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Kamala Harris Being Sidelined?; Low Poll Rating; New Evidence Of A Memo Sent To Mike Pence To Overturn 2020 Election; Closing Arguments In The Kyle Rittenhouse Trial Set Tomorrow; Manhunt In Georgia For Five Escaped Inmates; Inflation Hits 30-Year High; Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) Is Interviewed About Vice President Kamala Harris' Office. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired November 14, 2021 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. We begin this hour with a CNN exclusive, a vice president who is telling confidants she feels "constrained" as tensions build between her office and that of President Biden.

CNN spoke to nearly three dozen current and former aides to Kamala Harris, administration officials, Democratic operatives, donors and outside advisers for this report. And members of Harris' inner circle tell us she is being sidelined and set up to fail instead of being positioned to be a future president.

But on the other side of things, you have West Wing staffers who say they are completely exasperated, throwing up their hands believing Harris' staff doesn't serve her well and frustrated by what they perceive to be awkward answers on her part on Israel and the border crisis.

A source also telling us some in Biden's orbit have quietly wondered whether it would make sense for the country if Biden just replaced her by appointing her to a supreme court vacancy, for example. While stuff to be sure, sometimes this happens when poll numbers go south. And I want to bring in a CNN senior reporter Isaac Dovere who shares the byline on this report.

Isaac, take us behind the scenes because, you know, they seem very close, the president and the vice president publicly. And I suspect privately they are still very close.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: There is a really good dynamic from every (inaudible) between Joe Biden and Kamala Harris themselves and they feel really good about that. But what we're seeing here is frustration from some people in the West Wing, from some people in the wider Biden orbit with some of these mess-ups that they've seen out of Harris' office.

Frustration within the Harris world of -- with the dysfunction that has continued to plague the office, and an overall feeling from Harris loyalists that there's not being enough done to prepare her for being president or running for president, either of which could end up being relatively soon.

ACOSTA: And this whole idea of trying to put Kamala Harris on the Supreme Court, I mean, I just can't imagine that happening. But I suppose it goes to maybe the frustration level that is simmering behind the scenes.

DOVERE: Yes. In the story, I refer to this as like an Aaron Sorkin type rumor.

ACOSTA: Yes.

DOVERE: And the idea that you're going to appoint the vice president to the Supreme Court is of course kind of crazy and fantasy-level stuff. But I do think as you say, it speaks to the panic that people feel like maybe that's what they're going to do with her to just get her out of the way.

They're feeling so sidelined and they're feeling that she's being so sidelined and wanting more to do with her that this conspiracy- suspicious thinking has bled in.

ACOSTA: And you do note in the piece that Harris' chief of staff recognized that they were sort of drowning and they went to the White House chief of staff Ron Klain for help. What came of that?

DOVERE: Well, this was a conversation Tina Flournoy, chief of staff to the vice president, goes to Ron Klain, chief of staff to the president, but also of course chief of staff to two former vice presidents, Al Gore and Joe Biden, and said I need some advice, what do I do here? We need more help.

And Klain was advising her, think about how you could reassign some people, think about what you could do because he was saying that it's not that there was additional money to be found there, it's the V.P.'s office that has its budget. So you've got to think creatively about this and find ways to get more help for an office that clearly everybody involved seems to think needs a little bit of it.

ACOSTA: And what do you -- what about the Harris family and the role that they're playing in her office? What's significant about that?

DOVERE: Harris comes into this job. She's the vice president. She's been in public life for almost two decades, San Francisco D.A., California attorney general, United States senator from California, vice president. Almost none of the people who worked with her in any of those previous jobs are with her on her staff now. That is very unusual, of course in contrast to Biden who has people working for him now who have been around him for decades.

But for Harris, there is -- she is aware that things are sometimes not going well. She is aware that there are people playing off each other in her office sometimes. And that gives her a sense of isolation and she falls back sometimes on her family. Of course, her family is not any random people. Her sister is very

accomplished, a leader on domestic policy and worked for the ACLU. Her brother-in-law was a high-ranking official in the Justice Department in Barack Obama's second term. So, these are people that she knows, knows what they're talking about, but on the other hand, it is, I know, we sort of got used to it in the Trump days of family members being involved. But to have family members having any kind of a role other than a spouse is an unusual thing.

