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GOP Lawmaker: Rioter "Executed" by "Hiding" Capitol Police; Interview with D.C. Metropolitan Officer about 21 Republicans Voting Against Congressional Gold Medals for Defenders of Capitol and Media Misinformation about Insurrection. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired June 17, 2021 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the new twilight zone -- the upside-down that some Republicans in Congress and some deranged entertainers are trying to create surrounding the Capitol insurrection.

This is a dangerous, deceitful, depraved Twilight Zone, one where they try to claim that what we know happened, what we saw happen did not actually happen, one where they try to claim that the heroes who saved lives, maybe even members of Congress' lives, they don't deserve to be recognized as heroes or, in one case, even acknowledged at all, a Twilight Zone where they simultaneously say it didn't happen, but if it did, it was an inside job.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The echoes of what really happened on January 6th are still coming to light more than five months later. Overnight a judge releasing new videos of the insurrection in court cases against several defendants, including one accused of crushing a police officer. The FBI director admitting that hundreds more may face accountability with investigations still ongoing. And a watchdog testifying that it's still unclear who was in charge of security at the Capitol despite the unprecedented security breach just a few months ago.

And a FOX propaganda host parroting Russian talking points now jumping on a baseless, absurd conspiracy theory that the FBI was behind the attack on the Capitol. We'll have more on that in a moment.

You are about to hear from one of the heroes of that day, an officer who was assaulted. He says a Republican Congressman who compared the attack to a normal tourist visit refused to shake his hand last night. We saw how despite the video proof of the real danger and violence on January 6th, 21 Republican lawmakers voted against Congressional Gold Medals for the officers who responded that day, lawmakers who, on any other day, might crow, have crowed about supporting law enforcement.

And now one of the officers who defended the Capitol on January 6th is describing a tense exchange that he had with one of those lawmakers who voted no. He's with us now. Officer Michael Fanone, who is with the D.C. Metropolitan Police and responded January 6th and nearly died as a result, thank you so much, Mike, for being with us. OFFICER MICHAEL FANONE, D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE, DEFENDED CAPITOL ON

JANUARY 6TH: Thank you for having me.

KEILAR: I want to talk about your experience yesterday, but let's talk about what led up to that. You were on Capitol Hill in the wake of 21 Republicans voting against this Congressional Gold Medal for D.C., for Capitol police. What was your reaction to that vote?

FANONE: I was pretty outraged that 21 members would vote against a bill to honor members of my department as well as members of the United States Capitol police. So I reached out to a buddy of mine, Harry Dunn, a U.S. Capitol police officer, and asked him to walk with me as I went and attempted to schedule appointments to meet with those 21 members just to discuss my experiences that day, and if they were interested, showing them my body-worn camera footage, and hoping to better understand why it was that they voted no. And if they had issues with the language of the bill, did they have some type of alternative that they had already come up with to honor those officers?

KEILAR: You're still on medical leave, right?

FANONE: Yes, ma'am.

KEILAR: Tell me about the injuries you're still dealing with.

FANONE: On January 6th, in addition to being severely beaten, I was tased numerous times at the base of my skull. As a result of that, I suffered a traumatic brain injury, a heart attack, and still have the lingering effects of the TBI that I'm dealing with now as well as some issues with PTSD.

KEILAR: Not surprisingly, I will say. So you were up on the Hill, and you come across, what, a congressman, Andrew Clyde of Georgia. Tell us what happened.

FANONE: Yes, so I had already been to Congressman Clyde's office. They told me he wasn't there at the time. Obviously, I recognized Congressman Clyde from some of his inflammatory statements that he had made earlier regarding January 6th as being compared to a normal tourist visit at the U.S. Capitol, which is an out and out lie. And so I saw him standing outside an elevator bay. Once he got on the elevator, myself and Officer Dunn accompanied him on the elevator. And I simply greeted him, extended my hand. He stared at me, refused to shake my hand. He said that he didn't know who I was. I introduced myself. I said my name is Officer Michael Fanone. I'm a D.C. police officer and I fought to defend the Capitol on January 6th. And I explained to him some of the injuries that I suffered as a result of that. He just stared at me, turned away, pulled out his cellphone. It looked like he was trying to record the interaction, which ended then. We didn't speak. And as soon as the elevator bay doors open, he ran.

KEILAR: And he didn't say anything else?

FANONE: No, ma'am.

