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Sources: Biden Told Staff To Dial Up Trump Attacks; U.S. Vetoes Proposed Resolution For "Immediate Ceasefire" In Gaza; Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) Discusses About The Bill He Co-Sponsored To Propose On The House Floor; Alabama Supreme Court Rules Frozen Embryos Are "Children"; Two More People Charged In Kansas City Super Bowl Rally Shooting. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired February 20, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Why he's now directing them to dial up the attacks and pointing out Donald Trump's crazy stuff.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And the U.S. vetoes a U.N. resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the third time. But it comes as the U.S. has increasingly grown frustrated with the war. So what comes next?

SANCHEZ: Plus, Alabama's highest court just issued a major ruling on frozen embryos. This could have a major impact on people who are struggling to start a family.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

President Biden is raring for a fight with Donald Trump. CNN has learned that Biden personally directed his staff to do more to call out recent inflammatory Trump comments, not using those words, clearly looking to draw a contrast ahead of a possible 2024 rematch. To help get that message out, Biden has stockpiled a record amount of campaign cash, and he's on his way to get more in California right now to see fundraisers to pad those coffers.

Former President Trump, meantime, is also on the trail today. He and his last remaining Republican rival, Nikki Haley, are holding dual events in South Carolina with four more days to go before that state's primary. Haley today vowed to keep fighting well past Saturday.

Let's start you off at the White House with CNN's MJ Lee.

MJ, walk us through your reporting detailing what Biden is telling aides about wanting to signal to voters that Donald Trump is unhinged.

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris. What we have learned is that President Biden recently personally instructed some of his top campaign aides to be more aggressive in highlighting some of the more inflammatory comments from former President Donald Trump. What sources told us is that the thrust of Biden's direction to his campaign staff was to significantly ramp up the campaign's efforts to highlight the "crazy shit that Trump says in public."

Now, of course, we've been seeing for a while now already the Biden campaign trying to draw that contrast that they say is black and white between President Biden and the former president on everything from the two men's temperament to their world views, to their policies. And we've seen the Biden campaign and the President trying to do that more, I think, in the recent weeks, whether it is repeatedly hitting on Donald Trump for his comments about NATO or going after him for - when he appeared to be mocking Nikki Haley's husband, who's currently abroad serving the country.

And when we reached out to the Biden campaign for comment for the story, this is what the director of the rapid response for the campaign said in a comment. They said, "Donald Trump is the polar opposite of everything President Biden stands for and has accomplished since he took office, and the campaign's top priority over the next nine months will be laying out that stark choice for voters."

One thing that the Biden campaign, Boris, is concerned about and has been concerned about for a while is this idea that so many voters, according to their vantage point, have sort of forgotten what the first four years of the Trump presidency looked like, and particularly the aspects of the presidency that they found so unacceptable. So this is a strategy that I think we're going to see more on full display going forward. As they say, they are fully preparing to face off against Donald Trump come November.

SANCHEZ: And MJ, the Biden campaign reported its latest fundraising numbers today as well. What's the takeaway?

LEE: Yes, the Biden campaign announcing that the President raised $42 million both for the campaign and the Democratic Party in the month of January, and they ended up ending the month with some $130 million of cash on hand. This is the largest figure for a Democratic presidential candidate for this point in the presidential campaign. And obviously, when you have this kind of money and the funds, that does translate into the resources and the freedom and flexibility to run the kind of campaign that you want to run.

And obviously, we are at a moment where the campaign, as I said before, is making that full pivot to the general election. And we're seeing the Biden campaign not take its foot off the gas pedal when it comes to fundraising. The President just left the White House a few hours ago to go on a several day West Coast swing where he is going to be participating in some high dollar fundraisers. So that effort is not going to be letting up anytime soon. Boris.

SANCHEZ: MJ Lee live from the White House. Thanks so much, MJ.

We want to zero in now on the state of play in the Republican primary. So let's bring in CNN's Kristen Holmes.

Kristen, Trump's team says the Haley campaign is running on empty. Haley today made the case that she's not getting out until the last vote is tabulated.

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris. It kind of indicated that she might actually stay in through the entirety of the primary, which would be incredibly interesting. We've talked a lot about this delegate math. We saw a memo from the heads of the Trump campaign today essentially saying that Haley does not have the math and that they believe that Donald Trump will be the nominee by March 19th at the latest and that is given their delegate math. And of course, we have also looked at this math. It is a very difficult path, if there is one at all, for Nikki Haley.

Now, part of this was also a level setting conversation she took on Donald Trump, clearly making it apparent that she was not going to back down to the former president, like so many of her Republican colleagues have, saying that she was not afraid of his retribution, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Many of the same politicians who now publicly embrace Trump privately dread him. They know what a disaster he's been and will continue to be for our party. They're just too afraid to say it out loud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And obviously, that is something we have heard from Republicans who have turned on Donald Trump time and time again since he began his tenure in Washington, D.C. But when it comes to South Carolina, talking to these Trump advisers, they believe that it is Trump country, despite the fact that Haley is a former governor of that state.

