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Erin Burnett Outfront

Pelosi Pushes For A Vote On Biden Spending Bill; Key Moderate Democrat Says Not Enough Votes; Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) Discusses About The Timing Of The Vote On Biden Massive Spending Bill In The House; Judge Question Trump's Effort To Block Congress From 700 Plus Docs; Justice Department Sues Texas Over New Voting Restrictions; Witness Testifies That Man Lunged At Rittenhouse As He Was Shot; Biden Admin Announces Jan 4 Deadline For Employer Vaccine Rule. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired November 04, 2021 - 19:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I'll be reporting from the National Cathedral. Thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, Pelosi twisting arms, still scrambling to secure enough support to vote on Biden's massive spending bill tonight, but there are major sticking points like what's actually in the bill.

Plus, one state's investigation into Trump's attempt to overturn the election is expanding, investigators now looking into whether Trump committed a crime.

And Biden sets a deadline for more than 100 million American workers to get vaccinated. Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight the breaking news. They still don't have the votes. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushing hard all day because she wants to vote tonight on Biden's $1.75 trillion spending bill. But it does not appear as of now that this is happening. Because it appears that Democrats still do not even know what is in the bill.

CNN is learning that Democrats are at odds over major provisions like immigration, prescription drug pricing and state and local tax deductions. And Pelosi is still twisting arms. Here she is just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We're doing our work. We'll let you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: She sounds frustrated and annoyed. Look, again, this is a massive bill. It includes everything from clean energy to family leave. And I mentioned that specifically, because that's where one of the biggest problems lies.

Family leave has always been a problem in this bill. It has held up Biden's agenda for months. First it was in then it was out, now it's back in. The problem with it going back in is that it actually leaves the bill back at square one because here are Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Joe Manchin today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: We would like to put on the table the family and medical leave.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): I don't think it belongs in the bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Okay. That is why this vote on Biden's sweeping spending bill maybe a whole lot of smoke and mirrors. Because if Pelosi can figure out what's in it and get it through the House, sure it can pass the House. They can claim victory. They can say they voted for family leave. They can do that knowing full well that it cannot pass the Senate in the same form.

The reality is that progressives are pushing ahead with their wish list and they are doing so, so aggressively because they think, they believe it is what everyone wants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): I take a message from Tuesday, it's time for action. The American people are saying get it done. So we're going to get it done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Okay. There are though, and this is important to consider, only 95 members in the House Progressive Caucus. Those 95 members represent only about 20 percent of the United States' population. Put it another way, 80 percent of the U.S. population is not represented by progressives.

So maybe Democratic Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger is right, maybe this massive spending bill isn't exactly what Americans want. Here's what the moderate Democrat from a swing district in Virginia, so she's dealing with this head on right now. Here's what she told The New York Times.

She said, "Nobody elected Biden to be F.D.R. They elected him to be normal and stop the chaos."

Okay, that's just cutting through a whole lot of red tape and saying what she really thinks. But if she is right, then there is a reason that this bill has been months of fighting and haggling and forcing. And that reason would be because what progressives want may not be what the other 80 percent of America wants.

Phil Mattingly is OUTFRONT live outside the White House. I want to start there with Melanie Zanona on Capitol Hill.

And Melanie, I mean Nancy Pelosi has been pushing forward with this all day. The Speaker has been trying to get a vote tonight. As of now, we understand that they still do not have the votes and there's still debate over what's actually in the bill. Is there any indication that you have as to when a vote could actually happen?

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Yes. That is the massive question mark right now, Erin. I'm sure there's a lot of staffers and reporters and lawmakers who want to know the answer to that question and frankly a lot of Americans as well.

But what I can tell you is that a vote right now is not imminent. Steny Hoyer, the House Majority Leader went on the House floor not too long ago and said if there was a vote, members would get an hour's notice. He also sent lawmakers home for dinner, so it doesn't look like a votes happening anytime soon.

And the issue is Democrats just don't have the votes right now. They're still airing out a number of sticking points from immigration to taxes. And some members also want to see a full and official cost estimate which they just don't have right now.

