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McConnell Cautions Republicans On Border Strategy In "Quandary", According To Source; Trump Discouraging GOP From Resolving Border Before The Election, According To Romney; Red Cross: "Concrete Actions" Needed To Preserve "Life-Saving Medical Services" In Gaza; 4th Quarter Saw Unexpected Growth In The U.S. Economy; Israel-Hamas War. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired January 25, 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]

?JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who just -- well that's Donald Trump, who just days ago had been pushing hard for a deal saying it was Republicans best chance for tougher immigration laws and that it was crucial to secure aid for Ukraine, now is suggesting it will likely not happen. And the reason is because of that guy, Donald Trump.

CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill this morning with this big statement by Mitch McConnell. Manu.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY AND CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Yes, no question about it. And Republicans are still trying to figure out what that means in the months ahead. McConnell has been pushing hard to get this deal done because Republicans have insisted there must be a deal on immigration and the border first before they agree to more funding for Ukraine at a critical time in the war against Russia.

But because Trump has come out publicly and privately, lobbying against any sort of immigration deal that is not, "Exactly what Republicans have demanded". There are fears on Capitol Hill that that essentially could scuttle the process, entirely derail this national security package.

And that is the message that Republicans are grappling with this morning, including one, Senator Mitt Romney, who made very clear that he believes that Donald Trump is simply urging members to kill this because he wants to campaign on the issue of immigration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Do you think this is what he wants? The issue? Donald Trump, this is what he's doing?

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): Oh, I think, the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump. And the fact that he would communicate to Republican Senators and Congresspeople. That he doesn't want us to solve the border problem because he wants to blame Biden for it is really appalling. But the reality is that we have a crisis at the border, the American people are suffering as a result of what's happening at the border. And someone running for president ought to try and get the -- you know, the problem solved as opposed to saying, hey, save that problem. Don't solve it. Let me take credit for solving it later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But that is the cold, hard reality on Capitol Hill, getting any deal through on an issue as complex as immigration would be complicated to begin with. And then when you have the party's likely standard bearer coming out and saying, don't get a -- cut a deal on immigration, that will convince many Republicans to listen to their standard bearer and say that it is not time to cut a deal.

Let's wait on this issue and then all the major issues that go along with it. Funding for Ukraine. Funding for Israel. Funding for Taiwan. All we're supposed to tie together in this massive package, including this new border policies that they hope to get out of the Senate as soon as this week, and then try to get it over to the House where the politics are even more complicated over there, given the Republican- led House and the alliance of the GOP leaders there with Trump. All spells potential doom for this, almost, must pass package, potentially punting this into the next year as Republicans and Democrats, John, try to figure out what's next?

BERMAN: Manu, I just want to focus on Mitch McConnell for a second, and how big of a change this is in such a short period of time. Yes, he was pushing this because he really wants the money for Ukraine. But McConnell has also made clear that this deal on immigration is the best deal Republicans could get, you know, in a generation. It's more of what they have been asking for in a long time. Just a few days ago, he was saying this, and now he's saying, eh, forget it.

RAJU: Yes, he -- he's bowing to the political reality here. In fact, behind closed doors yesterday, we're told that he, in fact, read a quote out loud from Donald Trump in 2018. Talking about the very issues that they are negotiating in this process. A bright tree -- three -- trio of senators are trying to cut a deal on immigration.

Republicans believe they have gotten a lot. McConnell was trying to make the point that Trump tried to get these things while he was in office and couldn't do it because of Democratic opposition. Now, Democrats have moved, he says, towards a Republican position on this issue. And they say that this is the opportunity to get this deal at this key moment, particularly as Joe Biden recognizes his own vulnerability on immigration.

But the politics is so complicated here and the fear among Trump and his allies that cutting a deal could give Joe Biden something to campaign on clearly driving the negotiations, clearly driving the political reality and the legislative outlook here on this major issue. John.

