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Kevin McCarthy Says He's Meeting with Biden Wednesday on Debt Limit; Interview with Representative James Comer (R-KY); NAACP Leader Tells Congress to Act on Police Reform Bill; New Security Measures at Virginia School Where Teacher was Shot; Accused Pelosi Attacker Calls a TV Reporter from Jail; Millions Under Windchill Alert as Winter Storms Sweep U.S. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired January 29, 2023 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00]

WALLACE: Sinise any time you want on HBO Max. And We'll see you back here on CNN next Sunday, when I'll be sitting down with legendary quarterback turned broadcaster Terry Bradshaw and famed astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

Thank you for watching. And good night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The president and Speaker McCarthy set to meet this week as the nation's debt ceiling crisis looms.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I want to find a reasonable and a responsible way that we can take control of this runaway spending.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, TYRE NICHOLS' FAMILY ATTORNEY: All of these officers failed their oath.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): We need a national conversation about policing.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The question is, where do we go from here?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Parents send their kids back to school tomorrow for the first time since that shooting in early January.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Am I 100 percent comfortable sending him back? No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington, and you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The fate of the U.S. economy may hinge on a meeting this Wednesday between President Biden and newly elected GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. It has been a little more than a week since the Treasury Department announced the U.S. government has reached its borrowing limit. If the debt ceiling isn't raised, the U.S. could start defaulting on its loans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCARTHY: I know the president said he didn't want to have any discussions, but I think it's very important that our whole government's designed to find compromise. I don't think there's anyone in America who doesn't agree that there's some wasteful Washington spending that we can eliminate. So I want to sit down together, work out an agreement that we can move forward to put us on a path to balance at the same time not put any of our debt in jeopardy at the same time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: CNN's Arlette Saenz is with the president in Wilmington.

Arlette, McCarthy's talking cuts but the president says raising the debt ceiling is an obligation, not a negotiation. What's going to happen do you think?

SAENZ: Yes, Pamela. President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are certainly heading towards a high stakes showdown as they're set to meet on Wednesday. This will be the first time the two men are meeting in person since McCarthy became House speaker.

Now the White House has said there will be a range of issues that are discussed during that meeting but this discussion about the debt ceiling is certainly expected to be one of the central focuses.

Now both men have said that they don't want to see the nation default on their debt, but for the time being they disagree on how exactly to do that. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been very eager to try to push President Biden to the negotiating table, and Republicans have been insistent that if they are going to raise the debt ceiling, they also want to see some spending cuts.

But President Biden and the White House have said that this is a non- negotiable, that this is an obligation that Congress must fulfill.

I want to read you a statement from a White House spokesperson who tonight said, quote, "The president will ask Speaker McCarthy if he intends to meet his constitutional obligation to prevent a national default as every other House and Senate leader in U.S. history has done, and as Leaders McConnell, Schumer and Jeffries have pledged to do. He will underscore that the economic security of all Americans cannot be held hostage to force unpopular cuts on working families."

Now, earlier this week we also heard President Biden try to warn that Republicans could create chaos to the American economy if they do not raise the debt ceiling. So certainly this is a high-stakes meeting that is being set for this coming Wednesday. I will also note Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said that she is using extraordinary measures to prevent a default targeting an early June deadline.

So certainly over the course of the next few months this will be one of the major contention points between the White House and Republicans up on Capitol Hill that could have huge consequences for the American economy.

BROWN: All right. Arlette Saenz, thank you so much.

And joining us now to discuss, Kentucky congressman, Republican Congressman James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee.

Welcome back to the show, Congressman. So you just heard Arlette lay it out. The president says raising the debt ceiling is an obligation, not a negotiation. McCarthy clearly sees it differently. He's going to meet with him on Wednesday.

Do you see any scenario, though, where the U.S. actually defaults on its debt? Because the White House is saying we're not going to negotiate.

REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): No. We will never default on our debt. That's the most important thing. But we have to get serious about spending cuts. I mean, every American realizes that the federal government does not live within its means. Every American realizes that's our federal debt continues to grow out of control.

If the economy is as strong as President Biden continues to say it is, then now is the time to get serious about spending cuts. And when we say spending cuts we're talking about every single thing except Social Security and Medicare.

[20:05:08]

BROWN: OK. So what I hear from you is that no, that's not going to happen. But of course Republicans will continue to push for those spending cuts.

I want to turn to the killing of Tyre Nichols and that brutal video of his beating by police released on Friday. What was your reaction to that video and what more can be done on a federal level to prevent that kind of behavior from police moving forward?

COMER: Well, it's just terrible. I think everyone that watched it is just sick at their stomach. This was senseless. It should never happen. Those police officers should be held accountable. Unfortunately, every profession has bad actors. There are bad politicians. There are bad pastors, bad journalists, and unfortunately bad police officers.

I think we do need to have a national conversation. We need to make sure that we have a national data base because we have -- at least in my area we have a high turnover among police officers and they go -- they're in high demand, obviously there's a shortage of police officers in America. So we need to know that if one police officer's leaving one police force going to another city whether or not they were written up for excessive force and things like that. So we need to be able to share data. But certainly it's something that should never have happened.

BROWN: Right. And you know, that is something that is a common sentiment among Republicans, that, you know, look, there are bad apples everywhere. But what I think also the questions that have been raised with the Tyre Nichols video is whether there is a culture of aggression, whether there's a larger problem there in police departments.

Look, it's true, cops, police officers put their lives in harm's way every day. There are really good police officers out there. But also we see this time and time again. What more can be done, do you think, in terms of legislation? Is there any appetite from Republicans to do something on police reform to prevent this kind of behavior?

COMER: I think Republicans are always open to reforms that will improve our lives, improve our public safety. Unfortunately, you can't pass a bill to legislate against evil. And that's a conversation that we always have anytime there's an act of senseless violence. So this is another act of senseless violence. We need to hold those police officers accountable. And certainly we need to make sure that we're communicating and have accurate records and public records anytime a police officer is convicted or certainly written up because of excessive force.

BROWN: And I know legislating against evil, you hear that as well after mass shootings, in this case police brutality. But I actually -- Jim Jordan, head of Judiciary Committee, said the same thing, and I posed that to two former police officers and they said no, it's not about evil, it's about these officers needing more training, about more being done to reform the police department. So it's interesting to hear their perspective, too.

But I want to also ask you about the latest news, this past week when it comes to classified information. In the wake of classified documents being found in former Vice President Pence's possession, what do you think the next step should be for investigating how pervasive this is?

COMER: Well, hopefully the next step will be Tuesday. We're having the general counsel for the National Archives come in for a transcribed interview. That will be equal participation among Republicans and Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. This will be our first official transcribed interview for this Congress since the Republicans have been in the majority.

This is very serious and this is something that my counterpart, the top Democrat on the committee, Jamie Raskin, and I have both pledged on just about every major network that we're going to work together in a bipartisan way to come up with a solution because we have to reform the way documents leave the office of the president and vice president, and follow them into the private sector.

I said when Mar-a-Lago was raided that this had been a problem in previous administrations. There had been accusations that presidents and vice presidents had mistakenly taken documents that were deemed classified with them. This has always been a problem. I don't understand why we can't have a system where someone, and if that someone is from the National Archives, is there overseeing the boxing up of documents because every president and vice president has a right to take that -- take personal documents with them.

They have a right to go in the private sector. They have a right to write a book and things like that. But we need to make sure that they're not accidentally taking classified information that could jeopardize our national security.

BROWN: No. Absolutely. I think it raises important questions.

