we were told the family really wasn't very cooperative.

Brian Laundrie arrived home on September 1st. Gabby Petito was reported missing on September 11th. We learned on Friday that a couple days after that he left to go on this hike, but it took his parents three days to say anything. But even when she was first reported missing, they had already lawyered up. They said they were going to stay in the background.

As we're looking at all of these elements and potentially what the parents may or may not have known, Paul, what does all that add up to for you as you're looking at this?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It adds up to a highly suspicious situation. As a matter of fact, I've never seen a case where a family member, a girlfriend, a fiance disappeared and the boyfriend or fiance was unwilling to give any cooperation whatsoever.

[09:25:00]

And here, of course, he's disappeared and now his parents presumably are resisting full cooperation, if that's what's going on in the background. Very, very unusual. Very, very suspicious.

And I think what we're looking at now is, given the disappearance of Brian Laundrie with the intensity of the search going on, if (ph) he's still alive. And that's really the question. Are they -- and as Chief Ramsey said, they may have narrowed the search down in that reserve and they may be trying to sweep bodies of water -- that's a swampy area -- to see if they can find a body. But, of course, this is speculation and we'll have to follow closely.

HILL: We -- I played a little bit of that sound as we came back from break, but this sound that we now have from the 911 caller who was describing seeing Brian Laundrie hitting Gabby Petito, what he described in that 911 call, we also have that dash cam video from when they were with police in Utah.

Let's take a look at that again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER: He just grabbed you? Did he -- did he hit you, though? I mean it's OK if you're saying you hit him, and I understand if he hit you, but we want to know the truth, if he actually hit you.

GABBY PETITO: (INAUDIBLE).

OFFICER: Where he did hit you? No worries, be honest.

PETITO: (INAUDIBLE) like this. He didn't like hit me (INAUDIBLE).

OFFICER: Did he slap your face or what?

PETITO: No, like he grabbed me with his hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So hard I know to hear the audio there. But she was describing -- visibly -- appears visibly upset in the back seat of that police cruiser talking about he had grabbed my face. The officer was asking if he had hit her. So they really want to understand the full story.

There's an interview out this morning with a female park ranger who we learned did spend some time with Gabby Petito in the back of a police car talking to her. And she says, I was imploring with her to re- evaluate the relationship, asking her if she was happy, basically saying this was an opportunity for her to find another path to make a change in her life.

You know, Commissioner, understanding none of us was there, right? Hindsight's 20/20. But you're look -- we look at all of these little nuggets here and it raises questions about -- about their relationship, Brian Laundrie's sister, last week, said, you know, well, they would sometimes -- you know, they would do this. They fight a little bit, but then they would come back together. That is, obviously, coming into play in this investigation as well.

RAMSEY: Well, there's no question about that. And what we're learning now paints an entirely different picture than what we originally saw on social media with, you know, two -- a couple in love and sharing stuff and so forth. And this is the complete opposite of that. So we're getting a different picture of what actually took place during the relationship.

But that still doesn't lead us directly to murder. And so, you know, today is going to be an important day. They're going to (INAUDIBLE) and to make sure and to try to determine a cause of death. But all the pieces of the puzzle seem like perhaps they're kind of coming together.

HILL: Paul Callan, Charles Ramsey, always appreciate you both joining us. Thank you.

CALLAN: Thank you.

RAMSEY: Thank you.

HILL: Just ahead, the Biden administration now responding to those disturbing images which appear to show Border Patrol agents on horseback aggressively confronting Haitian migrants at the southern border. We'll take you there live, next.

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