BERMAN: Well, we'll find out if there are even negotiations anymore after what McConnell said and where Trump stands at this point. We'll have to see what happens next. Mitch -- Manu Raju, thank you very much. Keep us posted. I know you are looking for senators walking by to get more information. If you do grab one, let us know. Thanks, Manu.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right. Thank you, John.

Up next, the International Red Cross sounding the alarm in war torn Gaza. What they say needs to happen to preserve life-saving medical treatment for millions of people.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Today, President Biden hitting the road, specifically the Midwest to tout the economy under his watch. A push to try and convince voters that recent good economic data is good for them. That they should feel it. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also hitting the road -- hitting the roads, set to give remarks in Chicago.

This all happens as we got the very latest read on the economy just this morning. The Commerce Department reporting GDP in the final months of 2023 came in strong. It's the broadest read of the state of the U.S. economy, and it's showing that the economy grew at a shockingly good rate.

[10:40:00]

Joining us now to talk more about this is the director of the National Economic Council, President Biden's top economic aide, Lael Brainard. Lael, thank you so much for coming in. I saw it described as the economy is growing at a shocking pace in the fourth quarter. Now that we have rounded out the economic data of 2023, can you give me your one liner of how you describe the economy of 2023?

LAEL BRAINARD, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Yes, the economy grew by over three percent and inflation settled down to two percent over the course of 2023 at the time when the economy created 2.7 million jobs a year ago. It would have been hard to find any forecaster who would have said the economy would be this strong with inflation this low just a year out. And that, I would say, is exactly what President Biden believed. And it is good news for American families.

BOLDUAN: Consumer spending also grew in this report. Consumer sentiment just saw the biggest two month increase since 1991, according to the latest University of Michigan survey. Take that and weigh that against this. Some of the voters that I met in New Hampshire this week, I'm going to play you a soundbite from one man I met explaining why he's voting for Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHRISTOPHER TSOUKALAS, NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTER: He's going to fix the economy. The economy is brutal right now. We're getting killed with groceries, fuel bills. Everything is just like -- it's just unbelievable.

BOLDUAN: Is the most important issue in this election the economy?

TSOUKALAS: Economy, economy, and economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And, Lael, you say this economy, it shows that this is good for American families. Why aren't Americans -- some Americans, saying they feel that?

BRAINARD: Well, as you noted earlier, Americans are feeling it. We saw a 30 percent bump in consumer sentiment in the last two months. Consumer confidence has also moved higher. And as you noted, Americans are really acting in a way that shows confidence in the U.S. economy. Consumer spending has been very resilient. We have seen 16 million small businesses created over the last three years. I mean, what better sign of hope and confidence is it than starting a small business?

And, you know, if you look at wages, they are up after adjusting for inflation. They are -- wealth is up after adjusting for inflation. And prices have come down over the past year. Gas is now down below $3 in most of the country, and around $2.50 in many parts of the country. And, you know, we have also seen a gallon of milk coming down.

So, there are a whole variety of reasons for Americans to feel good. But there are still areas like health care costs that are unaffordable, and we are going to keep working to bring prescription drug prices down.

BOLDUAN: Yes, it's kind of bridging that gap of the data you see -- data you say and put out and how people feel. I mean, in the exit polls in New Hampshire, among all voters that showed up to the polls, about seven in 10 are just -- describe the state of the economy as not so good or poor. And how you talk about the economy, everyone does is an important thing.

And JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon, he had some advice for Democrats, specifically for the coming year, in part about how they talk about the economy in an election year. Let's play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE DIMON, CEO, JPMORGAN CHASE: I wish the Democrats would think a little more carefully when they talk about MAGA. When people say MAGA. They're actually looking at people voting for Trump, and they think they're voting -- and they're basically scapegoating them that you are like him. And -- but I don't think they're voting for Trump because of his family values. Now, if you look at -- just take a step back, be honest. He was kind of right about NATO, kind of right about immigration. He grew the economy quite well. JOE KERNEN, CNBC, SQUAWK BOX CO-HOST: China virus.