ACOSTA: Okay, all right, Isaac Dovere, thank you very much.

DOVERE: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Appreciate the reporting. I want to bring in CNN's senior political analyst and anchor John Avlon and host of "Firing Line" on PBS, Margaret Hoover. A Hoovalon segment. Margaret, is all of this finger-pointing to be expected considering the shaky poll numbers for the White House right now?

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that's one way to see it. I mean, the other way to see it is this John Adams side, right? John Adams had that famous quote about the vice presidency where he said the most -- it was the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.

[17:05:06]

The vice presidency is for a go-getter, somebody who's eager to jump into the fray and for somebody who is new to Washington, which is unusual for Kamala Harris. She's the vice -- probably the vice president -- I went back and looked at this Jim -- with the least amount of Washington experience in the last 50 years since Spiro Agnew, all right. That's what the -- you don't have to go back to next (inaudible), all right.

So, she doesn't have the experience in Washington. She doesn't have the deep relationships. She doesn't understand the nature of the office or the town. And also, intrinsically, the job itself is basically ceremonial and only useful to the extent that the president puts you to task.

ACOSTA: What do you think, John?

HOOVER: So I think actually, to your point, all of this is quite expected.

ACOSTA: Yes. And what do you think, John?

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST & ANCHOR: Well, first of all, I mean, I want to congratulate Isaac on the depth of the reporting here. It's an unprecedented situation on a ton of levels and not just least because it's the first female and person of color in the vice presidency.

To be Joe Biden's vice president who himself was vice president is unusual. They have a very tight work relationship, as Isaac just said. But also there is an expectation or the strong possibility that Biden not only our oldest president but maybe one-term president, which increases pressure on Kamala Harris.

And also the incoming flack she has gotten from partisan media in a relentless way. In addition to the difficulties of just defining herself in the office, that's a very difficult headwinds that she has flown into. And that's being seen in the poll numbers that are suffering for her in addition to the presidency.

ACOSTA: Now I sort of feel like we were just on Earth 1 talking about political problems on Earth 1. Let's go back to Earth 2. New audio has emerged --

AVLON: How's it going (inaudible)?

ACOSTA: Yes, let's go back to Earth 2. New audio has emerged this week of Trump defending the insurrectionists who were heard chanting to physically hang Vice President Mike Pence, and now more audio has been released. Let's play some of Trump being asked about a phone call he had with Pence the morning of the insurrection.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS HOST: There was a report, and excuse my language --

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Go ahead.

KARL: -- not mine. It was in the report that you talked to him that morning and you said you could be a patriot or you can be a (BLEEP). Did you really say that or is that incorrect?

TRUMP: I wouldn't dispute it.

KARL: Really?

TRUMP: I wouldn't dispute it.

KARL: If Pence did what you wanted, do you think you would still be in the White House?

TRUMP: I think we would have won, yes.

KARL: Can you ever forgive him for that?

TRUMP: I don't know because I picked him, I like him. I still like him, but I don't know that I can forgive him. He did the wrong thing. Very nice man. I like him a lot. I like his family so much, but he did -- he did -- it was a terrible, it was a tragic mistake.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Your thoughts, Margaret?

HOOVER: Yes. The audio is, you know, deeply disheartening. It's the next low of the lows that we didn't think we could get lower then. But what continues to plague me is in addition to that sound, the memo that came out that detailed exactly how, that also was part of that reporting, exactly how they were going to undermine the constitutional process.

And it continues to remind me, Jim, that if it were not for Mike Pence doing exactly what he believed the Constitution said, you know, we were one bad action away from a constitutional crisis on January 6th, despite the fact that the Constitution -- the capitol was attacked, right?

