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Republicans Push Back Against Biden Vaccine Mandate; U.S. House Approves $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill; Bulletin Reveals Potential Plot Against U.S. Energy Infrastructure; McMichael-Bryan Murder Trial; Diplomat Found Dead Believed To Be Russian Secret Agent; Young Activists Demand More Action On Climate Crisis. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired November 06, 2021 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Welcome to all you watching us here in Canada and around the world. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Joe Biden's infrastructure bill finally passes. He says it's a monumental step forward for America.
Plus breaking news at this hour, a deadly stampede at a concert in Houston.
And COVID-19 surge: European officials say more than half a million people could die this winter alone.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Joe Biden finally has one pillar of his sweeping domestic agenda in place. He scored a major win in Congress with final passage of his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On this vote, the yeas are 228. The nays are 206. The motion is adopted.
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BRUNHUBER: Getting the bill through the House was an uphill struggle. Passage wasn't a sure thing. Late-night arm-twisting by the president got enough votes to make it happen.
He released this statement, touting the achievement, that reads in part, "The bill will create millions of jobs and turn the climate crisis into an opportunity and put us on the path to win the economic competition for the 21st century."
Jessica Dean has the details.
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JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Big news out of the U.S. House of Representatives tonight, as the bipartisan infrastructure bill makes it out of the House and is now heading to President Biden's desk for his signature.
So a major part of his legislative agenda getting done. House Democrats getting it done with 13 House Republicans joining them in that vote. You did see six progressives who voted against this. But the bottom line is the bipartisan infrastructure bill will, now, become law.
It is a big victory for President Biden, who was really hoping and had to end up calling and trying to push this over the finish line multiple times. But really, today, when it really came down to it, we started the day with expected morning votes and something that would be rather quick.
And it did not turn out that way, just hours and hours on negotiations dragged on, as various factions of the party wanted different things. A handful of House moderates, holding out for a CBO score on the Build Back Better Act.
And then the Congressional Black Caucus, offering a compromise idea, to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill and a procedural vote on the Build Back Better Act.
While progressives balked at that at the beginning but, in the end, everyone came around, with moderates offering up a statement, committing to voting for the Build Back Better Act by November 15th.
And then progressives, the chairwoman of the progressives saying, the bulk of them would vote for this, which is what ended up happening and that is how they were able to get to those magic numbers and get this bill to President Biden.
That heads to his desk to become law. And as for the Build Back Better Act, it now has to pass the House. It will then go to the Senate, where expected a ton of changes will be made.
We know a number of senators, including Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema and also senator Bernie Sanders and others want changes made to this. So expect that also to be a long, drawn-out process, before it makes its way back to the House side -- Jessica Dean, CNN, Capitol Hill.
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BRUNHUBER: The chairwoman of the Democrat's progressive caucus is defending the strategy of linking the infrastructure bill with the social spending plan. Listen to this.
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REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): We made the determination that getting a commitment to this larger package, frankly, was absolutely important, that we wanted to make sure we had the votes for immigration, for pharmaceutical drug pricing, for paid leave, all the things that are in this package.
We also made the determination that the country needs to continue to move forward. So we feel like we got the best of all worlds. We got a commitment on this vote, which -- and every single one of those individuals looked us in the eyes and said they are voting for it.
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BRUNHUBER: Only 13 House Republicans broke ranks to vote for the infrastructure plan. Don Bacon explains why he was one of them.
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REP. DON BACON (R-NE): That conflated with the other bill. And both sides, the progressives said they're linked together and our side. And it was wrong in my view. I think the hard infrastructure bill, I thought it was good for our district, for our country.
I don't think it was perfect dottery to be (ph). I was frightened (ph) and I think I would have made it a little better, myself. But I think in the end it was good for the country and I just got to follow my conscience. And I committed to do it back in March and April.
And I thought it was an easy bill when it passed in August. For some reason we wanted to make it harder than it shouldn't have been.