DIMON: Tax reform worked. I think this, this negative talk about MAGA is going to hurt Biden's election campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Well, that, I -- that warning from Jamie Dimon, what do you say to that?

BRAINARD: So, look, I travel with the president. I was with him in Allentown, Pennsylvania. I was with him. I have seen his interactions with UAW workers. He is very focused on Americans and where they are, their economic reality. You know, we sat -- he sat with, small business owners, one Lauren Vargas (ph) in Allentown, and they talked about how important all of his policies are for giving them the wherewithal to start a small business and then how that small business was lifting the entire community that they lived in, revitalizing Main Street.

[10:45:00]

And we saw the same thing with UAW workers seeing record wage increases, much greater retirement security. So, Americans are seeing a broad-based recovery, and that's because the president thinks about Americans from the perspective of sitting around kitchen table, paying their bills, and looking at their prospects.

BOLDUAN: We'll continue to see how Americans feel, how they talk about the economy throughout this now heading into 2024. Lael Brainard, thank you so much for coming in.

BRAINARD: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Now to the Middle East. Gaza hospitals are in crisis amid the Israel-Hamas war. The International Committee of the Red Cross now saying concrete action is needed right now to preserve lifesaving medical services in Gaza.

It warns there are only two referral hospitals left functioning in all of Gaza that can provide advanced surgeries and have large bed capacities. A warning, what you are about to see is very disturbing but it is important to see what is happening there. One of the hospitals facing dire conditions is the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The Hamas-run Ministry of Health says it has run out of anesthesia and painkillers. And they have been forced to dig graves on hospital grounds.

I'm joined now by the spokesperson for the Palestine Red Crescent Society, Nebal Farsakh. She is also right now in the West Bank. We spoke in November, and back then you were having trouble hearing from your colleagues. Communications were down. They didn't have enough food. They didn't have enough water. Can you give us an update on what is happening inside of Gaza with those who are trying to bring in help and aid right now?

NEBAL FARSAKH, SPOKESPERSON, PALESTINE RED CRESCENT SOCIETY: The situation remains to be worsening and worsening. We're getting into the fourth month of this continuous war which has been badly impacted every single Palestinian in Gaza Strip. This means now 90 percent of Palestinians have been internally displaced and all of them are lacking food, water, as well as essential supplies.

It's getting colder and the weather is really cold. On top of that, thousands of Palestinians are just in the streets. They don't even have shelter or tents since almost half of population now are in south of Gaza, in Rafah. And it's just a huge struggle for every Palestinian to have only a -- one meal a day.

Famine is not far away now. We're literally talking about people are starving. On top of that, infectious diseases are really spreading very fast among the displaced people since they are completely overcrowded and shelters lacking hygiene, lacking very basic humanitarian needs. And those thousands of people will be losing their lives, if not from direct chilling and bombardments, that will be from starvation and these infectious diseases.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about how people are coping with this and how the Red Crescent is getting in. Are you still able to go in and come out of Gaza? How is that working in order to try to get some more aid to people? As we look at some of these pictures from Rafah, for example, where people have their blankets just on the ground. That's where they're having to live because they can't go back to their homes, because there are bombardments near their homes.

FARSAKH: So, basically the Palestine Red Crescent is the lead emergency medical service provider in the occupied Palestinian territory. So, since the beginning of the escalation, we have been evacuating the wounded people due to the continuous bombardments in Gaza. Also, we're responsible to receiving the humanitarian aid through Rafah Crossing border. We still receive this aid from our partners, the Egyptian Red Crescent, every day from Rafah Crossing.

However, we still only get very -- a fixed amount of trucks which is not enough at all. We're still facing the same challenges regarding the number of aid trucks are allowed to get into Gaza. Up to this moment, what has been allowed to be into Gaza doesn't even scratch the surface. It doesn't meet 10 percent of the needs. That's why most of the people are -- feel angry -- angry because they don't get anything. This is normal because the 80 trucks from both crossing from Karem Abu Salem which was opened during the past few weeks and from Rafah doesn't exceed 170 aid trucks a daily, while before the escalation every day there was -- getting into Gaza 500 aid trucks.

