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Double-Amputee Man With A Knife Is Shot And Killed By Police; Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY) On McCarthy's Meeting With Biden On Debt Ceiling; Green Comet Passes Earth For The First Time Since Stone Age. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 02, 2023 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Man, that was such a moving --

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Wow.

LEMON: That was very well done. I mean, the Rev. Al Sharpton really -- he gave a brilliant eulogy. Preached a eulogy. It was -- it was fantastic.

HARLOW: Fifty years -- like more than 50 years after --

LEMON: Fifty-five.

HARLOW: -- Dr. King said that.

LEMON: Yes. Yes.

HARLOW: Right?

LEMON: Yes.

HARLOW: Wow.

LEMON: And by the way, in the same church -- the same sanctuary that he gave that --

HARLOW: That's right.

LEMON: -- mountaintop speech the night before he was --

HARLOW: Still climbing.

LEMON: Still climbing.

HARLOW: OK, let's talk about California where a community is outraged this morning after a double-amputee accused of stabbing someone was shot and killed by police -- not in his wheelchair but on the stumps of his leg.

Our Stephanie Elam is tracking this story. Good morning, Stephanie. What happened?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy.

This is going to probably be difficult for some people to watch but this is raising questions about how much force is needed to stop someone even if they are a stabbing suspect when they're missing both of their legs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YATOYA TOY, ANTHONY LOWE'S SISTER: This is a man, a father, a son, a brother who was gunned down by the police.

ELAM (voice-over): A double-amputee out of his wheelchair. Huntington Park police officers pursuing the man as he moves away. Bystander videos on social media purportedly capturing the moments before police shot that man to death, sparking renewed concerns about the excessive use of force by law enforcement.

JONATHAN LONGMIRE, ANTHONY LOWE'S COUSIN: If you guys are here to protect and serve us, protect us, serve us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Protect us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Serve us.

LONGMIRE: Don't kill us.

ELAM (voice-over): His family confirming to CNN the man in the videos is 36-year-old Anthony Lowe.

CLIFF SMITH, ORGANIZER, COALITION FOR COMMUNITY CONTROL OVER THE POLICE: There could be absolutely no justification for the use of lethal force. No justification for shooting Anthony.

ELAM (voice-over): In one video, two officers are seen pointing weapons at Lowe who moves away from them with something shiny in his hand. The officers walk after him but then a police cruiser arrives blocking that vantage point.

From a different video on social media, another officer joins the other two following after Lowe. As another cruiser arrives the three officers reach for their weapons.

(Gunshots)

From this angle, the moment is seen when the officers open fire.

In a statement, Huntington Park Police said they were responding to a stabbing class last Thursday afternoon where the victim said a man dismounted the wheelchair, ran to the victim without provocation, and stabbed him in the side of the chest with a 12-inch butcher knife before fleeing the scene on the wheelchair. The department said two tasers were ineffective in subduing the man as the suspect ignored their verbal commands and threatened to advance or throw the knife at the officers.

ELAM (on camera): Would it change the way you would approach somebody if they were a double-amputee?

CHERYL DORSEY, RETIRED LAPD SERGEANT WHO SPENT 20 YEARS IN PATROL: There are times, certainly, when deadly force is necessary. Given the fact that this guy was a double-amputee and could only move so swiftly, my mindset would have been to try to corral him, but I did not see imminent threat of deadly injury to the officers or anyone else.

ELAM (voice-over): Officials said Lowe was pronounced dead at the scene and the police officers involved are on paid administrative leave while the Huntington Park Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's homicide bureau investigate.

The county's district attorney's office told CNN it will investigate once LASD completes its investigation, saying, "Los Angeles County deserves to know how and why these incidents have occurred."

Ebonique Simon, the mother of Lowe's 15-year-old son, telling CNN he had been dealing with a lot of depression after losing his legs in an incident that happened about a year ago.

EBONIQUE SIMON, MOTHER OF LOWE'S 15-YEAR-OLD SON: I just want justice and the truth for my son.

