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McCarthy Empowers Colleagues; Kohberger to be Extradited to Idaho; Kohberger Stopped Twice After Killing; FDA Allows Pharmacies to Dispense Abortion Pills; California Braces for More Flooding. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired January 04, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: One is I think maybe the smartest member of Congress that I've worked with are looking at options as to negotiating with the troublemakers within the GOP conference, potentially Democrats, if it comes to that pass. And as Congressman Bacon hinted at earlier, one of the options is for this group and or Kevin to say directly, quoting the godfather, here's my offer to you, nothing. To pull back from some of the concessions that he's made that disappointed some of Kevin's supporters. That's a possibility as well. We're at a kitchen sink moment right now.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, two good movie references there, by the way, Doug Heye. Just want to give credit where credit's due.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: I was thinking the same thing.

HEYE: I'll stop there.

HILL: We'll see.

SCIUTTO: I mean "Godfather" and Dumb and Dumber" in the same answer is also an achievement.

HILL: No pressure, Molly. No pressure at all.

So -- but in all seriousness, if we look at where we're at here, I can't help but wonder how Kevin McCarthy, Molly, got this so wrong.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MOLLY BALL, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "TIME": Yes, that's right. And I think there's a lot of questions, a grumbling among Kevin McCarthy's coalition right now of whether he failed to take this threat seriously enough over the past month and a half as he was projecting confidence. You know, the talks that they're having now where he's sending emissaries to seriously listen to his detractors and try to figure out what they want and find a way to accommodate them, why wasn't that happening for the past month and a half because it seemed like yesterday there were more no votes for Kevin McCarthy on the floor than people expected going in. He's - he was losing support and that was why he decided to come off the floor. And so I think today you're going to -- there is going to be a lot of

those conversations. They're going on right now. They're going to be going on until the House comes in at noon. And as Doug said, you know, anything can happen. We are in uncharted territory. There is pretty - there -- we are already in a situation that -- where nobody knows what could happen. Anything can happen. And So some of those talks about a potential unity speaker, while I still consider them far-fetched, could gain momentum if there continues to be a stalemate.

SCIUTTO: You know, when I asked Bacon, so who could that candidate be, he seemed to imply, Doug, you know, Kevin McCarthy for now, right, but not exactly a public full-throated, you know, expression of support.

You've been involved in a lot of vote counting in your life, in your career. Do you see Kevin McCarthy being able to turn this around?

HEYE: I think we'll know really with the first vote. Where does that number go? If it stays the same, OK, well then we'll go to a fifth vote. But if that increases, the 20 turns to 21 or higher, or decrease, that tells us where these things are shifting in momentum.

And we've obviously had a new development here, which is the statement by Donald Trump. And so often we've seen Republicans beholden to Donald Trump. I would say quite often, I've said to both of you, way too much and way too frequently, but does Donald Trump hold sway with any of those 20 with his statement right now. It will say a lot about Donald Trump's standing in the party moving forward as well.

HILL: You know, speaking of holding sway, Lauren Fox was noting at the top of the hour here talking about the sway that Jim Jordan could potentially have. If you have Jim Jordan, you know, wracking up all of these votes yesterday as he's nominating Kevin McCarthy, how much sway could/does Jim Jordan have with this group and is he using it, Molly?

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BALL: Well, you know, I think there's a feeling that McCarthy has already played that card by having Jim Jordan give that nominating speech. You know, figures like Jordan and Steve Scalise have already tried to make the pitch to the members that are the holdouts, trying to reason with them, in public and in private. I'm sure those talks will continue behind the scenes and are continuing as well.

But, you know, to your question earlier, in my conversations with staff and with members on the Republican side, I'm hearing all kinds of different things. Some of them are saying there's no way McCarthy makes it. Some of them are saying McCarthy is still inevitable, we just have to wait it out.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BALL: And I think what that shows you is, it's sort of an every man for himself situation where there's a lot of confusion and where a lot of people, you know who -- at the end of the day, this is a position of leadership and McCarthy's supporters, a lot of them, went into this hoping that he secretly had a plan or had some trick up his sleeve or some card to play. And the fact that he didn't and is sort of flailing around is causing him to lose some confidence even among his supporters.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Yes, and, by the way, a position that is in line for the presidency, right? I mean there's a lot to this.

