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McCarthy Finally Secures Speaker's Gavel after 15 Rounds of Voting; Idaho College Murders; Damar Hamlin Posts on Instagram Days after Collapse. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired January 07, 2023 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[17:00:17]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.
Kevin McCarthy is now speaker of the house -- Kevin McCarthy. So update your rolodex. And he didn't just clench the gavel, he clinched the record for the longest speaker contest in 164 years. This was the scene after four days and 15 rounds of voting.
But McCarthy's journey to the speakership was fraught with drama. It got a little intense. It almost came to blows last night. The 14th vote should have been the clincher as McCarthy and his allies thought they had the vote in the bag.
But Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz had other ideas. He waited until the very end of the balloting process to vote present even though McCarthy needed just one more yes vote to win.
McCarthy appeared stunned and walked up the House floor to confront Matt Gaetz himself. And watch what unfolded as McCarthy walked away dejected, Armed Services Committee chairman Mike Rogers appears to suddenly lunge at Gaetz and had to be physically restrained by a fellow Republican.
This afternoon, I spoke to Republican Congressman Tim Burchett who was in the area of the incident about what happened in this moment. Here is what he saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TIM BURCHETTE (R-TN): I realized that both sides have some older members and it was getting late, and I suspect most of them had missed the early bird special at the sizzler so they were getting a little cantankerous.
And Mike, who is a friend of mine, came by and said some things, probably in haste as a lot of us do and probably responded to him with some things as well. You know, and Matt had -- Matt Gaetz had asked to review some of those rules before we voted on speaker. And he felt like he wasn't given enough time to do just that and asked for a little bit of time. You can see me later in one of the tapes going like that because I had
asked our leadership to give us a little bit of a break so we could put our heads together and go over some of those things.
It was just unfortunate situation and that's what happens when people are tired and you -- and, as you said, it was the 15th ballot that we were able to pass.
ACOSTA: Yes. But what was going through your mind when you saw Congressman Rogers being restrained, just being there at that moment?
BURCHETT: Yes well, you can see one of the earlier pictures where I had actually stiff armed him and, you know, I knew he had lost his cool. It was the second time he had done that that week. He had done it earlier in a conference meeting and made some similar demands towards some of us.
And it was unfortunate. You know, it is one of those regrettable things but it is something that will be remembered. I don't think it should take away anything from leader -- then Leader, now Speaker McCarthy's -- his victory because it was -- it was hard fought.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And at that moment it all looked but over for Kevin McCarthy as the vote to adjourn until Monday was about to pass, but somehow McCarthy found a breakthrough with Gaetz. Republicans quickly changed the vote to adjourn that was taking place at that moment and then held the decisive 15th vote for speaker of the house.
And joining us now to talk about this -- what a night it was -- CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic" Ron Brownstein.
Ron, great to see you. You know, Gaetz says because of all the concessions he made, McCarthy will essentially have to govern, act as speaker in a straight jacket. You know, Gaetz is given to hyperbole and I'm being generous about that at times but he is not all together off, is he?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No. By the way, who knew we would have Friday night fights, Capitol Hill edition, right?
ACOSTA: Right.
BROWNSTEIN: That was really something. Look, I think what comes out of this is we are going to test a long, long held argument of conservatives -- literally for as long as you and I have been covering politics there have been conservatives who argued that if Republicans gave voters kind of the full, undiluted, you know, true stuff that they would win more elections.
And now after a midterm in which Republicans were clearly hurt in swing districts and swing states by the view, particularly among Independents that they were extremists, the right has achieved the power in the House to basically test that proposition. [17:05:00]
BROWNSTEIN: I mean Kevin McCarthy did what John Boehner and Paul Ryan, his two predecessors, would not do. You know, he put his own desired to be speaker at such a level that he was willing to make concessions that they would not make.
And so the result is going to be enormous influence and visibility for the most militant members of the caucus in defining Republicans over the next two years. And whatever that means for the Republicans in more centrist and swing districts, we're going to have to see.