But look, the whip operation has been in full effect today. Speaker Nancy Pelosi was seen on House floor working members trying to twist some arms, trying to work her Pelosi magic. And leaders really want to wrap this up before next week because the House is not going to be in session and a number of lawmakers are supposed to go abroad to go to the climate conference.

But I think Erin at this point it looks like a vote tonight is possible, but not likely. In fact, it's probably going to slip to tomorrow if not the weekend.

[19:05:00]

BURNETT: Yes. I mean, as you point out when you still don't know what it's going to cost and what's in it and here we are months in and we want to vote tonight, I mean it doesn't sound good.

All right. So on that front I want to go to Phil Mattingly OUTFRONT at the White House. So Phil, before the President left for his trip overseas last week, they were going to have a vote. They were going to get both the bills done, the bipartisan one and then this much bigger one, obviously, that we are talking about right now.

He made a last minute trip to Capitol Hill to try to push his agenda through. That did not work. So what is the White House's plan now and what's their response to someone like Congresswoman Spanberger saying you weren't elected to do this, you are just elected to stop the chaos?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House has refuted that that was just the only thing they were elected to do. Keep in mind, the President laid out this agenda, the trillions of dollars worth both on the infrastructure side and on the economic and climate side while he was still campaigning, a campaign that he won multiple White House officials have pointed out throughout the course of the day.

But here's an interesting piece of what's transpired over the course of the day. President Biden has been on the phone with various members in the House Democratic Caucus, not necessarily saying you have to vote yes tonight but just making clear that when the time comes he wants them to vote yes. He needs them to be there with him. He leaves the timing up to Speaker Pelosi. That has always been the case. They obviously are in very close contact.

But one of the members, we're being told, that the President spoke to was Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger and I think it underscores the fact of a couple things. One, the White House is keenly aware of what members are saying and when they're saying it, but also recognition that at this point in time, it is moderate members of the Democratic caucus that both the Speaker's team and the White House team are trying to reassure or trying to get on board and are trying to make clear that the conditions are right to move forward.

In fact, the President's senior negotiating team was on Capitol Hill earlier today meeting with House Democrats on one issue specifically, the revenue side of the bill, that the entire bill would be paid for. They brought in their own estimates, making clear that even though they added paid family leave back into the proposal, the proposal would still be fully paid for. Something a number of moderate members of Congress have been wary of over the course of the last several days.

So what they're trying to do, basically from the President on down is whenever the vote comes, make sure that the members will be there. Obviously the vote hasn't come yet. It doesn't seem like it's coming tonight, but that is their focus at the moment, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Phil.

And I want to go now to Democratic Congresswoman Katherine Clark. She is the Assistant House Speaker and also she's a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. So I really appreciate your time. So let me ask you about just where we are right now, when will there be a vote?

REP. KATHERINE CLARK (D-MA): We are working every minute of the day to get to yes on this vote. And here is what I can tell you, Erin, I am confident we are going to leave D.C. with a bill, because it is what the American people need. Every call that I get, every time I'm out in my district, people are concerned about the future.

The pandemic has been a time of loss and challenge and it has bred anxiety. As we see rising costs at the grocery store, at the gas pump, people want to know that they are seeing and we are working for them. That is exactly what the Build Back Better agenda does. We are going to reduce their taxes, reduce their costs and increase jobs in this country. That is worth fighting for. That is worth staying here and getting this job done. BURNETT: Okay. So I quoted Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, of

course, I know you saw that yourself today in the New York Times. She is a Democrat. She's from a swing district in Virginia. She's the first Democrat to hold her seat since 1971 and she came out on the record on Biden and said, "Nobody elected him to be F.D.R. They elected him to be normal and to stop the chaos."

And then Sen. Joe Manchin said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANCHIN: We can't go too far left. This is not a center-left or a left country. We are a center, if anything has a little center-right country as that's being shown, and we ought to be able to recognize that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: As I pointed out, the Progressive Caucus of which you are a member only represents 20 percent of the American population. Are you worried that maybe you're misreading what the American people want?

