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Rittenhouse Jury Begins Deliberations; President Biden Touts Infrastructure Deal in New Hampshire. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired November 16, 2021 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:04]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These bridges are essential in small towns, rural areas, farmers and small businesses, like in my state of Delaware.

Not only about 700 -- you have about 07700 miles of highway in New Hampshire that is listed in poor condition. Driving on these roads that need repair cost New Hampshire drivers an estimated extra $476 every year per person driving in gas and repairs and longer commute times.

That's $476 in hidden tax on New Hampshire's drivers as a result of deteriorating infrastructure. But thanks to the infrastructure law, we're going to make the most significant investment to modernize our roads and our bridges in 70 years.

The law is going to speed up replacement of bridges by at least a year and allow New Hampshire to invest in other critical infrastructure needs. Thanks to the congressional delegation, this law also represents the most significant investment in passage of rail in 50 years and in public transit every.

Here in New Hampshire, that means replacing about one-third of the transit vehicles, buses and the like, that are past their useful life. And what it means, you will be safer, you will get to where you're going faster and you will save money.

And this means jobs, jobs for folks making these upgrades. It's estimated it will create thousands -- excuse me -- up to two extra -- two million jobs extra a year and up to 16 million jobs nationwide, good-paying jobs, union jobs, jobs you can raise a family on, jobs that can't be outsourced.

And that's not all. The bipartisan bill is going to mobilize our ports and our airports and freight rail to make it easier for companies to get goods to market, reduce supply chain bottlenecks we're experiencing now.

I just had to convince the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, where 40 percent of all products come into the Western United States, to stay open seven days a week, 24 hours a day, because they were backing up ships and container vessels for miles and miles and miles, hundreds of them. And that's the reason why you don't have things on the shelves. Why?

Because people are dying of COVID in the eastern part of the Pacific, or the western part of the Pacific making the products that we're in fact buying here in the United States of America or the products that go into the products we buy.

Folks, we are going to lower costs for you and your families. This congressional delegation, we're going to start by replacing 100 percent of the lead water pipes and service lines in the United States and address PFAS as a dangerous forever chemical that is a threat to drinking water here in New Hampshire.

Every American, every child should be able to turn on the faucet and drink clean water, which will also create thousands of good-paying jobs for plumbers and pipe fitters putting these -- replacing these pipes.

You know, in every meeting about this law, this delegation made it clear that high-speed Internet is essential, as essential as clean water and electricity. I don't know how many times you all have told me that. But I think I already knew it, because you didn't let me forget it, and now not just in New Hampshire, for New Hampshire families, but New Hampshire businesses as well.

Today, one in every 10 New Hampshire households doesn't have Internet subscriptions. And, in a lot of places, there's no broadband infrastructure at all. The law is going to make high-speed Internet affordable and available everywhere in New Hampshire, urban, suburban, rural. It's going to create jobs laying down those broadband lines.

And in the 21st century America, no parent, no parent should ever have to sit in a parking lot of a fast-food restaurant to connect to the Internet so their kids can do their homework or they can get their job assignment. Really, think about it.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: This law also builds on our resilience to extreme weather. In southwestern New Hampshire, there have been two 100-year storms in recent years.

Hurricane Irene hit New Hampshire really hard. And you all know that, every winter, power will go out from ice storms. Well, from 2010 to 2020, extreme weather events cost New Hampshire $500 million in damages. Nationwide, extreme weather events cost this year, this year, $99 billion in damages. I can tell you because I flew over almost all of it.

You know, more fires in the West burned to the ground homes, businesses and forests than the entire state of New Jersey from Cape May to New York City. This is the United States of America, for God's sake. And why is it happening?

Well, the severe storms that are knocking down all the wires. Any way, there's a lot going on. We have to -- this law build back our bridges, our water systems, our power lines, our grids, and for better and stronger resilience.

So fewer Americans are going to be flooded out of their homes, lose power for days and weeks after storms hit. Look, there's much more to this law, but, most of all, this law does something else that's truly historic.