[08:05:00]

KEILAR: Just a reminder for our viewers, I want to play the sound bite of what this congressman said after January 6th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ANDREW CLYDE (R-GA): If you didn't know the TV footage was a video from January the 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Which is especially surprising considering, as we look back on that day, this is a picture of Congressman Clyde. He is actually barricading the door of the House chamber with, obviously, law enforcement at his side as he's trying to do it. There were a number of members of the House of Representatives inside, and rioters actually were able to breach that door. It was not far from that that one of the rioters was actually shot as she tried to get into the Speaker's lobby adjacent to the House chamber. When you said this to him and he was turning around, what was the look on his face? What did it say to you?

FANONE: I believe he was incredibly uncomfortable. I think a lot of times these lawmakers on Capitol Hill, they feel like they can say whatever they want and they're never going to be held accountable for those words. Well, your words have consequences, Congressman. You're lying about what happened on January 6th, and I'm going to be there to confront anyone who lies about January 6th.

I'm not here to make this a political issue. It just so happens that one party is lying about what thousands of officers experienced that day on Capitol Hill. I'm going to confront anyone that lies about that day, because while these members are betraying their oath, thousands of D.C. police officers and U.S. Capitol police officers were fulfilling their oath and continue to do so every day.

KEILAR: And they walk by them every day when they come into work. You cannot get into the Capitol complex, as you know, just going there yesterday, without going through a magnetometer, without seeing these police. So they're being confronted with the people they're lying about every day, maybe not as in a forthright way as you are doing. But you went not just to talk to Congressman Clyde. You spoke, or at least attempted to speak with other members of Congress, maybe their staffers. Did you have any other experiences that were kind of questionable when you were up on the Hill?

FANONE: For the most part, staff members were incredibly cordial. Some were even grateful. Everybody seemed to know or at least be familiar with my story. And I had some really encouraging conversations with the staff members. The only one that was kind of, I don't know, tense, I would describe, was there was a congressman from Montana, and his chief of staff seemed to be unnerved at the presence of two police officers that served on January 6th defending that congressman, his staff. His chief of staff did not take kindly to our presence. KEILAR: How so?

FANONE: He just was demanding my badge number, the badge number of Officer Dunn, which I found to be pretty absurd. Clearly, I'm there.

KEILAR: But can I ask you, what did you take from that? Did you feel he was taking down your badge number as if to say he was going to report you to your boss or something?

FANONE: I guess. To be honest with you, it's beyond me. I had already given my full name, my email address and contact information. So --

KEILAR: One of the things, as over the months we have listened to your story, one of the things I've wondered about was, how did so many people who saw what was happening watch what was happening to you and no one did anything? We actually had one of the rioters who's facing charges and has had a come to Jesus about what happened on the program the other day. His name is Anthony Antonio. He saw what happened to you, and this is what he said he wanted to tell you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY ANTONIO, CAPITOL RIOT DEFENDANT: I saw a man that needed to be helped. I saw a man that just wanted to go home. The look in his eye, and I can't recall what he saw or what he was going through physically and live that day, but I locked eyes with him. And in that moment, I felt a calling to help this man. This isn't right. Help this man. And if he sees this, I just want to apologize that I didn't help you when I know I should have, and I just stood there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: What's your reaction to that, Mike? What do you think hearing that?

FANONE: I accept Mr. Antonio's apology. I think now, more than ever, as Americans, we need to start interacting with one another, display a lot more compassion and empathy.

[08:10:10]

KEILAR: I think that's certainly true and especially important to hear it coming from you.

I want to ask you, one of the Republicans who voted against this Congressional Gold Medal for officers of the MPD and Capitol police was in a hearing this week, Paul Gosar of Arizona. And this is what he said about the rioter who was killed as she tried to enter the speaker's lobby just adjacent to the House chamber.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL GOSAR (R-AZ): The Capitol police officer that did that shooting of Ashli Babbitt, appeared to be hiding, lying in wait, no warning before killing her. Question again, why hasn't that officer that executed Ashli Babbitt been named when police officers around the country are routinely identified after a shooting?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Ashli Babbitt, to be clear, was crawling through, and it's on video, a broken window into the Speaker's lobby near a number of members of the House of Representatives with a crowd of rioters behind her. The MPD internal affairs, as well as the DOJ, looked at this. They cleared the officer who shot her in April. I wonder what you think hearing that congressman describing her as being executed by a cop.

FANONE: This is the congressman whose siblings put out like campaign ads asking people not to vote for him.

KEILAR: That's right.

