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New Day
McCarthy's Statements on Capitol Insurrection; Maryland Reviews Medical Examiner's Cases; Third Night of Rocket Attacks in Israel; Bumgarner Thrown Unofficial No-Hitter. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired April 26, 2021 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:30:00]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Because there's so much going on in McCarthy's statement, you have to break it down into parts.
First, the idea that McCarthy was the first person to tell Trump the riots were going on. He didn't see it. To believe this, you have to buy into the notion that no one in the White House staff, no one in the intelligence community, no one in the world, including MyPillow guy, told the president a riot was happening a mile and a half away. That's strange credulity.
What tears it, the notion that Donald Trump didn't see it. Didn't see it when we know what he does more than almost anything else is watch TV. It's his superpower. TiVo is his Tesseract.
But that's not even the doozy in McCarthy's new White House whiteout. It's the praise for the timing in nature of Trump's response to the insurrection that day, that video. You know who once had a problem with that? Kevin McCarthy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA) (January 13, 2021): He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding. These facts require immediate action of President Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: To recap, Kevin McCarthy, Kevin McCarthy, Kevin McCallister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN MCCALLISTER, ACTOR: (screaming).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: And this is not the first time that McCarthy has been McCarthy. First there was --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: But then there was --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA) (January 21, 2021): I don't believe he provoked it, if you listen to what he said at the rally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So, to recap, McCarthy, McCarthy, McCallister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN MCCALLISTER, ACTOR: (screaming).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: And going back to the video, that McCarthy is now all of a sudden so proud of. That thing doesn't so much as condemn the insurrectionists as glorify them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: There's never been a time like this where such a thing happened where they could take it away from all of us, from me, from you, from our country. This was a fraudulent election, but we can't play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So, go home, we love you. You're very special.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: We love you? You're very special? That's not stopping. That's reveling. And he's continued to revel any chance he gets, repeating the election line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: This election was rigged. This election was a total fraud.
Rush thought we won, and so do I, by the way. I think we won by -- substantially.
This election was rigged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So this isn't Trump learning anything, this isn't Trump calling off a group of people who would do harm to the country, it's inciting them. And you know who knows this? Kevin McCarthy, at least one version, because there's the account of that phone call which is now an official part of the impeachment record, a shouting match between McCarthy and Trump where McCarthy begged Trump to call off the rioters. Trump responded, well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are. McCarthy responded, who the f do you think you're talking to? Indeed, who the f was he talking to? Kevin McCarthy or Kevin McCarthy? We know it wasn't Kevin McCallister because that kid learned from his mistakes. This one just tries to erase the historical record of them.
In 1984, George Orwell wrote, who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. Maybe Kevin McCarthy, the many versions of Kevin McCarthy, needs to learn how to control himself.
Joining us now, CNN political analyst Maggie Haberman. She's a Washington correspondent for "The New York Times."
You know, Maggie, you've done extensive reporting on this. Among other things, you're reporting that Donald Trump liked watching the riot. He was pleased with what he was watching on TV in the White House while it was going on. So this really does feel like revisionism from Kevin McCarthy.
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. John, look, we have -- we had extensive reporting at the time, so did Kaitlan Collins at the time, among others, that former President Trump was watching television, enjoying what he saw, or at least was pleased by what he saw, in part because it was people fighting for him and in part because it was delaying the certification of the vote, which is what he had been hoping would happen that whole time. And there you were watching it happen. There's absolutely nothing that I know from my reporting, that I've seen from anyone else's reporting, that backs up this new version of what Kevin McCarthy is saying.
And, remember that McCarthy not only gave that speech saying that -- you know, suggestions President Trump needed to be held accountable for it, but at the time he was having a conversation with other members of his caucus about possibly censuring former President Trump, then president at the time.
[06:35:00]
While he never went so far as suggesting he should be impeached, he did think he needed to be held accountable in some ways.
So, this is part of a broader effort, John, that we have seen over many weeks as Republicans are looking to retake the midterms, looking at various state-wide races, to try to either downplay or simply memory hold what happened on January 6th. The -- they're getting aided to some extent by the fact that it is not standing out in the public consciousness as much as it did.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: It shows you what a hold Donald Trump still has on the Republican Party, right? Maybe one that Kevin McCarthy at a certain point underestimated.
Let's talk about Senator Joe Manchin, who, of course, is a Democrat from West Virginia, and he spoke to our Dana Bash over the weekend about the accusation that he is a, quote, roadblock to Biden's plans in the Senate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): I'm not a roadblock at all. The best politics is good government. I can't believe that people believe that if you just do it my way, and that will give us the momentum to get through the next election. But when you do something that everyone tags onto -- and I've seen good things happen -- that people voted against it, took credit for it when they went back home. We won't give this system a chance to work. I am not going to be part of blowing up this Senate of ours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So he definitely isn't going to be part of plans to eliminate the filibuster.
Where does this leave President Biden's more ambitious plans, Maggie?
