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Georgia Senate Runoff; U.S. Economy Adds A Robust 263,000 Jobs In November; Crowds Flock To See Lava Flows From Hawaii's Mauna Loa Volcano; USMNT Taking On The Netherlands In First Knockout Round; Jan. 6 Committee Races To Finish Final Report, Potential Criminal Referrals. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired December 03, 2022 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:49]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin this hour in Georgia with just three days to go before the state's key U.S. Senate runoff election. Incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker making their final pitches to voters -- sometimes live, sometimes strictly by television ads -- ahead of a race that will determine if Democrats hold a one-seat Senate majority, or if there will be a 50-50 split with Vice President Kamala Harris holding a tie-breaking vote.

And we have just learned that more than 1.85 million Georgians cast ballots during the state's week-long early voting period that ended yesterday. More than 350,000 people voted on the last day of early voting which marks the largest early voting day in the state's history.

CNN's Eva McKend has more on how the candidates are spending their final days on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: on the final day of early voting, long lines did not deter Georgians from heading to the polls.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This runoff is so important.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is a sense of accomplishment to come in and get it done early.

MCKEND: Just four days until Tuesday's runoff and neither candidate is letting up.

HERSCHEL WALKER (R), GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: I said, enough is enough. Now what we got do is we've got to get out and vote.

SENATOR RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): We can't rest on our laurels. It's way too early to do a happy dance. MCKEND: New CNN polling shows Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock

holds a slim lead over Republican challenger Herschel Walker.

Among likely runoff voters, 52 percent say they plan to support Warnock; 48 percent say they plan to vote for Walker. Both candidates enjoy overwhelming support from their respective parties. Independents however, break in favor of Warnock 61 percent to 36 percent but make up a relatively small slice of likely voters.

Turnout has been strong during the early voting period, but the overall turnout still lags behind the Georgia Senate runoffs in January 2021 with this year's runoff having fewer days of early voting under the state's new voting law.

WARNOCK: Hello, Kennesaw State.

MCKEND: Both candidates making their closing arguments to voters with Walker continuing to tie Warnock to President Joe Biden.

WALKER: He went to Georgia and said he was going to represent Georgia but what he is really representing Joe Biden.

MCKEND: And Warnock urging voters to keep pushing, not taking the early vote totals for granted and maintaining the race is about competence and character.

WARNOCK: Georgia, I need you to do it one more time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKEND: And Senator Warnock just wrapped up a rally here for union workers about an hour ago in Atlanta, and you know, it wasn't only workers from here in Georgia. It was workers from all across the country that have come to Georgia to volunteer to get on those doors, to get out the vote ahead of this crucial day on Tuesday.

His message to those workers? Don't take anything for granted. Yes, the early numbers look good, but there is still work to do.

Listen to how he inspired them before they started canvassing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARNOCK: What may be a convenience for some is a necessity for others. Wage workers need Saturday voting and Sunday voting because they don't need to have to lose a wage in order to vote.

They knew what they were doing when they said you couldn't have Saturday voting and Sunday voting. They were afraid that workers would show up. They were afraid that students would show up. They were afraid that single parents would show up. And so they said we couldn't vote last Saturday.

And I thought about you and that's why I sued them and we won.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MCKEND: So voting rights, workers rights really central to Warnock's election argument there.

Meanwhile Herschel Walker has no listed campaign events today but we have learned that he will be at a tailgate party later this afternoon, Fred.

[11:04:55]

WHITFIELD: All right. Eva McKend, thank you so much.

Let's talk more about all this with Lisa Rayam. She's the host of "Morning Edition" on Atlanta's NPR affiliate station WABE.

All right. So good to see you.

So we've got three days to go. Early voting, obviously very impactful, very popular with record turnout.

LISA RAYAM, HOST, "MORNING EDITION", WABE: For sure.

WHITFIELD: But what's the expectation of the turnout on Election Day?

RAYAM: Well, you know, the GOP, Republicans, typically turn out on Election Day, but the change is that the latter part of this week we saw more of a trend of more Republicans turning out. So it could be anyone's guess.

Democrats did what they do. They turned out early. Women, Independents and young people, 18 to 24. But Election Day is key, and what we're hearing here and you know what we heard from Eva is that Herschel Walker is not doing very many events.

WHITFIELD: Right.

