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January 6 Investigation; FBI Raids Home of Kavanaugh Perpetrator; Surging Pump Prices; DOJ Review of Uvalde Shooting Response. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 09, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good Thursday morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Poppy Harlow.

Tonight, a highly anticipated primetime congressional hearing and a critical moment for our democracy.

After nearly a year of interviewing hundreds of witnesses and examining mountains of documents and video footage, the House Select Committee investigating January 6th says it will use its first public hearing to make the case that former president Trump was at the center of a coordinated, multistep effort to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 election win.

And to, quote, "connect the dots" between the former president's election lies and the violence that unfolded that day.

SCIUTTO: Those images are still so shocking.

Tonight is expected to include never-before-seen video leading up to the Capitol attack and as it unfolded, as well as clips of taped interviews with Trump administration officials and family members, their testimony.

We also expect to hear live witness testimony from two people, who had an up-close view of the rioters. And this is just the first round. More hearings are scheduled over the several weeks coming, with the committee releasing a final report in September. That, of course, a couple of months before the midterms.

Let's begin with CNN's Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill.

So Lauren, walk us through what we expect on the first day of these hearings tonight.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the first opportunity for this committee to come back after months of work behind closed doors. We expect all of this is going to kick off with an opening statement from the chairman of the committee, Bennie Thompson.

There will also be an opening statement from Republican and ranking member Liz Cheney. They are expected to do most of the questioning, most of the discussion today in the hearing.

We also expect that this is going to break down into three really distinct pieces. One of them is going to be revealing some footage of these behind closed doors interviews and depositions that the committee has been conducting.

We expect that that is going to be obviously continue to keep under wraps until the moment we see that footage. We also expect more never before seen footage of the violence of that day, reminding people back home what is at stake.

We also expect live testimony from two individuals: one of them Caroline Edwards. She is the U.S. Capitol Police officer, one of the first injured in the line of duty. She suffered a traumatic brain injury. We expect to hear from her.

We also expect to hear from documentary filmmaker Nick Quested. And that is expected to be really a display and discussion about what he saw firsthand that day.

So a lot of new material coming out.

The big question, of course, does this change any minds for the American public, with so many people's ideas and perceptions of that day already baked in? Jim and Poppy.

HARLOW: Lauren Fox, thank you so much for the preview on Capitol Hill.

Joining us now to discuss is former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti and CNN legal and law enforcement analyst Terrance Gainer, and former Senate sergeant at arms and former U.S. Capitol Police chief.

Good morning to you both.

Let me begin with you, Chief. And the question is about sort of the objective of these hearings that begin tonight that Lauren laid out. And the goal here is to really expose and show the facts to the American people, many of which, we have learned, have not been seen before, video evidence, et cetera.

And I just wonder how you measure the success of these hearings, not partisan success but success for preserving democracy?

What is the bar?

TERRANCE GAINER, CNN LEGAL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, the bar is very high. They have to lay out a very good chronology of what they learned.

It is very basic in investigations to collect the evidence, examine the evidence and communicate, whether you communicate it now to the American public or, if it ever went it to trial, criminal trial or civil trial or some other type of legislative action.

It really gets back to how you investigate a case: who, how, what, where and when. And they'll need to connect the dots in a forensic, scientific way, as we would do in any homicide investigation, to determine what happened.

They have to communicate that and the public has to keep an open mind and not come in with some preconceived notion.

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GAINER: Listen carefully and let them lay out the evidence they collected.

SCIUTTO: Renato Mariotti, there are -- there is the importance of establishing the facts about not just that day but the whole effort leading up to this and that followed. It wasn't just about one day. It was about multiple efforts in the states, the federal level, in the courts as well to overturn this election.

How important is it to establish that January 6th was not about one day but about weeks, in fact, of attempts to overturn the election and, frankly, since then, to continue to sow doubts about the results of the election?

RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think that is incredibly important, Jim, because is something that we may see again in the upcoming election.