That if he had not done the right thing, we would have trouble on our hands, which is --just one more thing. It is all the reason we have to double down and fortify the Electoral Act of 1887. Try not to have your eyes glaze over.

AVLON: No, no.

HOOVER: But truly, that's what's real here.

AVLON: Breach.

HOOVER: That's what's real here.

ACOSTA: Something needs to be done, yes.

HOOVER: Yes. And it's the Electoral Act of 1887 which actually codifies the electors -- the votes of the electors and doesn't rely on the good will of the vice president to ensure that the electorate is heard.

ACOSTA: John, let me ask you. Let me -- let's turn the page to "SNL" last night. We got to get to "SNL" because they did, you know, a little rendition of what "Sesame Street" would be like if Ted Cruz ran it. I guess they -- I think they called it "Cruz Street," I believe. Let's watch.

AVLON: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: You know, for 50 years I stood by "Sesame Street." Taught our children dangerous ideas like numbers and kindness. But when Big Bird told children to get vaccinated against a deadly disease, I said enough! And I created my own "Sesame Street" called "Cruz Street." It's a gated community where kids are safe from the woke government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes, John, "SNL" having some fun with Ted Cruz's fixation on Big Bird. You know, he's worried about Kermit the Frog when he should be worried about Donald the fraud, but John, your thoughts?

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AVLON: Look, you know, "SNL's" got a lot to work with. And every day the real news gives it a run for its money when it comes to sheer satire. This is a good one, Ted Cruz's own take on "Sesame Street." But I got to say, you know, the reason this stuff resonates, the reason they have so much to work with is the real problem here.

You have one political party that has completely gone off the rails with regard to reality, where they attack Big Bird over -- PSA's over vaccinations during America's deadliest pandemic, confusing it with communist propaganda. You know, you've got the former president of the United States completely delusional.

The more information coming out showing he absolutely tried to overturn an election and execute a coup de etat and still he's in a powerful pole position inside the Republican Party out of fear. This is all stuff should be written out of a bad novel or a surreal dark "SNL" sketch, but it's the reality we're living with. So, "Ted Cruz Street" is just kind of a cherry on the sundae for the palpable weirdness of our politics these days.

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Margaret, I've got to ask you about this. We have to play this sound, speaking of dark and surreal. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn made some comments. I'm sure you guys have seen this, saying that there should be one religion. I wanted to make sure we save some time to talk about this. Its bananas. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL FLYNN, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We are going to have one nation under God, which we must. We have to have one religion, one nation under God and one religion under God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: I mean, so much for the separation of church and state and the Constitution.

HOOVER: Well, also, I mean, it's correct. That's the First Amendment, is freedom of religion, freedom of establishment and freedom from religion also that keeps the government apart from your choice of religion in this country.

AVLON: And the fact that, you know, Mike Flynn, who should know better, who swore -- took an oath to uphold the Constitution, is speaking for all these folk who keep running past these basic guardrails, you know. Freedom of religion is consistent with the idea that of separation between church and state. That there is not -- the founders were very clear on this.

That there would not be an official state-sanctioned religion. So Mike Flynn is there, you know, playing to the cheap seats saying we should destroy that element of the Constitution. Folks got to understand. They can't call themselves patriots or constitutional conservatives and give these folks time let alone elevate them to cult figures, which is what they're doing right now. This is the opposite of conservatism. This is the opposite of the Constitution. Self- evidently.

ACOSTA: Yes, I think Mike Flynn's religion is the cult of Trump.

AVLON: Or -- yes. I mean, we got a cult of personality that is twisting people's minds and it's pathetic to see. But people should treat it as pathetic and not as an alternative reality to subscribe to.

ACOSTA: Yes, very dangerous, very disturbing. All right, John Avlon, Margaret Hoover, thanks so much for talking about -- we covered the waterfront this evening. Thanks for your time.

AVLON: We did.

HOOVER: Well done. Take care.

AVLON: Take care.

