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Today, House Reconvenes After Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) Rejected in Six Votes; Biden to Honor 12 People on Anniversary of Jan. 6 Insurrection; Bills Says, Hamlin Showing Signs of Improvement in ICU. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired January 05, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He is now in his final resting place. And it was truly a remarkable moment here at the Vatican, guys.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Fred Pleitgen, I appreciate it. Thank you.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A very good Thursday morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto.

HILL: And I'm Erica Hill. At this hour, on Capitol Hill, the Republican standoff for House speaker still going, after a long night of negotiations, resulting in a new round of major concessions to hardliner holdouts, presumptive front-runner for Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the talks are, in his view, making headway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I think we're making progress.

We're all working together to find a solution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: The new concessions first reported by CNN include what was once a red line for McCarthy, agreeing to propose a rules change that would allow just one member of the House to call for a vote to oust the sitting speaker. We're learning this morning that the new concessions are not going over well with some GOP moderates who McCarthy cannot afford to lose. He needs all those votes.

We're following all of the latest developments on Capitol Hill this morning. Let's begin with CNN chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju. So, Manu, lots of talks underway late last night. We know you had a late one. More talk this is morning. Where does everything stand?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Highly uncertain at the moment. And still Kevin McCarthy's path to speakership, it may happen or my collapse. We just simply don't know. We do know that he still doesn't have the votes to become the speaker of House. Last night, we reported about those key concessions that he made to a handful of conservatives who are opposing his speaker's bid, one of which would allow one individual member of the House to call for a vote to essentially oust a sitting speaker.

That is something that he has opposed in the past. But he came down and agreed to that. That has caused a lot of angst within the ranks of more moderate members who are concerned that it could create instability, it could potentially even make McCarthy, if he becomes speaker, a very short-lived one.

In addition to that, he has proposed some other changes, some political moves that got some support from conservative outside groups but in a very significant change that can impact how the chamber operates, the policy, the bills that come to the floor. He agreed to add some members of that far-right House Freedom Caucus to the house ruling committee.

That is a very powerful committee in Congress and essentially dictated the terms of legislation, what comes to the floor, what amendments can be allowed and agreed to put some of those members on there so it will raise questions about how they will effectively be able to govern on some key policy issues in the new Congress, assuming he becomes speaker. And that is still uncertain.

If he does, those proposals, if they do win over support, it probably would only be with maybe ten members. He needs to win back 16 members of that 20 group -- 20 opponents who have voted against him on the floor. Six times he has been rejected by the full House. So, can he get those other members? That remains unknown because some of those members have other concerns.

This morning, he did meet with Congressman Self, who was one of the 20 who opposes Kevin McCarthy. They met in the speaker's office. Self walked out of there, declined to comment. It is uncertain if he will win him over and others.

McCarthy's goal is to go one-by-one, get each of these members on board. But the challenge here is that there are four Republicans who are just dead set against him and he can only afford to lose four votes. So, that means he essentially needs to win back every own one of those 20 opponents in order to win the speakership. So, it is a very, very narrow path.

But McCarthy still believes that he will get there. And at noon today, the House reconvenes, it would go to a seventh ballot if they don't try to move to adjourn to allow for these talks to play out. So, again, this House is in a complete state of paralysis. They can't do anything, not even getting national security briefings, which is raising some major concerns about on the impact on the U.S. government if they can't get a deal here.

SCIUTTO: Manu Raju, thanks so much.

We do actually have comments now from the incoming Democratic minority leader in the House, Hakeem Jeffries. Let's listen in.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): -- on behalf of the American people. But we need a willing partner on the other side of the aisle. It is my hope that today the House Republicans will stop the bickering, stop the backbiting and stop the backstabbing of each other so we can have the back of American people. That is what we were elected to do. That is what Congress should be doing.

In the face of a global pandemic that continues to be with us, in the face of inflationary pressure all across the land and throughout the world and in the face of a dangerous conflict in Europe, the biggest conflict since World War II.

[10:05:12]

These are serious issues that require the attention of the United States House of Representatives. It is time for the Republicans to get their act together.