In fact, Judge Luttig, who was providing legal counsel to Mike Pence that day, he's warned that he believes that the legal arguments that were being presented to vice president Pence to try to overturn the results of the election will be used again.

He believes there is an effort in states, in individual states, to try to change the results of the election. So in my view, it is important for the public to understand this threat, because ultimately it may repeat itself. And facts really do need to matter here.

HARLOW: There has been an argument by some, Chief Gainer, that no one knew what this could become; the violence, et cetera, was not expected. I do want you to listen to some audio. This comes from Republican congresswoman Debbie Lesko a day before the insurrection.

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REP. DEBBIE LESKO (R-AZ): I ask the leadership to come up for a safety plan for members. I'm actually very concerned about this because we have who knows how many hundreds of thousands of people coming here.

We have Antifa. We also, quite honestly, have Trump supporters, who actually believe that we are going to overturn the election. And when that doesn't happen -- most likely will not happen -- they are going to go nuts.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HARLOW: So there is your warning. It is reported that she asked Kevin McCarthy to, quote, "come up with a safety plan" ahead of January 6th. And look what happened.

What do you make of actually hearing that?

GAINER: Well, it is troubling. And you have to remember I think one of the major goals of what this committee should lay out is enough information to prevent this from happening.

So it is one thing to hold people accountable. It is enough to have information to make sure it didn't happen. And there has already been a lot of testimony and after actions about some of the failures, whether it was within the command of the police department or the sharing of intelligence.

So that will all be tied together here to try to understand what happened on the day, days before and the days after. That's why this is complicated. There is almost like three gigantic crime scenes: the day of, everything before and what happened after.

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SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this, Renato, because speaking about the future, David Brooks writes in "The Times" today that, "We don't need a committee to simply regurgitate what happened on January 6, 2021; we need a committee that will preserve democracy on January 6th, 2025, and January 6th, 2029."

The facts are important, no question but the remedies as well.

And I wonder, is the standard for this committee to at least suggest remedies?

And was an opportunity missed not to make that the focus?

MARIOTTI: I do think that that's part of the solution here. I do agree that that's important. I don't think that that's necessarily -- should be the focus of the committee. The committee should be laying out the facts.

I do think they matter here because we live in a world in which, unfortunately, the facts are being muddled and there is an effort to deceive the public. But ultimately I agree that there is not enough of a focus on how to make sure this doesn't happen again.

And I think in part, Jim, is that there is an assumption that the criminal justice system will take care of this problem, that DOJ is going to pick up the reins and that will solve everything.

And it really doesn't because, to the extent the individuals are prosecuted, that does not prevent this from happening again from other perpetrators.

SCIUTTO: Yes, a lot of -- hundreds of rioters have been prosecuted -- and the Proud Boys, et cetera -- but certainly no political leaders who, it has been alleged, incited this, led by Republicans, in fact.

Renato Mariotti, Terrance Gainer, thank you so much.

There are serious concerns about security in D.C. ahead of these January 6th hearings. A prime example of this threat sparked by America's political division. A man now charged with attempting to murder or kidnap Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh.

HARLOW: That's right. Unbelievable as it sounds, that happened. New video overnight shows the FBI raiding the California home of the suspect, who is 26 years old.

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HARLOW: He was arrested outside of Kavanaugh's home in Maryland with a gun in his suitcase. Let's go to our Jessica Schneider.

When this was crossing, shortly after our show yesterday, I just, you know, was shaking my head, thinking, like that is where we are. That is where we are.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this 26-year old traveled across country. And, you know, Poppy and Jim, he told the FBI he did it with that intent to break into a Supreme Court justice's home and kill him.

And we know that the intended target was, in fact, justice Brett Kavanaugh. So it was this whole scene that unfolded overnight on Wednesday, just outside of here in D.C., in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Authorities say the suspect got out of a taxicab, wearing all black, carrying a backpack and a suitcase and inside it a trove of weapons and gear. It included a black tactical chest rig, a Glock 17 pistol with two magazines and ammunition, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, a screwdriver, a crowbar, duct tape, all of that.

