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Sources: Progress Made In Talks But "Still A Long time To Go"; Historical Significance Of Biden's Struggle To Stay In Race; House Republicans Fail Too Fine Attorney General Garland. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired July 11, 2024 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: In the Middle East right now. Sources are telling CNN that some progress has been made in the Israel-Hamas peace talks. CIA Director Bill Burns has been among those representing the negotiating countries in search of a ceasefire. At least a temporary ceasefire and a hostage swap.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is joining us from Jerusalem right now. What can you tell us, Jeremy, about the progress supposedly that's ongoing?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, not a ton of details, Wolf, but there are indications that some progress is being made in these discussions. And keep in mind, we are now at the stage of detailed negotiations over the implementation of this framework agreement that Israel and Hamas both seem to be tentatively on board with. And so, there's a lot of thorny issues to work out here, including the specific implementation of this deal, but also the identities of the Palestinian prisoners who would be released in exchange for the hostages, for example.

All of these are very difficult issues. And any one of these issues could potentially blow up the negotiating process entirely. But for now, at least, what we've seen is that the negotiating team was in Doha, Qatar yesterday.

All key parties were in attendance. The Israeli negotiating team returned. They met with the Israeli prime minister this morning.

And today, the prime minister has now dispatched his -- the chief of the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, to head to Cairo to continue negotiations. And it does seem like there are kind of two tracks that the kind of details of the hostage negotiations and then the security components that go along with that, issues like for example, what to do with the Egypt-Gaza border, that strategic Philadelphi Corridor, which we know that Israel has since taken control of.

As all of this is happening, the Israeli prime minister, though is continuing to emphasize total victory in Gaza. Saying at a graduation ceremony this evening that he believes complete victory is at hand as long as it may take. Wolf?

BLITZER: We're also learning, Jeremy, about the delivery of more U.S. munitions to Israel right now. It's a new development, potentially very significant. What can you tell us?

DIAMOND: Yes. Well, we know that this has been a subject of contention between the U.S. and Israel over the last couple of months since President Biden put on hold the shipment of those 2000-pound bombs in anticipation and out of concern for this Israeli military offensive in Rafah two months ago. Along with those 2000-pound bombs, we're told that this shipment of 500-pound bombs that was supposed to be shipped together was also held up. And today, we've learned that the United States is indeed going to move forward with that shipment of 500-pound bombs with the U.S. officials saying that the intention that the concerns were not about those 500-pound bombs, but rather about the 2000-pound ones and so they are going to move forward with that shipment.

Brett McGurk, a top adviser to President Biden was in Israel today meeting with top Israeli officials, including the defense minister, Yoav Gallant to talk about those hostage negotiations. But also, clearly to deliver a message about the shipment of those munitions saying that those weapons are set to arrive in Israel in just a matter of a few days. Wolf?

[11:35:06]

BLITZER: Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem for us. Jeremy, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, NATO members now say Ukraine is on an irreversible path to membership as it fights off the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Alliance also promised more than $43 billion in additional new aid for Ukraine, including F-16 fighter jets -- fighter jets and air defense support. For more on all of this, I want to bring in CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Colonel Leighton, thanks so much for joining us. Walk us through the balance that the NATO alliance is trying to strike right now of, on the one hand, committing itself to what they call an irreversible path to Ukraine's full membership in NATO without necessarily provoking Russia.

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, that's one of the most difficult tight ropes said to the Alliance and the U.S. especially have had to walk since the Russian invasion back in February of 2022, Wolf. So, the issue that they have is how much escalation can we basically take? How much will the Russians be able to deal with this escalation without responding with a massive unconventional strike on Ukraine or a NATO country?

So, what the NATO alliance has decided to do was basically a step ladder of escalations that included at first some very minimal weapons systems that went to Ukraine. But now, what you're looking at is the delivery of F-16s. Now, the F-16s are not fifth-generation fighters. They are fourth-generation fighters, which is the generation previous. And they are designed, of course, to be a very capable aircraft. And they're far better than anything that the Ukrainians have had in their Air Force inventory up until this point.

But the number of F-16s, about 65 that have been caused to Ukraine in this first delivery, those -- that is a large number. But it is not really sufficient for the Ukrainians to conduct all the kinds of missions that they would need to conduct in order to achieve air superiority and even allow their forces to really get out of this static war that they're in right now.