[15:05:04]

Maggie, Jeanne, Annie, Chris, we understand that it is time to rebuild the backbone of this nation. It's a the reason why I ran. I left politics. I had no intention of running again, until I really got upset when I saw those folks coming out of that field down in Virginia carrying swastikas and torches and white supremacists.

But you know what else, what really angered me? Take a look at what's happened over the last 20 years. The backbone of this nation has been hallowed out, hard-working middle-class folks. If I hear one more person tell me how Wall Street built America, I think I'm going to -- anyway.

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: But, seriously, the middle class built, built, built this country. And they have been left out. Trickle-down economics does not work.

To rebuild the economy from the bottom up, the middle out is what I wanted to do. Of the listed billionaires in the America, you know they have made in the last four years, $1 trillion? I'm a capitalist. You want to be a billionaire and a millionaire, that's great. Good for you. But pay your fair share.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: Four hundred corporations -- 550 corporations, the Fortune 500, guess what?

I misspoke; 55 corporations in the Fortune 500 made $40 billion last year, did not pay one single penny in taxes. Who knows who pays it? You all pay it, as they say in Southern Del. You all do. For real. Think about it.

This law -- and so that's why this bill is paid for. Look, this long- overdue promise, it creates better jobs for millions of Americans and lets -- and I'm going to be clear, especially here in New Hampshire. No one earning, no one earning in America less than $400,000 will pay a single solitary extra penny in federal taxes.

I wouldn't even let the bipartisan commission include a gas tax in this bill, because that would mean people, working folks would be paying more money. Look, this law is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America.

It leaves nobody behind. Now our focus moves on to implementing this infrastructure law, and with some speed and discipline. I asked the former mayor of New Orleans and former lieutenant governor of Louisiana, Mitch Mitch Landrieu.

Where are you, Mitch? Right here. He -- by the way, Mitch loves the cold and snow.

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: But Mitch is going to do what I had the responsibility to do with the Recovery Act. I was asked by the president to make sure that $900 billion that was being spent was, in fact, used well.

Well, guess what? We spent all that money. We rebuilt an awful lot of things, and it had less than one-tenths of 1 percent waste or fraud. That is going to be Mitch's job, making sure that everything gets out and it goes where it's supposed to go.

Look, we're at an inflection point in American history. This law, this law meets that point. For most of the 20th century, we led the world by a significant margin because we invested in ourselves. But somewhere along the way, we stopped investing in ourselves. We risk losing our edge as a nation, and China and the rest of the world are catching up, in some cases, passing us.

Our infrastructure used to be rated the best in the world. Now, this is not a joke, the best in the world. And according to the World Economic Forum, we now rank 13th in the world in terms of infrastructure. Well, we're about to turn things around in a big way.

For example, because of this law, next year will be the first year in 20 years that American infrastructure investment will grow faster than China's, for example. And we will once again have the best roads, bridges, ports, and airports.

And we are building again and we're moving again. Folks, when you see these projected started in your hometowns, I want you to feel what I feel, pride, pride at what we can do together as the United States of America.

And as some -- you know, I think the same goes -- I don't want to get into it in detail because you're going to be freezing, but here -- but my plan to Build Back Better for our people, getting folks back to work and reducing the cost of things like child care, eldercare, housing, health care, prescription drugs.

Thirteen -- 13 -- excuse me -- 14 Nobel laureates in economics said it will actually bring down the cost, it will reduce the deficit, and it will -- totally paid for, and it's going to reduce inflation and to meet the moment of climate change as well.

The leadership of this delegation, I'm confident that the House is going to pass this bill. And when it passes, it will go to the Senate. I think we will get it passed within a week. And it's fully paid for.

[15:10:05]

And it will reduce the deficit over the long term, as I said. And, again, no one making less than 400 grand will pay a single penny more in federal taxes.

Let me close with this. Throughout our history, we have emerged from crisis by investing in ourselves. During the Civil War, we built the Transcontinental Railroad, uniting and connecting the East and West coasts, uniting America. During the Cold War, we built the Interstate Highway System, transforming how Americans live, where they're able to live.

