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New Never Before Seen Video Of The January 6th Insurrection Sent To Select Committee; Status Of The U.S.-Saudi Foreign Relationship; Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) Is Interviewed About The Insurrection And Midterm Elections; Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Most Requested In The Campaign Trail For Democrats. Aired 5- 6p ET

Aired October 16, 2022 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: There's been talk that the Secret Service had all of this information and it wasn't shared. That's not the Secret Service's job.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): It's really shocking when you see in vivid detail the information the Secret Service had.

REP. STEPHANIE MURPHY (D-FL): We are still going through tens of thousands of documents that the Secret Service have turned over recently. I look forward to us calling back in some of those Secret Service officials who have knowledge about what happened and putting them under oath.

UNKNOWN: The OPEC+ decision to cut oil production by as much as 2 million barrels per day has rattled the White House.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's going to be some consequences for what they've done.

UNKNOWN: Saudi Arabia is taking the side of trying to ensure the stability of the oil markets.

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The president isn't going to act precipitously. He's going to act methodically, strategically and he's going to take his time.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: My question is, will you accept the results of your election in November?

KARI LAKE, ARIZONA GUBERNATORIAL REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE: I'm going to win the election and I will accept that result because the people will never -- the people of Arizona will never support and vote for a coward like Katy Hobbs.

KATIE HOBBS, ARIZONA GUBERNATORIAL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: This is disqualifying. She's only interested in creating a spectacle. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington and you are live in the "CNN Newsroom."

And we begin this evening with shocking new video of the January 6th attack footage that was subpoenaed by the January 6th Committee from British documentary filmmaker Alex Holder. The section you're about to see was never released to the public until today. And you'll see new angles on the chaos and the violence that erupted at the capitol that day and you'll hear protestors clearly bent on mayhem. A warning for you that this footage includes graphic language.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: I have never in my life been so angry at 534 pieces of shit up here. They're the roaches in the capital. We got to get the roaches out. All of them. Every one of them. They have turned against us. Every one of those --

UNKNOWN: Exterminate.

UNKNOWN: And I've never thought that I would be this mad at a country that I was so proud of.

UNKNOWN: Yeah!

UNKNOWN: It pisses me off, but I'm proud to be here. I'm so happy everybody is here.

UNKNOWN: This is unity.

UNKNOWN: That's right.

UNKNOWN: And I'm proud to call him my president. He's the best thing that ever happened to this country. And you know what, I'm going to stand by him to the end.

UNKNOWN: That's right.

UNKNOWN: That's right.

UNKNOWN: I'll tell you, these are demon-possessed men up here. They're trying to take over our country with communist China.

UNKNOWN: We will fight them. The satanic (BLEEP) assholes.

UNKNOWN: You know Pence is bad, right?

UNKNOWN: USA! USA!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And in just a few minutes, I'm going to speak with former D.C. cop Michael Fanone to get his reaction. You probably recognize him. But I'm going to start with CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller. Hi, John.

So, you have been analyzing the Secret Service documents that were handed over to the January 6th committee showing that people in law enforcement knew about, were discussing the capitol threats ahead of the attacks. And I'm wondering, given all of your background in law enforcement, what questions do you have now after reviewing those documents?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, the Secret Service documents and the Secret Service turned over just a -- around a million documents to the January 6th Committee, I've got through a lot of the threat reporting that was included in that and, you know, it tells us a few things, Pam.

Number one, there was plenty of intelligence. There are documents that show that there's an FBI command post at the Washington field office that is doing, you know, briefings every few hours and they're going over reports coming from around the country. So, you have information that there are quick-reaction forces that are supposed to be stationed in Virginia in case they're called up by the president to come towards the capitol and support the demonstrators.

You're talking about people who are posting that Mike Pence better come out, that traitor in handcuffs, or we're going in after them -- after him. So, there's a lot of violent rhetoric coming up there and the two prior demonstrations are framed in that same reporting about disorder there. So, it doesn't seem to be an intelligence failure. The intelligence was there and it was being shared. It begs the question, why was there an operational failure on that day.

[17:05:00]

BRWON: Right. So many questions. John Miller, thank you. We're going to analyze more of those questions now with CNN law enforcement analyst Michael Fanone. He was nearly killed by rioters at the capitol that day while working as a D.C. Metropolitan police officer. In fact, he had a heart attack and a concussion during the insurrection and is now dealing with a traumatic brain disorder and post-traumatic stress.