ACOSTA: And Ron, we have been focused, all of us, on the infighting inside the Republican Party over the last week, but this has real- world implications for everybody.
Could we have a scenario, Ron, that emerges as the debt ceiling vote approaches where a handful of hard-right lawmakers have the ability to grind everything to a halt and potentially put the nation into default?
BROWNSTEIN: The short answer is yes.
ACOSTA: Leading to things like -- yes, leading to things like, you know, stock market plummeting and so on?
BROWNSTEIN: Absolutely. I mean look, what you've got is a situation where across the board McCarthy has given the most militant conservative members of the caucus more leverage than they've ever had to shape the agenda. I mean clearly, you know, he specifically conceded on the debt ceiling, not to have a clean up-or-down vote but to demand concessions as the price of raising the debt ceiling even though it's merely paying for debt we've already incurred.
That by definition is not going to be acceptable to Senate Democrats and to President Biden, the idea of tying raising the debt ceiling for example to cutting Social Security or Medicare or even discretionary spending.
ACOSTA: Right. And there are even some, I suppose, Republicans who won't want to go along with that sort of thing.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
ACOSTA: And we know politics is messy sometimes, let's not sugar coat how nasty things got as we were just talking and replaying that interview I had with Congressman Burchett earlier this afternoon.
At one point Congressman Mike Rogers of Alabama had to be restrained after he made a move toward Matt Gaetz. It looked like he was lunging at him or was going to stick a finger in his face, we're not really sure.
I know tempers are bound to get short. You have watched this kind of stuff play out for years, Ron. Did that surprise you? BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Short answer, yes. I mean this is what you read about
more in the 19th century when physical altercations on the floor of the House, most famously the caning of Charles Sumner before the Civil War were more common.
But Jim, to me there were two defining images from last night and they represent the two poles of risks that Republicans face in the choice of McCarthy made to get this job.
One is that first image of Rogers lunging at Gaetz. And that's just a question of coming across as dysfunctional, not ready for primetime, not really capable of running the institution.
I think an even bigger risk is the second defining image of the night which is when Marjorie Taylor Greene who was excluded from committees while Democrats ran the place on -- citing her previous remarks about violence and conspiracy theories and anti-Islamic and so forth comments -- she raced down the aisle to take a photo, a selfie with Kevin McCarthy, which may have been his first act as speaker.
You know, Adam Kinzinger, former Republican --
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ACOSTA: And Ron -- she held up that phone -- and Ron, remember she held up her phone to I believe it was Matt Rosendale of Montana, and on the phone, you know, the photographers, the great photographers that we have here in Washington, captured that image. And it said, DT, there it is right there on the phone. And she is trying to send a message to these holdouts that, you know, Trump is on the line.
BROWNSTEIN: But the fact that when it finally broke for McCarthy, she was literally the first one with him, taking this photo, immediately posting on social media, is an indication of what the next two years are going to be like.
These folks are going to be increasingly the face of the Republican party, people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz. They're going to be at the center of the imagery in many of these investigations that McCarthy agreed to, including one on the weaponization -- exact word -- of the FBI and Justice Department.
Greene says she wants to investigate whether the Justice Department is being unfair to the January 6th insurrectionists. And now -- I mean it is going to greatly facilitate the ability of Democrats to basically say this is the face of this majority. That's what McCarthy has put in motion.
And as I said, there are conservatives who say, fine, you know, this is going to turn out more conservatives and we are going to win.
But the fact is that Republicans lost Independents in this midterm, the first time since at least 1982 that the party out of power lost Independent voters. And one of the reasons they lost them in the midterms was because almost 60 percent of them said the party was too extreme. [17:09:56]
BROWNSTEIN: In that photo of Greene and McCarthy, he is now -- you can see how he is enabling more visibility for the very kind of Republicans who have seeded that impression. So this is an enormous gamble for the party that could make it tougher for them to hold the House in 2024.
