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New York City Mayor Unveils Plan to Combat Gun Violence and Rising Crime; Fulton County, Georgia DA Granted Special Grand Jury to Probe Trump's Election Interference; U.S. Cases and Hospitalizations Still Very High but Starting to Drop. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired January 24, 2022 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: New York City's new Mayor Eric Adams, just announced parts of his plan to combat rise in crime and gun violence in the city. NYPD officer Jason Rivera was shot and killed while responding to a domestic incident on Friday. Hundreds of officers lined the streets the streets yesterday to pay respects for the young officer as his body was taken to a funeral home. His funeral will be held on Friday.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: His partner, Wilbert Mora, was critically injured in the attack. He's still in the hospital. They're the fourth and fifth New York City officers to be shot since the start of the year. Shimon Prokupecz is with us now. So, what do we know about the mayor's plan?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENCE: Well, right out of the box, the mayor is saying that this city needs help. He said, quote, we need help. We need resources and we need back up. And then he laid out this plan that he has to try to curb some of the violence, specifically gun violence that's plaguing the city.
And a lot of what he talked about is about the bail reform. Remember, a lot has been made about some of the reforms that the legislators here made, which took away discretion from the judges when defendants came before them, a lot of people being released. He's now calling for a change in that. And that is pretty significant. He wants judges to have more discretion and to consider how dangerous someone in and whether or not they should be granted bail or release. He also talked about using other resources. Take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ERIC ADAMS, (D) NEW YORK CITY: Gun violence is a public health crisis. There's no time to wait. We must act. The sea of violence comes from many rivers. We must dam every river that feeds this greater crisis. Our blue print to end gun violence addresses each one of these causes with both immediate interventions and long-term prevention strategies. And it will involve the NYPD, every city agency, our courts, and the successful antiviolence crises management system.
(END VIDEO CLIP) PROKUPECZ: And guys, he also wants the DAs to get tougher on gun crimes. He wants cases involving gun arrests -- where people are charged with gun arrests to be moved more expeditiously through the system. He feels like too many cases are taking too long to get through the system. And so, he wants the DAs to get tougher. He wants bail reform.
He's also saying he is going to flood more cops into areas where there is an increase in gun crimes. About 80% of the crime, the gun crimes that are the violent crimes that are being committed in this city are occurring in 30 precincts. And so, they're going to be flooding more resources into those precincts. Also, I think it's notable that he is taken this hands-on approach here. He stood there alone. No police officials next to him. The police commissioner was not by his side in this during his announcement, which I think is notable. So, he's hands on. he's the one who's saying, this is we are going to do to try and make this city safer.
CAMEROTA: OK, Shimon Prokupecz, thank you.
BLACKWELL: All right, breaking news, the Fulton County district attorney in Georgia has just been granted a special grand jury to investigate election interference by former President Trump. We've more on this in a moment.
[04:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: More on that break news now. The Fulton County district attorney in Georgia has just been granted a special grand jury to investigate allegations of election interference against former President Trump.
CAMEROTA: CNN senior legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid is here. So, Paula, what are you learning?
PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, this comes one year into the Fulton County district attorney's investigation into Trump's effort to interfere with the outcome of the 2020 election. Now last week, she requested to be able two seat a special grand jury. This will allow her to have a panel that can focus exclusively on gathering evidence in the Trump investigation.
This panel will be able to subpoena witnesses and compel other evidence that she needs. And she says so far, some witnesses that she has tried to get to cooperate have not been willing to comply with her requests. So now, the special grand jury will increase her ability hopefully to be able to gather evidence in this investigation.
[04:40:00]
She says that she will make a decision about whether or not to charge the former president by mid-2022.
CAMEROTA: OK, Paula Reid, thank you very much for that break news. Let's bring in CNN's senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, Elie Honig. So, Elie, what changes now?
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Alisyn, Last week the DA well formally ask the panel of judges in Fulton County for permission to open a special grand jury. Today was just happened is the judges have agreed. Now, that's not extraordinary. That's more or less what you would have expect in this situation. But the judges have now given the green light. So, the District Attorney, as soon as they can seat a grand jury, a special grand jury, which takes a little bit of time, will have the ability to issue subpoenas. Which compel people to testify or to produce documents. So, that's the big step that's happened just now.
BLACKWELL: So, remind everyone what special grand jury cannot do that a grand jury can. How it's limited here in their scope.
HONIG: Yes, so the big the big difference is the power of indictment. A normal grand jury, what they do is two things, issue subpoenas and then ultimately vote on indictments. The special grand jury here can't do the first of those things. They can issue subpoenas, but under Georgia state law, the special grand jury cannot indict. They cannot return an indictment, state hypothetically, State of Georgia versus Donald Trump or any other person.
What they can do, this special grand jury, and the DA says this in the letter, is issue a recommendation for prosecution. If they do that or even if not, the district attorney can still decide whether to take the evidence and present it to what we call a normal grand jury which then may have the option to indict.
