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Putin and Russia Hit with Sanctions; Netanyahu Reveals Post-War Plan; Final Push in South Carolina; Polls for Presidential Election; CPAC Speaker Talks Overthrowing Democracy. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired February 23, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:47]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Trying to kneecap Putin's war machine. Just moments ago, the White House released a huge list of new sanctions against Russia. The largest crackdown since Russia invaded Ukraine. We are pouring through the details.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And hostage deal on the line as an Israeli negotiating team makes its way to Paris at this hour. The talks coming as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is once again saying what his vision is for a post-war Gaza.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A nursing student is found dead. Police suspect foul play. Classes are now canceled.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE) from President Biden for the first time since imposing the largest single-day round of sanctions on Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine. He speaks this morning, as seconds ago the White House released new details of more than 500 new sanctions. They hit individuals the White House says are directly connected to the imprisonment and death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, also Moscow's financial sector. The president telegraphed the sanctions after he met with Navalny's widow and daughter in California. He promised them, quote, "Alexei's legacy will carry on through people across Russia and around the world."

Let's get right to CNN White House reporter Priscilla Alvarez with some of the details on these new sanctions.

Priscilla, what are you learning?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the president is clearly forcefully responding here to the death of Alexei Navalny, and also ahead of that two year mark for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Now, this is a fresh slate of sanctions that will target over 500 entities and individuals. And just a few details that we're getting here moments ago, that includes, for example, hundreds of entities involved in Russia's military industrial base, 26 3rd country entities facilitating Russian sanctioned invasion, and that includes firms in China, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates.

Now, President Biden, in a statement this morning, saying that these sanctions "will target individuals connected to Navalny's imprisonment, as well as Russia's financial sector, defense, industrial base, procurement networks, and sanction evaders across multiple continents." President Biden going on to say that "they will ensure Putin pays an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and repression at home."

Now, what the U.S. is trying to do here is essentially choke off Russia from certain goods and also try to slow them down from building weapons. This as U.S. officials tried to add one more tool to the toolbox here in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and also Alexei Navalny's death.

Now, there has been skepticism about how effective these sanctions have been. Of course, the U.S. has been levying multiple sanctions against Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. And their response to that from the White House has been that all of this really affects the long-term here, it hampers Russia's economy and its ability to carry out this war. But all the same, while President Biden is touting these sanctions as a consequence to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he is also keeping the pressure on Congress. Again, $60 billion in additional funding to Ukraine still stalled in Congress as the House is out on a two-week recess. President Biden keeping that pressure and that steady drumbeat to say that while these sanctions can levy a consequence against Russia, those funds need to go to Ukraine. All of that necessary to fight off his aggression.

BERMAN: As we stand here this morning, we're waiting to hear the Russian response. We ae also expecting to hear from President Biden later this morning.

Priscilla Alvarez, at the White House, thank you. We'll talk to you again shortly.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, John, joining us now is CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger.

Thank you so much, David, for coming on to talk about this important issue.

Vladimir Putin himself, we just heard the reporting, is being targeted along with 500 others. But will these new sanctions make any difference in Putin's behavior?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Sara, the most impressive thing that's going on is that they were able to go find sanctions that they hadn't yet levied on Russia.

[09:05:03]

You know, they've done several rounds of these before, including last year at that first anniversary of the war, and right after the war. At that time President Biden said it would reduce the ruble to rubble. And the International Monetary Fund said that Russia's economy would shrink, maybe upwards of 10 percent.

What's happened since though is quite different. The Russians have been very effective at getting around these. They've continued to export oil. Their revenues for oil exports in the past year are above what it were -- what they were before the invasion. And their economy is not doing great, but its growing faster than Germany, which is where I am right now.

So, the fact of that matter is, these sanctions frequently make governments feel good because they add incrementally, but it's not clear that it's changing life for the Russians as much as we'd like to advertise.

SIDNER: All right, and this is in part because Congress has not been able to come up with a package to try and help fund Ukraine's defense against Russia.