ACOSTA: Right. And Democrats, I'm sure, aren't happy that they lost the House to the Republicans, and that Kevin McCarthy is the new speaker, but having the Republicans in charge and Kevin McCarthy as speaker may be the best thing that's happened to the Democrats politically heading into 2024.
Ron Brownstein, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.
Coming up, shocking new details about the Idaho murder suspect. The very latest next.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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ACOSTA: Court documents revealing new details this weekend in the case of four Idaho college students who were stabbed to death inside their off-campus house. Police say they found the suspected killer's DNA on a knife sheath at the scene of the crime.
More details here from CNN's Gary Tuchman.
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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the Probable Cause Affidavit a Moscow, Idaho police corporal says, "After finding the victims who were killed, I noticed what appeared to be a tan leather knife sheath laying on the bed."
The Idaho state lab later located a single source of male DNA left on the button snap of the knife sheath.
Police say the DNA is suspect Bryan Kohberger's.
This is the house where the college students were killed. According to the affidavit when police arrived they went through that door where the Christmas wreath is.
On the second floor to the right of the door is the bedroom where Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were killed. Also on the second floor, to the left in the back of the house, according to the affidavit, that's where witness DM was.
And finally on the third floor, you see that window there, according to the affidavit that's where Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen were and that's where the knife sheath was found. Based on the affidavit, it appears that Bryan Kohberger has been near
this house many times before. The affidavit indicating Kohberger's cellphone signal was detected 12 times near the house over a period of five months prior to the murders.
All of these occasions except for one occurred in the late evening and early morning hours of the respective days.
It wouldn't necessarily be suspicious if Bryan Kohberger drove past this house 12 times over five months if these were busy or prominent streets or streets on the way to another neighborhood.
But to come here you have to be looking for it. These roads are windy, they're narrow, they're curvy. In short, it seems difficult to accidentally end up here.
The affidavit states that one of the students who survived with the initials DM heard crying and opened her door three times. She saw a figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person's mouth and nose walking towards her.
DM described the figure as 5'10 or taller, male, not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows. The male walked past DM as she stood in a frozen shocked phase (ph). The male walked towards the sliding glass door. DM locked herself in the room after seeing the male. DM did not state that she recognized the male.
This turned out to be critical information because on November 25th, shortly after the murders, Moscow police asked law enforcement agencies to be on the look out for a white Hyundai Elantra that had been seen near the murder site.
Four days later police discovered a white Elantra in this parking lot just across the state line in pullman, Washington. According to the affidavit it was registered to Kohberger who lived up these stairs in this townhouse complex.
Police acquired his driver's license information, and they say according to the affidavit that it was consistent with DM's description of the man she saw who was wearing black clothing and a mask.
The affidavit does not contain information about motive or if the alleged killer knew any of the victims, but authorities could very well have leads about those topics that are not being publicly released yet.
Next Thursday in this courthouse behind me Bryan Kohberger will have another hearing. This will be a status hearing to discuss scheduling in the case. Within the next couple of weeks he will be arraigned where he will likely issue a plea.
Gary Tuchman, CNN -- in Moscow, Idaho.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Our thanks to Gary for that.
Let's go straight to CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. Elie, we are not just watching this case evolve and develop, you know, you've tried numerous murder cases, been inside the legal and technical parts of this process.
Tell me what you think after watching Gary's report there about how strong the evidence is. The evidence, I guess, unbeknownst to all of us who were following this case for weeks here, we didn't realize they had some evidence to work off of, these investigators.
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Jim. I think the evidence is exceptionally strong. And like you, I was eager to see this complaint because all that you have to do as a prosecutor in a complaint like this is establish probable cause. That's a fairly low standard.
And sometimes in these complaints that's really all you will see, but here the prosecutors went way above that in terms of the evidence, the DNA evidence is really the most important piece as Gary said. There was a sample of DNA recovered from a knife sheath at the scene that has been matched to this suspect by a 99.9998 probability, scientifically -- that is very powerful evidence.