[10:50:00]

So, now you're talking about an emergency situation. This is the fourth month. 90 percent of the people are displaced. They need relief items. They need tents. And there is a new urgent needs that need to be fulfilled. On top of that, the health situation is just collapsing. Most hospitals went out of service. We need more medical supplies and medicines since up to this moment, over 63,000 Palestinians have been injured. So, basically, we need more medical supplies as well. And now in Khan Younis, we feel extremely worried regarding the safety of our teams who have been trapped at Al-Amal Hospital for the fourth day. Since yesterday, there was a complete curfew imposed on the hospital and bombardments never stop in the surrounding area of the hospital which has also thousands of Palestinians who have been taking shelter inside our hospital and the Palestine Red Crescent headquarters.

SIDNER: Nebal Farsakh, thank you so much for giving us an update from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society as to what is happening in Gaza, which is incredibly difficult situation, especially, of course, for the civilians there and the aid workers. We appreciate your time.

John.

BERMAN: All right. We're waiting to hear from the U.S. Supreme Court with just hours to go before what would be an historic execution. Will they step in to stop a method that has never been used before?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

BERMAN: Six days left. Happy six days left in Dry January if you are celebrating or surviving, as the case may be. For those who observe, Dry January means what it sounds like. It's giving up alcohol for the month.

With us now, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, my question to you, do I need a drink? And how has that advice changed if I had asked you that question five or 10 years ago?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't know for you, John, whether you personally need a drink. The advice, though, if you talk to most major medical societies, and you're not going to want to hear this, is that no amount of alcohol is good for your health.

But before I explain that, let me just tell you, if you go back and look over the last 100 years, the advice has changed considerably. But take a look at this graph here, John, I think you will find this interesting. This is from 100 years ago, back 1920. And this is what really launched this idea of a little bit of alcohol can be beneficial. This is what's called the J curve, I don't know how well you can see that, but basically it shows that between, you know, just one drink to about 2.5 drinks, mortality is actually lower. It's below that baseline of mortality, suggesting that a little bit of alcohol can be helpful.

So, that was sort of conventional wisdom for a long time, John, really up until like the 1980s where you started to see studies for the first time coming out and saying, hey, look, there seems to be an association between alcohol consumption and things like cancer, things like stroke. It got a little confusing again a few years later because of something known as the French paradox, John. The idea that the French are eating saturated fats, they're smoking, they're not exercising that much, and their mortality is still low. Why? Well, they said maybe red wine is the, sort of, reason why.

But over the last 10 years, to your question, John, the evidence has really started to accumulate that there's all these associations with other types of cancers. And now where you hear most of the medical community, sort of, landing on this is no amount of alcohol is good for your health.

Let me show you something else that I dug up for you. If you go back about 100 years, just after prohibition, how have American attitudes towards alcohol changed or not changed? Sort of interesting, that's that line there, John. It's about the same. It hasn't changed that much, which is really interesting. So, about a third of Americans totally abstained, two thirds will drink some, some more than others. But that has, sort of, stayed the same.

Dry January, let me just answer that part of the question here. I find this really interesting that if you stop drinking for a little bit of time, it does seem to have significant benefits. I worry about heart disease myself. Having a dip in alcohol consumption can lower your blood pressure, but also all the things you see on the screen. Liver enzymes go down, sleep and your diet improves, and the bad habits start to improve as well. John.

BERMAN: So, it sounds like the type of thing. It may be worth trying even for just a month.

DR. GUPTA: Yes, just to keep you healthy, John. That's what I'm here for.

BERMAN: I know you're looking out for me. Sanjay, great to see you. Thank you so much.

Kate.

DR. GUPTA: Yes.

BOLDUAN: One big question today, will Donald Trump take the stand in his civil defamation trial? We're standing by, some new updates coming from the courtroom in lower Manhattan. We'll bring those to you after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:00]