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Madison Investigators Seek Motive For Shooting; Congress Floats Anti-Drone Legislation Amid Sightings; House Ethic CMTE. Votes To Release Gaetz Report; Federal Reserve Expected To Cute Interest Rates. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 18, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Investigators in Madison, Wisconsin, are beginning to understand what drove a teenage girl to carry out a school shooting this week. A teacher and student were shot and killed at a private Christian school. Six other people were injured. Madison's police chief says the biggest priority right now is determining the shooter's motive.

As of now, it's still not clear how 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow got the handgun used in the attack. But this photo from her dad's Facebook page shows her at a gun range in August. Court documents show that her parents were divorced and remarried multiple times and that she moved between their homes every two or three days. The turbulent home life causing her to enroll in therapy, according to reports. All these details coming out in the Washington Post.

Meantime, hundreds of people gathered outside the Wisconsin State Capitol last night to honor the victims. Here's part of the mayor's message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR SATYA RHODES-CONWAY, MADISON, WISCONSIN: We will never be the same, but we will get through this, and we will get through this together by relying on each other and by taking care of each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Joining me now is Erin McGroarty from the Capital Times in Madison. Aaron, thank you for being with us. How is Madison doing this morning? How's the city doing?

ERIN MCGROARTY, REPORTER, THE CAPITAL TIMES: Thanks for having me. I wish it was under different circumstances. Madison is hurting deeply. We know that these incidents are unfortunately common across the country, but this is new for the community of Madison. It is the capital city, but it's not a huge city. You know, population is a little over 280,000. And it's -- the pain is still very fresh for many members of the community.

We had vigils at different congregations over the past few days. The one at the Capitol last night brought hundreds to downtown. So, it is still a very fresh wound.

ACOSTA: And what are you and some of your colleagues hearing from people connected to that school community? What are they saying? Are they saying anything about the shooter? What can you tell us?

MCGROARTY: A lot of that is still under investigation. What we heard from Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes yesterday is that there is an active investigation into how the shooter got the gun, what her motives were, that is still an active investigation. Police have said that her parents are cooperating. There have been searches, search warrants have been undergone and they are in the process of gathering evidence, but a lot is still unconfirmed. So, we're waiting for answers, but hearing that the investigation is ongoing.

ACOSTA: And we were just looking at that photo of the shooter at a gun range, and it does appear as though she has had some kind of practice or training using a firearm. What other pieces of evidence are police looking at, and how does that picture square or fit into the investigation?

MCGROARTY: Yes. I mean, I think they are looking into how she acquired the gun. To be honest, in Wisconsin, there's a very active hunting community. And so, people going to shooting ranges is not uncommon. However, I know that they are looking into her past and connection with firearms. Wisconsin has some laws limiting children's access to guns. But that typically, you know, only goes up to age 14. We know that she was age 15.

ACOSTA: And have officials said anything about the shooter's parents possibly facing any charges?

MCGROARTY: They have said that as of right now they are not looking to charge the parents. Again, if the shooter was under 14, and they were able to find that they recklessly left the firearm accessible, then that would count as a misdemeanor under Wisconsin statute, but that the age range doesn't fit with that statute.

[10:35:00]

ACOSTA: All right. Erin McGroarty, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it.

MCGROARTY: Thanks for having me.

ACOSTA: All right. And still to come, those drone sightings across the Northeast. Yes, they're causing a lot of concern. So, much that lawmakers received a classified briefing on it yesterday. We'll ask a congressman about his theories on what is flying over the Northeast. So, we'll talk about in just a few moments, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK

ACOSTA: This morning, President Biden is weighing in on those mysterious drone sightings. He insists the flying objects seen recently across the Northeast pose no threat. Here's what he had to say. [10:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: There's nothing nefarious, apparently, but they're checking it all out. I think it's just one -- there's a lot of drones authorized up there. We're following it closely. So, far, no sense of danger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: His comments echo members of the House Intelligence Committee who have been saying basically the same thing, they got a classified briefing on some of these aircraft sightings. Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island. He's on the Homeland Security Committee. Congressman, will you get a briefing -- will your committee get a briefing on this? What can you tell us and what's your sense of what you're hearing so far?

REP. SETH MAGAZINER (D-RI), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Yes, on the Homeland Security Committee, we've had a number of briefings on drones over the last couple weeks in both classified and unclassified settings. And the bottom line is this, you know, there's two types of politicians in Washington. There's the type of politician that just always wants attention and will say provocative things in order to attract attention and then there's people who tell the truth.

