petito family is planning to hold a press conference today at 1:00 p.m. unclear what they're going to say, but we'll be listening to that, as well, brianna. >> certainly will. thank you so much. "new day" continues right now. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. it is tuesday, september 28th. i am brianna keilar with john berman on this "new day." it is a critical week in washington. it's about to get very real. there are intense negotiations that are going on on capitol hill with outcomes that will impact every american. last night, the senate falling well short of the required 60 votes needed to prevent a government shutdown and raise the debt limit. the u.s. could run out of money to pay its bills in a matter of weeks. the treasury department already taking extraordinary measures to keep the u.s. solvent. the secretary saying that if it is not, it will trigger an economic catastrophe. and there was a major development overnight in the intra-party struggle between the democratic party on the issue of the bipartisan infrastructure bill and president biden's domestic agenda plans. nancy pelosi, speaker of the house, pretty much broke with proguessivegressives in the par says she's going to forge ahead with a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill at this point without tying it directly to the larger social spending bill. this is a break from her previous position. this is a break from what chuck schumer has talked about before, and a break from what president biden has promised before. let's talk about this, what it means and where it is going. al franken, host of the "al franken podcast," and you're on a comedy tour right now, as well. >> i am. thank you for mentioning that. >> i don't think you view what's going on in congress right now as particularly funny with these negotiations having to do with the infrastructure -- >> it is slightly hair-raising, but i'm optimistic. i think what nancy did was strategic. i'm not going to question her. i believe we'll get to the bigger package of reconciliation in the senate. there's so many good things in it that it has to happen. so many popular things have to happen. child tax credit, the biggest working class tax cut in history and low income. there is just, you know, infrastructure, clean energy, day care, which americans want. medicare negotiating with pharmaceuticals, which overwhelmingly americans want. we pay three times as much for pharmaceuticals as they do in europe for the stuff we produce. we're going to get this done. it's not going to be pretty, but i'm optimistic we're going to get it done because we kind of have to. >> you talk about what's in it, and that's ultimately what matters to the american people. >> yes. >> but they only get that if it passes. there is this battle in the democratic party, and there have been progressives and also moderates and they look at it both ways. both of them said we're willing to accept nothing if we don't get what we want. what's your message to the progressive caucus in the house? you're a senate guy but not a house guy, but i'm sure you know some of them. what would be your message to them saying, we're not passing the infrastructure deal unless you give us what we want on the other part? >> these are negotiations. negotiations happen like this. people -- i won't say they're posturing, but they're staking out positions for strategic reasons. as i said, this will happen because it'll have to happen. now, whether it is going to be the full 3.5, whether it'll be -- by the way, it's not costing the treasury $3.5 trillion. a lot of this is tax increases for for billionaires and very wealthy people. >> kyrsten sinema, apparently, according to the "new york times," doesn't want the tax increases. >> i know. i know. she's one of 50. we need every one of them. >> that's sinking it? >> i don't think so. >> is joe manchin going to sink it? >> i'm pretty sure. that they're going to come up with something. i don't know where the compromises are going to be, but the package, it has to pass. it really does. that's why it will pass. they will forge something, and it'll be very good. because all the elements of this package are incredibly popular with the american people. >> they don't seem to like each other very much right now. i want to play some sound for you from -- >> who is "they"? >> democrats. some of the democrats right now, including one from your home state, who is talking about joe manchin. let's listen. >> okay. >> it is upsetting to see them use republican talking points. we didn't envision having republicans as part of our party. i hope that they will understand that democrats need to be united behind the president's agenda. we need to have urgent conversations of how to get this agenda done. >> your thoughts on that? >> we need joe manchin as a democrat because that's the only reason we have the majority. that's the reason we control the floor. that's the reason chuck schumer is the majority leader. he won in west virginia, which went for trump by 38 points. so with all due respect to the representative, we need joe manchin as much as we need bernie sanders. we need all 50. >> you worked with joe manchin when you were senators together. >> yes. >> what gets him to move? do you have a sense of how you get joe manchin on board? what kind of a guy is he? >> he is a politician. he is a good politician. he won in west virginia. he knows how to do that. without him, we wouldn't have the majority. he is going to be looking out for west virginia interests, but i know he