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Lawmakers Unveil $1.7 Trillion Funding to Avert Government Shutdown; 6.4 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Northern California; Parents Struggle to Find Children's Pain Meds, Antibiotics. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 20, 2022 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: In the middle of the night, lawmakers unveiled a new government funding bill that must pass in order to fund the government and also avoid a government shutdown. It is expected to go through. Timing tight, though, bill has to be signed by Friday with the current funding expires and folks hopefully leave for their Christmas vacation.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut joins me now. Senator, thanks for taking the time this morning.

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Yes, thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: So, first, on the top line number. This bill comes in at $1.7 trillion. As The Wall Street Journal noted, that's getting nearly as large as the $1.9 trillion March 2020 COVID relief bill. Given ongoing inflation and price hikes, is this an inflationary budget?

MURPHY: What you're seeing is much needed downward pressure on inflation. What we're funding in this bill are essential services, right? This is mostly a bill about obligations, social security, Medicare, Medicaid. There are some big emergency numbers in this bill but much of that is going overseas, $40-plus billion for Ukraine. I don't think there is anything in this bill that isn't absolutely necessary for the health of the country and I don't anticipate that it will have any extraordinary inflationary effect.

SCIUTTO: Okay. Other measures in here, it does include something you and others have championed, which is the Electoral Count Act reform. The former president, who attempted to overturn an election in exactly this way, getting his vice president, and, in fact, to reject the electoral count, he's now running again. For folks watching at home, should they feel confident that this reform at least closes down that path to attempting to overturn an election?

MURPHY: So, the Electoral Count Act was written in 1887 and it has never been updated. It governs how the Electoral College chooses a president. It is pretty vulnerable to attack. President Trump tried to probe it in several different ways in 2020 and was almost successful. Listen, this bill makes it harder for a corrupt president or a corrupt governor to send the wrong set of electors to Washington for the electoral count but it doesn't completely rule out that possibility. So, I don't want to overstate the importance of the Electoral Count Reform Act. It makes it harder for the wrong president to be chosen by the Electoral College but it is still not impossible that Donald Trump in league with some corrupt governor could send the slate of electors for the losing candidate to the Electoral College.

SCIUTTO: Goodness, remarkable.

Okay. Another aspect of this, what's known as the Afghan Adjustment Act, did not make it in. This would have provided a path for permanent residency for the many Afghans who fled the country after the U.S. withdrawal and made it here to the U.S.

[10:35:01]

Democrats, they still have got the majority in both the chambers. Why didn't they insist on including this in this bill?

MURPHY: Well, we did insist on including this in the bill. Remember, Republicans and Democrats both cheered our efforts to get our Afghan partners, interpreters, military advisers out of Afghanistan. But now, for some reason, Republicans are not supporting a pathway to allow those individuals to become permanent U.S. residents. We need 60 votes in the Senate to pass anything and we do not have right now Republican -- enough Republican support to get this done.

So, we're going to continue to push for this into next year. You have got so many of these Afghans living in limbo. They're in the United States but only temporarily. And at any presidential whim, they could be sent back into a hostile environment, their lives at risk. This is still open business. We need a few more Republicans to support us here.

SCIUTTO: Another issue, and you've been watching events at the border with this open question as to whether Title 42 expires and when. I know that passing immigration reform in this country on Capitol Hill is just tough. There is a lot of opposition from Republicans, not a lot of political will from many Democrats here. But Democrats, again, they've had majority in both chambers for two years. And I know you need ten votes in the Senate, but do Democrats bear responsibility, some responsibility for failing to enact reforms that would have helped address the situation at the southern border? I'm not saying solve all of the problems but help address them.

MURPHY: Yes. I think all 50 Democrats in the Senate support immigration reform, as you mentioned. The problem is we do not have enough Republicans to get it done. Senator Sinema, a Democrat, or an Independent now, and Senator Tillis, a Republican, unveiled a last- minute bipartisan proposal, and it was rejected by Republicans. So, right now, one of the rules of the Senate, we need a handful of Republicans to support immigration reform, they won't.

