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Government Barreling Toward A Shutdown As Deadline Looms; Record Rain In NYC Causes Life-Threatening Flooding; Economic Impact Of A Government Shutdown; First Trump Co-Defendant Pleads Guilty In GA Election Case. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired September 30, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:40]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Right now, lawmakers are on Capitol Hill with just hours left until the government shutdown. And today, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's plan is to pass bills to minimize the impacts of a shutdown, not stop one from actually happening.

GOP hardliners blocked his last attempt at passing a short-term funding bill. And if McCarthy turns to Democrats for help today, he could lose his job.

Over on the Senate side, lawmakers are moving ahead with their own funding bill, but it would not pass in time to keep the government open.

The stakes could not be higher. When the clock strikes midnight millions of federal workers will be off the job. Employees considered essential like active-duty military and border agents will be forced to work without pay. And you could even see airport delays, museum and national park closures and food assistance programs put on hold.

Now that a shutdown seems all but inevitable, the questions on everyone's minds are how long will it last potentially, and how would it end?

CNN's Lauren Fox joining us now from Capitol Hill with more on all of this. Lauren, so what is the latest?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we are learning right now in the House Republican conference, as members are leaving this meeting is essentially that they are now planning to move forward with a short-term spending bill that would include disaster aid but no money for Ukraine.

This is a massive switch as to what we were hearing just an hour ago from members who were leaving and inside of this meeting. That is because I'm told there was a growing consensus as the meeting went on that they needed to do something to avert the shutdown. One of the big question marks right now is whether or not Democrats

will join hands with Republicans to support this legislation given the fact that it does not include Ukraine funding.

(CROSSTALKING)

WHITFIELD: Let's go to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy right now.

(LIVE EVENT)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: For not getting the job done in the House and the Senate. I do not believe the border patrol agents should be punished. I do not believe the American public should be punished.

So I want to keep government open while we finish our job to secure the border.

The president, he's been gone. He's been in California. He's been every place else. The one place he hasn't been at the border. He's gone to more dinners with Hunter Biden's business associates than he has to the border in 50 years.

But what we're going to do now because the Senate cannot act in time, the government would shut down, the House is going to act so government will not shutdown.

We will put a clean funding stop gap on the floor to keep government open for 45 days for the House and Senate to get their work done. We will also, knowing what had transpired through the summer -- the disasters in Florida, the horrendous fire in Hawaii and also the disasters in California and Vermont, we will put the supplemental portion that the president asks for in disaster there, too.

Keeping the government open while we continue to do our work to end the wasteful spending, end the wokeism and most importantly secure our border.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you get any assurances from any of the Republican hold outs that they will support this?

MCCARTHY: No look, I have tried for eight months -- it took me a long time to finally get the appropriations bills on the floor. They were delayed. I tried yesterday with the most conservative stop gap funding bill you could find that secured our border, that cut spending, and I couldn't get 218 Republicans on it.

This will be on suspension. It takes a higher threshold. But what I'm asking Republicans and Democrats alike, put your partisanship away. Focus on the American public.

How can you, in good conscience, think of the men and women who volunteer to risk their lives to defend us to say they can't be paid while we work out our differences? That is unfair. I cannot do that to our men and women in uniform.

And so we're going to keep government open while we work our differences out and secure our border.

[11:04:56]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you worried about (INAUDIBLE) them trying to remove you from the speakership?

MCCARTHY: You know what, if someone wants to remove because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try. But I think this country is too important. And I will stand with our military, I'll stand with our border agents. I'll stand with those that have to get their medicine from government as well. I think that's too important.

We have done more than 70 percent of our job where the Senate has done nothing. The Senate can't even get something to the floor in time. We can.

And you know what? If I have to risk my job for standing up for the American public, I will do that.

(CROSSTALKING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you talked to Jeffries or any Democrats about if they will support this?

MCCARTHY: Look, I talked to Hakeem yesterday, I talked to a number of Democrats yesterday. They kept from a standpoint didn't want -- they want to do Ukraine as well. I think that can happen a different day. I watched the Senate, they said let's wait for the Senate. The Senate cannot bring us a bill before shutdown. They cannot get -- government will shut down if we wait.