The suspect, though, after he got out of the cab, authorities say he immediately, almost immediately called 9-1-1. He essentially turned himself in and he told the dispatcher that he was having suicidal thoughts and that he had a gun.

So police arrived on the scene. They took him into custody and then the suspect allegedly sat down with an FBI agent and he said he was concerned about several things. First, the leak of that abortion draft decision last month.

He also said he was upset about that mass shooting in Uvalde. And then he said he thought justice Kavanaugh would vote to overturn a New York gun law that would loosen restrictions on concealed carry in that state.

So listing a litany of grievances. Well, the FBI raided that suspect's home in California yesterday. We had that video. And the suspect is in federal custody right now. He's charged with a very serious charge, attempted murder of a U.S. judge. It does carry up to 20 years in prison. And, you know, Jim and Poppy, this is all happening as we have seen

DHS specifically warn about the possibility of increased threats in the coming weeks, as we move through June, against the justices.

There has been significant stepped-up security for the justices. It was just last month the attorney general ordered that U.S. Marshals provide around the clock security.

So that's why U.S. Marshals were actually outside Kavanaugh's home Wednesday night -- or I should say early Wednesday morning, when this was -- when this suspect arrived and these marshals helped thwart this plot, in addition to the local police there.

So a lot of quick work. But these justices do have security and they will continue to as these threats possibly increase, guys.

SCIUTTO: Well, and wonder if it would have been thwarted had he not made that call to 9-1-1. Jessica Schneider, thank you so much.

Coming up, a group of Texas legislators will meet for the first time next hour. It's an attempt to begin to investigate what went so wrong with law enforcement response to Uvalde. When we could expect a final report on that response just ahead.

HARLOW: Also ahead, gas prices are spiking right up against or over $5 a gallon on average, crossing that mark in several states.

How long before that could really become an average reality across the country?

And Defense officials this morning are investigating the crash of a military plane in the southern California desert. Five people on board that aircraft. The latest from the Pentagon ahead.

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HARLOW: Gas prices keep rising every single day. The national average is now pennies away from $5 a gallon, now at about $4.97. We're looking at the 13th straight day of record high gas prices. White House coordinator Gene Sperling tells CNN the administration is doing everything it can to bring down costs.

SCIUTTO: Keep in mind, oil prices rising around the world. CNN's Gabe Cohen, live for us at a gas station in Virginia.

Tell us what prices you're seeing there and how that fits into the national average.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim and Poppy, gas here is $4.85 a gallon. I suppose drivers here should consider themselves lucky because, just five miles up the road in Washington, D.C., they hit the $5 a gallon mark days ago.

Now that national average gas price is right on the cusp of that at $4.97 a gallon. It has been rising even faster since Memorial Day, up about a quarter in just the past week; 21 states are now over $5 a gallon, with five states being added to that list overnight.

The most expensive, California: gas there is well over $6 a gallon. They're followed by Nevada, Illinois, Washington state and Alaska, rounding out the five most expensive states for buying gas.

And that $5 mark is significant.

AAA surveyed drivers, asking them at what price point would they change their habits, change their lifestyle when it comes to driving?

And you'll notice a significant spike at $5 a gallon, where 75 percent of drivers said, once it hits that price, they're going to change the way they drive. That could mean cutting summer travel plans, commuting less and maybe even combining errands, trying to drive to the store less often.

But don't expect that, in the short term, that's going to drive down these prices. The reality is we have seen high demand throughout the spring so far. And oil prices hit a three-month high yesterday. Gas prices tend to follow that.

So the folks at GasBuddy are telling me, don't expect any relief until at least July. And at that point, we're going to be tiptoeing into hurricane season. There could be additional disruptions then. And so their warning, we could hit that dreaded $6 a gallon mark nationally by late summer.

