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Trump-Pence To Hold Dueling Events In Arizona On Friday; 9/11 Families To Trump: Cancel Saudi-Backed Golf Tournament; Doctor Who Performed Abortion On 10-Year-Old Faced 2020 Kidnapping Threat Against Daughter. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired July 19, 2022 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:30:03]
SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean that's what happens when you meddle. And I think we were all old enough to cover, you know, when Claire McCaskill did this to Todd Akin in 2012, and was successful, she spent money to boost the most conservative candidate in the Missouri Senate race. So there are instances where this kind of cross party meddling does work. But Pennsylvania is a swing state. And we've seen so many times that voters, even if they are nervous, or have resistance about a certain party's candidate, perhaps in the primary, a lot of times these voters do come home to their party when it comes to the general election.
And you've already seen Mastriano kind of try to pivot away from his most extreme statements. And we'll see November, whether Democrats end up regretting getting involved in that primary. Maryland might be a little bit safer bet for meddling than perhaps Pennsylvania, but still, it is a risky strategy.
LEIGH ANN CALDWELL, EARLY 202 CO-AUTHOR, THE WASHINGTON POST: And it's also they're doing this despite, they are talking about how horrible Trump is that the last election was actually not stolen, and demonizing and, you know, saying all the things that are accurate about the last election and how horrible it was for democracy. So the fact that they are putting money behind these candidates who could actually or maybe win and they have these beliefs and they've participated in the instruction, this is a new level of dirty politics, I would say.
AYESHA RASCOE, NPR HOST, "WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY" AND "UP FIRST": Well, it's this trying to do this 4D chess and like most people can't do like 2D Chess, so why are you trying to play 4D chess, like at the end of the day, especially after Trump, you don't know who could win, right? You can have all sorts of views and then still win and then that person has to govern.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: And these stakes are extremely high. We're talking about gubernatorial races in particular where especially in a state like Pennsylvania, that person decides who the Secretary of State is, who is administering elections in that state. But let's speaking of Pennsylvania, actually, Dr. Oz and John Fetterman, Dr. Oz raised some eyebrows this week with this tweet, fundraising appeal that says the MAGA movement is dying. Now, you know, these fundraising e-mails, they say a lot of things. But is this signifying of something else going on here for Oz you think?
KIM: Well, I think it's signifying that he has to try various different tactics to raise money to get his base excited. We've seen just a broader, broader pattern where Democrats -- Democratic candidates in key Senate races have outraged their challengers. We've seen candidate fumbles in places like Georgia and Pennsylvania and Ohio have stumbled things from just being on the campaign trail or to their fundraising. So Oz seems to be looking for ways to figure out how to collect every single last dollar because perhaps it's not --
PHILLIP: And how to get a little bit of more credibility with MAGA world. I do want to turn to Arizona though, because this is where we are seeing now. Former Vice President Mike Pence and Donald Trump really going head to head, Pence endorsing the non-Trumpy candidate over this person, Kari Lake, let's give you a little introduction to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARI LAKE (R-AZ) GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: Unlike the Democrats, we don't have the luxury of having dead people vote for us.
You can say Biden won the presidency kind of like OJ is innocent.
I will be damned if when I'm Governor, we're going to have another election run this way.
And we're going to finish the wall. And Arizona will be a place where the cartels learn very quickly. We're just going to stop operating there.
Mothers don't let them mask our children again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: The establishment Republicans not just in Arizona, but nationally, I would prefer that she is not the nominee. And Trump and Pence are on either side of this this race. Pence is heading to Arizona along with Trump, dueling rallies this Friday.
RASCOE: It's going to be very interesting because the thing about Pence is that Pence does not have the love and devotion that Trump has. And so even though Pence is a much more traditional Republican and he knows all the buzzwords and he can say the right things, he doesn't inspire a lot of devotion. And so I do wonder how much of an impact he would have.
PHILLIP: But he did have an impact in Georgia, for example, in that primary.
CALDWELL: Yes, it did help in Georgia. The Trump candidate, David Perdue lost the current governor, Kemp won. And that was who Pence backed. But also this is a precursor perhaps to 2024 as well. So Pence is out there, testing how much support he does have, how much influence he does have within the Republican Party. And so far, he's won one. PHILLIP: And he's, you know, through his schedule, encouraging this conversation about how he is pushing back in some ways against Trump himself, especially this week.