I do want to ask you about the fact that there is still oil flowing and money flowing to Russia with oil cells, namely to India. Our Nick Paton Walsh has had this incredible reporting showing these massive ship to ship transfers in the sea to evade sanctions. India is an ally of the United States. Putin, considered an enemy. Is there anything the United States could do to impact this huge infusion of money to Moscow?

SANGER: There is. The United States could do two things I think that could hurt Moscow. The most interesting that they didn't announce them today. The (INAUDIBLE) sanctions on countries that are buying oil. Well, that's India. China, Argentina, have all been continuing to purchase oil. Some European countries have been continuing to purchase liquefied natural gas. So, those are all things that they could do.

But if you truly crack down on the Russian oil shipments, it could have -- send oil prices up and have an inflationary impact ahead of the election. So, I think the president probably would be hesitant there. And it could reduce the willingness of allies to contribute to cutting off arms and other technology to Russia.

The second thing they could do, Sara, is seize that $300 billion that Russia foolishly left hanging around western Europe, a little bit in the United States, prior to the war. The U.S. and Germany have said they don't have the statutory authority to do that yet. But that issue has been kicking around for two years. It's probably something that could hurt Russia because the money could be then redirected to Ukraine.

SIDNER: That is an interesting point, David. Thank you so much for your insight on all this.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Also new overnight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now laying out a day after plan for Gaza. He is calling for complete demilitarization of Gaza, as well as Israel taking over security and controlling entry and exit points to Gaza.

Now, on top of this, and Israeli team is heading to Paris right now to meet with CIA Director Bill Burns and negotiators from Egypt and Qatar to continue hostage talks.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is following all of this from Tel Aviv. He joins us now.

Jeremy, can you talk to me first about this plan now released, unveiled by Benjamin Netanyahu for this day after in Gaza?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, it's not all that dissimilar to what we've heard the Israeli prime minister say publicly before, but it is the first time that he has actually put these principles on paper, formally submitted it to his cabinet. And the prime minister's office says these principles will serve as a basis for discussion for the Israeli cabinet going forward.

It comes amid a lot of pressure from the United States for Israel to really start doing the hard work of thinking about what happens in Gaza the day after the war. But Washington won't necessarily like some of the ideas that the Israeli prime minister has put on paper. And that's because as Washington is trying to establish a framework to create a Palestinian state after this war is over, the plan that the Israeli prime minister is putting forward effectively prevents a Palestinian sovereignty, at least in the short term.

Now, let's go through a few of the details of this plan. You can see that the Israeli military wants to maintain full control of the Gaza Strip, full security control, maintaining freedom of action inside of Gaza, allowing the military to go in and out and conduct raids, security control over Gaza's borders, not only with Israel, but also with Egypt, allowing local Palestinian officials to control the civil administration side, but security control very much under Israeli authority.

[09:10:03]

He also wants to shut down UNRWA, that U.N. agency which Israel has accused of being involved with Hamas. And also he would see the rebuilding of Gaza, but only after Gaza has been fully, fully demilitarized. And he is also opposing unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, which would involve, for example, the U.S., the United Kingdom, other countries recognizing a Palestinian state outside of the framework of negotiations.

Now, there are a lot of key details that are still missing in this plan and that still have to be worked out. But it is notable that the Israeli prime minister is putting these on paper. One of the reasons he's avoided doing so for so long is because it is a very divisive issue inside of Israel, and in particular inside of his governments. This plan doesn't outline Israeli settlements in Gaza, which is something that far right members of his governments are still pushing for. And so this is going to kind of launch a significant debate, not only within Israel, but also between Israel and its international partners, like the United States. The Palestinian Authority, for its part, slamming this plan already, saying that it allows Israel to re- occupy Gaza and that it will prolong the war and that it's at odds with what the United States and other internet national partners are trying to accomplish in Gaza.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And, Jeremy, talk to me about this delegation now headed to Paris to continue what has been -- impossible is one way to say it, but very hard is maybe the kindest way of saying it, to continue these hostage talks.

