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Baldwin: "I Didn't Pull the Trigger" in Fatal Movie Set Shooting; GOP Sen. Mike Lee Warns He Will Block Vote to Fund Government; Biden Unveils Plan to Fight COVID Through Winter. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired December 02, 2021 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: It wasn't in the script for the trigger to be pulled.

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: Well, the trigger wasn't pulled. I didn't pull the trigger.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you never pulled the trigger?

BIDEN: No, no. I would never point a gun and pull the trigger at anyone ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Let's go to reporter, Lucy Kafanov.

Lucy, crew members are already reacting to Baldwin's claims in that clip. What are they saying?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ana. That revelation from Alec Baldwin that he did not pull the trigger is being said differently by at least one crew member.

Seth Kenny, the head lighting technician for "Rust," who is suing Baldwin and others, claiming that the lethal bullet nearly hit him as well and he suffered emotional distress because of the death on set.

His lawyer blasting Alec Baldwin's statement in a statement issued to CNN. I want to read from it.

He said, "Guns only fire when someone pulls the trigger or if someone pulls the hammer back and lets it go. Either way, the gun was in Mr. Baldwin's hands when it fired the bullet and he bears responsibility for the harm done.

"As a producer and actor on the "Rust" set, he knew or should have known all of the corners that were cut on safety and about all of the serious safety violations occurring on a regular basis on his film."

Now, it is, Ana, important to note that the preview clip did not include the actor's explanation for how the gun went off. Investigators say he was in costume, he was practicing a cross draw on set when that deadly shot was fired.

Now, the focus of the investigation is how those live rounds ended up on set. We know from officials that investigators initially determined two other people had handled the loaded gun before it discharged.

Those people are the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, and the assistant director, Dave Halls.

Hall's attorney also spoke to CNN today, corroborating what we heard from Alec Baldwin. She said, quote, "Halls told me, from the first time we met, he did not see Baldwin pull the trigger."

"He told me that Baldwin appeared to be holding the gun in a safe manner like you are supposed to on set. Halls told me Baldwin did not have his finger on the trigger."

According to an affidavit released earlier this week, investigators are looking into whether a man named Seth Kenny, who was supposed to supply the "Rust" production with firearms and blanks, whether he may also have given them live ammunition.

A search warrant was issued for Mr. Kinney's Albuquerque shop earlier this week. Court documents show that investigators did find some suspected live rounds, but it's not clear whether they were the same ones used in the shooting. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Of course, that special, that full interview with Mr. Baldwin is airing later this evening. We expect more details to emerge then -- Ana?

CABRERA: A lot more on this investigation to come.

Thank you, Lucy Kafanov.

Let's discuss with Sara Azari. She's a criminal defense attorney.

Sara, as Lucy laid out, you have the attorney for the chief lighting technician saying guns only fire when someone pulls the trigger.

You have Alec Baldwin saying he didn't pull. And now a lawyer for movie's assistant director corroborating Baldwin's claim he never pulled the trigger.

Is it important to get to the bottom of this?

SARA AZARI, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, Ana. Either, the assistant director is going like this, right, he's also blaming the armorer as the sole responsible person here.

We have to remember -- and I'm not a gun expert and I'm not a Second Amendment advocate but I can write the script on potential liability.

The idea is that a gun is a piece of machinery. It could potentially accidentally discharge for a variety of reasons.

But I'm always skeptical of a shooter who says he didn't shoot. We have one person saying his finger was not on the trigger. Another person saying, yes, it was.

And, yes, it is important to get to the bottom of this. But I don't think it changes Baldwin's liability here. Baldwin was a producer. He wasn't just an actor who was relying on a prop being given to him.

So even if we have this additional category of people liable, the owner of the prop store who provided the ammunition, you know, the gun manufacturer, the distributer, seller.

Whoever gave birth to this gun that made it on the set, could potentially be liable if this was, in fact, an accidental discharge or some sort of defect.

But again, that category of liability it's an added level of liability. It doesn't take way from the liability of crew members who had a duty and Alec Baldwin who had a superior duty as a producer.

CABRERA: We're also learning about the detective who carried out the search warrant at the Albuquerque prop store where the live rounds found at the movie set are believed to have been supplied.

And as Lucy reported, they found additional suspect live rounds. This is according to the court documents.

We had a chance to speak to another CNN prop expert, who tells CNN it's very unusual to find live ammunition at a gun prop business.