On top of that, the police really did an exceptional job analyzing his cellphone records, his automobile records, to place him definitively at the scene of the crime. And on top of that, we know that this individual showed some signs
that he was trying to cover-up his tracks afterwards.
When you take it all together, Jim, it is really a powerful and I think compelling showing.
ACOSTA: But Elie, one thing that investigators have not revealed to the public or put their finger on is motive. How important is that to the case at this point.
HONIG: So there is a really important distinction here that people sometimes I think get crossed up. As a prosecutor, you do have to prove intent, meaning that the person that he acted on a prosecutor, meaning that the person intended to kill.
[17:19:59]
HONIG: You do not have to prove legally motive, which is why did the person kill. Now, you want to be able to prove motive. It helps explain the case to the jury, but you don't have to. And it's also I think worth noting the complaint does suggest the potential motive here.
They talk about the fact and Gary alluded to this that 12 different times, to this that 12 different times this individual went by that House. And as Gary said, it is not something you would pass by. So there could be a suggestion here that there was some sort of stalking or obsessive type of motive. ACOSTA: And it does seem as though Bryan Kohberger was at the scene of
the killings. What is stopping his defense team from just saying, ok, he was there but he didn't kill anybody. I mean I suppose they could try that sort of defense. Who has the burden of proof?
HONIG: So the prosecutor always bears the burden of proof, of proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt. That's the highest standard in our system.
I do expect that that may well be a defense. Sure they can prove he's there, but can they prove he did the killing? And I think the prosecutors are going to come back with, first of all, he doesn't know any of these people. As far as we know, he has no reason to be there. I don't know that there's any evidence that anyone else was there.
And here is where I think the evidence that this individual tried to cover up his tracks after the fact becomes so important. Our John Miller, our colleague, has reported that the police watched him. He went to his parents' house in Pennsylvania. They watched him cleaning his car inside and out. They watched him wearing surgical gloves. They watched him take his garbage out at 4:00 a.m. and put it not in his own parents' garbage cans but in a neighbor's garbage cans.
I think that is really important. I think that's really powerful with a jury.
ACOSTA: And Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder in the first degree. Is that aiming too high do you think for the prosecutors?
HONIG: No, I think that's exactly appropriate here. What makes this a first degree murder under Idaho law is that it was premeditated, that it was planned. It wasn't something that happened on the spur of the moment in a fight, spontaneously, unexpectedly.
So I do think it is appropriate that these prosecutors have brought first degree charges here.
ACOSTA: All right, Elie Honig, thanks so much. Great to see you. Appreciate it.
HONIG: All right, Jim. Thanks.
ACOSTA: All right. Coming up, Buffalo Bills' safety Damar Hamlin just posted on Instagram for the first time since going into cardiac arrest on Monday night. We'll have the very latest next.
You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
[17:22:14]
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ACOSTA: For the first time since suffering cardiac arrest Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is posting on Instagram and thanking fans for their support. Hamlin wrote in part, "When you put real love out into the world it comes back to you three times as much." He added "The love has been overwhelming but I'm thankful for every single person that prayed for me and reached out."
Earlier today, the Bills tweeted that Hamlin's doctors say he is continuing to make progress. He continues to breathe on his own and has excellent neurological function.
Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and collapsed during Monday night's game against Cincinnati Bengals. Yesterday doctors were able to remove the 24-year-old's breathing tube and he Facetimed his team telling them that he loved them.
Across the league players are honoring him. And the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders held a moment of support asking fans to cheer for Hamlin and his family as he continues to recover. Players on both teams wore T-shirts to show they are thinking of him.
Meanwhile when the Bills face the Patriots tomorrow, they will be wearing uniforms that have Damar Hamlin's number three sewn on.
