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Sen. Warnock Meets with Sen. Schumer After Winning Georgia Runoff; DOJ Report: Series of Mistakes Led to Prison Death of Whitey Bulger; Walmart CEO: Rise in Shoplifting Could Cause Higher Prices, Store Closings; President Zelenskyy, "Spirit of Ukraine" Honored By Time Magazine. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired December 07, 2022 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

DR. MYSHEIKA ROBERTS, COLUMBUS PUBLIC HEALTH COMMISSIONER: They should follow all the normal respiratory etiquette we all would say during this time of year. Stay home if you're sick, cover you cough, cover you sneeze and try to avoid being sick people.

But individuals who are not vaccinated or who are partially vaccinated, particularly if you are living here in central Ohio should be very concerned right now and should get your child vaccinated, especially particular they're one years of age and older as soon as possible.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Yes, we know that about 90 percent of children nationwide are vaccinated, but of course, there's growing concern about how political vaccines unfortunately have become, and it is quite jarring that all 50 of these children were not vaccinated. Dr. Roberts thank you so much for everything you're doing and your time today.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: A series of prison staff failures led to the murder of Whitey Bulger. That's according to a new Justice Department investigation. We have those details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Here's a look at what's happening now on Capitol Hill. Senator Raphael Warnock, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, meeting after Warnock won the runoff race last night in Georgia.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, Senator Warnock didn't get much sleep last night, right, staying up late and then flying to Washington. It's interesting to see these two together because if you heard obviously the emotional speech from Senator Warnock last night and there you saw his mother with him, and this morning in Senator Schumer's speech referencing his mother and what the history there, and how historic this moment is. I mean, this has been four elections that he's now run in, in the past two years. Finally gaining that full six-year term.

BLACKWELL: Yes. All right. Let's go to Jessica Dean who's on Capitol Hill. Chuck Schumer today talked about going down to recruit Raphael Warnock to run for office and of course, we have discussed all day how this changes the dynamics for the Democratic Party there in the Senate. What they will be able to do now that they have a two-seat majority.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, and so Victor and Bianna, you hear two-seat majority going from 50 to 51, and you think, well, does that really make a huge difference? It absolutely makes a gigantic difference and I'll tell you why.

When it's just a 50/50 Senator like we have had the last two years, Republicans and Democrats undergo this power-sharing agreement. So, at the beginning of that term they came down -- or the they sat down and hammered out this power-sharing agreement that really did give Republicans quite a bit of power. Of course, Vice President Kamala Harris could always come here and break the tie.

But what will happen now that they have the full 51 seats, they don't have to have that power-sharing agreement anymore. It means they're going to have majorities on all of these committees. They're going to be able to process things more quickly. They're going to be able move through nominations likely more quickly. They're likely going to have more subpoena power.

It also kind of changes the dynamics a bit of what Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will be dealing with within his caucus. Because you remember centrists like Senator Joe Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema have had enormous power in the last two years because he has needed a vote from every single one of his Democratic Senators to get that legislation passed. 51 gives him a little more cushion. He won't need every single one. So, it may change the power dynamics slightly there as well, as just who has outside power in the party moving for.

So, it cannot be underscored just how significant this is, and for majority leader Schumer to go out and welcome Warnock with outstretched arms and walk him into the Senate. It kind of tells you everything you need to know about how every Democrat is feeling up here on The Hill today.

GOLODRYGA: Well, he's made the majority's life much easier. You can say that. And while they have this short-lived celebration, they have to get back to business quickly. I mean, there is a lot to do in this lame duck session, and a deadline of next week for funding the government and passing omnibus bill. We don't even have a top line number yet I don't believe. So, what's next in this step to, A, keep the government open and other pressing issues as well to pass?

DEAN: Right, they've got a lot of things to do and chief among them, Bianna, as you mentioned, getting this government funding dealt with. That expires December 16th. So, they have a couple options. They can pass a short-term funding bill that kind of for all intents and purposes, kicks the can down the road. And they can deal with it before this session ends, when they still have a Democratic control over the House and the Senate. And there has been, you know, true optimism from Schumer and also the desire from Pelosi, from McConnell -- for Schumer get this done now. The question is, can they? We're not looking at that much time, but they hope that they can get a top line number and get a year-long bill passed.

If they don't, if they kick the can all the way into 2023 when House Republicans take over in the House, that's a very different dynamic, and it could set up the potential for a government shutdown, a funding fight.

[15:40:00]

So, there's incentive for Democrats certainly to get this done. The question is, can they, do it? And right now, we're just waiting to see if they can get there.

BLACKWELL: All right, a few weeks to go. Jessica Dean, thank you.

Some good news for you just in time for the holidays. Even with stubborn inflation, Walmart CEO says the price of some merchandise is starting to come down. We'll get into it just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:00]

GOLODRYGA: Well, a new Justice Department report says a series of internal mistakes led to the prison beating death of notorious Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger.

BLACKWELL: And Bulger was killed by a fellow inmate less than 12 hours after his transfer to a federal lockup in West Virginia -- that was in 2018. CNN's Brynn Gingras has more on the report. This report found no criminal action, so what happened?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but a lot of mistakes were made. So, that's what this report is just filling in the blanks. Now let's just back up a little bit. Reminder our viewers of who Whitey Bulger is if you haven't seen "The Departed" like Bianna.