Unfortunately, we're having some technical difficulties with Sara today, so I'm going to wrap things up here.

[13:35:03]

Sara, thank you so much for joining us.

We've got the tech gremlins today.

We also continue to follow the Alex Baldwin story.

And we also continue to prepare for other news from the president on COVID.

And now this just into CNN. Republican Senator Mike Lee, one of the two conservative lawmakers threatening to shut down the government, now speaking out.

Let's get right to CNN's Manu Raju on Capitol Hill.

What are you learning?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's an effort under way to try to fund the government quickly before the end of the deadline tomorrow. If they don't reach an agreement to keep the government open by tomorrow night by 11:59 p.m., the government will shut down.

At the moment, they don't have an agreement. In order to get something quickly passed -- CNN has heard from all 100 Senators to schedule a vote.

But two Republican Senators, in particular, are demanding something separate. They want a vote on an amendment that would defund Joe Biden's vaccine mandate on businesses.

Of course, that was the employer mandate to force certain companies to ensure that their employees get the COVID-19 vaccine. They say it's illegal, it's unconstitutional, and they want an amendment that will prevent that mandate from going into place.

They say, if they do not get a vote on that amendment -- it's a simple majority threshold. If 51 majority, if they vote yes, they could adopt that amendment.

If they do not get that, they will block this vote from going forward. They'll block the government from being funded as soon as tomorrow night.

That means there could be potentially, if there's no resolution, a brief government shutdown that could lead into potentially early next week, depending how far these Republican Senators want to go.

Mike Lee, one of the two Republican Senators, took to the floor and said he would not agree to expedite consideration of this measure, until he gets assurances or gets a commitment to actually have that vote.

And the other Senator, Roger Marshal, told me earlier, he, too, would threaten a government shutdown unless they get a vote on the amendment.

One reason why the Democrats are concerned about giving that amendment a simple majority threshold is that is it could actually pass.

Joe Manchin told me earlier today that he could potentially support that amendment. He is reviewing it. He has not ruled out backing it.

That means it could be added to this must-pass spending bill. That could create complications down the line.

So the Democrats want to set the threshold for this amendment. It's 60 votes where it would have no chance of passing.

So this procedural fight over a separate vote could bog down the entire federal government, which is why, at the moment, leaders are scrambling to try to get a deal.

The House is expected to pass that funding bill today without that amendment. Then it'll get kicked over to the Senate where they're going haggle potentially all the way up to that midnight deadline tomorrow to see if they could get a resolution.

If not, the government could shut down. Even though most Republican Senators reject this strategy by the conservative members.

CABRERA: Yes.

RAJU: But they need all 100 Senators to agree. And at the moment, the agreement isn't there.

CABRERA: Where's Mitch McConnell? Because obviously he's been successful in the past of keeping his caucus in line in the Senate, but it doesn't sound like it this time.

RAJU: He doesn't want a shutdown. He said today there will not be a shutdown. He's been saying that all week. He's been trying to impress upon his members and others that this would be a fruitless strategy.

Because ultimately, the government would be funded. They're just going to force the Senate to run through various procedural hoops to get to a final vote. And then there will not be any funding on the Biden vaccine on this bill ultimately.

So why not concede early? Let the vote happen to keep the government open. And fight on other issues like the Biden vaccine, such as in the courts and in a separate legislative process.

But that argument has not taken hold among the members. And they need cooperation of all of the members.

Any one Senator has leverage to bog things down to potentially shut down the government, and a couple of Senators are signaling they will use that leverage.

CABRERA: OK, Manu Raju, thank you so much.

Let's go live now to the National Institutes of Health and President Biden.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- with more outreach, more appointments, more hours, and more times to walk in, providing booster shots for up to 110 million Americas who are eligible for boosters.

I want you to know, parenthetically I was talking to one of my folks who does polling and national strategy, and he said there's some evidence in one poll -- I won't mention it because I'm not positive of the number.

I was told this as I was leaving the White House. That there's an expectation that 30 percent of the non-vaxxers, who said, under no circumstances would they get a vaccination, because of the new variant, are now saying I'm going to get a vaccination.

So I hope that's true. I hope that's true.

Secondly, we're launching new family vaccination clinics to make it easier for children, parents, and whole families to get vaccinated in one place.

And new policies to keep our children in school instead of quarantining at home. I'll talk about the details of this in a moment.