RAYAM: And that's probably going to work against him because people want messaging at this point. What's been very interesting this past week is, you know, his camp is keeping him away from reporters. So he doesn't have to attack those issues that Warnock is so openly doing.

I was able to interview Senator Warnock this week and his messaging has changed just a little in that he is attacking Walker a little more --

WHITFIELD: Yes.

RAYAM: -- his character, saying he is a liar and that he is not ready for the job.

(CROSSTALK)

RAYAM: And you know, I asked him is that going to help or hurt but he said we are down to the wire now.

(CROSSTALK) WHITFIELD: Why does he feel it's important to do? When he's refrained for so long and now he is kind of jumping on the bandwagon. He had this pattern of speaking about policy and accomplish, you know, as an incumbent.

But now he is directing his, you know, verbiage to attacking his opponent.

RAYAM: Yes, his --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: What is the calculus on why that --

RAYAM: -- his answer to that question is that we are down to the wire and the truth needs to be told. And in his mind, the truth is that this is not a worthy candidate, this is not someone who is attacking the issues.

And Herschel isn't doing anything to change the minds of people right now in terms of messaging. People want to know about inflation. People have questions about abortion rights and voting rights. And he is not taking those questions from reporters who could, you know, expand that message for him.

So when I hear he's thinking about a tailgate party, you know, this afternoon, I really think his camp should be worried. The only thing in his favor this week was an ad -- a television ad with Governor Brian Kemp endorsing him and saying you need to vote for Herschel Walker.

That was different from the midterms because he was trying to separate himself because he was trying to, you know, win re-election and Herschel Walker clearly has ties to former President Trump.

So you know, that's been the only thing in his favor this week and whether that will take him over the top, we will have to see.

WHITFIELD: You know, in touching a little bit more on one the points that you just made, Republicans, you know, have been concerned, you know, that Walker can't really verbalize a closing argument, can't really verbalize much about policy and are quite concerned yet, at the same time, you know, there is a celebration that he has done as well as he has and Brian Kemp did.

I mean, he won his re-election, but he did ultimately come out support Herschel Walker. How potentially influential is that?

RAYAM: Well, that's a big deal because the past year there's been so much influx within the Republican Party and they said the time has come for us to unite, to come together and have this united front.

So it's really important in that aspect that they are showing unity and standing behind this candidate because they really -- there is no out at this point.

He is, you know, running for the Senate seat and he is -- his name is on the ballot. So they have to stand behind him.

WHITFIELD: The Democratic National Committee voted on Friday to approve a plan that would dramatically reshape the 2024 presidential nominating calendar. The new plan would make South Carolina the first state to hold a primary and move -- and that would move Georgia's primary ahead of Super Tuesday.

What might that potentially mean for Georgia when much has been said about how potentially influential Georgia and the outcome of this U.S. Senate race just might be for the '24 presidential race?

RAYAM: Georgia has been in the news so many elections cycles.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Georgia, Georgia, Georgia.

RAYAM: Yes.

WHITFIELD: You know, ode to our -- you know late Tim Russert. He was always saying Florida, Florida, Florida. Now it's Georgia, Georgia, Georgia.

RAYAM: Yes. and I think it's going to remain that, you know, there is this question of Georgia is a battleground state. If Georgia's purple, blue or red. So I think it's still going to remain a key issue, a key component especially with what transpired in our lovely state these past four years in particular.

WHITFIELD: All right. Lisa Rayam, good to see you, always.

RAYAM: Good to see you always.

WHITFIELD: I love that you've now become kind of our resident --

RAYAM: Thank you for the invitation.

WHITFIELD: -- you know, resident guest. I love it.

RAYAM: Always.

WHITFIELD: All right. Good to see you.

RAYAM: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much. I'll be listening to you --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: -- weekdays in the morning as we always do.

RAYAM: I appreciate that so much.

WHITFIELD: Thank you.

All right. Don't forget, we'll have full coverage of the Georgia runoff race between Senator Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker on election day starting at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. [11:09:53]

WHITFIELD: All right. The U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in November, defying bold moves from the Fed to try and slow down the job market and bring down inflation.

The latest figures from the Labor Department reveal the U.S. economy is strong, but it comes with a lot of caveats.

Here is CNN's Matt Egan with details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: the hope was for a Goldilocks jobs number. Not too hot that would fuel inflation and not too cold that would hint at a recession.

We did not get Goldilocks. We got hot. Jobs growth has slowed, but the slowdown recently has been glacial. You almost need a magnifying glass to see it.

