Return to Transcripts main page

Inside Politics

Israeli Military Says It Has Withdrawn From Khan Younis; Six Months Into War, Biden Pressures Israel To Change Course; Trump Scrambling To Close Biden's Huge Cash Lead. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired April 07, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:25]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN HOST (voice-over): Breaking point.

JOSE ANDRES, FOUNDER, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: This is a war against humanity itself.

RAJU: Biden puts Israel on notice.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We're looking to see accountability.

RAJU: As pressure over Gaza ramps up.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Israel should not be getting another nickel.

RAJU: Will it move the needle?

Plus, trench warfare. Exclusive new details of Democrats' plan to take back the House.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The path is clear. We need four seats to win back the majority, that's it.

RAJU: Where they're spending their millions.

And as Republicans tried to pull up a stunner in Maryland --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to the United States Senate to try to knock some heads together and straighten things out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor is a whole another race than going to Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I know is that money can't buy Maryland.

RAJU: Will it decide control of the Senate this fall?

And total eclipse. How solar eclipses have captivated Washington over the year.

BILL NYE, ENGINEER: It'll be night. Birds will chirp. Crickets will crick. It's fantastic.

RAJU: INSIDE POLITICS, best reporting from inside the corridors of power, starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU (on camera): Good morning. Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. I'm Manu Raju.

Today marks six months as Hamas carried out its brutal attacks against Israel, taking hundreds of hostages and now after six months of war, a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and a turning point for President Biden.

Back home, the war has blown a hole in Biden's coalition, threatening to tank his chances at reelection this November. And now after tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths and Israel's airstrike this past week that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, Biden is ramping up the pressure on Israel, like never before. But in this critical election year, will that be enough to satisfy the thousands of Democratic voters who cast protest votes in the primary in states that will determine November's election, or are Biden's actions or too little too late for that?

And today, we're watching whether Israel opens up a key crossing into northern Gaza. That's the Erez crossing you see there, allowing humanitarian aid shipments directly into the territory. And this comes just days after Biden demanded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu improve the humanitarian situation, and back an immediate ceasefire.

The White House says, U.S. policy on Gaza hinges on what Israel does now. But as the war grinds on, Biden remains under significant political pressure at home, as does Netanyahu in Israel.

How CNN's Nic Robertson is live in southern Israel near the Gaza border.

And, Nic, there have been developments in the war over the weekend. Is that an indication at all that this pressure campaign on Netanyahu is working?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, it's certainly some indications in some ways. Look, we were expecting the Erez border crossing to open for aid to go into the northern part of Gaza, very significant. That's where the biggest level of starvation is among Palestinians, 300,000 of them estimated there. The prime minister's office had indicated that that border crossing would lead a through today. We're not seeing any indication of that, something entirely different.

But perhaps even more significant in terms of the signaling of Israel to change its footing in terms of the war inside of Gaza, the 98th division, which at one time was the biggest division ever in Israel's history, fighting in Khan Younis in the center of -- in the center of Gaza since December, the IDF has just announced they have pulled out those ground forces. You're looking behind me here, as Mathias (ph) can zoom in a little bit and see those tanks were just been taken a look at them, there are dozens, scores of tanks, an armored fighting vehicles. They literally pulled out of Khan Younis overnight or a sign in what the IDF is saying is this effectively marking an end of ground operations in Gaza in their current form.

The caveat there -- listen, it's just the machine gun fights, we're not far from Gaza right now, the caveat there is that significant forces still remain in the north of Gaza. The 162nd division is there, that whole brigade is there, and this net seen corridor that people talk about that separates the north of Gaza from the south of Gaza, that the IDF has created, the one that so much of Hamas is focused on in the negotiations right now to get people displaced from the south back to the north.

[08:05:10]

That is -- remains intact for the IDF, huge explosion there and the distance detonation bomb possibly inside Gaza not clear. So, I think the message here is that the IDF has made a significant pull back from Khan Younis. It doesn't mean operations are over in Gaza by any stretch. And really they're keeping a big force in the north. I hear the jet fighter overhead now.