ACOSTA: Thanks a lot. Coming up, new details about former chief of staff Mark Meadows' involvement in Trump's coup plot as the January 6th Committee says it will pursue criminal charges against him if he does not cooperate. Nixon White House counsel and Watergate linchpin John Dean weighs in right after this. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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ACOSTA: New today, Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff vowing that the January 6th Committee will move quickly on a criminal contempt referral for Mark Meadows. Trump's former White House chief of staff skipped Friday's deposition the same day that former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was indicted for similarly snubbing the committee.

And now we're learning new details about Meadows' role in the scheme to overturn the 2020 election. Jonathan Karl of ABC News reports that a Trump campaign attorney laid out a plan for Pence to nullify the votes from six states Trump loss effectively reversing the election results.

Meadows then sent those step-by-step instructions to Mike Pence's top aides on New Year's Eve days before the insurrection. And to clarify, this is a different plan from the other Trump memo that was crafted by the other Trump memo John Eastman about overturning election results.

And I'm joined by former Nixon White House counsel and CNN contributor John Dean. John, thanks so much for being with us. I mean, Trump is on tape telling Georgia top election officials to find the votes that he needs to win that state. He admits to pressuring the V.P. into overturning election results.

We now learned his chief of staff sent a detailed coup cookbook to the vice president's team. I mean, this sounds like a conspiracy, and I guess, you know, I asked Carl Bernstein this in the last hour. Where is the prosecution? I mean, why can't this get prosecuted? This looks like a conspiracy, a scheme to break the law.

JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I heard you. I listened to your exchange with Karl and I had a little different reaction.

ACOSTA: Yes.

DEAN: He wanted to look at a big picture and what they were doing. I think they should be looking at the criminal liability of these people. That will get their attention. That's what happened at Watergate. There were two tracks. There was a criminal investigation along with a congressional investigation.

Jim, there may well be a criminal investigation going on right now. We just don't know. And I say that because of the exchange back on October, October 18th, between Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Attorney General Merrick Garland where White House pressed him as to whether there was going to be more than just the trespassers who would be investigated and charged.

To paraphrase what Garland said, he said, yes, there's no restriction on this and we may be using techniques that are way beyond your knowledge as a former U.S. Attorney. So, that was pretty clear that they're looking at this and there is a grand jury somewhere and federal grand juries have long life.

[17:20:02]

They go 18 to 36 months. So, we're talking January 6th. We're well within the life of a grand jury.

ACOSTA: Interesting. I agree that well could be the case. And we have some brand new information about the judge presiding over Steve Bannon's case tomorrow. It turns out in the George W. Bush administration, he was the lead Department of Justice lawyer seeking to block congressional subpoenas based for two Bush officials based on executive privilege.

What's your read on this? Is this good news for Bannon or is it the fact that he was a former official and was just an informal adviser? Does that sort of leave him unprotected, out in the wind, so to speak?

DEAN: I think I'll give judges the benefit of the doubt that when they take their oath to do impartial justice that that's exactly what they'll do. They'll look at the law. They'll look at the facts and they'll reach their conclusion. This is a judge also that this will, if goes to trial, he won't be deciding the facts. He can only call the law.

And the law is pretty well-established in this area. And the lower court judge with the injunction case where Trump tried to block the January 6th committee from getting anything, did a nice job of spelling out in very strong terms what the existing law is.

ACOSTA: And listen to what Mark Meadows said this weekend about his dealings with the January 6th committee after skipping his deposition on Friday. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP: I've told them that, to my knowledge, no one in the West Wing had any advanced knowledge of what was going to happen on January 6th in terms of the breach in security.

Additionally, a number of things that took place actually would not go towards supporting that narrative. Here's the facts of the matter is, is that we've worked real hard to try to reach an accommodation with the committee. And yet, it's been basically their way or the highway. And, so, they took a very aggressive move today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes, John, he seems to be choosing his words very carefully there.

DEAN: Very carefully. I've got to tell you, Jim, the fact that it was the repeated mantra at the Nixon White House, and, true, that we had no advanced knowledge of the Watergate break-in. It just ran so historically similar. Now, we didn't know about January 6th. That's probably true. But Nixon had set in motion activities that resulted in the Watergate break-in.