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BRUNHUBER: Let's take a closer look at what's in the bipartisan infrastructure package. It comes with a $1.2 trillion price tag as we mentioned, $110 billion is earmarked for fixing up roads and bridges and includes $66 billion to overhaul passenger and freight rail, $55 billion to water infrastructure and $65 billion will be spent on improving broadband internet access.
Natasha Lindstaedt teaches government at the University of Essex in England and joins us live.
Thanks so much for being here. We will get to the politics of this in a moment. Let's start first with the substance.
How important is this bill to the country?
How will Americans benefit and when are they likely to see a payoff?
NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Well, it's incredibly important just because there's decaying infrastructure. There is all kind of problems with our bridges, which is dangerous. Our ports are unsafe.
And we need to invest in our public transit system. We need to invest in our water pipes, broadband and so forth.
But originally this bill was called the American Jobs Plan. I think that would be another added benefit of it. I think that's another reason why it can be so popular, it will be so popular, because it will create a lot of jobs.
And it's about tackling things that are long overdue. So no wonder it was already very popular in Congress, it just got delayed because of the combining of this bill with a social safety net bill.
BRUNHUBER: We'll get to some of that sausage-making later. But just how big of a win is this for a president who's trying to grapple with the pandemic, inflation, the economy, not to mention those declining approval ratings?
LINDSTAEDT: Well, this is incredibly important because he ran on this platform, that he was going to get things done and that government can work for the American people. Even though he had some big wins with the initial American Rescue Plan Act, where poverty rates were halved; 4.1 million jobs were created and growth rates in the second quarter were 6.5 percent and over 200 million vaccines distributed, he was just getting hit absolutely hit hard in the ratings.
He had an approval rating of about 43 percent. It had nearly plummeted from around 60 percent when he first took office. So all the things he was doing well were not getting noticed.
Instead, he was getting hit hard by the fact that he had no control over his own party. There was so much internal wrangling, that it appeared the Democrats were incompetent. They were hit by the Virginia governor election, where a Republican won, in a state where a governor had been Democratic in the past.
So it was clear that all of this wasn't playing out well for the Democrats but particularly for Joe Biden.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. So, as we mentioned, they punted on that massive almost $2 trillion social spending plan. Its fate is up in the air.
Will it get passed as well?
BRUNHUBER: I think it will eventually get passed in the House. Some of the moderate Democrats agreed they were willing to do it as long as it went through the Congressional Budget Office with a clear estimate about what the economic impact would be, the impact on taxes, the impact on individuals.
And with was a little bit more transparency. I think they were willing to support it. But what will eventually happen when it gets to the Senate, that's where there will be real problems of getting this bill to look like anything of which Joe Biden and the more progressive Democrats had envisioned.
It will get watered down considerably. There are all kind of things people are unhappy with at the moment. So I do think it's going to go through. But it's not going to take the original form that I think people had intended.
BRUNHUBER: So we could see some more chaos ahead. So you know, press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted of, delivering this infrastructure bill, proof that delivering for the American people was worth all this painful sausage-making, as she went on to tout the benefits of the bill.
But what costs will this fighting have, the wrangling, the criticism of various parts of these bills from within the party?
Have Democrats basically succeeded only in making that sausage seem unpalatable to many Americans?
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LINDSTAEDT: Well, the thing is, they have to remind Americans that democracy is messy. It's not like a dictatorship, where everything happens very easily and quickly. There will be a messy part of it.
But I think the bigger problem with the Democrats is they're not controlling the narrative better. They are letting the Republicans take control of it, who say the Democrats are incompetent, complete disarray, complete chaos.
Do you really want them running your country?
They need to emphasize it just takes time to get things done and they also need to have a clear message of what they are providing. What they are providing are things that are popular with the American people. It just takes time negotiating matters.
I think this is something that the Democrats have to get much better at if they're going to do well in the 2022 midterms.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Exactly. Well said. We will have to leave it there. Thank you so much, we really appreciate it.
LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.
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BRUNHUBER: We are following breaking news out of Houston, Texas, where at least eight people have died at the Astroworld music festival. At this hour, we don't exactly know what caused the deaths. Scores of others were injured. At least 23 were taken to the hospital. One was 10 years old.
At least 11 of those taken to the hospital were in cardiac arrest. Authorities say the crowd surged toward the front of the stage shortly after 9:00 pm local time. According to the fire chief, people began to fall out and become unconscious and it created additional panic.
Organizers say the second night has been cancelled. Stay with CNN as we follow this breaking story.
Now to Ethiopia, the military is calling on veterans to rejoin the army and defend against rebel forces. Nine opposition groups formed an alliance. They aim at removing the prime minister from power. David McKenzie is following the story for us from Johannesburg.
The fact that they're trying to recruit veterans, it seems like a desperate move.
What's the latest?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is certainly the contrast, Kim, between what the government is doing and saying. What the government the doing is calling, as you say, for military veterans under the age of 55, officers up to their 60s, to voluntarily rejoin the military to fight and join the fight against at least two rebel groups that are threatening, even if not directly at this stage, the capital Addis Ababa.
And they are calling for a state of emergency that is now being implemented that allows a conscription for anyone over the age of 18 to fight these same rebel groups. The question was put to the attorney general, why they are making these dramatic moves, despite calling the reporting on this crisis alarmist.
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GEDION TIMOTHEWOS, ETHIOPIAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: The government is still taking some precautionary measures. We have credible intelligence indicating that the TPLF might try to orchestrate some sort of (INAUDIBLE), not only in Addis but other parts of the country as well. So taking into account this kind of reformation.
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MCKENZIE: The TPLF is the political group in the north and their military wing, the TDF, has been engaged in battles outside of the usual area of operations, Kim. But to get into details of exactly where they are at this time is difficult, given the communications blackout on large parts of these front line zones.
What is clear is that the political pressure on prime minister Abiy is building from different regional groups in Ethiopia.
What we should look for next?
There's been a high-level diplomat from the U.S. in the country, Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, the Horn of Africa envoy, was there for two days to try to deescalate the situation. But everything kind of hangs in the balance right now. The fear is that this bloody conflict for more than a year could now break out into a full-scale civil war. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: That would be tragic, indeed, David McKenzie, thank you so much.
A new U.S. vaccine mandate faces a pushback in court. Next, Republican governors prep for a legal fight to try to stop the mandate in its tracks. Plus, federal officials release alarming new details about a drone
attack that targeted a section of the U.S. electric grid. We'll have more on that after the break. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Battle lines are being drawn in a legal fight over a new vaccine mandate in the U.S. set to go into effect shortly after the start of the year for companies with at least 100 workers.
Athena Jones reports many Republicans are pushing back and taking the White House to court.
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GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): It's been my belief that mandates only further divide and politicize our state in our country.
GOV. KAY IVEY (R-AL): We don't need an outrageous, overreaching mandate to get us to do the right thing.
ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Growing backlash to new federal vaccine requirements setting up a legal showdown.
IVEY: The Biden mandates will be judged and gorged.
JONES (voice-over): Under the new rule announced yesterday by the Biden administration, workers had private businesses with 100 or more employees must be vaccinated by January 4th or produce a negative COVID test weekly and wear a mask.
The roll is expected to impact some 84 million employees, with employers facing fines of up to $14,000 per violation, even higher for willful violations.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): This is a rule that is not consistent with the Constitution and is not legally authorized through congressional statutes.
JONES (voice-over): Now more than two dozen states are challenging the new rules in court.
DESANTIS: I just think people are so sick of constantly being bossed around restricted, mandated all these different things.
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DESANTIS: We've had enough of it. And we want people to be able to make their own decisions. JONES (voice-over): Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis has railed against COVID-related mandates for months, joining a suit with Georgia and with Alabama, whose governor signed legislation today that allows state residents to claim a medical or religious exemption from a COVID vaccine requirement.
