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CNN This Morning
Democracy Under Attack as Protestors Lay Siege in Brazil; Biden Visits Border for First Time as President; Damar Hamlin to Be Released from Hospital in Coming Days; McCarthy Must Pass House Rules after Historic Speaker Fight; Prince Harry Gives Interview on Royal Rift. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired January 09, 2023 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: This week, today and tomorrow, and it doesn't look like this moisture is going to go away any time soon, so we could see even more.
[06:00:08]
And as you can see, Christine, that range is coming on in.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR/CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Sure is. All right. Jennifer Gray, we know you'll be following it for us. Thank you so much.
All right. Thanks for joining me. I'm Christine Romans. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, would you look at that? That's an attack on democracy with echoes, of course, of January 6th.
Good morning, everyone. What you've been looking at are protesters in Brazil storming three seats of power, the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court, over election conspiracies. Familiar, right?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And those questions about not just familiarity but, like, the actual connection between the two.
LEMON: Yes, yes. So what sparked these riots? We're going to tell you all about it. We'll get into it in a little bit here.
COLLINS: Also, President Biden has just visited the Southern border for the first time since taking office, but he did not meet or interact with any migrants while he was there on the ground. How the White House is explaining that.
Also this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR/CBS NEWS'S "60 MINUTES" CORRESPONDENT: Do you speak to William now? Do you text?
PRINCE HARRY, UNITED KINGDOM: Currently, no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. A really revealing interview, Prince Harry opening up about his brother, his late mother, all of the royal leaks to the media. Why he accuses the queen consort of being, in his words, quote, "dangerous."
LEMON: You can see it's a very busy Monday morning here. We're going to begin with what's called Brazil's January 6th, with rioters attacking that country's seat of government.
This is what it looks like in Brasilia right now. That's where troops are lining up across from those protesters. Again, look at the pictures on your screen. The deadline to clear them now just four hours away after this happened yesterday.
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LEMON: Those rioters are supporter of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Stormed and vandalized Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace on Sunday.
Security forces used tear gas to clear protestors and regain control of the buildings. Officials declaring overnight the riots are over. At least 400 people are under arrest this morning.
The unrest coming a week after the inauguration of President Lula da Silva, who is vowing to punish those responsible for the attacks.
Straight now to CNN's Rafael Romo, tracking the developments for us this morning. Rafael, good morning to you. What is the situation in Brazil's capital this morning?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Good morning, Don.
Well, it's under control, but it looks like a war zone. And I'm going to paint the picture of what transpired in the last 24 hours. Imagine for a moment that the January 6th mob here in the United States had not only breached the Capitol but also the White House and the Supreme Court building.
That's exactly what happened in Brazil Sunday, an insurrection that ended with the arrests of at least 400 people, left the main public buildings in the country inoperable, and deepened a political crisis that has been brewing for months.
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ROMO (voice-over): Brazil boiling over. Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed key buildings in the country's capital Sunday, breaching security barriers and temporarily occupying the country's Congress, presidential palace, and Supreme Court.
Masses of protesters flooded the country's seat of power, many dressed in the colors of Brazil's flag, yellow and green, fueled by anger and distrust over Bolsonaro's defeat in a run-off election last October, where he lost by less than 2 percentage points to current president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Protesters threw objects and scaled the roofs of building while clashing with police, who responded with tear gas. At least one protestor was seen sitting at the desk of Brazil's Congress president.
CNN Brasil reports the floor of the Congress building was flooding after the sprinkler system activated when protesters attempted to set fire to the carpet.
By evening, police began dispersing the rioters from buildings and arrested hundreds of people, who were detained in buses before being taken to the police station.
President Lula da Silva, who was inaugurated just a week ago, described the events as barbaric and vowed to punish the people responsible.
LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Those people that we call fascist. We call them everything that's abominable in politics. They invaded the government headquarters, and they invaded the Congress like vandals, destroying everything in their path.
ROMO (voice-over): President Lula da Silva also blamed his predecessor for the lack of security in the Capitol, where Bolsonaro's supporters have been camped out for over a week.