is going to -- look, there's so much in this that we have to get done. we have to get -- you know, a child tax credit will reduce childhood poverty by 50% in this country. that's huge. medicare associating with farm sutil -- pharmaceuticals, that's huge. all these are wildly popular. joe knows. he is chairman of the energy committee, he knows we have to move to clean energy. i know he's from west virginia. i know that it's a coal state, but he knows this. i've talked to joe about this. i've also talked to joe about the filibuster. one of the big things that is going on right now to me is on voting rights. joe and amy klobuchar and some others put together this freedom to vote act which is absolutely essential. because we have sort of an existential crisis in our democracy right now. you see republicans in states like georgia and texas and arizona passing laws that will give state legislatures the right to overturn elections. you can't allow that to happen. so is this something we're going to do a carveout on and pass with 50, 51 with the vice president, on reconciliation, or is it something -- i have proposed a reform of the filibuster that joe manchin is open to and said publicly he is open to, which is that instead of 60 to sustain a fill pfilibu you need 41 to sustain a filibuster and they have to stay on the floor and they have to debate. i think that may be where we're going. >> we'll see on that. the debt limit right now. >> yes. >> basically, the united states will default on its obligations, things we've already done. >> we can't do that, by the way. >> you don't think we can do that? >> we can't do that. it'll cause an international crisis. democrats are going to do it themselves because mcconnell has put them in this ridiculous position. they're going to do it for political -- they're going to say, oh, democrats created all this spending, and that's why we had -- no, no. this is trillions of dollars that republicans and democrats did together. >> but democrats are going to have to do it themselves? >> yes. that's what mcconnell is doing. mcconnell is -- >> isn't he winning that? if mcconnell gets democrats to do it themselves, isn't he getting what he wants then? >> i think he -- that's his play. i think he thinks so. then they're going to have to say democrats raised the debt limit because they're doing all this spending. i'm not sure the american people are quite that naive. i think the american people are going to look at, who is responsible? who averted an international economic crisis? they're going to -- so we'll see how sophisticated the american people are. >> do you, as someone who was a democrat in the senate, ever feel like mitch mcconnell was playing the game better than you as a party? >> yeah. i think that -- it depends what you mean by better. i think he has pretty much ruined the senate. let me explain. during the obama years, they filibustered more executive nominees than had been -- or the same amount that had been filibustered during the entire previous history of the country. it used to be rare that you had a filibuster. it was really rare. now, you just -- once someone objects, you have a filibuster. this is not what the filibuster -- this is why when i talked to joe manchin about what norm and i want to do, it's why he is open to it. filibusters should be rare. filibusters should be about debating an important topic that is important to the american people and important enough to a party to filibuster. it is not just one person objecting, and now we have a filibuster. >> justice stephen breyer is on the supreme court. he sees what you see, what we all see. he sees mitch mcconnell sitting in the u.s. senate. what would you tell stephen breyer about what he should do? some think he should retire while democrats control the senate so they can get a more liberal justice in now, in case democrats lose the senate. what would you tell breyer? >> retire now or retire during this session or at the end of this session. be replaced. because this is, of course, what happened when we lost ginsberg. he's going to pull a merrick garland again, mcconnell, and he said he would. it's not like -- you know, that's shameless. the principle upon which he didn't take up merrick garland was that it was an election year. then, of course, comey barrett was seated nine days before the election. so he's a shameless hypo -- you know, he is just shameless. if i were breyer, it is his decision, but i think he should retire. >> again, dealing with mitch mcconnell, other than changing the filibuster rules, which you've talked about and you're very much for, how can democrats get what they want or work around mitch mcconnell, if he is going to do this all the time? >> we need to be as ruthless as him. >> which means? >> we have to, one, joe manchin won't get -- won't end the filibuster but he will modify it. to me, i know my colleagues. if you say 41 republican senators have to remain on the floor, and there's nine others who aren't by definition, but that means that at all points, 41 have to be there and debate. they're not going to last very long. i actually think that what norm and i have, it works. what it does is it makes filibusters rare, is what they used to be, and we can get this stuff done. we can get voting rights done. we can get how the stuff we need to be done. we restore the senate back to what it was. >> you're on a comedy tour which is basically your first. >> this is all the material i'm doing on tour. >> the name was funny. i can't find the name. >> let's see, "the only former u.s. senator currently on tour tour." >> it's a good name. >> i think so. that's why we named it that. >> you talk about -- >> thank you. >> my endorsement, which is worth nothing. funniest current senators? >> amy klobuchar is funny. pat roberts, unfortunately, has left. i'm trying to think of -- oh, lindsey graham is funny, except i don't know what happened to him the last several years. he has a good sense of humor. >> you would enjoy spending time with them? >> yes. >> what about ted cruz? ted cruz makes up a big part of your -- >> he makes up a chunk. well, what i say is that i probably liked ted cruz more than most of my colleagues liked ted cruz. and i hate ted cruz. >> former senator al franken, we appreciate you being with us right now. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> best of luck. >> you bet. >> brianna? just into cnn, some georgia republicans are livid at former president trump after he took shots at republican governor brian kemp and said this at a weekend rally in the state. >> stacey abrams, who still has not conceded, and that's okay. stacey, would you like to take his place? okay with me. having her might be better than having your existing dpovgovern if you want to know the truth. might very well be better. >> well, the georgia republican party is concerned about the impact of trump's attacks on kemp in next year's midterm elections. let's talk about that now with cnn anchor and chief national affairs analyst kasie hunt, as well as cnn reporter michael warren, who has some excellent new reporting. you've been talking to a lot of republicans in georgia or with connections to georgia. what is so clear is that they are kind of freaking out, but they're doing it very quietly. >> that's right. nobody was surprised this is how donald trump feels about brian kemp. he has been saying that publicly for months. what shocked them, and that's the word they used, shocked, was the way he went out and basically endorsed stacey abrams. now, yeeou know, in republican eyes, kemp isn't perfect but they like him in georgia among republicans. stacey abrams is enemy number one for the gop. this surprised and shocked a lot of people, that he would say that. it gave them flashbacks to january 5th. the two special election run-offs, where after months and weeks of donald trump saying, you know, the voting is rigged, republicans lost those seats. that's what they're worried about in the midterms. they have a chance to hold on to a governor seat in a 50/50 state. win back a seat held currently by a democrat. the midterms are going to be good for republicans, they think. biden is in trouble in a lot of places, especially georgia, and they see donald trump screwing it up. they're pulling their hair out. >> trump has shown he is not too bad at depressing the republican vote in georgia, right? he isn't helpful. is it really opportunity for democrats here, do you think? >> yeah, i think there's plenty of opportunity for democrats. i think they're right to be worried about it. clearly, the former president has shown yet again that he cares only about himself. he doesn't care about the republican party. mitch mcconnell privately blames the former president for what happened in georgia. that became clear in the wake of january 6th. you saw the former president lash back out at politicians here in washington, particularly at mitch mcconnell. you saw mcconnell go pretty silent about it after that pause -- because he, frankly, doesn't want to be in the bull's eye. the reality here is, yes, there are some challenges now for democrats that didn't exist in the last cycle because of the president's arrival rating and the challenges with the agenda, but there is all sorts of, you know, i think evidence from the past time around, that if you tell people they shouldn't trust their vote will be counted, they may not actually show up to vote. that's going to be a problem for republicans. >> yeah. look, trump, when it comes to the republicans who didn't get on board with the big lie, he's proven time and again that he doesn't mind being a grenade, right? the collateral damage could be the party writ large. that doesn't seem to bother him really. >> no. look, he had power here, too. let's not deny that donald trump is the most popular republican in georgia and pretty much any state around the country. he is popular with the republican base. that's another consideration that these republicans, like brian kemp, have to make. they can't afford to annoy trump republicans and look like they're sabotaging trump. they're in this kind of catch-22 problem. they don't know how to get out. >> one thing i will say, too, brianna, one thing to watch that could give us some clues about this, it's going to be the georgia governor's race coming up in a few weeks. some of the same things that are at play in georgia i think will be applicable lessons for for georgia. it is a big suburban vote in northern virginia that was very uncomfortable with donald trump but previously had been willing to support republican dpov knknorr -- governors in the past. at least to a greater degree. you have a candidate in virginia who has not necessarily attacked or openly, you know, gone against trump the way kemp did in the election, but who donald trump was in virginia basically saying, well, you better be with my crowd or i'm going to go after you. so some of these dynamics are there. remember, part of why georgia, in fact, probably the entire reason georgia has turned blue is because of the suburbs around atlanta, in addition