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Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Scope of Second Amendment; Atlanta Mayoral Race Goes to Runoff; Senate Democrats Reach Deal on Prescription Drug Prices in Spending Bill. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 03, 2021 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN NEWSROOM: The Supreme Court right now hearing arguments in the biggest gun rights case in more than a decade. So, this all centers on a law in New York, which acquires people prove they have a special need for self-protection if they want to carry a gun in public.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: But it has potential implications around the country.

CNN's Jessica Schneider joins us now. I mean, Jessica, is it too much to say that this case will have an impact not just on gun laws in other states but whether any such laws can be passed going forward?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this likely will have big implications all across the country, and specifically in six other states that have similar gun restrictions to the one at issue here in this New York law. This is a New York law that places specific parameters on people looking to get gun licenses to carry their guns outside the home. Specifically, those applying for licenses have to show what's called proper cause. This is specific and special circumstances that would warrant them carrying a gun outside the home for self-defense.

Right now, the oral arguments are happening inside the courtroom just behind me. The justices are really focused here on the history of the Second Amendment and whether or not public officials can put restrictions in place that limit who can actually carry concealed weapons outside of the home.

The two men bringing this case, they say that this New York restriction infringes on their rights under the Second Amendment, and their lawyer just argued and referenced the Second Amendment text. Here it is.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A firearm outside the home is a fundamental constitutional right. It is not some extraordinary action that requires an extraordinary demonstration of need. Petitioners here seek nothing more than their fellow citizens in 43 other states already enjoy. And those states include some of the most populous cities in the country.

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SCHNEIDER: So, the petitioners here are arguing in a sense that this New York gun law it just too broad, too restrictive and therefore infringes on the Second Amendment.

Guys, we've heard already from Justice Amy Coney Barrett here. She is one of the two justices, the two newest justices to really watch here, her and Brett Kavanaugh. Both of them wrote opinions when they were on the lower federal appeals courts. And in those arguments, in those opinions, they said to look to the founder's intent when weighing these gun restrictions, and not necessarily a balancing test of individual rights over government officials wanting to put these gun restrictions into place.

So, this a high-stakes case, the first time, guys, the Supreme Court hearing a case touching on the Second Amendment in more than a decade.

HILL: Yes, a lot at stake here, a lot of people watching this one very closely. Jessica Schneider, I appreciate it. Thank you.

Still ahead, runoff in the race to replace a Democratic darling poised to take the reins. Who is poised to take the reins from Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. We'll get you updated, next.

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[10:35:00]

SCIUTTO: In Atlanta, the hotly contested race to replace popular Democratic Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is now heading to a runoff. Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore currently leads against more than a dozen other candidates.

HILL: She will be one of the candidates in a runoff election at the end of the month, but who she will run against. Well, that still remains to be seen.

Joining us now, Greg Bluestein, Political Reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. We always love running through these things with you. Where do things stand this morning?

GREG BLUESTEIN, POLITICAL REPORTER, ATLANTA MEDICAL-CONSTITUTION: Yes. I mean, the surprise is not that Felicia Moore is the frontrunner but it's the former Atlanta mayor, Kasim Reed, who is running for a third term. It looks like he might be out of the run. He trails Andre Dickens, a lesser known city councilman, by about 600 votes. The problem for Kasim Reed is there are very few votes left to be tallied and there might not be enough to bridge that margin for him.

And this would be stunner in Atlantic politics because Kasim Reed has visibility, had a huge fundraising edge and lots of endorsements and was seen as a pretty much of a shoe-in to be in this runoff. And no longer is that the case.

SCIUTTO: Greg, in other cities, including New York, we saw how rising crime played into the mayoral race and a big factor, it seems, in New York, of instance. Eric Adams, a moderate but also with a police background, himself, how did that play into the race in Atlanta?

BLUESTEIN: A major factor. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution polls and other public polling we saw showed that crime was the number one factor. And it's a part of an effort too to divorce the city, essentially split the city.

