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Trump's New Spending Demands; Fani Willis Disqualified in Trump Georgia Case; Luigi Mangione Leaves for New York; Massive Strike Hits Amazon Ahead of Holidays; Musk and Trump Derail Bipartisan Spending Bill. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 19, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

REP. BARBARA LEE (D-CA): And has put forth a message on Twitter from his phone that it's okay to shut the government down and to disregard the bipartisan deal. The public is not going to tolerate that. The Republicans are now breaking the deal that was negotiated. The public wants bipartisanship. Here we had a bipartisan agreement.

And to allow a billionaire whose wealth, quite frankly, I believe, has doubled since the election to run our government really has grave consequences on the American people as it relates not only to the shutdown, but to the path forward in terms of governing.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And, Congresswoman, you did mention Elon Musk and Donald Trump yesterday. At 4:15 a.m. Elon Musk tweeted this bill should not pass. We can show this to our viewers if we have the graphic available. Right there. 4:15 a.m. yesterday. Trump did not come out and say anything about all of this on social media until late yesterday afternoon, nearly 13 hours later. We can put that Truth Social post from Donald Trump up there if we can.

And I guess what are your thoughts on all of this? I mean, what's the feeling among Democrats right now? Who's in charge? Is it Elon Musk? Is it Donald Trump? What's going on?

LEE: Well, for me personally, it appears that Elon Musk is trying to take the role as an unelected president. And in fact, that Donald Trump, it appears, is following his orders. And, of course, the consequences our grave. When you look at what could take place, and I've been through government shutdowns before, we have services that will be halted. We have people who would be furloughed.

This is the holiday season. We'll have TSA agents who won't be paid. We'll have total chaos again. The economic impacts of a shutdown are devastating, and it hurts people, everyday people. And so, to be able to blow up a bipartisan deal that would keep the government open, that would allow the negotiations to move toward another deadline in March to me is just irresponsible. But it says a lot about Donald Trump, and it says a lot about allowing a non-elected billionaire to run our government.

ACOSTA: And just finally, very quickly, do you think there will be a shutdown? Is it look like that is going to be the case? Because before one of the reasons why there was this time before the Friday deadline to review this is that House Republicans were demanding time to read the bill. Lawmakers are demanding time to read the bill. But if you don't have another deal cut until perhaps later today or tomorrow, it sounds as though you may blow through the deadline. Is that the case?

LEE: Well, the case is Democrats do not want to shut down because, as I said, the consequences are devastating and we had a bipartisan deal. And so, we're doing everything we can do to make sure that the government does not shut down because we know what the impact is on jobs, on the public, on life, on livelihoods, on our economy. And we're doing everything we can do to avoid a shutdown.

But let me tell you, we had an agreement. That agreement was there's an agreement between Republicans and Democrats. The speaker agreed to it. Our leader, Hakeem Jeffries, agreed to it. It was an agreement that Democrats and Republicans said would keep the government open.

And so, for a billionaire, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump, some have called him the unelected president, and Donald Trump the vice president. You know, I've seen messages such as that on social media. I mean, this is wrong, first of all, but the consequences and the impact on people is really unfortunate, and it's morally corrupt, if you ask me, in terms of what they're doing. And so, we have to go back and make sure that this bipartisan deal holds.

ACOSTA: All right. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, thank you very much for your time, we appreciate it.

Much more in our breaking news straight ahead. Fani Willis, as we mentioned at the top of the hour, has been disqualified from the case she was prosecuting against a President-Elect Donald Trump down in Georgia. More on that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

ACOSTA: I want to go back to our top story, the breaking news. Georgia appeals court is disqualifying the prosecutor who was leading an election interference case against President-Elect Donald Trump down in Georgia. CNN's Paula Reid and Elie Honig are with me now.

Elie, I understand you've been reading through it. What can you tell us?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST AND FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Yes, Jim, so let's make sure everyone understands exactly what the ruling is here. So, again, this relates to the state level case in Georgia brought by the Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis, against Donald Trump and 18 other defendants relating to their alleged efforts to steal the 2020 election. It's a broad racketeering indictment.

Now, the defendants alleged that Fani Willis had a conflict of interest because she had a relationship, which she has since admitted, with the person, Nathan Wade, who she brought in from outside to serve as the lead prosecutor. And the allegation was Nathan Wade got paid a lot of money to do this job. He and Fani Willis intermingled their finances as part of their relationship. Therefore, Fani Willis benefited financially from this. from this case.

Now, there was a whole set of hearings that happened at the trial court. The trial court judge said there's an appearance of a conflict of interest, not an actual conflict of interest, but at least enough to give rise to reasonable questions, and that does not require me to disqualify the D.A. Although, he did say Nathan Wade had to be disqualified.