And joining me now to talk about this, legendary Bob Costas. Bob, there's an incredible detail that when Damar Hamlin first woke up and the first thing he asked his doctors was, who won the game on Monday, which, you know, blows my mind to think about that.
And that detail had former Bills coach and ESPN analyst Rex Ryan emotional today. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REX RYAN, ESPN ANALYST: Ah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a lot.
RYAN: It's all right.
Yes when he came out, did we win, we needed that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
RYAN: As fans, we needed it. I mean this guy is a legend, a legend. You talk about a fighter? Dang right he is a fighter. He is a dang legend. Thank you. I needed it, as a dad, as a coach and as a fan of this game.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
RYAN: Sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Bob, this is a football country and I can't tell you how many folks I have talked to in the past week who have been emotionally invested in what is going on with Damar Hamlin.
BOB COSTAS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. ACOSTA: Put in perspective for us, and we asked this question in the
previous hour and it is an essential one about the game of football. Is this game safe?
COSTAS: No, the game can never be safe. It is inherently brutal. It is inherently violent. But over the last decade or so the NFL and people involved in football generally speaking throughout the country have come to grips with the reality.
The evidence is out there. They can no longer deny it. In the past, the NFL was in a position roughly comparable to the tobacco industry, denying any connection between their product in effect and its detrimental health effects.
We know that there's a lot that can be pinned on football -- brain trauma, spinal cord injuries, the attrition of just all the constant hits. And even if you don't have neurological damage, the aches, the pains, the hip replacements, the knee replacements, the difficulty getting out of bed when you reach middle age -- all those things can be pinned on football.
And I also understand the emotion around this. Someone like Rex Ryan, his dad was a prominent football coach. His brother was a football coach. He was a football coach. It is part of his DNA. And this is a brotherhood.
[17:29:52]
COSTAS: Whatever the short comings of the game or aspects of the game that cause people to have misgivings, there's the brotherhood, the feeling that these players have, and including opponents in a moment like this, for someone who plays the game and takes the risks.
[17:30:00]
But at least now players have a better understanding of the calculus of risk and reward. So they know what they're getting into.
In fairness though, as startling as this image was in a nationally televised game in primetime, this is really not an example. There are many, many examples. But this is really not primarily an example of the dangers of football.
Leana Wen, who is often on CNN when medical issues crop up, Dr. Leana Wen had an article yesterday in "The Washington Post." And she pointed out that, first of all, commotio cordis is extremely rare to begin with, and it's very rare in sports.
But to the extent they've had documented cases, only three have ever been in football prior to this one, football overall, high school, college and never in the NFL until this one.
Primarily, about 75 percent involve youth sports. Perhaps, they theorize, because the chest muscles are not fully developed and thus more prone to impact from projectiles, most, baseball, softball, the hockey puck, in lacrosse, that sort of thing. So if you want to have evidence that football is too dangerous for
some people, there's plenty of evidence. This is not an example of that.
What it is an example of, and the NFL deserves credit for this, is their excellent medical protocols.
Their paramedics and trainers go through simulations of all kinds of scenarios in preparation for something like this.
So they spring into action immediately. They competently apply CPR. They have a defibrillator at the ready. There's an ambulance in the stadium, as there is in all NFL stadiums.
And as it happens, an excellent hospital with top doctors is only two miles away.
The real takeaway here is that. at all levels of sports, at least organized sports, the officials and the coaches should know how to do CPR and there should possibly be a defibrillator at the ready.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: Right.
COSTAS: In most situations, if this were to happen in a high school game, it is very, very likely that the kid dies on the field.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. It is incredible that the NFL has essentially a MASH unit ready to go in case something like this occurs.
COSTAS: Yes.
ACOSTA: And that is what saved Damar's life it sounds.
Bob, CNN did speak to former NFL player, Ephraim Salaam, about the dangers of playing the game. He said something I know you found poignant. Let's listen to that real fast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EPHRAIM SALAAM, FORMER NFL PLAYER: When I saw that young man fall to the ground the way he did, it felt like my soul had left my body.