Trump had set in motion activities that resulted in the January 6th riot or attempt to overthrow the proceedings of the Congress. So, that's a really weak response from Meadows and it will hold no water anywhere.

ACOSTA: And I spoke to Trump's former White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham yesterday about the -- what was going on behind the scenes and she talked about paranoid secret meetings that Trump would hold. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE GRISHAM, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP: The president at the time was so paranoid of leaks that a lot of our meetings took place in the residence. Number one, so he could keep track of who was in there and if it leaked out he would try to, you know, figure that out.

But number two, so that it was very much kept off the books and documents. Anything that was written down could probably be thrown in the trash where people can't, you know, come and retrieve them to put into the archives.

So, that happened quite a bit and I'm sure the Select Committee is aware of that and is looking into that. Mark Meadows was one towards the end who was definitely helping to plan those meetings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Grisham has told me that she has not spoken with the January 6th Committee yet. She was with the first lady's office on January 6th, quit that day. But shouldn't the January 6th Committee be casting a wide net and trying to talk to as many White House officials as possible about what they know?

DEAN: Exactly. I would hope that's what exactly they're doing. That's how, for example, the Senate Watergate Committee ended up finding the taping system while I had testified I thought I had been recorded in one or more conversations. It wasn't until several weeks later when they were spreading a wide net that they got Alex Butterfield who said, oh, yes, Dean's probably right, I had the system installed. So, that wide net can get some really good fish occasionally.

ACOSTA: It can yield dividends that you weren't expecting. All right, John Dean, great to see you, as always. Thanks so much for those insights. We appreciate it.

DEAN: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: Thank you, sir. In less than 24 hours, jurors in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial will begin deliberations. Both sides want the jury to be able to consider lesser charges. Will the judge allow it? We'll ask former federal prosecutor, Elie Honig, our friend Elie Honig, what that option could mean. He is next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[17:25:00]

ACOSTA: Less than 24 hours from now, closing arguments will begin in the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial, and is then the grand jury -- or excuse me, the jury in that case gets the case to take a look at it. Rittenhouse, who traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin during an unrest over a police shooting is charged with killing two people and wounding a third.

And joining us now to talk about this is CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. Elie, the judge -- it sounds like he might allow these lesser charges to be considered by the jury against Rittenhouse. What does that mean, do you think?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Jim, that's a really important ruling we should hear tomorrow morning.

[17:29:57]

If the judge allows the jury to be instructed on what we call these lesser included charges, in my view, that's a really big win for the prosecutors. And here's why. Because you create a middle ground where the jury can find Kyle Rittenhouse guilty of very serious offenses even if not the most serious offenses that have been charged. Let me give you an example.

Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree intentional homicide of Anthony Huber. That's the person who hit Rittenhouse with a skateboard and then Rittenhouse shot and killed him. Now, if the jury finds him not guilty, Rittenhouse not guilty of that, they can still then find him guilty of a less serious murder, a reckless murder, a second- degree murder which could subject him still to 60 years behind bars. So if I'm the prosecutor, I'm thrilled to have more ways to get a

conviction here. And, Jim, juries are just collections of 12 human beings. I mean, we all know from personal experience. Imagine how hard it is to get 12 people to agree unanimously on anything. And so juries love to compromise. And you give them that compromise option, there is a chance that's where they land.

ACOSTA: And the judge also ruled that he would allow the prosecution to argue provocation. Let's talk about that term. What does it mean? How might that impact the jury deliberations?

HONIG: Yes. So another significant win for the prosecution there. We know that Kyle Rittenhouse is going to argue self-defense that he used deadly force only because he had to because he reasonably believed his life was in favor. And there is some strong evidence for him on that.

However, if the prosecution can show that Kyle Rittenhouse provoked the situation, that Kyle Rittenhouse took actions that were likely to or intended to get other people to attack him, then that wipes out the self-defense claim. Then that means he's guilty.

