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Testimony Continues in Fani Willis Hearing; Interview With State Rep. Alabas Farhat (D-MI); Michigan Holds Primary; President Biden Meets With Congressional Leaders at White House. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired February 27, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Yes, yes, yes.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... discussed border here. Is this a part of the discussion? Is there a legislative discussion as part of this? Or is this still the Republican position that it has to be done through the White House...

(CROSSTALK)

SCHUMER: We made it -- look, let me make it clear.

We made -- the overwhelming sentiment in that meeting is, we have got to do Ukraine now. There are other issues, including border, which we should address, but not now. And there was a discussion in the room that, could you do border just by administrative action?

I think Biden won that argument, because he said, you can't do it, we all said, without personnel. And you need legislation for personnel. And even the Republicans in the budget asked for more money for personnel at the border.

So it was clear, it was clear that we want to fix border, but it was also clear the speaker did not make -- didn't give a reason why you had to do one before you did the other.

Thank you, everybody.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Congressman, Pope Francis on Sunday called for a -- sir?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: With a partial government shutdown looming on Friday at midnight, we have been listening to the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate at the White House speaking to reporters after a high-stakes meeting in the Oval Office.

Welcome to CNN NEWS CENTRAL. I'm Boris Sanchez, alongside Brianna Keilar.

Again, we're watching this game of chicken play out on Capitol Hill between Democrats and Republicans. And, today, it centered on this meeting at the White House, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris sitting down with the top four leaders in Congress. They're running out of time yet again to avert this partial government shutdown.

Funding for several key agencies will expire at the end of the day on Friday if lawmakers do not reach a deal. And then, just one week later, on March 8, funding for the remaining government agencies is set to run out.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: It feels like we have been here before many times because we have. And, typically, it's Democrats blaming Republicans and Republicans blaming Democrats.

This time, it's really a lot of people blaming House Speaker Mike Johnson, with deadline day fast approaching here.

Joining us now, we have CNN's Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill. We have CNN's M.J. Lee at the White House.

M.J., first to you. Any word on whether President Biden's Oval Office meeting could move the needle here?

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, I thought we just got a remarkable readout from Senator Schumer on how this meeting went.

First and foremost, in terms of these leaders in the room all turning to Speaker Johnson to emphasize what is at stake in terms of getting Ukraine funding, I mean, Senator Schumer described this as one of the most intense meetings he has ever encountered in the Oval Office.

He's obviously been a part of many of them over the years. He said that, basically, President Biden, the vice president, McConnell, Jeffries, Schumer himself, that they all almost, it sounds like, took turns going around to share their views on why it was so critical to get something done on Ukraine aid.

He said that, we all said to the speaker, get it done, that without additional U.S. funding, Ukraine could actually lose the war, that NATO could become fractured, and that they made the point to Speaker Johnson that history is looking over your shoulder, and, if you don't take action, you will regret it.

So you can really just imagine, from -- based on what Schumer was saying, that this was such a pressure cooker kind of a meeting setting for the speaker. And then, of course, there were a number of other issues that these people in the room, in the Oval Office, discussed over the course of about an hour or so, including that important deadline to fund the government and avoid a partial government shutdown.

It does sound like everybody in the room was in agreement that that needs to be avoided. There was good progress, was what Senator Schumer said, and that Johnson himself was unequivocal about avoiding a government shutdown. And then, of course, there was the thorny discussion over the border, with Democrats essentially telling Speaker Johnson, you had a chance to act on this, and Republicans passed up that opportunity.

So we will see when we get a little bit more of a readout, especially from the White House's side, whether they feel like there was real progress made, but, boy, incredibly clear that there was so much pressure placed on Speaker Johnson in this meeting.

SANCHEZ: Pressure there from congressional leadership at the White House, pressure from his own conference, members repeatedly threatening to fire him as speaker, essentially, if he provides aid to Ukraine without some kind of solution for the border.

M.J. Lee from the White House, thank you so much.

Let's pivot to CNN's Lauren Fox.

Lauren, what are you hearing from folks on the Hill about the likelihood of something getting done by Friday?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, obviously, this meeting is incredibly consequential, because of the fact that this is not really a fight between Republicans and Democrats in the traditional way.