Essentially of course a gangster back in the '70s and '80s, notorious in the Boston area. He was in federal prison being transferred to Hazelton which is a very notoriously violent prison in the federal prison system, and as you guys mentioned, killed several hours after arriving there. There were so many questions as to what happened, and that's why this investigation happened and why this report came out by the inspector general's office.

Essentially, they found that more than a hundred BOP workers were aware of that transfer, that it was going to happen, that they spoke about it openly in front of inmates that were actually at the Hazelton prison. Of course, raising the risk of possibly a hit. Of course, we're talking, again, about a gangster who certainly had a lot of enemies. Also, he was 89 years old in a wheelchair. They found that the personnel were confused about the transfer process and also just his medical condition. Why was he transferred to a place where the medical facilities were less than what he was coming from?

So essentially at the end of the day, what this report did was made 11 recommendations to the bureau of prisons which we're understanding now that they are going to take a look at, see if any sort of changes need to be made in light of this. But so interesting to learn, of course, what happened behind closed doors. I mean, the fact that more than 100 people knew this guy was being transferred and talked about it, it seemed like this was the end that you would get.

GOLODRYGA: That summary was almost as compelling as "The Departed." I have to say. Good job Brynn, you got it all in there.

BLACKWELL: Brynn Gingras thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, "Time" magazine just revealed its person of the year. We'll tell you who it is, just ahead.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: The CEO of the nation's largest retailer warns prices will skyrocket if rampant shoplifting doesn't stop.

BLACKWELL: Walmart chief Doug McMillan also said it will actually force stores to close for good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG MCMILLON, CEO, WALMART: Theft is an issue. It's higher than what it's historically been. If not corrected over time, prices will be higher and or stores will close.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN's Matt Egan is here. Tell us more about what he said.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, that is quite the statement from the Walmart CEO. He's essentially saying that in some markets, shoplifting is such a big problem that it would make more sense to just close up shop altogether rather than keep them open. Of course, that would be terrible for the employees and the customers who rely on it. It's really bad for everyone in the sense that they're passing along these costs to the consumers.

But we know this is not just a Walmart problem, right. Target has said that shoplifting is up by 50 percent from last year. The National Retail Federation says that last year alone industrywide more than $94 billion of inventory was lost through shoplifting, fraud and other issues.

Shoplifting has also been on the rise here in New York City -- which doesn't have any Walmart -- but according to the NYPD commercial shoplifting reports in the city up 65 percent this year through the end of July. Some of this is organized retail crime and this has caused a bit of a cat and mouse game. Like drugstores have locked up deodorant and aluminum foil and other things that keep getting stolen. Home Depot they're trying to foil shoplifters by testing out a line of power tools that don't work until their activated at the checkout counter. Anyway, the Walmart CEO did have some good news outside of the

shoplifting situation. He's seeing prices coming down. Listen to what he told CNBC about inflation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCMILLON: Toys, sporting goods, apparel, categories like that, prices have come down more aggressively. We're still inflated, but we're not inflated nearly as much as we are in the other categories.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EGAN: Not inflated quite as much as it had been. That of course, is good and welcome news for shoppers.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, and especially those who are procrastinators, right. They're going to say, see, how much did you pay for that toy?

BLACKWELL: It pays to wait. Matt Egan thank you.

EGAN: Thanks, guys.

GOLODRYGA: Well, guilty across the board on all criminal counts it was facing. What the tax fraud conviction means for the Trump Organization moving forward. That's straight ahead.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All right, so let's tell you a cat story. Our team likes cat stories. Watch the screen here on the left side of the screen, one of Brazil's star players was talking about at this press conference and a stray cat then just crashed the news conference.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, after a quick petting, the team press manager ejected the cat.

BLACKWELL: Oh.

GOLODRYGA: Ow! I'm serious. From the proceedings.

BLACKWELL: That looked personal.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, apparently the Doha and Qatar, we were told, has a cat problem. Overpopulation, I think it got worse during COVID.

BLACKWELL: I think that made some people uncomfortable in the room.

GOLODRYGA: Hope the cat's OK.

BLACKWELL: Get out of here.

All right, "Time" magazine has announced its person of the year. This year's choice, Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelenskyy. GOLODRYGA: Yes, Zelenskyy was chosen along with the spirit of Ukraine

for his devotion to his people and the unflagging bravery -- how do you say it?

BLACKWELL: Stick with it. What did you say? Let's try it again. What was written there? His un -- what?

GOLODRYGA: Unflagging bravery? And Russia's unprovoked war.

BLACKWELL: That's an odd word.

GOLODRYGA: It's a serious story.

"Time" writer Simon Shuster writes: Zelenskyy's success as a wartime leader has relied on the fact that courage is contagious.

That was a well-deserved tribute.

[16:00:00]

BLACKWELL: Yes, right, I mean, we're playing around with the copy here, but it is certainly something that as you look at the finalists there, it is undeniable that the strength, the resilience, the resolve of not just the Ukrainian people, but led by their president. He certainly is deserving of that honor. Just a few years ago, Vladimir Putin was the person of the year as well.

GOLODRYGA: For different reasons, yes. Well-deserved honor, indeed.

"THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.