[10:40:02]

Residents of the neighborhood of Buckhead wanted to split the city because of the rise in crime, and all the candidates in the race, all the major candidates, pledged to fight crime to make that impossible for Buckhead to do.

But Kasim Reed, who I just mentioned, said crime was the number one issue, the number two issue and the number three issue in this race. That is how important it was.

HILL: There is so much focus this morning in looking at the results about what they may say heading into 2022. And I noticed you re- tweeted a short time ago Larry Sabato's take on what we saw in Atlanta and how that could impact the Senate in Georgia coming up. Is that already a discussion in Atlanta this morning?

It very much is. Because what happened not just with the turnout in Atlanta but also in the Virginia gubernatorial race, some bad omens for Democrats in Georgia. And Larry Sabato's center for politics out of UVA switched the Senate race from a -- leaned Democrat for Senator Raphael Warnock to a tossup.

So, there's already some handwringing from Democrats down here, though they are very different races, it does show a path that even Governor Kemp could use for re-election if he focuses on some of these culture war issues, that he's already focusing on, like critical race theory, like anti-legal immigration policies, like some of the same issues that you saw Glenn Youngkin take up.

SCIUTTO: Greg, a question for you, because there is a lot of focus in many states on voting laws, right, including a place like Georgia, where voting laws were passed after 2020. Did we see that play out in this election in any way in terms of affecting turnout or disadvantaging some groups over others?

BLUESTEIN: Yes. This was the first major test for Georgia's restrictive new voting laws. And because it was a low turnout contest, it was an imperfect first test. We saw scattered reports of issues. Some voters who weren't accustomed to their new precincts had some issues. But for the most part, it was just minor glitches. There were shorter lines and they went fairly smoothly, by all accounts.

SCIUTTO: Well, that's a relief to hear. Greg Bluestein, thanks so much for joining us this morning. BLUESTEIN: Thank you for having me.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead this hour, President Biden is now back in D.C. things not the way he left it. How the White House hopes to get Democrats back on track, what it means for Biden's agenda, coming up.

HILL: Well, as we wait on the House to announce the official time for the vote on a bipartisan infrastructure bill, Senate Democrats have struck a deal on lowering prescription drug prices. Official details yet to be released.

We do have some nuggets though. The White House and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have said the deal will empower Medicare to negotiate prices on some high-priced medications who impose a tax penalty if drug companies increase their prices faster than inflation, and also cap out-of-pocket spending at $2,000 a year for seniors and people with disabilities who are on Medicare Part D's drug plan.

SCIUTTO: Joining us now to discuss is CNN White House Correspondent John Harwood.

John, tell us where this puts this in the hole long and sometimes frustrating and drawn-out process in terms of getting the budget and the infrastructure bills passed? Is that going to happen this week? Did the results last night upset anything? Where do we stand?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: What we are hearing today from the White House, from progressives and from moderates on the Hill is that they want to move forward on the legislation.

Part of the frustration that voters felt, the main frustrations they felt were with the pandemic continuing to disrupt normal life, continuing to mess with the economy. Voters thought that was going to change this year. And it hasn't changed nearly as much as they thought.

But one of the things that they were frustrated about as well, in the view of Democrats, is the extended infighting and debate among Democrats, not seeming to be able to move forward and act. So, Democrats this morning are emphasizing the need to act.

Now, the prescription drug compromise, which you were just describing, is one of the most popular elements of what President Biden originally laid out. So, the fact that if they can get that added back to the bill and if they have the ascent of Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, the moderate senator who had been resisting some of those provisions, that should be a step forward in terms of making the legislation more appealing to Americans.

A bigger question though is, are other demands going to be made?

[10:45:01]

Nancy Pelosi just put out a letter to colleagues saying she was going to seek to add back four weeks of paid leave to the bill that is being considered by the House Rules Committee today. Paid leave is one of the things that went overboard. There were objections from Joe Manchin. So, are they going to be able to hold those votes together as the legislation shifts a little bit at the last minute? I think the White House, generally speaking, is confident that it will, but that's a remaining question mark.