So the question would be, what about their planned ground operation in Rafah? No word on that from the IDF. But when you consider this weekend, you have the side sitting down to negotiate about the ceasefire -- this dynamic you're witnessing behind me, that that changes what's -- what's on the table right now.

RAJU: Nic Robertson in Israel near the Erez crossing, thank you. Stay safe. Thank you for reporting on the ground. We are grateful.

All right. Let's break this all down with CNN's Melanie Zanona, Zolan Kanno-Youngs of "The New York Times", and "The Washington Post's" Leigh Ann Caldwell.

Good morning to you all. Thanks for being here

Obviously, we have seen this shift in tone from the president. The question is, how much of the town impacting things and how his party will deal with it? And this is a real challenge for him.

You know, he had this message to Netanyahu when they had that phone call on Thursday, called overall humanitarian situation unacceptable and said that there needs to be changes because U.S. policy, were only dictate how Israel acts going forward. But the U.S. is still supplying arms to Israel.

Have we really seen any change inside the White House in his hand -- in its policy towards Israel, or what is happening right now behind the scenes?

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It seems limited to rhetoric thus far for the most part. I mean, look going back to the State of the Union, you remember when the president was caught on that hot mic moment and he was saying indicating, look, there could be a come to Jesus moment between him and Netanyahu.

From all of our reporting, that call that they had earlier this week, was a bit -- was more tense. It comes after months where this relationship was steadily getting even more contentious as you had the number of civilian deaths in Gaza continued to rise, as there were challenges in getting humanitarian aid into Gaza, despite the President Biden's pleas to Netanyahu, to ensure that that aid came in.

But you're right, look, at this point, rhetoric only goes so far. I mean, there's -- they're going to face challenges and actually convincing the party that he's doing enough policy-wise when you are still sending not just day, but to be clear, you know, weapons to Israel for this campaign. So, we'll have to see if the actions follow- up to match the sort of tense rhetoric that we're seeing.

RAJU: And you're hearing the frustration on the left about just that as rhetoric so far and that's clearly not enough for major influential voices, including Senator Bernie Sanders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: One day, I'm angry. You know, the president is angry at Netanyahu. The next day is very angry. The next is very, very angry. So what? You cannot continue to talk about your worries about humanitarian situation in Gaza and then give Netanyahu another $10 billion or more bombs, you cannot do that. That is hypocritical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And, look, this is why it matters politically for the president. I mean, we talk about Democratic primary results. This is Dane County, Wisconsin, 83 percent of part -- southern part of Wisconsin, Madison, the greatest college town, was part of that, within Dane County.

Eighty-three percent voted for Biden in this past weeks, Democratic primary, 15 percent voted uninstructed. Biden needs to do much better there to carry that stayed come November.

And it also -- it was in Michigan also, Michigan and Wisconsin. Both of them, both states, real concerns over his coalition and his handling of this.

How do you see that right now?

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL, THE WASHINGTON POST EARLY 202 CO-AUTHOR: Yeah. So there's a faction of this uninstructed of the organization to not vote for Biden in the primaries that are intent on making sure that Biden does not win in November. We'll see if that changes when it's just Biden versus Trump and how this policy -- where the war stands at that point and how the policies play out.

But this is a huge challenge for Biden also because Dane County, this is the Biden base.

RAJU: Yeah. CALDWELL: And what Biden needs to do at the very least, if he wants to win, is turnout his base. And if you don't -- if you have a base problem, he has a major problem and so he has a lot of work to do. His campaign insists that over the course of the month, when it becomes a binary choice between Biden and Trump, that those people will come back home and will not stay at home, and we'll go out and vote, but -- we'll see.

[08:10:02]

RAJU: Yeah. And look, and Biden is heading to Madison this week to talk about student loans and student loan forgiveness, trying to win back those college voters, young voters, which we see polls really shift towards Trump in recent as -- we'll see that actually happens in November. That's obviously the warning sign.