Some prominent U.S. trade groups also taking issue with the rule. The National Retail Federation, the world's largest retail trade association, calling it burdensome for retailers during the crucial holiday shopping season. The Associated Builders and Contractors, a construction industry trade group, warning the rule is likely to exacerbate existing issues, including increasing costs, supply chain bottlenecks and a worker shortage.
Still, the White House says vaccine requirements are working, helping bring the number of those unvaccinated who are eligible in the U.S. down to about 60 million, slowing COVID spread and giving the economy a boost.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Vaccinated workers are going back to work. Vaccinated shoppers are going back to stores.
JONES (voice-over): And they believe they're on firm legal footing.
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRINCIPAL DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: We're pretty confident the administration clearly has the authority to protect workers and actions announced by the President are designed to save lives and stop spread of COVID.
JONES: Now it comes to enforcing this new rule for large private businesses, an official telling CNN the agency making sure businesses comply will have planned inspection of some workplaces and will also rely on complaints from workers to enforce it -- Athena Jones, CNN, New York.
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BRUNHUBER: In Europe, health officials are predicting an uphill battle against a massive COVID surge on the continent. The region's CDC says new cases and deaths will keep growing for at least two more weeks. Nada Bashir is in London with more.
We heard the warnings. We've seen the numbers so what are they proposing to do to get a handle on all this?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The WHO is issuing a stark warning to world leaders across the European continent. They could be seeing things like 100,000 coronavirus-related deaths between now and early February, in Europe and across central Asia.
As we mentioned, cases are rising. We are seeing a record number of cases and hospital admissions across the country. So the WHO has pulled world leaders to take immediate action.
Two key factors have been highlighted. The first, the varying degrees of vaccine uptake across Europe has raised concern. While some countries have recorded a large amount of uptake in the population, there are some parts in Europe where we are seeing significant vaccine hesitancy. That has obviously translated into the number of people getting the jab.
As the countries open up more in the winter months, we are seeing growing concern there could be a rising spread, particularly in light of the Delta variant, which is highly transmissible.
What the WHO has also said is while they need to take a look at the national measures, measures are put in place to stem the virus. We did see tougher measures across Europe, including mandates and social distancing and mask wearing and lockdowns across the continent.
The WHO said they need to take a look at their own policies and have such measures brought back into place. We have seen that in Russia who has a mandate from the vaccine for public.
We've seen countries like France and others which ensures people working in the private sector in Italy are getting the vaccine, otherwise facing hefty penalties. In France, we have people going out to cinemas or to theaters or to eat in restaurants and long distance travel in the country. So those incentives are encouraging people to get the jab.
But it's a worrying trend and the WHO has raised this alarm. If this trajectory continues, the healthcare sectors could be placed under extreme pressures, pressures we haven't seen before.
Going into the winter months with the Delta variant present and the highly variant and the seasonal flu, these are real concerns right now. More action needs to be taken. As the WHO said, not a lot of time to do that. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Hopefully not a predictor of what will happen here in the U.S. Nada Bashir, thank you so much.
Just a day after the U.K. authorized Merck's anti-COVID pill for treatment of some cases --
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BRUNHUBER: -- Pfizer says it has a better one. They say interim results of a trial show it was 89 percent effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths.
The study found the Merck pill was 50 percent effective. Now unlike the vaccine, the pills will be given to people who already are infected. Pfizer says it will apply for emergency authorization use in the U.S. as early as this month.
Ahead, Democrats give President Biden a much needed win on his domestic agenda. We will explain how late night negotiations secured passage of an infrastructure bill.
Plus an intelligence bulletin reveals how dangerous drones can be to the infrastructure in the U.S. We'll look at the threat posed by these unmanned aircraft coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
U.S. President Joe Biden scored a major win in Congress with final passage of his $1.2 infrastructure bill the vote was 228 to 206 with 13 Republicans voting with the Democrats and six Democrats voted against it.