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Bolsonaro, who is currently in Florida, denounced what he called the "depredations and invasions" of public buildings in a tweet, adding that "peaceful" and "lawful" demonstrations are part of democracy.
But critics say Bolsonaro may have stirred up the crowds by repeatedly saying, without evidence, that he questioned the integrity of the country's electronic voting system.
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ROMO: More details have emerged overnight about how violent some of the pro-Bolsonaro protesters became. Don, at least 12 journalists were attacked, robbed, or had their equipment destroyed.
Now back to you.
LEMON: Just an awful situation. Thank you. Rafael, appreciate that -- Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Now also this morning, President Biden is in Mexico after he visited the Southern border yesterday for the first time since taking office.
During a tightly-controlled visit to El Paso, Biden met with Border Patrol officers, lawmakers, and local officials, but he didn't appear to actually meet with any of the migrants or see any of them, including as he visited a migrant aid center while he was there on the ground.
The White House says that's because there were no migrants there at the time. They said it was a coincidence.
But CNN reporting does show there are still hundreds of migrants living on the streets of El Paso, including children, as we've been showing you in our reporting.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is live in Mexico City.
Priscilla, you know, the president has been facing backlash from both Democrats and Republicans when it comes to immigration. Obviously, it's not any simple solution. What did he see while he was there actually on the ground?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, and to that point, Kaitlan, he has been facing growing calls to visit the U.S./Mexico border as the administration deals with a record-breaking surge of migrants.
And on Sunday, he was forced to face that political problem that, up until this point, has no quick or easy solution. And that was clear from the outset.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a fierce critic of the Biden administration, greeted Biden when he arrived and gave him a letter. That letter criticizing the administration's immigration approach.
Now, over the course of the hours'-long visit, the president went to a port of entry. He went to the border wall. And he went to that migrant processing center that you mentioned earlier, where he didn't appear to see migrants.
Now, advocates say he essentially left the visit without seeing the worst of the humanitarian crisis, a crisis, Kaitlan, that remains a challenge for the administration and one that Biden is very likely to talk about here in Mexico during the North American leaders' summit.
COLLINS: Yes, what else is on the agenda today? Because I know this is really going to be the first time we see these three leaders get in a room together by themselves to talk about these really critical important issues. What else is on the agenda, though? ALVAREZ: Well, today he's going to have a bilateral meeting with
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and Kaitlan, it is clear that the administration needs Mexico when it comes to enforcing the U.S./Mexico border.
We saw this just last week with an announcement that they were going to open up a parole program for Nicaraguans, Cubans, Haitians, and Venezuelans, and also expel those back into Mexico who didn't come through that program.
So that requires buy-in from Mexico. These are the type of issues that are going to come up here along with the Canadian prime minister -- Kaitlan.
COLLINS: All right, Priscilla Alvarez. Thanks so much for that update.
And now this also this morning.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miami and the Jets were under way as New England decided to defer after winning the toss. And here's Heinz on the runback, breaking a tackle, then taking it past midfield. And down the sideline he goes. This is story book. An opening kick-off return for Damar Hamlin, and this place is absolutely going wild.
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HARLOW: It was so great. Watched that on the plane last night. That was the moment the Buffalo Bills scored on the opening kick-off. They went on to win the game, an emotional victory against the New England Patriots.
And Hamlin watched the action, Damar Hamlin, from his hospital bed. He posted this picture here, rooting on his teammates.
Players across the league showed their love, their support for Hamlin on the final Sunday of the NFL regular season.
Our Coy Wire was there, of course, a former safety for the Buffalo Bills.
You were there. I'm so glad they had that victory. And what an emotional one to have, Coy. What was it like to be there?
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: As star quarterback Josh Allen said, it was spiritual. As head coach Sean McDermott said, it was a celebration of life.
People around the world have come together, Poppy, to show support and spread love through tragedy after tragedy that have happened here in Buffalo, and the players feel it.
Here's one of the stars of the team, pro-bowl lineman Dion Dawkins reflecting on the remarkable culmination of moments for this team, this city, and No. 3, Damar Hamlin. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Dion, this is where it all went down.
DION DAWKINS, BUFFALO BILLS LINEMAN: Absolutely, man.
WIRE: What was that like?