Here's another interesting data point that has come up about how voters view Trump versus Biden in the handling of the Israel-Hamas war. This is in swing-state. So "Wall Street Journal" poll that came out this past week.

Biden is losing to Trump across the board in all these states about who could handle this situation better. That is among registered voters in these critical swing states. And the question is, how is Trump? What is Trump's strategy?

This is what he said on the Hugh Hewitt show this past week.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're losing the PR war. They're losing it big. But they've got to finish what they started and they've got to finish it fast. And we have to get on with life.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

RAJU: Trump has not -- has not articulated a policy.

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Right. And that might be what were seeing reflected in the polls is that he really has not taken a position or articulated what his proposal would be for handling of the war, handling the hostage situation.

And for Trump, it's an interesting situation because he has been an ally of Netanyahu throughout his presidency, but he's also taken this really anti-war America first stance on the campaign trail. But for now, I think he is content to be able to sit back and not have to take a position and just blame Biden for the turmoil in the Middle East.

KANNO-YOUNGS: This seems to also be a little bit of you're going to blame the person who was in office at this point. There always a bit of an advantage to pretty much not be in the White House and criticized the current policy without articulating actually what you would do, which were seeing play out here. And in terms of the political implications as well for Biden, just moving forward, look, we also still have negotiations going on on a temporary safe ceasefire for hostages, but haven't seen a deal that yet. And now what happens even with this tense rhetoric that we're seeing from the White House, what happens if there is an on-the-ground invasion into Rafah as well.

RAJU: Yeah.

KANNO-YOUNGS: That could completely change the dynamic here.

RAJU: And one of the big questions is what will happen to aid to Israel. This has been stalled for months in Congress over the back- and-forth over how to move ahead. And there has been a real shift among Democrats about conditions, whether the place conditions on Israel which could make it even more difficult. And you're seeing even some of Biden's allies call for conditions and others not so sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Should the president condition any aid to Israel going forward?

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): I am always concerned when we talk about conditioning aid, especially to an ally, especially as an important ally as Israel is. I just have to see what those conditions are.

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): If Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister, were to order the IDF into Rafah at scale, and make no provision for civilians or for humanitarian aid that I would vote to condition aid to Israel.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): I think what the president did in his conversation with the prime minister yesterday starts to move and Israel did take actions, but we need to see a lot more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: I mean, this is going to be the challenge as they tried to pass all this massive foreign aid package. Now, Democrats aren't there where they were six months ago.

CALDWELL: Absolutely, when this passed the Senate, it was just Bernie Sanders who voted against it because there weren't any conditions on aid as far as Democrats are concerned.

Now, this is still an open question in the House. You had a faction of the most progressive members of the Democratic caucus who had always been critical of the Israel aid, but that is now growing. And this is presenting even greater challenges for passing this aid package.

You know, with Ukraine tied to it, maybe there could be, there could be some sort of coalition that moves this forward. But we also don't know what you're Johnson is going to do, which I'm sure --

RAJU: Yeah, we'll talk about later in the show, but things are growing trickier and trickier. No question about it. All right. Donald Trump racked up tens of millions of dollars during

the megadonor fundraising last night, but he still scrambling to catch up to Biden's huge money lead. What this means for his campaign, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:18:34]

RAJU: In just eight days, former President Trump will make history, but not for a reason he's happy about. He'll be a criminal defendant on trial first-time ever for a former president as he tries to fend off felony charges for allegedly falsifying business records to keep quiet an extramarital affair with an adult film actress ahead of the 2016 elections.

But it's not something that has heard his support with deep-pocketed Republicans, at least not yet. Billionaires flocked to Florida last night for a glitzy fundraiser to bolster Trumps campaign coffers and perhaps even help with those legal fees. These were just some of the mega donors support in cash to help finance Trumps campaign and pay for some of those legal fees. Donors were invited to give upwards of $824,600 per person. Trump's campaign said it raised a whopping $50.5 million last night alone.