Now, the budget includes some money to manage these increased numbers at the border. But it is much less than what the administration needs. Why is that? Because not only do Republicans oppose immigration reform, they also are opposing the money necessary to deal with the emergency. So, you're going to see scenes of chaos at the border in January and February, and that is going to be in large part because Republicans aren't allowing us enough funding to deal with these increased numbers.

SCIUTTO: But is that fair? You got the president, the president has things that he could do independently of a broader reform, which, trust me, I know and I've covered this for years, it is just tough to get it through the Hill. Shared responsibility, is there not?

MURPHY: Well, the president has to implement the law. And as you know, the law allows for anybody presenting themselves at the southern border to apply for asylum and to stay in the United States while they make that case and that claim. Many of us would argue that President Trump went above his statutory authority in denying many people the ability to make that claim. So, if Congress wants to turn people back around or stop allowing people to make asylum claims, then they have to make that change in the law. So long as the law is what it is today, the president has to accept those people's asylum claims.

SCIUTTO: Okay. Final question, if I can. You're aware of the January 6 committee's findings here. Justice Department now has a call to make based on the evidence, but also there are real politics because a potential target is a candidate for office again, not only a former president but a candidate for office. In your view, are there dangers in indicting a former president who is running again against the current president who, by his office, has authority oversight over the Justice Department?

MURPHY: Yes, there is. Yes, there is. And the Justice Department should go into this question of whether to indict President Trump with eyes wide open. If there is a clear and convincing case, then I don't think you could ignore the law. But we have been and we should be very careful in this country about prosecuting former presidents.

We chide and we scold other nations for doing that. Here, if the law is the law, then nobody should stand in the way of the Justice Department, but they should be careful. They should make sure that they have a pretty open and shut case.

SCIUTTO: Senator Chris Murphy, thanks for taking all of the hard questions. Good to have you on.

MURPHY: Thank you.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Just ahead, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake rocks Northern California. It's one of the biggest to hit the state in years. We'll assess the damage.

Plus, parents struggling this morning to find children's pain and fever medications in pharmacies, as both this trio of respiratory viruses and supply chain issues plague the nation.

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HILL: Early this morning, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake shook Northern California leaving at least two people injured and tens of thousands without power.

SCIUTTO: We know the quake left cracks in at least one bridge. Officials are trying to determine how wide spread the damage is, particularly as the sun comes up.

CNN's Veronica Miracle joins us now from San Francisco. So, Veronica, what more do we know about the extent of the damage?

VERONICA MIRCALE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim and Erica, it's been about five hours since that earthquake hit and still 70 percent of people in Humboldt County remain without power this morning.

[10:45:01]

Officials are trying to assess the damage. They're looking at roadways and, of course, responding to those injuries. We understand, from the sheriff's office, that at least two people have been injured. And we're seeing more and more videos as the sun comes up of homes, inside homes just being pretty much just rattled and destroyed, a lot of shelves falling over, broken glass. I did see video where a deck was completely collapsed outside of someone's home. And then the Fernbridge, which is a bridge that runs through the community of Ferndale, that has been cracked and the CHP and Caltrans are working to assess that road and make sure that people are able to navigate throughout the area safely.

But the sheriff's office is asking people to check their water and gas lines to make sure that they're okay. But they're asking people not to call 911 unless it is an immediate emergency. Again, 70 percent of people remain without power. It's been about five hours now as those officials continue to assess the damage. Jim and Erica?

HILL: Veronica Miracle with the latest for us, I appreciate it, Veronica, thank you.

Well, parents this morning struggling to find children's over-the- counter pain and fever medication as high rates of respiratory infections across the country have helped to fuel a surge in demand. There is also some lingering supply issues, too.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Listen, I mean, I've seen shelves just like that. It is becoming such a problem that the retailers, CVS and Walgreens, are now limiting how much folks can by. Some parents also having trouble finding the antibiotics doctors have prescribed for their children. That is no fun when you want to get a kid healthy.

CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now. I wonder, gosh. I mean, feel I like we're covering kind of medical shortages every few months now. But how far and wide is this around the country? ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it is not clear how wide spread this is, Jim. The manufactures say it is not widespread. We certainly heard horrible stories. We spoke to one woman who couldn't find Advil when her child had an (INAUDIBLE) then got a prescription for amoxicillin, for an antibiotic, and they had to go to several different places to find that. And when you have got a sick child, this is last the thing you need to be doing.

But to be clear, this is not like the infant formula shortages that we saw earlier this year. Those were about manufacturing issues. This is about demand because so many children have flu or have RSV.

So, let's take a look at what the numbers tell us. So, according to the folks who manufacture these products, the demand for these products for children's pain and fever meds, well, it is up 65 percent compared to the same time last year. So, basically, in some areas, it seems like they're having trouble keeping up with that demand. When we reached out to the FDA, here is what they had to say. They said manufacturing are working very closely with us in increasing supply so that we can get the demand where the priority need to be. So, in other words, they're trying to figure out where the areas that are hardest hit and getting them product.

So, as you mentioned big retailers are limiting how much parents can buy and even in places that aren't limiting, I will say, parents, do not hoard this medication. Get what you need. If you hoard it, that bad mom and dad karma will come back to haunt you. Only take what you need. Do not hoard. Jim and Erica?

SCIUTTO: It's real. That karma is real.

HILL: It certainly is. I believe in it firmly. Elizabeth, good to see you, thank you.

SCIUTTO: All right. So, one really fun place to be, you might call it the happiest place on Earth right now. The streets of Buenos Aires packed as the country celebrates its World Cup in 36 years. Boy, it looks fun and a little crazy. We're going to go live there, coming up.

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[10:50:00]

SCIUTTO: I don't think anybody is working in Argentina today. It clearly is a public holiday. I'm jealous. It would be fun to be there. Live pictures in Buenos Aires, where, goodness, tens of thousands of, hundreds of thousands celebrating the national football team's first World Cup in 36 years, a victory parade making its way through the city. It looks like fun.

HILL: Those pictures, I mean, that is wild. There is barely any open space there. The title, of course, was captured by Captain Lionel Messi and his teammates, Argentina's first World Cup win in more than 30 years.

Journalist Stefano Pozzebon there overlooking the crowd. So, I feel like you're a little safer up there, which makes me feel better, because it is quite the party down there.

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Yes, it is quite a party and it's quite a party, Erica, that has been going on for three days. Since the national football team of Argentina scored that last penalty against France, we really haven't stopped the celebrations here in Buenos Aires. We are on the ninth floor of our hotel.

And let tell me you, just behind me back, you can see the obelisk. It is the symbol of the city of Buenos Aires. And for last 72 hours, there were people there celebrating day and night, waiting and then just letting it go and erupting with joy as soon as that trophy was finally conquered.

We understand that the national football team is making its way from the headquarters of the National Football Federation that are close to the international airport of Buenos Aires and should arrive in the city in a few hours. Of course, there was a parade, there was a schedule, there was a route but everything has sort of like put an end -- into doubt with so many people on the streets.

[10:55:00]

It has been really something I've never seen before. Just tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people taking into the street and letting it go freely and wildly after three years of COVID-19, the lockdowns, the waiting, the expectations around this team and the current -- or the great player that is Lionel Messi. And now is just time to let it go and party. Jim, Erica?

HILL: I mean, it is really quite the scene and I think you've put it in such perspective, everything that led up to this, all of the buildup. Stefano Pozzebon, great to see you there, rough assignment, glad you got it.

And thanks to you for joining us today. I'm Erica Hill. Jim, I'm sorry they didn't send to you Buenos Aires. I pushed for you to go. I want you to know that.

SCIUTTO: Listen, the $5 bet will have to suffice. I'm Jim -- we'll make another one. I'm Jim Sciutto.

At This Hour with Kate Bolduan will start right after a quick break.

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