And I do want to show you a recent poll. It is a CBS News poll that shows 65 percent of GOP voters backing Donald Trump, compared to 30 percent when it comes to Nikki Haley. So clearly here, an uphill battle for Donald - for Nikki Haley. But despite that, she is continuing on.

And I will note that what we have seen on Donald Trump's end is a far less extensive campaign on the ground in South Carolina, clearly going to how confident they are in that state.

SANCHEZ: Yes, they feel they have it in the bag.

Kristen Holmes, thanks so much for the update, Brianna?

KEILAR: The United States has vetoed a U.N. resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The U.S. the only nation to vote against the proposal, claiming it would have negatively impacted ongoing negotiations in the region. This is the third time the U.S. has vetoed this type of resolution. Instead, the U.S. is offering its own proposal. It does not call for an immediate ceasefire, but for a temporary truce "as soon as practicable." The U.S. proposal also calls for the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joining us now from Tel Aviv on this.

Jeremy, the U.S. ambassador explained this move, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., tell us more about it.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, effectively, the U.S.'s position is that they believe that this immediate ceasefire resolution which they vetoed would have effectively jeopardized those ongoing mediation efforts to try and achieve a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages as part of these ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas. The United States instead putting forward its own draft resolution, which could come up for a vote in the coming weeks, which would call for a temporary humanitarian ceasefire as soon as practical and the release of hostages.

That resolution, interestingly, would also reject a Rafah offensive under the current conditions. That, of course, has been a really bright line for the United States, warning that Israel should not proceed with a military offensive in that city where about 1.5 million Palestinians are currently sheltering without sufficient conditions in place in order for those civilians to be able to evacuate.

Now, Israel, for its part, is also slamming this ceasefire resolution, saying that it would ensure only one thing, and that is the survival of Hamas. But the United States and Israel very much standing relatively isolated from the rest of the world on this. The United Kingdom was the only other country to not vote for this resolution on the Security Council, instead abstaining. Palestine's envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, called this an absolutely reckless and dangerous veto from the United States, and 13 other countries voted against it, making clear that they believe that this will lead to more lives lost in Gaza.

One thing is clear, regardless of how a ceasefire is achieved, a pause in the fighting is achieved, whether through a U.N. resolution or through these negotiations that are being mediated by Qatar and Egypt, U.N. agencies, humanitarian agencies saying that a pause in the fighting is necessary right now in order to stem the humanitarian catastrophe that is currently unfolding in Gaza.

The World Food Programme today stopping its delivery of aid to northern Gaza because it is simply too dangerous, and we have seen throughout the last several months as these humanitarian aid groups have struggled to properly coordinate with the Israeli military in order to allow for these aid trucks to be able to go in without fearing that they too could potentially be struck by Israeli airstrikes. So a very dire situation, reports of widespread malnutrition and pending famine in northern Gaza in particular.

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So there's no question that there is certainly a need for more humanitarian aid to get in, and these agencies are saying that the only way to achieve that is for the fighting to stop. Brianna?

KEILAR: Jeremy Diamond live for us in Tel Aviv, thank you. Boris? SANCHEZ: Now to Ukraine, where Russian forces are expected to make advances after seizing control of a key Ukrainian town. The White House is blaming Russia's gains squarely on congressional inaction to provide aid. All of this is unfolding as Ukraine now marks a decade of war. It was 10 years ago that Russian forces invaded and annexed Crimea. That was followed by the full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

Today, the future of that country is at a critical crossroads as Ukraine desperately waits for much-needed funding from the United States, its most important ally.

We're joined now by Congressman Mike Lawler, a Republican from New York who sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Congressman, thank you so much for being with us.

I want to get to the legislation that you co-sponsored that was introduced last week. You were part of this bipartisan group, three Republicans, three Democrats. This bill is partly a response to the two failed Senate bills. It sort of is a pared-down version of one of those, pairing changes to border policy with billions in funding for Ukraine and other U.S. partners. Do you have any indication that Speaker Johnson would give this bill a shot on the House floor? What's your plan if he doesn't?

REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): Well, look, I think there is broad consensus among members of Congress in both parties about the need to support our allies, no more so than after this weekend when Alexey Navalny was murdered by Vladimir Putin and the Russian government.

And so, from my vantage point, when you look at the crisis before us, we are in the most precarious place since World War II. China, Russia and Iran are not our friends. They are not our allies. And they have sought to undermine and destabilize the free world, the United States, and our allies. And it is incumbent upon us as the leader of the free world to support our allies in this moment.