Doug Heye, what kind of Congress will the next two years be? At some point they'll come to a speaker. But if you could have a battle like this and five members in effect, plus the others they've been able to bring on board, can cause so much trouble here, what does that mean for things like, I don't know, funding the government or any other piece of legislation?

HEYE: Well, it shows why the omnibus bill passed last month is because Senate Republicans -- and it's notable that Mitch McConnell will be in Kentucky with Joe Biden today -- why they passed the omnibus. They didn't trust House Republicans to be able to get this through.

And, you know, I have some sympathy here for Kevin McCarthy because I don't know, to some extent, whether or not a deal - we'll see ultimately if this is true or not but could have been cut.

[09:35:04]

As he's made concessions and they've been agreed to, we talk about goalposts moving. But the goalposts keep moving so much that we don't know whether or not this is a caucus that essentially is the, nothing will ever be good enough caucus in which case the GOP, whatever the majority is, whomever the speaker is, will have real fractures moving forward.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: Yes. I feel like I say this a lot, but often because it's -- you know, we need it, buckle up, my friends.

Molly Ball, Doug Heye, good to see both of you. Bring your movie references again soon.

SCIUTTO: Please do. Yes.

HEYE: Thank you.

HILL: Still to come here, quadruple murder suspect Bryan Kohberger preparing for extradition to Idaho as soon as today. What we're learning about his state of mind after that first court appearance. We are live outside the correctional facility. That's next.

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[09:40:11]

HILL: Right now the suspect accused of killing four Idaho college students, Bryan Kohberger, is preparing for his extradition back to Idaho, which could happen as early as today. And it comes as officials have released some new details, including body camera footage from officers from a second traffic stop in Indiana that was during the drive to Pennsylvania.

SCIUTTO: Remarkable. They were tracking him.

CNN correspondent Jean Casarez is outside the jail in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. This is where Kohberger is being held.

So, Jean, how quickly might we see him move to Idaho, and then what happens next?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, we've just learned some brand-new information. The warden here at the Monroe County Correctional Facility has confirmed with us on the record he is no longer -- Bryan Kohberger is no longer in this facility. He is now in the custody of the Pennsylvania State Police. That's what we know. That is all we know.

They are being very tight-lipped of when he will go to Idaho, when he -- how he will get to Idaho, and this is because of safety concerns. But we can confirm he is no longer here in Monroe County, northeastern Pennsylvania. He is in the custody of the Pennsylvania State Police at this point.

Now, it wasn't even 24 hours ago that he was in court right here in northeastern Monroe County, Pennsylvania. One interesting thing we learned was about his mental state. And this is important because the mental state may become an aspect of the defense once this case and the discovery gets going. He was asked by the judge -- and it was in relation to whether you are voluntarily, freely wanting to be extradited back to Idaho, and she asked him, have you had any mental diagnoses or are you on any medication that could make you not be able to give a lucid, free and voluntary answer, and he said, no, I'm not. So that's in regard to his mental state. Right now, not at the time of any crime that took place, but right now he says there is no mental diagnoses in his background.

You know, yesterday, his family was in court. I was sitting right behind them. And they were very emotional. I mean, very emotional. His mother, when she heard that he would be extradited back to Idaho to face four homicide charges, she just sort of collapsed into her daughter's shoulder. And it was -- they brought out the Kleenex. He kept looking at his family when he could. But it was interesting. And the fact is, the prosecutor in this county does have that probable cause affidavit that was sealed, but the chief public defender, his sole representative here, told me he never got it.

Jim. Erica.

HILL: So interesting.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: He never got it. And there was some talk yesterday, too, that that was one of the reasons that he was waiving extradition, they want to see what is in that.

Jean Casarez, great to have you. I appreciate the new reporting, too, this hour.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

HILL: CNN's security correspondent Josh Campbell also joining us to talk about all of this.

So, Josh, I have a question. This stood out to me about the car.