[20:10:00]

But, you know, at the same time I asked you about the Mar-a-Lago investigation when we sat down in your office back in November. So let's listen to what you said then.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMER: It's not something that we've requested information just to see what was going on because I don't know what documents were at Mar-a- Lago. So, you know, that's something we're just waiting to see what comes out on that.

BROWN: But is it fair to say that investigation will be a priority?

COMER: That will not be a priority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: But let me just ask you, I'm wondering, after Biden and now after Pence, have your views on this issue evolved? Because I think it really puts it under the spotlight what a big issue this is. I mean, Lindsey Graham, for his part, he said that the Pence revelations may have upended GOP efforts to tarnish Biden. You know, so, I mean, you're even hearing from Republicans saying, yes, this is clearly a bigger issue.

COMER: No. Nothing's changed. I mean, we've got to reform the way, as I said earlier, that documents leave the president and vice president's offices and follow them to the private sector. Now what's different with Joe Biden is we're investigating the Biden family for influence peddling. We have a strong suspicion that people around Joe Biden, mainly in his family, have been peddling access to the Biden family with our adversaries around the world.

And when we find out that they have multiple classified documents scattered throughout multiple residences and office buildings across the East Coast, then this raises a huge red flag for us. We want to make sure that those documents in the possession of Joe Biden weren't somehow sent to our adversaries and didn't somehow compromise our national security.

BROWN: But you've also talked about how you're worried about the same situation with the Trump family. Trump had 300-plus documents at Mar- a-Lago. Why don't you have that same concern? I mean, there are visitors going in and out of Mar-a-Lago from different countries including China. There's been a Chinese spy who was arrested at Mar-a- Lago. And it was in an unsecure location at Mar-a-Lago. So would you apply that same concern evenly across the board?

COMER: If someone can show me evidence that there was influence peddling with those classified documents that were in the possession of President Trump, then we would certainly expand it.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: But do you have evidence --

COMER: That Chinese file was in Mar-a-Lago --

BROWN: But do you have evidence --

COMER: -- which is a public-private place.

BROWN: Do you have evidence of influence peddling with the classified documents?

COMER: The relationships that the Bidens have with --

BROWN: From Biden?

COMER: I'm sorry, Pam.

BROWN: Do you have evidence -- but do you have evidence of the classified document influence peddling from Biden? It sounds like you don't, you're looking into it. But why wouldn't you look into it in the same way with Trump?

COMER: Not only looking into it. But we have evidence that the Biden family has been very cozy with people from the Chinese Communist Party. We have evidence that Hunter Biden was receiving payments that were linked directly to the Chinese Communist Party through those Chinese energy companies. We're very concerned about all the money that Hunter Biden received from Burisma in Ukraine.

BROWN: But how is that connected to classified documents?

COMER: Well, we don't know. We want to look. We see there's one e-mail that's been identified that is suspicious that we want to look into. We want to make sure that there's one e-mail that was on Hunter Biden's laptop wasn't one of the classified documents. So I think there's ample reason to be concerned among the House Oversight Committee with respect to what types of documents were in the possession of the Biden family.

BROWN: Right. And I'm just trying to follow you here and apply the logic evenly across the board. You know. You don't know, you want to look, so I'm asking why not in the other case why wouldn't you want to look there.

But I do want to ask you before we let you go about Elon Musk because you actually met with him on Capitol Hill. And we're wondering, what did he discuss, what was he like? Can you bring us into the room a little bit, if you would?

COMER: Well, it was -- you know, I don't want to advertise too much about what we talked about. I'll just say this. He's the most interesting person I've ever had a conversation with. Obviously, he's well aware of the Biden family influence peddling investigation that I'm leading. We have obviously some information that he's made public with respect to what role the government was playing in suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story from the "New York Post."

We have some former Twitter employees who are going to come before the committee for public testimony. And we just needed to, you know, make sure that we were on the same page with details like attorney-client privileges and things like that before the hearing. So I feel like we had a very productive meeting with Elon Musk and I think he's very concerned about transparency. And he's very concerned about the media to make sure that we have freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

And that's what -- one of the things that the Republicans are going to be investigating with what role has the government played in censoring free speech.