It's why, along with Brian Fitzpatrick, Don Bacon, Jared Golden, Ed Case, we introduced this bill to ensure that not only do our allies have the military support that they need and the lethal aid that they need, but that we are addressing the crisis on our southern border. And the Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act should get an up or down vote. And I hope that Speaker Johnson will bring it to the floor.

We are in conversation with leadership about this bill. We need to act and I think the time for partisanship, the time for politics has ended. When you look at the crisis that we're facing, there's plenty of blame that can go around and the White House, frankly, should not be pointing many fingers at anyone. The failure to secure our border squares solely on their shoulders and I think they need to take responsibility for that.

When you talk about Ukraine, many of my colleagues have asked serious, substantive questions of the administration for months that have not been answered, which has been part of the delay in actually getting aid and support to Ukraine. So there's plenty of finger pointing that can occur here. But we need to act and that is why I introduced this bill along with my colleagues.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, there's a lot of ground here to cover. I want to dig into one aspect of the deal, specifically as part of your border plan. You want to re-implement the return to Mexico policy for one year. It requires some asylum seekers and migrants to wait in Mexico as their cases are adjudicated in the United States. That policy is obviously controversial. There are human rights groups that say that it leads to kidnappings and violence against these migrants. But also, you have to get buy in from Mexico in order for this policy to work and the bill doesn't address that. Isn't that a blind spot?

LAWLER: Well, respectfully, they're coming through Mexico to get to our southern border. And the Mexican government and the cartels have played a significant role in allowing for these folks to come to our southern border. Since Joe Biden took office, nearly 10 million migrants have crossed our southern border, most of them illegally. Ninety percent of them have been released into the United States. Catch and release, as the policy of this administration, needs to stop.

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And we need to get operational control of our border. We need to have a process that works. Clearly, we need more court personnel to handle these asylum cases expeditiously. They're taking two to three years to be heard. And by the way, when they are finally heard, nearly two- thirds of them are rejected because they're not valid claims of asylum.

And so you need to regain operational control here. And while I understand some of the concerns that people outline, the bottom line is these policies were extremely important to reducing the number of border crossings. Joe Biden has reversed many of these policies of the Trump administration, and we've seen the consequence of that. We've had an explosion in the number of people crossing our southern border, and it needs to stop.

SANCHEZ: Sure. It doesn't answer how you would get Mexico to buy in to the deal, and they would have to in order for this to work, but ...

LAWLER: With all due respect, the Mexican government, okay, needs to take accountability for what is going on in their country. And when you have the cartels trafficking humans, trafficking drugs across our southern border, and the Mexican government is doing very little ...

SANCHEZ: Sure.

LAWLER: ... to address that, that is a problem. And part of the reason where we do have leverage here is through the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, and the administration needs to use the economic power at its hands to force Mexico to take action.

SANCHEZ: I do want to ask you about another part of the bill that's drawn criticism. You want to send $66 billion abroad, close to $48 billion for Ukraine, $10 billion for Israel, another $5 billion for the Indo-Pacific, essentially Taiwan. All of that is military aid. There's not a dime in humanitarian aid for Ukraine or Gaza, where as of last month more than 10,000 children had been reportedly killed, kids that you know are not responsible for Hamas' brutal attacks on October 7th. Why not include humanitarian aid in this package?

LAWLER: We need to defend our allies here and obviously military aid, lethal aid, is critically important at this moment as Ukraine seeks to defend itself from Russia, as Israel seeks to defend itself from the terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas. And let's be clear, because there's a lot of talk about the need for ceasefire. There is a very simple way for a ceasefire to occur, and that's for Hamas to surrender. Israel has a right to defend itself.

Obviously, with respect to humanitarian aid, we want to ensure that the people who need it are getting humanitarian aid. But when you see what is happening in Gaza, when you see some of this aid being siphoned off, when you see questions with respect to UNRWA, for instance, I think there are serious questions about how this humanitarian aid is being used.

I would also say, as we've seen with the EU, they need to take a responsibility here as well. If they're not going to provide military assistance or lethal aid, then obviously they can help pick up the cost for humanitarian aid. They just passed $50 billion to help do that, and they should continue to do that.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, one final question for you, because I noted that earlier you said that Vladimir Putin murdered Alexey Navalny. You have condemned Vladimir Putin repeatedly because of his role not only in the death of Alexey Navalny, but repression across Russia. The frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump, not only has he not condemned Putin for Navalny's death, he, in social media, has posted comparing himself to Navalny, comparing his legal issues with the plight of someone who was poisoned for his dissent. Is that a fair comparison in your mind, to equate Donald Trump's legal issues with everything that Alexey Navalny endured?

