Return to Transcripts main page
CNN This Morning
Renner Shares Picture from Hospital; Police Stopped Idaho Suspect Months after Killing; Buffalo Reels after String of Tragedies; U.S. Parts Found in Iranian Drones. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired January 04, 2023 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:31:55]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SETH MEYERS, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": McCarthy did everything he could to cozy up to Trump and the MAGA circus in the House and he's still facing a revolt from the looniest members of the GOP.
Did McCarthy think one visit to Mar-a-Lago was going to magically solve everything. That place is the opposite of Disney World. It's where dreams go to die. Oh, so, no way, so it's the same as Disney World.
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Technically the Constitution doesn't require the speaker of the House to be an elected members of Congress. It can be any American, which to me sounds like the premise for a pretty solid Pauly Shore movie, right? I mean, come on.
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": He needs 218 votes to win. But in the first two votes he got only 203. OK, he lost twice. But you know what they say, third time's a -- he also lost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: No shortage of fodder for the late night hosts after what happened here on Capitol Hill yesterday when Kevin McCarthy made history as the first lawmaker in 100 years to be denied the speaker's gavel after just one vote. As McCarthy watched ballot after ballot after ballot fail, he sat there in the House chamber, at times laughing, looking amused or whispering to a senior aide sitting next to him.
But while McCarthy appeared to laugh off - laugh it off in front of the cameras, he is facing a real threat from the divisions within his own party when it comes to this second bid for House speaker. The last time McCarthy wanted to be speaker, he bowed out before the voting had even started.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA) (October 8, 2015): We should put this conference first. And I think there's something to be said for us to unite. We probably need a fresh face. I'll stay on as majority leader. But the one thing I found in talking to everybody, if we are going to unite and be strong, we need a new face to help do that. So, nothing more than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: That was 2015. This is now. McCarthy is vowing to fight until he secures the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I think, at the end of the day, we'll get everybody there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And this point you failed three times. How do you possibly pull this off?
MCCARTHY: You get to 218.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The hours of action, or really inaction, on Capitol Hill yesterday continued to drag on as lawmakers braced for a long night of negotiations in the Capitol after they adjourned, ordering in pizza here, as you can see it being wheeled into McCarthy's office. They continued to meet behind closed doors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: McCarthy.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): McCarthy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: McCarthy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: That was just one of the many moments that stood out yesterday, McCarthy not paying close attention when it was the time for him to vote for himself in the third round of votes.
There was another curious moment yesterday, though, as cameras in the chambers were trained on members as they were going back forth while this voting was happening. Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez was spotted chatting with the Republican, Paul Gosar, the lawmaker who has ties to white nationalists and, remember, was censured after he posted that altered anime video depicting him killing AOC and President Biden.
[06:35:04]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Does anyone in this chamber find this behavior acceptable? Would you allow depictions of violence against women, against colleagues? Would you - would you allow that in your home? Do you think this should happen on a school board? In a city council? In a church? And if it's not acceptable there, why should it be accepted here?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: A spokesman for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CNN that Gosar was asking her if any Democrats were planning to vote present. That's a tactic that's been discussed so McCarthy could have a lower threshold that he needed to overcome.
Also yesterday, George Santos had a hard landing in Washington on his first day. The Republican congressman-elect, who has admitted to making many false claims about his background and largely has hidden from reporters, or only spoken to conservative outlets since that news broke, was unable to do so when he was here on Capitol Hill yesterday. He was seen sitting alone in the chamber, sometimes checking his phone. His fellow New York Republicans were openly criticizing him, saying that his conduct is embarrassing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen, his conduct is embarrassing, and unbecoming, and it is certainly a distraction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Of course, one of the pitfalls from yesterday is that new members were not actually sworn in because there was no House speaker. George Santos is one of those. Though his campaign website did say later on that he was sworn in. Of course, the members who may have had the worst time here, the family members for those lawmakers who brought their families here to Washington thinking they were going to be sworn in but instead you saw sleeping kids in the chambers as the McCarthy speaker fight was playing out. Bored children there as you can see in the - in the aisles. Some of them maybe wished they were in school after all because of the hours of speeches that were going on.
Of course, today, the House is expected to hold another day of voting potentially. We are waiting to see what happens. Democrats have really been reveling in the Republican disarray, saying they are bringing popcorn for today.
Ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, we're going to talk with two House Republicans, Byron Donalds, who switched his vote from speaker - his speaker vote from Kevin McCarthy to Jim Jordan yesterday, Brian Mast, who also voted for Kevin McCarthy.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And, unfortunate, Santos putting out that statement, Kaitlan, saying that he was sworn in by the speaker of the House. No speaker of the House.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: I think a lot of folks had statements ready, right, Kaitlan?
COLLINS: Yes. He wasn't the only one. But I just think the idea that it was - it was one of those moments where - also, Don, you know, we've been talking about this story so much. There was also that clip of George Santos saying that Kevin McCarthy was going to be sworn in as speaker yesterday. Obviously, that did not happen.