[20:15:03]

BROWN: Which is interesting. And we don't have time to get into this but I do want to ask you about what's going on in Florida, too, with banning books.

But so much to talk about, Congressman Comer. This is my final show on CNN weekends, and it's nice to have you on for a wide-ranging discussion. Thank you for your time tonight.

COMER: Well, thank you, Pam. You make Kentucky proud.

BROWN: Thank you very much. Both from the same state.

All right. Well, how does Memphis move forward after the death of Tyre Nichols and the charging of those five officers? I'll talk to the chairman of the Memphis city council up next.

And then hours before a Virginia elementary school reopens after a teacher was shot by a 6-year-old student, the school district announces the principal will not return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: New tonight, the Congressional Black Caucus has invited the parents of Tyre Nichols to the State of the Union address just over a week from now, and it comes amid intensifying demand for Congress to pass federal police reform laws.

[20:20:05]

A short time ago the leader of the NAACP Conference in Tennessee put it bluntly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GLORIA SWEET-LOVE, PRESIDENT, NAACP TENNESSEE STATE CONFERENCE: We come to call action for Congress. By failing to craft and pass bills to stop police brutality, you are writing other black man's obituary. The blood of black America is on your hands, so stand up and do something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Hours after the public viewed the horrific beating of Tyre Nichols, Memphis answered the outcry by shutting down the specialized Scorpion Unit. All five officers who were fired and charged in Nichols' death were members of that controversial unit.

Joining us now is Martavius Jones, chairman of the Memphis city council.

Thanks for being here with us. Those were really powerful words in Gloria Sweet-Love's call to action. Pass federal reform laws or, quote, "you're writing another black man's obituary."

Do you agree?

MARTAVIUS JONES, CHAIR, MEMPHIS CITY COUNCIL: I do. And thank you for having me. Let me ask that the country continue to pray for my city of Memphis. But I agree.

BROWN: How is your city coping? How will it heal after this, do you think?

JONES: Well, the police department, the police chief, I give her credit for taking swift action to fire those officers involved. I applaud the district attorney for bringing swift charges for those officers. Now I feel that it's up to my colleagues and I on the legislative body to enact legislation ordinances on the local level to address this. But it's going to take help on the state level as well as the federal level.

One of the things I don't think will -- unless we change the qualified immunity, you've had so many officers over the years to do heinous acts and then only to get away with it because there's no jeopardy for them. Until there's skin in the game, until their families are -- you know, the financial well-being of their families are at risk, I don't think that any of this is going to change. But we need help at the federal level to address these types of issues.

BROWN: But do you feel, do you sense on the local level in talking to your fellow Memphians that there's a sense of hope, that justice will actually be served in this case and that change will come one way or another?

JONES: It's up to us. After this, like I said, we've had the police chief, the D.A. to do their jobs. I want to go on listening tours here in the city of Memphis to hear from our constituents. Hearing from them and putting things into action I think that's going to demonstrate was that we are listening to them. I'm not a law enforcement expert but I'm willing to listen to any and everybody whether it's here locally, experts outside the city of Memphis, to bring some best practices and best ideas to the table.

And then from that standpoint it's left to the council to enact them but I think that will go a long way in trying to rebuild trust and giving our community a sense that their voices are being heard.

BROWN: Do you have full confidence in the chief of police to address any problems in her department?

JONES: Well, I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt. You know, I was the sole lone vote against her appointment, and largely that was based upon it takes time to do these things and there are some times that I think that the confidence of the rank-and-file, in this particular case, probably would have been served better by an internal candidate.

That's water under the bridge right now, but I have to throw my full faith behind the current police director that we have because if she's successful my city is successful.

BROWN: All right. Martavius Jones, thank you for making time for us on this Sunday night.