DIAMOND: I mean, Kate, I think what you're pointing to is the fact that last week it seemed like we were really at an impasse in these negotiations. I mean, both Israel and Hamas were drawing a very, very hard line. The Israeli prime minister, the last time he sent a delegation to these talks, they were basically just in listen only mode. They weren't actively negotiating. And they said that Hamas hadn't moved a millimeter off of its latest position. But something appears to have changed this week because we heard after Hamas spent a couple of days in Cairo meeting with Egyptian and Qatari officials, we heard some optimism from Benny Gantz, a member of the Israeli war cabinet, talking about the possibility of progress. And then after that, the Israeli government's approved sending a delegation to Paris with expanded negotiating authority. Giving them the power to really dig into the details here, to try and strike a deal. And so today that will be a crucial meeting that will happen between the U.S., Israel, the Qataris, the Egyptians, all looking to try and see if a deal can be struck before Ramadan.

BOLDUAN: Showing up is one thing. And in this environment it's a big thing. But that is nowhere near what they need to get done.

It's great to see you, Jeremy. Thank you so much.

John.

BERMAN: All right, South Carolina showdown. Times up to opine and predict in pundit, if I'm using that word right. The primary there is tomorrow. What we will read really learn when the polls close.

The biggest single day of gains in 13 months. Record highs. The markets open in just minutes. Where they are headed this morning and what's driving this surge.

And a man accused of being a violent white supremacist is back in custody after an emergency federal appeal. Why a federal judge released him in the first place.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:33]

SIDNER: All right, it is election eve in South Carolina, and Nikki Haley and Donald Trump are making stops in the palmetto state to deliver their closing messages to viewers. The former South Carolina governor has spent the last month aggressively campaigning in her home state. Haley's vowing to stay in the race no matter what the outcome is in South Carolina. Trump is betting on another big win and hoping he'll be able to deliver a victory speech when he takes the stage on Saturday night.

CNN Kristen Holmes is joining us from Rock Hill, South Carolina, where Donald Trump is set to speak in just the next few hours.

What's the closing message here? We've been hearing this -- the same message that's sort of been going out for a while now.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and, Sara, he hasn't really had to change his message here in South Carolina at all to tailor to voters and he yet still looks poised to beat Nikki Haley. Recent polling showing him up by 30 points, despite the fact that she far outpaced him on the campaign trail, that she far outspent him, and the fact that this is her home state.

Now, despite the fact that he continues to be dismissive of her candidacy, we are told by sources that he's incredibly annoyed that she hasn't dropped out. Here's what he said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I guess she's got an ego or something. I'm not a big fan of hers. She's doing very bad things for the Republican Party. I don't care at this point if she says in. She's getting very few votes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And, Sara, just to note, he does care if she stays in, which we know from people who are around him who have heard him say that.

But I do want to say this, even though the primary is not over yet, it is very much starting to feel like a general election, particularly when we talk about this issue of abortion after that Alabama ruling that said frozen embryos are people too. We are seeing Democrats and President Joe Biden seizing on that and the Trump campaign really taking the incoming on that, really pointing to --Democrats pointing to Trump's outsized role in the overturning of Roe v. Wade, linking these two things together.

As we know, Donald Trump has still not figured out a general election message on abortion. Something they're really going to have to figure out. He wants to, one, take credit as the architect of the overturning of Roe v. Wade but also not talk about abortion at all. So, again, a fine line to walk here for the former president.

SIDNER: All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you so much, from Rock Hill, South Carolina, for us. That speech happening in the next few hours here.

John, and you've got Harry here. Numbers, numbers, numbers, important.

BERMAN: Indeed. You're talking about the primary race that is still going on. We're looking ahead a little bit to the possible general election matchup.

[09:20:00]

With me is CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten.

Harry, what CNN has done here is something truly revolutionary. We've taken all the polls that are up -- out there, added them up and then divided them by the number. We've averaged the polls. And what have we found?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Well, we found that there's no clear leader, John, first choice for president, Donald Trump, 48 percent, Joe Biden, 47 percent. And, you know, this is something that we've gone back and forth with, right? You'll see one poll that shows Joe Biden ahead, like a Quinnipiac University poll did earlier this week, and then Marquette University Law School, in fact, shows that Donald Trump is ahead. But when you put it all together, what you really have is a really tight race for president at this point. Donald Trump coming in at 48 percent on average, and Joe Biden coming it at 47 percent on average.