I do not want that on our watch. I think this country is too important. I know the House has done their work, the Senate has not. The Senate hasn't passed one appropriation bill, and all of you have written these great raving stories about how great the appropriation process is going in the Senate.

They tried all month. They said they could get something going here. They can't get anything to us. So you know what? I'll put the American people first. We will finish our job. I will keep the House in to keep working on our appropriation bills, get it done during that time. But the Senate better get their work done, and the border has got to get secured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Speaker, if this bill goes down, is there a Plan B?

MCCARTHY: Well, if this bill goes down, tell me why do people want to have a government shutdown? That will be on those individuals.

(CROSSTALKING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wouldn't just because the Democrats (INAUDIBLE). You need Democrats and Republicans to vote for this bill --

(CROSSTALKING) MCCARTHY: That's right, that's right. So if Democrats don't want -- if Democrats want to shut the government down, they vote against this bill.

Tell me what to argue if we're putting a stop gap measure with no politics in it that says we will continue funding government exactly how it is right now for 45 days while we finish our job.

The only thing that we'll do differently, those who have suffered through a flood, through a fire and others where the disaster money is not there, we'll make sure that disaster money is there so they don't get punished.

We'll look at our troops in the eye to say, yes, you don't have to worry about how you're going to make your rent. We're going to finish our job, we're going to secure our borders. We're going to look at the border agents that come back bloody securing our country and say we don't want you in doing your job, worrying about whether you're going to be able to make your car payment.

We're going to do our job, we're going to be adults in the room and we're going to keep government open while we solve this problem. Yes, and as we go through these approp bills, they're the most conservative approp bills that ever passed.

You don't realize what we've even achieved. The FSOP bill is the first time a Republican majority has passed that appropriation bill in more than 16 years.

We're achieving things. I do not want to stop that momentum of getting our job. That is the way we'll be able to secure our border.

If we shut the government down, the border agents don't get paid. The border is even further wide open.

The president wants to ignore this problem, we're not going to allow him. He wants to ignore governing. He's the president of the United States. What has he done about keeping government open?

Well, I'll tell you this. We are putting something on the floor that will continue to pay our troops. And if he wants to lobby against it and tell Democrats to vote against it, then the shutdown is on him.

(CROSSTALKING)

(END OF LIVE EVENT)

WHITFIELD: All right. You heard House Speaker Kevin McCarthy say, you know, what I'm asking is Republicans and Democrats put partisanship aside. We will keep the government open while we work out our differences.

He wants to stand with the military, he says, and border agents and to make sure people get their medicine. Well, how will they do this? You just heard him say we are putting something on the floor to keep government open. What are the concessions? Lauren Fox is with us now. Lauren, what is the plan that he's talking

about that deserves a vote today in order to keep government open?

FOX: This is such a significant moment for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The question all week, all month long has been would he potentially risk his speakership and put some kind of short-term spending bill on the floor that he would need Democratic support for?

Because so many of his hardliners have been warning that if he put something like the bill that he's describing today on the floor, that they would bring a vote to oust him.

He said during that press conference, quote, "Go ahead and try. If I have to risk my job standing up for the American public, I will do that."

Now, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about whether or not this is going to pass today. And one of the key reasons is because it does not include Ukraine aid.

[11:09:52]

FOX: What he is talking about is a 45-day short-term spending bill to keep the government open, to keep working through their longer appropriations process that would include disaster aid but not funding for Ukraine.

The Senate, meanwhile, has a similar bill that includes $6.2 billion for Ukraine aid. So that is a key distinction here.

He's basically daring Democrats to vote against this proposal. And then, of course, if they did, blame them for shutting down the government.

So you now have a House plan and a Senate plan. These two things are not the exact same. Is it possible they could work out their differences? Is it possible Democrats in the House might vote for that? This is an unanswered question that we're going to obviously be checking in with sources to get more information.

Because it would be a very difficult vote for some Democrats to vote against a short-term CR. But because they're bringing this up under the suspension of the rules, they're going to need a large number of Democrats to pass this across the House.