CLARK: I can tell you that the Build Back Better agenda came from President Joe Biden, from the conversations that he had with Americans. And I completely rejected that these are somehow progressive or moderated or blue dog issues. These are issues that are keeping American families awake at night. These are the issues they talk about around their kitchen table. These are fundamental issues to getting people back to work.

Let's look at the September job numbers. Since Joe Biden came into office, we have grown 5 million jobs. Unemployment is down below 5 percent. But for American women in September alone 300,000 more women left the labor force.

[19:10:05]

Why is that? It's because childcare was on the brink of going into the pandemic and the pandemic broke the system. This isn't an issue for just rural America or suburban or urban America, this is an issue fundamental to how we rebuild our economy, how we make sure that every single person, every single woman sees a path to opportunity.

So whether we're talking about home care, so we can care for our aging parents, a situation that I had and so many families deal with children at home and needing care for our parents. This bill provides a path for that. This bill is saying we see that health care costs, access to the ACA was so critical in this pandemic and it's critical to your family's success.

We are expanding the ACA, reducing the cost of prescription drugs.

BURNETT: Right.

CLARK: These are fundamental issues to our economy and it is doing it a disservice to paint it as a certain label of any particular caucus in Congress.

BURNETT: Right. Well, I mean, as I point out the frustration then that frustration is directed at your own party, because they're the ones doing it on your more moderate wing. And that brings me to the point of that even if you pass this in the House, it can still be changed in the Senate and Sen. Joe Manchin says he's still against some crucial things here including paid leave, just as one thing.

So you could pass a version. They could pass nothing or pass a version that takes out all the things you want. Do you settle for that? What happens here? I mean, are you positive this thing becomes law in some form?

CLARK: So this is what we're going to do, we are going to pass a bill that does the most good for the most people that we can, because we know it's imperative. And we know that Americans sent us here to deliver for them, to put their priorities on the front burner here in the halls of Congress so that's what we're going to do. And as a House, we're going to make this the very strongest bill that we can.

We understand there are hurdles yet to come. There may be improvements made to this bill in the Senate. But this is our part of the process and we are going to make this bill responsive to our families that we serve at home.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much. Congresswoman Clark, I appreciate your time tonight.

CLARK: Thanks, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. A next federal judge seriously questioning Trump's attempt to keep hundreds of documents from the January 6 Select Committee. What the judge actually said today and what it now means for that investigation.

Plus, graphic testimony in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, a teen accused of killing two people during a night of unrest in Wisconsin last year. And we heard the chaotic moments just after the deadly shooting revealed and laid out today.

And a truck driver may pull off what could be the biggest upset in Tuesday's election. So who is he and how did he do it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:16:39]

BURNETT: Tonight, a federal judge deeply critical of former President Trump's attempt to keep White House documents related to January 6th a secret. The House Select Committee is seeking documents detailing what was happening inside the White House before and on the day of the insurrection, including a record of Trump's movements, notes from people with him that day and now draft text from a Trump speech on January 6th and much more, I mean, thousands of pages.

Judge telling Trump's legal team about the executive privilege claim and I quote the judge, "Are you really saying that the President's notes, talking points, telephone conversations on January 6 have no relation to the matter on which Congress is considering legislation? The January 6 riot happened in the Capitol. This is literally Congress' house."

But then the judge also questioned the extent of Congress' document request to the Trump White House calling it 'alarmingly broad'. I'd find now Laurence Tribe, Constitutional Law Professor at Harvard Law School and our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger.

Professor Tribe, so you take the first part of this, "Are you really saying that all these things aren't relevant?" Of course, they're relevant. This was an attack literally on Congress' house, but then saying that the request from Congress is alarmingly broad. It doesn't seem to be a blanket win for Congress as many experts had anticipated from what she's saying thus far.

LAURENCE TRIBE, HARVARD LAW PROFESSOR: Well, actually, right after she said it's alarmingly broad, she said even more alarmingly broad is your claim that you have an executive privilege. She said we have only one President at a time. She also said it's quite alarming for you to ask that these documents be withheld when you don't even explain what the harm is to the president of releasing them.

She kept pressing Mr. Clark, who represented Mr. Trump. What's the harm to your client? And Clark kept saying, well, executive privilege. She said, no, no, we're past that, we have only one President at a time.