BERMAN: And why is it so close? What can we see in these numbers?

ENTEN: Yes, why is it so close? It's not because they love both of these candidates, it's because they both have big weaknesses. All right, Biden and Trump's big weaknesses. Trump is not ethical given all those criminal indictments, 68 percent of voters believed that Trump is not ethical. How about Biden's too old to serve another term, effectively serve another term, 67 percent. And so you see these two numbers very close together. And I think this gives you an understanding of why this race is so close is because a near equal percentage of the electorate doesn't like Trump for a big reason, and doesn't like Joe Biden for a very different reasons. So, these two are almost canceling each other out, and that is leading to this race that at this particular point has no clear leader.

BERMAN: It seems to me what you're saying is that voters don't necessarily love their options here.

ENTEN: No, I would say that they don't love their her options, Johnny boy. Tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and want someone new, 67 percent of the public agrees with this, just 19 percent of the public disagrees with this according to a recent IPSOS poll. So, the fact of the matter is, at this particular point, it looks like the voters are going to get Joe Biden on the Democratic side and Donald Trump on the Republican side. But voters definitely don't want it according to the numbers.

BERMAN: Now, if you are looking for trends here, this does have, this poll of polls, this average, this remarkable mathematical tool we're using here, it does have a different look than we've seen in the past with Donald Trump.

ENTEN: It does have a different look. And that, I think, is something that I want to emphasize here is Donald Trump is in a better position now than he was either in the 2020 campaign or the 2016 campaign. All right, so this is the presidential poll margin at this point. Donald Trump plus one point, although, again, no clear leader. Joe Biden was ahead by four points at this point in the 2020 campaign. And Hillary Clinton was ahead by three points in the 2016 campaign. I'll note that in these particular years I took the averages. And so Donald Trump, right now, is in a better position, although, again, a very tight race.

The other thing I'll just note, John, is this actually came pretty close to the final margins. No guarantee that that will be the case given that we still have months and months to go, but it is notable that Donald Trump, at this point, is in a considerably better position than he was the last two times here.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, a pleasure, as always. Have a fantastic weekend.

ENTEN: You as well, Mr. Berman.

BERMAN: Kate Bolduan, math -

BOLDUAN: What's going on with you guys today?

BERMAN: Math - math is a wonderful thing.

BOLDUAN: Johnny boy? And why do you hate on polls of polls so much.

BERMAN: I - I don't. I think it's - I love math. Math is special, and so are you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: I - well, now I can't make fun of you when you give me a compliment. You know that's the secret to my heart.

All right, thanks, guys.

Let's talk serious, or not. Joining me right now, former White House spokesman for George W. Bush, Pete Seat, and CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp.

All right, let's bring it back home here, friends. Out - let's talk about what's happening on the trail, not the poll of polls. And where I want to start is Christian values being discussed on the campaign trail right now. I want to play for you Donald Trump's message in a speech to conservative Christian broadcasters in Nashville. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How any Christian can vote for a Democrat, Christian or person of faith, person of faith, how you can vote for a Democrat is crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Also, this week, here is far-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec at CPAC in a panel hosted by Steve Bannon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JACK POSOBIEC, FAR-RIGHT CONSPIRACY THEORIST: I just wanted to say, look, welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn't get all the way there on January 6th, but we will -- we all endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this right here. We'll replace it with this right here.

STEVE BANNON: All right. Amen.

POSOBIEC: That's right, because all glory -- all glory is not to government, all glory to God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: What he was holding up there was a necklace -- is a cross necklace is what I'm told, so you can't see that in that clip.

S.E., what do you do with this, these messages?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, personally, light my hair on fire, but I've been doing that for about six, seven years because, I mean, in all seriousness, this was the lament of folks like me who saw what Trump was going to do to the Republican Party. He was not only going to convince conservatives to jettison the conservatism, but maybe even Christians to jettison the family values, the morality, the Christianity that had been foundational.