LAWLER: No. And obviously, we will let the court process play itself out. The president has a right to his defense and he is engaged in that. But this is, to me, Vladimir Putin is a vile thug and dictator, and he needs to be held accountable for his conduct, for his actions. He is not our friend. He is not our ally. And his conduct in Ukraine and in his own country is indefensible.

And we, as the United States, the leader of the free world, need to stand up for democracy. We need to stand up for freedom. And we need to make sure that war criminals like Putin are held accountable, period.

[15:20:03]

SANCHEZ: Congressman Mike Lawler, we have to leave the conversation there. Appreciate hearing your perspective, thanks.

LAWLER: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

So Alabama Supreme Court just ruled that frozen embryos are considered children. That decision could impact access to IVF in that state. It has major implications we'll discuss after a quick break. And a source says that Houthi rebels shot down a U.S. drone over Yemen. Their attacks on vital shipping lanes in the Red Sea are not stopping.

And Elon Musk says a brain chip his startup company implanted in a human test subject is working. You can control a mouse with your mind, apparently. The kind of creepy, kind of helpful evidence straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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KEILAR: Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos are children and would be protected under the state's wrongful death of a minor act. It is a first of its kind decision. The case is stemming from two lawsuits filed by couples after their frozen embryos were accidentally dropped and destroyed. A lower court had dismissed the lawsuit, saying that embryos do not fit definitions of person or child, but the Alabama Supreme Court overruled it.

Associate Justice Jay Mitchell writing in the majority opinion that state law "applies to all children born and unborn without limitation. It is not the role of this Court to craft a new limitation based on our own view of what is or is not wise public policy. That is especially true where, as here, the People of this State have adopted a Constitutional amendment directly aimed at stopping courts from excluding 'unborn life' from legal protection."

Joining me now is Dana Sussman. She is Deputy Executive Director of Pregnancy Justice, which is a legal nonprofit that defends women who face charges related to any pregnancy outcome.

Dana, thanks for being with us here. What's your reaction to this ruling?

DANA SUSSMAN, DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PREGNANCY JUSTICE: The ruling was, unfortunately, not entirely surprising coming from Alabama, a state that has, as you mentioned, passed a constitutional amendment protecting "unborn life." But the extreme step that the court has taken is unprecedented to extend that protection to frozen embryos, the first ruling of its kind in the country, that, again, further entrenches a concept of fetal personhood, which is designating rights to fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses, and is deeply connected to the fight for abortion rights, for maternal and fetal health outcomes, and for comprehensive reproductive health care.

KEILAR: The - Justice Greg Cook, one of the justices on the court, wrote in the dissent that the ruling "almost certainly ends the creation of frozen embryos through in vitro fertilization in Alabama." Do you think that fertility clinics in Alabama will continue to operate after this ruling?

SUSSMAN: It is too hard at this moment, at this early stage, to predict how fertility clinics, providers and patients will respond. Rulings like this certainly have a chilling effect, which can make IVF less accessible. It's already incredibly expensive and cost- prohibitive for a lot of families. Could make it less accessible, could make it more expensive, but I would leave that analysis and that assessment to the providers and their legal counsel to determine.

What I can say, though, is that this has an incredibly destabilizing effect on IVF and on patients and providers alike in the state.

KEILAR: What kinds of clients, clients in what kind of circumstance would you anticipate potentially representing in Alabama in the wake of a ruling like this?

SUSSMAN: Well, Pregnancy Justice, our organization, defends people who face criminal charges in connection to their pregnancies. And it is no coincidence that Alabama is ground zero for pregnancy criminalization. For more than 10 years now, Alabama leads the nation in charging people, pregnant women, with crimes in connection to their pregnancies.

And this is because the Alabama Supreme Court, a little over 10 years ago, ruled that you could endanger a child by virtue of being pregnant, that a child can include a fetus at any point during pregnancy and could apply criminal laws to someone who's pregnant and engaging in any behavior that might pose a perceived or actual risk of harm to the fetus.

So this is connected to that ruling. In fact, the Supreme Court decision here cites that ruling. It also cites the Dobbs decision. So we see that this is part of a long and strategic march towards entrenching this ideology of fetal personhood that is at the heart of controlling pregnant people, their decisions, and their birth outcomes.

KEILAR: There will be much more ahead following this decision for sure. Dana Sussman, thanks for being with us.

SUSSMAN: Thank you.

KEILAR: Boris?

SANCHEZ: We have some breaking news just in to CNN. Two adults have been charged in the deadly shooting at Kansas City's Super Bowl celebration last week. Josh Campbell has been following these developments for us.

Josh, it looks like two adult men, Dominic Miller and Lyndell Mays, are each going to face murder in the second degree charges, among other things they are being charged with. Walk us through what we're learning based on this news from police in Kansas City.

[15:30:00] JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, a significant development. Prosecutors just addressing the public a short time ago in announcing these charges. We know that this was a large crime scene involving ...