And, in this case, the real truth is that most of these drone sightings across the northeast in recent weeks have very boring explanations. They are either civilian small aircraft, civilian drones, and most of them, if not all of them have very boring run of the mill explanations.

That being said, I'm glad that we're having this conversation about drones, nonetheless, because it does call attention to the fact that our laws are very outdated in this country when it comes to drones. State and local law enforcement have very limited authorities to track drones, to bring them down if they're over sensitive areas. I'm on a bill that would change that and would give more authority to state and local law enforcement to engage in counter drone technology because it is important and we don't want drones flying over sensitive areas, whether that be operated by a bad actor or just by a hobbyist who is inadvertently sending drones someplace where they shouldn't.

ACOSTA: And I -- forgive me for asking a follow up here on that, but you said that some or most have boring explanations. Have you received any information in a classified or non-classified setting that would give you concern that there's some sort of drone being used for a nefarious purpose that people should be concerned about?

MAGAZINER: They have not -- the intelligence agencies and Homeland Security have not identified any recent drone sighting in the northeast that they feel -- that they have evidence is being operated by a bad actor.

ACOSTA: OK. MAGAZINER: Now, it has happened from time to time across the country elsewhere, and it is something that we need to be concerned about. You know, for example, we have huge issues with drones at the southern border. Cartels at the southern border are using drones to locate border patrol personnel and move contraband. We have big issues with drones being flown into prisons across the country to deliver contraband. And yes, the possibility exists that a foreign adversary or some other bad actor could use a drone for a bad purpose anywhere in the United States.

So, we do need to update our laws and give law enforcement more authority to bring these drones down and to locate the people who are flying them. But as far as the specific sightings over New Jersey and other parts of the northeast recently, no direct evidence of a bad actor being involved, as far as we know.

ACOSTA: OK. Appreciate that, that clarity. And, Congressman, I do want to ask you about the House Ethics Committee apparently voting to release its report on Matt Gaetz. What's your response to that? We had Congressman Tim Burchett on, he's a Republican, earlier on in this program, who said, well, if you're going to do that, release all the ethics reports on any member of Congress that's been investigated. I know that's not likely to happen, but are you concerned at all? Do you have concerns about this Gates report being released and potentially some unintended consequences?

MAGAZINER: Well, it absolutely should be released. The public has a right to know what the Ethics Committee has found in its investigation. Particularly because, you know, with Matt Gaetz, even if he has withdrawn his nomination to be attorney general under the next Trump administration it's still very possible that President- Elect Trump could appoint him to another sensitive position, perhaps even a law enforcement related position that doesn't require Senate confirmation.

And if the Ethics Committee feels that the evidence about Matt Gaetz's behavior is so damning and so concerning that they want to release it, I think that it should be released. The public has a right to know. And, you know, particularly if his name is still in play for another position of authority, then the public has a right to know what's in the report.

ACOSTA: And, Congressman, I'm sure you saw this as well. A House Republican report on January 6th recommending that Liz Cheney be criminally investigated for her actions on that committee. Are you beginning to worry that when Trump gets into office that he is going to wage a revenge campaign against his perceived enemies and that this may be part of it?

[10:45:00]

MAGAZINER: Absolutely. You know, this is one of the most concerning things about the incoming Trump administration is that Donald Trump feels emboldened to go after his political opponents, to use the FBI and the Department of Justice to do it. You know, in this case, he's talking about Liz Cheney and the January 6th Committee. They were just doing their job in putting information out to the public about what happened during the attack on the Capitol. And now, he's trying to punish them for it. I mean, this is something that should concern all of us. It should concern, you know, members of law enforcement, the FBI, the Capitol Police who risk their lives to maintain public safety. And you know, we have to call it out for what it is.

This would be an absolute abuse of power by Donald Trump. We cannot allow this to become normalized. And you know, he's doing this, I think, not just to go after people like Liz Cheney who he wants to exact revenge against, but also to create a chilling effect so that others won't have the confidence to speak out against him when he does something wrong.

But we have to find the courage to keep speaking out when need be. This is absolutely one of those times. And look, we'll work with the Trump administration when it's good for the country and productive, but if he starts abusing his power in this way, we are absolutely going to call him out, and we're not going to let him get away with it.

ACOSTA: All right. Democratic Congressman Seth Magaziner, thank you very much for your time this morning. Really appreciate it.