The third is making free at-home tests more available than ever before and having them covered by your private insurance plans available in thousands of locations and available at community health centers and other sites for the uninsured, those who don't have insurance.

[13:40:14]

Four, increasing our surge response team, that our doctors, our nurses -- I know people in this audience know incredibly well about what a surge team is -- but medical staff in communities with rising cases and overburdened hospitals and short on personnel.

By the way, they make a gigantic difference.

The governors, the Republican governors as well as Democratic governors, contact me when I go into the states to talk about, thank you for these surge teams because it really makes a difference.

And some communities are hit so much harder than others. They just can't make it.

What we're going to do -- I'll speak to this in more detail in a second. The fifth thing we're going to do is accelerate our efforts to vaccinate the rest of the world and strengthen the international travel rules for people coming to the United States.

I plan to pull no punches in the fight against COVID-19. A plan, I think, that should unite us.

I know COVID-19 has been divisive. It's become a political issue, which is a sad, sad commentary. It shouldn't be, but it has been.

Now as we move into the winter and face the challenges of the new variant, this is a moment we can put the divisives behind us, I hope.

This is a moment when we can do what we haven't been able to do enough of through the whole pandemic, get the nation to come together, unite the nation in a common purpose, to fight it and protect our economic recovery.

And to think of it literally as a patriotic responsibility rather than somehow you're denying people their basic rights.

The plan I'm announcing today are the plains our scientists and COVID teams have recommended. And while my existing federal vaccine requirements are being reviewed by the courts, this plan does not expand or add to those mandates.

A plan that all Americans can hopefully rally around. And it and should be and should get bipartisan support in my humble opinion. It should unite us, not continue to separate us.

Parenthetically, you know, there are literally, as it relates to whether or not we're going to pay the federal debt, whether we're, in fact, going to have a continuing resolution set up, some of my friends on the other team are arguing that if I don't commit, that there will never be any more mandates, they're going to let us default.

In the neighborhood I come from in Claymont, they'd look at me and say, go figure. Go figure.

But before I explain each new action in more detail, I want to -- and I'm not going to embarrass you, Doc.

But I want to thank Francis Collins.

You know, you've done an incredible job, Doc, at NIH. You're one of the most important scientists of our time.

No, I'm not being solicitous. I think I'm not exaggerating a bit.

After I was elected president, Dr. Collins is one of the first calls -- I think you're the second call I made to ask if you'd stay on, the second call I made.

It's because when I was vice president I got to know Dr. Collins really well when I was given the opportunity to manage the Cancer Moonshot Initiative.

And Dr. Collins is an incredible resource for our nation. I'm grateful. I mean it, for everything he's done for this pandemic, and advancing all kinds of medical breakthroughs, including mapping the human genome.

He recently announced he's going to step down as the director at NIH at the end of the month after a truly consequential tenure.

But the good news is Dr. Collins is going return to the lab at the National Genome Research Institute. And we look forward to him unlocking possibilities that are within our reach.

Doc, the bad news is you ain't getting rid of me, man. I'll call you all the time because there's a lot of things you can help me get done. You just tell me, point me in the direction, and I'll follow.

I just received a briefing from the Dr. Collins and Fauci and others. And I appreciate it very much. My only regret was it was a short meeting before I came to speak. I think we would have benefitted more if I made my speech short and spent more time with these docs.

But, you know, as they study the Omicron variant -- we have just two cases reported here in the United States. But as I explained, this new variant is cause for concern, but not panic.

[13:45:06]

We know there would be cases of Omicron in the United States, and it's here. But we have the best tools, the best vaccines in the world, and best scientists in the world. We're going to fight this variant with science and speed, not chaos and confusion.

Just like we beat back COVID-19 in the spring and the more powerful Delta variant in the summer and fall. As a result, we entered this winter from a position of strength compared to where people were last winter.

Last year, 1 percent of America adults were fully vaccinated. This year, it will be 72 percent, including over 82 percent of seniors. The most vulnerable portion.

Last Christmas, our children were at risk without a COVID-19 vaccine. This Christmas, we have safe, effective vaccines for children ages 5 and older, with 20 million children and counting now vaccinated.

Last year, the majority of our schools were closed. Now 99 percent of our schools are open.

But I pledge to always be straight and give it to you straight from the shoulder as president of the United States. I tell the America people exactly where we are.