Michael has a new book out about that day's events called "Hold The Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul." Thank you so much for being here with us. We really appreciate it. And you know, watching that video that we just showed at the top of the show, I was wondering what you were thinking as someone who responded and risked their lives to protect the capitol that day and protect the people inside of there.

When you hear what they had to say, the people in that video, do you put the blame on the leaders of this country for spewing the garbage that these people believe, or do you put the blame on the people who were there that day or both?

MICHAEL FANONE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Both. Ultimately, we're all responsible for our own actions and, you know, ignorance is not a defense when you participate in an insurrection to overthrow the government. That being said, you know, one of the reasons why I've been out here speaking publicly about accountability for January 6th is that, you know, while we've made arrests and we're, you know, prosecuting or the Department of Justice is prosecuting the 850-plus individuals that committed crimes on the capitol grounds that day, we still have -- excuse me, held those political leaders accountable for the rhetoric they used, the lies that they spewed, and ultimately what I believe the select committee has shown us was an attempt by the president and his allies to defraud the American people.

BROWN: How would you like to see them held accountable?

FANONE: It's simple. If they committed a crime, they should be --

BROWN: No, I'm talking about the leadership. You said the leaders. You want to see them held --

FANONE: Yeah, I mean, I believe there's criminal culpability on behalf of the president and some of his allies. And I think those individuals should be held accountable if they broke the law. They should be tried, you know, tried and, you know, we'll except the or I'll expect the results of those trials.

When it comes to, you know, other individuals who may have engaged in the rhetoric but not necessarily broken laws, I mean, ultimately, at the end of the day, I think at least that there should be a moral and ethical accountability for those individuals. Unfortunately, you know, that's really up to the voters. That's up to us to hold these people morally and ethically accountable for the things they say and their actions when they're acting on our behalf.

BROWN: What is your reaction to the documents that were turned over by the Secret Service and what we were just talking about with John Miller. That there was, as he put it, there wasn't an intelligence failure. They were getting the intelligence. They were seeing the social media posts. Law enforcement agencies, not just Secret Service, FBI, other agencies, they were seeing posts that were threatening the life of the vice president, for example.

What is your reaction to what happened with law enforcement that they had these warnings and weren't adequately prepared, or do you think it's not fair to do the hindsight as 20/20 deal?

FANONE: Well, I mean, I think with regards to the Secret Service, to me that's an example of an institutional law enforcement agency that was corrupted by the Trump administration. I think that top level officials within that organization felt as though their oath was to Donald J. Trump, not to the president of the United States and the American people. Again, that's not an indictment of all the rank-and- file members.

BROWN: What makes you say that, though, specifically?

FANONE: I mean, the fact that they had this level of intelligence, that that intelligence was not disseminated to other law enforcement agencies. And then in addition to that, how is it that as the Secret Service you have this intelligence, specific intelligence about armed groups that are not only, you know, just outside of the Washington, D.C. area, prepared to come in with, you know, weapons, firearms, but you have intelligence, real-time intelligence of individuals that were on the ellipse.

They were just outside the security perimeter that had firearms, that had AR-15 rifles, and you allowed this event to go on. Not just placing the president of the United States in danger, but also placing all of the other law enforcement agencies that were out there, you know, securing that area.

[17:10:04]

BROWN: And as you know, the Secret Service has responded. It has said it did share intelligence, that it executed its mission. Clearly, you do not see it that way and a lot of others don't see it that way either, including members of the January 6th Committee. We're going to be speaking with one later on in the show.

I want to talk to you about your book, Michael. You say the trauma of that day led four police officers to take their own lives and you write this, "I began to experience very dark thoughts. Like anyone, I had been depressed at various moments in my life, but I had always been able to think of my girls -- a reason to live -- and I'd snap out of it. This time, though, I couldn't shake the despair. I considered suicide. I never sat anywhere and put a gun in my mouth, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it."

If you would, bring us into those dark moments, Michael, and how your girls, once again, brought you back from the edge.

FANONE: I mean, I remember vividly the most difficult time throughout this entire experience for me and it didn't have anything to do with members of Congress denying or mischaracterizing the day. I didn't have anything to do with, you know, Fox News' hosts, you know, disparaging me or trying to discredit me.