So, we know that there was an alert put out essentially from Idaho saying, hey, we're looking for this white Hyundai Elantra with these years.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: It was about a week later that the suspect and his father were on their cross-country trip back to Pennsylvania. He's stopped twice by state police on the same day, on that drive in Indiana, once for speeding, then he's given a warning for following too closely. In a statement yesterday the Indiana State Police said that at that time they didn't have suspect or license plate information when he was pulled over that could have helped make a connection.

Can you give us a better sense, Josh, what is the protocol here? We sent out information about this car, a similar car gets pulled over twice in a short period of time, but there's no connection made.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: Does that surprise you at all or is it perhaps just par for the course?

SCIUTTO: Yes.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, in this case, it is certainly chilling to know that this officer had an encounter with the alleged suspect here, That's something that's going to stick with that state trooper for a long time to come. But the fact of the matter is, with very little information about the actual owner of the vehicle, there's not much police can do. I mean if you go back and look to what Idaho Police said, that they were looking at some 22,000 white Hyundai Elantras that could fit the bill for the suspect car that they were looking for. So, a lot of vehicles there.

The way the process works is, anytime someone is pulled over, you know, think about if someone watch - someone who's watching this, you've been pulled over, the cop doesn't rush out to your window. They sit lack there for a while and they're running your license plate through the system called NCIC. They're determining if there is any type of warrant out for your arrest. And we know at the time of that traffic stop, the two traffic stops there in Indiana, that the suspect wasn't charged.

[09:45:01]

So, there was nothing that the officer could actually go on, but certainly a very chilling encounter. SCIUTTO: Yes.

CAMPBELL: As I mentioned, something that officers are certainly going to be thinking about.

SCIUTTO: All right, so, Josh, we just learned from Jean Casarez that he -- Kohberger is no longer there in Pennsylvania, likely that he is now being moved to Idaho. Could be there, depending on how he's going, right, as soon as today. And that means soon we're going to see the contents of this affidavit.

How much would prosecutors need to reveal in that affidavit? So, in other words, so what should we expect to see in terms of evidence there?

CAMPBELL: Yes, this is interesting. And as you mention, it appears that this extradition process is now underway. The suspect will be rendered from Pennsylvania back to Idaho to face those murder charges. And what happens in a legal setting, whenever an officer is trying to get a warrant, you know, I've sworn out numerous warrants, there are two parts. There's the actual order itself, a judge saying, yes, go arrest this person, but there's what's called the Probable Cause Affidavit. This is the rich detail that the officer or the agent puts in there to say, you know, this is why we know this suspect is the person who committed these alleged crimes.

And, you know, they have to get into evidence. They have to actually convince this judge that, yes, this person should be under arrest. Now, interestingly, under Idaho law, that document, this affidavit, can't be released until Kohberger is physically back in the state of Idaho.

But here's one thing that I think we'll have to watch and, you know, the police chief there in Idaho said that he expects that this document will be released very quickly. He's not the only stakeholder here. The prosecutor there is the one who will actually have to take this to trial if there's not a plea. And so we'll have to wait and see whether the prosecutor agrees that that document should be made public quickly.

SCIUTTO: Got it. So, still a few more steps along the way.

Josh Campbell, good to have you on. Thanks so much.

CAMPBELL: You bet.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead this morning, today it is now easier for women to obtain abortion pills. The change by the FDA that is removing restrictions at the same time some states are seeking to ban abortion all together.

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[09:50:49]

SCIUTTO: This is notable. A new move by the FDA will make it easier to get pills for an abortion. Certified pharmacies will now be allowed to dispense Mifepristone to people with a prescription from a doctor. Until now, that medication could only be ordered and dispensed by a certified health care provider.

HILL: CNN medical correspondent Dr. Tara Narula joining us now with more of these details.

So just give us a sense, Doctor, how significant is this in terms of access to this medication?