And we as Democrats are ready, willing and able to partner with them to find common ground whenever and wherever possible, not as Democrats, not as Republicans, but as Americans. It is time for Congress to get to work.

SCIUTTO: Hakeem Jeffries, you heard it there.

It is time for Congress to get to work from Hakeem Jeffries.

Joining me now from the other side of the aisle, Republican Congressman French Hill of Arkansas. He's been designated by McCarthy as one of his emissaries to find a deal with those Republican holdouts. Congressman Hill, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.

REP. FRENCH HILL (R-AR): You bet. Happy New Year. Good to be with you.

SCIUTTO: Thanks. Happy New Year to you and your family as well.

Let me begin. I know you're still, and Republicans are still counting votes, but just in the simplest terms, is Kevin McCarthy more likely today to be speaker of House than he was yesterday?

F. HILL: Such a good question for all of your viewers. I believe yes. 200 members of Congress are standing firm by their desire to see Kevin McCarthy be elected the next speaker of the House based on leadership and policy development in our commitment to America, his ability to raise funds and recruit candidates to have our back-to-back pick up in seats in the last two congressional elections and his ability to select the right people to be on the right committees. So, those conversations between Leader McCarthy and those who are not yet yes votes continued yesterday and they were very constructive.

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this. Sources tell CNN that McCarthy has now agreed to allow just a single member to make a motion to vacate, as it's known, in effect, force a floor vote to remove the speaker, as well as other concessions among them agreeing to allow more members of the freedom caucus to serve on the rules committee. Have those concessions, and they are big ones, have they won any new commitments to support McCarthy as speaker?

F. HILL: I think that is the kind of discussion that's still going on this morning, which is after Leader McCarthy's good work with members of the 20 that were voting no as of yesterday, he made a lot of give and take yesterday. As I said, very constructive discussions on rules, on spending and on budget reform and on who would be on what committees. And the question now is who has gone to yes, and that is what we await for the report this morning.

SCIUTTO: So, you're saying that no one, despite the concessions, has committed to voting yes, to reversing their vote?

F. HILL: No, I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying those discussions still continue because, don't forget, you have a few people engaged in discussions and you have a lot of people that have to be explained to, met with and have more detail with before they get to that final conclusion.

SCIUTTO: Okay. The issue here, of course, is given the slimness of the margin, McCarthy needs not just the right-wing members to support him, he needs the moderates as well, and moderates, including on this broadcast, like Don Bacon have expressed real criticisms of many of these concessions here. Are you certain that moderates will support, continue to support McCarthy with these concessions that they very publicly oppose?

F. HILL: Well, let's see how that rules package ends up in detail and in writing. Let's see what those budget and spending reforms end up as. And let's see what the steering committee does about appointing people to committees.

Kevin McCarthy knows better than anybody else because he knows this conference well what it takes to create unity in the conference and move forward so we can move our legislative agenda and create a contrast to the proposals and policies of Joe Biden.

SCIUTTO: You have been in Congress a long time. You know the issues of getting anything through under normal circumstances. If you have this new dynamic where just one member can raise his or her hand and call for an effective vote of no confidence in the speaker, how did you get anything else done? And not just for the speaker, by the way, but for the Republican majority, things like spending bills, you know, raising the debt limit?

F. HILL: Well, look, Speaker Pelosi had a very narrow majority. She worked very hard at crafting a unity plan for House Democrats in the last Congress particularly. And Kevin McCarthy has the skills and abilities, the ways and means to do that in this Congress. SCIUTTO: But he can't get elected speaker. She was elected on the

first ballot.

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We're six votes in.

F. HILL: Well, I think he will be elected speaker. Don't forget, there are 200 members that are standing firm behind Kevin McCarthy. We put a lot of emphasis on the 19 or 20 that have not gotten to yes yet and we've ignored the fact, as you pointed, the vast majority of this conference, 200 people, including center right people, moderate people and more than half of the freedom caucus, let's not forget that, support Kevin McCarthy as being speaker. And I think we'll get there and I think we'll get there soon. And I think yesterday was a good day and I hope today is an even better one.