Now some sectors did lose jobs -- retail, transportation and temporary help. They were all down in November. But otherwise there was a lot of demand for workers. Leisure and hospitality continues to recover from COVID, adding almost 90,000 jobs one month alone. Health care, government and construction, all of them added jobs.

The part of the jobs report catching the attention of economists and investors is wages. Coming in, the thinking was that wages would cool off, which would be encouraging because that would take some pressure off inflation.

That did not happen. Wages heated up. Growing by 5.1 percent year over year. Some context, that is roughly twice as hot as the pre-COVID pace. That suggests very strong demand for workers.

At the same time the supply of labor is shrinking as the worker shortage continues. The labor force participation rate dipped for the third month in a row. Now this will not please the Federal Reserve which is trying to get inflation under control by easing this imbalance between supply and demand in this jobs market.

Now, this is good news for workers in the sense that their paychecks are getting hammered by inflation, so they want pay, of course, to go up. But despite the hot wage number today, wages are still not keeping up with inflation.

I think when we take a step back, this is a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that there is nothing about the November jobs report that screams imminent recession. This jobs market is still chugging along and that is a relief. No one wants to see the jobs market go ice cold.

The bad news, though, is that this jobs report is probably going to embolden the Federal Reserve to keep raising interest rates, to cool this economy off. Not just at the upcoming meeting this month, but also raising rates into next year.

And the problem is that the more the Fed does, the greater the risk that they will eventually do too much, tipping the economy into recession.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Matt Egan, thanks so much.

Still ahead, Ukrainian officials are warning residents of tough winter months ahead, but insist Russia will not bomb Ukraine into darkness. We are live in Kyiv next.

Plus, a must-win match and matchup. The U.S. is facing off with the Netherlands in a knockout round at the World Cup. The latest, straight ahead.

[11:13:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

The European Union just agreed to cap the price of Russian oil imports at $60 a barrel. European leaders said it will help strengthen Russian sanctions already in place and cut into Russia's ability to fund its war in Ukraine.

And it comes as Ukrainian officials warn of a tough winter ahead in the face of persistent Russian attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure.

CNN's Will Ripley is joining us now from Kyiv today. Will, so good to see you. So those same officials vowed that Russia would not bomb the country into darkness. What's behind that?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's extraordinary the strength that the Ukrainian people are displaying here, Fred, from the government level on down. The foreign minister told Matthew Chance yesterday that he believes that there is going to be a Russian attack on the power grid at some point in the coming days, a massive attack designed to try to knock out power nationwide.

And they certainly made a very, very serious attempt at it just last week when they launched around 70 rockets and missiles, more than 70 as a matter of fact. The Ukrainians shot down more than 50 of them, but still 20 of them made it through.

And it was a combination of rockets and missiles that had warheads and also these dummy missiles that are, you know, basically these 1980s era Soviet nuclear-capable missile that Russia is using to fire in this barrage over a period of several hours. They fired a huge number of these, some of them are dummies, some of them have live warheads.

The goal, the Ukrainians believe, is to try to overwhelm their defense systems. And so allowing some of the other potentially more destructive weapons to make it through and to destroy as much of the civilian power grid as possible.

This is a wartime tactic that the U.S. and other countries have used to try to, you know, obviously lower morale but also to try to affect the military's access to electricity, which is badly needed. And yet they are just rebuilding. They're rebuilding as we speak around the clock to get power back up and running. They are at about 70 percent capacity here in Kyiv.

And yet Fred, another attack could potentially plunge much of the country back into darkness again. And there are some areas where people only have power for just a few hours a day. The rest of the time, including these nights that just get -- the temperatures get so cold, people are just living in darkness. But they are doing it. They are pushing through.

WHITFIELD: I mean Will, the Ukrainians have shown this resiliency and resolve, you know, in a fashion unlike anything anyone's ever seen.

But then one has to wonder how are they coping? I mean you touched on how they're, you know, powering through the power outages. But to what extent? What is their life like on a regular basis?

RIPLEY: Well, I'll just give -- I'll give you an example of what I've observed here. You know, this is -- I'm still in my first, you know, full day on the ground in Kyiv. And yet, you know, when the lights go out, the generators come out.

[11:19:54]

RIPLEY: So businesses that are serving coffee or serving lunch, they'll just fire up their generators. You can hear the buzz of generators turning on whenever there is an outage and they just keep up -- keep on up and running.