Now, no reporters were allowed and Trump didn't take any questions, but he did address the media before heading in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's going to be a very spectacular evening and people are just wanting change. Rich people want it. Poor people want it. Everybody wants change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So like Trump has been scrambling to catch up to Biden. He's at a pretty aggressive money operations so far.

Just to show viewers on things, where things stands on the money chase, which is where this campaign, as at this moment, Biden has significant advantage in terms of cash on hand. That's a key number on your right. There are $192 million for Biden compared to $93 million for Trump.

[08:20:03]

But, look, Trump is going to close the gap, maybe not as much as Biden. I mean, how much does that really going to matter? Because there's really gobs of money from outside groups and every single the airwaves going to be flooded in all these key battleground states, no matter what.

CALDWELL: So well see how much it matters. But being -- having half as much money as Biden is not a good thing, especially when some of the money that Trump raises is being diverted to his legal fees to pay off lawyers and defend himself in these criminal cases. But I was in Nevada this week for a story and one thing that was

evidenced is that Biden has staffers in Nevada. He has a campaign infrastructure in Nevada and Trump does not yet. They are -- they have some office space embedded with a Nevada Republican Party, which is absolutely dysfunctional and that state right now.

And so, the money will matter if he cannot get a ground operation up and running by November that's effective and that gets people out to vote.

RAJU: Yeah. I mean, that's going to be the key question whether or not the organization really does matter. But as this is all going down, Trump, of course, puts a finger -- points -- get -- brings back the legal issues himself. I mean, he was on social media or we can railing against the judge who had eventually imposed a gag order on him in this hush money case.

And he went on to explain that he is like, yes, Nelson Mandela. He compared himself and said, this partisan hack wants me to put in the clink for speaking the open and obvious truth. That partisan hack, of course, is the judge in the case. I will gladly become a modern date Nelson Mandela, it will be my great honor.

Your reaction, Zolan?

KANNO-YOUNGS: I mean, quite the comparison to somebody that you know, to Nelson Mandela there. I mean, I think it's emblematic of how Trump has tried to basically use these cases in term the courtroom basically effectively into his own Trump rallies, to galvanize his base, to attack Democrats in each of these cases for what we've seen for years now, saying that its a witch hunt, saying the system as against him in a way, making a comparison to, you know, international civil rights leader like Nelson Mandela. I don't know how effective that will be for that cause.

I do think its interesting that on the other side, too, you are seeing the Biden campaigns store to use rhetoric that I honestly didn't expect them to use, say a year ago when there was a bit more distancing from Trumps cases.

Now, you're starting to see the president himself poking fun at Trump's debt problems, his financial woes here, his legal fees going back to the gridiron dinner. I've seen him on the campaign trail also talking even at student loan debt relief events saying, hey, I do know somebody that's suffering from some debt issues right now.

So you're starting to see also on the flip side, Democrats and the Biden campaign start to attack him over some of these cases.

RAJU: Yeah. And look, this all comes as that Trump has been the nominee for several weeks, the presumptive nominee for several weeks, but he is still having problems in these primaries because these Nikki Haley voters, even after Trump -- Nikki Haley's dropped out are still voting for her in these key swing states.

Look just Arizona and Wisconsin. It is will be central to the next presidency than this race here, 18 percent voted for Haley in Arizona, 13 percent in Wisconsin. I mean, we talked about Biden's problems in the last segment. Trump has his own issues in the base.

ZANONA: He has as a problem, he has a massive problem with independence and there is this stubborn block of voters who have state after state been voting for Nikki Haley even after she dropped out of the race. There's a question though of if and how Trump is going to try to reach out to those voters. He has made no effort to reconcile with Nikki Haley.

His team feels like the party is unified and lining up behind him. So perhaps he isn't going to try to reach out to those types of voters, but they do that at their own risk. Because when you break down those numbers, they're coming from very critical demographic picks and swing blocks that will determine who is the next president.

And, of course, one of the big issues, of course, will be abortion. Trump teased a big announcement this week when we make it on abortion. You sort of set it in an -- with reporters were asking about. They said, there's going to be something coming. He's sort of all over the place on this issue.