HILL: CNN Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju also joining us. It is critical to keep those votes together, especially given, Manu, how long it's taken to actually get to this point. Democrats pretty clear this morning. They're not happy with what they're seeing in the election results. Speaker Pelosi just said this doesn't impact things.

But I wonder, what's the sense that you're getting on Capitol Hill? Could this have an impact, whether it is to light a fire under Democrats to come together and get things done or perhaps raise some concerns specifically among moderates?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's going to do both, and which is the real challenge for Democrats right now. The Democratic leaders want to get something done right away. They believe that is the message that was sent by the voters in Virginia and also in New Jersey, dissatisfaction with the length of negotiations and not getting anything done.

But they have to resolve concerns among the moderates who want more time. Joe Manchin, for one, last night, told me he had four main concerns, immigration, taxes, climate change and also other social programs that are contained in this bill. He wants some of those changes made before he can get to it. Now, he thinks that, ultimately, that he can get behind the bill come Thanksgiving time, but they need to get to a point where they can get him on board in order to get anything to the Senate.

And, importantly, in this letter that Nancy Pelosi just sent to her caucus, she says there is opposition from one senator referring to almost certainly Joe Manchin, and suggesting that perhaps the bill may have to be changed again after the House were to pass this bill if they have the votes to do just that.

But, Erica, in talking to Democrats this morning, including the number two Democrat in the Senate, they don't believe they should pare back the bill. They believe they should deliver.

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SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): I think Terry McAuliffe has been saying for weeks that fate was tied to the progress of negotiations here on Capitol Hill and there ought to be a clear message to my party and all those who support it to get the job done.

RAJU: Senator, what went wrong last night?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Failure to deliver. Congress has to deliver. Window is closing. We have no more time. We need to get it done. And as one who will be running for re-election in 2022, I need results that I can show the American people that Congress can deliver.

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RAJU: But the problem is that the parliamentary procedures could delay them even further from acting right away. They still have to, of course, get the votes to get it out of the House. But then they have to go through a formal process to make sure it passes and meets muster with the strict Senate budget rules.

And also there are some concerns and demands from House moderates that the full bill, this $1.75 trillion bill, gets a full cost estimate for the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. And, Erica, that is a process that could take some time and Democratic leaders ultimately have to heed to that demand. And with just three votes to lose in the House, Nancy Pelosi may have no choice.

So, even though there is a call to get something done right away, they are running into the same division over the policy, the timing and the strategy, raising questions about when exactly this can get done.

SCIUTTO: So, John, it's one thing to get something done. It's another thing to get the right things done. And I just wonder if last night's election showed that Democrats' priorities are not aligned with most voter's priorities, that they're, for instance, more interested in what are you doing about inflation or what are you doing about rising crime? I mean, is the president convinced they got that right?

HARWOOD: Well, the question is what can the president do about inflation? The Democratic legislative priorities are not at odds with what the president actually needs to do. The most important thing in the immediate sense right now, next year in 2022, is to put the pandemic in the rearview mirror and when you do that, you get the economy closer back to normal, you smooth out some of these supply chain issues and you moderate inflation.

They are on a separate track, of course, pursuing an increasingly aggressive vaccination campaign that involves mandates instead of just the encouragement that they offered earlier in the year. The pivotal change for the president was he got to midyear, vaccination take-up was pretty good in the beginning and the pandemic seemed to be on the wane, then you hit that hard resistance, Delta variant came, and the resurgence of the pandemic in the late summer was really what exacerbated the discontent of the public, drove the president's ratings down.