HABERMAN: Well, there's two -- there's two roads, basically. One is, there's reconciliation where Democrats try to go it alone. That has its own risks, although it has its own rewards potentially. And then there's one where they work with Senate moderates, including Joe Manchin, to try to come up with something that will attract Republican votes.
Again, neither options is perfect because in one you are, you know, slimming down your own plan, and that's the one working with Republicans. But I do think that the White House, while I -- they have created this new template where they are focused on where Republican voters are as opposed to the Republican votes in the Congress for a lot of their plans and where the support comes from, I do think that over time they're -- I think they see there's a draw in having a more appeal in having at least some Republican support for some of their plans.
This plan that -- the -- the infrastructure plan started out as -- as very bold. It was -- it's also very progressive. I think there are some elements that the White House can probably stand to see change. But, overall, I don't think that they're going to want to make huge compromises where the Republicans want to be.
BERMAN: You know, on the subject of progressive priorities, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says that progressives have found what she calls a good partner in the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): One thing that I will say is that I do think that the Biden administration, President Biden, has definitely exceeded expectations that progressives had. You know, I'll be frank, I think a lot of us expected a much more conservative administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: Actually, I'm sure -- this isn't damning with famed praise, that's actually a really interesting statement coming from one of the leaders of the progressive wing.
HABERMAN: No question, John. And the congresswoman is a bellwether for where the progressive movement, certainly in Congress, is.
I do think that that is what we've heard from a number of progressives is that they've been -- they have been surprised. Not -- not -- they're not completely happy. There are elements of -- of the -- the stimulus plan that did not included what they wanted. But, overall, I think they think that Joe Biden has been willing to try to be a collaborator with them and I think that they think that, you know, he has governed very differently, not just in what they expected based on some of his campaign activity, although he made a lot of progressive pledges during the campaign, but also just based on his history, he has been different.
Now, Republicans have been using that as an argument against him, and I think they're going to continue to do that. But certainly for the liberal wing of his party, I think that people have been very happy with President Biden.
KEILAR: CNN, Maggie, got a first look at a new GOP report card which is being rolled out by the anti-Trump conservative group, The Republican Accountability Project. And this is something that assigns grades to Republican lawmakers based on whether they uphold or undermine democracy as this organization sees it. Fourteen Republican lawmakers received an A. And this includes Senators Romney and Murkowski and number three House Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney. Over 100 Republicans got an F, a failing grade.
Is this going to have any impact other than maybe making some of these Republicans look bad to some Republicans?
HABERMAN: Look, I think that within their districts for most of these Republicans, right, we are mostly talking about members of Congress. I think that many of them don't care. I think that for those who are facing re-election, they are generally aware of their right flanks, depending on what their district looks like.
I do think the purpose that it serves is keeping alive, as we were just discussing, the memory (INAUDIBLE) of January 6th. I think it does serve the purpose of keeping it alive in the public eye, even if it's only somewhat faintly, even if it's somewhat, you know, inconsistently not on their part but just in terms of the interest level from the general public. But I think that's what they're trying to do.
[06:40:04]
I think that, you know, Republicans are less concerned about looking bad with that particular group of Republicans, the 14 who did well. But I think that this keeps the focus on what took place in the final months, not just on January 6th, but in the final months of the Trump presidency. KEILAR: Maggie, it's great to see you. Thanks for being with us this
morning.
HABERMAN: Thank you.
KEILAR: Officials in New York are investigating a string of new attacks targeting an Asian man and several synagogues.
BERMAN: Plus, a Trump supporter on trial for threatening to slaughter top Democrats after the Capitol riot. What investigators have now learned about his neo-Nazi beliefs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Developing this morning, top Maryland officials are launching an investigation into all of the cases involving in-custody deaths overseen by the state's former chief medical examiner who testified in Derek Chauvin's defense. You'll recall that David Fowler testified that he believed Floyd had died by a sudden cardiac event, citing drugs and potential carbon monoxide poisoning as contributing factors.
[06:45:07]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID FOWLER, FORMER CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FOR MARYLAND: His face was facing towards the vehicle, towards the rear of the vehicle, and directly towards the area where you would expect the tailpipe or tailpipes of the vehicle to be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is carbon monoxide toxic?
FOWLER: It is an extremely toxic gas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: CNN's Whitney Wild is live in Washington with more on this.
What are they looking at, Whitney?
WHITNEY WILD, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, they're basically looking at all of the cases, all of the in-custody death cases between 2002 and 2019. That was when Dr. David Fowler was the chief medical examiner for Maryland. "The Washington Post" points out that he was the leader of that agency's division, so underneath him were -- was a pretty large group of people who were scrutinizing these in-custody deaths.
However, Maryland officials clearly think that there's something going on here that is prompting this review. The Maryland attorney general saying he thought it was appropriate for an independent review.