After the vote, Biden released a statement calling it a monumental step forward as a nation. Though getting the bill through the House was an uphill struggle, the president worked into the night to get enough Democrats on board. CNN's Manu Raju spoke about the twists and turns leading up to the vote.
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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Joe Biden made an aggressive lobbying campaign, calling the progressive caucus in a meeting that went for about four hours long, talking to the head of the caucus, Pramila Jayapal, having multiple meetings with members and ultimately trying to get the two warring factions together.
The moderates ultimately agreed to put up a statement, saying they would support the larger bill later this month, assuming when the Congressional Budget Office gives it, it comes back fully paid for.
At that point Pramila Jayapal said that was essentially good enough for her, a commitment from the moderates, not a vote to pass that bill but a commitment. It clearly was not easy. It finally got to the president's desk after a bill approved by the Senate in August.
We'll see what happens with that larger bill. When it comes up, presumably in November, it can only afford to lose three votes.
Will moderates vote yes? Will something change?
Things have been changing minute by minute around here. We'll see what happens by mid-November. When they get out of the House, the Senate is a whole different complication, with Joe Manchin and others already vowing to change the bill. Still a long way to go to get the larger bill done.
But at the moment, the White House is celebrating, getting the infrastructure bill to the president's desk.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Now to the investigation into the insurrection on Capitol Hill. A former Justice Department official, who pushed Donald Trump's election fraud lies, refused to cooperate with the House Select Committee on Friday. Now the committee chairman is warning Jeffrey Clark he has very little time to reconsider his stance.
CNN's Ryan Nobles has the latest.
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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For weeks, the January 6th Select Committee has been trying to talk to this man.
JEFFREY CLARK, FORMER DOJ OFFICIAL: Good morning. I'm Jeff Clark. I'm the head of the civil division.
NOBLES: Jeffrey Clark, a former Trump-era Department of Justice official, was seen in this exclusive video Friday morning, entering a House office building to answer questions from the committee.
The meeting did not last long. Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said Clark did not answer any questions.
REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS), CHAIR, U.S. HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON JANUARY 6 ATTACK: My understanding is he did not cooperate. And we will look forward after our meeting this afternoon as to next steps. I have, as chair, the ability to rule on some of the issues that were raised.
NOBLES: One of those steps could be a criminal contempt referral of Congress.
Clark is a key figure in the January 6th probe, a Trump loyalist, who peddled false claims about election fraud within the department, with the goal of getting the agency to investigate the claims.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Clark had a lot to do with this plan for January 6th and he also was apparently making a play to become the attorney general.
NOBLES: Clark's efforts were rebuffed by the two men running the DOJ at the time. Acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen and his deputy, Richard Donoghue, both men had already sat before the committee for lengthy interviews.
Clark's current attorney is Harry McDougal, a Georgia-based lawyer, with connections to Sidney Powell.
Powell and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani were part of the public push by Trump allies to spread the Big Lie and sow doubt in the 2020 election results.
New video obtained by CNN shows Powell and Giuliani testifying under oath in a deposition as part of a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems in August. At one point, Giuliani concedes that he often had no proof to back up his wild claims about the election. RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER TRUMP PERSONAL LAWYER: It's not my job, in a fast-moving case, to go out and investigate every piece of evidence that's given to me. Otherwise, you're never going to write a story, you'll never come to a conclusion.
NOBLES: The committee met shortly after Clark's deposition, which did not yield much information. They were disappointed he chose not to cooperate.
The committee chairman, Bennie Thompson, issuing a statement that read, in part, "It's astounding that someone, who so recently held a position of public trust to uphold the Constitution, would now hide behind vague claims of privilege by a former president, refuse to answer questions about an attack on our democracy and continue an assault on the rule of law.
"As prescribed by the House rules, I have considered Mr. Clark's claim of privilege and rejected it. He has a very short time to reconsider and cooperate fully."
