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6-Year-Old Accused of Shooting Virginia Teacher; Unrest in Brazil; President Biden in Mexico; Georgia Election Probe. Aired 1- 1:30p ET

Aired January 09, 2023 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:01]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: This quick programming note: the special interview everyone is talking about. Prince Harry sits down with Anderson Cooper. Hear about his split with the royal family, all the allegations and, yes, all the drama.

"The Harry Interview" -- tonight at 8:00 Eastern.

Thanks for your time on INSIDE POLITICS today. We will see you tomorrow.

Abby Phillip picks up our coverage right now.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: Hello, and happy Monday to you. I'm Abby Phillip in Washington.

And that's a wrap. The special Atlanta area grand jury looking into whether President Trump and his allies broke the law when they tried to overturn the 2020 election has finished its investigation. But there's no word yet on the panel's findings.

Fulton County's district attorney will now decide whether to pursue indictments. Fani Willis started her investigation after then- President Trump called the Georgia secretary of state to pressure him to find the votes needed for Trump to overturn his loss there. The investigation later expanded to include a look into the false claims of election fraud and a plan to use fake electors and a threat against election workers.

Let's bring in CNN's political correspondent Sara Murray, who's been following all of this, and CNN legal analyst Jennifer Rodgers.

So, Sara, she was also -- Sara, what happens now that this report is done? What can we expect?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, the report is finished. The judge said today the grand jury has been dissolved after a year of investigating.

And, look, this is really something that goes back to when Donald Trump made that now infamous call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Let's listen to part of that. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, all I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MURRAY: Now, look, the district attorney has information about that call. She's gotten a ton of witness testimony.

You know Rudy Giuliani has been before the grand jury. Raffensperger, who was on that call, has been before the grand jury. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has been before the grand jury. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham has been before the grand jury.

All of this stuff is likely to be reflected in this final report. That is what goes to prosecutors. And then, on January 24, there is going to be a hearing where the judge who is overseeing the grand jury is going to decide whether that report should be made public, something the grand jurors said they wanted was for this report to be published.

In this report, the special grand jury makes its recommendations. Who does it think, if anyone, should face charges, what kinds of charges? Then it is up to the DA to go to a regular grand jury, decide if she is going to pursue those indictments, ask for those indictments, and then sort of get the ball rolling as far as the public portion of this goes, Abby.

PHILLIP: Yes.

And, Jen, Jennifer, to Sara's point, this special grand jury itself cannot issue indictments. Now it is left to the district attorney, Fani Willis, to decide how she pursues this. Do you see her wanting to be bound or being bound at all by the conclusions of this special grand jury's report?

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Abby, she's not bound by the special grand jury's report.

But I think one of the reasons that she assembled this grand jury and they have taken all of this time to really painstakingly collect evidence is that, if she decides to indict, she wants the heft of that report behind her. She wants the public to know what all of this evidence looks like, how carefully they have assembled it.

She really wants to try to work on public opinion on this before charges are brought. So I think she will be very influenced by what the report says. But, of course, the final decision as to whether to seek an indictment is up to her, and she can't issue it herself. She will have to go to a different grand jury in order to actually get that indictment.

PHILLIP: And, Sara, we have seen a lot of people going before this grand jury. Have we gleaned anything about what might end up in this report? MURRAY: Well, I think the big question is, who do they think

committed crimes, if anyone, and what kind of crimes do they think these people committed?

Do they think that anyone should be indicted? The district attorney has already said a number of people, including Rudy Giuliani, are targets of her investigation. So we will see what the special grand jury concluded as far as those targets.

We also just may get a lot more information about what was going on with the former president and his allies around the 2020 election in Georgia. We have obviously learned a lot of that as time has passed, and also through the House Select Committee's investigation into January 6. But this is a report that could really lay out a broader narrative of what Donald Trump and his allies were up to.

And in our conversations, we have heard from witnesses that this was a grand jury that's very engaged. They had a lot of information in front of them as they were questioning witnesses, and they would actively sort of jump in, ask questions, ask follow-ups, that kind of thing.

PHILLIP: And, Jennifer, there will be that hearing on January 24 about whether or not the report becomes public or not.

[13:05:04]

What do you expect from that hearing? I mean, as Sara has said, this grand jury has said they want their findings to become public.

RODGERS: Well, it'll be up to the judge. I mean, I think the DA also will want the report to be published. So the judge will have to weigh those two parties' desires to publish it against the privacy interests of the people who are mentioned in the report.