MAGAZINER: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Still ahead this hour, a Wall Street bounce and a big decision on interest rates just hours away. We'll have the latest news impacting your wallet. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

ACOSTA: All right. We want to take a look at the markets right now. Trading on Wall Street has been underway for more than an hour. Take a look at this. The Dow is up over 235 at the moment. When the market closed yesterday, it was the nineth straight day down. The longest losing streak since 1978 when Jimmy Carter was president.

Another factor influencing today's markets is an expected interest rate cut. The Federal Reserve could do that just hours from now. That's expected. In other words, borrowing money may be about to get a little cheaper. Let's discuss with CNN's Matt Egan, who joins us in Washington. You should be in New York following the markets, but there's big news happening in Washington today. Tell us about we're seeing on the markets and how the interest rate cut may play into this.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Jim, you talked about this losing streak that we've seen in the Dow. Not all that concerning. I think this is one of those things that sounds a little bit worse than it really is. But look, I haven't seen a losing streak like this in my lifetime. Like you mentioned 1978 the last time. And if the Dow closed down today, this would actually be the longest losing streak in half a century.

But it's important to remember that this is just the Dow. The Dow is only 30 stocks. The smart money doesn't really look at what the Dow does. They look at the broader market. The S&P 500, not down nearly as much. The NASDAQ is still near record highs. But listen, there has been a mood shift in the market. There was all that euphoria after the election, and I think some of that has started to fade.

Now, investors are starting to have to pay attention to not just the pro-business parts of the Trump agenda, like tax cuts and deregulation, but also the risks around tariffs and mass deportation. And you could see the ride in the market get bumpier from here as investors start to think about some of the negatives too.

ACOSTA: Yes, as he's getting closer to going into office, the market might have a different take on things. And the Fed, I mean, they're -- we do expect the Fed to cut interest rates a touch today, but that is not all good news because the expectation is this maybe it for a while.

EGAN: It might be. I mean, look, an interest rate cut does look imminent. The market is pricing in like a 95 percent chance of a quarter point cut today. So, the Fed almost has to cut rates because if they don't, they're going to freak out investors and they don't want to do that.

And this is good news for borrowers, right? If you're trying to get a mortgage or a car loan trying to pay off credit card debt, it's nice that borrowing costs have finally started to come down. But yes, we are expecting fed officials to signal that they're going to tap the brakes on interest rate cuts for 2025.

And it is kind of an awkward time to cut rates when you think about it. I mean, there's no recession in sight. The progress on inflation has started to stall, and there are risks that the Trump agenda could be inflationary. So, that's what we have heard from a few Fed officials, former Fed officials, in the last few days who said, listen, maybe the Fed shouldn't be cutting right now, and perhaps they should pause.

ACOSTA: A little bit of time left, but CNN has learned that allies of President-Elect Trump have discussed the possibility of dismantling the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the FDIC, for those who are following along at home, which protects insured bank deposits. This is very important, and why is this a potential worry?

EGAN: Yes. So, the FDIC, as you mentioned, this is the agency that really safeguards all of our money in the bank, right? If the bank goes bust, your money is saved up to $250,000 because of the FDIC insurance, which by the way, is funded by the industry, not funded by taxpayers. And when you think about it in this era of distrust in the government, the FDIC kind of stands alone among bank regulators as a trusted brand.

ACOSTA: People trust it. EGAN: They do. So, that's why experts, former regulators, academics, they tell me this is a bad idea. And it is very, very unlikely to happen. A Better Markets CEO, Dennis Keller, here told me that this is one of the dumbest ideas anyone could have. And it's a reflection of how incredibly out of touch billionaires are. So, Jim, listen, this is one of those deregulatory ideas that looks like it's dead on arrival.

ACOSTA: All right. Very good. Matt Egan, thank you very much.

EGAN: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: We appreciate it. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

ACOSTA: Just as his former colleagues are about to release an ethics report about allegations of misconduct against him, Former Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz has just tweeted out his response to the news, and we put this up on screen show our viewers. It says this, this is from Matt Gaetz, the Biden/Garland DOJ spent years reviewing allegations that I committed various crimes. I was charged with nothing, fully exonerated, he says, not even a campaign finance violation. And the people investigating me hated me. Then the very witnesses DOJ deemed not credible were assembled by House Ethics to repeat their claims. Absent any cross-examination or challenge from me or my attorneys. I've had no chance to ever confront any accusers. I've never been charged. I've never been sued.

[11:00:00]