What it had to do with was the criticism that came internally from the law enforcement community. You know, my first goal, you know, my first mission, so to speak, was to advocate for the officers that responded to the capitol on January 6th. Specifically, those that fought on the lower west terrace, you know, which has been identified as the most violent area.

I know many of those officers. I've come to know the ones that I didn't on that day, and there are a lot that are suffering in a variety of different ways. So, to hear this criticism coming internally I think was just more than I could bear. I mean, you feel like, you know, I'm out here subjecting myself to all of this criticism and ridicule and, you know, really throwing my career away and the people that I'm advocating for are the ones who are attacking me the most.

BROWN: So that was, like, the final straw for you. It wasn't what the violence you experienced on that day.

FANONE: I mean, listen, those were all factors --

BROWN: But those were all factors.

FANONE: Yes, absolutely.

BROWN: But it was ultimately --

FANONE: It was ultimately the -- and I think that is something else that, you know, people don't recognize this. I spent 20 years as a cop and, you know, I worked narcotics my entire career. I was --

BROWN: You've seen a lot of hard stuff. I mean, you have said a random Tuesday, I'd see someone shot in the neck.

BROWN: I wasn't a mall cop, you know, despite what some of the social media memes that have popped up. So, I've seen a few things. And I know how law enforcement can be its own worst enemy with regards to officer wellness and mental health. You know, we critique each other the hardest and, you know, it's -- we talk about the blue wall of silence.

Well, behind that blue wall is not a united front. It's a lot of different, you know, cliques just like any other work environment and sometimes, you know, our criticism amongst ourselves is the most damaging.

BROWN: That's really sad. And it's really sad that you've been treated that way by, as you said, the people you were trying to advocate for. Michael Fanone, thanks for coming onto talk about it. Once again, Michael's new book is called "Hold The Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul." Thanks again.

FANONE: Thank you.

BROWN: We have a lot to cover tonight in the newsroom. Could rising tensions over oil do lasting damage to the U.S./Saudi relationship? I'll talk to the spokesman for the Saudi embassy here in Washington.

And with the president's approval rating at 43 percent, what are the Democrats chance of holding the house? We've got House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. He is going to join us.

And then later, first the pandemic then inflation. Families are reeling from rising prices and turning to food banks for help.

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[17:15:00]

BROWN: President Biden will not meet face to face with Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 next month. That's according to the president's national security adviser. Jake Sullivan telling CNN the president is reassessing the U.S.-Saudi relationship very slowly and there's no changes on the table any time soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SULLIVAN: I'm not going to get ahead of the president. What I will say is there's nothing imminently moving now. So, there's time for him to have those consultations to make decisions that are in the best interest of the American people. He has no plans to meet with the crown prince at the G-20 summit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Joining us now is Fahad Nazer. He is a spokesperson for the embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia here in Washington, D.C. Fahad, thanks for coming on the show tonight. So, we're talking about OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia and their decision to dramatically cut oil production. It's something the White House strongly tried to prevent but it happened anyway. While President Biden decides the future of relations with your kingdom, is there any effort with the Saudis right now to try to smooth things over?

FAHAD NAZER, OFFICIAL SPOKESPERSON, EMBASSY OF SAUDI ARABIA: So, let me start by saying that Saudi-U.S. relations are long-standing. Not only have they endured for the past eight decades, but they have actually continued to strengthen and to deepen and to broaden and there are both Democratic and Republican administrations that relationships in many ways is multidimensional.

[17:19:57]

It has -- it includes political cooperation. It includes military cooperation. It includes economic and trade. And by the U.S. government's own estimates, that level of trade and economic cooperation supports 165,000 jobs here in the United States. So, it is a relationship that has withstood the test of time for many compelling reasons.

BROWN: Right, but analysts say -- and I had one of my show last night say, look, allies take into account other allies when making key decisions and Saudi Arabia knew what the U.S. stance was on this. In fact, this is what this U.S.-Middle East negotiator told me last night, Aaron David Miller. Let's take a listen to him and talk on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: Saudi Arabia is not an ally. An ally of the United States is a country in which there's a high degree of coincidence of interests. Now, Saudi Arabia we've seen on human rights, now on oil production, cozying up, with both Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. And finally, I think an ally is a country that has a strong base of domestic support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, can you see how this move by Saudi Arabia undercuts and sets back the relationship with the United States?