And so we're going to hear the prosecutors argue he had this gun illegally, he drove in from out of state about 30 miles away to be there, he walked around brandishing this gun. They're going to argue he went looking for trouble. Now there are arguments the other way too, but this gives the prosecution a way to beat the self-defense claim. That's why it's so important.

ACOSTA: And Thursday was Veterans Day. This to me was just an unbelievable moment. The judge asked the courtroom if anybody present was a veteran. The only veteran turned out to be a witness for the defense. And then the judge ordered a round of applause for this defense witness. Obviously we all honor our veterans and it's always good to applaud them.

But it was just so bizarre to see a judge asking the room, including the jury to applaud this defense witness. We talked to a former Wisconsin state Supreme Court justice yesterday who could not believe that the judge did this. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANINE GESKE, FORMER WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: That broke my heart. This was an important defense witness on use of force. It's somebody that they have to decide whether it's a credible witness or not a credible witness. It should not be based on anything the judge said about that witness.

And, to me, that was one of the most egregious things he did, which is to have the jury sort of focus and applaud this particular witness before he testified. I was very sorry he did that because I think the perception is that it was biased.

(END VIDEO CLIP

ACOSTA: Yes. What do you think, Elie? HONIG: I was every bit as shocked as the justice you just heard from.

I practiced for 14 years. I've never seen anything like that. I mean, the number one thing that a judge has to be is impartial.

ACOSTA: Right.

HONIG: And to order the jury to give a round of applause to someone, and a very important witness who's about to take the stand, is just unthinkable. I mean, this judge has been -- I'll be polite here, I was trained to be polite about judges, he's been erratic, let's just say, throughout this trial.

That to me was the most egregious example. He's out there complaining about his media mentions. He's watching us on CNN. He doesn't like what people are saying about him. He can't even silence his phone. He plays "Jeopardy" with the jury.

I mean, he's creating a circus-like atmosphere when there really should be a deadly serious atmosphere. This is a murder trial. So, I think that was really an inexplicable action by the judge.

ACOSTA: Yes. It's like we got his Vegas act all week, you know. I mean, you tip your waiters and bartenders, you know. And it's just unbelievable stuff.

HONIG: Yes.

ACOSTA: All right, Elie Honig, thanks so much, as always. We appreciate it.

HONIG: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Coming up next, a manhunt underway in Georgia for five escaped inmates, two of whom are accused murderers. We'll have a live report next. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:35:00]

ACOSTA: A manhunt is underway right now for five armed inmates who escaped from a Georgia jail. Officials warn all five have a history of violent crimes with two of them being accused of murder. CNN's Nadia Romero is following this for us in Atlanta. Nadia, this sounds very worrisome. There are new details coming out about how they escaped. What can you tell us?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, there are and it really sounds like a female jailer was ambushed. So, we were told by the Pulaski County sheriff who spoke with a local TV station Macon, Georgia, he says that a female jailer was inside of a cell talking to another inmate when at least one of the five men, those inmates, attacked her and threatened to kill her.

And then all five of them took off in a stolen white Kia van. So that van is something that authorities are looking for along with the five men, the five inmates who escaped.

And the Georgia Bureau of Investigations tells us that they all have violent criminal histories and it's because of the charges that they face now. So let's talk about three of the out of the five inmates with the most serious charges, and we'll take a look at those inmates right now.

[17:39:58]

Tyree Williams, he is facing charges of felony murder and home invasion after July 2020 shooting incident. Dennis Penix, accused of killing two men in what was called a drug deal gone bad. And then there is Brandon Pooler, facing charges of child cruelty.

So, all five of the men, though, are believed to be violent criminals because of their history. The sheriff there also says that they escaped with two stolen tasers. Now this all happened in Pulaski County. That is about two hours south of Atlanta.

And they were able to escape in that white Kia Sedona van. There is the Georgia license plate so if you happen to be in that area or you see it you're being asked to call 9-1-1. And if you see any of those five inmates that escaped from the county jail late Friday night, you're being asked not to approach them but instead to call 9-1-1.