LEMON: Yes. It's going to be something - speaking, I think he said you can bet on it. I'll pay you, or something like that. We'll get back.
Thank you, Kaitlan. Appreciate it.
So, we want to talk now about what happened to actor Jeremy Renner, sharing this from his hospital bed. There's the photo. Thank you all for your kind words. I'm too messed up now to type, but I send love to you all. He's recovering after undergoing two surgeries.
CNN's Chloe Melas joins us now.
Chloe, good morning to you.
How's he doing? That picture - I mean he doesn't look so good in that picture? I mean -
CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Doesn't look so good, but let's keep in mind we learned in a press conference yesterday by the sheriff's office that it was a 14,000 pound snowcat.
LEMON: Wow.
MELAS: So, this is happy news today. He's alive. H's going to make a full recovery. And you saw on Instagram that selfie from the hospital bed. I spoke to a representative for him yesterday who released a statement saying he's awake, he's happy, he's talking and that the family is just still wanting the love and support and the well wishes.
HARLOW: Yes. And wasn't he trying to help someone?
MELAS: Yes. So, during the press conference we finally got those details that we've all been wanting to know. Here's what happened. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF DARIN BALAAM, WASHOE COUNTY, NY, SHERIFF'S OFFICE: After successfully towing his personal vehicle from its stuck location, Mr. Renner got out of his PistenBully to speak to his family member. At this point it's observed that the PistenBully started to roll. In an effort to stop the rolling PistenBully, Mr. Renner attempts to get back into the driver's seat of the PistenBully. Based on our investigation, it's at this point that Mr. Renner is run over by the PistenBully.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MELAS: OK, so he was towing his car that got stuck in the snow in his driveway that a family member of his was driving. He tows it with the snowcat. He gets off of the snowcat to talk to this family member, as you heard, and then that's when it started to roll and he tried to get on. Luckily, family members, neighbors rushed to his aid, brought towels, called 911. But because of the snow conditions in the area, over three feet of snow -
HARLOW: Right.
MELAS: It took officers over 30 minutes to get to him and about an hour until he was air lifted to a local hospital. But it has a happy ending, so.
LEMON: Yes, it does. And if not for that three feet of snow, providing a cushion.
HARLOW: Oh, that's a good point.
MELAS: I think it's a great point.
LEMON: Yes, it could have been much worse.
[06:40:01]
Thank you, Chloe.
MELAS: Thank you.
LEMON: Appreciate the update.
And we need to tell you that, straight ahead, Sheriff Darin Balaam will join us live here. What the sheriff's office witnessed when they arrived on the scene. So make sure you stay tuned for that.
HARLOW: We also have an update this morning on the Idaho murders. The quadruple murder suspect, Bryan Kohberger, will be extradited to Moscow, Idaho. He will face charges there. He waived extradition from Pennsylvania yesterday in front of his family. He is accused of fatality stabbing those four University of Idaho students on November 13th.
Also newly released police body camera footage shows that he was stopped twice while driving through Indiana with his father. That was about a month after the murders. So that was on December 15th.
Veronica Miracle joins us now live from Moscow.
What can you tell us? I mean that's a big development, that he was stopped twice. Do we know for what?
VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Poppy, both of those stops were apparently really short traffic violations. And he was let off with a warning both times. That first time with a sheriff, as he says in the body camera video, and then by Indiana State Police where he was following a trailer too closely. And you can hear in the video, you know, they're kind of talking back and forth. They were making that his father -- Bryan Kohberger and his father were making that cross country trip from Washington state to Pennsylvania in that white Hyundai Elantra. And authorities there in Indiana later saying that there was no flag on the license plate, there was no description outside of a white Hyundai Elantra that police were looking for in the Idaho area. So there was no reason to flag that particular instance.
Kohberger was in court yesterday. He did waive extradition, as you said. And that means that police have ten days to get him back here to the state of Idaho.
Poppy.
HARLOW: Veronica, thank you.
Buffalo Bills fans are heartbroken after Damar Hamlin's shocking on field collapse. How this city, though, is coming together in a remarkable way after the tragedy.
LEMON: Plus, a rare scene today as President Biden heads to Kentucky to make an appearance with Republican Leaders Mitch McConnell.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:46:24]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got such support. I mean, he's going to pull through, you know. That's what we're here praying for, you know. And he's a strong man, so he's doing his job, you know. We've just got to do our job and pray for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Buffalo Bills fans reeling from the latest tragedy that struck their city as safety Damar Hamlin remains in critical condition after his collapse during Monday night's game just one week ago. The Buffalo area was still trying to dig out from a deadly winter storm that's blamed for 41 deaths in Erie County.
Miguel Marquez on how the city is coping now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The world famous Niagara Falls, bathed in Bills blue. Signs of support everywhere for Buffalo Bills' safety Damar Hamlin.
KEN ROESCH, LIFETIME BILL'S FAN: I've never cried in a football game. Never cried. This is my first time that I have ever cried in a football game.
