Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

New Joe Biden Attack Ad Slams Donald Trump's Economic Vision Ahead Of Debate; Donald Trump Says He's Preparing By Taking Questions, Attending Events; Judge In Hush Money Case Partially Lifts Donald Trump Gag Order; Prosecutors DOJ To File Criminal Charges Against Boeing. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired June 25, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:57]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Two candidates, one historic moment. We are now just two days away from the first presidential debate. The voter issue that President Biden's team is now advising him to lean in on ahead of his matchup with former President Trump.

Plus, could Boeing soon face criminal charges? Why federal prosecutors are urging the Justice Department to take action against the airplane giant.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And a big step by a major social media app to safeguard its teenage users.

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

KEILAR: Hello there, I'm Brianna Keilar alongside Boris Sanchez and we are on the countdown to Thursday night's CNN presidential debate where we are now learning some new details about how several top Democrats are warning the Biden campaign to shift strategy and to spend more time targeting former President Trump and less time touting what they see as President Biden's first term accomplishments.

Now, the Biden campaign appears to be acting on that advice releasing a new T.V. ad. That's part of what they say is a $50 million ad buy that directly attacks Trump's economic vision for a second term.

Let's take you to the White House now with CNN's Kayla Tausche. Kayla, walk us through the details on this new ad.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the new ad is part of a battleground effort to blanket the airwaves and really target those independent voters by showing them that President Biden is the one that has voters interests at heart, not President Trump that predecessor to Biden, who these new ads say is only in it for himself. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump loves to attack Joe Biden.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Joe Biden. Joe Biden.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because he's focused on revenge, and he has no plan to help the middle class. He just give more tax cuts to the wealthy.

Here's the difference. Donald Trump is only out for himself, Joe Biden is fighting for your family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAUSCHE: Now this marks a sharp pivot from the previous messaging on the economy previously. You may remember last year, Biden was out on the stump, crisscrossing the country, talking about Bidenomics and trying to convince the electorate that the economy was better than they felt it was.

Then beginning earlier this year, he began talking about how there was more work to do and beginning to acknowledge that maybe the economic woes of the post pandemic era were not over.

But recently, I've been told that several top Democrats who have the ear of the Biden camp have been urging them to make this pivot, to stop trying to convince voters that their cost of living is not too high. And that job creation and economic growth matter more than what they're paying for their grocery bill and saying, let's change the conversation entirely and go straight after Donald Trump. And that's what I think we can see from Biden on the debate stage this Thursday, as well as beyond that, guys.

KEILAR: And we're told, Kayla, that Biden and advisors have started these formal mock debates. Tell us about this.

TAUSCHE: Well, we know that this is part of the Biden playbook. He is no stranger to debates having been a lifelong politician. And normally, advisors go through reams of material, they talk about potential questions, answers topics, and then they culminate in these mock debates.

And sources have told CNN that those mock debates have gotten underway, although they will not say how many are taking place each day, only that it varies.

This is President Biden's turn to practice. The format that he's going to be under on Thursday night on the debate stage. A source with knowledge telling MJ Lee that the president has a podium that he is standing behind, that they're really trying to get a feel for what will happen on Thursday night and trying to anticipate some of the questions that he may need to react to in addition to the topics that he plans to be on offense for, guys.

KEILAR: All right, Kayla, thank you for that, live for us from the White House.

President Biden has been huddled behind closed doors deep in traditional debate prep and former President Trump is doing things his way to get ready for Thursday's big faceoff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[14:05:01]

TRUMP: How are you preparing? I'm preparing by taking questions from you and others, if you think about it. But I'm preparing by dealing with you. You're tougher than all of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So, we're told that Trump has no plans to engage in mock debate sessions and has instead been holding informal discussions with advisors and allies on his policy positions.

Joining us now is Republican Congressman Mike Waltz of Florida. He is a surrogate for the Trump campaign.

All right, so, I'm just wondering as we're looking towards this debate, what you want to see from Trump on stage Thursday night?

REP. MIKE WALTZ (R-FL): Well, it doesn't surprise me that Biden's changing strategy, because Bidenomics has clearly been a disaster. So, he's going to try to shift his message.

