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Inside Politics
Democrats Eye New Legislative Priorities After COVID-19 Relief; Children In Border Patrol Custody Surpasses 3,700 Amid Ongoing Surge; In New Audio, Trump Pressures GA Investigators To Find "The Right Answer" In His Baseless Election Fraud Push. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired March 11, 2021 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Today, an immediate what's next test for the Biden agenda, the House right now acting on new gun control measures that expand background checks. Gun control just one issue on a crowded Biden and progressive to do list, that list also includes immigration reform, infrastructure, and restoring the Violence Against Women Act. How this agenda fares in the Senate is a giant question.
Back with me to discuss CNN's Dana Bash and joining us Seung Min Kim, white house correspondent for The Washington Post. So let's start with the House today acting on two gun control measures, one of the Democrats speaking in favor of expanding background checks. I know this issue all too personally, our Congresswoman Lucy McBath who lost his son to gun violence. Listen.
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REP. LUCY MCBATH (D-GA): As a mother, as a survivor, we thank you. There's so many of us survivors and family members that have lost our loved ones that have been waiting and waiting and waiting. And today, we have the real possibility to make a difference and save lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: The second legislation, the second bill both have now cleared the House and they go over to the Senate. You see that passion. You see that emotion, whatever your views on guns that is real and it is genuine beyond belief. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate says things will be different when in the Republican Senate, a gun bill wouldn't even come to the floor. It just wouldn't come to the floor. Chuck Schumer says, you know what, let's have votes, see where people stand. Listen.
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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): The legislative graveyard is over H.R.8 will be on the floor of the Senate and we will see where everybody stands. No more hopes and prayers, thoughts and prayers. A vote is what we need.
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KING: How much of a difference does that posture make, Seung Min Kim, that Chuck Schumer says, let's have votes, let's see everybody stands and then yay or nay, bills go up or down and guess what everybody's held accountable in the next election.
[12:35:09]
SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, votes certainly do matter, particularly in contrast to the last Congress, when then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would just ignore the legislation that came over from the Democratic-led House. But, you know, unfortunately for people, unfortunately for Democrats, this -- it may all kind of end up with the same result because H.R., the led background checks legislation that passed the House this morning, that Chuck Schumer has vowed to put up for a floor vote is probably going to be met with a similar fate by the Senate, it will just fail on a vote.
And that brings into question the -- that brings into focus the question of the filibuster and actually brings into question, two questions, you know, what is President Biden willing to do on his own and absence of legislation? I'm told that the White House is exploring potential executive actions on guns, although that does seem, you know, several weeks off at this point. And also what happens to the fate of the 60 vote threshold on the filibuster when you start to see all these bills, Democratic priorities stacked up in the House, because it's not just guns, it's potentially infrastructure.
It is almost certainly immigration and a voting rights and a lot of other priorities that Democrats want to take action on certainly before the 2022 midterms. So it's really all going to, you know, build up to some sort of a filibuster confrontation standoff at some point. But the problem for the Democratic Party right now is that there is not unity, you know, among Senate Democrats, among -- even with the right -- even with the President, even with President Biden himself on what exactly to do.
So for now, what Chuck -- the only thing that Chuck Schumer can really do is put up a vote -- put up these bills for a vote and see where the votes are.
KING: Right. Pull up a vote and see where the votes are. And Seung Min raises a couple important issues filibuster there, the potential for where will it go on infrastructure. I just want to say that there's a tweet for everything, doesn't just rely on the former President Trump.
This is David Wright tweet from August 2017, McConnell on leading the Senate. It's a little like being the groundskeeper at a cemetery. Everybody's under you, but nobody's listening. We will see, you know, if Chuck Schumer, see if Chuck Schumer has the same approach to this as it comes on.