BURNETT: Yes.

TRIBE: He is not (inaudible) ...

BURNETT: So if one is alarming and one is alarmingly worse, you think that that's still in the favor - it could likely go in the favor here, Congress has a right to all of what they've requested.

TRIBE: All, maybe she'll trim a few like April 2021, sorry, April 2020, she said maybe some of the political polls that were involved then maybe they don't have to be produced. But even though she could trim around the edges, Congress is going to be told that it is entitled to everything at once and she's not going to stay her judgment either, because Mr. Clark can't even assert harm to his client. It's all government documents, it's not his private (inaudible) ...

BURNETT: So Gloria, we know some of the people around Trump what they were saying in the run up to the instruction. We also know, by the way, that everything awful that we found out has often come from contemporaneous notes. In this case, that's what they want. They don't have those yet.

But we do have some public statements from some of the individuals around Trump on that day and the days prior to the insurrection. Here's pro-Trump lawyer, John Eastman, right before the riot when he said Mike Pence could go ahead and refuse to even seat the electors from states that Biden won until he replace him with Trump guys. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EASTMAN, ATTORNEY FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: Those slates of electors are invalid. And I think if the Vice President is presiding over the joint session would at least agree that because those ongoing contest have not been resolved, we can't count those electors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:20:01]

BURNETT: So that's what they were saying publicly, Gloria. There are some who might say, well, if that's what you said publicly, there's nothing private to hide. The other view, of course, would be that in private there's actually a whole lot more that's incredibly alarming about the logic and the coordination.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think what you'll learn and I think if the Committee get these documents, it's usually significant, because what you learn is what Trump was saying to these people you will see drafts of things that maybe never went out that Trump said do this, do that. And maybe some people took some notes and said the president wants this, the president wants that and maybe that never happened.

We know that, according to the archivist, it's notes of the White House Chief of Staff, of the Press Secretary, of a White House lawyer. And I'm reminded of the Mueller investigation, because during that time according to Mueller, the president said to Don McGahn, "Why are you taking notes? I hate lawyers who take note. Lawyers don't take notes. My lawyers never took notes."

Well, in fact, his lawyers did take notes and those are the things that are going to be really revealing about the president's state of mind, what he was directing people to do at the time.

BURNETT: Well, it's amazing his - someone like Michael Cohen would probably say, all right, maybe I didn't take notes, but I recorded it.

BORGER: Right.

BURNETT: Right. I mean, Professor Tribe, if the judge rules against Trump, this could be a pivotal moment about the reach of executive privilege. What is the authority of a former president? What is the authority of the House, its right to investigate? What is the historic precedent that this ruling could have?

TRIBE: It could make absolutely clear, as many of us have argued all along, that it is the current president who has to weigh the importance of confidentiality in advice to the President and against the public need to know. It is also going to establish firmly that Congress doesn't have to draft its statutes in advance of getting the information.

One of the things that was amazing today was the idea that Mr. Clark was saying, well, we don't know what laws they'll pass. Of course, we don't. They haven't got the evidence yet. He also was suggesting that claims of privilege can drag out for years because every single document has to be reviewed individually by the judge and she wasn't having any of it.

She said we're not going to drag this out. I'm going to rule expeditiously. We don't have to rule document by document. That's important because it means that the country will not be completely at the mercy of people planning a coup and an insurrection.

BURNETT: So Gloria, we often have focused, appropriately so, on the people trying to avoid the committee and stonewall them, the former president, Steve Bannon. But it is important, I think, in this context, Liz Cheney, the co-chair of the Committee says the committee has already interviewed more than 150 people, which I think may surprise some people listening, because you just - you hear about Bannon, you hear about Meadows, you brought the people who don't want to go there, Jeffrey Clark, the Trump loyalists, former Justice Department official who tried to help Trump overturn the election is expected to be interviewed by the Committee tomorrow. Most of these behind closed doors, but she's saying 150 people, are they getting anywhere?