Just take a listen on how Trump has kind of gone back and forth on the issue of abortion since during the campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I mean, DeSantis is willing to sign a five-week and six-week ban.

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS HOST: Would you support that? Do you think that goes too far?

TRUMP: I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.

Now I happen to be for the exceptions, like Ronald Reagan, with the life of the mother, rape, incest. If you talk five or six weeks, a lot of women don't know if they're pregnant in five or six weeks.

The number of weeks now, people are agreeing on 15. And I'm thinking in terms of that, and it'll come out to something that's very reasonable. But people are really given hard-liners are agreeing seems to be 15 weeks, seems to be a number that people are agreeing at.

[08:25:06]

But I'll make that announcement at the appropriate time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And this is one of -- the one issue that voters given Biden an advantage over Trump on. Will it make a difference in November?

CALDWELL: And Biden is out with a new ad attacking Trump for his position and blaming Trump for the abortion rights being taken away from millions of women across the country.

So, we're going to see. This is going to be a theme over and over again on behalf of Biden and Democrats heading into the election. And they sense Trump's and Republicans vulnerability on it.

RAJU: Yeah. I mean, this worked before and pass election cycles. Will it work again? We'll see.

All right. Up next, exclusive details on the intense planning underway by Democrats to take back the House.

And there are $186 million for investment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need four seats to win back the majority. Every single one of those is going to be trench warfare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:19]

RAJU: House Democrats are aiming for just four more seats in the chamber to reclaim the majority next year and they're high-spending Super PAC is prepared to spend the most it ever has to pick those up.

In a CNN exclusive, the main House Democratic Super PAC called the House Majority PAC, gave me a first look at what its leaders see as their path back to power in the House and their enormous spending plan to pull it off.

They're launching a $186 million TV and digital ad buy, nearly 60 media markets with a major focus on the currently Republican-held districts were Joe Biden won in 2020.

Democrats are also defending a number of open seats, as well as five districts Trump carried in the last election.

But the reality that both parties acknowledged, there are so few competitive districts because of gerrymandering. So the next majority could very well be razor thin, no matter who is in charge.

And as the House Majority PAC president Mike Smith told me this past week, that means the battle for the House will be an absolutely bruising affair.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE SMITH, PRESIDENT, HOUSE MAJORITY PAC: We are laying down the ground, laying down the marker today. We're announcing $186 million in TV, digital reservations, our largest ever, nearly double what we did in the past across about 40 to 50 districts spread out around the country. Its laying on the marker. Its focused on everything from our

incumbents, but it's incredibly offensive, knowing that we have to pick up seats to win back the House, there are 16 districts right now that President Biden won that Republican currently have. There's only five that Trump won that Democrats currently have.

That's kind of the marker. The majority of those 16 are focused in two states, New York and California. I think what you'll see, a lot will be focused on reproductive freedom. We've seen it run successfully in blue districts, blue states, red states, the Kentucky governor will need 4 seats to win back the majority.

That's it. It's a very tough four seats. Every single one of those is going to be trench warfare. We're going to have to invest a lot of money, hence the, $186 million, but there's a clear path to doing it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And the fight for the House is at a knife's edge. Just look at the Cook Political Report 2024 House Ratings. The way that they ranked -- there's 22 toss-up states and Republicans at the moment slightly favored according to Cook.

And we'll see if the ads make a difference. Look at the targets, the GOP targets of ad spending lot of these are in Biden-held districts across the country. We're seeing from everywhere from California to New York. Some of these that are an asterisk on your screen there represent Democrats -- defending Democrats in those same districts.

But there are possible -- there's some other ones as well. They're looking at Ryan Zinke in Montana believing the Senate race there could help them. And then there's the (INAUDIBLE) to spent a lot of money to defend Democratic-held seats in these Trump districts everywhere from Alaska, they plan to spend later. They have not spent yet there but also in Washington state, in Ohio, Michigan, Virginia -- open seat there.