BLITZER: At this NATO Summit as you know, Colonel, NATO is now calling China a decisive and -- decisive enabler of Russia. China's pushing back saying NATO had a cold war mentality. Is there a risk now that China could become more directly involved in this fight between Ukraine and Russia, China being on Russia's side?

LEIGHTON: Yes, I think there's absolutely a risk that that could be the case. In fact, one of the key indicators is the fact that Chinese troops are engaged in exercise as we speak with Belarusian forces. And they are conducting that exercise about less than 10 miles from the Polish border.

And Poland, of course, being a NATO country -- a NATO frontline state. The Chinese and the Belarusians are conducting a joint exercise, which will allow them to practice things like interoperability and the ability to deploy their forces in a quick manner. So, that's the kind of thing that we can expect to see from the Chinese.

In spite of their declarations, they are heavily involved in this war. Not just from a material standpoint, but also potentially from a much more direct military standpoint.

BLITZER: That could be a hugely significant moment, indeed. Colonel Cedric Leighton, as usual, thank you very, very much.

And still ahead. Senate Democrats meet with President Biden's campaign staff soon as pressure clearly is growing for the president to drop his reelection bid. And we're just hours away right now from President Biden's crucial news conference.

Just how unprecedented is this moment? Lots coming up. You're next -- -we're next.

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[11:43:14]

BLITZER: Happening next hour. The Biden campaign meets with Senate Democrats up on Capitol Hill as pressure clearly mounts for the president to end his candidacy. But so far, there is no sign President Biden is ready or willing to bow out of this race. Joining us now is CNN's Chief National Affairs Correspondent Jeff Zeleny and CNN Presidential Historian Tim Naftali. Jeff, let me go to you -- to you first. Let's talk a little bit about what's going on. The president is about to give this solo news conference later tonight 6:30 p.m. Eastern. Potentially, the most important news conference of his presidency.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it is. He has given so many, of course, over the course of his career. Not as many as presidents in recent times, but this definitely is. And the questions he's taking from reporters, of course, are really going to get to the heart of the questions many in Washington and indeed, throughout the Democratic Party have about his ability to continue on.

So, all eyes are on his performance there as they have been at the NATO Summit here in Washington this week. But even beyond that, we just had -- just a few moments ago, another member of Congress, a frontline member from Michigan, Hillary Scholten came out and said She also believes Biden should step aside.

So, the question is, how many more will there be if more, by tonight at 6:30? So, even a strong press conference, will that cool some of these doubts? It's an open question.

BLITZER: Is it getting better or worse for the president right now?

ZELENY: It certainly has gotten more complicated for him really, in the last 24 hours or so starting with those comments from former Speaker Nancy Pelosi who said now the door is actually still open to people considering this. Giving some members of Congress some space to make up their own minds. And again, since then, we have seen a few examples.

Senator Peter Welch last evening. So, things are growing more complicated. No doubt.

[11:45:00]

But we do not know if his mind is changed at all. This is his decision to make and many Democrats are with him. He has the support of the C.B.C. behind him. Labor is behind him.

So, it's really a crisis inside the Democratic Party. The likes of which we've not seen, at least in modern history. Talking to the Democratic strategist and advisors this morning. They're not sure what the off-ramp for this is. But for now, at least one day at a time, and his news conference tonight, certainly will show what his next steps are.

BLITZER: The C.B.C., the Congressional Black Caucus is with him.

ZELENY: Right.

BLITZER: As is the labor movement, basically. Tim Neftali, the election is what, just four months away? The president is facing calls to leave the race, while hosting world leaders here in Washington right now at this historic NATO Summit. Just how unprecedented historically speaking is this moment? TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, in our history and our modern history as Jeff alluded, we've never had pressure on a presumptive nominee of either the Democratic or Republican Party to step aside five weeks before their nominating convention. The two presidents -- the two presumptive nominees, if you will, who have stepped aside in our modern history, Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson did so in March of the presidential election year. Well, we're well past March now. So that's unprecedented politically.

Having to juggle that with challenges abroad and a resurgent imperialist Russia, presidents face crises all the time, which is one reason why Presidential fitness is so important. They faced crises they'd never anticipated when they were running for office.

So, the fact that we've got a split screen event that's not unprecedented in history. But the challenges that Biden faces at home, those are unprecedented in our modern presidential history.