[10:50:08]

So, the question is, what can you do about that now? If they can get their legislative agenda passed, then the Democrats in the White House and the Congress can go to voters and say, here are the specific things that we did for you. But more important than any of those things is increasing to inch up that vaccination rate, get the pandemic under control, and that will spur economic growth. We had a slowdown in the third quarter because of the pandemic. We're now getting economists to predict that because the pandemic is receding, growth is going to pick up in the fourth quarter in 2022. Democrats have to make sure that happens.

HILL: John Harwood, Manu Raju, good to talk with you both this morning.

We are looking also, of course, keeping a close watch on that incredibly tight New Jersey governor's race. Right now, Incumbent Phil Murphy holding a small lead that's been growing throughout the morning. John Berman is standing by at the magic wall with an update on those votes and where they're still being counted. John, where do we is stand?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, Phil Murphy's lead in New Jersey actually just shrunk ever so slightly. He is ahead 7,195 votes. So, new votes just reported from Hunterdon County. This is a county where Jack Ciattarelli leads 60 percent to 39 percent. And let me tell you exactly how many votes are there. Jack Ciattarelli just clocked in with 2,451 new votes, Phil Murphy, 2,192. That's about 52 percent and about 47 percent. So, you can see that was able to shrink the lead ever so slightly.

The story overall in New Jersey, though, just so people know, is a little different. If you look, there is 85 percent of the vote counted so far. Where is the remaining vote? Largely, we think, in areas that are still leaning Democratic, places like Hudson County, which is where Jersey City is, 80 percent reported so far. This is a county where Phil Murphy is way up. I keep pointing to Essex County. That's where Newark is, big urban center, just 72 percent reporting. Phil Murphy has a big lead there, at 72 percent.

Joe Biden won New Jersey substantially by 16 points. And I just want to show people where this margin has shrunk from Biden. Let's go back Hunterdon County right there. You can see Jack Ciattarelli has got 60 percent of the votes there. Well, Donald Trump won that but he only got 51 percent. There has been about a nine to ten-point shift in all the Republican counties from Trump upwards to Ciattarelli. Ciattarelli is doing better than Trump in these Trump counties. Guys?

HILL: J.B., I appreciate the update. We know you'll continue to stay on it. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Fascinating stuff. Well, still ahead, after suffering championship loss after loss after loss, we're not talking about the Mets here, finally a reason to celebrate in Atlanta, next.

And here's what else to watch today.

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SCIUTTO: It has been 26 years since Atlanta claimed a World Series Championship after the Braves defeated the Houston Astros 7-0 in game six. 26 years, Erica, that's exactly as old as I am.

HILL: It's amazing to have those two together.

SCIUTTO: Until today.

HILL: Until today. Happy birthday. Long-suffering Atlanta fans pinching themselves, returning to this side of victory again after claiming the title in 1995.

CNN Andy Scholes joining us now live from Minute Maid Park. I'm not sure he slept at all last night, Atlanta also winning on Houston's turf, probably didn't go over as well there as it did back in the ATL.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: That's for sure, guys. Sad Houston fans here. But when I was coming back to the stadium in the wee hours of the morning, I still saw Braves fans out soaking in this championship, their first since 1995.

And this really was one of the greatest runs in baseball history. The Braves, they didn't have a winning record until August 6th. They lost their best player, one of the best players in baseball, Ronald Acuna Jr., to injury in July, but they didn't give up. They traded for four outfielders and those outfielders, boy, did they come through big time in this post season.

One of them, Jorge Soler, he was the first player ever to lead off a World Series with a homerun, and, boy, did he hit another last night in game six, a three-run shot in the third inning. It actually left Minute Maid Park. Just an incredible homerun. That really set the tone for the night. Dansby Swanson chipped in with a two-run homerun as well, more than enough for starter Max Fried, he was fantastic, through six-shot out innings, a dominant performance for the Braves. They shut out the Astros 7-0 to take the series in six games.

[11:00:00]

Soler was named the MVP.

And I'd tell you what, guys, if you were a kid growing up in Atlanta, a teenager, even if you're a young adult right now, all you knew was sports misery.