CAMEROTA: So basically, what's happening here, Eli, is that the DA, Fani Willis, was feeling as though there were witnesses that she wanted to talk to who were not complying. And she didn't have the power to say subpoena Brad Raffensperger, Secretary of State, so now she -- this grand jury will have that power.
HONIG: Exactly. and the DA in her letter requesting the grand jury specifies Brad Raffensperger. But she said there are vary witnesses who are not willing to comply voluntarily. I'm actually, as a former prosecutor, I'm surprised the investigation has gone this long without subpoena power. I mean, it's great when people are willing to come in and talk to you voluntarily, but you need that subpoena power.
I mean, as a prosecutor I was usually using subpoena power from day one of any investigation. So, Here we are, as Paul has said, a year in. Now she has this power and now she can compel people to come in and testify even if they don't want to.
And I should make clear, we hear a lot about subpoenas in the Congressional context from the January 6 committee, this is different. They are different kinds of subpoenas. They are apples and oranges. It is much, much harder to contest and resist and defy a prosecutorial subpoena, a grand jury subpoena. That's what we're talking about here. versus the January 6 congressional subpoenas, those are just given less precedence in courts and they're much harder for Congress to enforce than it is for a prosecutor. BLACKWELL: On the timeline, Fani Willis says that she expects to make
a decision on whether to bring charges against the former president by mid-2022. So, sometime by this summer. Does this now, special grand jury track well with that timeline. You said you're surprised she didn't have this before now.
HONIG: Well, ideally, you want to be able to subpoena people as early as possible. But that doesn't mean the DA has been doing no investigation. I may, she has presumably had some people who have been willing to comply without a subpoena. some of what she's looking at is stuff we've all seen. It's in the public sphere. That recording, of course, of the call between Trump and Raffensperger, it's something that I'm sure her office has been scrutinizing. But yes, I think you would want a grand jury in place, a special grand jury as soon as humanly possible if your timeline to come to a yes or no conclusion is mid-2022. I think we're right about on that track.
BLACKWELL: All right. Elie Honig, thanks for jumping in front of camera for us with that breaking news, thank you.
HONIG: Thanks, guys.
BLACKWELL: Well, we may be just weeks away, many a few weeks away from the peak of the latest wave of coronavirus -- that's according to Dr. Fauci. But some say they are already done with COVID. We have more on that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: Listen to this, more than 2,000 Americans, a day, are still dying from COVID. Health experts believe this latest surge may be nearing its peak.
BLACKWELL: Now cases and hospitalizations are still sky high but they are going down. Last Monday the U.S. was adding more than 800,000 new infections a day. Now it's just under 700,000. A short time ago Dr. Anthony Fauci told us that it's possible we could have COVID under control in a matter of weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The best-case scenario is that in matter of several weeks to a month or so we'll continue to come down and down and then with all the things that we have, all the tools, vaccine, booster, testing, masking, we'll be able to keep it down there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Dr. Rob Davidson is an emergency room physician in Michigan and Executive Director of The Committee to Protect Health Care. Dr. Davidson, good to have you.
[04:50:00]
What do we need to do to keep it there and how likely is it that stuff that Dr. Fauci listed there is actually going to happen since we haven't seen enough of it thus far?
CAMEROTA: Dr. Davidson, can you hear us?
DR. ROB DAVIDSON. EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE COMMITTEE TO PROTECT HEALTH CARE: Boy, I don't know. I wish I had his optimism. And maybe on the coast, that's true. I can hear you. Can you hear me?
BLACKWELL: Yes. Go ahead.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
DAVIDSON: Hello?
Yes, I hope what he says is true. I think on the coast it is probably true. A lot of people are vaccinated where I'm at. But still less than 50 percent, you know, (INAUDIBLE) who I admitted to the hospital ten days ago die in our ICU.
Who refuse to get vaccinated and refuse to go on a ventilator. Because they were told that these things would harm them rather than this virus harming them. And I just don't know where we go from here. I see these [INAUDIBLE] laughing like they're being oppressed, acting like they are somehow martyr --
BLACKWELL: All right, Dr. Davidson, we're having a little trouble with your audio. We'll try to fix that. We'll take a break and if we can fix it, we'll be back with Dr. Rob Davidson.
[04:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: OK, back with us now is Dr. Rob Davidson. Dr. Davidson, I hope you can hear us. Just to let everybody know, Listen to this, more than 2,000 Americans, a day, are still dying from COVID. Health experts believe this latest surge may be nearing its peak.
BLACKWELL: Now cases are still sky high but they are going down. Last Monday the U.S. was adding more than 800,000 new cases a day. Now it's under 700,000. A short time ago Dr. Anthony Fauci told us that it's possible we could have COVID under control in a matter of weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE MEDICAL ADVISER: The best-case scenario is that in matter of several weeks to a month or so we'll continue to come down and down and then with all the things that we have, all the tools, vaccine, booster, testing, masking, we'll be able to keep it down there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Dr. Rob Davidson is an emergency room physician in Michigan and Executive Director of The Committee to Protect Health Care. Dr. Davidson, good to have you. What do we need to do to keep it there
and how likely is it that stuff that Dr. Fauci listed there is actually going to happen since we haven't seen enough of it thus far?