WHITFIELD: And additionally, Lauren, hopefully you're able to hear us because we had a little bit of audio problems there. When would -- what's the time line on -- what's the time line on when he would bring that measure for a vote?

FOX: Yes, sources that I talk to leaving the meeting on my way up here, they said that this could happen very quickly.

Today obviously there are some questions about how the Senate would perceive this, how they would deal with something like this, if it could even get passed out of the House. So a lot of unanswered questions right now. This is obviously a very

different position than what the House members were talking about even an hour and a half ago when I last spoke with you.

They were talking about putting one off bills on the floor to try to blunt the impact of a shutdown rather than putting anything on the floor that would actually avoid a shutdown.

Obviously through the course of their meeting as more and more members started talking about this, they came to some kind of consensus behind closed doors that they needed to have a Republican position, that the House of representatives couldn't just do nothing, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Ok. And then Lauren, you know, there was a lot of hyperbole there too from the House Speaker because he said, you know, he would be putting the blame on the Senate and Democrats, you know, if there is a government shutdown. In other words putting everyone in the corner if they don't go for this measure, then ultimately there would be a shutdown and his efforts had nothing to do with it.

FOX: I just want to be very clear that the distinction -- what the House and Senate are fighting over right now is Ukraine funding. This $6.2 billion that was included in the Senate's proposal that is supported by not just Democrats in the Senate but also the minority leader Mitch McConnell and a number of his Republican colleagues.

So that is the flash point right now. This is coming down to a question of whether or not Democrats are going to move forward with a bill that does not include this Ukraine aid.

But obviously House Speaker McCarthy wants to make this about he acted and it's up now to the Senate to decide what they want to do. But as you point out, this has been a long time coming. This could have come days ago, weeks ago instead we're here just hours before the shutdown.

WHITFIELD: All right. Lauren Fox, don't go too far there on Capitol Hill. We'll check back with you as more news merits and when there is a time line of when the next possible vote could happen at least in the House.

All right. Let me now bring in Sabrina Singh. She's the deputy Pentagon press secretary. Good to see you, Sabrina. So what are your thoughts on what you heard from the House Speaker McCarthy there who places a lot of blame on the president saying he's been everywhere except for working on -- helping us to work on a budget? We know that, what, in May Kevin McCarthy and the president did work on some sort of framework, but then here we are now hours away from a potential shutdown. What's your reaction to what he just said?

SABRINA SINGH, PENTAGON DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: Well, Fredricka, thanks so much for having me on today. Really appreciate it. Again as you just said, we are hours away from a shutdown at this point. It's not like this deadline is something new or a surprise to any of the members on the Hill.

This comes around every year at the same time. So the fact that we're even hours away from the shutdown really does throw our military families -- families all around the world, our civilian employees are still feeling this tension right now because no one actually knows what's going to happen if Kevin McCarthy can get his caucus and Democrats to vote for the proposal that he just announced at the press conference.

So you know, again, unfortunately, the worst-case scenario for the United States military is a government shutdown. We are hopeful that the Congress can find some bipartisan, bicameral agreement to move forward even if it's a short-term CR. But, again, a CR is not -- it's really just a band-aid on top of the larger problem, that we need an on-time appropriations bill that funds the government fully, that funds our military service members who are on active duty all around the world protecting our country and our nation's interests.

[11:14:54]

WHITFIELD: Would it be satisfactory that there was a measure at least past in the House today, who knows what would happen in the Senate, a measure that would say keep government -- or potentially government will still shut down but keep the paychecks going to U.S. Military and border patrol workers, employees?

SINGH: Well, again, we really never should have never been in this situation to begin with. Of course we're going to support any measure that the Congress takes to pay our military service members, our troops, our civilian employees. Every day they have bills that you and I pay or accrue on our daily lives whether it's gas, grocery bills, apartment, mortgage, rent, or mortgages that are due. So, of course we're going to support a measure that funds our troops, but again we really shouldn't be in this position.

We should be in a place where we are receiving long-term funding for the department and not just for the Department of Defense but the whole of government. This impacts so many employees all across the board.