And I think the contrast is going to be clear, Brianna, this isn't theoretical anymore. This was what was life like under the Trump administration, economically, with inflation, with the border, with security in terms of crime. And the war, I mean, you just look at the Middle East one part of the world, you had ISIS largely defeated, Iran broke and the Abraham Accords breaking out and look at the chaos now.

So, I think he's just going to make contrast after contrast. What policy worked on the border, whether Remain in Mexico or actually having the same Mexican government put their national guard on their southern border, and we saw a drastic drop in illegal immigration, and then what's working now are not working with the wide open borders.

So, you're going to see the contrast, the contrast is going to be clear, but it doesn't surprise me Biden's trying to shift away from what has failed under him and try to make this a referendum on Trump.

KEILAR: So, you want contrasts and we know that Biden is going to draw a contrast as well. He's going to try to do that definitely on abortion. I think we just expect that's going to happen, yesterday was two years. So, when they have this debate, it's going to be right there around the two year anniversary since the Supreme Court overturn Roe which Trump has taken credit for. What should Trump say about abortion? How should he respond to that?

WALTZ: Well, he's going to say, look, the law of the land sits in the states. There was never a federal law, he doesn't support a federal law. That's what Roe essentially did was say, we're not going to legislate from the bench. Constitutionally as originalist, those laws have been made down in the state. Now, if Congress chooses to do something different. That's on

Congress. And then, I want to see President Trump ask Biden, when is abortion not appropriate?

You know, the day before birth? The week before? The month before? And really point out a lot of extreme measures that are out there in terms of late term abortion that a lot of people most Americans do not support.

KEILAR: There are a lot of Americans who think that some of the restrictions when it comes to early on in pregnancy is actually extreme, including in your state of Florida, where the May CBS YouGov poll of Florida registered voters showed 65 percent of voters said abortion should be legal in all or most cases. 56 percent of Florida voters say the six week ban is too strict, 60 percent said they'd vote yes on amendment for guaranteeing a right to abortion in Florida November.

So, you talk about that. Yes, it does sit in the States. But at the same time, you have a lot of Floridians who are having a really hard time with where it is sitting in your state. And they're looking -- they're looking to make changes to that.

WALTZ: But you're actually making my point, you're making President Trump's point, you're making the Supreme Court's point. And that Roe basically legislated from the bench, which was inappropriate constitutionally.

And if people want to vote on this issue down in the States, whether it's on a referendum or whether it's for their state legislator, that's what they're going to do.

KEILAR: What do you --

WALTZ: But I -- but it doesn't -- I mean, we're spending a lot of time on this. I think President Biden was tried to spend a lot of time on this.

And at the end of the day, those kitchen table issues of economy, inflation, crime, border, or what's going to dominate when people vote.

KEILAR: Well, family planning, I mean, arguably, is a kitchen table issue, right? The economy --

WALTZ: One of them.

KEILAR: Yes.

WALTZ: One of them.

KEILAR: The economy is very much so but --

WALTZ: But the point is, what are those issues that I just listed does Biden have to be proud of? Not inflation, not how people feel in their wallets, not with a wide open border, not with crime, and certainly not with a world that is on fire.

Right now, he certainly can't point to his Middle East policy, or on China or any other policy. So, he's going to try to shift to those couple of issues.

KEILAR: He's going of course, to point his June 4th immigration restrictions on the border. We'll have to see how these two gentlemen handle that on the debate stage.

WALTZ: Well, I think still allowing nearly a million people a year unchecked, unvetted when we just had eight ISIS terrorists arrested on the verge of another plot, like they had on the anniversary of Pulse nightclub down near my district. I don't think that's something Biden is going to be proud of. I wouldn't think.

KEILAR: Would you call them ISIS terrorists? Or you would say connections to ISIS? How would you describe it?

WALTZ: Well, they were facilitated into the United States illegally by an ISIS facilitation network out of Tajikistan and there was ongoing plotting and planning that fortunately law enforcement intercepted.

[14:10:03]

KEILAR: OK. I just want to make sure we're very specific about it very much a concern --

WALTZ: I mean, we're on that --

KEILAR: I know, yes.

WALTZ: -- we're on that spectrum of ISIS linked versus an ISIS actual fighter is probably up for debate. But if they're plotting and planning to attack Americans, the United States then --

KEILAR: Obviously, considerable --

WALTZ: -- they were arrested.