We had the air raid sirens go off earlier for about 20 minutes and people get an alert on their phone, they look down and then they get -- they look back up and keep on going with their day.

That is just a fact of life here. Power outages, the constant threat of Russian missiles raining down. And yet people overall have a pretty upbeat attitude and they say every time that they face adversity, it only hardens their resolve to, you know, to power through this.

So when you have Ukrainian officials say that they will survive the winter regardless of whether the United States approved Patriot missile defense systems which are badly needed they say to try to shoot down as many of these incoming Russian rockets as possible, they say no matter what, they will survive. It's just a question of what price will they have to pay. How much will people have to really struggle to make it through this winter but they say they absolutely will.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. Will Ripley in Kyiv, thank you so much. We'll check back with you. So on Wednesday U.S. Senators will get a classified briefing on

Ukraine and this comes as the Biden administration is pushing for $37 billion in additional aid to the war-torn country.

This week CNN chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour sat down with Hillary Clinton for an exclusive interview ahead of a Women's Equality Summit that she's co-hosting with her daughter Chelsea. The former secretary of state stressed the importance of supporting Ukrainians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The real challenge for us is to keep supporting the brave people of Ukraine, especially as they fight back and push back the Russian occupiers.

The fewer Russian occupiers who are on their territory, the fewer women and girls who will be subjected to rape. And I hope that as we move into the winter, which we know will be especially brutal for the people of Ukraine, that we don't lose our commitment or our absolute passion to help them with every tool that they need, with military means, with humanitarian aid.

And I also think it's time for the United States and NATO to take another look at providing more defensive weapons because what the Russians are doing is trying to literally bomb the Ukrainian people into submission by destroying their power generators, their electricity grid.

They will not succeed, but the suffering will increase. So anything that can be done to give the Ukrainian military more means of rebuffing these brutal bombing attacks, we need to be looking much more closely at doing that.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: So you think, and you would support, the United States giving more sophisticated, you know, anti-missile defense systems, and also the U.S. has called several times, I have spoken to senators on both sides, that their big ally Israel should do the same thing with the Iron Dome that the U.S. provides, et cetera.

What would you say to your, you know, your own country and to allies in this regard? And others in Europe, as well.

CLINTON: I would say exactly what you said. It is time to give much more sophisticated defense measures. And I know there is a new government in Israel and they are rightly concerned about Iran and because they are, they need to understand that Iran and Russia have now made an alliance where Iran is assisting Russia, particularly with drone technology, to reap even greater destruction on Ukraine.

I now believe it should be understood to be in Israel's interest to try to undercut and prevent Iran from succeeding because if Iran and Russia deepen their military alliance outside of Syria, where they have also been working together for a number of years, that is very dangerous for the entire world, but in particular for Israel. So Iron Dome, other means of defense -- I think defensive measures are called for and wherever they come from the United States, other NATO nations, Israel.

Now is the time to send a very clear message to both Russia and Iran that their behavior, their bombardment of Ukraine, they are learning lessons that they could maybe apply in invading, occupying or bombing other nations, will be stopped right now.

So yes, I agree completely with those calls and I hope that there is a lot of conversation going on to try to move forward object on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:24:47]

WHITFIELD: All right. Former secretary of state, former U.S. Senator, former first lady and attorney -- Hillary Clinton.

All right. Still to come, the world's largest active volcano is spewing rivers of flowing lava, drawing massive crowds as the molten rock inches closer to a major highway in Hawaii's Big Island. We'll take you there next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Anxiety and awe in Hawaii as one of the world's largest active volcanos spews more molten lava. A river of flaming hot molten rock is inching ever closer to a major Hawaiian highway.

[11:29:52]

WHITFIELD: Fountains of lava are shooting more than 100 feet in the air, a spectacle that is attracting many to the Big Island.

CNN's David Culver is there with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The nighttime glow of Mauna Loa's oozing lava, well, you just have to pull over to properly admire it.

It's basically the middle of the night and you guys are out here. Why?

PULANI ZYCH, OAHU, HAWAII RESIDENT: Well, I mean, this is a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity to be able to experience this. And we decided to come early in the morning so we didn't have to sit in the traffic.

CULVER: Having hopped from Oahu to here, the Big Island, this family three generations came to respectfully honor the Hawaiian eruptions.

ZYCH: It's all beautiful to us. And so we pay huge reverence to this. It's very culturally significant to us as well. So it's a big deal.