Jim, this is very concerning for that community and from where those men are and anyone who might've been involved with them in the past. Jim?

ACOSTA: All right, Nadia Romero, thank you very much for that report. We appreciate it.

Next, the man many consider responsible for saving Biden's presidential campaign reacts to both Biden's sinking poll numbers and some CNN reporting that all is not well in the White House between the president and the Vice President Kamala Harris. But first, CNN's Christine Romans has your "Before the Bell" report.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Jim. You know, you're paying more for just about everything and prices aren't coming back to earth any time soon. Inflation hit a 30-year high last month. Consumer prices up 6.2 percent from a year ago. Gas prices led the way. Gas prices up nearly 50 percent over the past year.

Food prices jumped as well with meat, eggs, and milk all getting more expensive. Surging demand, material shortages, and choke points in the global supply chain all combining to drive inflation higher.

This week the focus shifts to how the consumer is holding up. October retail sales data are due on Tuesday. In September, retail sales rose unexpectedly. The question is if that strength continues in the face of high prices and some product shortages.

We'll also hear from Walmart and Target as they report quarterly results. Investors want to know how these companies are managing supply chain hiccups and if they're passing on rising costs for goods and wages to their customers.

This year, Target shares have climbed more than 40 percent. Shares of Walmart are pretty flat. In New York, I'm Christine Romans.

(COMMECIAL BREAK)

[17:45:00]

ACOSTA: Just into CNN, former President Trump is selling the lease to his international hotel in Washington, D.C. to an investment group for $375 million. The group which is partnering with Hilton Worldwide is expected to brand it as a Waldorf Historia hotel. It's expected to remove the Trump name from the hotel.

Last month, the House Oversight Committee released documents showing the Trump property which attracted conservative lobbyists throughout his presidency, lost $70 million while Trump was in office.

And now to some CNN exclusive reporting. It reveals growing tension between Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House. Members of Harris' inner circle telling our Isaac Dovere she's not being set up to be a future president, she's being set up to fail.

But West Wing staffers say Harris' own staff is to blame. They are frustrated by what they perceived to be awkward mistakes on her part. And I'm joined now by the Democratic Majority Whip James Clyburn, congressman from South Carolina.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. Have you spoken with the president or vice president recently? Has any of this come up? Have you picked up on any of this tension that we're hearing about?

Congressman, we're not hearing you. Maybe you might have to hit the unmute button.

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Do you hear me now?

ACOSTA: I can hear you now. Yes, sir.

CLYBURN: Well, thank you.

ACOSTA: Did you hear my question? Yes, sir.

CLYBURN: I was reading about this, but I'm not aware of anything of that sort. I was at the vice president's residence not very long ago. I didn't detect anything of any kind of tension. I've been in and out of the White House. And every time I've been there, I was in the company of the vice president.

I didn't notice anything untoward. I'm not sure that a lot of this is not emanating from -- you know, there's always tension amongst staff, and there's always speculations about who may be out, but I can (inaudible) in all of these things, but I don't detect anything that anybody should be concerned about.

ACOSTA: And does some of this have to do with the approval ratings for where the president, the way things have been perceived by the public as to how the president is handling his job right now? A new CNN poll shows that only 45 percent, 52 percent disapprove.

A few weeks ago you said, and we can put this up on screen, "My dad used to say to me all the time, wherever there is a will there's a way. I'm not too sure that Democrats have yet developed the will to win in 2022." Does that apply to the White House? And is there some retooling that's needed over there at the White House much in the way you advised some retooling to then candidate Biden back in the 2020 race?

[17:49:59]

CLYBURN: Well, if you recall, I said that about two weeks ago. And we have now passed this infrastructure bill that we were having some difficulty getting done. It required that all of us find common ground, give up some of our conflict. And that's where the pride to develop will.

Are you willing to step outside of your comfort zone and accommodate others? We showed that willingness last week or week before last and passed the bill. We're going to sign it tomorrow. I think we'll continue to show that this coming week or this week when we pick up Build Back Better. So, what I said a week and a half, two weeks ago will not apply today.