WHITFIELD: We're also learning that President Biden will likely hold a cabinet meeting on Monday. What would be the first item of business for the White House or at least give us an idea how the prioritizing would take place.

SINGH: Well, you know, that's really something for the White House to speak to. What I can say I know the secretary is certainly concerned always about taking care of our people, making sure that our troops, that our civilian employees are getting whether it's health care, the pay that they need to continue to work and defend our nation.

But of course, Ukraine is going to be top of mind. The war in Ukraine no matter if a shutdown happens, Russia's not shutting down. The PRC is not shutting down, Iran. And of course these are all of our daily national security threats that we face all around the world.

And Ukraine is continuing its war fighting back for its sovereign territory against Russia. And so that's something that I know the secretary thinks about daily if not hourly and certainly something that I'm sure would come up at any cabinet meeting.

WHITFIELD: Right. You're not at the White House. You're Department of Defense.

SINGH: Right.

WHITFIELD: It wasn't long ago where the nation watched on live television right here on CNN. We saw Ukrainian President Zelenskyy going to the Pentagon after his time on Capitol Hill and at the White House. And with that came assurances, bipartisan assurances that the United States would continue to support Ukraine in its efforts to defend itself. And now it is at the crux of whether, you know, House Republican leadership is willing to pass a bill.

I mean what is the messaging that the Department of Defense wants to maintain with Ukraine, you know, living up to its promises, but then it is likely -- you know, it's up to an act of Congress in which to carry out some promised additional $6.2 million in assistance, aid to Ukraine?

SINGH: Well, I think you've heard this administration speak and repeatedly say that we're with Ukraine for as long as it takes. And I think Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said it best just a few weeks ago when he said security aid and aid to Ukraine is not charity.

Continuing to flow security assistance to Ukraine is in our best interest for our own national security and interests of our allies abroad. We are here to help Ukraine uphold the international rules- based order, something that Russia has completely disregarded when it invaded a sovereign country. And so absolutely helping Ukraine defend its country, take back its sovereign territory, continuing to fight and push in its counter offensive as we head into the winter months. That is something that this department is really focused on.

And you know, as we assured President Zelenskyy and other leaders across Ukraine, we are and we want to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.

WHITFIELD: Sabrina Singh, thank you so much for joining us from Washington today.

SINGH: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, for special live coverage of the shutdown showdown join Dana Bash in Washington, D.C. tonight at 9:00 eastern right here on CNN.

We'll be right back.

[11:19:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. We're following breaking news on Capitol Hill. The House now set to vote in about 20 minutes on a short-term funding

bill to avoid a government shutdown. This is a last-minute Hail Mary to keep the government open.

We'll have more on this as we learn more about it and bring it to you.

All right. But first New York City is under a state of emergency today following a record setting downpour yesterday that overwhelmed the city's sewer system causing a surge of floodwater that drowned the streets and poured into vehicles, basements, and into schools.

The flooding prompted widespread shutdowns in the subway system as well and at LaGuardia airport. Just look at the scene there in one of the terminals, people pulling their luggage, taking off their shoes, walking in very deep water. The terminal has since reopened along with some subway lines that had closed.

All right. Friday was the wettest day on record at JFK with the airport there getting almost 9 inches of rain. Brooklyn saw up to 4.5 inches, a month's worth of rain falling in only three hours, something that happens only about once every 100 years. And in Manhattan nearly 2 inches of rain falling in an hour in Central Park alone, the second wettest hour there in 80 years.

The flooding was so extreme, rather, that a sea lion temporarily escaped from the Central Park Zoo before safely returning to her pool after the surge you see right there.

[11:24:56]

WHITFIELD: All right. CNN's Polo Sandoval and Allison Chinchar are both standing by for us.

Polo, that sea lion was very confused, like what is going on which is what most New Yorkers felt like too.

And the mayor he actually is now responding to a lot of criticism he's been receiving.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. In the face of that fierce criticism Mayor Adams is still defending the city's actions leading up to yesterday's historic storm, pointing to a travel advisory that was issued Thursday afternoon recommending people stay at home if they can.

And then of course those who had to venture out to use above ground transit systems because as we know that subway system was hit hard yesterday.