I have two sons, 8 and 11 years old, Elijah and Rasheed. People ask me, will I allow them to play football and my answer is no. All right. My answer is no because of the trauma.
I wake up every day in pain. I chose to do this. So I always tell people I played football so my kids wouldn't have to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Yes, Bob, I know you were saying a few moments ago this is not a case in point, that the game is not safe, but it certainly is a reminder of the dangers of this sport.
COSTAS: Yes. Yes, it brings it to mind. It brings all of the other things to mind.
What Ephraim Salaam said is very poignant. People will calculate risk and reward if they have the ability to play at a high level.
Ephraim Salaam calculated, for his generation, it was worth it. His kids, perhaps different circumstances financially and whatever.
And he knows what he had to endure and what effect it has had on his life post-football so he doesn't want his sons to do that.
A certain percentage of parents and athletes will make that decision. But will it be a large enough percentage for football to fall by the wayside?
No. It is not only the most popular sport in America. It is the most significant and successful thing in all of American entertainment.
In a fractionalized media universe, the only thing that consistently aggregates an enormous audience is the NFL. It is not going anywhere.
I give them some credit for doing the best they can with the knowledge we now have, with concussion protocols, and now, in this case, overall medical protocols.
Some other silver lining aspect to this story, you are aware of this, I'm sure, Jim, I don't know the young player, but from all accounts he's a wonderful young man and he had a charity designed to raise -- his goal was $2,500 to buy toys for kids around Christmas in the Pittsburgh area, which is where he is from.
Subsequent to this, that's now over $7 million and counting.
ACOSTA: Amazing.
COSTAS: Probably a disproportionate amount coming from Buffalo but obviously a lot from around the country. So it shows there are good hearts around the country.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. The way -- I mean, the outpouring of support, it was the shot in the arm we all needed over the holidays in many ways with everything that's been going on lately.
[17:35:02]
But let me ask you this. What do you think about the NFL's decision to not replay this game between the Bills and the Bengals?
COSTAS: Yes.
ACOSTA: Could that wreak havoc on the playoffs? What do you think?
COSTAS: Well, if it had happened earlier in the year, Jim, where teams have by weeks, they might have been able to figure out a way, but now you are up against the last week of the regular season and the playoffs start right after that. So there was no practical way to make it up. And you certainly weren't
going to bring the Bengals and Bills back a few days later to play that game considering what they just witnessed and the emotional state they were in.
So here is what they're going to do. And I will not get into all of the scenarios. People can watch the NFL network or read about it online because it is too complicated.
But it is possible, depending upon tomorrow's results, that the Chiefs and the Bills could wind up with the same number of losses, but the Bills by virtue of playing one less game, would have one less victory.
So the way they'll decide this, should they meet down the road in the AFC championship game, one game short of the Super Bowl, they will play that game at a neutral site. That site hasn't been decided yet.
It is also possible, if the Ravens beat the Bengals tomorrow, that the Ravens and Bengals would wind up in kind of the same situation and the game the Bengals didn't play would have had an effect on the seeding.
So if they have to meet in a first-round game, for example, on a wild card round, home field in that game would be decided by a flip of the coin.
ACOSTA: All right. Bob, we don't need the NFL network. We have you. That was absolutely perfect.
COSTAS: Yes, right.
(CROSSTALK)
ACOSTA: Especially on afternoons where I'm on, we definitely don't need it.
COSTAS: Thanks so much.
ACOSTA: Bob Costas, thank you so much. We appreciate it as always. Great to see you.
COSTAS: Good to see you.
ACOSTA: All right, thanks.
Coming up, the tea is not just hot but boiling. We are breaking down the newest salacious allegations by Prince Harry about members of the royal family. That's next.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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[17:41:02]
ACOSTA: We're following the explosive new claims in Prince Harry's memoire, which comes out this week. The world is already learning of accusations in the book though that
include Prince William allegedly physically attacking his younger brother during an argument over Meghan Markle.