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SCIUTTO: Gabe Cohen there, thanks so much.

Another story we're following this morning, officials now investigating the scene of a military aircraft that went down -- see the pictures there -- in the southern California desert. A Defense official tells CNN there were five people on board the MV-22 Osprey when it went down.

HARLOW: Let's go to our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

Barbara, it is a very difficult image just to look at.

What do we know this morning?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Marines, of course, are now investigating the cause of the crash. And they have said that there were five Marines on board. There is no official word about the fate of those five Marines in that crash.

And, look, we know that there is a very good possibility family notifications are underway and that at some point the Marines will issue a formal statement about the fate of the Marines that were on board.

This happened yesterday, as you say, in a remote area of the desert in the southeastern California, about 150 miles east of San Diego. This aircraft was part of a unit headquartered at Camp Pendleton and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar along the coast. This is a training area out in the desert.

We don't know if training was actually going on when this aircraft went down. So they are looking at all of this, trying to determine what happened, trying to make sure, of course, they take care of the families that are involved.

It has been a couple of tough weeks for military aviation. There were two other crashes, an F-18 crash; the pilot perished in that. And then a F-16 had a hard landing, nosed into the ground at an airport in Hawaii. So there has been a lot of tough news in the world of military aviation -- Poppy, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Given the involvement of an Osprey here, there will likely to be questions given its history. Barbara Starr, thank you so much.

Still ahead, the DOJ is releasing more details about what it is looking for in its investigation of the law enforcement response to the shooting in Uvalde, Texas. This as yet another state investigation begins today. We go there live next.

HARLOW: We are also moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street this morning. U.S. stock futures pointing lower. It was another bumpy ride for markets yesterday. The Dow lost 269 points in the session.

The tech heavy Nasdaq slipped nearly a percent. The S&P 500 just over a percent lower yesterday.

Another sign of slowing economic activity, new data shows a measure of U.S. mortgage applications fell to its lowest level in 22 years. It obviously has a lot to do with higher interest rates. That indicates a big pullback in what was a white-hot housing market.

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SCIUTTO: So many hard questions following the Uvalde shooting. In the next hour, a key investigative committee in the Texas state house will begin examining in particular the law enforcement response.

The committee will hold a hearing that includes law enforcement officials. It is behind closed doors today. It is expected to complete a preliminary report by the end of the month.

HARLOW: Attorney general Merrick Garland has announced the Justice Department will also review the police response to the school massacre. Our Omar Jimenez joins us from Uvalde.

What do officials hope to learn?

There have been so few answers, frankly, on the ground there and mixed answers, completely -- stories that completely changed from officials.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy and Jim. For starters, attorney general Merrick Garland says this is not going to be a criminal investigation. It is going to be an after action critical review.

While he says we can't undo the pain this event has already caused, they hope to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions that day and based on those -- what may have went wrong, build toward future guidance.

It is a review the mayor of Uvalde here actually called for and is now welcoming as he's calling this -- as he's confident, I should say, that this is going to be a fair and transparent process.

Meanwhile, at the state level, the Texas house investigative committee today is expected to hear testimony from multiple members of the Texas Department of Public Safety and be presented with evidence, though it will likely happen behind closed doors.

Critically, though, as you mentioned before coming to me, is that they are expected to produce a preliminary investigative report on what happened by the end of the month, which may provide the first glimpse at some semblance of answers here.

And then here at the local level, we're awaiting a press conference from the Uvalde School District in the next 30 minutes. They say they're not going to provide an investigative update, though we are going to ask, of course.

But this is mainly, as they say, to talk about school safety and security, because, of course, while this school year just ended, we are just about two months away from the start of the next school year.

SCIUTTO: Omar, one of the most moving, frankly devastating bits of testimony on the Hill yesterday was from the pediatrician who treated some of the child victims, talking about how he was expecting to treat skinned knees and then what he saw there.

Do we know how impactful his words were?