BORGER: I mean, that's a hard question to answer but I was talking to a source familiar with what the committee is doing, who said to me, look, you have to pay attention to the people, not the bright shiny objects necessarily, but the people whose names are not familiar to you, because maybe they were witnesses to things. Maybe they're coming in voluntarily. Maybe they heard what Donald Trump was saying, but they were kind of up against a wall somewhere and not sitting with the President front and center.

So I think the Committee is trying to reach those people and then like a circle, get the folks on the outside and go to the folks on the inside. And I think they're just doing their reporting, Erin, as we would do reporting a story, trying to figure out who said what, when, especially what Donald Trump said and when he said it.

BURNETT: All right. Professor Tribe, Gloria, thank you both very much.

BORGER: Sure.

TRIBE: Thank you.

BURNETT: And tomorrow night on CNN, don't miss a special report with Jake Tapper Trumping Democracy: An American Coup, that is at nine with my friend, Jake.

And next, potential new legal troubles for Trump, a Georgia District Attorney now looking into whether the former President committed a crime by trying to overturn the State's election and we're learning new details about the disturbing joke that got a juror removed from the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:28:48]

BURNETT: New tonight, the Justice Department is suing Texas over the state's new voting restrictions saying they violate federal voting rights laws. The Texas law bans drive-thru voting, restricts voting by mail and empowers partisan poll watchers. It comes as CNN is learning Georgia's investigation into Donald Trump's baseless election claims is now expanding. Sara Murray is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT(voice over): As Donald Trump fired off a September letter demanding Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger decertify the election ...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not forgetting 2020, the most corrupt election in the history of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY(voice over): Fani Willis took notice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FANI WILLIS, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: What I can tell you is that the Trump investigation is ongoing and ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY (voice over): The Fulton County District Attorney told staffers she wanted that letter, the original copy, envelope and all for her investigation according to a person familiar.

While Trump continues to bellow about 2020 and inserts himself into Peach State politics, his public rants are providing new fodder to investigators as they examine whether Trump's election meddling efforts were criminal.

At a recent campaign stop with Georgia candidates, Trump took the stage before an adoring crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Literally wanted to call a special election. And I think the Governor is the only one that can call it, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:30:02]

MURRAY (voice-over): And he offered more insight on his interactions with another potentially relevant witness around the 2020 election, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. TRUMP: These guys would come back, young guys, sir, we spoke to Governor Kemp. Sir, he will not do anything on election integrity. I said, let me handle it, this is easy.

MURRAY: Investigators took note of the lengths Trump and his aides went to pressure Kemp, all in Trump's own words.

TRUMP: I said, Brian, listen, you know, you have a big election integrity problem in Georgia. I hope you can help us out and call a special election.

MURRAY: Kemp, in a call last December with Trump, refused.

TRUMP: Let me tell you, this guy is a disaster.

MURRAY: Newly public evidence like Trump's letter, a book by Raffensperger and newly released testimony from a panel investigating Trump's efforts to overturn the election are helping to provide a road map for what a sprawling investigation. Raffensperger making clear in his book that he felt Trump was threatening him in moments like this, where Trump baselessly accused Raffensperger's office of covering up corrupt ballots.

TRUMP: You know, that's a criminal offense. You can't let that happen. That's a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer. That's a big risk.

MURRAY: Now, President Trump is using what he believes is the power of his position to threaten Ryan and me with prosecution if we don't do what he wants us to do, Raffensperger writes.

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, GEORGE SECRETARY OF STATE: I could hear that he thought that he could have some kind of pressure to bear from outside forces to make our lives miserable.

MURRAY: So, like, what is it to them if they choose to ruin Brad Raffensperger's life.

RAFFENSPEGER: They didn't care about one person, that person is in their life.

MURRAY: Raffensperger says he's willing to appear before a grand jury if Willis summons him.

RAFFENSPERGER: I respect the law.

MURRAY: But she hasn't yet.

RAFFENSPERGER: I'll be there to give my vision of my opinion or my comments of what I saw.

MURRAY: The 2020 midterms could offer new headaches for investigators and witnesses alike.

MICHAEL J. MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: I think that a prosecutor's job is to not be political, but I don't think you can divorce yourself from political reality. And we all know what the calendar is.