I think, ultimately, because it is a matter of such pressing public interest, it will become public. And then I think, if Fani Willis is planning to indict, it will come relatively quickly after the report comes out. I think she will want to wait for that. She want to let it sink in for a few days, let the public see all of this evidence that's been amassed.

And then I think she will probably go forward if she decides to do so and go to the grand jury for her indictments.

PHILLIP: All right, well, we will be watching as this develops in the coming weeks.

Sara Murray and Jennifer Rodgers, both of you, thanks.

And President Biden is in Mexico City right now for the North American Leaders Summit. High up on his agenda is this record surge of immigration. It has inundated cities like El Paso. And that's exactly where Biden was yesterday for his first trip to the Southern border as president.

But, while he was there, he did not see any of the migrants who are there, many of them still living on the streets. He did, however, meet with border officials and local leaders.

CNN's senior White House correspondent, M.J. Lee, is with the president in Mexico City.

So, M.J., what do we expect from this summit with Mexico and Canada?

M.J. LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Abby, the president arrived here last night in Mexico City. And we will see the formal diplomatic work really begin tonight, when he holds a bilateral meeting with the Mexican president at the national palace behind me.

And then the two leaders will be joined by the Canadian prime minister for a ceremonial dinner. But keep in mind that a U.S. president hasn't visited Mexico since going back to 2014. That, of course, would have been President Obama. Things were really tough during the Trump years.

The U.S. and Mexico relationship, that relationship was incredibly fraught. And while we expect, of course, that President Biden and the Mexican president will try to show some goodwill during his visit here, of course, they are going to be discussing a number of really tough issues.

Top among them, of course, is immigration. Keep in mind that last week, when the Biden administration announced its essential expansion of Title 42, the very controversial program at the U.S. Southern border, it included an agreement that Mexico would take as many as 30,000 migrants per month back into Mexico, these people that were turned away at the U.S. border.

And, interestingly, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters here this morning that they're not really looking to announce any sort of new plan during this meeting, as far as that is concerned, that it really will just take some time for both the U.S. and the Mexico sides to figure out whether that initial agreement is working.

So, again, needless to say, immigration is going to be a top and probably one of the most important issues that the three leaders discuss in the coming days.

PHILLIP: Certainly, a lot of attention back here about that too, and including this.

What is the White House saying about President Biden's decision and their decision not to have him meet with any migrants during this border trip that I think everybody's been waiting for, for some time now?

LEE: Yes, it's been months and months that President Biden has been receiving pressure from all sides, really, to physically go down to the U.S. Southern border himself and see with his own eyes the situation.

And what we saw in El Paso, Texas, yesterday was the president meeting with Border Patrol agents. He met with local leaders and community leaders. He also ended up going to a migrant aid center. But it was really notable that he didn't end up sort of seeing or meeting with any migrants.

Yesterday, a senior official told me that that happened to be purely coincidental. And, again, Jake Sullivan, telling reporters this morning that the focus really was to meet with groups who are providing essential services to these migrants, but, again, just really notable that, given that the point was to see with his own eyes sort of the dire situation and the scenes that we have been seeing over the last few weeks, the president or ultimately didn't end up seeing some of those images that we have really been reporting on from the Southern border.

PHILLIP: M.J. Lee, thank you so much for all that reporting.

And now for more analysis on all of this, let's bring in former acting director of ICE during the Obama administration John Sandweg and CNN's political analyst, Jackie Kucinich.

John, I want to start with you. What do you make of what we were just discussing with M.J.? The president goes to the border, but doesn't see, as far as we can tell, and he certainly doesn't meet with any migrants who are down there in the city of El Paso, where they have really been inundated in recent weeks.

[13:10:00]

JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ACTING ICE DIRECTOR: You know, I think, symbolically, it was very -- it would be very important to me with them.

I think, had the president that was some of these migrants, he would have seen the really human elements of this and the personal stories of people who are fleeing horrific conditions. But, that said, I think what was more important is that he get the briefings from the Border Patrol agents that he met with and get a visual inspection himself of the situation at the border.

Ultimately, the president's visit there, while symbolically important, I think the White House has indicated in the plans that they have that they're taking this issue seriously. And, fortunately, I think the plan that they have launched today is an innovative -- or last week, rather -- is an innovative plan that I think will take some pressure off the immediate border and help in the short term.