But as we heard from New York City -- rather New York Governor Kathy Hochul report earlier this morning, that that system is back up and running again less than 24 hours after this area was hit hard.

So officials certainly defending those actions leading up to the storm including also the Department of Education. There were some questions that came up yesterday about why require students to go into school yesterday knowing that the system was coming in?

The Chancellor of the Department of Education saying remote learning is only considered as a last resort. They felt confident that the children could be kept safe yesterday.

So I think what we heard this morning as officials were basically wrapping up that response and now previewing more of the recovery is a sense of relief and also pride that only a few dozen rescues were required, and fortunately no injuries or worse.

But also some serious questions about what can be done to prevent this from happening in the future. We've heard that issue of the infrastructure coming up flood after flood the last couple of years here in New York City.

And Governor Hochul this morning recognized that more investment needs to happen, pointing to climate change, that because of that we're likely to see more of these storms have a massive impact on America's largest cities, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. That was incredible. It's just still mind-boggling to see that videotape and glad most of the water is now receding. Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

So Allison Chinchar, what is the situation? Is it mostly cleanup now, or might there be more weather like that or conditions like that on the way there?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I think it's a combination of both, Fred. I think you've got some cleanup but you're cleaning up with showers above you because we do still have some light and even some moderate rain bands still making their way across the north east. The heaviest at the moment belongs across the cape around Nantucket and we're also starting to see some more of those moderate rain bands coming back across Long Island.

Now, the good news is the bulk of the really heavy rain that we saw yesterday that is through. But at times you're going to get this darker green and even some yellow, meaning those moderate rain bands from time to time.

You've still got several flood advisories and flood warnings in effect for today. Most of that however is not necessarily for the additional rain that's expected today but rather all of the rain that fell yesterday because it takes a long time for that much water to recede.

You're talking JFK setting a record yesterday of over 8 inches. Valley Stream, New York picking up over 9, and several other locations across New York, Connecticut and New Jersey picking up at least 6 inches.

Again, it may come down very quickly but it doesn't go away very quickly. And so for a lot of these places it is going to take time before we finally see all of that rain recede.

Now one thing to note we do still have more rain in the forecast. For most locations this will be done in just the next couple of hours. For a few other places it will linger well into the late afternoon.

But the good news is by the time we get to tomorrow, Fred, finally a day with sunshine from start to finish across the north east.

WHITFIELD: Well, that will be nice. All right. Thanks to both of you, Polo Sandoval, Allison Chinchar, appreciate it.

All right. So with the U.S. government just hours now away from potentially shutting down, what will it mean for the U.S. economy and your wallet the impact, the chaos on the Capitol might have on your bottom line next.

[11:28:52]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. We're following breaking news on Capitol Hill. The House now set to vote on a short-term funding bill to keep the U.S. government open. This is really a last-ditch effort to try and avoid a government shutdown.

McCarthy -- House Speaker McCarthy coming out just moments ago saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCARTHY: If somebody wants to remove because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try. If I have to risk my job for standing up for the American public, I will do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's get more now on the potential economic impact for just about everybody if there is indeed a government shutdown.

Mark Zandi is the chief economist for Moody's Analytics. Good to see you, Mark.

So the U.S. still facing this threat, you know, from inflation, broader economic slowdowns and now potentially this shutdown. What is this going to do to the economy?

MARK ZANDI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, MOODY'S ANALYST: Nothing good, Fred. I mean, you know, if it's a couple or three weeks which is a kind of typical shutdown, you know, I don't think it's a big deal from a broader macro-economic perspective. You know, obviously, it's a big deal for a couple million plus federal government employee who don't get paid. But for the broader economy I think we're ok.

But the timing isn't great, right? I mean we've got the UAW strike. We've got student loan payments that are going to start kicking in. We've got higher interest rates. We're now paying $4 for a gallon of regular unleaded.

A lot of head winds for the economy, and you just you throw this into the mix, it's really bad timing. And of course if it goes on for much longer than a couple or three weeks then the economic damage is certain now.

WHITFIELD: Well, three weeks can really be an eternity especially when you are living paycheck to paycheck. So if there is a government shutdown while you talk about the macro picture may not be, you know, devastating over a three-week period.