CAMEROTA: Dr. Davidson, can you hear us?
DR. ROB DAVIDSON, WEST MICHIGAN ER PHYSICIAN: Boy, I don't know. I wish I had his optimism. And maybe on the coast, that's true. I can hear you. Can you hear me?
BLACKWELL: Yes. Go ahead.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
DAVIDSON: Hello?
Yes, I hope what he says is true. I think on the coast it is probably true. A lot of people are vaccinated where I'm at. But still less than 50 percent -- [ INAUDIBLE ] who I admitted to the hospital ten days ago die in our ICU.
Who refuse to get vaccinated and refuse to go on a ventilator. Because they were told that these things would harm them rather than this virus harming them. And I just don't know where we go from here. I see [INAUDIBLE] laughing like they're being oppressed, acting like they are somehow martyr --
BLACKWELL: All right, Dr. Davidson, we're having a little trouble with your audio. We'll try to fix that. We'll take a break and if we can fix it, we'll be back with Dr. Rob Davidson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: OK, Back with us now is Dr. Rob Davidson. Dr. Davidson, I hope you can hear us. Just to let everyone know, you've just finished your shift in the E.R. and you go out to your car so as not to bother everybody else still working in the E.R. but of course, that presents problems in a snowstorm. So, we really thank you for doing this.
And I just wanted to ask you, you know, this former "New York Times" columnist Bari Weiss made a lot of headlines this weekend because she went on Bill Maher's show and she said, quote: it's a pandemic of bureaucracy at this point. It's not real anymore.
As we just read, 2,000 people, Americans, are dying a day from COVID. So maybe in her bubble, it's not real anymore. Is it still real in your world?
DAVIDSON: Yes, the dead 40-year-old who just died in our hospital yesterday after struggling for two weeks who refused to get vaccinated because they were told it would hurt them. It's real for them and their family.
My wife called me at her lunch hour. She's a family doctor. And a patient she saw three times since vaccines were available refused them. She cited crazy conspiracy theories of microchips and whatever else you might think of, and she died today and she just found that out.
You know, we carry those things with us. We think of them as our failure. Because our patients who rely on us, who have relied on us, aren't listening to us and they're listening to Bari Weiss, they're listening to Bill Maher or whoever else is putting out this information and they're dying because of it. This is a real pandemic. It is still very real for 2,000 people a day.
CAMEROTA: All right, well, Dr. Rob Davidson, thanks so much for making time for us. We know how hard you're working. We're really sorry for those losses and we always appreciate talking to you.
BLACKWELL: All right.
DAVIDSON: Thank, guys, have a good one.
BLACKWELL: As students returned to class today at Michigan's Oxford High School for the first time, nearly two months after fellow students started shooting there, the interior of the school was renovated with fresh paint and new carpets after that mass shooting that killed four and injured seven others last November.
Officials say hearts and snowflakes with notes of encouragement from students at Oxford's elementary school and middle schools were hung on the returning high school student's lockers.
CAMEROTA: You'll remember the 15-year-old sophomore Ethan Crumbley faces 24 felony charges as an adult and is currently awaiting trial. His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley are due back in court February 8th. Prosecutors accused the pair of giving their son easy access to a gun and disregarding all of the signs that he was a threat.
Last month, a judge denied a request to reduce their bond which is half a million dollars, saying they are a flight risk.
BLACKWELL: Former Pope Benedict is now changing his story about what he knew about predatory priests in Germany's parishes while he was in charge of the Munich diocese.
CAMEROTA: The 94-year-old is now admitting that he attended a 1980 hearing about a priest accused of abusing young boys after earlier denying that he had been there. Then an independent investigation last week showed minutes of that 1980 meeting indicating Benedict did attend. In a statement the former Pope blamed his earlier denial on an error in the editing of his statement.
OK, it is now the final minutes of a volatile trading day. Let's look at where the Dow is at the moment, OK, it's up at the moment, 140 points. At one point it was down a thousand points.
BLACKWELL: So, the growing tensions over Ukraine, persistent inflation drove the sell-off. But bargain buying by investors after days of severe losses may be driving this rebound in the final minute of trading today.
CAMEROTA: OK, that's the response to Adele appearing on basically this face time and surprising her fans in Las Vegas with a video call. This is after she had to postpone Friday's start of her Vegas residency.
The fans were gathered at a pop-up store in Caesar's Palace. They were surprised to see her pop up on that phone. Victor, it's funny, they were yelling so loudly, they couldn't actually hear what she was saying, they said.
BLACKWELL: Yes, well listen, a lot of people showed up there. They spent a lot of money on flights and hotels for the show that was postponed. They'll blame delivery delays, COVID spread among her team.
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Listen, they at least got to see her. That is a dream for those fans who wanted to have that moment with her. Still not a concert but it's something.
CAMEROTA: Well, I think they would also appreciate their airfare being paid since they had to pay for it and then it was canceled.
BLACKWELL: Yes. That would help.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
BLACKWELL: "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.