ELAM (voice-over): Lowe's mother distraught and in disbelief.

DOROTHY LOWE, ANTHONY LOWE'S MOTHER: They murdered my son, in a wheelchair, with no legs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: And Cheryl Dorsey, that retired LAPD sergeant that you saw me speaking with, was saying that part of that video is not viewable and so there will be a need for more investigation to know exactly what happened and that she could see things that were done wrong on both sides. Perhaps Mr. Lowe could not have run away from the officers and that also, they could have used every other way to stop him other than deadly force.

And I should also mention, Don and Poppy, that the family is expected to file a wrongful death lawsuit later today.

LEMON: Wow.

HARLOW: OK.

LEMON: It's just disturbing to watch.

HARLOW: Right. We don't know, Steph, right, everything else that may have been used -- a taser, et cetera?

ELAM: We do know that a taser was used. We do know that.

HARLOW: But on top of that.

ELAM: We do know that they -- right. But they also said that they were yelling commands to him. But because part of that video is absconded we still don't know. I reached out to the police chief yesterday --and I have not heard back -- to find out more --

HARLOW: OK.

ELAM: -- clarity about what happened here.

HARLOW: Thank you for the reporting.

Let's go back to Kaitlan in Washington.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, back here on Capitol Hill, we're going to be joined by New York Congressman Dan Goldman next on what he expects to come from the current economic stalemate over the debt ceiling.

And ahead, we're also going to take you live to the fierce battle that is playing out on Ukraine's eastern front where Sam Kiley is.

[07:35:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Ukrainians say the situation here is reminiscent of some of the worst times in World War II where they're not only fighting a strong adversary but the elements as well.

(COMMERCIAL)

COLLINS: In just moments from now President Biden is going to be here on Capitol Hill for the National Prayer Breakfast. That comes after Speaker Kevin McCarthy's trip yesterday to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue when Biden hosted him at the White House. McCarthy left that meeting sounding cautiously optimistic about finding a path forward to raising the debt ceiling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): You know what? The president and I had a --

I thought the meeting today was a good first start. That doesn't mean that it all comes to fruition but walking out I can see that it could come together. I was -- and I was very hopeful from the meeting. It was better than I thought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman from New York, who was previously the lead counsel in Trump's first impeachment trial and is now on the House Oversight and Homeland Security Committees, as well as the subcommittee on the Weaponization of Federal Government. We'll talk about that in a minute.

[07:40:00] But first on Kevin McCarthy sounding so optimistic coming out of that meeting and the White House kind of softening their language as well. Are you as optimistic as Kevin McCarthy is that they're actually going to find a path forward here?

REP. DANIEL GOLDMAN (D-NY): Well, it -- we need to take a step back and remember what we're talking about here. The Republicans want to hold the president and the Democrats hostage to make future spending cuts in order to pay our past debts. And they should be separate and I think that's what President Biden said.

This is not about paying our -- raising the debt ceiling is not about future spending. It's about paying our past debts, over 25 percent of which was caused by Donald Trump and his administration.

So the Republicans are happy to raise the debt ceiling when there's a Republican president but they're going to try to hold the Democrats hostage. And I think the readout from the White House was very clear. Let's talk about spending separate from the debt ceiling because if we do not raise the debt ceiling we will cause a global economic crisis.

COLLINS: But given Republicans are in the majority is the White House position that there should be no cuts, realistic. Not the way you believe it should or should not be, but is it realistic that is what's going to be the end of the road here?

GOLDMAN: Well, let's remember, right? Kevin McCarthy can say what he wants but he truly does not control the fringe elements of his party, and we saw that in the speaker's race.

And what they are very clear about is that they want to cut Social Security. They want to cut Medicare. They want to cut the entitlements that Americans depend on and that is a clear nonstarter for Democrats.

COLLINS: You are on this new subcommittee that is on the weaponization of the federal government as Republicans are framing it. Jim Jordan is going to be running it.

What is your role as a Democrat on that committee going to look like?