KEILAR: Well, obviously considerable concern.

WALTZ: Sure.

KEILAR: That they could be and so, there was -- there were arrests made in that point.

So, what do you not want to see in this debate? And let me preface this by saying, we've seen previous debates between Trump and Biden. And I wonder if there's some things that you've seen in those debates that you would not like to see, that you do not think either are good for Trump, or are good for Americans as they're making their choices?

WALTZ: Well, look, I want to see the full spectrum. I can't think of anything. I know, Trump can handle anything thrown at him. He's out there day in and day out at rallies, just one in Wisconsin, just at one in Pennsylvania, even in Philadelphia, in the inner city, that's not necessarily considered a red part of America, having forums in Brooklyn, right? And the -- and going to a black church in Detroit.

So, he's willing to take his message and kind of areas that haven't been traditionally Republican. And I'm confident he can handle anything that's thrown out there.

And I want to see the entire gamut, from China to Ukraine to the Middle East. How we've let the wide open border, really changed America in many ways. Let's walk through the economy. Let's walk through crime. Let's walk through even the right to try legislation, for example, which allowed people that were terminally ill to try new drugs that weren't FDA approved.

KEILAR: What do you --

WALTZ: The Veterans Choice Act that allowed veterans to go to their doctor, rather than have to wait in line to the V.A. And there's a lot to dig into from a policy standpoint.

So, I guess a long way of answering your question, let's talk about the policies, what worked for America and what didn't. And we'll see if we can stay out of the personalities.

KEILAR: Julian Assange struck a plea deal. Actually, right now, I believe, unless we have any confirmation that he has landed. But as we were talking ahead of time, it's kind of a long flight. So, he's on his way right now to a U.S. territory not far from Guam and not far from Australia, where he is ultimately going to be a free man after he's pled guilty to one count.

So, here he is, he's going to walk free very shortly, he was indicted under the Trump administration back in 2019, which is when you said this about Julian Assange and the whole WikiLeaks process. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTZ: Neil, let me be clear, Julian Assange, Bradley Manning, and then related but separate Edward Snowden, they have blood on their hands. And I hope the Justice Department throws the book at them.

I am looking forward to seeing them extradited back to the United States. And let's just talk for a second about what they did. They took all of our operational files as a Green Beret in Afghanistan, we were conducting operations night after night after night against the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, later on ISIS, they took all of our operational files, and particularly the sources, the local Afghans that were working with us, they did this in Iraq as well, and put them all over the internet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I think what transpired with this breach is particularly personal for someone with your background, what do you think of the plea deal?

WALTZ: Look, we know that Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, ISIS in Iraq actively monitored leaks across news organizations with English speaking operatives to look for leaks. And we know they went out, when they went after our sources and our people that were helping American troops.

I am heavily focused on Chelsea Manning or then Bradley Manning. I mean, we need to be focused on these leakers and the damage that they do. I think it's of some debate now whether Assange was a journalist in the guise of maybe the New York Times with The Pentagon Papers, but not -- but people are making that comparison but what they dumped out there --

KEILAR: If I may, I just have to -- I just I have to interrupt you on that.

WALTZ: Yes.

KEILAR: As a journalist, if we had those kinds of documents, and went through --

WALTZ: I would expect you not to do it.

KEILAR: And went through the process of releasing something.

WALTZ: I would expect you not to do it.

KEILAR: You would not identify individual sources that you had worked with so that they would be killed. I mean, do you think he's a journalist?

WALTZ: Hey, absolutely no, absolutely. But I mean, I do not. But there is some debate out there and using The Pentagon Papers and what's -- look, if we prosecuted everyone for releasing something that's classified, everyone would be classified.

But this is what I'm trying to get into a nuanced point here. What he released put people's lives in dangers, he served five years. I think he should have served longer.

But you know, at the end of the day, we can't lose sight of it was the government employee Chelsea Manning did the leaking.

[14:15:02]

KEILAR: But just Trump floated the idea of pardoning him. Why do that after indicting him?

WALTZ: Well, Trump's DOJ also -- yes, indicted him. I don't know.

KEILAR: All right. Congressman, thank you so much.

WALTZ: Can't speak to that.

KEILAR: It's obviously a very, very big week.