to increased democratic turnout in rural areas driven by stacey abrams. the city of atlanta, as well. there are some of the suburban dynamics at play in georgia, where there were a lot of what we used to call country club republicans who were turned off by trump. i think it'll be a key test that we may be able to take lessons from going forward. >> we're talking to susan page later in the show. she did the last debate. we're going to see how those dynamics might affect the bigger picture. thank you to both of you. >> great to see you. top military leaders are set to face tough questions from congress about the withdrawal from afghanistan. some of the toughest will be directed at chairman of the joint chiefs, general mark milley, who will also fact ques -- face questions about donald trump. afghan women facing new restrictions under taliban rule. clarissa ward on the streets of kabul next. subway® has so much new it didn't fit in our last ad. like the new artisan italian and hearty multigrain bread. it's the eat fresh refresh™ at subway®. it's so much new there's no time for serena! wait, what?! sorry, we don't even have time to say they were created by world class bakers! oh, guess we did! seriously?! my bad. are your hr processes weighing down your employees? 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>> then so that is did you alert the chinese ahead of a possible u.s. strike. there is also, did you compare trump's behavior to a moment to prevent this? >> "i alone with fix it" was released earlier this year, and it was said mark milley thought trump would use the alleged fraud he was lying about to usurp power and maintain his presidency. mark was so concerned, he was asking his associates, according to this book, whether he should be prepared or try to stave off a coup. another major question democrats will have here. president trump is still openly talking about this election fraud, still talking about the possibility that he will run for re-election. >> so did you basically order your sub ordinates to alert you really about launching a nuclear weapon on trump's orders. that's one of the questions. also, why did you discuss using russian military bases to conduct counterterrorism operations. what is that about? >> yeah. this was reported yesterday and confirmed by cnn, that mark milley talked to his russian counterpart last week and asked him about the possibility that the u.s. could use russian military bases in central asia to carry out counterterrorism operations in afghanistan. now, obviously, this is provprovote i -- provoking bipartisan concern on the hill. u.s. officials don't necessarily believe, and lawmakers don't necessarily believe, the u.s. should trust the russians enough to use their bases in central asia to carry out these missions after the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. now, we are told by sources that what the national security council wanted was for mark milley to kind of clarify comments that president putin had made in june about allowing the u.s. to use these military bases. still, kind of lawmakers are weary of a potential reset here with the russians, especially since they really haven't changed their behavior much. >> and this drone strike that killed ten civilians in afghanistan. that's a big question of this hearing. >> yeah. a lot of these questions during this hearing will focus on the chaotic and deadly withdrawal from afghanistan. that is going to be the overarching theme of the hearing. the top military officials will be testifying for the first time since the utah withdrew all troops from afghanistan. one of the biggest questions for mark milley will be, why did you say that this was a righteous strike in the hours after this drone strike? after being alerted by the cia, as cnn has reported, that there were civilians in the area, that civilians were likely to die. of course, now we know this was actually a mistaken drone strike. it targeted an aid worker. >> seven kids killed in that. we know you will be watching this hearing, and we will, too. thanks. cnn is back on the streets of afghanistan. clarissa ward, who gave us a amazing coverage as the afghan government was falling, she's back in kabul. the technical situation has been iffy. we thought we had her. all right. s her signal went down. we'll have her live from the streets of kabul right after this. what happens when we welcome change? we can transform our workforce overnight out of convenience, or necessity. we can explore uncharted waters, and not only make new discoveries, but get there faster, with better outcomes. with app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change-- meeting them where they are, and getting them where they want to be. faster. vmware. welcome change. it's an important time to save. with priceline, you can get up to 60% off amazing hotels. and when you get a big deal... you feel like a big deal. ♪ priceline. every trip is a big deal. we are the next. the next generation of visionaries. rule breakers. game changers. and world beaters. we certainly aren't here to do what's been done before. and neither are we. at palo alto networks, we are ready to secure our digital future. we innovate to outpace cyberthreats. so you can make the next day safer than the one before. we've got next. finally yasso! a ridiculously creamy, crunchy, chocolatey dipped ice cream experience with 25% less calories because it's made with greek yogurt. so, thanks for everything ice cream, but we'll take it from here. yasso audaciously delicious this morning, cnn