NAZER: Yeah, so when it comes to energy security, Saudi Arabia has long been the voice of reason and moderation. We have long played a central role in stabilizing international energy markets. We did it for years as members of OPEC. More recently, we have done it as members of OPEC+. Our decisions on production levels are strictly determined by supply and demand, market fundamentals.

So, political issues, political considerations do not take effect. They do not have a role. However, we do have the long view of the stability and the health of the markets, so we do take into consideration the concerns of not just energy producers, but also energy consumers as well as investors.

BROWN: And I hear you're talking about, look, this is economic considerations and that very well may be true. We don't want to undermine that concern. Though, I will note that the IEA has said that this could cause a global recession and also in the past when OPEC countries have done this, oil inventories weren't as low as they were now.

But that aside, so you say this is all about the economy. There are lawmakers here on both sides of the aisle that say that politics is intertwined with this. Politics and economy, when it comes to oil, they are intertwined. And as you well know, President Biden received a lot of flak for his trip this summer to Saudi Arabia.

Was that a consideration at all that this would be personally embarrassing to the president of the United States? And if not, why wouldn't it if Saudi Arabia is such a key ally to the U.S.?

NAZER: Right. So, the recent decision by OPEC+ on production levels, again, was determined strictly by market fundamentals. There are certainly many indicators that -- suggesting that the global economy is slowing down. And I think it's worth noting here that OPEC+ has 22 members. The decision was unanimous.

Saudi Arabia did not -- you know, does not impose decisions, does not dictate policy to other members. And, you know, so the notion that these, you know, 21 other countries took a decision against their interest simply does not make a lot of sense.

BROWN: And I understand what you're saying there. I will note John Kirby, a national security adviser here has said the other countries, and CNN reporting reflects, other countries didn't want to do this. They didn't think it was a good idea though I know some of them have come out saying that they were all on board.

But Saudi Arabia should be noted is the biggest producer of oil, right? I mean, it really leads the way when it comes to the OPEC countries. And I know, again, you say this is about the economy, but this move increases revenue for Russia to bankroll its unprovoked war in Ukraine.

I mean, that is a practical effect here. Was that ever a consideration? Because as you've heard, U.S. officials are saying, look, Saudi Arabia is siding with Russia here over the U.S.

NAZER: And that is simply not true. Again, the decision was unanimously taken. It had nothing to do with the crisis in Ukraine. In fact, our position on Ukraine has been very clear, it has been very consistent. We have just voted at the United Nations General Assembly with a resolution essentially supporting Ukraine's independence, supporting Ukraine's territorial integrity and also opposing any use of force.

Not only that, we have actually been in touch with the leadership of Ukraine and with Russia.

BROWN: Right.

NAZER: We have offered to mediate between the two because we do maintain good relations with both. And in fact, it was President Zelenskyy himself who just issued a statement on his Twitter just two days ago, thanking Saudi Arabia for its mediating effort as well as for the $400 million that we just pledged in humanitarian support to Ukraine.

[17:25:05]

BROWN: And I understand what you're saying about all the support given to Ukraine and it is true that Saudi Arabia has given support to Ukraine. But doesn't this undermine that support? Doesn't this help Russia perhaps win the war over Ukraine because it is helping to bankroll that war? You've seen other world leaders make sacrifices to help Ukraine in this war because they believe in freedom. Why can't Saudi Arabia make these same sacrifices when it comes to its oil revenue?

NAZER: Right. I mean, so, if you allow me a second here, Pam. I do want to go back to just the point that Mr. Miller made about Saudi Arabia and the United States not being allies. I mean, people seem to forget at this point, but Saudi Arabia and the United States have fought not just one, but two wars side by side. The first one was back in 1990 when we expelled Saddam Hussein's troops from Kuwait. More recently in 2014, again, our troops fought side by side to defeat the terrorist group known as ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

So, I mean, if that's not the definition of an alliance, I don't know what is and we certainly consider the United States to be our strongest partner, it has been for the past 80 years and it is by far our most important strategic partnership and we certainly look forward to continue well into the future.