MARQUEZ: In this town, the Bills, a way of life.
LYDIA DOMINICK, FOUNDER, BUFFALO GIVES: When he does recover, I think it will be such an incredible reminder of how resilient this city is.
MARQUEZ (on camera): Buffalo is tough.
DOMINICK: Buffalo is really tough, and will continue to be even when it hurts.
MARQUEZ: But this is hard?
DOMINICK: This is hard. This is hard.
MARQUEZ (voice over): At the Bills' Highmark Stadium.
PASTOR PETER JANKOWSKI, LIFE CHURCH BUFFALO: We speak the name of Jesus over Damar.
MARQUEZ: A prayer group. Attending, some of the Bills' most hard-core fans, the Bills Mafia.
JANKOWSKI: We speak the name of Jesus over the Bills Mafia and the Buffalo community that is just reeling from another incident that has caused us to fall to our knees and cry out, God, we need you.
MARQUEZ: Helping lead those players, Jill Kelly, wife of the beloved former Bills' quarterback Jim Kelly.
MARQUEZ (on camera): Family is one word that keeps coming up as I speak to people here about what they - what they've felt.
JILL KELLY, WIFE OF RETIRED BUFFALO BILLS QUARTERBACK JIM KELLY: Yes. Yes.
MARQUEZ: The shock of seeing what they saw and the feel -
KELLY: We felt like it was your own brother. I mean especially coming from a football family, and coming from the Bills family, we were broken and Jim was a wreck. And it's - it is family. And Damar is familiar to us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is wide open. To mid field and lowers the shoulder.
MARQUEZ (voice over): A shocking injury on the field. Piled on top of a rough year for the queen city. Last May, 10 black shoppers killed at a Top's supermarket by a self-described white supremacist. And just last month, at least 42 people killed in and around Buffalo in a storm unlike anything this city, that knows snow, has ever seen.
JILLIAN HANESWORTH, BUFFALO'S POET LAUREATE AND BILLS FAN: The year we've had here, you know, it's just been one thing after another after another. We've really proven ourselves to each other. Regardless of what community I'm from, if something happens to you, I'm going to show up. And that's how we feel about our team too. They show up when things happen in the city. We are a family.
MARQUEZ: At Danny's South, next to the Bills' stadium, Darlene Zlotek, a server/bartender here for eight years, she says watching Hamlin collapse was personal.
MARQUEZ (on camera): How hard was it to see what happened there? DARLENE ZLOTEK, BILL'S FAN: Very hard. Very hard. Very heartbreaking.
Being a Bills fan, as long as I have been, the Bills aren't just a team here in Buffalo. Everybody here that considers them absolutely family.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: That is the one thing you hear from person after person, Bills fan after Bills fan, family. They feel that they are a family. And, look, the team has stepped up for the city through all the hard times over the last year, and the fans are now stepping up for Damar Hamlin, and any of the Bills that need help right now.
[06:50:09]
Don.
LEMON: Miguel, in Buffalo. Miguel, thank you so much. Appreciate that.
Up next, a CNN exclusive, how U.S. and western technology ended up in Iranian-made drones being used to attack Ukraine.
HARLOW: And California is bracing for a series of powerful and potentially deadly storms to start of the new year. We'll take you there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE (through translator): Only two days have passed since the beginning of the year and the number of Iranian drones shot down over Ukraine is already more than 80. This number may increase in the near future.
We have information that Russia is planning a prolonged attack with (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[06:55:02]
HARLOW: That is Ukraine's president, Zelenskyy, talking about how they are bracing for stepped up attacks by Russia using Iranian-made drones. But some of what's inside of those drones, actually a lot of it, is American-made. This is according to an intelligence assessment obtained exclusively by our colleague, Natasha Bertrand. She joins us now.
You've been on top of this reporting really since they found that drone that was downed. What are the latest developments?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Poppy. So, the Ukrainian intelligence assessment that we obtained found that actually of the 52 components that they removed from this drowned Iranian Shahed drone last year, 40 of them were actually made by American companies, American manufacturers.
Now, this is a really stark number, right, because so many of these parts that the Iranians are using to make the drones that are then attacking Ukraine via Russia are actually being made in the U.S. and the west. And, of course, this is not a strictly American problem. We also found that the remaining components, those remaining 12 components that the Ukrainians examined, were made by companies in Canada, Taiwan, China, and Switzerland. So, it's really a global issue here. And it's one that the Ukrainians are really trying to get the Biden administration to address.
And they actually shared this intelligence assessment with the U.S. late last year to try to say, we need to do more about this to try to confront this problem because, as Zelenskyy said there, this is not going to go away any time soon. The Russians are using these drones relentlessly against Ukraine.
Poppy.
HARLOW: OK. Natasha Bertrand, thank you very much for that reporting. Keep us posted.
Well, hours from now, the House reconvenes. Can Kevin McCarthy wrangle Republicans enough that he needs to become speaker?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:00:00]