is back on the streets of afghanistan, we hope. cnn's chief international correspondent clarissa ward live in kabul. clarissa, if you can hear me, we've been having issues with your signal. hopefully it'll stay up. give us a sense of what you're seeing on the ground now. >> reporter: hi, john. yeah, apology for those technical difficulties. basically, it looks different from when we were last here. the taliban has a much lighter footprint. we're seeing far fewer taliban fighters out on the ground. the ones that we do see tend to be manning checkpoints. now, many of them are wearing uniforms. a lot of those, john, u.s. issued uniforms. the purpose of that is to try to look professional but also to try to avoid situations where isis fighters could potentially infiltrate and pretend to be the taliban. the taliban definitely wants to show the world they've adapted a -- things are a little bit -- there's a lot of -- you don't see them on every street corner. >> you know what, we're going to pause as we try to clean up the signal with clarissa and listen as we do to some of the sound c she has gathered this morning. this is what she's heard. >> reporter: were now inside the green zone. this is the area where all diplomats, international organizations were based. it is so eerie driving through. it is now completely empty, except for taliban guards. so just up here, these are the gates to the u.s. embassy here in kabul. the taliban guards are telling us that nobody has been in here since the u.s. left this embassy just days after the taliban took power. so you can see through here, this appears to be sort of the first layer of security to get into the embassy. now, it's just completely abandoned. >> we really do get a sense of sort of the ghost town that is there, clarissa. can you tell us a little more about what you've been seeing? >> reporter: so, essentially, as you saw there, that green zone is basically completely abandoned. that's part of the reason it is difficult for the u.s. to go about evacuating the roughly 100 americans who remain on the ground. because there is no embassy. there is no american footprint here. i will say on the streets of kabul, things feel a little bit calmer. you do see women on the streets. you see fewer taliban on the streets. but make no mistake, there are some very troubling signs that the taliban have not changed their true colors. over the weekend, we saw a horrifying scene in the city. four kidnappers, the taliban said, who were killed and then their bodies were hung up in public as a sort of warning to other people, to ordinary citizens, that this is how the taliban will be dolling out justice. this is medieval justice to many people all over the world, but it may well be a sort of signal of what is to come. certainly, we are seeing also women's rights being subjugated. women are not part of the transitional government here. women are not allowed to go to school, girls after sixth grade, so on and so forth. even though traffic might be knowing in kabul, and i might be wearing a slightly looser head scarf, there is still a very high level of fear here on the ground that things are going to take an ominous turn. >> i have to say, that's the first thing i noticed. you are wearing a looser head scarf now than in the tumultuous days when the taliban was taking over. there's another example of the taliban exerting its control over one of the universities there, correct? >> reporter: that's right. essentially, the new chancellor, who is 34 years old and has very little experience in education, has said that women are essentially banned indefinitely. women will not be allowed to either study in this university or teach at this university until, quote, the proper islamic atmosphere is created. that's sort of what they've said about girls going back to school, as well. but we have heard this before from the taliban. back in the '90s, the same excuse was given, that women and girls could be educated once the sort of institutions had been prepared for their return. but it never happened. now, they say they want to try to, you know, deal with issues of transport, ensuring that women can get to school safely. we visited a girls school yesterday. they're already segregated. so why on earth would you not allow girls to go to a school that is already segregated, where there are no boys? these are the kinds of questions that many women, mar particular here in kabul, would like the taliban to answer. so far, we are not seeing those answers forthcoming. the taliban is really keeping a pretty tight lid on what their real plans are. that's because they're desperate to see international aid unfrozen. this country is on the precipice of a real economic disaster. so for now, they're trying to present themselves as more pragmatic, hoping to get the pursestrings reopened. the fear, of course, of so many is that they haven't changed at all. >> clarissa, i'll tempt fate and try to get one more question in while the signal is up. general mark milley, chairman of the joint chiefs, will face questions about the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan on the hill today. what question would you ask him? >> reporter: i would ask the question that i think many afghans on the ground were asking me throughout. why wasn't there more preparation in place? it was clearly always going to be challenging. it was clearly time for the u.s. to end this war. but why wasn't more done to ensure that it was less chaotic, that fewer lives were lost, that fewer dreams were crushed? these are