ACOSTA: And you were so pivotal to then-candidate Biden's race for the Democratic nomination back in 2020. Do you think he's going to run again in 2024? I mean, some of this speculation and consternation about whatever is going on behind the scenes at the White House seems to have something to do with, well, is Kamala Harris going to be running for president in 2024?

You know, I look at some of that and say, well, that doesn't necessarily mean that Joe Biden is not running for president in 2024. He very well might be running in 2024. What is your thought on that?

CLYBURN: Well, I think he's running. I certainly hope he's running. There's no reason for us to do anything different. What we need to do now is work on 2022. We've got to keep the House. We got maintain control of the Senate. And then we'll worry about '24 after '22. So I'm saying to everybody that I talk to, I just left doing several events down in Texas. Before that I was out in California and up in Michigan. And people are focused on 2022. We'll worry about 2024 after next November.

ACOSTA: You're right about that. There is a lot of talk about the midterms. But, you know, I do want to talk about what's been happening with respect to the former president, Donald Trump, and people around him.

As you know, the January 6th Committee is subpoenaing all sorts of former officials, advisors. Last night former national security advisor Michael Flynn who has also received a subpoena, he has been making bizarre comments. And he me made this bizarre comment last night about religion in this country. I wanted to get your comment on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FLYNN: We are going to have one nation under God, which we must. We have to have one religion, one nation under God and one religion under God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: I mean, this is a retired general and a former national security adviser. Obviously, you know, I mean, we can't really say he needs to read the Constitution because I think he would probably just violate the Constitution if it were up to him. What were your thoughts when you heard that comment?

CLYBURN: Well, you know, way back when this country was trying to give (inaudible) to itself, Thomas Paine, he was not even an American, looked out over the country and saw people and he wrote a little pamphlet that he called a Crisis. And this country is at a crisis tight now.

And in that pamphlet he wrote about summer soldiers and sunshine patriots. I put that gentleman, Mr. Flynn, among the sunshine patriot. They are patriotic to this country only when the weather is pleasant and pleasing to them.

This country was found on independent and religious freedoms. It left -- folks left to come here in search of these freedoms. Now, he would love to see that taken away. I think that the American people need to pay closer attention to Mr. Flynn and all others who have been associated with the past president because they are trying to design an autocracy.

They don't want this democracy to continue because they don't have any ideas. They don't have any constitutional principles. They don't even have individual principles. And so, this country is teetering on edge. We have better pay close attention to these guys and get them out of office. This gentleman really has been -- you know he's been indicted before.

ACOSTA: Right. Well, we all have a little bit of time left, but I do want to ask you about some new legislation you introduced this week. It would World War II veterans and their descendants' GI benefits that weren't entitled to at the time because of their race. Do you expect to have bipartisan support?

CLYBURN: Yes, I do. I think that if people will look at this and look at these, the backgrounds of these two sergeants that Seth Moulton and I have named this bill for, you will see exactly what created this wealth gap in this country.

[17:54:58]

I mentioned this to the state of Mississippi earlier today. If you look at the democratism (ph) in 1947 after the war, the state of Mississippi, the V.A. gave out 3,000 home loans. Only two of the 3,000 went to people of color. That was repeated over and over throughout the south. It wasn't just in the south. Levittown was in the north, and it was white only.

And it's time for us to correct that. The quickest way to get out of poverty is through education and home ownership. And if you deny education as we did the south (inaudible), if you deny their homeownership as we did to so many, all the return inve4stments, yield or creating poverty conditions that they will never get out of.

So this bill is intended to correct some of that, and the other half bipartisan (inaudible) a bill that goes through both Houses without any kind of vote at all. Just get it done.

ACOSTA: All right. Congressman James Clyburn, and we salute their service, honor their families, and appreciate you coming on this evening. Thanks so much for being with us tonight. And that's the news. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. That was James Clyburn there with us just a few moments ago. Pamela Brown takes over the CNN NEWSROOM live after a quick break. Have a good night everybody.

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