CULVER: a sight made more alluring with a side of sunrise which brought the crowds to old Saddle Road. Officials turning this stretch into a one-way street allowing passersby the chance to stop and let the views seep in.

And that keeps drivers from pulling over and stopping on this what is one of the main highways connecting one part of the island to the other.

USGS and state officials warned the lava flow, while slowed in recent days, is inching closer to cutting off this highway. It's within three miles now.

The other worry, not here on the ground, but up in the air. What looked like plumes of smoke, experts say those are acid gases. Officials monitoring the levels warning it could become toxic for residents and visitors of the Big Island.

Mauna Loa is the second of the Big Island's five volcanos currently erupting. Kilauea still rumbling after destroying more than 600 homes here in 2018.

ERECH ZYCH, OAHU, HAWAII RESIDENT: This is very significant, like my wife, we made leis on Oahu. We brought them over here and we gave it as an offering, you know. Just come with respect.

CULVER: But many Hawaiians see the potential path of destruction as simultaneous creation surfacing from this, the world's largest active volcano.

CULVER: And with the eruption continuing at its current pacing, officials feel like they should be able to give folks up to two days' notice should the lava make its way on to that major thoroughfare cutting off that highway.

But they also warn when it comes to the flow of lava, there is no forecasting.

David Culver, CNN, Hawaii.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow. As beautiful as it is frightening.

All right. Win or go home. That's what's on the line right now for the U.S. and the Netherlands as they face off at the World Cup. Where things stand, next.

[11:32:25]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's a big moment for Team U.S.A. They're taking on the Netherlands right now in the first knockout round of the World Cup. Star Christian Pulisic returning to lead his team after suffering an injury.

CNN's Andy Scholes is live for us at an Irish pub in Atlanta where fans are gathering very early. I think I saw the lines in the 8:00 a.m. Eastern hour, Andy. And so what's it like? Folks are on fire now, right after the U.S.

scores one?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Oh, this place just went bonkers. People were jumping up and down, high-fives, beers were flying all over the place.

The place has livened up considerably with that goal in the 76th minute. It quieted down quite a bit after the Netherlands scored right before halftime to take a 2-0 lead. But this place is lively now.

The U.S. has 13, 14, 15 minutes left to try to score another goal to tie this game up at two apiece. And you know, Fredricka, as you mentioned, this place opened up at 8:00 a.m. There was a line around the building. The capacity is about 600.

It's been full all morning long. People wanting to be a part of this atmosphere right here where we are. You can even hear Vuvuzelas in the background.

The place so excited for the most important U.S. men's soccer game in eight years. The team has not made it to the quarterfinals since 2002. So that's how important this moment is right here.

And like I mentioned, 81st minute right now. Team U.S.A. is running out of time to score that goal to equalize this game, but they've gotten a lot of chances. That's the good news.

Everyone here, Fredricka, on the edge of their seat hoping -- oh, no. The Netherlands just scored. As you can see, there is lots of Dutch fans behind me pretty excited about that. That's pretty brutal for Team U.S.A. though, Fredricka.

I can't hear you at all because of the Netherlands fans. But not looking good for Team U.S.A. anymore.

WHITFIELD: Bummer. As soon as you said oh, so did I. So sad. It's going to be nearly impossible. You said 15 minutes left. No way, you know, to catch up, to make it a tie again.

All right. Team U.S.A., we still love you.

All right. Andy Scholes, we love you, too for hanging in there. Thank you.

All right. Coming up, the January 6th committee is up against the clock to finalize their report. Still on the table -- whether or not to issue a criminal referral of former President Trump. We'll discuss next.

[11:39:02]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The House committee investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol is racing the clock to wrap up its probe. In the coming days, the panel plans to release a final report, transcripts and evidence to the public.

The committee is also weighing whether or not to make criminal referrals to the Justice Department, including a possible referral of former President Donald Trump.

CNN's Sara Murray has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The clerk will call the roll.

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Running up against an end of year deadline --

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA); We are close to putting down the pen and going to print.

MURRAY: The House Select Committee investigating the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol convening privately to weigh its final moves and discuss its final report.

REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): We haven't finished the discussion of any potential consequences, including referrals yet, but we will be working on that in the coming days and expect to conclude that very soon.