This is going to be quite a battle, Melanie, you're on the hill every single day along with Leigh Ann and me. How do you see this playing out in, can the Republicans even hold on despite all of this money that's being poured out.

ZANONA: It's going to be a knife fight. I think both parties are going into this with the expectation that it can go either way, Republicans feel good, but they also know that it only takes a few seats for Democrats to win. And Democrats are going in hard.

This figure, this number that you cited, it's even more impressive given the fact that there's a limited number of seats because of gerrymandering and redistricting that are actually in play.

So there's going to be a ton of money coming in. Theres going to be campaigns about abortion. They're going to -- Democrats are going to try to tie everything to what's happening nationally with Donald Trump.

So it's going to be a really, really tough fight..

RAJU: Yes. And you mentioned abortion. This is -- there are ballot initiatives in some of these states where there are major fights that are happening right now for the House.

And Democrats hope that will reduce the turnout.

You're also in the halls. I mean, how confident are Democrats that they can take back the House? But look, it's possible, Leigh Ann as Melanie was saying that this is -- given that there are so few districts that Republicans could stay in control here. And of course, a lot of this will be dictated by the presidential race.

CALDWELL: Yes, there's a lot of things that are going to come into play. Abortion, the ballot initiatives, the presidential, the states that have Senate races as well.

But one thing that Republicans are excited about is that a lot of these toss-up seats are in blue states -- California, Oregon, New York -- where they think that Democratic policies are going to help their Republican candidates. Voters will push back against those Democratic policies with their Republican candidates in these blue states.

[08:34:49]

CALDWELL: I mean, this is going -- it's like heading into 2022 where a Democratic source that I spoke to the day of the election said, look, a lot of these seats are going to be decided by a point or two. And we don't know which way it's going to go. And it feels like this is going to be the same thing in 2024.

RAJU: And you know, Mike Smith told me that Biden will be a value add, he believes to Democrats here they'll have to run ahead of Biden in these districts. They've got to outperform him. That's the Senate situation. The Senate and the House.

KANNO-YOUNGS: Yes, that's right. I mean, that's interesting because going back to the midterms, just this past mid-term cycle, I remember a lot of concern from Democrats that actually the sagging approval ratings of President Biden would be detrimental, you know. And some of these in some races as well.

So that's what makes these investments even more important as well as the issues that they'll highlight. Theres an overall concern -- house races are often reflective of the top of the ticket as well. And what's going on with the presidential elections.

So you know, ads that are articulating, you know, in defending against attacks on immigration, on Biden's immigration policies as well as highlighting abortion rights. That's going be important. Particularly in (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSSTALKING)

RAJU: Yes. (INAUDIBLE) the immigration point what they told me was that they believe that the decision by the Republicans is scuttle that bipartisan border security deal will be part of their ad campaign going forward to attack Republicans on their handling of it, tried to turn the issue around. Well see if that works.

But there's also just the ongoing Republican fear, the paddling in the house. House Speaker Johnson is coming back to session this week with having to make major decisions on how to move forward on aid to Ukraine and facing the threat to his speakership.

We don't know what Marjorie Taylor Greene is going to do. She could call for a vote seeking his ouster. We don't know what Democrats will do. Will they try to save him?

What are you hearing and how -- whether Johnson can hang on here?

ZANONA: Yes. Theres going to be a pivotal stretch for the Speaker. He's going to try to find a way to fund Ukraine that is a way that can also save his speakership, which is a really difficult thing to do.

The feeling right now though, is that there will be enough Democrats and Republicans who join hands and table or kill this motion if it does come up. But if you're Johnson, you can't take anything for chance because he has a razor-thin majority. Greene is just so unpredictable and yes, Democrats say that if he does the right thing on Ukraine, they'd be willing to save him. But that's really open for interpretation. And if he loads up the Ukraine package with hardline border provisions or just something that's really partisan, they might not be there in the end.

RAJU: Yes. That is such a good point. That's why he's got some major decisions. We'll be watching them very closely when they return to Washington.