[11:34:48]

WHITFIELD: If you are, you know, among the millions who are counting on your paycheck and now you're not, whether you go to work without a paycheck or you're furloughed entirely. It means you can't pay your rent, you can't pay your services, utility, groceries.

So what kind of impact is that going to make on households that, you know, ultimately can be big setbacks?

ZANDI: Yes, for sure. I mean if you're a federal government employee, and there are a couple million plus in the country, yes, this is a hardship, you know, particularly for lower paid government employees.

Now, they'll ultimately get their paycheck back when the government reopens, but that could be a long time. And you're right a lot of folks just don't have that cash cushion.

And there's a lot of private companies out there that do business with the government, and they're not going to get paid, and then those workers are going to start to struggle.

So you're absolutely right. I mean Immediately several million people are going to have some problems here. And then, of course, if it goes on for more than a couple or three weeks or lasts a month or so, then you know, the damage accumulates, all kinds of things are going to start breaking all over the place and, you know, the hardships are going to mount.

WHITFIELD: So for investors around the world, does a U.S. government shutdown, you know, shake their confidence in the U.S.? Does it -- can it potentially alter the U.S. credit rating even?

ZANDI: Well, you know, this is after the debt limit drama just a couple months ago. And of course, the long-term fiscal situation looks pretty ominous. I mean take a look at current policy. If we don't make changes to tax or spending policy under reasonable assumptions, we've got very high deficits and debt forever, and that's just not sustainable.

So investors, you know, if they're not going to be shaken by this, they'll be shaken at some point in the not-too-distant future because, you know, we're not moving in the right direction, and shutting the government down just shows that, you know, we're very dysfunctional. The government is very dysfunctional, and how are we going to tackle these big fiscal problems if we can't even keep the government open?

So I don't know if this is the thing that's going to shake investor confidence, but, you know, a few more of these kinds of things down the road certainly will.

WHITFIELD: You mentioned labor strikes, you know, here, you know, this potential government shutdown happening as the auto workers strike now enters its third week.

The UAW is expanding its strike against GM and Ford. What do you see? Do you see any potential progress here, or might this, you know, have real long-term economic implications as well?

ZANDI: Well again, you know, given what's happened so far, I don't think it's big enough to have large consequences for the broader economy.

Again, you know, for the workers involved and the companies involved, this is really a problem, but it's not big enough for the broader economy. But the longer it drags on, if this extends through the month of October and more factories are brought into the mix and the UAW strikes in more facilities and shuts more facilities down, then yes, it's going to have a larger impact on the economy.

And again, you know, it's not just one of these things. It's not just the shutdown, it's not just the UAW strike, it's the combination of all these things that are coming together. And you know, collectively they can do a lot of damage.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there for now. Mark Zandi, thank you so much. Great to see you on this lovely Saturday.

ZANDI: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up next the mounting legal troubles for Donald Trump. Details on the deal one of his Georgia codefendants just cut with prosecutors.

[11:38:30]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The first Trump co-defendant in the Georgia election interference case has cut a deal with prosecutors as part of his guilty plea. Scott Hall has agreed to testify in future proceedings in the Fulton County case.

CNN's Nick Valencia has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This all went down at an impromptu hearing on Friday. Hall pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor charges. Initially he was facing seven charges from the district attorney's office in Fulton County including a racketeering charge.

And with that guilty plea, Hall became the first of the 19 codefendants in this Georgia election subversion case to cut a deal with the district attorney's office. Listen to part of what happened in court.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you plead to the five counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference (INAUDIBLE) --

SCOTT HALL, CO-DEFENDANT, FULTON COUNTY CASE: Guilty.

(INAUDIBLE)

HALL: Yes ma'am, it is.

VALENCIA: As part of the conditions of his sentencing Hall will have to pay a $5,000 fine. He'll be on probation for five years. And also have to complete 200 hours of community service.

But perhaps most importantly he will have to testify against his co- defendants at any future proceedings or trials related to this case.

Nick Valencia, CNN -- Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much, Nick.