[12:34:46]
Coming up ahead for us, a fierce backlash against a controversial Saudi backed tournament being hosted at former President Trump's Golf Club in New Jersey.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIP: 9/11 survivors and families of victims want former President Trump to cancel the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament that will be at his Bedminster Club in 10 days. In a letter to Trump they write we simply cannot understand how you could agree to accept money from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's golf league to host their tournament at the golf course, and to do so in the shadows of Ground Zero in New Jersey, which lost over 700 residents during the attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT EAGLESON, SON OF 9/11 VICTIM JOHN BRUCE EAGLESON: This is the most evil form of greed that I've ever witnessed.
JULIETTE SCAUSO, DAUGHTER OF 9/11 VICTIM DENNIS SCAUSO: For it to be taking place, you know, literally in the backyard of Ground Zero in a state where there are a lot of 9/11 victims in New Jersey, New York, it's just absolutely, it's shocking. And for that to be hosted by a former president is even more, you know, disgusting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[12:40:22]
PHILLIP: It is really extraordinary. And you know, former President Trump just yesterday had a post on his truth social platform that kind of made the dynamic here very clear that this is ultimately about the money. He said, this is of the golf players who are making decisions about where they play, if you don't take the money now, you will get nothing after the merger takes place and only say, how smart the original signees were. Good luck to all. Just take the money, he says. But for these families, you know, I mean, for a president to do that is really on a different level.
KIM: I mean, it is a slap in the face. And it's heartbreaking to hear what the families are going through. But this is, I mean, this is Trump, I mean, a lot of things and many things perhaps most things that he did was for his personal gain, or his personal financial gain. We can't forget how much he just kind of flouted these ethics rules, ethics issues while he was in the presidency so that his personal business properties like the Trump or the former Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C. and other properties could benefit financially. But it is just -- it is remarkable what he's doing, particularly as a family said, in the literal shadows of Ground Zero. PHILLIP: One of the things that the families have brought up is Trump's own turnaround on the issue of the Saudis. Listen to him here at it back in 2016, about this connection between the Saudis and 9/11.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Who blew up the World Trade Center? It wasn't the Iraqis, it was Saudi. I mean, take a look at Saudi Arabia. Open the documents. We want to get Bush or somebody to have the documents opened because frankly, if you open the documents, I think you're going to see that it was Saudi Arabia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: But then he becomes president and has a turnaround after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the U.S.-based journalist that was carried out according to American officials by MBS, the Crown Prince, here's what Trump is saying, said in 2018 defending them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They did not come to a conclusion. They have feelings certain ways, but they didn't have the report, whether he did or whether he didn't. He denies it vehemently. His father denies it, the king, vehemently. The CIA doesn't say they did it. They do point out certain things. And in pointing out those things, you can conclude that maybe he did or maybe he didn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: He went to great lengths to try to help MBS basically skirt responsibility for this gruesome murder.
RASCOE: Well, you know, Trump is not are -- not only able to like when it comes to money, he'll, you know, he might make cut some corners. He also is, you know, very prone to flattery. And you know, you -- he went to you went on a trip to Saudi and I think he felt like he was very lavished over. And you did see him over and over again during his presidency, he embraced dictators, he embraced leaders who have done horrible things, because they said nice things to him, they puffed up his ego. And if they did that, then they were good with him. Like, that's just that's the way he operated.
PHILLIP: And they helped when it came to sort of getting to Mideast peace. They, you know, Trump decided that this was a relationship that he was going to look the other way on some of the other bad stuff. This is all happening in the context, though, of President Biden getting back from Saudi Arabia himself, that fist bump that everyone saw, and that was widely criticized. But I hear is the son of a 9/11 victim talking about a Biden and the criticism that he's gotten for that moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EAGLESON: I think President Biden is getting an unnecessary level of criticism for this. He is our current head of state, he is our current president, I would expect him to go over and try to negotiate. I don't blame Biden for going over there to try to make things a little bit better. We believe that diplomacy is how you make things better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: And look, I mean, the fact that Biden had to go is I think no one disputes that it's just a bilateral relationship that needs attention. It was how the White House handled it. But this is a view from a family that is very much involved in this issue.
CALDWELL: Yes, that was fascinating that that was the position of the Senate of the 9/11 family. But, you know, the difference between what Trump is doing and what Biden doing are in completely different planes. The President, as he said, is doing it because of diplomacy. And Trump is doing it for financial reasons and for personal gain. And I think that that is probably what is the most upsetting for these 9/11 families
PHILLIP: A former president who plans to run again on an American first platform. It's a bit of a bitter pill for these families to swallow.
[12:44:57]
But coming up next for us, despite threats, the doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old victim is standing firm.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIP: The Indiana doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim is not only a target of the far right she and her family have been threatened in the past. Over $300,000 has been donated to a GoFundMe campaign to cover are legal expenses and security for Dr. Caitlin Bernard. As Alexandra Field reports, the doctor treated the Ohio girl who was forced to cross state lines because of Ohio's strict six-week abortion ban.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[12:50:13]
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the physician who provided an abortion in Indiana for a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio.