All right. Coming up, we hit the campaign trail in deep blue Maryland, which was once viewed as a cake walk for Democrats. Now suddenly one of the most competitive races in the country, thanks to a former GOP governor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY HOGAN, (R-MD), SENATE CANDIDATE: I might have you to crepe egg and then come get a hot dog.

REP. DAVID TRONE (D-MD), SENATE CANDIDATE: Democratic National Party from Leader Schumer on down, everybody's taking this very, very serious.

ANGELA ALSOBROOKS (D), SENATE CANDIDATE: I think the people will decide who front runner is in the race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:37:49]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: Hardly anyone in Washington thought last year that Maryland could actually decide the next Senate majority after all, President Biden won that state by more than 30 points four years ago.

But then former GOP governor Larry Hogan made a last second decision to jump into that race, adding to the Democrats' already very difficult map and steep climb to keep control of the Senate.

Melanie Zanona, who's here with me today, hit the campaign trail in Maryland where Democrats are engaged in an intense primary battle in scrambling to stave off a major defeat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOGAN: I'm going to the United States Senate to try to knock some heads together and straighten things out.

ZANONA: A surprising Senate battle brewing in deep blue Maryland.

TRONE: The National Party from Leader Schumer on down, everybody's taking this very, very serious.

ZANONA: A state President Biden carried by over 30 points now suddenly competitive with popular former Republican governor Larry Hogan jumping into the race and running as an anti-Trump Republican.

HOGAN: I still don't have any burning desire to be a senator. I wasn't looking for a title. I don't need a job, but I'm just so frustrated with how broken our political system is.

ZANONA: Democrats warned Hogan could hand Republicans the Senate majority, they remain divided over who to pick in the May 14 primary. Congressman David Trone, the founder of the beverage retailer Total Wine and more, is touting his business background and bipartisan record.

He also has the backing of House Democratic leadership, including Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and a massive financial advantage.

TRONE: We're absolutely the front runner and I think we're going to be able to bring it home and then after that, take Larry Hogan down.

ZANONA: But Trone has come under scrutiny for what he says was the accidental use of a racial slur during a recent congressional hearing.

TRONE: We were talking about Republican tax cuts. And use the word "Bugaboo".

ZANONA: Trone says he accidentally mispronounced that term, resulting in one that was offensive.

TRONE: We apologized immediately once he went back and realize we had said that.

ZANONA: He's up against county executive Angela Alsobrooks, who is focused on turning out grassroots support securing endorsements from most of the Maryland congressional delegation.

ALSOBROOKS: People who have endorsed me have done so because they know both of us and they have decided that I have the best experience and the best track record to deliver for Maryland.

ZANONA: She's just one of two black women who are now running to serve in the United States Senate, positioning herself as a champion for change.

ALSOBROOKS: I think it's important to America to have people of every gender and every race and every background.

[08:44:50]

ZANONA: The race has become one of the most expensive in the country. Largely fueled by Trone's personal wealth as he flouts (ph) $23 million of his own money into the race.

TRONE: We're going to spend what it takes.

ZANONA: A prospect that could make him more competitive in November but one his Democratic opponent has assailed.

ALSOBROOKS: It goes against what we expect in terms of democracy. Its gross. And what I know is that money can't buy Maryland.

ZANONA: The challenge for Hogan breaking with the leader of his party without alienating Republican voters.

HOGAN: I'm like 70 percent of the rest of the people on America that do not believe that Joe Biden nor Donald Trump are the best possible candidates to represent us.

ZANONA: But with abortion rights on the ballot in Maryland this fall --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you feeling about abortion rights in America.

ZANONA: Hogan is facing questions about his record as governor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm still undecided.

ZANONA: Which includes vetoing a bill that would have expanded access to abortion in the state.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) our White House accepted, thank goodness.

So it's not a huge issue. However, I don't ever want that to be threaten, you know. So it does kind of way heavily.

ZANONA: Hogan says he would not support a federal abortion ban, but dodged when asked whether he'd vote to codify Roe v Wade.

HOGAN: I'm not going to talk about speculation over specific wording on a specific bill, but we'll talk about that during the election.