CNN royal correspondent, Max Foster, has the newest revelations.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Leaked copies of Harry's memoir, "Spare," didn't fail to shock. The tabloids had a field day, from his scuffle with Prince William to pleading with Charles not to marry Camilla.
"The Daily Mail" called Harry "the prince of pettiness." "The Sun" claimed he was "throwing his own family under a bus for millions of dollars."
For Harry, the negative reaction would have been predictable. Since the tabloids first exposed his relationship with Meghan, he's been at war with the papers.
PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: I had no idea the British press were so bigoted. I didn't see what I now see.
(GUNFIRE)
FOSTER: For the latest revelation, his claim that he killed 25 insurgents and viewed video of these missions as a soldier in Afghanistan has created a backlash amongst some of his former comrades.
"The Telegraph" newspaper picked up this quote by Harry. "It seemed to me essential not to be afraid of that number. So my number is 25. It doesn't fill me with satisfaction but nor does it embarrass me."
He says he viewed these targets as "chess pieces" rather than people.
(GUNFIRE)
COL. RICHARD KEMP, RETIRED, BRITISH ARMY COMMANDER IN AFGHANISTAN: The description you gave of British military training of training their soldiers to treat the enemy like, not human beings, like chess pieces to be swept aside.
I think that was not only wrong but also gives ammunition to jihadists who want to carry out attacks, who want to radicalize people and recruit for their cause.
FOSTER: Harry served in the British army for 10 years and completed two tours in Afghanistan and has previously said he did kill insurgents.
The Taliban he once fought against are now in power, and they've criticized his comments.
"Mr. Harry, the ones you killed were not chess pieces. They were humans. They had families who were waiting for their return," a senior official said.
From the serious to the salacious, Harry also describes losing his virginity in the book, behind a pub to an older woman at the age of 17.
And we learn he asked for a driver to re-create the journey his mother, Princess Diana, took through the tunnel twice in Paris where she died. That's according to an excerpt in "People" magazine.
By his own admission, he may be oversharing. But that's what makes this book so remarkable. Royals never overshare. They barely say anything about their private lives at all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: I wanted to discuss what we're learning from the leaks of Harry's new memoire with CNN's Richard Quest.
Richard, great to see you, sir.
The negative backlash, the headline, "prince of pettiness" after the series, and now this new memoire, I assume the British people have had enough of all of this.
But at the same time, doesn't the British public have a right to know some of these things? What are your thoughts?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Oh, oh, I think there's a difference between a right to know certain facts that might be of public importance and the salacious tittle-tattle that goes on in this book in many ways.
The reality is, look, Jim, this is car crash. This is rubber necking. We are all watching this go by with a certain, woo, what are we going to learn next.
As Max Foster just reported, the serious stuff is this business about saying how many members of Taliban he killed and, thereby, offering up the possibility of retribution and revenge, not only for himself but against other British forces or other people, other British citizens.
[17:45:02]
That is a serious matter that has been widely condemned by former military people who served with him. That's on one side.
Then you get what you are talking about, the salacious bit, the titillating bit where we learn -- I mean, how many -- let's be blunt here, Jim -- how many of us are better off by knowing that Harry lost his virginity to an older woman in a pub garden and she treated him like a stallion?
ACOSTA: Yes. I could have gone without that one, that's for sure, Richard.
One of the other headlines from the book is, I guess, where Harry says Prince William physically attacked him during a fight over Meghan Markle.
He writes, quote, "It all happened so fast, so very fast. He grabbed me by my collar, ripping my necklace. And he knocked me to the flood. I landed on the dog's bowl, which cracked under my back, pieces cutting into me. I laid there for a moment dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out."
What do you think of that revelation? Is that just more dirty laundry?
QUEST: That's -- of course. There's never a call for violence. And I suppose you can always dress that up as being, you know, that's the significant point here.
But the reality is this is a very deep, nasty psychological dispute between two brothers.