DR. TARA NARULA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's no question this is going to help expand access. I mean imagine if you needed an antibiotic, and the only way you could get it would be to go to a hospital or clinic or doctor's office. And that's really what this situation was for these - this drug in particular, Mifepristone, for almost the last 20 years. Essentially that's where a woman would have to go. And over the course of the pandemic, they eased that a little bit to say that she could have a tele-health visit and get it sent to her via a mail-order certified pharmacy. But now to be able to say, you don't have to have an in-person visit, you do still need a prescription, and you can go to your local pharmacy, brick and mortar pharmacy and pick this up, as long as that pharmacy is certified, there's no question that's going to help a lot of women obtain these drugs easier.

SCIUTTO: So, Dr. Narula, I wonder, how often is abortion medication used in the U.S., particularly, I don't know if we know, but as a percentage of abortions as opposed to medical procedures?

NARULA: So, interestingly, over half of abortions are via the medication-induced route.

SCIUTTO: Wow.

NARULA: Not surgical. And that number has definitely increased over the past many years. But the interesting thing about these drugs is that they can be taken up to ten weeks after a woman's last period. This -- Mifepristone has been around since 2000. And the way it works is essentially it prevents the body from being able to use the hormone progesterone, which is important to maintain pregnancy, it also dilates the cervix. And then after you take that dose of the Mifepristone, about 24 to 48 hours later, you take a different medication called Misoprostol, and that basically causes uterine cramping and expelling of any tissue.

So, this is really - this is going to be a big step. Certainly not for women in many of the states where we do have restrictions and bans, but for women who live in those other states that do no, I think we're going to see potential changes hopefully by some of the big pharmacies that may be, you know, adding this and also doctors who are increasing prescribing this because they don't have to have it stocked in their office.

HILL: Right. Yes, if you can do that tele-health visit and they call it in for you.

NARULA: Correct.

HILL: Just - to your point, it's a really good analogy, the same way you would call in some penicillin maybe for strep throat or something.

NARULA: That's right.

HILL: Dr. Narula, always good to see you. Thank you.

NARULA: Thank you.

HILL: Still to come here, California preparing for a possible bomb cyclone. What does that mean? Well, more worries of flooding. We've already talked about some of that this week. Water is still receding in a number of those areas from the weekend flooding. We're going to take you live to the bay area, next.

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[09:57:50]

HILL: A massive storm, this is what's known as an atmospheric river, is set to bring widespread flooding to an already waterlogged area of California. We're talking about up to 10 inches of rain set to drench the northern part of the state, to create mudslides, power outages, not good.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Goodness, I mean atmospheric river, bomb cyclone. I mean this is scary stuff.

HILL: Yes.

SCIUTTO: CNN's Stephanie Elam joins us now lie from San Francisco in the rain.

Stephanie, I wonder, you know, when we see that satellite image here, it looks pretty bad, what's coming your way. What's it look like and what kind of preparations are underway?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is - this is going to be an intense storm. And maybe not the worst we've ever seen, but definitely something to be prepared for and take note of, Jim and Erica.

And what you're seeing is this massive bomb cycle which is occurring off the coast of California, over the Pacific. It's happening so intensely and it is so strong that it's going to bring this atmospheric river right here. It's already started about 4:00 a.m. local time. You see the rain here.

I can tell you, the winds have started to pick up. The Bay, the San Francisco Bay, right here behind me is the Bay Bridge, also a lot more choppy now as we're starting to see these winds increase. And we're expecting some hurricane-force winds as this storm progresses through today and into tomorrow.

What this also means, especially after that New Year's Eve storm that just really rocked this area, more flooding. We could see more mudslides. We could see roads washed out. It could become very dangerous.

The other concern are trees because there's so much water on the ground right now, the soils are softened, and so that means more water can make trees loosen up and then fall. So we've got to also keep that in mind.

Because of that we've seen a lot of residents getting sandbags in place. We're seeing the power companies out and already putting people in place to be ready for what this storm could bring. You've got some 35 million people across California who are in flood watches. And not just here. It's definitely going to hit the Bay area more, but Los Angeles County, down south is also going to feel some of the effect of this storm coming through here.

This is not something to play with, especially since just on New Year's Eve Oakland, California, just across the bay there, set its record for the wettest day ever.

[10:00:01]

And San Francisco had its second wettest day. I know that this may make you think, we're done with the drought. That's not the case. This is a lot of water happening at one time.