[13:05:01]

This has been a standoff to getting these four bills finalized really between the Senate and the House. And that is why having these leaders in one room really starting to square off against Johnson and making it clear to him what is at stake on Ukraine, what is at stake when it comes to government funding was going to be a really important moment for potentially getting this across the finish line.

On the issue of the government shutdown, it seems, per Schumer's readout, which was extremely clear of what happened in that room, according to him, he said that Johnson realized that having a government shutdown was not the right route to go.

But there's a difference between thinking a shutdown is a bad idea and making sure everyone can finalize these bills. Right now, given the fact that House Republicans have this 72-hour rule, where they like to have three days to read a bill, today's kind of D-Day for getting a final agreement on legislative text.

And that is why we have been standing by waiting to see if appropriators can finally announce an agreement, because, in the Senate, it takes time to move these bills. And you were talking about being right up against a Friday midnight deadline. That means there's just not that much time. The House comes back tomorrow.

I will be very interested to see what Mike Johnson says about this meeting, because it is going to be up to him to decide whether or not those final items on government spending can get closed out. On the issue of Ukraine, this was obviously a pressure cooker moment for Speaker Johnson in that room, according to Schumer.

But it also is not that different than what we have seen play out on Capitol Hill over the course of the last several months, McConnell, Schumer, Jeffries, the president all in agreement that Ukraine aid is pivotal.

But the pressure that Johnson is facing is making that very difficult for him to even bring this bill to the floor, despite the fact that Republicans and Democrats in the House who are supportive argue this bill, Ukraine aid specifically, would pass overwhelmingly if Johnson just agreed to put it on the floor. But that action obviously could threaten his job.

KEILAR: Yes, certainly could.

Lauren Fox, thank you for that.

Right now, voting is under way in Michigan. It's the first battleground state to hold a primary, and on the Republican side, of course, former President Trump trying to notch yet another double- digit victory over Nikki Haley. So there may be more suspense on the Democratic side, actually, and kind of almost unbelievably with an incumbent.

But that's because President Biden is trying to stamp out a little bit of a mutiny within his party.

SANCHEZ: Yes, some Michigan Democrats are pushing for a protest vote over Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war. They're urging Democratic primary voters to choose uncommitted on the ballot, trying to send a message to the White House.

We have CNN's Omar Jimenez outside a polling place near Detroit. And CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston is here with us in studio.

Omar, first to you.

What are you hearing from voters today?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, we have heard from some Trump voters. We have heard from some Biden voters at this point.

It doesn't seem that there was going to be any surprises as far as who wins these primaries, but a lot of interesting clues as far as what we could see in the general election up to this point.

One, just want to show you a little bit of where we are. Look, you notice that it is pretty empty right now at this polling location. And even the election official here told us that it is slow, based on what she's seen. But what's interesting about Michigan this cycle is, this is the first cycle where we are seeing early in-person voting here.

And that, combined with absentee voting, we have already seen more than a million people return ballots. And in 2020, we saw over -- just a little bit over two million people.

SANCHEZ: Very quickly, we want to go to House Speaker Mike Johnson at the podium at the White House. Let's listen just.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): ... the president, just he and I in the Oval Office.

Let me say this. When I showed up today, my purpose was to express what I believe is the obvious truth, and that is that we must take care of America's needs first. When you talk about America's needs, you have to talk first about our open border.

I have been, I believe, in maybe 20-something states over the last several weeks, going around the country appearing at events with my colleagues. And we're hearing from the American people of all parties and all persuasions in all cities, in all states, who feel this acutely. They understand the catastrophe at the border is affecting everyone.

And it is top of mind for all the American people for that reason. So I brought that issue up repeatedly today in that room and again one- on-one with the president. I think that's our responsibility to bring that up.

The other big priority for our country, of course, is the funding of our government. And we have been working in good faith around the clock every single day for months and weeks and over the last several days quite literally around the clock to get that job done. We're very optimistic.

I hope that the other leaders came out here and told you the same. We believe that we can get to agreement on these issues and prevent a government shutdown. And that's our first responsibility. You also heard, I'm sure, that there was discussion about the supplemental spending package.

[13:10:00]

And I was very clear with the president and all those in the room that the House is actively pursuing and investigating all the various options on that. And we will address that in a timely manner.

But, again, the first priority of the country is our border and making sure it's secure. I believe the president can take executive authority right now today to change that. And I told him that again today in person, as I have said to him many times publicly and privately over the last several weeks.