[10:40:00]

Now, we get today's ruling from the Georgia court of appeals. It's actually a two to one ruling. One of the judges dissented. But the two judges in the majority said, even if there's only an appearance of conflict of interest in this case, it was not enough to get rid of Nathan Wade. The D.A. herself has that appearance of a conflict of interest. Therefore, she should have been removed from the case. And that conflict of interest flows from the D.A. down to her entire office. Therefore, the entire office is recused for now.

ACOSTA: And, Elie, I'm so sorry to jump in on you. We're going to take a look at live pictures right now. This is Luigi Mangione. He has been brought over to an airport, airfield in in Pennsylvania. You're looking at the live picture right now. We had it there. It went away and now it's back.

The suspect in the killing of Brian Thompson appears to be in the process of being loaded onto this small plane that is presumably going to fly to New York State where he will then be transported to a Manhattan courthouse for the process -- the legal process to get going there.

And, Elie, you're with me now. Elie. I mean, this is all part of standard operating procedure. You and I were talking about this yesterday or the day before, I believe, where -- I mean, this was a fait accompli that Luigi Mangione was going to be extradited, whether he liked it or not.

HONIG: That's right, Jim. So, we're jumping over to the Mangione case. Now, what we're seeing, I guess that's him being walked, it appears.

ACOSTA: Apologies for that shaky shot, but I'm assuming our photographer is zooming in as far as he or she can to get this shot, and that's why -- apologies to our viewers, that's why it's shaky, but it is a good shot. I'm sorry, Elie, go ahead.

HONIG: Yes, and what's happening now legally is just the official transfer of custody, actually happened a few minutes ago in the courtroom, where Luigi Mangione, and I think we can see him there in the orange, ascending the stairs, was legally passed from the custody of the Pennsylvania authorities over to the New York authorities who now have him in custody. As we see, he's boarding that plane and he should be arriving here, I'm not an aeronautical expert, but very shortly in the State of New York. When he'll make his court appearance is yet to be determined.

ACOSTA: Yes, it's not a long flight and when the suspect, Luigi Mangione, arrives in New York, Elie, what does the process look like after that? I mean, we should get to an arraignment? Is that perhaps what we'll see next, where the judge will formally read the charges? Is that about right?

HONIG: Yes, that's about it, Jim. So, again, there's not going to be televised proceedings for the most part in New York State Court. When Mangione arrives in the State of New York, he will be processed through the D.A.'s office. He will have his prints taken, all of his standard biographical information, that kind of thing. And then at some point, probably very soon, could be -- theoretically could be later today, I don't think that's particularly likely, but it's possible, maybe tomorrow, maybe Monday, he will make his first in court appearance in New York State Court. He'll be advised of the charges against him, including the first-degree murder charge, the second-degree murder charge, other weapons charges.

He will enter a plea. Certainly, at this point, he will plead not guilty. And then the parties will set scheduling for discovery, which is the production of evidence by the prosecution to the defense. They may set a trial date. Sometimes you do set a trial date right away, sometimes you don't. But that's what's going to happen in the next several days.

ACOSTA: All right. Elie, thank you very much. My apologies to Paula Reid. I'll send a Christmas card or something to you. Apologize for not getting you in there. But thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it.

We're going to roll along to our next story. Will your Amazon packages make it to your family in time? What's being called the largest Amazon worker strike in U.S. history year? Yes, there is that to talk about that as well. Very important topic for all of us waiting on those packages. Details on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:00]

ACOSTA: With Christmas and Hanukkah less than a week away, thousands of Amazon workers are on strike. They walked off the job earlier this morning in four states. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joins me now. Vanessa, I mean, we've been talking about a lot of breaking news this morning, but if there's one story that is going to get everybody's attention right now, it is what is going on with my packages because of this strike? What can you tell us?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Amazon is saying, don't worry, your packages are not going to be impacted by this strike. But the workers that are on strike and the Teamsters, which represent these workers, are hoping that it makes an impact. You have thousands of workers on strike this morning in four states across seven locations. And the Teamsters are saying, this morning's strike is because Amazon has said failed to negotiate with them over better benefits, better wages. And this strike is really symbolic for two reasons. One, it's the first time that there's been a strike at Amazon, but also, these workers are not recognized by Amazon as union workers, nor are they recognized by the National Labor Relations Board as unionized members. But it's very personal for these workers. I want you to listen to one of them this morning in Illinois.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASH'SHURA BROOKS, AMAZON DRIVER: One thing that I would like to say is that there is a narrative being pushed out by Amazon that we are the monsters and we are the problem and we are not. How are we the problem when we have Amazon drivers in Fort Lauderdale that are delivering packages in a flood? How are we the problem when we have Amazon workers in California who were forced to work during a heat wave? We are not the problem because we're asking for what is owed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: Now, Amazon, for their part, says that this strike is illegal because these are Amazon drivers who are contracted by a third-party. But the Teamsters say that they represent these workers on the picket lines this morning. And the question, Jim, is why now, right? They've been trying to bargain with Amazon for years. It's the holiday season, as you said.