JONES: Thank you.

BROWN: Well, this latest event in Memphis sadly mirrored what we have seen all too often in this country, a black man dying at the hands of police. But one change this time around was the swift action taken against those police officers. So why was this time different?

CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem joins us now.

Juliette, the five officers involved were fired not long after, charged with murder and other crimes, and the video gets released. It is not always like this. Why?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: No. I mean, look, this was rightfully choreographed. Unfortunately, because we have a lot of experience, not just in police misconduct but in some of the unrest that occurs after when most people just want to focus on peaceful and rightful and righteous protest.

First of all, of course the Nichols family was just remarkable. And we just can't -- you know, I cannot say it enough, their words and their spirit and what that I think did for the community. But as you were saying, for a police department to take swift action before they're forced, right, so often they seem so reluctant to do it.

[20:25:05]

The Memphis Police fired the five police officers before the visuals. In other words, they looked like they were ahead and that they were ready to fire these cops before the public compelled them to.

Two other factors that seem different. One of course was the consistent message that this was really bad. They sort of prepared us and the public that this was like nothing we had ever seen before, and that is likely true.

And I have to then finally admit as I wrote in "The Atlantic," that I was surprised they were going to release it on a Friday night. You know, some people were arguing, well, they're trying to hide the news. I was a little bit worried that it was nighttime and a weekend. But actually, it gave every national police department, every local police department, the community, time to prepare.

And I think in the end that ended up benefiting not just the police. It's not about -- it's about the community that wants no more harm. The longer-term issues have to be addressed of course as the council chairman said. But for the short term less harm occurred. And I think that's success after all of these tragedies.

BROWN: Yes. I too was a little bit concerned about the Friday night release. But fortunately, the protests were peaceful. Everything worked out. People were able to make their voices heard and we didn't see, you know, widespread violence.

I spoke with the Shelby County district attorney earlier tonight and I asked him about one of the defendants' attorneys arguments which is that not all of the officers crossed the line yet they are all facing the same charges. And this was his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN MULROY, DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR SHELBY COUNTY, TENNESSEE: While it is true that each of the five defendants participated in a different way in the death of Tyre Nichols, all of them acted together and all of them, their actions taken together, resulted in Tyre Nichols' death. And under the principles of criminal responsibility under Tennessee law, we feel comfortable in bringing the same charges against all five of the defendants and we're confident that we'll be able to prove each element of those charges beyond a reasonable doubt once we get to trial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Do you agree with that assessment?

KAYYEM: I do. The particulars of what they're going to be able to prove in real time is going to depend on the video. It's hard to distinguish some of the police officers and who was essentially kicking him. But I think what's important that the district attorney is saying is that there's a greater duty for police officers to intervene, to stop the violence and not -- and view themselves in their totality as a police department.

For someone like me watching that from afar, what was noticeable to me was they didn't seem to think they were doing anything wrong. That suggests that Scorpion, this unit that has now disbanded seemingly, I think rightfully, was used to this kind of violence. But the more tragic part is I think community members, they were in a residential area, did not feel like they could come out and intervene because these were the police officers.

And I think what the district attorney is saying, it's not each individual police officer as a totality, they were responsible for the murder of Mr. Nichols. And I think that's the case that they should make, honestly, Pam. You know, whether they can prove it is different.

BROWN: Right.

KAYYEM: It's the absolute right case to make at this stage.

BROWN: Juliette Kayyem, always nice to have you on. Thank you so much.

KAYYEM: And I'm going to interrupt for a second. Congratulations to you. I just learned, I was one of your last guests.

BROWN: Thank you.

KAYYEM: So good luck.

BROWN: Yes, yes, you are.

KAYYEM: And Drew Griffin would be so proud to have you in that role now.

BROWN: Thank you. Yes, for everyone watching, I'm staying with CNN. This is just my last show on CNN weekends. I'm moving on to become chief investigative correspondent and anchor during the week. So stay tuned. More of that later in the show.