WALTZ: Sure.

KEILAR: And we appreciate your insights.

WALTZ: Absolutely.

KEILAR: Thank you so much.

And of course, do not miss President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, they will be debating this Thursday, June 27th. That is 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN. It will be a very big night.

And we're also continuing to follow breaking news. The judge in the criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump is rolling back parts of a gag order imposed before the trial. Trump can now publicly talk about witnesses like Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels. So, let's bring in CNN's Brynn Gingras to talk a little bit about this.

We have a response now from the Trump campaign brand, what are they saying?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, Brianna, they're saying they're still going to fight it. Let's first talk about what this order does and does not do. You just mentioned the big one there.

What this allows is Trump now can speak about those witnesses who testified in his trial, particularly people like Michael Cohen, as you just mentioned.

If you remember, during that trial, Trump and his team were railing against the fact that they felt this was stifling their campaign, that they couldn't respond to any attacks that were appearing on Twitter from witnesses like Michael Cohen.

So, this gag order, rolling back just a little bit does give the Trump camp a little bit more leeway.

What it does not allow him to do according to this judge, is to speak ill or say anything about the prosecutors in this case, any jurors names cannot be released. Trump cannot talk about any of the lawyers of family or court staff and the Judge Juan Merchan, essentially saying that is because he still needs to protect these people ahead of the sentencing. Saying, this court process when it comes to that New York trial is not over yet. He said that he wants them to feel free to do their jobs without threats, intimidation, harassment and harm.

But again, like I said, Trump is still going after this ruling, essentially releasing a statement to CNN saying this. This is another unlawful decision by a highly conflicted judge, which is blatantly un- American as it gags President Trump, the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election during the upcoming presidential debate on Thursday, President Trump and his legal team will immediately challenge today's unconstitutional order.

And just a little backstory, if you remember, of course, is that this gag order was put in place in April ahead of the criminal trial, the judge worried that anything Trump would have said could have really derailed that trial.

And then, of course, we know that during the trial, the former president violating it 10 times at one point, even being threatened by the judge to go to jail for all of those violations.

But again, it looks like they're going to continue to fight even what is left of it ahead of that sentencing on July 11th, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, we'll be looking for more then. Brynn Gingras. thank you for that.

GINGRAS: All right.

SANCHEZ: Happening now, a court hearing where Donald Trump's lawyers are making their latest attempt to get the classified documents case against him thrown out. Let's get right to CNN Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid for the latest.

And Paula, there's some new reporting about Trump's attorneys focusing on the warrant that the FBI used to search Mar-a-Lago.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Boris. We're just getting our first update from our colleagues who are inside court and they say that defense attorneys are trying to attack the legitimacy of the search warrant that was executed on Mar-a-Lago, arguing that it was not specific enough.

Now, today is day three of three days of hearings down in Florida, and today defense attorneys overall, they are focused on trying to prevent prosecutors from being able to use certain pieces of evidence against their client in an eventual trial.

Now, in addition to trying to get some of the classified materials that were obtained, thrown out, arguing that the search warrant was not legitimate. They were also trying to prevent prosecutors from being able to use transcripts of voice memos from Trump's former lawyer Evan Corcoran.

Now, that is critical evidence because that is key evidence to support a charge of obstruction.

Now, as we know, Boris, the Trump defense attorneys, they are throwing everything at the wall down there in Florida to try to undermine this case, or at the very least, get it delayed.

And here you see Judge Aileen Cannon, she is entertaining some efforts that other judges may not take the time and resources to even hear in a formal hearing setting.

So, she is definitely more indulgent in at least hearing the defense attorney's arguments even though she doesn't always rule in their favor.

SANCHEZ: All right, we'll keep an eye on what's happening in Fort Pierce. Paula Reid, thank you so much. Coming up, after years of crashes and safety lapses, federal prosecutors are now recommending criminal charges against Boeing. A Boeing whistleblower will join us live with his reaction.

Plus, this is now the most expensive house primary ever. Today in New York, Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman is fighting for his political life facing a competitive Democratic primary challenger.

Why Bowman's views on one particular topic could impact the outcome.