And now, as we work to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, we will build an economy of the 21st century. It matters. Last night, I had an important virtual meeting for 3.5 hours with the president of the China, Xi Jinping.

Years ago, when I was vice president, he asked me when we were near the Tibetan Plateau, if I -- I met with him more than any other world leader has. And he asked me if I could define America for him. This is a God true story.

And I looked at him and I said, yes, I can, in one word, possibilities. Think about it. Of all the nations in the world, we're the only one, the only nation I can think of, that has come out of crisis stronger than we went into it.

In America, we have always believed anything is possible, anything is possible. We have got to reestablish that spirit. We have to reestablish that sense of who we are. There's no limit to what our people can do. There's no limit to what our nation can do.

If you think about this thing, it's never been a good bet to bet against America. Every world leader I meet with, and he starts on me, I say, it's never been a good bet, never. Give Americans half-a- chance, ordinary Americans half-a-chance, they have never, ever, ever, ever let their country down, not once.

Because of Maggie and Jeanne and Annie and Chris, this new law gives our people a real chance. It gives us a real chance. It gives everybody a chance.

And that's why I truly believe that, 50 years from now, when historians write about this moment, I think they're going to talk about this was the beginning of the time where America recaptured the competition of the 21st century. We reasserted ourselves.

That's exactly what we're going to do, what we can do, what we will do, I promise you.

God bless you all and may God protect our troops.

Thank you for your time. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: President Biden talking about -- basically selling the idea of the law that he signed yesterday, the bipartisan infrastructure law that's going to fix that bridge that he is standing on right there, as well as bridges and airports and roads and lead pipes, as he said, and Internet across the country.

And he made his case. He really believes, Victor, that this is more than obviously about infrastructure. He thinks that it's about the American spirit and entrepreneurialism, and that this is what he thinks will turn America around and give it a fighting chance.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Yes.

It's also, the president said there, reinvestment in the U.S., but also it speaks to the competitiveness of the U.S. vs. China, which he says is the top of his foreign policy list.

We have heard from the president many times where he says how far down the list the U.S. has fallen as it relates to the strength of its infrastructure. And this $1.2 trillion legislation he signed yesterday, the effort now to rebuild that infrastructure, the president's remarks today from the 175, a bridge on the red list, meaning it's structurally deficient; $4.5 million from this legislation will now go to fully rehab that.

Let's go to CNN's chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju.

Manu, this is one-half of the president's legislative agenda now signed into law. The other half, the social safety net bill, where is that moving? What's the timeline to get that to his desk?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, said he wants it out of the Senate before Christmas.

That's the timeline of the Senate. Now, there's a problem because not everybody in the Senate agrees. That includes Senator Joe Manchin, that key vote. He had raised concerns when we talked to him today about the push to try to get this done by the end of the year, raising concerns about the timing, about the policy, and about what he has been saying for weeks.

There's concerns about inflation, all the things that have been hearing -- he's hearing back home about the increase in grocery prices and gas and the like, and concerns that the bill could actually add to inflation.

That, of course, is something the White House itself is rejecting. But earlier today, when I caught up with Senator Manchin, I asked him about the concerns he's hearing back home about this bill, the $1.75 trillion bill to expand the social safety net and he did point to the issue inflation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: You were just back home for a week. Do your voters want this bill, this big, massive bill right now?

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SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): I think my voters in West Virginia, but I'm not -- I don't speak for the whole country -- my voters are a lot differently.

But they're very much concerned. Inflation hit them extremely hard. I hear it if I go to the grocery store or I go to the gas station. They say, are you as mad as I am? And I say, absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, first things first, is getting it out of the House. That is the immediate concern of the Democratic leaders at the moment.

They are trying to get this bill through by as soon as Thursday, if not Friday. They're trying to ensure that it's fully paid for. The Congressional Budget Office, that's a key estimate that they're waiting for.

Assuming that comes back and shows that it's fully financed, they believe that they can get the support of some key moderates and get this through the House.