It's time for action. It is a catastrophe. And it must stop. And we will get the government funded and we will keep working on that. So we will have more for you soon.

(CROSSTALK) KEILAR: Johnson there coming out of a meeting at the White House where he was under a lot of pressure and has been as well from his predecessors urging him to prevent a government shutdown.

But you heard him there saying there has to be and -- sort of a dealing of the open border, even though there was an agreement that he has said no to, that his conference has said no to because Donald Trump said no to.

Let's go back now to Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill here.

Lauren, where does this leave us?

FOX: Yes, certainly, he kind of laid out the series of issues that they discussed. And he notably said that he had a one-on-one conversation with the president, where he did bring up once again the issue of the border.

I want to talk about the border issue first, because I think what he's arguing here is that House Republicans want to see action the border before they are willing to do something on Ukraine. Of course, as you pointed out, the Senate had been negotiating a bipartisan agreement.

The House Republicans rejected it swiftly after it was released after coming under some pressure from Donald Trump not to agree to that Senate-negotiated package, and then the whole thing really fell apart. And what you have heard from Democrats and what you have heard from the White House is, that was your opportunity.

But it seems in this case Speaker Johnson making it clear House Republicans want to see action the border before they move forward with Ukraine. So that remains a key sticking point, despite the fact that it does sound like from Schumer there was immense pressure put upon him reminding him of what is that stake in Ukraine, reminding him that time is of the essence on the battlefield.

The other issue that he said repeatedly is that they are working to avoid a government shutdown, he believes that they are going to be able to avoid a government shutdown. I did not hear specifics about how they are actually going to do that over the course of the next 72 hours, because they certainly don't have a lot of time.

What I have been told from aides that are talking and close to this process is that they have closed out many of the issues that had been sticking points, but there are still a few of them that remain outstanding, and you might be really close. You might be on the cusp of a deal, but until you close out those final issues, you really do put yourself in a position where you can stumble backwards into a government shutdown.

And I think, right now, that is what we are watching on Capitol Hill. They may have all intents and purposes of avoiding one, but unless the negotiators and the principals, which you just heard from, agree on what those final bills are going to look like, it becomes very difficult to see how this can move quickly in Congress. So, I would say, after hearing from Johnson, after hearing from

Schumer, they are optimistic, but there is no guarantee that a shutdown is going to be avoided at this point.

KEILAR: And here we go again.

Lauren Fox on the Hill for us.

Let's bring CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston back with us.

What is your reaction to this meeting? Because it seems like a lot of circular talking, where you have Johnson saying there has to be this addressing of the open border. But, remember, there was a border agreement that was worked out in the Senate, and he quashed it. So where does that leave things?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Crafted by Democrats and Republicans in the United States Senate.

KEILAR: Correct.

PRESTON: And President Trump came out even before the bill was put out publicly and said that he wasn't for it.

Look, it's a political issue for him. Right now, we know that President Biden and former President Trump are both going to be down at the border on Thursday. This has become an explosive issue. And, of course, we have seen some horrific stories that have come out in the past week, this young woman who was murdered down in Athens, Georgia.

And it's tied with that being somebody who came over here illegally and had been let go. So this is a very potent political issue when it comes to that. When the government shuts down, or could the government shut down, that's an incredible amount of pressure now being put on the speaker's shoulders, because he has people within his own conference who are telling him that a shutdown is better for him, which we all know it's not.

SANCHEZ: It was glaring to me that, while we saw the Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill together there outside the White House, we did not see the Senate minority leader alongside Speaker Johnson. Mitch McConnell was not there.

I understand that his response is in our e-mail. I'm not going to look at it right now, Mark.

[13:15:02]

KEILAR: I will pull it up.

SANCHEZ: But what does it tell you about where the Republican Conference is that they're not aligned in a way, that they can't even stand at a podium together and put forward a basic agreement on what the country should do when it comes to pairing the border issues with funding for partners overseas?

PRESTON: The Senate Republicans and Senate House members -- and, Bri, you remember this from your years on Capitol Hill, right?

They -- the ones in the Senate and the ones in the House, they're Republicans or they're Democrats. But the fact is, there's competing pressures for those two different houses. In the House of Representatives, there's almost more power given when it's sizable enough and ideological enough that can force the speaker of the House, depending on whatever the party is, to have to go a certain way.