But, Juliette, I always love having you on, and I will continue to interview you when I anchor. So this is not our last time having a conversation.

KAYYEM: OK. Good. No.

BROWN: Thank you so much.

KAYYEM: Congratulations.

BROWN: And still ahead tonight on this Sunday, students in Virginia returning to class at the school where a first-grader shot his teacher. What will be new for them on their first day back? Up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:33:43]

BROWN: Tomorrow classes at Richneck Elementary School resume for the first time since a 6-year-old student shot his teacher more than three weeks ago. They'll be restarting without their principal, their assistant principal and the school district superintendent. The principal has been reassigned and the other two have been forced out or quit since the shooting.

And the environment will look a bit different when students arrive in the morning. The administration is asking parents to send their kids to school without a backpack. They'll be given a clear one instead. If a student brings their lunch, officials say all items will run through a metal detector. Strict visitor protocols are already in place and even parents walking their children to school are subject to search.

The school's newly assigned administrator says a police presence will be on campus to assist with this transition.

Joining us now for more is defense attorney Misty Marris.

Misty, I mean. Just as a mom of a kid who's about to go to elementary school it's just like shocking to me that these changes have to be made to protect students. I want to play a little bit of what the attorney for the teacher said earlier this week. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANE TOSCANO, ATTORNEY FOR TEACHER SHOT BY STUDENT: When a fourth employee who heard about the danger asked the administrator for permission to search the boy, he was denied. Tragically, almost an hour later, violence struck Richneck Elementary School.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:35:06]

BROWN: With so many efforts at the school to stop what happened, what does this mean for liability in this case?

MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes. Absolutely. What a tragic case. But this information that came out through the victim's lawyer really sets forth a timeline that the school was on notice before the shooting that this student did have a gun. And so from a liability perspective there's several different areas here. So you have potential criminal liability. Right? That could be against the 6-year- old child which there are legal hurdles and we can discuss that in a minute, as well as potentially against the parents of the child.

But in this other capacity, it's civil liability. Was there a foreseeable risk and did the school fail to take reasonable action? In that type of case you have to prove what's called gross negligence. But here you see the allegation is that the school -- teacher requested that the child be searched and the administrators declined.

Now, you do have Fourth Amendment rights at a school. So there has to be what's called a reasonable suspicion. But the questions that are arising here, why didn't the school act? Why weren't the police called? Why wasn't the child removed from the classroom? Why wasn't something done in order to investigate this? Why wasn't the school on lockdown? In this day and age every school has safety protocols, trainings, active shooter training. Why weren't the protocols followed in this particular case?

And from a liability perspective there could be significant civil liability against the school. There are additional legal hurdles. However, in a case of gross negligence, meaning that the school failed to act, they did not do their due diligence, there absolutely could be civil liability in this case.

BROWN: I keep thinking about the shooter. I mean, this little 6-year- old boy. It's so unusual to have a suspect that's so young. What happens to him?

MARRIS: Yes, absolutely. Well, the criminal justice system really doesn't have -- isn't really equipped to deal with somebody of this age, and there's reasons for that. Generally a child of this age is pretty much protected from prosecution because of several legal threshold issues. One is called an infancy defense, that a child at the age of 6 just doesn't have the capacity to formulate intent in the way that you would have to present that if you were going to prosecute.

The other is what's called competency. In order for anyone to be charged with a crime they have to be competent under the law. That means they understand the charges against them, and that they can participate in their own defense. For a 6-year-old that's a really -- that's a hurdle. So it's unlikely that this child would be prosecuted. Even the juvenile delinquency system, while Virginia does not have a threshold age to be prosecuted, at any detention center the age is 11 and older.