BROWN: But someone like Aaron David Miller would say, this isn't how you treat a strategic partner. If the U.S. is really a strategic partner, this is not how you would treat it. And analyst like him have said that Saudi Arabia is moving further and further away on key issues, not just with oil, but on human rights and others.

And some lawmakers here in the United States, they are saying this is the final straw. It is true, U.S. and Saudi Arabia have weathered a lot of storms, but they are saying this is the final straw. They want to stop arm sales to Saudi Arabia. They want to withdraw U.S. troops. How concerning is this? Was this reaction a surprise to leaders in Saudi Arabia?

NAZER: It was a surprise, again, because this (inaudible) and it's clear it wasn't simply a Saudi decision. And again, this agreement, this OPEC+ agreement that was agreed to back in April of 2020 has not only proven effective, but it's to be flexible in the sense that when demand has picked up, the production went up. When demand was slow it goes down and it does have those stipulations in place.

I think OPEC+ has proven to be very effective. The agreement itself has been effective and the grouping itself has been very responsive to market demands.

BROWN: Last question for you. If it is so flexible, will OPEC, when it meets in December, will it increase oil production if there's an energy crisis in Europe that grows more dire, which is projected with the winter.

NAZER: Right. So, the leadership of OPEC+ has been meeting regularly. I believe that they will be meeting again in a couple of months. And, again, I have certainly heard our energy minister, his Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman say upon many -- on multiple occasions, he actually spoke -- he and the other OPEC+ member leaders spoke for about an hour following this most recent decision, again, emphasizing the point that should market fundamentals, market conditions change, there is always room and flexibility and agreement to adjust production levels.

BROWN: Okay. So, what I hear from you is, there could be an increase in oil production if the energy crisis gets worse and you're up. Thank you. We are out of time. Far out of time, unfortunately, but Fahad, I really appreciate you coming on the show and taking the questions tonight about this long-standing, as you say, relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia and the tension that has arisen lately. We really appreciate it. Thank you.

NAZER: My pleasure, Pam.

BROWN: Well, new video shows the chaos of January 6th in a new light. As we see congressional leaders scrambling for help, working the phones to get aid from a Trump administration. One of those leaders, Congressman Steny Hoyer, joins us next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD): Andrews Air Force Base, other military bases. We need active duty, National Guard, all the people who are sworn to protect and defend and the constitution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[17:30:00]

BROWN: Twenty-two days to the midterm elections and control of both chambers of Congress hangs in the balance. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer joins us now to talk about that. Welcome, congressman. Great to have you on. So, we're definitely going to get to November 8th, but I have to start with January 6th.

This week we got exclusive new footage showing House and Senate leadership grappling with what to do after being forced to flee Capitol Hill. Here you are with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCH SCHUMER (D-NY): We have some senators who are still in their hideaways. They need massive personnel now. Can you get the Maryland National Guard to come, too?

RYAN MCCARTHY, SECRETARY OF THE ARMY: It's alright sir. I'll -- I'll call the (inaudible) when they are going to get up there.

STOYER: Mr. Secretary?

MCCARTHY: Yes, sir.

STOYER: Obviously, Prince George's County, I will call Angela Alsobrook, the county executive. I'm sure she'll deploy whatever we need deployed. Montgomery County as well. Fairfax and Arlington all have very significant forces.

MACCARTHY: Yes, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BORWN: What's it like for you to see that footage and relive those moments on that day?

[17:35:00]

STOYER: Pretty terrible. An incident that never had occurred in U.S. history, an insurrection by our own citizens. When we went back that night, I indicated that on 9/11 we had an attack from the enemy without a foreign enemy.

Sadly, on January 6th, we had the enemy within and even more sadly it was clear that the president of the United States and the Department of Defense were not acting in a way that one would expect when an attack was made on the capitol of the United States, trying to determine our constitutional responsibility of the counting the votes for president of the United States through the Electoral College.

So, a lot of anger, a lot of shock, a lot of frustration that the -- as has been reported, that Mr. McCarthy had about this president, that he had excused and rationalized over the years, his actions, was doing something that -- at that point in time, he said was absolutely unacceptable.

We all agreed with that. And as you saw on the video, we all were trying to contact officials -- and I talked to -- not only did I call Angela Alsobrooks, but I also talked to Governor Hogan about the National Guard and his deploying the National Guard, and his response to me was, we have -- we are ready to do that.