In the Senate, it only takes a few people to actually stop something. But at the same time, the Senate seems to be more in lockstep with trying to get things done. The House is -- quote, unquote -- "the people's house." It's a little more raucous.

KEILAR: The McConnell statement. So, he made brief comments to reporters when he came back to the Capitol. So interesting, as you point out, Boris, there.

And he said: "Mainly, we talked about keeping the government open, which I think we can all agree on. I think we're making some real headway on turning appropriations process."

All right, so there you go, but...

SANCHEZ: Generic language.

KEILAR: Very generic there.

(CROSSTALK)

PRESTON: Hopeful, he said.

KEILAR: Hopeful.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KEILAR: All right, well, I'm sure you have -- let's not give up hope, right? Let's not give up hope they can keep it together.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: I do want to talk to you about what we initially had you on here to talk about, which was Michigan...

PRESTON: Right.

KEILAR: ... which I love this day, because it tells us so much, I think. Michigan has really been this bellwether here in the last two presidential elections when it comes to the primary.

I remember Bernie Sanders winning unexpectedly eight years ago. And it told us, in retrospect, the trouble that Hillary Clinton was going to get into in Michigan. You had Biden doing very well, even against Bernie Sanders, in the last primary. So as you're looking here at this different situation, which is a protest vote, maybe people voting uncommitted, but still coming out to vote, what are you looking for? PRESTON: Well, let me say this. Polls haven't closed yet, but there's

already clearly a winner. And it is the folks who got behind the uncommitted vote.

The fact that they were able to move the White House on such a complicated and very controversial foreign policy issue, which is to go to our greatest ally, or one of our greatest allies in Israel, and really start to back off our support of the constant bombing in Gaza -- 30,000 people now have died over there from the IDF going in there and trying to root out Hamas.

But what we're seeing is, not only are Arabs and Palestinians and Muslims in Michigan now latching onto this. Younger people are starting to latch onto this. And the progressive wing of the party -- you talk about Bernie Sanders -- talk about giving somebody or giving a part of the party an incredible amount of power, and that's what Bernie Sanders' run for presidency did.

So, the White House clearly concerned. Joe Biden was on "Seth Meyers," what, 12 hours ago, 14 hours ago, saying that he thinks the cease-fire is going to be on Monday. Timing seems to be perfect, right, right before the Michigan primary, where he was facing this.

SANCHEZ: We shall see how it might affect the turnout and polling there.

Mark Preston, thank you so much.

We want to get some perspective now from one of the Michigan Democrats who is pushing for this uncommitted protest vote. We have with us state Representative Alabas Farhat.

Alabas, thank you so much for being with us.

What message are you trying to send President Biden by voting uncommitted?

STATE REP. ALABAS FARHAT (D-MI): Yes, I want to make it clear that today's vote is an appeal to the White House. It is an appeal to President Biden to be the leader that we know he can -- the leader that he promised the nation he would be in 2020, when he campaigned saying that he was going to restore dignity and humanity to the White House.

Right now, thousands of Michiganders are watching overseas their loved ones dying, children starving to death, and they're hearing the screams of parents who are holding their children, their lifeless children.

What right now we're hoping to push the president on a secure cease- fire now, and let's end the killing of innocent civilians overseas. Let's restore humanitarian aid, right? Let's start working towards a lasting peace process. That's the appeal of Michigan voters today when they vote uncommitted.

SANCHEZ: In recent weeks, President Biden has gone further in publicly criticizing Benjamin Netanyahu's government and his policies, calling the IDF response over the top. He also reinstalled actions against settlers in the West Bank.

Obviously, you would like to see him do more, so I'm wondering what specifically you would like to see him change in his approach to the Israeli leadership.

FARHAT: Look, I'm really glad that you honed it in on the Israel leadership, because that's what this is, right?

The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, I think, has actively worked against a lasting peace process. He's went out there and made statements saying that there can be no peace deal or that they'd rather recover the hostages than force them through a cease- fire.

[13:20:07]

These type -- the rhetoric of the prime minister of Israel has been damaging, I think. And, quite frankly, it's led to the innocent civilians that have been murdered and killed right now.

What I'd love to see from the White House is a recognition that, one, Benjamin Netanyahu is not a great actor to work with in this conflict. He is not somebody who I think has the best interest of not only the Israeli people, but the U.S. foreign policy broadly at heart. He doesn't have that at heart.