[14:20:03]

KEILAR: And some habits are hard to break, why many older adults are still taking a daily aspirin even though they should not be. What experts are saying about it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Yet another blow for Boeing. CNN has learned that federal prosecutors are urging the Justice Department to file criminal charges against the jet maker over safety issues with the 737 Max. The DOJ, though has not made a final decision.

[14:25:07]

KEILAR: This is happening as there's this federal probe into quality control and safety issues at the company. And that came of course, after this, that Alaska Airlines door plug blowout and also two fatal 737 Max crashes.

There was a crash in October of 2018, that killed 189 people off the coast of Indonesia. And one the very next year in Ethiopia that killed 157 people. These are incidents that led to a 20 month grounding of the 737 Max.

Ed Pierson is a Boeing whistleblower and a former Boeing 737 program senior manager, he's now the Director of the Foundation for Aviation Safety. Thank you so much for being with us.

I wonder what your reaction is to prosecutors urging that Boeing should be criminally charged?

ED PIERSON, BOEING WHISTLEBLOWER: Well, thanks for having me. And I guess there's -- we've heard conflicting messages. But the word about the prosecutors recommending to their bosses at Department of Justice is very encouraging.

But ultimately, I believe it's going to be the Attorney General Merrick Garland's decision. And we certainly hope that he makes the right decision for not only for the families, but also for everybody that bores airplanes that are made by Boeing.

SANCHEZ: Ed, I'm wondering, as someone who worked for them, what red flags you witnessed while you were there, and why you don't trust the Max jets? PIERSON: Well, the reason I don't trust the Max jets is because when those airplanes were being built, and I was working as a senior manager, I saw the ridiculous amount of pressure that was put on factory workers by executives to rush to get the planes out the door.

And this pressure to produce these airplanes to get them out the door, you know, there was a lot of talk about safety and a lot of talk about quality, same things we currently hear. But the actions were, you know, get the plane out the door, schedules king. And we -- even though we had plenty of reports of defects, all of our performance metrics were going in the wrong direction.

I mean, every possible indicator that the factory was unstable was happening and corporate leadership knew about this, this is not a secret. And they continue to produce these planes. And they continue to produce them even after the first crash. And then up to the recent Alaska accident.

KEILAR: How -- Ed, and I mean, you speak to it a little bit there. But as you have watched as we have learned everything that you just said, that clearly the culture problems at Boeing were moving away from a safe environment. And now you have watched Boeing respond as they have been called out. And we've seen the outgoing CEO call before Congress, how do you think the company is handling all of this?

PIERSON: You know, Boeing is a master as my wife would say, the magic words, you know, they'll -- they're great about making a lot of broken promises, saying they're going to do things. But again, it comes down to their action.

So, when we see incidents that are currently happening on these airplanes that give us every reason to believe that there's manufacturing issues with these airplanes, the company's refusing to admit it, they dismiss all of these incidents, they say, you know, those things happen.

Well, that's the same thing they said after the first crash, after the second crash, after the Alaska accident.

And so, they need to be honest, they need to admit the truth that these airplanes need to be checked out. And I'm not just talking about the 737 Max, we've recommended -- our foundation has recommended a phased grounding approach for that plane. But we just think that the company needs to really get back to, you know, being honest, and, you know, we got a taste of the -- kind of the lack of integrity at the senior level by the hearing of the Senate last week.

SANCHEZ: On that question of returning to integrity, the CEO is stepping down at the end of the year, and critics are calling for cultural changes at the company. I'm wondering what steps you think Boeing can take to get back on track. And if you think the CEO stepping down is enough.

PIERSON: Well, the CEO should never been hired as the CEO. He was on the board of directors for 10 years. So, he was at the very top of the company and allowed -- you know, was party to the company deteriorating as much as it did that led to the two fatal crashes and then he was hired as a CEO and we know what's happened in the last, you know, four years.

You know, people talk about the culture and I think anybody can realize in any organization you have culture at different levels, right? So, you could have one workgroup that has, you know, tremendous leadership, and then a group right next door that has a terrible leadership.

And this is all about leadership. It really comes down to treating people with respect, listening and taking in bad news and then appropriately handling it.

But telling people just get your jobs done, get the planes out the door, you know, look the other way. That's not how we build airplanes. That's not how the Boeing company, you know, should build airplanes. This company is too important to our economy, to our national security, and this is why the Department of Justice decision --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)