But, Alisyn, as you know, just three Democratic defections could be enough to sink it in the House. And then, if they get they stem those defections, then the question comes to what happens in the Senate, so still a lot of steps ahead for Democrats to send that piece of legislation to Joe Biden's desk.

CAMEROTA: And, Manu, you don't have any reporting I don't suppose yet on what the CBO score will be or which way it's going?

RAJU: So we're hearing about concerns that it actually will fall short of what President Biden has promised that this bill will be fully paid for. The Democratic version in the House cost roughly $1.9 trillion.

But there's an expectation that one aspect of that, that is how the increased revenue from more enforcement by the IRS to force people to pay delinquent taxes, that that estimate will come up short.

The White House projects that that aspect would raise about $350 billion, but the expectation is that the Congressional Budget Office will not estimate it raises that much revenue. So behind the scenes, the White House has been trying to assuage concerns, telling Democrats on the Hill that their methodology, the CBO's, is different than the White House's and to trust what the White House is saying.

So the question is going to be, when these numbers officially come out in the next couple of days, if that is enough to satisfy the concerns of those moderates who say that this bill needs to be fully paid for or if there will be concern the CBO shows that it could potentially add to the budget deficit.

So those are the big questions ahead as they try to push that through, but with such a narrow margin, just a handful of members could sink the entire effort.

CAMEROTA: OK, Manu Raju, thank you very much. BLACKWELL: All right, the jury in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse has

been deliberating for more than four hours now, five men, seven women deciding if the Illinois teen acted in self-defense or if he committed homicide when he shot and killed two and wounded a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year during protests over a police shooting.

CAMEROTA: It was interesting to see because Rittenhouse himself had a hand in picking the jurors this morning.

He was randomly pulling the numbers out of a box, basically, for who would be the six alternates. They must stay at the courthouse while the jury deliberates these five felony counts, the most serious of them, first-degree intentional homicide.

And that carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz outside of the courthouse for us in Kenosha.

So, Shimon, what have we heard thus far from the jury?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: So, one note pretty much right after they began their deliberations this morning.

They sent a note to the judge saying they wanted more copies of the jury instructions. Specifically, they were looking for the first six pages of the instructions, which have to do with self-defense and provocation, and also the charges that Rittenhouse is facing in connection with shooting Joseph Rosenbaum.

And then after that we didn't hear anything else from them. They did have a lunch break. They had some pizza. They took a break and then they went back to deliberating. And that's all that we have heard from the jury this morning. They're continuing clearly to do their work.

The court has not given any indication as to how long this will go, when does the judge plan to tell them, OK, you can go home for the night. Right now, it just appears they're going to continue to work. We have not heard from them, as I said, since this morning.

You know, it could be that the judge keeps them here for as long as they want. This judge likes to ask them what they want to do. He will take a poll, ask them how many of them want to keep going through the night. And we could stay or, if they want to leave, we will leave.

But so far, only one note from this jury as they continue their deliberations here.

BLACKWELL: Shimon Prokupecz in Wisconsin, thank you.

Let's bring in Page Pate, constitutional law and criminal defense attorney, and Phillip Turner, a former federal prosecutor.

Welcome to you both.

Let me start with you, Phillip.

PHILLIP A. TURNER, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yes.

BLACKWELL: We had Kim Wehle in the last hour, who talked about how race is an undertone in this trial, the consideration if Kyle Rittenhouse were a black 17-year-old running around with an AR-15, hell, a pellet gun.

Would there be a different narrative here? What do you think about the makeup of the jury that was pulled out of that tumbler, 11 white jurors and one person of color? Is that relevant here in what we should expect, how this jury approaches what happened over the last couple of weeks?

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TURNER: I don't think so.

BLACKWELL: OK.

TURNER: I don't think so at all.

Obviously, it's a very difficult case. And it's a very heated environment. But I don't think race is important here. And especially the narrative here is all the people who were shot or white, the defendant is white. So it's hard to bring that kind of narrative in.