MURRAY: Raffensperger is facing a primary challenge from Congressman Jodi Hice, who believes Trump rightfully won the state of Georgia.

REP. JODY HICE (R-GA): Nobody understands the disaster of the lack of election integrity like the people of Georgia.

MURRAY: And Kemp has been largely silent by Trump's efforts to upend the election and sign a strict voting law as he tries to shore up his standing with the GOP base.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY (on camera): Now, privately, some Republicans in Georgia say that the combination of Trump's attacks on member of his own party and the Willis investigation are amounting to one giant political headache. I also spoke to a spokesman in Fani Willis office. He said all relevant information whether it's gathered by our office, another investigative body, made public by witnesses themselves is part of the ongoing investigation -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Sara, thank you very much for that reporting.

I want to bring in now, Richard Barron, the elections direction in Fulton County who's just announced he's resigning from that role.

You know, Richard, last time you and I know spoke, I played death threats, that you had shared with us, that you received, since the 2020 election. Someone trying to shoot you, someone saying you will be served lead. Another suggesting he would be hung.

Has this environment just pushed you to a point where decided that those things, that those threats, that -- you know, they're just too much. The job is not worth that anymore?

RICHARD BARRON, FORMER FULTON COUNTY, GA ELECTIONS DIRECTOR: Well, I think about my daughter. She gets nervous when I just take the dog outside, or she wants the windows closed in my bedroom, the shade. So those are some of the things that I have to consider, when I made this decision to resign.

BURNETT: I mean, that's pretty incredible, right, you go into this to be an elections official. And now you've got your daughter facing theories like that because of you job, as an elections official in this country. I mean, it's just stunning.

BARRON: Yes, you know I think we have come to a point to where we have a number of people out there, one of the other things I have had to consider is that there are a significant number of elected officials out there about seem to want to follow their base, rather than lead them. I think they can put a stop to a lot of this.

But I think they are behaving cowardly by hiding behind these constituents, and I think what they need to do is get out in front, show some bravery, and lead them because if we do not have faith in our elections, then we are going to go down the path of a 3rd world mentality. That is dangerous for our country.

BURNETT: Dangerous and tragic.

Now, of course, you know, you have faced criticism during your tenure over elections, one of the people's criticism is that the Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

Now, I spoke to him last night. We talked about the threats and pressure that he has faced from President Trump to overturn Georgia's election for Trump.

But here is one specific thing he told me.

[19:35:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAFFENSPERGER: At the end of the day, we had a fair and honest election, and I walk that line of integrity to make sure we would. I stood the gap, and I was not going to get pushed off the truth. The truth was that president Trump did come up short.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Richard, on the issue of integrity untruth, you and the secretary are on the same page. Now you are stepping down, he is running for reelection against a Trump ally who you pointed out our elected officials who do not lead, who's going ahead and saying there is fraud in Georgia's election. How worried are you that people with those views and up being in charge of running our elections? Because other people like Secretary Raffensperger lose, or people like you resign?

BARRON: Well, I will give Secretary Raffensperger all the credit in the world for what he did standing up to the former president, because that did take courage to do that. I think that when it comes to what he feels happened in Fulton county, especially when he talks locally, he talks a different game, I think he has decided that it works for him to make us his adversary.

But he did along with Ryan Germany, his counsel signed up to him. That is the courage that we need in election officials.

BURNETT: Are you worried, though? With all of these new election officials, running Trump has spent a lot of time with his lawyers putting people up who believe are putting out these stolen rigged election theme. There are people like you who for very legitimate reasons fear for their family, exhaustion, step aside, we could see a real shift in who runs elections.

BARRON: Well, and that is a fear. I think that is what people are going to have to really think about who they want to vote for secretary of state, or who they want in place running the counties. The counties essentially are the ones that run all of the elections. And some states, they have people that run by party, I think all county election position should be nonpartisan, first of all, because you can't be a partisan and run on elections office, because you have to worry about all of the voters.

BURNETT: You are right about that. I hope this is a warning sign for many to hear what has happened to you. I appreciate taking your time to speak to me, again, thank you so much.

BARRON: You're welcome.