PHILLIP: And, Jackie, what do you think about the political optics of it all? It does seem that the White House made a decision to not do that

Biden has been seen as a consoler in chief in other contexts. He even talked about his family's immigration story last week. Do you see their argument for not trying to humanize the crisis at the border yesterday?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: So, immigration has also been a really tough issue for Biden throughout this presidency. He's received a lot of condemnation and criticism from the refugee and immigration rights community for keeping Title 42 and for some of the other policies that he's implemented during his time in office.

So, whether or not he was seen with migrants, I think that -- and on the other side, of course, Republicans, he's seen as not doing enough. He talked a lot about El Paso getting the resources that they needed. There -- in this new immigration plan that they announced last week, there are more Border Patrol going down to the border to help process immigrants.

So, really, this is -- perhaps they thought this was a no-win situation for him. I haven't heard what their actual explanation was here. But it seems that, at least at this point, they're not ready for those particular optics.

PHILLIP: And, John, earlier, the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said they don't expect any deliverables on immigration in these talks with Mexico during the summit.

But what should Mexico be doing here? And do you think there should be something coming out of these one-on-one talks?

SANDWEG: Well, I think, listen, Mexico has done an incredible amount over the last few years.

And while, though the relationship has been contentious, the bottom line is, Mexico is under no legal obligation to take people back who are not Mexican citizens who transit through Mexico and show up on the U.S. border. Mexico could very easily say the United States, hey, you're stuck with these populations.

But prior to this summit, the Mexicans agreed to take 30,000 back from certain countries. That was significant. But I really think it's important that the administration understands this, to recognize that Mexico has really leaned forward in terms of taking a wide array.

Look, Title 42 would not be possible without Mexican cooperation. Now, does the administration want Mexico to do more, to take more of these individuals back, to do more to secure its Southern border and stop the flow of people? Absolutely.

But they're in a difficult spot, because Mexico has done an extraordinary job thus far. And I'm sure the administration's going to be pushing for more assistance. But, at the same time, I really think it's important to recognize how much Mexico has already done.

PHILLIP: And, Jackie, I'm reading the tea leaves here. When you look at the delegation that went with President Biden yesterday, no Republicans among them.

You had one congressman, Tony Gonzales, saying he wanted to go, but wasn't invited. So do you think the Biden administration is really feeling any kind of pressure to push for a congressional compromise on immigration? Or do they think it's just not going to happen?

KUCINICH: I think they're reading the writing on the wall.

I think there's been a lot more conversation among the Republican ranks, particularly in the House, about impeaching his secretary of the Department of Homeland Security than there is about forging an immigration compromise. That's just not the reality of the Congress that's coming in, particularly, again, in the House of Representatives.

They will probably talk about it. They will probably talk about the benefits of an immigration compromise. But I think, because of the political climate in Washington right now, that's not something that is viable at this point.

PHILLIP: And, as you can see by the reaction to this trip, it's been attacks from all sides for the Biden White House on the border.

KUCINICH: Right.

PHILLIP: John Sandweg and Jackie Kucinich, thank you both very much.

And turning to Brazil now, at least 400 people are now under arrest after far right supporters of the former President Jair Bolsonaro attacked three different key government buildings in the capital. Officials say that at least 70 people were hurt, and the violence comes one week after President Lula da Silva's inauguration.

Now, today, authorities broke up a camp of Bolsonaro supporters and took them into custody. And some protesters have been in these camps for months, saying that the presidential election was stolen. The Supreme Court has also ordered the camps nationwide to be dismantled.

[13:15:02]

CNN Rafael Romo joins us now.

Rafael, Brazil, already a deeply divided nation, what happens next after this weekend's chaos?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Abby.

Well, number one, make sure that the government institutions can safely operate, because, this morning, Brasilia, the capital, looked like a war zone. And rioters smashed windows and demolished offices. They even tried to set fire to carpet in the building, in the congressional building. And the damage is extensive, Abby.

One official says, imagine this. Blood, feces and urine were found in palace rooms. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has only been in power since January 1, and he was barely beginning the process of getting his new government up and running. Now he has a full-blown institutional and political crisis in his hands.

Brazilian officials in the capital, Brasilia, have been meeting today in the presidential palace that just yesterday was under siege. The new president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, met with his Cabinet for the first time today to make the vandalized buildings operational again and ensure the security situation across the country doesn't get even worse. President Lula da Silva is vowing to prosecute the rioters. At least

-- and you mentioned this before, Abby -- 400 people have been arrested, but that figure is expected to dramatically increase. It's hard to overstate the seriousness of what happened.