So here it is. Experts say the COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the weeks ahead and this winter. So we need to be ready.

You can read the whole plan. We're talking about whiteHouse.gov. It's all laid out in detail.

For now, here are the five key points I want to expand on slightly.

We're expanding to provide booster shotting to all eligible adults. Our docs and the scientists believe that people who get a booster shot are protected more than from COVID-19.

I was just told -- which is a question I forgot to ask -- whether or not it increases the theory stance to the variant being dealt with, but it also is -- it is stronger.

It not only just raises the total, but it's stronger, makes things more powerful in terms of resisting.

And the Centers for Disease Control, the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, and top Republican officials recommend all get a booster shot when it's time.

But here's the deal. More than 100 million are eligible for the booster but haven't gotten the booster yet. If you're older than 18, and got vaccinated before June 2nd, six months has gone by go. Get your booster now. Go get it now.

Booster shots continue to be free. We've already made it available. And 80,000 locations coast to coast in the United States of America, 80,000 locations to get the booster.

If you want to know exactly where to go, text your zip code to 438829 to find where you can get your booster shot now.

Starting today, we're making it easier than ever to get a booster shot. I'm calling on pharmacies -- and they've been cooperating -- big and small, to offer more appointments, more walk-in hours so you can get vaccinated at a time that works best for you and family. Pharmacies will send millions of emails to get the booster shot. Now

they agree they're going to send texts to that particular person when their time is. If it's J&J, two months.

And to reach our seniors, we're also collaborating with the AARP who will be reaching out to the 38 million members. They're going to make an aggressive effort. They're going to be hosting virtual town halls. That will all be coming.

My administration also contacted the 64 -- will contact the 64 million people on Medicare to remind them to get their booster shots. We have the ability to do that from the federal level.

Just like I did to make it easier for folks to get their first and second shots, I'm providing paid-off time for federal employees to go get their boost. The only time they can get the booster where they are, at such and such a date and day, and they can go.

All they have do is demonstrate that's where they went or took their son, daughter, husband, wife, mom, dad, they get paid. They don't get docked their pay.

[13:50:07]

I'm asking other employers in the private sector to do the same thing.

No one should have to choose between a paycheck and getting additional protection from a booster shot.

I want to reiterate, Dr. Fauci and Dr. Collins believe if you're worried about Omicron variant, the best thing to do is get fully vaccinated and then get your booster shot, when you're eligible.

We don't yet believe that additional measures will be needed. But so that we're prepared, if needed, my team is already working with officials at Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, to develop contingency plans for other vaccines or boosters.

And I'll also direct the FDA and the CDC to use the fastest process available without cutting corners for safety to get such vaccines renewed, reviewed, and approved if they're needed.

Second, we're expanding our efforts to vaccinate children ages 5 and up. For any parent worried about Omicron variant or the Delta variant, get your child vaccinated at one of the 35,000 locations in the country, including doctor's offices, pharmacies, children's hospitals and 9,000 pop-up clinics and schools.

If you're wondering where to go, again, visit vaccines.com.

And today, I'm announcing that we're going to launch hundreds of new family vaccination clinics across the country. These sites are going to offer vaccinations for the whole family, one stop, one stop.

Children can get vaccinated. Parents can get vaccinated, get their first or second shots or their booster shots. Family vaccination clinics will be held in community health centers

and other trusted locations. Some will be mobile to reach further into hard-to-reach communities.

As booster shots for adults, vaccinations for kids, all the same place at the same time.

Now, you know, when we first announced, I said the logistical problem wasn't just we didn't have enough vaccines when we got into office.

But once we got the vaccine, the logistical effort to get all communities and all areas vaccinated was a gigantic logistical undertaking that would make any military proud of being able to do it.

But because of the incredible talent, including our military, we got that done. And we're going to do the same thing now as we continue to expand.

We know parents of children under the age of 5 are wondering when the vaccine will be available for the little ones. That's a question I most get often asked now at functions.

We had a function celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas and various things at the White House. The parents coming up to me, they are saying, I have a 3-year-old. Is there going to be a time that -- am I going to be OK? Is she going to be OK or he going to be OK?

And let me say this. I strongly support the independent scientific review uses of vaccines for children under 5.

We can't take shortcuts with that scientific work but I'll do everything in my power to support the FDA to do this safely and quickly as possible when we get to that -- around that point.