Let's talk more about all this. Jeffrey Jacobovitz is with me. He is a white-collar criminal attorney and an adjunct law professor at American University. Great to see you, Jeffrey.

JEFFREY JACOBOVITZ, WHITE-COLLAR CRIMINAL ATTORNEY: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: So your reaction to this Trump co-defendant pleading guilty with no prison time and agreeing to testify in this case.

JACOBOVITZ: Well Fredricka, he could be one of the first of many who will plead guilty because he actually got a pretty good deal here. He doesn't have to go to jail. He will have to cooperate. He did give a statement to the government already -- to the prosecutor.

And what's interesting about Hall is Hall is linked to Sidney Powell and that puts pressure on Sidney Powell. And if there's pressure on Sidney Powell, and she decides to cut a plea and cooperate, who does she cooperate against? The president -- the former president.

[11:44:48]

WHITFIELD: Right. And do you see that that is the direction in which it would go. I mean he's kind of -- Hall might be the test pilot but, you know, since he was there with Sidney Powell, you see videotape, you know, of them entering that, you know, building in Coffee County, Georgia, might she be inclined to also plead -- make a plea deal?

JACOBOVITZ: Well, what will be interesting is how credible does Fani Willis think Sidney Powell would be as a witness because she's been out there on a number of statements, some of which was somewhat hard to believe, and people are very skeptical of it. And so would she be a credible witness at trial if she would testify against the former president?

But at this point a number of the lower-level people will see the deal that Hall got and they will be talking to their lawyers and contacting Fani Willis and saying, hey, can I get the same deal?

WHITFIELD: So Sidney Powell among them, Kenneth Chesebro who is the alleged architect of the fake elector plot as well to overturn the election. Where might he line up on any discussions about plea deals?

JACOBOVITZ: Well, he's certainly going to get a plea offer, but it doesn't necessarily follow that he will accept it and plead guilty. He seems like he wants to challenge this case, and he's ready to go to trial apparently in a few weeks as is Sidney Powell. But let's see what happens. Things change overnight, and look how Hall came forward and people didn't expect it. But right now we have two trials set for October 23rd.

WHITFIELD: This week Donald Trump through his attorneys also notified the court that, you know, he would not seek to move his Georgia case to federal court. The track record is such it probably would not have happened because of the precedent ruling. Do you see that move as an indication that his legal team is also trying to maneuver for something else to better position him in this case?

JACOBOVITZ: Well, I think what they're trying to do -- at least what Donald Trump is trying to do -- is keep the case in state court in front of what was a Republican judge, a Republican-appointed judge, which probably doesn't matter at all.

And he's seeing that every removal motion that has been filed in federal court has been denied. He would have the burden of proof, and he would most likely have to testify.

And it would be very unlikely for his attorneys to allow him to testify in a removal hearing. We know Mark Meadows did that and he really exposed himself, Mr. Meadows, to potential problems.

WHITFIELD: In another court case involving the former president, Trump now says that he will attend the civil fraud trial in New York when it gets under way Monday. And it comes after a judge dealt Trump a major blow this week when a ruling came that Trump is liable -- the entire organization -- liable for fraud and overvaluing Trump's properties on his financial statements.

There's been speculation that this New York case could threaten Trump's entire business empire. Do you see that happening?

JACOBOVITZ: Fredricka, the words made to blow is an understatement. This was a complete devastating ruling by the court, and what the court indicated is the various valuations were not based in reality. Trump will have to testify as will his sons.

There's an issue about Fifth amendment privilege, which basically the argument would be they have waived it. And we know that Alvin Bragg will be watching this trial. It's not clear whether he would follow up with any criminal action. But this really guts Trump's business. And it's not just in New York. It's all over. There will be a receiver involved, there's a monitor involved. And so what we have here is a dangerous situation for the former president.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeffrey Jacobovitz, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much.

JACOBOVITZ: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, we continue to watch activity on Capitol Hill. Possibly at any moment there may be a House vote on a short-term spending bill to try to keep U.S. government functioning.

We'll be right back.

[11:49:22]

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WHITFIELD: We're keeping a close watch on Capitol Hill, where the House is expected to vote on a short-term funding bill to help keep the U.S. Government open.