We have called the Department of Defense. We called Secretary McCarthy, Secretary of the Army, and they have not given us authority to do that which apparently, he felt he needed. You know, ultimately that happened, but it happened way too late and it appears that it happened in a way that the acting secretary thought he was doing what Donald Trump wanted.

And that is not to get in the way of those people he had invited to Washington, incited in a speech in front of the White House, and then deployed with the admonition to them to go down there and stop the steal. Of course, over 60 courts had decided there was no steal. There was no fraud that affected the outcome of the election, and then told them, instructed them fight like hell, which is exactly what they did, and some police died.

Many, many, over 100 police officers were injured. The constitutional duty of the Congress was impeded and stopped just for a while. As you saw in the video, we were all very committed to going back that day, that night and finishing our business.

BROWN: You brought up kelvin McCarthy --

STOYER: Very terrible day for America.

BROWN: Absolutely. You brought up Kevin McCarthy. If you would, bring us into that room a little bit more. What were you hearing from other members of Congress, from Republicans across the aisle? I know that the speaker was speaking to Vice President Pence at the time. What kind of things were you hearing?

STOYER: Well, of course, what we were hearing is that we were all trying to get people who were in authority over law enforcement to give help to an overwhelmed Capitol Police Department. The Metropolitan Police did respond, but the National Guard was not there and there were some other law enforcements that came, but clearly there was not the sense of urgency, the sense of gravity of the actions that were being taken in the administration or by the Department of Defense.

There should have been there. And as Chuck Schumer pointed out, if the Pentagon had been under attack, there would have been an immediate response. Well, the capitol of the United States, democracy itself was under attack and there was a failure to respond in a timely, effective fashion.

I was talking to people in my office, they were terrified. There were people milling about. They heard a gunshot. They heard cries of -- for the death of the Speaker and the death of the Vice President of the United States. This was a terrible, terrible event and we all agreed on that.

And we all agreed that we need -- we were going to go back and finish our business. And Senator McConnell was very angry obviously. Leader McCarthy was very angry. We all were angry. But we were also concerned when making sure that the world did not see a stopping of the constitutional process of electing a president of the United States.

BROWN: Right.

STOYER: And I think we all -- it was absolutely incumbent upon us -- sorry. BROWN: You finished the job at the building, at the capitol building

that night. If you would, stay right there because we want to talk to you --

[17:40:02]

STOYER: By the way, Pam --

BROWN: Go ahead.

STOYER: Pam, one thing, there was some suggestion that we do it -- that we reconvene the Congress off site. Unanimously, all of us believed that was not what we were going to do. We did not want a visual of the Congress of the United States being unable to operate in the Congress of the United States. The sanctity of our democracy was at stake in that respect. And so, we were all agreed on that going back to the capitol itself, to the House chamber, to the Senate chamber and doing our duty.

BROWN: That's really interesting, and that everyone agreed to that. Sending a powerful message. If you would, stay right there. We're going to talk on the other side of this break about the midterms. I know you want to talk about that. You've been going from district to district supporting Democrats ahead of the midterms, just weeks away. We'll be right back after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:45:00]

BROWN: Welcome back. Let's talk midterms now with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Thanks, again, for waiting over that commercial break, congressman. Democrats are fighting to hold the House and our CNN SSRS poll last week had Democrats up by three points on the generic congressional ballot. That was within the margin of error.

You have been pretty bullish saying that Democrats will hold and even pick up additional House seats. But the bottom line is, core inflation is still the highest in 40 years and gas prices are expected to rise with OPEC's decision to cut oil production. Do you stand by your projection?

STOYER: I do, Pam. We've acted on both of those issues and we want -- we understand that inflation is really hurting our people. Now, inflation is worse in many other countries but that does not make it better here. And people are very concerned rightfully so and we've acted.

We acted in the Rescue Plan to make sure that the pandemic's assault on our people, that they had the resources to meet it, the resources to pay their bills in the two other bill that is we passed after that. The infrastructure bill, trying to get at supply lines because we know that the lack of supplies is one of the reasons costs have gone up.

Unfortunately, we got very few Republicans voting for that bill and for the Rescue Plan, we got no Republicans. Then we passed an Inflation Reduction Act and a CHIPS bill. The Inflation Reduction Act directly is bringing costs down for medical -- health care, prescription drugs for seniors and others. And that is one of the major costs of many Americans.