DAWKINS: It's -- The crazy thing is I want to give you the perfect answer, but it is so emotional. Like, it is so emotional and it's so ecstatic. Because usually, they announce either the offense or the defense, and today we came out as a team.
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And like, when we're all in there and you can just feel everybody's intensity. And you can just feel everybody's motive and direction, it was just amazing. It truly was.
WIRE: One again. But then for the first time you're back on this field since the tragedy occurred.
DAWKINS: Yes.
WIRE: And it's a kickoff return for a touchdown.
DAWKINS: Doesn't happen.
WIRE: It hadn't happened for the Bills -- three years and three months ago was the last time that happened.
DAWKINS: Three years and three months?
WIRE: Yes.
DAWKINS: That's -- see, like that's that goose bump weird stuff. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's numbers, and those numbers don't lie. And that just shows you that -- that God is so real. He is so real, man. He's so real.
And I'm just like so blessed to be a part of it. You know? And it happened twice. Happened twice today. So you really can't make this stuff up, man. You really can't.
WIRE: So Damar is live-tweeting the game.
DAWKINS: Yes.
WIRE: And after that happened, he tweeted, "OMFG" -- exclamation point. If you don't know what that means, ask somebody but not around children.
DAWKINS: Or Google it.
WIRE: So what was going through your mind when -- when that happened? DAWKINS: You know, seeing it happen and just looking at it, it just
makes everybody just go into an uproar. And we're looking, and we just see him go and go and go and go and go.
I jump up like a giant kid, run all the way down the sideline, and I'm just ecstatic.
WIRE: Star quarterback Josh Allen called it spiritual.
JOSH ALLEN, QUARTERBACK, BUFFALO BILLS: It really was bone chilling, like it was -- it was special. The whole way, I think, the nation came together in support of Damar, and you know, we've had a lot of talks we maybe wouldn't have had without something like this happening.
WIRE: Like Damar tweeted earlier this week, he said, you know, you put real love out there, it comes back three times as much.
DAWKINS: It's the truth.
WIRE: It's incredible. This week has been an emotional roller coaster. How do you sum up where this week started?
DAWKINS: You're at a low. And I mean, you're at a real low. A low that you're just like, man, first of all I'm scared to play football. We don't know what is going to happen.
That was a routine thing that happened, and we all do routine things every play, so it could have been any one of us. I know for myself I'm thinking about pulling and what if I accidentally get hit the wrong way.
From bringing us there to the grind of the whole week and his father, like, speaking to us and giving us, just like a huge shot of energy. And then McDermott bringing the face-time call on and then us actually hearing his voice and seeing his face and seeing him put his arms up and his heart up.
You know, like, those were all huge energy sources that just hit us. You know, like -- But I almost like whatever, a cannon, just boom, dropped right on us.
And then now, to this moment now of happy tears, and these happy tears are real tears, as well as the sad tears. And just to see that, when a group comes together, we put our mind to it, and we got it done.
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WIRE: Our thanks to Dion Dawkins for that, Poppy.
This story went from being about Hamlin to being about humanity. From the tears and fear to start the week to the tears of joy and outpouring of support we've witnessed. One heart may have stopped, but it made the whole world come together to beat as one.
HARLOW: Aww. It really did. And when you said those happy tears, it says so much. Coy, how great to see you on that field again. It must have felt pretty good, right, to be back with some happy news to share.
WIRE: It did. This smile is not going anywhere.
HARLOW: I bet. Thank you, friend.
All right. So the NFL playoffs matchups are now set. Super Wild Card Weekend begins Saturday with two games at San Francisco and Jacksonville. Sunday's triple header includes Buffalo, with Miami and, of course, Minnesota, thank you very much yesterday. It was a great day for us, the Vikings.
Then on Monday night, the Cowboys and the Bucs meet in Tampa. The Chiefs and the Eagles are the first-round byes as the first seat in each conference.
And Aaron Rodgers, will he play again? Listen to what he told someone who asked for his jersey last night after the Packers were eliminated.
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AARON RODGERS, GREEN BAY PACKERS: I've got to hold onto this one.
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HARLOW: Speculation is running wild that Rodgers may retire or possibly be traded next season -- guys.