BURNETT: And next, pivotal testimony in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, what one witness revealed that could tip the case of the defense. Plus, the president setting a deadline tonight 400 of millions of Americans to get vaccinated.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Tonight, emotional and graphic testimony in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who shot three people during unrest over a police shooting in Wisconsin. He eyewitness who took this video of him minutes before the shooting told the jury he saw Rittenhouse shoot an unarmed man.

Warning the video -- some of the video you will see here is graphic.

Shimon Prokupecz was in the courtroom today and has this report OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today, the prosecution in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, focusing on eyewitness testimony, and graphic video of the moments after Joseph Rosenbaum was shot. The testimony centering on the first shooting that night that took place during days of unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the summer of 2020.

RICHIE MCGINNISS, WITNESS: Mr. Rosenbaum was lying behind a car. I knew that he was given, the shots were fired at such close range that he had to have been hit, given the weapon he was using, there had to be big wounds.

PROKUPECZ: Richie McGinniss who works for the conservative news outlet Daily Caller testified about being in the parking lot during the moment when Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum.

MCGINNISS: It was clear to me that it was a situation that it was likely that something dangerous was going to happen, whether it being Rosenbaum grabbing it, Mr. Rittenhouse shooting it. I didn't know, but I knew that my eyes at the moment where in this exact moment, we are fixated on the barrel of the weapon because I did not want to end up on the receiving end of that.

PROKUPECZ: Grainy FBI aerial surveillance video played in court and highlighted here shows the sequin of events as Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum converged on the scene.

MCGINNISS: When Rosenbaum lunged, Mr. Rittenhouse kind of dodged around. That is when it was leveled, and Mr. Rosenbaum had fired. PROKUPECZ: The prosecution highlighting additional video of the

scene, leading up to the confrontation that night as shots were fired. McGinniss on the stand, appearing emotional at times, looking away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it hard for you to see that?

MCGINNISS: I certainly don't like to watch it.

PROKUPECZ: During cross examination, Rittenhouse's attorney zeroing in on the moment of the shooting.

MCGINNISS: It appeared he was lunging towards the front portion of the weapon.

MARK RICHARDS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He was going for the barrel of the gun?

MCGINNISS: Correct. I think it was very clear to me that he was reaching specifically for the weapon, because that is where his hands went.

PROKUPECZ: McGinniss also testified he saw Gaige Grosskreutz at the hospital after being shot by Rittenhouse.

MCGINNISS: His bicep was effectively gone, there was a spot of blood.

PROKUPECZ: Rittenhouse charged with homicide and the killings of Joseph Rosenbaum, and Anthony Huber, is also charged in the shooting of Gaige Grosskreutz among other charges. He has pleaded not guilty. Defense lawyers say he was acting in self-defense.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PROKUPECZ: And, Erin, the judge here dismissing one of the jurors from the case after it was revealed that he asked a sheriff's deputy here at the courthouse jokingly, why didn't take 7 shots to shoot Jacob Blake? Of course, Jacob Blake is the man who was shot by police here, and that led to the unrest.

The judge saying that there was an appearance of bias, and therefore he was removing him from the case.

BURNETT: All right. Let's talk more about that.

All right. Thank you very much, Shimon.

I want to go now to Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. She's a former defense attorney, and also the former mayor of Baltimore during the Freddie Gray trial.

So, Mayor Rawlings-Blake, the witness we just heard testified, he saw he lunged and tried to grab the gun before being shot. Obviously, that is a layer of detail here that is new. Was this a win for the defense, and if so how significant?

STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, FORMER DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think it's very significant for the defense that someone, even though I think it was clear in the previous reporting, that this person may have a bias as he is a very conservative reporter, but he came off credible in his testimony. I definitely think, all things considered, this would be a win for the defense, that testimony today.

BURNETT: So let me ask you about the other thing Shimon was talking about the juror who was dismissed because he was ask the judge about the shooting of Jacob Blake. The judge said, that had nothing to do with the case and he dismissed him, anyway. Was that the right call and did you read anything into that?

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: It definitely was the right call. The fact is the joke wasn't why did it take him seven times to shoot him, it was why did it take seven shots until he was killed, and the juror said because they ran out of bullets. It really just shows the lack of empathy in this juror.