So there really isn't a lot that could be done from a criminal perspective when you have a 6-year-old child. However, what I foresee happening is what's called a child in need of services petition. This would go to a judge and there would be court-ordered medical treatment, counseling. So there would be some active participation by the court in helping this child who is obviously very, very troubled.

BROWN: Yes. It's very sad. Misty Marris, thanks for coming on, providing your analysis. We appreciate it.

Well, the man caught on camera attacking Nancy Pelosi's husband makes a jailhouse call to a reporter. What it says about his state of mind and what drove him to violence.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:42:51]

BROWN: In a bizarre phone call the man accused in the attack on the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi showed no remorse and even said he wished he'd, quote, "gotten more of them." David DePape called a California TV station from jail Friday, telling a reporter there that he had an important message for everyone in America.

CNN's Annie Grayer is following the story.

And Annie, I mean, just listening to this call it's bizarre, it's creepy, it's just very disturbing.

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: It's absolutely disturbing. And the takeaway here is the man who attacked Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, has no remorse for the violence that he committed. When he called this San Francisco reporter on Friday after video of the attack came out, the attacker was saying that he only wished he could have been more prepared in his attack.

And in the clip that we're about to play, he doesn't name Nancy or Paul Pelosi specifically but says that there are a number of individuals that he believes are a threat to democracy. This baseless conspiracy theory that he's telling this reporter. Let's take a listen to what he said on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID DEPAPE, SUSPECT IN PAUL PELOSI ATTACK: Freedom and liberty isn't dying. It's being killed systematically and deliberately. The people killing it have names and addresses. So I got their names and addresses, so I can pay them a little visit.

I want to apologize to everyone. I messed up. What I did was really bad. I'm so sorry, I didn't get more of them. It's my own fault. No one else is to blame. I should have come better prepared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRAYER: So those words coming directly from the attacker of Paul Pelosi on Friday. And what it shows is the real dangers of these baseless extreme conspiracy theories out there and how there's a direct connection between that and the uptick in violence that we see against lawmakers and public figures today.

BROWN: Yes, it's pretty eye-opening, actually, to know that that's -- that's like inside the mind of someone who is buying into these conspiracy theories and then actually want to take the next step and commit violence, as we saw in the video there.

[20:45:06]

In light of this attack the Capitol Police got a boost in funding to help protect lawmakers and their families. Is it enough, though, given the increasing number of threats and just overall threat environment?

GRAYER: It's a really important question. After the attack on Paul Pelosi in their San Francisco home, there was a reckoning across the board. Lawmakers and their families raising questions about whether there's enough funding to meet the threat need for the threats that they face and what gaps in the current programs there are. For example, the attack on Paul Pelosi showed that there's a real gap in correspondence between Capitol Police, which is based in D.C. protecting lawmakers when they're here, and local law enforcement protecting lawmakers and their families when they're back in their districts.

Also across the board the attack on Paul Pelosi showed that more Capitol police officers are needed, more funding is needed for that to be able to meet the increasing threat levels like you're mentioning. But members do have access to funds to beef up security of their homes and their district offices. There's a lot of questions around if that's enough and if that funding can exist and extend to their families. But this was all under a Democratic-controlled Congress. Now we have

Republicans in control of the House, so we're going to have to see when they take -- when it's their turn to address these funding questions if they're going to meet the need that really exists today.

BROWN: Yes. Because, again, it directly impacts them. We'll have to see.

Annie Grayer, thanks so much.

And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead for you on this Sunday night, we're going to check in on the celebrations in Philly tonight as the Eagles punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. Plus, winter won't quit. A look at where millions are bundled up and bracing for brutal cold tonight.

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[20:51:22]

BROWN: It's a party tonight in Philly. Look at this. Fans of the Philadelphia Eagles are out on the street celebrating the birds' return to the Super Bowl. The Eagles advance with a dominant victory over the injury-riddled San Francisco 49ers in today's NFC Championship. Up next, the Super Bowl on February 12th.