What the statement doesn't say that committee is considering a criminal contempt referral of Clark. Thompson said earlier in the day that is something that is on the table -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, Capitol Hill.
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BRUNHUBER: Key federal U.S. law enforcement agencies are sounding the alarm over the potential damage a domestic drone strike could do. The warning comes from a bulletin obtained by CNN.
It says a drone that crashed near a Pennsylvania substation was likely meant to damage or disrupt the electrical equipment. No damage was done but it's still not clear who was responsible.
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BRUNHUBER: It's the first known case of a drone being used to specifically target energy infrastructure in the U.S. Authorities are now sending the bulletins to state and local officials to raise awareness about the incident and the threat posed by drones.
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Dawn Zoldi is a U.S. Air Force veteran and the founder and CEO of P3 Tech Consulting and joins me now from Colorado Springs.
Thanks so much for being here with us.
First of all, what more you can tell us about the drone, itself, how it was meant to disrupt the grid?
DAWN ZOLDI, USAF VETERAN: Well, from what we understand, it had a bunch of copper wires hanging from it. The idea, I believe, was to cause a short circuit and damage to the transformers and distribution lines. So it was a DJI Maverick 2 (ph) drone I believe as well. BRUNHUBER: That's a consumer type drone, a small drone, something you
could pick up for a couple thousand dollars maybe?
ZOLDI: Absolutely super cheap, very common, in fact. DJI basically had the corner on about 70 percent of the commercial market. And about 90 percent of public safety agencies use those drones.
BRUNHUBER: And some of the details I was seeing, the people responsible had sort of tried to hide any individual characteristics or anything that could be sort of traced back to them.
What does that tell you?
ZOLDI: Well, look, they're clearly trying to do something nefarious here, right?
So this is a problem, Kim, and this is really what I would say, the tip of the iceberg.
BRUNHUBER: Well, that's exactly it. The U.S. government says it's the first attack on infrastructure on U.S. soil. To some, the surprise isn't that it happened; the surprise is that it took so long.
Why hasn't it been more common?
Because, as you say, it's cheap. It's a relatively easy way to inflict a lot of damage without getting traced. There is a low barrier to entry here, it's not very expensive and easy to operate.
ZOLDI: Absolutely. What I'd say to that is we don't know what we don't know. The only reason we know about this Pennsylvania incident is because it crashed and we figured it out after the fact.
The real problem here is the fact that we're not really investing in the United States in the infrastructure that will detect these threats. And so these things could be happening, right, and we just don't know.
BRUNHUBER: So you are saying that, yes, this may not be the first incident?
It's just the first one that we're hearing about, right?
The possibilities here are frightening. I mean, if my figures are right, there are about 1.5 million recreational drones in the U.S, some 5 million drones sold worldwide. It doesn't take much imagination to think of other ways that they could be even more harmful if they were armed with guns or bombs.
So with all of that, I mean, you know, what keeps you up at night?
ZOLDI: What keeps me up at night is there is twofold things. There are definitely bad actors out there. They will use this tool as they see fit. We see it not just here in Pennsylvania in the homeland, we've seen it overseas routinely.
So what keeps me up is the fact that we, in the United States, have not invested in the infrastructure to detect this.
We know it's a problem, right?
Because Congress directed the FAA in Section 2209 of the 2016 Reauthorization Act to create a program where critical infrastructure can request a basically a bubble over their facilities, right, a no- fly zone essentially over their facilities.
So Congress is aware of this problem. But what I would say to that, we haven't invested, that was an unfunded mandate for the FAA. There is no money behind that. So that hasn't been implemented in their defense. That's the first thing.
The second thing that keeps me up at night is take the Pennsylvania example as one, you know, situation. Not only did we not detect it until it crashed but let's assume law enforcement had detected it?