MURRAY: The committee still weighing what to do about criminal referrals. The panel also discussing how to present evidence of possible obstruction, perjury and witness tampering in its final report. And deciding whether to try to hold accountable the five GOP lawmakers, including House Republican minority leader Kevin McCarthy and Congressman Jim Jordan for refusing to comply with committee subpoenas.

REP. MO BROOKS (R-AL): I have a message that I need you to take to your heart and take back home and along the way stop at the Capitol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ayes have it.

[11:44:57]

MURRAY: Committee Chair Bennie Thompson telling reporters there are three options. Refer the lawmakers to the ethics committee, hold them in contempt of Congress or well, do nothing. The committee also vowing to make interviews with more than a thousand witnesses and volumes of other evidence available to the public.

SCHIFF: We're also going to be releasing the evidence which may be the most important thing. The voluminous transcripts, the documents and emails. We want to make sure that that's put before the American people.

MURRAY: As McCarthy still scrambling to secure the votes to become speaker in the next congress --

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I think there's a secret fight (ph) to the floor.

MURRAY: -- warns the January 6th Committee to preserve all of its records and transcripts.

LOFGREN: They have been pretty clear that they'd like to undermine the work that we have done, but we are going to prevent that.

We are going to release all the information we have collected so it cannot be selectively edited and spun.

MURRAY: Also waiting on those transcripts, the Department of Justice. The committee says DOJ will see them when the public does. In the meantime, federal prosecutors are moving ahead.

Trump's former White House council Pat Cipollone and his deputy Patrick Philbin spotted at court after a judge ordered them to provide additional grand jury testimony in DOJ's criminal probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol is feeling the crunch. They huddled behind closed doors for hours on Friday as they try to nail down the details of their final report and a number of other decisions.

They have just weeks to make before the committee's work ends. In addition to the final report, they are still trying to make decisions about whether to move forward with any criminal referrals. Committee members say those decisions could be forthcoming in the coming days.

So they are also trying to figure out how to present certain evidence in their report, evidence of potential perjury, potential witness tampering, potential obstruction.

And lastly, they are still trying to figure out what to do about those five Republican lawmakers -- people including Kevin McCarthy, including Jim Jordan -- who did not comply with committee subpoenas. Chairman Bennie Thompson said that they have a couple options. They could refer these lawmakers to the ethics committee, they could hold them in contempt of Congress or they could quote, "do nothing".

What is clear is that committee has a tall order and a lot of work ahead in these final weeks before they must wrap up and before Republicans take over in January.

Sara Murray, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk more now with Michael Zeldin about all of this. He is a former federal prosecutor and host of the podcast "That Said with Michael Zeldin".

Good to see you, Michael.

MICHAEL ZELDIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Hey Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. so what's your expectation? Do you think the committee will make criminal referrals to the Justice Department?

ZELDIN: I do. I think that they believe that they have sufficient evidence that crimes were committed and that they will refer that to the Justice Department.

The Justice Department doesn't need that referral, but I think it's a public relations matter with the committee. It's a way of communicating to the public that this was what the conclusion of their findings were. So I think that's what we will get.

WHITFIELD: You said it's not needed. Is that because customarily, whatever evidence, whatever testimony, all the transcripts that will be made public, that will be accessible to the DOJ to build whatever cases they need to and that's why they wouldn't need a committee to make a referral?

ZELDIN: Exactly. They will make their own determinations about what is criminal and what is not. They have grand juries gathering evidence in a parallel way.

So as I say, the referral is really more for the public to say we, the committee, after all of our conclusions, determined that this is criminal and then the Justice Department will, you know, weigh that along with everything else and make its own independent determination.

WHITFIELD: So perhaps that means you do agree with Senator Schumer whose soundbite we just played, you know, he says it is more important to release the transcripts, you know, and all those supportive materials to the public. You agree that that, of all the volume of information, that is what's most important, to be as transparent or to release all the testimonies?

ZELDIN: In addition to the report. I think the report is the most important thing because it tells the story. I remember when I was an independent counsel, we had to issue a final report under our investigation. And that's how we told the story.

Then we released the underlying documents to say those of you who have questions about our story, go turn to the documents, sort of like an index of materials that you can make your own decisions if you have questions. But the narrative of the report I think is going to be what's read the most and what's going to be reported on the most.

WHITFIELD: What about how the committee should handle and treat the Republican members of Congress who ignored those subpoenas? Is it enough, you know, to have them censured? You know, challenge them, you know, by filing contempt, you know, arguments? What do you think should happen?