LEMON: And this morning, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy facing a whole new slate of challenges after his historic floor fight last week.
He now must find a way to pass a package of House rules after making major concessions weakening his own power.
CNN's Jessica Dean, live on Capitol Hill with more.
Jessica, this is becoming your home away from home. Good morning to you. What are we expecting today?
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's just set up a cot here, Don. We will get a lot more rest.
We are expecting more drama to play out likely, so we have Kevin McCarthy now, officially the House speaker, after going through all of those votes last week.
And now you mentioned this rules package, and it sounds like we really are getting in the weeds here. We are a little bit. But they've got to pass that to really set the stage for everything moving forward.
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It's what every new House does in the majority, and this is -- that's typical.
What is atypical about all of this is that there are some pretty major concessions and changes in this package. You mentioned some of them, but this is how McCarthy and his allies were kind of wheeling and dealing to get him the gavel.
One of those, of course, making it easier to oust him as speaker of the House. Now, only one person can call for that vote, instead of half the conference. That's a pretty big change.
There's also a lot of spending cuts, different committees, that sort of thing. But the wrinkle is going to be that, remember, he has this very slim majority. He can only afford to lose four votes.
And already, on Friday, when we thought they might be going with this after that vote, we had already heard from Representative Tony Gonzales that he wasn't going to support the rules package over concerns for cuts in defense spending.
So we're going to see more of this. This is going to become very regular that he's going to have these really close calls because he's just got this wide spectrum within his party.
LEMON: I just have one question for you, Jessica. Did you and Poppy call each other this morning?
DEAN: I was going to say it. I saw Poppy pop up on the screen. It looks good, Poppy.
HARLOW: Looks better on you, girlfriend.
DEAN: You look great.
HARLOW: Kaitlan says great minds dress alike.
DEAN: I like to think that, as well. It looks great.
LEMON: Thanks, have a great day.
HARLOW: Love that.
LEMON: Nice outfit choice.
COLLINS: We also have some new CNN reporting this morning on Biden's struggle to get federal judges confirmed in the South. We'll tell you what's behind it, how much is the actual Trump factor here.
Also, this --
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PRINCE HARRY, UNITED KINGDOM: None of anything that I've written or anything I've included is ever intended to hurt my family, but it does give a full picture of the situation.
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HARLOW: Yes. What an interview. Prince Harry revealing more about the royal rift with his family, ahead of the release of his memoir. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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COLLINS: In an explosive interview with Anderson Cooper on "60 Minutes," Prince Harry revealed details about his fractured relationship with his family, including just how deep that riff really goes.
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COOPER: Do you speak to William now? Do you text?
PRINCE HARRY: Currently, no. But I look forward to -- I look forward to us being able to find peace.
COOPER: How long has it been since you spoke?
PRINCE HARRY: A while.
COOPER: Do you speak to your dad?
PRINCE HARRY: We haven't spoken for quite a while. Not recently.
COOPER: Can you see a day when you would return, as a full-time member of the royal family?
PRINCE HARRY: No. I can't see that happening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: This interview was Harry's first with a U.S. outlet in advance of the publication of his new memoir, "Spare," which is being released online tonight.
Joining us now to talk about it and the takeaways are CNN NEWSROOM anchors and correspondent Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo. This is just remarkable in the sense of what the depth of what he's dealing here.
I just can't get over all of the revelations about how intimate he's willing to go, about truly his family details, the fact that he's not speaking with his brother or speaking with his father.
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: It's remarkable for a number of reasons. First of all, to have anybody, whoever they are, share this level of personal divulgence about their own lives, drug taking, loss of virginity, and their family's life, how they've responded to grief in key moments of their life, is striking. But especially when it's the British monarchy, who are known for never complain, never explain, never adjusting these things, keeping a stiff upper lip.
It just makes the whole thing a lot more mind-bending.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: You get a sense of why he's doing it from these incidents, as well. It's definitely damaging the monarchy. He believes in monarchy. He says he didn't want to hurt the family. So he does explain himself a bit better in these interviews, but more revelations.
HARLOW: Should we play what he said? We're going to play for our viewers who might have missed it, especially what he said about his late mother, Princess Diana.