the questions i get from the afghan people, and these are the answers i hope we might hear some of today. >> clarissa ward, chief international correspondent, terrific to see you back on the streets there. thank you to you and your team. all of you, please stay safe. the state of virginia is about to provide the clearest preview of what is to come in the 2022 election. the two candidates, democrat terry mcauliffe and duncan will face off in the final of two debates before the gubernatorial election. how high are the stakes, and what should we expect? what should we be extrapolating from what we're seeing in virginia? let's bring in susan page, the washington bureau chief for "usa today." she moderated the previous debate between these two candidates. let's talk first about the state of the race here. this is going to be incredibly important, so let's tell folks where they are. according to a new monmouth university poll, mcauliffe has a five point lead with 48% of voters saying they'll be choosing the former governor, 43% saying they'd vote for his opponent. that's still pretty close for comfort, especially in virginia. >> democrats didn't think it'd be that hard. it is a margin of error race. it was moved to the toss-up category. this is a state that donald trump lost by ten percentage points. you'd think it was a pretty blue state where president biden would be popular. but this is a context that you could not call at this moment. it is going to come down to whether democrats are generate a little more enthuse i caiasm ame voters. >> let's talk about why we're paying so much attention. why, if you're in some other state, you shouldn't just be going, oh, that's virginia. you should be paying attention to what's going on in virginia here. >> for one thing, we don't have that many races to look at in an off year, so we look at virginia a lot, but it is also a good bellwether for where the state of the nation's politics are, especially when you think about presidents and new presidents. you know, democrats remember back in 2009 when president obama was in his first year in august. the parallel time to where president biden is now. they lost the virginia governors race in 2009. they lost both houses of congress in 2010. so that's one reason we pay a lot of attention to what's happening in the commonwealth. >> yeah. i was actually there that night in virginia. looking back on it, you realize, whoa, that was one of those moments that was really defining. it was a sign of more to come. so what is the issue then in a state where donald trump, you know, obviously didn't do so well? what is on the mind of voters right now there? >> covid is a big issue in virginia as elsewhere, but there's a third candidate on the debate stage, and that is donald trump. if donald trump is center stage in the spotlight, that is good news for terry mcauliffe. if donald trump is a little to the side and youngkin, the republican candidate, can talk about issues like taxes, his proposal to cut grocery taxes, things like that, that is good for youngkin. he has proved to be a steadier candidate than democrats thought he would be. he has never run for office before. the debate he did at the appalachian school of law was the first time he had ever done a televised debate. he was reasonably sure footed. he'll have a second chance to show what he can do tonight. >> held his own. you're talking about these issues that they respectively want to keep front and center. that's what tonight is really going to be about. what are you looking for? >> let's watch and see how youngkin handles this tight rope he has to walk, which isnnoy or voters or the former president himself. you know that can bring sombe some peril for republican candidates. and also appeal to independent voters who may not be happy with what's happening in washington. one thing hurting mccauliffe is for democrats to show they're not all together in congress. if they can pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill, that would be good for states like virginia. that would be good for his campaign, too. >> big week on the hill. we'll see how that affects things. susan page, thank you so much. >> great to see you. next, why dozens of violent criminals may be released in one major american city. will smith making rare remarks about race, politics, and what he thinks about the defund the police slogan. ♪ ♪ ♪ as someone who resembles someone else... i appreciate that liberty mutual knows everyone's unique. that's why they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. [ nautical horn blows ] i mean just because you look like someone else doesn't mean you eat off the floor, or yell at the vacuum, or need flea medication. oh, yeah. that's the spot. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ every day in business brings something new. so get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. introducing comcast business mobile. you get the most reliable network with nationwide 5g included. and you can get unlimited data for just $30 per line per month when you get four lines or mix and match data options. available now for comcast business internet customers with no line-activation fees or term contract required. see if you can save by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities. a court deadline is looming in fulton county, georgia, where atlanta is. it gives prosecutors 90 days to indict a deparfendant or let th defendant out of jail on bond. if the d.a. doesn't get help on a backlog of cases, violent criminals could be set free. ryan young is at the fulton county jail in atlanta. what's going on here? >> reporter: john, you know 2020 was a violent year. we have fbi stats to prove it. when you think about it though, police officers never stopped working, despite the pandemic. a lot of courts were closed, and now the backlog is catching up with prosecutors. >> i need help! i'm here begging you for help. >> reporter: as her office continues to deal with an avalanche of backlogged cases, district attorney willis warning that dozens of violent criminal suspects could be released on bond in the coming weeks. >> we walked into an office with an excess of 11,000 unindicted case cases. in addition to that, we already had another 12,000 that were indicted and were working through the court system. >> reporter: georgia law says that suspects in jail are the law was suspended during the pandemic, but was reinstated over the summer. today was the end of the 90-day period for the first batch of eligible defendants and other suspects will become eligible to be released each day as they reach their 90-day threshold if they're not indicted. >> this is the reality. i told everyone this. there is going to be 400, 500 defendants that we don't make the clock on. >> reporter: some victims of violent crimes and their loved ones say that they no longer have closure. >> people that we represent, the victims of crime, they will find that the folks who committed the crimes against their loved ones or against them, they will be out on the street. >> reporter: willis says the backlog is forcing her to make difficult decisions not to prosecute such cases as aggravated assault and battery. letting some of those suspects walk so that her office can focus on more serious charges. >> i can guarantee the public that there will not be someone that was charged with homicide that will not be charged. we also did the same thing with the sexual offenses. and now we are working our way through other violent offenders. >> we have got to be able to clear that backlog, set priorities and we cannot afford to let violent criminals out. people with gun offenses, people with aggravated assault, robbery, things of that nature. >> reporter: murders in fulton county increased by 48% since 2020. 224 murder suspects are currently unindicted and 51 of those suspects must be indicted by tuesday, according to willis' office. what is your fear when it comes to some of these cases and some of these offenders having the opportunity to maybe get out of jail before they see a judge? >> there is a very serious impact to people that should not get a bond possibly being released from jail. we have lots of people in our community that the way they survive is by committing crime. and they don't mind hurting you. >> reporter: critics of willis say that no matter what a person is charged with, they still have a right to be proven guilty without languishing behind bars. >> these people have been in jail for months if not years. the d.a.'s office had plenty of time to investigate the cases because they arrested these people, covid or not. indicting them isn't that big of a deal. >> reporter: willis says that she has tried to make bond for those leased as restrictive as possible, by allocating the highest possible amount and implementing ankle monitors. she has also seated two grand juries for first time in fulton county history to try to tackle all the cases. >> we'll be working through this crisis for at least the next two years. >> reporter: yeah, and d.a. willis has also decided to hire more staff. the fulton county commission gave her extra money to do that. this cuts both ways. if you're in jail, you think you're innocent, you've been sitting in there quite some time trying to get your case heard, but a lot of the people in the community are worried about what's next. >> understandably so, ryan young, thank you very much. actor will smith is opening up about race in his most revealing interview to date. speaking to "gq," wesley lowry, smith discussed his upcoming drama "emancipation" and explained why he avoided films about slavery earlier in his career. he said in the early part of my career i didn't want to show black people in that light. i wanted to be a superhero. so i wanted to depict black excellence alongside my white counterparts. i wanted to play roles that you would give to tom cruise. and the first time i considered it was django, but i didn't want to make a slavery film about vengeance. joining me is wesley lowry, correspondent for "60 minutes" and cbs news contributor, pardon me, for "60 minutes" and cbs and sk contributor to "gq" magazine. this is a fascinating interview you did with will smith. and just sort of the top line here as he's talking so much about racism and issues of racial equality, what stood out the most to you? >> of course, so i actually met up with will on site of his upcoming movie "emancipation" he's shooting, the first slavery film he's worked on. he's done projects around race, he portrayed ali and even when you look at the fresh prince that was a series that was in many ways about race and class and all these types of ideas. but it was really interesting sitting and talking with him and also reading a copy of his forthcoming memoir that comes out later this year and his desire really to speak out, to weigh in on the issues of the day, to share things about himself he hadn't shared previously, and so i think that's one of the reasons he was so forth coming in our conversations. >> he also -- he called for an adjustment in, quote, our