I know, sometimes, people believe that the media brings those things in to try to get more attention. But it's hard in this case, because, as I say, the victim or the people who were shot were all white and the defendant is white. And that's just the fact of the matter.

So I really don't think race is a factor here in this case.

CAMEROTA: Page, what do you think about -- what this what the attorneys for and against have been able to prove? Do you -- did you hear a compelling case that this was self defense? Or do you believe the prosecution that, in fact, Kyle Rittenhouse made the provocative move that then set everything in motion?

PAGE PATE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Alisyn, I think the prosecutor said something during closing argument which really puts the focus on what's now going to be the issue in the case.

Everyone who looks at this case can see something different. So I do believe that whatever you came into this courtroom with, in other words, the jury, when they came into the courtroom, their background, their perceptions, what they think about protests, what they think about race relations, that will affect how they see the evidence.

The other thing that I think is critical goes to the jury instructions. One particular instruction -- and the jury has asked for a copy of this -- is about self-defense. It is not the defendant's responsibility to prove he acted in self-defense, but the prosecution's responsibility to disprove that beyond a reasonable doubt.

So, if you're back there in the jury, you're arguing about the case, you can't decide, ties go to the defense. And so I think that's going to make it very difficult for the prosecution to get a conviction on counts here.

BLACKWELL: One of the more memorable, if not the most memorable moment of this, the testimony, was when Kyle Rittenhouse broke down on the stand, Phillip.

And we heard the state reference that in their closing arguments. Here's what we heard from Tom Binger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS BINGER, KENOSHA COUNTY ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: He showed no remorse for his victims, never tried to help anybody that he hurt.

And even on the witness stand, when he testified on Wednesday, he broke down crying about himself, not about anybody that he hurt that night. No remorse, no concern for anyone else.

For him to call himself a medic is an insult to anyone like Gaige Grosskreutz, who spend hundreds of hours training and working hard to become an EMT. It's an insult.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Phillip, the reporting that day was that the jury seemed to sympathize with Rittenhouse when he started sobbing. Is that effective with a jury to say, those tears, dismiss them, those were for him?

TURNER: No, I don't think it's effective at all. I think when he broke down on the stand, it showed him to be human.

And it also sort of dispelled a great thought about that this is some sort of hard-nosed right-wing zealot. He's a very young person, a kid at the time. And it very much humanized him, I think, for the jury.

And I don't think that the jurors thought that this was -- as they say, crocodile tears or something false. I think it was genuine. And I think he was upset. And it was conveyed by that, that he's upset by the entire situation that this happened, and that he didn't like it and didn't want it to happen.

And I think the prosecution had always tried to present that he was there to try to kill someone or to do something to someone. And I think that helped in dispelling that notion. So I think it was effective. And, certainly, I think the jurors will consider that, as they're instructed to do so.

CAMEROTA: Go ahead, Page.

PATE: I think it all depends on how you relate to Kyle Rittenhouse.

And that brings up Victor's point. Race is important here, not so much because of the racial makeup of the victim and the person who's on trial, but, in the jury, how you perceive the actions of Kyle Rittenhouse. Do you look at Kyle as your son, your cousin, your brother, or do you look at him as someone who inserted himself into a very volatile situation with a very dangerous firearm looking for trouble?

[15:25:02]

And I don't think you make that decision based on the evidence. I think you make that decision who you are as a person. And so that's how I do think the racial makeup of this jury is important. People see things differently.

And it's a product of culture, background, experience, a whole ball of things that are outside the evidence that was presented in court.

CAMEROTA: Well, we shall see. The jury has been deliberating now...

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Sorry, Phillip, that we're out of time.

It's been deliberating for more than three hours now. And we will see if we get any more clues as they continue.

Page Pate, Phillip Turner, thank you both very much.

PATE: Thank you.

TURNER: Oh, you're welcome. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Reverend Jesse Jackson returns to the courtroom for the trial of three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery, as one of the defense attorneys once again complains about prominent black pastors attending.

Reverend Jackson is going to join us ahead.

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