Well, more than 25 million people are under winter weather alerts tonight as a brutal arctic blast sweeps across the country. These images are from Wisconsin, one of several states expecting subzero temperatures as the system moves east.

Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is in the CNN Weather Center.

So, Derek, is this the coldest air this season?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not as cold as the Christmas air arctic outbreak that's settling across the states. And why do I remember that? Because my pipe froze, my plants died, and I stood outside doing live shots. So yes, that's ingrained in my mind as well as so millions Americans. This is how cold it feels right now. Those are below zero temperatures, Rapid City, Fargo to Sioux Falls. We have over 15 million Americans under winter -- this is windchill warnings and windchill alerts, so it extends as far south as the Texas and Oklahoma panhandle.

But I want you to see this. Check out the normal temperatures about 36 in Casper, Wyoming. But you're temperature on Monday only seven. More of the same for Denver. So we're talking about 20 to 30, even 30 to 40 degrees below average for this time of year, and I want you to see right where that cold air is settling. We're going to focus right into Texas.

Pamela mentioned about 25 million Americans under winter weather alerts and this is why. The Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. That is under a winter storm watch as we extend northward into St. Louis. That is a winter weather advisory. The potential for multiple rounds of impactful precipitation, that is a mixture of freezing rain, sleet, potential across this area. You can see shading of pink.

And when we look at some of the forecast accumulations this is impressive and this will certainly impact some of the travel plans across this area. National Weather Service from Dallas-Ft. Worth actually calling for hazardous travel conditions from Monday night into Tuesday. You'll want to double check your plans. Maybe add extra time to get to your destination. Up to half an inch of ice possible with this long duration winter storm that is unfolding this week -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Derek Van Dam, thanks so much. Good to see you.

VAN DAM: OK.

BROWN: Well, the man who disarmed the gunman accused of a deadly mass shooting has been invited to the State of the Union address. In this video, you can see Brandon Tsay confronting the gunman, taking away the gun in Monterey Park nearby. Police say the gunman had earlier shot several people in Monterey Park, California. And Alhambra Police awarded Tsay a medal of courage earlier today. Congresswoman Judy Chu, who represents that district invited Tsay to the address but she says President Biden also called Tsay and invited him.

A well-deserved recognition and praise for him. We'll be right back.

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[20:58:28]

BROWN: Well, it has been two wonderful years since I began this journey of hosting my own show on CNN weekend evenings. The experience has left an indelible mark on me. And tonight is my final evening anchoring it before I move to weekdays for another dream job as CNN's chief investigative correspondent and anchor.

It has been an enormous privilege and responsibility sharing this time with you as I'm well aware is a choice you're making to trust us for your news. We take that responsibility seriously, my team and I never take that for granted. We tried to be fearless and relentless in providing meaningful and accurate coverage, interviewing people of different persuasions and perhaps to challenge your own views a bit in a time when a lot of people just want to stay in their comfort zones and have their own perspectives reaffirmed.

Calling out misinformation and lies when warranted, bringing civility and respect back into the conversation about contentious topics we've covered on this show on abortion, guns, race and policing, but also letting you decide what you think rather than lecture you on what you should think.

We've had countless Republicans, Democrats, and independents on this show, who came back repeatedly, you just saw it earlier this hour with James Comer, because they knew they'd get a tough but fair shot. And our often strong ratings reflect the audience was here for it.

To my team, you are rock stars. I just wish our viewers could see the amount of hard work and dedication you put into every single show to make it as compelling and accurate as possible, to make sure everything goes smoothly. You're amazing.

I am just a small part of this large team of around 20 people, putting the shows together every weekend. So even though I'm leaving this chair on weekend evenings, the superb quality of our broadcast will continue as my very capable colleague Jim Acosta takes over starting next weekend.

So thank you to you all, and don't forget, send me your tips. I'm going to be investigating now. Thank you so much for joining me this evening. Have a great night.