I was so struck, watching Anderson's interview about how -- for how long he felt like he wasn't given the full truth. I think he still doesn't think he was. And that for years, he thought perhaps his mother was still alive. But let's listen to this.
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COOPER: You didn't believe she was dead?
PRINCE HARRY: For a long -- for a long time. I just refused to accept that she was -- she was gone. Part of, you know, she would never do this to us, but also part of, maybe this is all part of a plan.
COOPER: I mean, you really believed that maybe she had just decided to disappear for a time.
PRINCE HARRY: For a time and she would call us, and we would go and join her.
COOPER: How long did you believe that?
PRINCE HARRY: Years. Many, many years. William and I talked about it, as well. He had -- he had similar thoughts.
COOPER: You write in the book, you say, "I'd often say to myself first thing in the morning, maybe this is the day. Maybe this is the day that she's going to reappear."
PRINCE HARRY: Yes. Hope. I had huge amounts of hope.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: I wonder what you both thought when you heard that?
FOSTER: Well, you know, I think, you know, that was a very compelling part of Anderson's interview. He really got into Harry's head. And no one can argue with any of what he says around, you know, how he was affected by his mother's death. And he really explains it really well.
I think it was a -- you know, a historic interview, in that context. A lot of the issues in this country is how he translates to what he experienced there to the modern part of the story.
NOBILO: Yes. And it's hugely significant what he says about Princess Diana, because she is the presence felt throughout this entire book, in terms of my personal reaction. I think anybody that's lost a parent can really understand that head space and that kind of bargaining and denial that you go through.
But also, it helps us understand this fixation that he has with the British media and the British tabloid press, because we know about the role that they played in Princess Diana's death in that tunnel.
FOSTER: It's undeniable.
NOBILO: It is undeniable. And throughout these interviews, the refrain we hear from Prince Harry is constantly about the press being the antagonists, about being the problem, about that being part of the mission that he feels it's his responsibility to try and change.
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LEMON: And the relationship he -- you know, between the media and his mother's death, but the relationship between Meghan and the media.
And people saying that, you know, believing that Meghan was the reason that the rifts in the family occurred. But he says not so in this interview. Let's listen to this.
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PRINCE HARRY: He was shouting at me. I was shouting back at him. It wasn't nice. It wasn't pleasant at all. And he snapped. And he pushed me to the floor.
COOPER: He knocked you over?
PRINCE HARRY: He knocked me over. I landed on a dog bowl.
COOPER: You cut your back?
PRINCE HARRY: Yes, I cut my back. I didn't know about it at that time. But yes, he apologized afterwards. There was a pretty nasty experience.
None of anything that I've written or anything I've included is ever intended to hurt my family, but it does give a full picture of the situation as we were growing up. And also, squashes this idea that somehow, my wife was the one that destroyed the relationship between these two brothers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: You know, it's -- it's odd to say this, but it's comparable to sort of Yoko Ono breaking up the Beatles, right? He wants people to know that his -- it wasn't his wife that started this rift between he and his brother. It happened long before Meghan Markle stepped in the picture. And this is just sort of what happened afterwards, right? On top of that, right?
FOSTER: Yes. Yes. And I didn't realize, he says, basically, that Kate and William didn't get on with Meghan from the get-go. And he says that they were stereotyping her as, you know, this American actress, biracial.
And then, you know, he is asked by ITV about the racism, as well, specifically saying you accused the family of being racist. He's very clear. He said, We never accused the family of being racist. I don't think they are racist.
He talks about, you know, this is something different, you know, in relation to the color of the baby that was on the way. He said we weren't accusing them of being a racist.
So he's trying to really explain where he's coming from. I think it's confusing to a lot of people, but he says it's all about his truth.
HARLOW: Thank you both very much. Everyone here is saying we can't wait to read the book and hear him in his own words. We appreciate it, Max and Bianca. Thank you.
Ahead, Anderson will join us. He's the one who did that sit-down interview with Prince Harry for "60 Minutes." He'll be with us a little bit later in the program.
LEMON: And a first date turned into a nightmare. How one woman said she escaped after her online date attacked her and held her captive for days.
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