SCIUTTO: You're an experienced politician. You saw the results of the midterms. There was expectations of a red wave, it didn't happen and in large part because a lot of more extremist candidates lost their races. Is this good politics right now for Republicans having just gained the majority in the House to be giving in so much to a wing of the party that has not fared well for Republicans in recent elections?

F. HILL: Democracy is messy. I would you remind you, a hundred years ago, in 1923, House Republicans went through precisely the same unrest. Only at that time the insurgency was from the left, not from the right. And it led to one of the most productive Congresses for the next probably eight years led by Nick Longworth and President Calvin Coolidge. The budget was balanced, the debt was paid down. It was a good time for Republican leadership in the House.

So, we're going through a messy process now and I acknowledge that. It is not an instacart election of speaker. This is where you have got to bring your colleagues along and create something that breeds and we'll do that.

SCIUTTO: Congressman French Hill, good to have you on the broadcast this morning. We appreciate you joining us.

F. HILL: Thanks.

E. HILL: Still to come here, the man suspected of killing four college students likely to face an Idaho judge for the first time today. We're going to take you live to Moscow with the very latest, including new body cam, which shows a traffic stop with Bryan Kohberger as he was driving cross-country with his father.

And later, new revelations from Prince Harry's book detailing a fight between the royal brothers that ended with one of them knocked to the ground.

SCIUTTO: Wow. But, first, support continues to come in for Bills Safety Damar Hamlin as he remains in critical condition but has shown some progress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODNEY THOMAS II, SAFETY, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: When he walks out of there and he sees like the support that he's had and the impact that he's had, it is going to be a real special day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:00] E. HILL: First on CNN, new details now about President Biden's plans to observe the two-year anniversary of the January 6th insurrection.

SCIUTTO: CNN's M.J. lee is at the White House. M.J., I know the goal here to honor law enforcement officers, also election workers who protected democracy. So, how so?

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim and Erica. We've, of course, known for a while that the president intended to mark the two-year anniversary of the January 6th insurrection by doing something tomorrow and now we can report that he is going to deliver remarks and hold a ceremony at the White House to give the presidential citizens medal to 12 people that the president and the White House see as essentially having been heroes coming out of January 6th and the 2020 election.

So, we are talking about law enforcement officers, as you said, including Capitol police officers, many of whom got injured and harassed and assaulted as they tried to protect the Capitol from rioters. Some names that people might be familiar with include Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman. Of course, people might remember he played a role in diverting the rioters away from the Senate chamber as lawmakers were in the process of evacuating and has been heralded a hero for those actions. D.C. Police Officer Michael Fanone, who was brutally assaulted. There's also Capitol Officer Caroline Edwards, who testified before the House January 6th committee that she had lost consciousness at some point. And then when she regained consciousness, she decided to run back into the chaos.

Now, a number of other people who are going to be honored tomorrow are also election workers, including some other names that again viewers might be familiar with because of the committee's hearing, including the mother and daughter Shay Moss and Ruby Freeman. They, of course, gave emotional testimony before the committee, saying President Trump and his allies attacking them for their work have been incredibly traumatic.

So, this is going to be a big moment for this president and the White House. Of course, the events of January 6th is something that the president has talked about a lot, including leading up to the midterm elections. Jim and Erica?

SCIUTTO: Seeing Officer Goodman stand there again in those harrowing moments is just such a reminder of the day. M.J. Lee, thanks so much.

Well, right now, officials say that the Buffalo Bills safety, Damar Hamlin, is showing signs of improvement. It's great news. He does, however, remain in critical condition, this after suffering cardiac arrest during that game on Monday night.

Overnight, the NFL's chief medical officer said the league is investigating every possible cause for the incident.

E. HILL: This morning, one of Hamlin's childhood friends, they played together in high school, Rodney Thomas II, he now plays for the Colts in Indianapolis, spoke about his friend to CNN. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS: It is just -- it is a dangerous sport. And you kind of -- you don't just good around like every play just thinking about things like this, like think being injury just the same way that you don't go just around like regular life just like thinking that way.

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It is just like a freak play, a freak accident.