Our Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill right now. And so Lauren, we heard from the House Speaker Kevin McCarthy not long ago, not only say that, you know, if it means losing his job to keep government going, he's willing to do that.

At the same time, he talked about a short-term funding bill, a proposal that might be up for a vote momentarily. What are the chances of that?

FOX: Well, the big question right now is, will it pass, Fredricka? And I think that that is an open question at the moment. House Democrats are actually planning to huddle right now, they're trying to squeeze in a quick caucus meeting to try and decide as a caucus whether or not they want to back this effort.

Because Republicans are bringing this bill under a suspension of the rules, it means that a large number of Democrats, almost 100 perhaps, would need to get behind this legislation to get it across the finish line.

[11:54:51]

FOX: Of course, that is a big question right now. And a lot of Democrats are very frustrated, feeling like they're getting squeezed at the last minute. This legislation that Republicans are bringing to the floor, would be a clean 45-day CR to keep the government funded through November 17th.

It would also include disaster aid, but it doesn't include a key provision that has been very important to Democrats and that is $6.2 billion in Ukraine aid. That was included in the Senate bill, but it is not going to be included in this piece of legislation. So right now, House Democrats are huddling to try to decide if they

can move forward with something that doesn't include that Ukraine aid. They're also frustrated that they feel like they're not going to have a lot of time to read over this bill.

Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader, told our colleague Morgan Rimmer just moments ago that Democrats are trying to get more time to go through this, trying to delay this vote, which is supposed to be scheduled for around 11:45 this morning. They are still debating this bill on the floor. But a lot of moving pieces right now, a lot of question marks as we wait to see if Democrats are going to get behind this effort or if they're going to vote against it.

WHITFIELD: So what are the efforts made whether it be by way of the minority leader, you know, Hakeem Jeffries to try to buy more time? Who are they negotiating with in order to buy more time to read through it to make sure there is some real clarity on this short-term spending bill before even considering whether they want to back it or not?

FOX: Yes, you can expect that there are probably conversations happening between Republican leadership and Democratic leadership. The relationship between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is one in which they do meet regularly. They do talk regularly so it would not be unusual for those two men or their staff to be interacting at a moment like this on Capitol Hill.

But it's a good thing to remember that Democrats are the ones with the power here and the ones who ultimately may decide whether or not this can get across the finish line, because House Speaker Kevin McCarthy never could unite his conference around a Republican short-term spending bill. So he's putting this on the floor hoping the Democrats will get to yes and basically trying to dare Democrats to vote against it. If they did, you can expect that the leaders in the Republican Party would blame Democrats for a shutdown, despite the fact that for weeks they could have been moving in this direction and hadn't at the last minute. Obviously, this is a scramble to see whether or not all sides can get to a place where they advance this bill out of the House.

WHITFIELD: All right. Lauren Fox keep us posted there on Capitol Hill. Thank you so much.

I believe -- are we going to go to the White House now with Priscilla Alvarez to find out how closely the White House is watching this? What kind of leverage, arm twisting or simply is it just being apprised of information that the White House might be involved in as it pertains to trying to get Democrats on the Hill. You know, what their gauging is on this proposed spending bill.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the White House is watching all of this. And all of it is fast developing as you heard there from Lauren.

President Biden has been briefed throughout the day and will continue to be by his staff. And White House officials are staying in close touch with Democrats on the Hill. But we have not yet received a comment from the White House on this short-term funding bill that Democrats are now reviewing.

But what we continue to hear from the White House is criticism of Republicans, saying it is on them to avoid a shutdown and that it is their responsibility.

In a White House statement, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said, quote, "House Republicans have every reason to keep their word." So they are maintaining that line here, also calling back to the spending bill that President Biden and Kevin McCarthy made earlier this year in hopes of avoiding this type of situation.

And in the course of all of this, Fred, we should note, preparations are still under way for a potential government shutdown.

WHITFIELD: Ok. All that happening at once. Priscilla Alvarez at the White House, thank you so much.

We're going to continue to watch all that is going on on Capitol Hill in an effort to try to avert a U.S. government shutdown.

We'll be right back.

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