Because they will be the first ones on the ground to see something like this. The problem is they don't even have the authorities to do anything about it. There is only five or six federal agencies that have the authority to actually mitigate the threat, once we detect it. Those are the things that keep me up at night.
BRUNHUBER: Thank you so much for being here. We really appreciate it, Dawn Zoldi.
ZOLDI: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: It was an emotional day as the trial of three white men killing a Black jogger in South Georgia last year got under way. His mother broke down as the body camera footage was played for the jury. Martin Savidge has more on the opening statements.
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JUDGE TIMOTHY WALMSLEY, SUPERIOR COURT STATE OF GEORGIA: The state of Georgia versus Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William R. Bryan.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a trial where race and racism take center stage. The nearly all white jury heard two very different accounts of how a 25-year-old Black man, Ahmaud Arbery, was chased and killed by three white men as he was running in a coastal Georgia neighborhood.
LINDA DUNIKOSHI, PROSECUTOR: They started to take off running and the pickup truck goes to follow him.
SAVIDGE: In their opening statement, the lead prosecutor described Arbery is under attack by the three defendants who say they believe that he had committed a crime.
DUNIKOSHI: In this case, all three of these defendants did everything they did based on assumptions. Not on facts, not on evidence, on assumptions and they made decisions in their driveways based on those assumptions that took a young man's life.
SAVIDGE: Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael and a neighbor William Rodney Brian Jr. are facing life in prison on murder and other charges if convicted. It was Bryan who captured the killing on a cell phone. In their opening statement, prosecutors played the cellphone video. Among those watching and listening in the courtroom is Arbery's mother, who said she had never seen it in its entirety and was clearly emotionally overwhelmed.
WANDA COOPER-JONES, AHMAUD ARBERY'S MOTHER: I decided to remain in and start to get familiar with what happened to Ahmaud the last minutes of his life.
SAVIDGE: At no time during the five-minute chase, the prosecutor says did the defendants tell Arbery they were performing a citizen's arrest. Instead, prosecutors say Gregory McMichael shouted threats.
DUNIKOSHI: So how do you know Mr. Ahmaud Arbery was under attack by strangers with intent to kill him?
Because Michael told the police this, "Stop or I'll blow your (BLEEP) head off."
SAVIDGE: In the defense's opening statements. Travis McMichael's attorney portrays a very different story.
ROBERT RUBIN, TRAVIS MCMICHAEL'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This case is about duty and responsibility.
SAVIDGE: Describing Travis McMichael not as a vigilante but as a 10- year veteran of the Coast Guard who felt a duty and responsibility to protect his neighborhood using his training.
RUBIN: It is scenario-based training you're relying on muscle memory.
SAVIDGE: The defense maintains Arbery was seen on video on multiple different occasions in decided to neighborhood home under construction without permission including the day that Arbery was killed.
RUBIN: The evidence shows overwhelmingly that Travis McMichael honestly unlawfully attempted to detain Ahmaud Arbery according to the law and shot and killed him in self-defense.
SAVIDGE: Gregory McMichael's attorney also argued his client's actions were well within the law.
FRANK HOGUE, GREGORY MCMICHAEL'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Greg McMichael was absolutely sure this was the guy. The same guy he had seen on surveillance videos inside the house multiple times where Greg had sound reasons to believe theft had occurred.
SAVIDGE: The state's first witness was the second police officer on the scene, the day Arbery was killed. His bodycam video shows such a gruesome scene. Judge Timothy Walmsley delivered a warning to the courtroom when it was played.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what did that man, covered in blood, seen it over there say to you and you asked him, are you OK?
OFC. WILLIAM DUGGAN, GLYNN COUNTY POLICE: He -- it was a quick reply of basically, no, I'm not OK. I just f'ing killed somebody.
SAVIDGE: Friday was an extremely difficult day. It was also a very painful and emotional day and it was just the first day of testimony in this trial, which will begin again Monday morning -- Martin Savidge, CNN, Brunswick, Georgia.