[10:50:00]

And while Amazon says this will have no impact, the workers and the Teamsters say that they hope that it will, particularly because it's about perception, Jim. Whether or not the packages are going to be delayed, if you're a consumer at home and you hear about this strike, maybe you'll make an alternative option and you won't buy from Amazon, you'll buy from a competitor like Walmart to make sure you get your packages in time. And that ultimately is the win for these workers and for the Teamsters today.

ACOSTA: Yes. All right. And we do appreciate all the hard work of those workers out there. Those Amazon workers always in overdrive. Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

In the meantime, back to our other -- one of our other top stories, Elon Musk throwing his newfound political weight around, basically driving a cyber truck over a measure to keep the government running. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

ACOSTA: As Americans face the threat of a government shutdown, there are new concerns about Elon Musk's growing influence over Donald Trump. The world's richest man kicked off the drama with one tweet. It's happened early yesterday morning saying, the bipartisan deal to keep the government running should not pass. More than 13 hours later, the president-elect joined him, warning any Republican who supported the deal would be primaried.

Let's discuss with CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter. Brian, we've really never seen anything like this before, where Elon Musk is out there saying, kill this deal, and then, it's killed.

BRIAN STELTER CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: And I know that we often talk on television, on cable news about things being unprecedented. Sometimes maybe we're not quite right. In this case, we are right. Yes.

ACOSTA: Yes.

STELTER: Jim, this is unprecedented. This is the world's wealthiest man, a business tycoon now at the arm -- at the hand of Donald Trump. You know, we know, for example, last night at Mar-a-Lago, Musk is sitting right there at the table with Trump and Jeff Bezos. He really is the best buddy and chief, and that's why this deserves a lot of scrutiny.

So, much of what Musk was posting on X yesterday about this spending bill was either misleading or outright false. He was referring to this bill being criminal. It's literally a legal piece of paper that he's calling criminal. But there's a lot of misinformation that Musk is spreading about this spending, and I think that's a big part of the story here.

ACOSTA: Yes, and I was going to get to that too, Brian. I mean, Musk did lead this campaign -- sustained campaign to tank the bill posting more than 100 tweets or X's or whatever we call them these days. Most of them -- many of them featured false and misleading statements. I mean, he was talking about how there was -- insinuating there was funding for a new stadium deal for the Commanders here in Washington. That's not exactly the case and so on.

STELTER: It oftentimes seems that Musk is learning about how government works for the first time. And there is value in having an outsider's point of view. Lord knows when you have newly elected lawmakers come to Washington, they come with new and fresh and innovative ideas. That is a part of what makes government better. But Musk, this unelected figure who has this enormous amount of power, it sometimes seems as if he's just starting to learn how the government functions. And as a result, some of his X posts are completely false.

And by the way, it's not just me saying it. Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Republican lawmaker, Tweeted to Musk last night and said, I love you, Elon, but you need to take five seconds to check your sources before highlighting bottom feeders looking for clicks. You know, Musk likes to post anonymous accounts that are spreading misinformation.

And let's recognize, a lot of people have benefited from Musk. You know, the Tesla stock has been on a tear lately. Lots of CEOs going to Mar-a-Lago. They're probably jealous of Musk right now, both because of his relationship to Trump and because of the performance of Tesla and Musk's other companies. So, there's a lot Musk about the Trumps can bring to government, but his behavior on X and his influence over the spending bill, it also shows how misinformation is at work here, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, for all the talk of calling people fake news and so on, we can put this up on screen, he says it the bill contained a 40 percent pay increase for members of Congress. I don't know if we can put that up there or not. There's a cost of living increase in it. But nothing as high as what he said. So, to Dan Crenshaw's point, Elon Musk is spreading fake news. On this, he is fake news.

STELTER: And he relies on people to reply to him and tell him what's up. He says, you are the media now, that's his message on X. And yet that really leaves a lot to be desired.

ACOSTA: Yes. And it does raise the question, Brian, because you and I covered this during the first Trump administration, there were always the conversations about will Trump fire this person by Tweet and so on. Now, we have to wonder as Donald Trump is going into office, will Elon Musk be firing people and then Donald Trump responding? I mean, it does add to the chaos of all of this. But, Brian Stelter, as always, thanks a lot. Really appreciate it.

STELTER: Thanks.

ACOSTA: And I do want to bring in my good friend Pamela Brown. She's going to be covering a lot of this. My sympathies to you. There's a lot on our table this morning. But, you know, the other thing, Pam, is there's a new trailer for the new "Superman" movie that comes out next year. I don't know if we can show a little bit to our viewers, if we have enough time or maybe you could show it as we're talking here. Let's just show a little bit. I don't want to run into Pam's hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: OK. Well, we might have rolled that a little late. But, Pam, the cool thing -- OK. We're showing a little bit of it here now. It's been one of those mornings.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: It is.

ACOSTA: But there's a clip here, Pam, of Crypto the Dog There's a super dog in this movie. They're going to show it right here.

[11:00:00]