FANONE: I think those statements are moronic. And I also find it ironic that while a lot of members of his party were talking about why we didn't shoot everybody in the head that day that he would be taking the opposite approach and calling a police officer a murderer.

KEILAR: What do you think this says? We're here talking about just incredible disinformation, denial of reality about what happened when it's so clear, there's so much video. You couldn't get more video. You couldn't have more pictures of what happened to tell you what happened, personal experiences, accounts like yours, people speaking out. What does it tell you about the future of the country that we cannot seem to see eye to eye on just basic, verifiable facts?

FANONE: Yes, I think that's one of the issues that's most disturbing to me is the degree of tribalism in this country. And we've been heading in this direction now for quite some time. It's just gotten to an unbearable point. It's sad because I know lots of people who source their news from one particular news network, and they don't have any appreciation for what happened on January 6th. And then when I talk to them or show them body-worn camera, they're absolutely floored. Stunned.

KEILAR: Their minds are changed?

FANONE: The ones that I'm close with, absolutely. Yes, ma'am. But they wouldn't know. If you only listen to a handful of representatives that go back to their districts and talk a bunch of bullshit about January 6th, and then you source your news from some specific news networks, you're not going to know. You're going to have no idea.

KEILAR: There's a conspiracy theory out there on the right at this moment that this was an FBI insider operation, and it's baseless. It's a lie. But it's getting an assist from the right-wing media that you're talking about. And I wonder, I'm talking about FOX. What is your message to hosts who -- I at least have no doubt that they know that this is crap, but they're saying it anyways, what is your message to them?

FANONE: I've never been approached about doing any media appearances on FOX News. I would love to do an appearance on any show on FOX News, and I would challenge any of the 21 members that voted against the Gold Medal bill acknowledging police officers that have a skewed view or just plain lying about January 6th to come on those shows and talk to me and listen to my experience and what hundreds of other officers went through on January 6th at the insurrection.

KEILAR: What is it like for you, and you have a lot of friends who are Capitol police officers, and I know that you've probably made some friends, too, in the unfortunate course of what happened to you. What is it like when you guys talk? What is it like for them having to encounter Republican lawmakers every day who are denying what happened to them?

FANONE: I've spoken to quite a few. I don't know if you guys know, but I started my career at U.S. Capitol police almost 20 years ago.

[08:15:03]

And I only was there for about a year before I left and joined the D.C. Police Department. But I still know quite a few people there, and yesterday when I was on the Hill, I bumped into some old friendly faces. And it's difficult for them.

But this is what we do. I mean, this is what police officers do every day. You know, whether it's responding to the Capitol, you know, regardless of our own personal political affiliations or, you know, personal backgrounds or, you know, staffing a protest directed at, you know, police brutality.

Like we go there to ensure the public safety and we don't think about the politics of it, just like I'm not thinking about the politics of it here. I'm just here to talk about what's true versus what's crap.

KEILAR: Mike, your voice is so important. Thank you so much for coming on. It is wonderful to have you here this morning.

FANONE: Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate it.

KEILAR: Just ahead, we'll have more on the Republican congressman accusing Capitol police of, quote, lying in wait to execute a rioter. We'll have reaction from his own family, next.

BERMAN: That was such a great discussion with Michael Fanone, by the way.

From the Queen to Vladimir Putin, the big moments from President Biden's pivotal first foreign trip.

And Juneteenth about to become a national holiday. Could Election Day be next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: You just heard congressman -- you just Officer Michael Fanone talking about this, but Congressman Paul Gosar of Arizona is among 21 Republicans who voted against awarding congressional gold medals to the police officers who defended the Capitol on January 6th. [08:20:01]

And yesterday, he had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL GOSAR (R-AZ): The Capitol police officer that did that shooting, appeared to be hiding, lying in wait and gave no warning before killing her. Question again, why hasn't that officer that executed Ashli Babbitt been named when police officers around the country are routinely identified after a shooting?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The Metropolitan Police Department's Internal Affairs Division investigating the shooting of Ashli Babbitt and the Justice Department cleared the officer in April.

Joining me are Congressman Gosar's brother, Tim Gosar and David Gosar.

Thank you, gentlemen, for being with me.

Look, can I just get your reaction to what your brother said?

DAVID GOSAR, REP. PAUL GOSAR'S BROTHER: Well, first, John, thanks for having us on.

First off, I'd like to thank Officer Fanone for his -- and the other Capitol Hill police officers -- for their bravery and heroism on that day, and on behalf of the actual sane members of our family, which is everyone but Paul, we apologize on behalf of our family to him for his despicable comments and disgraceful conduct through this whole incident.