DR. CAITLIN BERNARD, PROVIDED ABORTION SERVICES FOR 10-YEAR-OLD RAPE VICTIM: There are many people who live in places where there is no access to abortion care.
FIELD (voice-over): Now at the center of a national Firestorm, but she and her family have been the target of threats before. The Guardian first report that in a 2021 court case concerning abortion restrictions in Indiana, Dr. Bernard testified she had stopped performing first trimester abortions in South Bend in 2020 because of kidnapping threats made against her daughter. Her spokesperson confirming the report and adding the fact that Dr. Bernard continues to provide critical reproductive care, even after she has received these threats, just shows the depth of her compassion and commitment as a physician.
Anti-abortion activist in an organization with ties to Justice Amy Coney Barrett, before she was nominated to the Supreme Court have even published some of the doctor's personal information online. But earlier this month, Dr. Bernard spoke to CNN about continuing to provide abortion care for people living in states where they can no longer get it.
BERNARD: You know, these laws are created without any consideration for medical necessity for you know, this are created by lawmakers and not by doctors and abortion is healthcare and needs to stay in that area.
FIELD (voice-over): She is now the target of an investigation by the Indiana Attorney General into whether she properly reported providing an abortion for the 10-year-old rape victim who traveled to Indianapolis after Ohio banned abortions around six weeks. That investigation continues despite public filings showing Dr. Bernard did report the procedure to the Indiana Department of Health within the required timeframe.
The controversy over the case erupting after conservative media and certain lawmakers doubted the rape had happened until the rape suspect confessed to the crime. In a statement Planned Parenthood says, these lawmakers are using a 10-year-old's tragedy as an excuse to intimidate abortion providers and scare them out of providing legal, safe health care. Their cruelty knows no limits. The organization says it's committed to providing security for Dr. Bernard and helping cover her legal fees.
DR. TRACEY WILKINSON, ASST. PROFESSOR OF PEDIATRICS, INDIANA UNIV. SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Dr. Bernard is amazingly strong and I will tell you that she has been a fierce advocate in reproductive health for years. This is not new for her. It's not a new space for her. But this last week is the first time I personally have been nervous for her safety.
FIELD (voice-over): Dr. Tracey Wilkinson, a pediatrician authored a piece on what she calls the chilling effect of abortion bans on medicine for "The New York Times" its title, Dr. Caitlin Bernard was meant to write this with me before she was attacked for doing her job.
WILKINSON: I've heard from physicians all over Indiana, all over the country that are terrified that they could be the next Dr. Bernard. And that is not something that anybody wishes on anybody.
Alexandra Field, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[12:53:15]
PHILLIP: And ahead Nikki Haley floats a 2024 run on social media suggesting that the next President will be a woman. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIP: And Topping our Political Radar, Nikki Haley hinting at a potential 2024 GOP presidential run. In a series of tweets slamming the Biden administration for engaging in nuclear talks with Iran, the former South Carolina governor and U.N. Ambassador vows the next president will shred any deal to Biden strikes on her first day in office.
And President Biden heads to Massachusetts tomorrow to deliver a speech on the climate crisis. The White House is preparing to take executive action, including possibly declaring a national climate emergency if Congress fails to tackle the threat. And West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin withdrew support for climate legislation derailing the Democrats plans to pass a climate bill before Congress leaves for August recess. The White House says that no decision has been made on whether executive actions may be coming but all options remain on the table.
And staffers in eight congressional offices have taken the first steps to unionize. Petitions were filed by 85 employees working in the offices of Democratic representatives Cori Bush, Chuy Garcia, Ro Khanna, Andy Levin, Ted Lieu, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Melanie Stansbury. It comes two months after the House adopted a resolution that expanded the rights of workers and on Capitol Hill and also protected them from retaliation if they did choose to unionize.
And a high profile visit between two first ladies is happening in the next hour. Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska first emerged from hiding back in May to meet with First Lady Jill Biden in Ukraine. And today, the two women will meet privately at the White House. Zelenska has stepped up for public campaign with multiple meetings here in America culminating in a significant speech to Congress tomorrow. Secretary of State Blinken reassured Zelenska on Monday that the U.S. is committed to supporting Ukraine against Russia's invasion.
And don't forget you -- if you missed the show today, you can catch up on our podcast, scan that QR code at the bottom of your screen or search INSIDE POLITICS wherever you get your podcast.
[13:00:02]
Thanks for joining us and thanks for spending your morning with us. Ana Cabrera is picking up our coverage right now.