BLITZER: Very interesting in a lot of this history, indeed. Jeff, this new ABC News poll, and you've been looking closely at it, shows that Trump and Biden are still neck and neck even following the presidential debate here on CNN. Is there anything that you remind Democrats that maybe all the concern that they're publicly expressing right now is overblown?

ZELENY: Well, that's certainly what the White House and the campaign would like to say. Pointing to this national number that the race essentially is unchanged. That it is essentially frozen in time despite all of these monumental changes going on. However, the battleground map tells a different story. If we talk to the Biden campaign advisors and other Democrats, they are worried about erosion in states like Wisconsin, in Michigan, in Pennsylvania. But there's also another number in that new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Let's take a look at this, Wolf.

It is asking if Biden should step aside. And nearly seven in 10 Americans, 67 percent say he should. But perhaps the more important number, 62 percent of Democrats or Democratic-leaning voters say he should, as do 54 percent of Biden supporters.

That is the bigger challenge here for President Biden. How does he convince those -- really make a decision in the face of that support? He's long said that he has the support of people and the elites are trying to push him out. This poll would suggest that is not the case.

BLITZER: Interesting. Tim, we've had aging presidents here in the United States before. What can we learn from history when it comes to the situation America is now facing?

NAFTALI: Well, Ronald Reagan at 73 was considered to be very old when he sought reelection, and he had a bad first debate. The first lady thought it was a terrible debate. She found it painful. First Lady Nancy Reagan.

And then he bounced back in the second debate. But in that era, 1984, President Reagan was well ahead. How he did in the first debate was not as bad as -- unfortunately, as President Biden did in his debate.

And the third debate happened very quickly. And in that era, you didn't have social media. So, eyes were trained on the second debate, and the president re-shored or shored up his support.

It's a lot harder, I think, in this era for people to forget the images that they will -- has still have in their minds of the first debate. I think it's much harder now to change impressions. And the president's physical challenges are graver than they were the last time an older gentleman sought to be reelected as our president.

BLITZER: Yes. 73 is not 81. Jeff Zeleny, Tim Naftali --

Naftali: No.

BLITZER: To both of you, thank you very, very much. And we'll be right back with more news.

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[11:53:58]

BLITZER: There's breaking news just into CNN. As questions about President Biden's health swirl here in Washington, House Republicans just failed to pass a resolution to fine the attorney general, Merrick Garland for refusing to turn over audio tapes of the president. You'll recall that interview that led the Special Counsel Robert Hur to conclude that President Biden is "an elderly man with a poor memory."

Up on Capitol Hill, Annie Grayer is watching all of these details for us. Annie, what can you tell us about that failed resolution?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, Wolf, it was -- it filled by a narrow margin. Only four Republicans joined with Democrats to sync this resolution. This is a big win for Democrats and a loss for Republicans.

But, Wolf, this was a rare move that Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna was leading. It would have fined Attorney General Merrick Garland $10,000 a day for every day that the tapes of -- audio tapes of Biden's interviews with former Special Counsel Hur were not turned over. In fact, the Republican -- House Republican leadership had tried to avoid this final vote from happening and kind of was trying to compromise behind the scenes with Luna, I'm told.

[11:55:07]

But because of a series of Democratic absences yesterday, this final vote ended up needing to happen today with an up or down vote, which again, Republican leadership was trying to avoid. But Luna just caught up with our team and said she's going to try to bring up this resolution again. Just because it failed today does not mean she's going to stop trying.

So, what we're seeing, Wolf, is just an effort on multiple fronts here from Republicans that -- trying to get these audio tapes of President Joe Biden. They held Attorney General Garland in contempt. They're suing in court now to actually -- to get these tapes. And now we have this resolution from Luna, which doesn't seem like it's going anywhere even though it failed the first time today.

BLITZER: And they want these tapes public, Annie, I take it so they could release them and underscore what they say is the president said deterioration. Is that right?

GRAYER: Right. The question here is the motive. Why do Republicans want these tapes so badly? Because they do have the transcripts of what the president said in his interviews. And the accusation of Republicans -- to Republicans is that they only want to use these for political purposes to undermine the president and hurt him politically, as there are all these questions swirling about his mental acuity. So, that fate is playing out in court, Wolf.

BLITZER: Well, the Republicans failed today in that vote. Annie Grayer up on Capitol Hill for us, thanks very, very much.

And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining me here in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. And I'll be back later tonight 6:00 p.m. Eastern in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Stay with us. "INSIDE POLITICS" today with Manu Raju starts right after a short break.

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