BERMAN: And that's your sense, that's your feeling about what he said in that case and what he's been saying about the insurrection?

D. GOSAR: You know, what he's doing, John, and I think you're aware of this, is he's raising money. You know, he's saying outrageous things just like, you know, Marjorie "traitor" Greene does, and, you know, there's the fringe element in this country which amounts to millions and millions of people who see that and applaud that because they get their news as Officer Fanone indicated through Fox and Facebook and, you know, they applaud that and they donate money to him and that's what he's doing.

BERMAN: So, you think it's a fundraising thing?

And I should note, neither of you are in contact with your brother at this point. It's been some time before you've had any relationship with him.

But are you suggesting -- and either of you can answer this -- that he doesn't believe what he's saying there? He doesn't believe the lies that he spews? D. GOSAR: Let me answer that and I'll let Tim, you know, do some

talking here, but this is what's going on with Paul, okay? He talks himself into these positions. You know, because it benefits Paul.

You know, that's what's going on. You know, you repeat the lie to yourself and keep repeating it. Oh, hey, is that what's going on? Oh, yeah, that's what's going on. That's what's really happened.

But it's disingenuous at its core. You know, I mean, at some level. He doesn't believe it because they keep -- if you notice, their whole strategy now is just to keep throwing up different conspiracy theories as a way of confusing people.

So, this is a strategy, you know, that they are employing and Paul is part of that. He -- they must get their marching orders every day through these talking points from wherever they come from and he just marches along right with that. But that's what's going on.

BERMAN: I know. It may not even matter if it's real or not. Kurt Vonnegut once wrote: you are who you pretend to be, so be careful who you pretend to be. It's indistinguishable whether he believes it or not at a certain point.

Tim, you wanted to get in here.

TIM GOSAR, REP. PAUL GOSAR'S BROTHER: Yes, good morning, John. Thanks for having Dave and I.

And I would echo Dave's comments to Officer Fanone and the D.C. Police and the Capitol Police for their valor and their heroism on January 6th, trying to protect our democracy. So, I hope everyone there makes a full and speedy recovery.

So I would just echo what Dave said so eloquently about the appreciation we have for those patriots, actual patriots that day, the D.C. police, the Capitol Police.

And I would just add to Dave's comments about Paul is, once you lose your focus on the truth, once you become someone that peddles in lies, once you become basically a snake oil salesman, and the truth is a really slippery thing to get your arms around. It's really hard to go back to the truth once you become a pathological liar like Paul has become.

BERMAN: So, Tim, let me ask you. Obviously, he lives in a safe district. He'll get reelected from Arizona as long as he wants to, it seems. So, what would you like to see happen to your brother?

T. GOSAR: Well, I would like to see Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer and attorney general do a full and complete investigation. And if they find at the end of that investigation that there are criminal charges warranted because the people that were put up to that that day, they are facing criminal charges.

So why would the -- you know, masterminds get, you know, a different tier of justice? They would get out of any criminal exposure? Why is that possible?

[08:25:00]

Why is that fair? Why is that just? Why is that equitable?

So, I would call upon those people that I just mentioned to perform a full and complete investigation at the end of that. If what it looks like Paul has done and Brooks (ph) has done and Biggs has done and Trump has done, then there should be accountability.

BERMAN: Tim and David Gosar, we appreciate you being with us this morning. Thank you both so much.

D. GOSAR: Thank you, John.

T. GOSAR: Thank you, John, for having us.

BERMAN: Did President Biden signal a shift in relations with Ukraine after his sit-down with Vladimir Putin? A former U.S. ambassador joins us next.

KEILAR: And the Democrat standing against the party's voting rights bill puts out his own proposal. Stacey Abrams gives us her take.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: President Biden returning from his first foreign trip and here are the highlights in two minutes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: At every point along the way, we're going to make it clear that the United States is back.

QUEEN ELIZABETH: Are you supposed to be looking as if you're enjoying it?

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

JOHNSON: We have been enjoying ourselves, in spite of appearances.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: I think it's great to have the U.S. president part of the club and willing to cooperate. And I think what you demonstrate is that leadership is partnership.

BIDEN: America will be the arsenal of vaccines in our fight against COVID-19.

She wanted to know what the two leaders that I -- one of them I'm about to be with, Mr. Putin, she wanted to know about Xi Jinping. We had a long talk. She was very generous.

I just want all of Europe to know that the United States is there. The United States is there. We have new challenges. [08:30:00]