GOLDMAN: Look, they can dress it up and call it whatever they want but in reality what this is is the subcommittee to obstruct justice. It has incredibly broad powers, including to conduct oversight over ongoing criminal investigations. Well, what are the ongoing criminal investigations that they want to conduct oversight of? The January 6 investigation into not only Donald Trump but House Republicans themselves.

And so what our role as Democrats is to be the sober adult in the room that talks about facts, talks about truth, defends our democratic institutions, defends the rule of law, and that's what we will do.

I spent 10 years in the Department of Justice working alongside the FBI. I worked on the House Intelligence Committee. And I understand how the system actually works. I have yet to see the Republicans demonstrate that understanding. And we will bring out for the American people exactly how things do work, not how they say they work.

COLLINS: Yes, we'll see what that looks like.

George Santos -- you're from New York and George Santos is now facing another investigation. We're told FBI agents are looking into the role that he allegedly played in the GoFundMe scheme where this disabled veteran that we had on our air talked about how they thought they were raising money for his animal. It was his dying service dog.

What is your reaction to just learning about another investigation into a fellow New York lawmaker of yours?

GOLDMAN: Look, I prosecuted fraud defendants for 10 years and I can tell you that George Santos has all of the hallmarks of those defendants. And what they -- what I learned in doing that is there's never one lie. There's never one fraud. If someone is going to lie as pervasively as George Santos has in order to have the gall to defraud the voters to get into Congress, I suspect there are plenty of other things that he has also lied about.

And so we know now about this GoFundMe account. We know about this Harbor City Capital Ponzi scheme that he was involved in. So I am sure that --

COLLINS: What else do you think he's lied about?

GOLDMAN: Well, we know -- I know -- I mean, more and more continues to come out. And so I suspect that the DOJ is not only investigating his campaign finances which have glaring red sirens but also perhaps additional conduct that continues to come out. The GoFundMe, the Ponzi scheme -- you know, who knows what else.

COLLINS: Overnight, CNN reported that Hunter Biden and his attorneys want there to be investigations into a computer repair shop owner, Rudy Giuliani, and other right-wing figures who they say are responsible for the dissemination of the contents of his laptop.

Do you think there is legal merit for something like that based on your past role as a prosecutor?

GOLDMAN: Look, I think what you have to recognize in all of this is that the person who brought the laptop to the fore was Rudy Giuliani and this was in the aftermath of Giuliani's clear inappropriate conduct regarding Ukraine. He was at the lynchpin for Donald Trump's extortion of Ukraine. And so Rudy Giuliani, at this point, has no credibility.

[07:45:00]

And I think that that's something that we on the Oversight Committee will be looking into. According to chairman Jim Comer, they are going to be looking into Hunter Biden's laptop.

But the American people don't care about Hunter Biden's laptop. They care about delivering -- Congress delivering results. And so I am certainly cognizant of the fact that we need to make sure that we're focusing on the issues that the American people care about.

COLLINS: Don has a question for you about what's happening here, of course, on Capitol Hill today. Don, what did you want to ask the congressman?

LEMON: Oh, good morning, Congressman. Thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.

Look, I just want to ask you about where you stand on Republicans and the committee assignments for Ilhan Omar. I would assume that you're not in support of her being removed from committees. The vote is going to be today.

GOLDMAN: Yes. Look, I'm -- as a proud American Jew, I'm not thrilled about the antisemitic comments that she and many others have made, but this is just clear retribution that Kevin McCarthy agreed to in order to become Speaker of the House.

And when you look at Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar being removed from their committees in a bipartisan way because they threatened violence against other members of Congress, we're talking about apples and oranges.

And this is just more Republican overreach, more revenge to appease the far-right fringe of the party, and we will not stand for that on the Democratic side.

LEMON: I'm just wondering what kind of -- how you feel being put in that position because -- and I just want to explain to our viewers she's -- they're saying they want her off these committees because of past antisemitic statements. She apologized in 2019 for some comments. She has since defended some of her criticism of Israel.

So as a Jewish person in Congress, I'm just wondering how you feel about that because that has to put you in an uncomfortable position to have to defend her as a Jewish American.