He's concerned that, the moment this conflict ends, so too does his tenure as prime minister of Israel, because, ultimately, the burden falls on him for failing to, one, keep Israel safe, but, two, for failing to bring back the hostages on a timely manner, when there's been deals and offers made to bring these hostages back home for a cease-fire.

SANCHEZ: I'm curious to get your perspective on something that Congresswoman Debbie Dingell said this morning, that President Biden has nothing to fear in Michigan's primary.

Do you think enough voters will vote uncommitted that President Biden may see himself potentially lose the primary?

FARHAT: Oh, I mean, look, I'm talking to many of my constituents who are -- who are organizers of the Michigan campaign. And I think the president will -- it's no secret, will probably win the Democratic primary today.

The message, though, is that a plurality of voters, Arabs, Muslims, Christians, Gen Z voters, are coming together, African-American voters, are coming together in a coalition to tell the president that, hey, we want to see you call for a cease-fire. We want to see our White House reflect the values that we know it should reflect.

I think that that's the bigger message today. I don't think the goal, the stated goal of the Listen to Michigan campaign or any of these campaigns was to see the president lose the primary. SANCHEZ: OK.

President Biden did win the state of Michigan by just over 150,000 votes back in 2020. And many Democrats are arguing that, if you don't support President Biden, you're opening the door to another term for Donald Trump. So I'm wondering, if you think Trump gets elected, would Gaza see a better outcome? Are you still open to voting for Biden in November?

FARHAT: So, here's what I will say, Boris, and I will be honest. Today's ballot, for folks that may not know, is a primary vote. So today isn't a choice of Biden or Trump. That's not the choice Michiganders are making today.

But I want to share a story. Just before getting on this Skype call, I received a picture of several older women. My mom was one of them who had just voted, and she was smiling. She was smiling because she knew today -- just think about what a beautiful country we live in, where we can go and influence our decision-makers, right?

But she was smiling because she felt like she was moving the needle forward on a lasting cease-fire. She is voting uncommitted today because of her childhood friends who are now dead because of the bombings in Lebanon and in Palestine, right?

And so, to be clear, to be more specific, we don't want to see President Trump return to the White House. We know what a danger he is to our democracy. We know what a threat he is to our institutions.

And so today is an appeal using the most American process we have, our democracy, our vote to the White House, to President Biden to make sure that our issues, the restoration of humanitarian aid, a lasting cease-fire, a return of hostages being held, are all on the table and being -- hopefully, before we get to November, we're there on those issues.

So that's what this is, is an appeal to the White House.

SANCHEZ: Alabas Farhat, we have to leave the conversation there. Appreciate you sharing your perspective with us.

FARHAT: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Coming up this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL: Soon, an emergency hearing is set to start in the Georgia election interference case against former President Trump. Attorneys are expecting a star witness to potentially undercut testimony from district attorney Fani Willis.

KEILAR: Plus, as the death toll in Gaza approaches 30,000, President Biden says a cease-fire deal could be just days away. What we know about the potential framework of that deal.

And if you're a family struggling to put food on the table, the Kellogg's CEO has a suggestion, eat breakfast cereal for dinner. And that advice is not going over so well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:28:48]

KEILAR: Here in the next hour, a star witness in the effort to disqualify Trump prosecutor Fani Willis will be taking the stand.

And this is Terrence Bradley. He's the former law partner and former divorce attorney for Nathan Wade, the Fulton County prosecutor who had a romantic relationship with Willis, the DA of Fulton County. She charged Donald Trump and 18 others with election interference and racketeering. And this past romance is the basis of the move by some Trump defendants to remove Willis and Wade from the case.

SANCHEZ: Yes, this story has taken a turn for the soap opera realm.

Defense attorneys believe that Bradley has testimony that would contradict the prosecutors on when their relationship actually began.

CNN's Nick Valencia is outside the Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta.

So, Nick, what can we expect from Bradley at this emergency hearing?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bradley called back on the stand by Judge Scott McAfee after they met behind closed doors yesterday, and it was determined that some of the questions that he refused to answer the first time that he testified were not actually covered by attorney-client privilege.

And McAfee seemed to signal as much during the second day of Bradley's testimony. And in what can only be described as sort of an earthquake moment, the judge turning to Bradley and saying, it appears as though you have been misunderstanding or mischaracterizing what privilege is.

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