[09:25:07]

And now they're leading with this false -- this sort of false prophet Christianity, where they're not really talking about compassion and doing things that are good for women and minorities, all kinds of people, they're just sort of singing to the cheap seats and using Christian word salads to sort of, you know, key into the base, but they don't actually have to perform. They don't actually have to be good people. They don't have to have good policies. They don't even have to govern or win in this case. So, its - it's a total upheaval of what has been conservative orthodoxy and what has mattered to the Republican Party for a long time.

BOLDUAN: And that's a great point, S.E., kind of the -- the context of how long you have been watching this happening -

CUPP: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Because we've seen, Pete, Tim Alberta, our friend, he's written an entire book about kind of the change, the evolution of evangelical Christians and their relationship with Donald Trump in seeing that they don't -- they don't -- some saying they don't want to -- they don't care if he's a Christian man, if you will, if he's -- if he's an upstanding moral citizen is that they'll fight for them. He's the warrior that they need. But what do you see here?

PETE SEAT, VICE PRESIDENT, BOSE PUBLIC AFFAIRS GROUP: Well, I've attended the Conservative Political Action Conference more times than I want to admit on national television. So, I've seen it not evolve, but devolve from when it was about smart conservatism, it was about smart policy and taking seriously getting this country on track and how we do that through conservative values. You see now from that clip, and in other things that we'll all see here over this weekend, that it's - it's all about MAGA. It's all about Trump. The entire conference, all three-and-a-half days, are about Donald Trump.

I remember standing in a line to meet Mitch McConnell at CPAC. He used to be a star at that event. Now he probably can't even get through the front doors before being turned away. But I've also seen this on college campuses and elsewhere in conversations with friends over the years where this my way or the highway mentality was starting to take root within the conservative movement. Donald Trump tapped into that and gave these people a large segment, a majority of the Republican base right now, precisely what they wanted.

BOLDUAN: And, look, it almost - I kind of make the connection here then, when you look to South Carolina, in the South Carolina primary, Pete, because the primary is tomorrow. Trump has remained far ahead in the polling there. And your take is something that's really interesting. You said that two things can be true at once. And to paraphrase, you, Trump can be unhinged and Haley can still have no path to the nomination. Why is that? What does that say?

SEAT: Yes, this entire campaign is about two things being true at once. Nikki Haley is right, Donald Trump is unhinged. I think even supporters of Donald Trump would agree that he is unhinged at times, but that doesn't mean that Republican primary voters are voting against him and voting for Nikki Haley. The Republican Party wants Donald Trump to be its nominee. It's plain and simple. And Nikki Haley, South Carolina, should be the free space on the bingo card for her. She should be able to win her home state without having to campaign as much as she's campaigned. But fealty is transcendent when it comes to Donald Trump, and he's going to run away with this tomorrow.

BOLDUAN: S.E., I've been wanting to get your take on the fallout, the political fallout, the impact of this IVF ruling in Alabama. I saw in "Politico" South Carolina, Republican Nancy Mace, she's really - she's stood up - she's had an interesting and kind of non-traditional stances that she's taken on some of these issues, if you will. I'm going to say in paraphrase.

CUPP: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Her take on this is, she says, IVF - the IVF ruling in Alabama, quote, "is going to be an issue in '24." What do you think the political impact is of that decision?

CUPP: Yes. Yes, putting the merits of the cases aside, the politics are really, really messy. And what I think the left will do, understandably, is try to lump it into the abortion and, you know, debate, the attacks on women from the Republican Party and the Republicans Supreme Court.

It makes sense because it is a part of reproductive rights as an issue, IVF. However, politically it doesn't cut the same. You can look at the abortion debate and it really falls down on party lines, left, right, Democrat, Republican. For the IVF community, families who are wanting IVF, many are Republicans, pro-life, pro-choice, Democrats, Trump voters, Biden voters.

[09:30:01]

It doesn't fall as easily along party lines. So, anyone who's talking about it, whether that's Joe Biden, Donald Trump, or Nikki Haley, is going to.