Groceries and gasoline, the president has acted to release supplies of petroleum products from off of the reserve that we have and as a country for emergencies. That did bring prices down, but they seem to be going back up. They're not as high as they were obviously by far.

But I think the American people is going to look at what the Democrats have done in terms of legislation that -- not that we promised, but that in fact, we passed, has been signed into law and is helping them and helping our economy grow jobs, lowering costs, making sure the better-paying jobs and long-term security for our people and safe communities.

I think that's what they're concerned about. We acted on that and we're going to expand upon that. And I think we're going to win the majority because of that.

BROWN: Let me ask you before we let you go. Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin made a call for a new generation in the Democratic leadership last week. As you know, the president turns 80 next month. You, Speaker Pelosi, and majority whip, Jim Clyburn, have already hit that milestone. What do you say to her remarks?

STOYER: Well, I think that -- you know, there has been discussion about leadership in the past. My own view is that -- my reading of the membership is they believe that the leadership has been very effective. This has been a very effective Congress. We have a four- vote majority and notwithstanding that, we have passed major pieces of legislation which are going to help every American. Some directly, some indirectly.

We dealt with climate change. We dealt with health care costs. We've dealt with a plan to make sure people had money in their pockets, kids were in school and that shots were in arms. Most of the meetings I go to, people aren't wearing masks. They feel comfortable coming together. Why? Because we passed legislation. Not a single Republican voted for that legislation to get those shots in arms, over 200 million of them.

So, I'm bullish. Pat Ryan won in New York. A district that we weren't supposed to win. Mary Peltola won a district in Alaska that hasn't been represented by a Democrat for 50 years, beating Sarah Palin in that jo, and then Kansas. One of the big issues is whether or not we're going to have freedom. Freedom of choice for women to (inaudible) on health care.

So, I think that -- I think things -- as the American people analyzed and they analyzed also the rationalization of what happened on January 6th when they saw the violence in these hearings. They've seen police killed. They saw over 100 policemen, law enforcement officials injured by violent insurrection at the capitol, which the Republican National Committee called legitimate political discourse. I think the American people are going to reject that kind of thinking,

that kind of rationalization of (inaudible) and they're going to vote to keep the Congress democratic.

BROWN: Yeah. And I know that they -- the RNC played cleanup after that statement. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer great to have you on the show. Thank you very much. We'll be right back.

STOYER: Thank you very much.

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[17:50:01]

BROWN: New CNN reporting tonight, sources say the most in-demand Democrat on the campaign trail right now is the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg. He's apparently getting more invitations than Vice President Kamala Harris and there are few reasons for this. CNN senior reporter Isaac Dovere joins us now. So, Isaac, why is the transportation secretary so popular?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN NREPORTER: Look, he's popular among Democrats who want to hear a very forceful, agile defense of the Biden administration or Democrats. They feel like they get that from Pete Buttigieg.

[17:55:00]

They also feel like he is connecting in a way, talking about parts of the administration's record that are popular, like the Infrastructure Bill, but that doesn't have the baggage that comes with being associated directly with President Biden or Vice President Harris. And so that's benefitting him and there are certain things that are weighing against Harris, but I talked to one campaign who said to me that they were going back and forth internally about who to ask for to come be part of an event and an operative said to me that there was a text chain on the campaign that said, look, just from the perspective of our donors, we don't really want to see the president or even the vice president or anyone, what people will respond to is Secretary Buttigieg.

BROWN: That's interesting. Yeah, and for the vice president, there's the cost issue.

DOVERE: There's a cost issue. And that's a real big part of this too. Look, there are things about her that -- there's a much bigger spotlight on her that comes with benefits and ot comes with things that are negatives too. One of that -- of the things that she has to deal with this, she lands with a footprint on Air Force Two that is huge with the Secret Service and with the police and we don't usually think about that, but that is something that needs to be covered by the campaigns.

Jim Clyburn, the whip for the Democrats, high ranking Democrats, said to me that when he had her come to South Carolina in June, he had to help cover the costs of bringing her there that the South Carolina Democratic Party couldn't afford it on their own.

BROWN: That's interesting. Isaac Dovere, thank you so much. We'll be right back.

DOVERE: Thank you.

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