Because, you know, Seung Min just mentioned infrastructure, Angus King, independent senator from Maine, by new caucuses with the Democrats says this about infrastructure. At some point we've got to start paying for things. It's got to be paid for. It's just a question of who pays. Are we going to pay our kids going to pay? This is what the new President 51 days in and the Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have to navigate. Nothing is easy when it's 50-50.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. And, you know, it's interesting that you brought up infrastructure, because that's always the go to have every Republican or Democrat you talk to asking when is this bipartisanship actually going to happen? When are both sides going to show that bipartisan governing is really possible? And the answer is infrastructure.
But the devil is always in the details, always. And especially with infrastructure, because like you said, there's not -- it's not just who's going to pay for it but is it going to be largely public? Is it going to be public private partnership? Are you going to give tax credit to businesses? I mean, those are all real discussions that tend to fall along ideological lines.
KING: And on the subject of discussions. This is High School Musical, the Senate version. In a 50-50 Senate, you have to get along. You just have to get along. You got to try to get along anyway. Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, Susan Collins, the thick -- one of the key Republican senators who often wants to work in a bipartisan basis, they're not on speaking terms, because she's mad about Democratic efforts to unseat her in the last election. Here's just a little sampling.
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SCHUMER: We made a big mistake in 2009 and '10. Susan Collins was part of that mistake. We cut back on the stimulus dramatically. And we stayed in recession for five years.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I thought that Leader Schumer's comments were bizarre. I just hope that Senator Schumer does not continue to be an obstacle to bipartisanship.
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KING: I have long operated of the opinion that life is the fifth grade. And we watch this play out, lots of episodes. But in a 50-50 Senate where you need votes, Dana, this can be critical.
BASH: No question. And this is a fascinating, you know, divide, because first of all, it goes back over a decade when Chuck Schumer was the head of the DSCC, meaning he was a senator in charge of electing Democrats to the Senate. And he really thought that they could finally beat the moderate Republican from Maine and spent lots of money, put up a good candidate didn't do it.
Then fast forward to this past election, Susan Collins was extremely upset that the Super PAC that is run by Chuck Schumer, ran some ads that were attacking her husband and other things. And so, all of that history is very toxic and very bitter and you combine that with Chuck Schumer's point of view which is frustration about the fact that he doesn't feel like he can on the big things, always get a bipartisan deal with someone like Susan Collins who is from a blue state. And that's where you have this.
[12:40:13]
Susan Collins I'm told John, has spoken on the phone four times to the Democratic President Joe Biden. She's spoken to Chuck Schumer, not at all since this new Congress, this new administration took over.
KING: Life is the fifth grade. We'll see if this one works out. Dana Bash, Seung Min Kim, grateful for the reporting and the insights. We'll stay on top of that little drama.
Up next, the surge of minors crossing the southern border says officials scrambling to find proper shelter.
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[12:45:06]
KING: A very important scheduling update from the White House. Next hour, President Biden will sign into law is big, nearly $2 trillion COVID relief package. Next hour, the President will sign that into law. Initially, the White House said the President would sign it tomorrow now making plans though to sign it this afternoon before his prime time address in the American people tonight.
And new numbers on another significant challenge facing the Biden administration. The number of migrants crossing the southern border is surging. Customs and Patrol encountered 700 minors just yesterday alone, double what they were roughly averaging as of a week ago. The number is so overwhelming in fact, the Biden administration now considering using a NASA site in Northern California as a temporary housing facility for unaccompanied minor children.
Let's get the latest on this with CNN immigration and politics reporter, Priscilla Alvarez. Priscilla?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Look, what these numbers continue to tell us is that the number of unaccompanied children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is far exceeding shelter availability. So we are now learning that there are more than 3,700 unaccompanied children in Border Patrol custody. That is already more than it was earlier this week and exceeds levels that we saw during the 2019 border crisis.
Now these are facilities that are meant for adults. They're not designed to care for children. But it is where these kids have to stay until officials can transfer them to a shelter. And that's where the core of the problem is, John, there is an increasing number of children crossing the border. And the U.S. government is not prepared to take them on and is scrambling to find space for them.