Player-wise, post-players and players now, just football and just the world, in general, we're all one heartbeat right now. We're all just waiting for Damar just to get healthy, just waiting for him to just to come out of there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

E. HILL: We're all one heartbeat right now.

CNN Sports Anchor Coy Wire is in Buffalo this morning with more. And, Coy, I know you have some information on a really important message from Damar Hamlin's dad.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. The team got a very positive message yesterday. I was told the Bills were visited via Zoom call in a team meeting yesterday by Damar Hamlin's father, conferenced in and the players were encouraged especially to hear from Damar's father that he is making progress. A glimmer of hope that this team no doubt needs as the first of the final regular season games, Erica and Jim, are set to kick off just over 48 hours from now.

Will players be ready to play? There are huge playoff implications. Some players have huge incentives. They couldn't meet one player needs just two catches for half a million dollars, another needs one sack to reach a million dollar incentive. Regardless, it is going to be a challenging time mentally and emotionally for players and coaches alike.

Here is Bengals Quarterback Joe Burrow who was on that field when Damar Hamlin was tragically injured on whether he thinks players will be ready to play this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BURROW, QUARTERBACK, CINCINNATI BENGALS: And I'm sure if you polled the locker room, there would be mixed votes on that. Personally, I think -- I think playing would be -- it is going to be tough but there are people that want to play too and there are people that don't. And so, personally, I probably want to play. I think getting back to as normal as you can as fast as can you is personally how I deal with these kind of things. But like I said, everybody has a different way of dealing with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WIRE: Will they be ready to play? There is no doubt that most players in the league have already had the thought, Erica and Jim, that could have been me out there. Images of Hamlin will certainly be on players' minds at some point before they go out there to make that first collision in getting back on that field whenever that may be.

SCIUTTO: And already in their calculation, concerns about the long- term effects of concussions, right? These are long-term health decisions players have to contend with.

E. HILL: Coy Wire, I always appreciate it. Thank you.

Nearly two months after their death, the man suspected of killing four University of Idaho students is in Moscow. So, what does this mean for Bryan Kohberger and this case? Those updates for you, next. Now for your whole body.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:00]

SCIUTTO: Right now, we are standing by as Bryan Kohberger, the man charged now with murder in the stabbing deaths of four Idaho college students, is likely to make his first court appearance in Moscow, Idaho.

E. HILL: He is facing four counts of first-degree murder, one count of burglary.

CNN Correspondent Veronica Miracle has been following this story from the very beginning and is outside the courthouse for us this morning. There is a lot of anticipation that we could learn much more today because this affidavit will ultimately be unsealed.

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right, Jim and Erica. That is certainly what the hope is today. The doors just opened to the courthouse, media members are lining up and now what we're waiting for is that docket to be released to see if the suspect, Bryan Kohberger, is, in fact, on the docket, if he will be in front of a judge today and at what time.

The clerk has also told us that probable cause affidavit that we've been told has so much information about the reasons for his arrest. Well, that is supposed to be unsealed but that is up to the judge. And, apparently, the judge still hasn't made a decision on the timing of the release, whether it will be after his first court appearance or sometime before. So, we're still waiting for more information on that.

But Bryan Kohberger is here. The courthouse is in the same place as the jail. And he was brought over and booked here last night for four counts of murder and one count of burglary. This was after a very long flight from Pennsylvania where he was extradited. That flight had multiple stops and he finally landed last night at the Pullman Regional Airport. And we have video of him coming in being handed over from the Pennsylvania State Police to local authorities. And at that time, you can see in the video that they put a helmet and a vest on him.

The entire time authorities have been very tight-lipped about the transition process across the state lines. And they said it is because of security reasons and you can see in that video extra security being taken. The reason why he was in Pennsylvania is because he was on a cross-country trip with his father from Washington State back to the family home in Pennsylvania. And during that trip they were in the white Hyundai Elantra that police were looking for.

They were pulled over twice, once by Hancock County Sheriff's Department and then another time by Indiana State Police. And we have new video from the Hancock Sheriff's Department when they pulled Bryan Kohberger and his father over. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this your car? Okay. Cool.

You're coming from Washington State University?

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And you're going where?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to be going to Pennsylvania.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, all you work at the university there?