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BRUNHUBER: A witness Friday testified that the man Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed in protests in Wisconsin was asking to be shot. A former Marine described the man as acting, quote, very belligerently but he didn't think he was a threat.
The man's fiancee also testified Friday. She described visiting the scene after her boyfriend had been shot and collapsing, when she saw his blood on the ground. The prosecution could rest its case as early as next week. It's still unclear if Rittenhouse will take the stand.
German authorities believe a diplomat found dead in Berlin was a secret agent for Russia's FSB intelligence service. The 35-year old fell from an upper floor of the Russian embassy building. How he fell still isn't clear.
The Russian embassy didn't agree to an autopsy and the man's diplomatic immunity meant Germany couldn't carry out an investigation.
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BRUNHUBER: Russian officials say it was a tragic accident and speculation by Western media is, quote, "absolutely incorrect."
Chart topping Brazilian singer Marilia Mendonca was killed in a plane crash. The state's police chief says it's too early to determine the cause of the accident. A Brazilian electric company says the plane hit one of its power cables before the crash. She was only 26 years old and is survived by her 1-year-old son. We'll be back.
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BRUNHUBER: Young protesters flooded the streets of Glasgow Friday with plans to go out in even greater numbers today. Many aren't impressed with the pledges made by world leaders so far, with activist Greta Thunberg accusing the government of making loopholes for themselves. Phil Black joins us.
Phil, those young activists, they weren't mincing words, take us to what's led to the disconnect.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They feel they have a lot to be angry about, if you look at how this conference unfolded during the first week, which is what the negotiating teams will be doing this weekend, looking at the key areas that will determine the success or failure.
It started in a fairly positive way, unusually for these COPs, with big new international deals targeting problems like deforestation. But they're not solutions in and of themselves. They also have weaknesses and caveats.
The other thing to consider is that they don't really impact the COP process, itself. They sit alongside that.
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BLACK: What you've got to look at are some of the headline issues like, are countries individually committing to sufficient emission reductions to ensure the world doesn't go beyond 1.5 degrees of average increase by the end of the century.
And the answer is still very much no. Crucially, you've got some big polluting countries that have made big long-term commitments to becoming net zero around the middle of the century. But analysts and many of the more ambitious countries repeatedly point out they haven't put any plans in place. They haven't made any commitments for the near term this decade, specifically.
The science tell us if we don't cut emissions by half come 2030, then the broader goal of becoming carbon neutral several decades later slips away. The other big issue is still money. Rich countries are still scrambling to come up with $100 billion a year they very long ago promised developing countries to help them come to terms with a problem that is was made by rich countries; that is climate change, itself.
The poor companies need to adapt and grow economically in a low carbon future. Rich countries are obligated to help them. But they still haven't come up with a specific plan. On top of that have you some of the most in-need countries, the most vulnerable countries, calling for loss of damages payments on top of that, reparations.
It all speaks to the sense of fairness and justice that's vital for trust and solidarity. This last week of the conference has a long way to go, a lot of progress to be made. You'd have to expect, based upon all of that, that the outcome is going to fall short.
That's why we're going to see tens of thousands of very angry protesters in central Glasgow today, Kim.
We will be following that story throughout the day. Phil Black, thank you very much, appreciate it.
ABBA fans were hoping they'd reunite one day and four years later that day is now. Up ahead, new music from the Swedish super group.
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BRUNHUBER: A former Barcelona legend is returning to the club. This time as the head coach. Xavi Hernandez will lead the club. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in his generation. He led eight La Liga titles while as a player.
Mamma mia, they're back again.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The brand-new music and the unmistakable sound of Swedish pop legends, ABBA, they just released "Voyage," their first album in 40 years, ABBA became popular in the '70s selling more than 380 million records.
Some are giving the release a rough reception, "Rolling Stone" magazine gave it a rave for evoking the days, "when the Norse gods ruled the radio."
I'm Kim Brunhuber. We'll be back with CNN NEWSROOM. Do stay with us.