KING: Priscilla Alvarez, grateful for the new numbers and the hustle and the reporting, thank you so much. We'll stay on top of this.
Up next for us, a new mask war in Texas.
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[12:51:24]
KING: Topping our Political Radar today, the Attorney General of Texas threatening to sue the mayor of Austin and leaders in Travis County if they don't lift their local mask mandates. The Texas Governor ordered an end to the statewide mask mandate and capacity restrictions for businesses effective yesterday. But Austin says it is keeping its restrictions in place for now. The mayor tells the A.G., see you in court.
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MAYOR STEVE ADLER (D), AUSTIN, TEXAS: I would anticipate to be sued today. We can't find any time that a state official, a governor or otherwise, an attorney general, has the ability to be able to stop a local health authority from promulgating rules that are enforceable under our state law.
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KING: Back here in Washington, the Attorney General, the new Attorney General Merrick Garland, speaking to the more than 100,000 employees at the Justice Department this morning, and on his first full day at work, General Garland making clear he intends for this to be a very different Justice Department than what we saw in the previous administration.
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MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: There not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans, one rule for friends and another for foes. Together we will show the American people by word and deed that the Department of Justice pursues equal justice and adheres to the rule of law.
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KING: It's been a slow process. But as you can see two-thirds of President Biden's cabinet has now been confirmed, 16 of his 23 nominees now on the job.
Up next for us, new audio of a phone call involving then President Trump and an elections investigator in Georgia, guess what, yes, the President wanted some votes.
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[12:57:38]
KING: New evidence today, a former President Trump, president at the time in his own words pushing Georgia officials to change the state's election results. We already knew about that find the votes call to the Georgia secretary of state. Now, audio of another call, this one to a top elections investigator asking her to find proof he won and repeatedly suggesting that she focused on the county that includes Atlanta to find what Trump calls, the right answer.
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And if you can get to Fulton, you are going to find things that are going to be unbelievable. Fulton is the motherload, you know, as the expression goes, Fulton County. When the right answer comes out you'll be praised.
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KING: CNN political correspondent Sara Murray joins us now live with more. And Sara, it's fascinating and repulsing to listen to. But the important part is, this is all now part of a criminal investigation.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, you know, we're essentially getting more details on what was this effort from the president and also some of his allies to try to overturn the election result in Georgia. And as you pointed out, this was a call that came before then President Trump made that infamous call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. This is actually both of these calls, a subject of two different investigations in Georgia.
One of them, as you pointed out, is a criminal investigation in the Fulton County District Attorney's Office. The other is an investigation of the Georgia Secretary of State's office is conducting both of these calls of interest in both of those investigations. And we should note that the Secretary of State's office in Georgia is basically saying, look, this call says that we did everything by the book. We investigated allegations of fraud. We upheld the law. And we provided an accurate count in Georgia, which of course show the Joe Biden won the state.
A spokesperson for former President Trump didn't respond. But I think this gives you an indication, you know, of what prosecutors in that criminal investigation are going to be looking into. They're going to be looking into whether there was this sustained effort and who else may have helped former President Trump in this effort to try to get the result he wanted in the Georgia election. And of course, this is just another piece of evidence for investigators.
KING: Another piece of evidence and obviously he calls us investigator as she is looking into the audit, if you will, and then they didn't get the results he wanted there. He calls the Secretary of State, didn't get the results out of there. And the Secretary of State stands by the count was fair, the count honest. And Joe Biden won Georgia, right?
MURRAY: Absolutely didn't make a lot of Republicans in the state of Georgia very popular but they are -- say they have stuck with it. And now, you know, we're seeing these tapes emerge.
[13:00:02]
KING: Math is math. Sara Murray, grateful for the reporting there, grateful for your time today in Inside Politics, hope to see you tomorrow.