Harry refers again and again in the book to the way in which he was called "the spare," when it became clear to him what that actually meant, how he was treated by his father.
These are deep-seated, longstanding issues with which he has dealt with, we believe. But then to go into the detail.
You see, the real point here, Jim, is Harry says he wants reconciliation, but how do you reconcile after you have broken the very bond of trust and you have done the one thing the family hates more than anything else?
(CROSSTALK)
ACOSTA: But, Richard, maybe this -- Richard, maybe this is his way of trying to get through to his family, through to his father. You know, I imagine he has tried to address these grievances privately.
QUEST: Except, Jim, he also says in these interviews he wants reconciliation, but that can only happen with accountability.
So he's already put on the table the question or, you know, of what he wants back.
Now, let's ask, what does accountability mean? Does it mean the family coming out and publicly doing a mea culpa, we were dreadful, we treated you awful, we're sorry. Is that what he means by mea culpa and by culpability?
The fact is, he is spewing. Now he's done it whatever reason. We don't know. I'm not about to speculate. But he has spewed. And he's done so in a dramatic way, which will delight some people.
The number of people who have taken issue to me, Jim, and said, ah, but they were horrible to Meghan. That might be true. But what he has just done, as somebody says, he's thrown the whole family under the bus.
Knowing they hate this, he has told his truth without consequence or fear. Well, there's going to be consequences. I'm just reading an interesting book at the moment about Edward VIII
and Mrs. Simpson and how they spent the rest of their life traveling around the world looking for a purpose and a role.
I don't know whether that will happen to Harry but he has spoken his truth and now there may be consequences, which he may not like.
ACOSTA: It is difficult to figure out how they will be able to make any kind of repair in any of these relationships.
QUEST: Well --
ACOSTA: And especially you mentioned how the family treated Meghan.
Now you have Harry talking about the princess of Wales and revealing things about her in this book.
QUEST: Absolutely. I mean everything from the pettiness over the lip gloss to the whole Nazi uniform.
I think one of the most damaging revelations in this book that will do the most harm long term is what he says about Camilla, the queen consort.
Now, knowing how much, you know, Charles put everything for Camilla, seeing Charles and Camilla -- and it is sort of like love on a different league as far as Charles is concerned.
To have this discussed in the tawdriness of the evil stepmother, you know, we begged our father not to marry her.
ACOSTA: Right.
QUEST: This is going to go -- this is going to be a wound.
So, yes, Prince Harry, reconciliation with accountability, but you are going to have to account for the breach of trust that you have done in your family. That, Jim, cannot be put in journalism, per say.
This is a breach of trust within a family.
[17:49:59]
ACOSTA: Fascinating insights, Richard. That's why we had you on.
Richard Quest, great to talk to you. We could go on and on about this, but we can't.
Thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.
QUEST: You're welcome.
ACOSTA: All right.
And please join Anderson Cooper Monday night for a special report on Prince Harry, his wife, and the rift between him and the royal family, other details with the book. That includes his conversation with the prince for Sunday's edition of "60 Minutes" on CBS.
The "360" special, "THE HARRY INTERVIEW," airs Monday night at 8:00 right here on CNN.
And we'll be right back.
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[17:54:57]
ACOSTA: We are back. In billion-dollar lottery jackpot, there was no big winner in last night's Mega Millions drawing. So for Tuesday's drawing, the jackpot jumps to $1.1 billion.
This marks the fourth time in four years that the top Mega Millions prize has surpassed a billion dollars.
And get this. A North Carolina woman just got lottery luck for a second time. She won $2 million on a $20 scratch-off just two months after winning a million-dollar lottery prize.
Her reaction, quote, "I just feel blessed."
We also need to figure out the name of the store where she goes and buys those tickets.
In the meantime, that's the news. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. I'll see you back here tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.
Pamela Brown takes over the CNN NEWSROOM live after a quick break.
Have a good night, everybody.
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