We just learned that at least 70 people were injured, six of them severely, but no one died, According to the Brazilian Health Ministry. Supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed those key buildings over claims that the presidential run-off election in October was stolen. Bolsonaro lost by less than 2 percentage points to current President Lula da Silva.

He refused to attend the inauguration of his successor on January 1, choosing to travel to Florida instead, where he currently is -- Abby, back to you.

PHILLIP: Sadly, that is a scene that is all too familiar to us here in the United States.

Rafael Romo, thank you very much.

And who is to blame when a 6-year-old child takes a gun to school and shoots his teacher? Police in Virginia are now searching for answers as the teacher recovers in the hospital.

Plus, Prince Harry is dropping even more bombshells before his new book is released tomorrow, calling his stepmother a villain and claiming that he never accused his family of being racist.

And a Bumble date turns into a nightmare, when a woman says that her date kidnapped and held her hostage for days.

We will be right back.

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[13:21:44]

PHILLIP: How did a 6-year-old get a loaded gun, and how did he know how to use it? Those are the two major questions that police in Virginia are now tackling today as they investigate what led to a first grade boy allegedly shooting his teacher in a classroom.

We are told that that teacher is now in stable condition.

CNN's Brian Todd is live for us outside of the school in Newport News, Virginia.

Brian, this shooting happened on Friday, but the questions remain. We just found out the police have been in touch now with the child's parents. What are they saying about that?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Abby, that's what we can report this afternoon, some new information from a police official in Newport News who I spoke to a short time ago. Police have been in touch with the parents of that 6-year-old first grader who shot the teacher on Friday. I asked this official a lot of other questions. Have the parents been charged? Will they be charged? Are they cooperating? What have they told you?

This official was not able to give that information just yet. We hope to get some additional information that in about two-and-a-half-hours, when the police and city and school officials have a news conference here in Newport News.

A lot of questions, as you mentioned, being asked. How did that 6- year-old get the gun and get that gun inside this school in order to pull that gun and shoot the teacher?

One of the parents, Mark Anthony Garcia, he is the father of a second grader, an 8-year-old at the school, spoke about that. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ANTHONY GARCIA, FATHER: My child's backpack is looked at every single morning by his teacher and his folder, Ms. MacArthur (ph), in the second grade, every single morning.

How did we miss this? And, again, prior raised concerns. We, as parents, raised these concerns before. We have talked to the principal. We talked to the guidance counselor. We went to town hall meetings. We spoke on Zooms. What else are we supposed to do?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: And we're going to be answering -- excuse me -- asking those questions later today at this news conference. How was this child able to get this gun into school?

We can tell you some other information now about the security presence here at the school. According to a school official who I talked to, elementary schools here in Newport News do not have school resource officers who are police officers. Those officers here in Newport News are assigned to middle school and high schools. These elementary schools do have school security officers who are trained.

They are not police, but they are trained, and they do not have weapons. The issue here, though, is that one school security officer here at Richneck is also shared with another elementary school. And the official who I spoke to was not able to tell me whether that school security officer was on the grounds at the time of the shooting on Friday or whether that officer was at the other elementary school, where they also share duties.

So that's one of the issues, maybe some of the gaps that we're hopefully going to be able to fill later this afternoon -- Abby.

PHILLIP: And that same parent that we just heard from, he said that the school itself is not at fault here, but he does feel like the district needs to reevaluate their school security plans, although it's difficult to know what more they could do, when it's a child in this case who had the gun.

But I wonder, Brian, have the police said anything about the weapon itself? Presumptively, they could find out who it belongs to.

TODD: They, I'm sure, have found out who it belongs to, Abby.

[13:25:03]

And they're not able to tell us that just now. And some of the -- some of the other nature -- the nature of some of the other questions that you just asked, what kind of gun was it, did the child have any experience with the gun at all at home, how do they know how to get it and get it in here, all of those questions we're going to be asking in a couple of hours, but -- and we're not sure how much of that police are going to be able to answer.

And we are not sure the extent to which they have communicated with the parents. We only know that they have been in touch with these parents. We will hope to get more details later.

PHILLIP: All right, Brian Todd, we will be looking for that press conference later today. Lots more questions on this really troubling story.

Thank you, Brian.

And forget all the fairy tales. Prince Harry's new book makes it clear why there was no happily ever after for him if he stayed inside those palace walls. Can that rift, that royal rift, ever be repaired?

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