GOLDMAN: Look, I'm very concerned about antisemitism and the rise of antisemitism around the country. The statistics are alarming. And you have the former president sitting down to dinner with a Holocaust denier and a raging antisemite in Kanye West. You have Marjorie Taylor Greene talking about Jewish space lasers.

This is a major, major problem that we are facing. But the antidote to it is not to remove someone from a congressional committee who was selected by the other party. This is more overreach that I think -- and more abuse of the role of the Speaker of the House. You know, the Republicans want revenge but they always go a step too far, and this is a step too far.

LEMON: Thank you for answering that, Congressman. I appreciate it.

COLLINS: And one last question before you go. The FBI -- yesterday, we saw -- searched a third property of President Biden's when it comes to this classified documents investigation. You've weighed in on this before saying that you believe that they are being cooperative. Do you think the White House is being transparent enough about how this investigation is progressing and what we're finding out?

GOLDMAN: It's not on the White House to update the American public on a DOJ investigation. I think we've completely moved away from the norms that existed before Donald Trump that the White House and the Department of Justice are entirely separate. And --

COLLINS: Well, what about what President Biden's personal attorney said? Because they're -- they've been -- Bob Bauer has been the one who has been telling us no classified documents were found, but it was only because reporters saw these black SUVs and sedans going to Biden's Rehoboth home that we knew another search was happening yesterday.

GOLDMAN: Well, I don't know exactly how it has happened. They have been very forthcoming about the actions that the FBI has taken. The White House has been and President Biden's personal lawyers have been incredibly cooperative with the Department's investigation, which is in direct contrast to President Trump who defied a grand jury subpoena to turn over documents.

And I think that everybody recognizes that there's an issue with maintaining classified documents in classified settings and secured settings that now we have the two -- the current -- the former president, the former vice president. This is an issue that hopefully, Congress will address.

But when we're talking about the response to the issue, the -- we have apples and oranges between President Biden being completely cooperative and Donald Trump being completely obstructionist.

COLLINS: Congressman Dan Goldman, a lot of topics we got to this morning, so thank you for joining us --

GOLDMAN: It's great to have me.

COLLINS: -- so much.

All right, Don and Poppy, back to you.

LEMON: Thank you, guys.

So, did you see it up in the sky last night? A green comet made its closest approach to Earth in 50,000 years.

HARLOW: So cool.

LEMON: Almost as long as I've been alive. Incredible pictures, next.

HARLOW: I've got to show this to the kids.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:54:00] HARLOW: Did you see this? For the first time since the Stone Age, 50,000 years ago, an extremely rare glowing green comet streaking past Earth. Scientists say this comet's orbit reaches the farthest edges of the solar system, which is why it took so long to come back.

Kristin Fisher is with us now. I was just saying I can't wait to show this to the kids. It's amazing.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: I know, and if you were able to get outside and see this last night it would have been really cool. But to see it you have to really get outside of the city lights and perhaps even use binoculars or a telescope. That's really what would let you see this thing in the night sky.

And what you're looking at is -- the reason it's that green hue is because of the way a molecule inside the comet is interacting with ultraviolet light from the sun. That reaction is what produces that green hue. And so as it gets closer and closer to the sun that's how it and why it takes on that color.

[05:55:04]

And so, Poppy, one of the amazing things about this comet is that it was only discovered less than a year ago -- last March -- so it's pretty new.

And then just in terms of the timeline -- I mean, like you said, I am regretting that I did not get up in the middle of the night and see this last night because it will not be back for about 50,000 years.

HARLOW: Oh, man. Well, thank you for bringing it to us this morning.

FISHER: You bet.

HARLOW: Thanks, Kristin.

Tom Brady bowing out. Next hour we're going to be looking back at his career -- the career of the GOAT. We're going to speak to the man who was there in the beginning. New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft will join us ahead.

LEMON: And could artificial intelligence trump human intelligence and take our jobs?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which jobs is AI coming after first?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're a middle manager you're doomed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL)

[08:00:00]