However, here's what Dr. David Fowler has to say. This is in a statement to "The Washington Post." I stand behind the outstanding work that our dedicated staff at the Maryland State Medical Examiner's Office performed during my tenure as the chief medical examiner. His testimony was so controversial within the medical examiner
community that the former D.C. medical examiner, Dr. Roger Mitchell, sent an open letter to Maryland officials that was signed by hundreds of people in which, this is just a brief segment of it, he says, our disagreement with Dr. Fowler is not a matter of opinion. Our disagreement with Dr. Fowler is a matter of ethics.
KEILAR: Wow.
WILD: So we'll have to see how this plays out, Brianna. The Maryland Attorney General's Office also defends agencies, defends the people who work there. So they have walled off the people who might be investigating this as -- from the people who might have to somehow represent the people who are actually under investigation.
So a complicated situation here in Maryland, but it signifies that Maryland officials are dedicated to rooting out any possible concerns there might be surrounding these in-custody deaths over a very expansive amount of time, Brianna.
KEILAR: That's very interesting. We know you'll continue to cover this.
Whitney, thank you for that.
BERMAN: So a third straight night of rocket attacks in Israel amid escalating nightly clashes in Jerusalem. We have a live report, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:51:30]
BERMAN: Developing overnights, the Israeli army closing the waters off the Gaza coast to fishermen after five more rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel. The Israeli army says 45 rockets have been fired in the last three days.
Hadas Gold joins us now live from Jerusalem, where the tensions do appear to be rising, Hadas.
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, Gaza militants have specifically cited tensions in Jerusalem as part of the reason for firing those 45 rockets over the course of three days.
I'm standing here at the plaza in front of Damascus Gate. This is the main entrance for Muslims worshipers to enter the old city. And it's been the site of rising clashes and tensions between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police. Palestinian protesters angry at barricades that had been erected by police to try to prevent people from congregating here. This is a popular place for young people to congregate, especially during Ramadan.
Those protests became rather violent over the last few days and they're fueled -- they're part of a fueling rising tensions in Jerusalem across the city, not only because of the protests here in the plaza, but also incidents of violence, Palestinian on Israeli, Israeli on Palestinian, and last week a march by hundreds of Jewish extremists who were marching through Jerusalem at one point chanting "death to Arabs."
Those tensions, of course, causing a lot of concern, contributing to the rocket fire that we are seeing from Gaza. But police, last night, took down the barricades to cheers from the Palestinian protesters who were here in the plaza. They erupted in cheers. They began also praying. They were very happy that the barricades came down.
Authorities here are really hopes that by removing the barricades they can return a sense of calm to specifically this area and also to the city at large because it's been rather calm in Jerusalem for the last few years, but the last few days have seen some of the highest levels of tensions that Jerusalem has seen in quite some time.
John.
BERMAN: Everything is relative, but as you said, the last few years have been a little bit different than we're seeing in the last few days.
Hadas, please, keep us posted.
The number of Americans skipping their second vaccination is growing. How big of a problem could that become? We're going to ask our experts, next.
Plus, I'll speak with a doctor on the front lines of the horrifying surge in cases in India. What he says his hospitals need now to try to save lives.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:58:01]
KEILAR: Diamondbacks' pitcher, Madison Bumgarner, throws a no-hitter against the Braves, but it won't count in the record books.
Coy Wire has this morning's "Bleacher Report."
That is like a worst nightmare.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It is. Yes, a lot of fans saying, hey, call it a no-hitter, just put an asterisk beside it.
Good morning to you, Brianna.
If a pitcher doesn't allow a hit in a seven-inning game as part of a double-hitter, should it count, though, as a no-hitter? The question never really had to be considered before last night. Madison Bumgarner allowing no hits in the second game of a double-header in Atlanta. All double-header games this season are being shortened to seven innings due to COVID-19.
Here's the catch, Major League Baseball wrote in 1991 that no-hitters in games shorter than nine innings or those broken up in extra innings would be considered official. So the Diamondbacks say, hey, this counts in our book. Just read the fine print, though, in that tweet real tiny above "no no" in parentheses there, "un-official."
A scary moment during a Nascar race in Talladega. Joey Logano going sideways, then airborne. His car barreled right over Bubba Wallace's number 23 car. You'll see it come right over the top, straight at you here. Wallace's car had some minor damage to the roof. More importantly, Logano, able to walk away from the wreck uninjured.
Finally, the UFC put on its first event with a full capacity crowd since the COVID-19 pandemic started last March. More than 15,000 fans packing into the arena in Jacksonville on Saturday night without social distancing. Not many masks being worn. Many fight fans were excited about the atmosphere, while critics are concerned it might become a potential super spreader event.
John.
BERMAN: All right, Coy Wire, thanks so much for that.
I still have the image of the Joey Logano crash in my head. I can't get over that car floating over the race course like that.
Thanks so much.
So three of California's Major League Baseball teams setting a new trend a year into the pandemic, introducing sections for fully vaccinated fans only.
CNN's Dan Simon has the story.
[07:00:01]
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Brianna, coming to you from a rather empty Oracle Park as the San Francisco Giants take on the Florida Marlins. And team officials hope that eventually.