Vaccinating our children is also critical to keeping our schools open. But while over 99 percent of our schools are open now, we need to make sure that we keep that throughout the winter, this winter.

The CDC is now reviewing pioneering approaches, like, if you recall, test to stay, test-to-stay policies, which could allow students to stay in a classroom and be tested frequently when a positive case in that classroom popped up that wasn't them.

Up to now, you go home and you quarantine. But rather than being sent home and quarantined, be able to stay because the tests would be available and regularly.

The CDC will be releasing the latest science and other findings in the coming weeks so that other schools can learn from the impediment -- excuse me -- if there's any impediments to this practice, they can learn to implement exactly what the best way to do this is. It's a process.

We want our children in school and we're going to take new steps to make sure they stay -- it stays that way. But again, the best step is to vaccinate your children. Get them vaccinated. Third, this winter, we're going to make free at-home tests more

available to Americans than ever before. To better detect and control the Delta variant, I made testing more available, affordable and convenient.

I used the Defense Production Act to increase production of rapid tests, including at-home tests.

When I came into office, none of these tests were on the market. Thanks to our actions and the work of all of you, we now have at least eight at-home testing options. And prices for those tests are coming down.

[13:55:11]

But it still isn't good enough, in my view. That's why I'm announcing that health insurers must cover the cost of at-home testing.

So that if you're one of the 150 million Americans with private health insurance, next month, your plan will cover at-home tests.

Private insurers already cover the expensive PCR test that you get in a doctor's office, and now they will cover at-home tests as well.

Now, for those not covered by private insurance, we're going to make available free tests at thousands of convenient locations for folks to pick them up and take a test kit home.

The bottom line, this winter, you'll be able to test for free in the comfort of your home and have some peace of mind.

This is on top of the 20,000 sites already around the country, like pharmacies, where you can go in and get tested for free. We have to keep this going.

Fourth, we're going to continue to help communities that experience rising cases this winter and improve the care for those who get COVID- 19.

Since this summer, we have worked with Republican and Democratic governors, many Republican governors and Democratic governors, to deploy what we call surge response teams.

These teams work. They provide needed staff for staff overruns -- badly needed staff where overrun hospitals are handling more patients than they can handle.

For their emergency rooms and intensive care units who don't have personnel available. They help provide life-saving treatments in communities in need, like monoclonal antibody treatments.

We have over 20 teams deployed now. Today, I'm announcing we're going to triple that, more than double it. We'll get to 60 teams and ready to deploy in states experience a surge in cases over the course of this winter. I was just with a governor in Minnesota who is raving about the

positive impact it's had on his state. But there's other states the same -- in the same circumstance.

Additionally, we're increasing the availability of new medications recommended by real doctors, not conspiracy theorists. OK?

For example, monoclonal antibody treatments have been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization by up to 70 percent and for unvaccinated people at risk of developing severe disease.

We've already distributed over three million courses of this treatment to save lives and reduce the strain on hospitals. And we have promising new arrival -- excuse me -- antiviral pills on the horizon that could help prevent hospitalizations and death for people infected by COVID-19.

We've secured enough supply of these pills already. And early indications are that these treatments will remain effective in the face of Omicron. We don't know that for sure yet, but that's the hope and expectation.

And like with the distribution of the vaccines, we will ensure that these medicines will be available to the hardest-hit communities in America as well.

Fifth, and finally, as we see with COVID-19 and the Delta variant, and now with Omicron variant, all that emerged elsewhere. It all came from somewhere else.

And ultimately, beat this -- to beat this pandemic, we need to go to where it came from and the rest of the world. We need to vaccinate the rest of the world.

America has, in my view, continues to lead in that effort. We've shipped for free more vaccines around the world than all other countries in the world combined. Every other country combined.

Over 280 million vaccines so far to 110 countries, including South Africa, where we delivered all the doses they requested.

Now, today, I'm announcing that we'll accelerate the delivery of more vaccines to countries that need it. Pledging to deliver 200 million more doses within the next 100 days on our way to delivering more than 1,000,000,200 million doses for the rest of the world.

Let me be clear. There's not a single vaccine dose America ever sends to the rest of the world will ever come at the expense of any Americans. I'll always make sure that our people are protected first.

But vaccinating the world is not just a moral tool, a moral obligation that we have in my view. It's how we protect Americans As we've seen with this new variant.

[13:59:59]

America's doing our part and will do more. But this is a global pandemic, and everyone needs to fight it together.