And this is such a critical case. That's the type of juror that is so callous with the loss of that I don't think it's good fit of a jury that has so much responsibility.

BURNETT: Yeah, so much responsibility.

All right. Thank you very much, Mayor. I appreciate you as always.

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: Thanks.

BURNETT: Next, breaking news. We are learning a White House official who was traveling with President Biden on his overseas trip has tested positive for COVID.

Plus, he only spent $153 on his campaign, nearly half of it at Dunkin Donuts. Yet, this man may just have defeated the most powerful lawmaker in the state of New Jersey.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:51:28]

BURNETT: Breaking news, we're just learning that a White House official tested positive for COVID during President Biden's foreign trip this week. That aide now quarantining in Scotland. The White House says the aide, who they are not identifying out of privacy concerns, didn't have contact with the president, doesn't currently have symptoms.

But the vaccine rules of more than 100 employees goes into effect January 4. That rule says 100 million Americans have to get two doses of Pfizer or Moderna's vaccine or a dose of Johnson & Johnson, or have a weekly testing option.

OUTFRONT now, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, who advised the medical team under President George W. Bush.

So, Doctor, we've seen now in the public sector with police, fire departments, all sorts of battles going on about have by and large impacted vaccination rates. With companies of over 100 employees or more, how significant do you think this will be on the still unvaccinated?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I think it's going to be big. There are still about 50 million adults in this country who have chosen not to be vaccinated. And what we have learned from our initial experience with vaccine math mandates is that they work. And since August, the number of private companies that have instituted vaccine mandates have basically doubled in the United States. And companies are adopting these mandates because their pro business, the more worker state will the more productive you are. So I think this has the potential to be a game-changer, and allow us to get us closer to maybe even 90 percent of adults, which would be a big deal.

BURNETT: So I want to ask you about a related story here. The Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, he will be out of Sunday's game because of COVID rules. The team wouldn't confirm if he tested positive for the virus, but he's been, and a foul network both reported that he did. But they are reporting that Rodgers is unvaccinated, and it's really big deal and it's a big deal because Rodgers was asked if he received the COVID vaccine. And this is how he answered that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Are you vaccinated, and what is your stance on vaccinations?

AARON RODGERS, NFL PLAYER: Yeah, I'm immunized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Well, you know. What's the right penalty for that? It appears to be a lie.

REINER: Well, I think he's really put his team mates a risk. I spent all day today doing procedures with my teammates, and we are all vaccinated, because we care about not just ourselves but we care about each other. So, when Aaron Rodgers has shown through his selflessness, is he just put himself first in a misguided way, because if you really put himself first he would've been vaccinated. But in doing so he put his teammates at risk.

But what I would say is if he really was anti-vax, he should have the courage to stand up and say, I'm not getting vaccinated. But yet he lied to his teammates, he lied, he lied to the public. Quite a disappointing performance, may have a great arm but he appears to be just another anti-vaxxer.

BURNETT: Yeah, it's really upsetting to hear it. Dr. Reiner, thank you very much. I mean, of course, everyone knows here at CNN if they lie, they were terminated. Thank you very much.

And next, New Jersey truck driver is now poised to unseat one of the states most powerful Democrats.

[19:55:04]

Who is he?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: It may be the single biggest upset of the 2021 election, and that is saying something. This man, he happens to be a truck driver. He is on track to take down the second powerful lawmaker in New Jersey, ever been in politics before.

As of tonight, Edward Durr leaves Stephen Sweeney on more than 2,000 votes. If Durr's lead holds, it would be a remarkable, remarkable upset for a man who has never held public office. His campaign was barebones, he raised $10,000 and reportedly only spend $153 of it on his campaign, nearly half of that on Dunkin' Donuts.

And what's Durr's first order of business if he is declared the winner?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDWARD DURR, GOP NEWCOMER: I am just going to take it all in, I am going to try and continue to learn and absorb, but I am definitely going to be a voice for the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Sweeney who spent 11 years in office said he will not concede until the final votes come in.

Well, thank you so much for joining us.

"AC360" starts right now.