marketing is how he put it, when it comes to phrases like defund the police. i want to read some of what he told you. abolish the police, defund the police, i would love it if we would just say defund the bad police. it is almost like i want as black americans for us to change our marketing for the new position that we're in. so critical race theory, just call it truth theory. this was really interesting to hear him say this. >> of course. and he goes on to say, i'm not even saying we shouldn't defund the police, i'm saying when we say those words, some people who might support it don't because they don't like the words, right? he was trying to kind of have this tactful conversation and we see this happen among activists or other prominent black celebrities or people who care about the issues of law, this debate about what is the best way to market these conversations, or to have these conversations to win as broad consensus as possible. really interesting. i heard from a lot of activists and folks who say will smith should be quiet and not talk about this in the first place. other people say this is interesting or appealing to me. what is fascinating to me when you have someone of that stature weighing in and thinking about these issues and being willing to speak freely, no matter what backlash they may get to or not. >> okay, but some people, maybe they say will smith should be quiet, but people listen to will smith. he has a large audience. >> of course. one thing that was really interesting, like i said, this interview in many ways was pegged to his forth coming memoir in november. he talked about how -- we talked with on the record and off the record about how he thinks about when he is talking, when he's saying something, the impact that might have, right? all the people who he mentions in his book in major ways, flew to miami to read them the excerpts of the book, he knew if he said something about his cousin or uncle or aunt, that that might be the thing that defines them in public. so it is really interesting and we got to that specific set of questions around defund and abolish and black lives matter. he was very deliberate and slowed his sentences down because he knew, all right, this is going to be a thing aggregated, a thing that cnn might be talking about the morning after the piece comes out. so it is fascinating to think that you're someone of that stature, of that platform and got to be careful about what you say and how you say it and yet here he was for a few thousand words saying a lot of stuff. >> what did he say about age? >> he talked about how he was kind of going through it in his late 40s and he called denzel washington and denzel says to him, okay, that's just your funky 40s. >> your funky 40s. >> he goes everyone gets to their f at 50s is what denzel told him. he said that's kind of how he wanted to think about things and now he's in his 50s, he's 53 now, that he says he's having the time of his life. >> i really appreciate the interview. as someone who grew up with will smith "fresh prince" and "independence day", it was neat to hear him speak about how intentional he's been with his roles. thank you for sharing this. appreciate it. "new day" continues right now. all right, good morning to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. it is tuesday, september 28th. i'm john berman with brianna keilar. two major developments overnight in the week from hell on capitol hill. this is the week when the country's financial stability hangs in the balance. government funding hangs in the balance. your roads and bridges and child care hang in the balance. and president biden's agenda hangs in the balance. so two big things just happened. first, house speaker nancy pelosi with a major reversal, with what she is willing to do to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill. also, republicans led by mitch mcconnell follow through on a promise not to lift a finger in helping the united states pay its debt incurred in the past, including during under a republican president. this is how he justifies it. >> we will not provide republican votes for raising the debt limit. there is no chance republicans will help lift democrats credit limit so they can immediately steam roll through a socialist binge that will hurt families and help china. >> the debt ceiling is for past spending and promises. past spending, under republican and democratic presidents. first joining us now, kaitlan collins, cnn national politics reporter evan mccann and analyst casey hunt. what nancy pelosi did overnight is very significant when you're talking about the bipartisan infrastructure bill, this $1.2 trillion plan passed and president biden's domestic agenda, it may be $3.5 trillion, it's probably going to be less than that. up until now, they said they had to be passed together. president biden promised that. nancy pelosi overnight said, you know what, no. not anymore. infrastructure is coming up for a vote on thursday. and we're going to separate the two. how significant it that and how does the white house view things on this this morning? >> it is incredibly significant. it is a major reversal of what pelosi and schumer and the president have been saying for the last several weeks. and so i think it came because there really was no other option when you look at what nancy pelosi was facing. and so she is someone who has known for her maneuvering. t the reality of the matter is they're not going to have that reconciliation pac

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