[11:49:53]

ZELDIN: Well, each case is different and the committee has to make a determination whether or not it is the sort of behavior that requires referral to the Justice Department, like we saw in the Steve Bannon case, where they're recommending contempt of Congress, or they just refer it to the ethics committee because it's something less than that.

I don't think they can do nothing. I think that that sets a bad precedent. I think that over the years congressional power has been marginalized by the executive branch, and I think the government -- the legislative branch of government needs to assert itself.

And it's interesting, Fred, of course because the Republicans are going to start subpoenaing everybody when they get in charge, and if they've ignored all these subpoenas, what do they expect others to do when they start issuing the subpoenas?

So you know, what's good for the goose is good for the gander stuff. And I think therefore, we're going to see a lot of activity around enforcement of subpoenas.

WHITFIELD: Will it be disappointing to you or would you consider it a failure if the committee does not make criminal referrals? Even though I know you mentioned, you know, the DOJ doesn't necessarily need them. It really is a formality for the act of transparency, the messaging to the public.

ZELDIN: If there is evidence that the committee believes warrants a referral, I think they need to make that referral so that you and I, the lay public, can hear what they say and why they say it, because the Justice Department operates in secret and the January 6th committee operates much more in public.

So that public referral I think is important for the continuing narrative of what we've been -- what they've been investigating for all these months.

WHITFIELD: And then on Friday, two top lawyers from the Trump White House, they were seen entering a court in D.C. and it came after a federal judge rejected Trump's privilege claims and ordered Pat Cipollone and Patrick Philbin to provide additional grand jury testimony as part of the Justice Department investigation into January 6th.

So, in your view, what kinds of questions were probably tossed their way?

ZELDIN: I believe that what has happened here is that the judge overseeing this case decided that President Trump's assertion of privilege, executive or attorney-client, is not availing. And therefore these guys have to now come in and answer questions about their conversations with the president.

So we're going to get this first-party testimony from these guys, I spoke to the president and this is what he said-type of evidence. I saw these documents, and this is what those documents were. I saw this behavior, and this is what that behavior was.

All that first-party stuff, so that we don't have the assertion that, oh, this is just hearsay, this is just third-party information. These guys are, if you will, coming from the horses' mouth, they know what was being said by the president, and I think it's therefore really important for the grand jury to hear that in its determinations as to whether crimes were committed.

WHITFIELD: Ok.

And then finally -- real quick, a big blow to a Trump camp for, you know, an appeals court throwing out the whole special master which a Florida judge, you know, had given a green light to and now no longer.

ZELDIN: Yes, quite a rebuke of this district court judge. She's a new judge, and this was about as excoriating an opinion about her mistakes as I've seen in a long time. And yes, of course, now the Justice Department investigation into these documents goes unimpeded -- no special master, no decision by the court what's good and what's bad. The DOJ now gets to handle its case as they handle every other case, which is sort of like -- pretty much on their own without judicial interference. So, yes, it's a big advantage for the government.

WHITFIELD: All right. Full steam ahead, as they say. All right.

ZELDIN: Right.

WHITFIELD: Michael Zeldin, good to see you. Thanks so much.

ZELDIN: Good to see you, Fred. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, Democrats are looking to shake up the presidential primary calendar.

Ahead, why President Biden wants to make South Carolina the first state to hold a primary and strip Iowa of their long-held status.

[11:54:04]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Police in North Carolina have released dramatic body cam footage showing Raleigh officers in a shoot-out with a teenager back in October. The 15-year-old is accused of killing five people including his older brother and an off-duty officer and wounding two others. And we do want to warn you, this video is disturbing.

Here's CNN's Ryan Young.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police releasing dramatic body cam footage from the October 13th mass shooting in Raleigh, North Carolina. A 15-year-old boy allegedly killed five people, including his older brother, and an off-duty police officer.

After an hour's-long manhunt, canine officers tracked him down while he was barricaded inside of a barn-like building in the woods according to the police body camera video.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is he hit? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The right knee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Put a tourniquet on. Put a tourniquet on his right knee.

YOUNG: At one point in the video, an officer is struck by gunfire while multiple officers continue to fire back. Other officers are applying a tourniquet to his leg.

[11:59:57]

YOUNG: After firing 23 shots, Raleigh officers established a perimeter around the building before going in and finding the suspect wounded, according to a preliminary police report released in October.