ZANONA: As Democrats vowed to nationalize the race and tie Hogan to the most extreme elements of his party. So Larry Hogan thinks that he can run with some distance from Donald

Trump because he said he's not going to vote for him in November.

TRONE: Good luck with that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: And Melanie Z. That's a great report. Thanks for that. It's such an interesting race, a contentious primary and dividing the Democrats. Chris Van Collen is supporting Angela Alsobrooks and Hakeem Jeffries supporting David Trone.

What was your biggest takeaway from this race.

ZANONA: Well, in talking to Republicans, they thought Larry Hogan was the only Republican who had any chance of winning Maryland. And that is why you had Mitch McConnell, Republican leaders and even former president George W. Bush working on Hogan for years they made direct sale pitches to get him to run in the race and he finally did.

But look, he still views himself as the underdog. He recognizes that this is a huge challenge, needs to win pretty much all of Republicans and independents and then 30 percent of Democrats.

So he knows this is an uphill climb, especially with Trump at the top of the ticket but Democrats know that this could actually get very competitive for them and they do not want have to spend money here.

RAJU: They will probably have to. And look the question about the anti-Trump vote is interesting in your piece, how he described he's not going to vote for either Biden or Trump.

That's a question that I put to the top Republican campaign committee chairman and some Democrats, about how that could play out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: He's been crosswise with Trump. Is that going to be a problem for Trump?

SEN. STEVE DAINES (R-MT): Look, Larry Hogan expresses so well the voice of Maryland, he understands Maryland, he represents Maryland so well as governor and he'll represent Maryland very well in the United States Senate. He'll be the voice for Maryland, not for any political party.

RAJU: Do you think that his opposition to Trump, it will help him with swing voters? With Democratic voters?

SEN. BEN CARDIN (D-MD): I don't think it's going to make any difference at all because I think they recognize the fact that he organized with the Republicans. So he'll be another voice for the Republicans and allow the extreme agenda/

(END VIDEO CLIP) RAJU: Democrats are clearly trying to nationalize the race. The Republicans not so much. It's going to be tough in an election year not to nationalize it and the presidential election.

CALDWELL: Absolutely. And Democrats are going to say control of the Senate could very well decide, determined, be determined by Maryland. Well see if that argument works with voters. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.

But this is a huge coup to get Larry Hogan to run in this race to act, to actually put this state on the map that could very easily determine control

KANNO-YOUNGS: I mean, Larry Hogan also had a quote in your piece saying that that he's frustrated with the current makeup of Senate. I mean, you may be able to win. Well see in Maryland with an anti-Trump message. But if he's frustrated now, even if he gets to Senate, can frustrating good he's going to be.

I mean you do wonder, I mean, this race makes me think like the Republican sort of identity that Larry Hogan says that he represents.

That is a shrinking sort of population --

RAJU: Yes.

KANNO-YOUNGS: -- especially when it comes to congress.

RAJU: Yes. I mean look the anti-Trump Republicans, they are fewer and fewer. Mitt Romney is leaving. Will there be anyone else coming forward? We'll see.

Thanks for the reporting Melanie.

All right. Next, eclipse fever gripping the country. How presidents have taken in the spectacular solar events over the past years.

[08:49:18]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: Americans are planning to head outside tomorrow to experience a rare total solar eclipse extending across North America. Take a listen to how Bill Nye, the Science Guy, describe what -- describes what it's like to experience a total eclipse of the sun?

BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY: It will be night. Birds will chirp. Crickets will crick. And generally there's a little bit of a breeze created by the cool air next to the warm air. And it's fantastic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Through the years these solar spectacles have excited every American, including politicians and presidents. And back in 1925 when Calvin Coolidge was in the White House, he and first lady braved freezing temperatures to view another total eclipse. They looked at it through a blackened window pane.

[08:54:42]

RAJU: And just seven years ago, then President Trump stepped onto a White House balcony to check out the last total solar eclipse visible in the United States, sans eye protection.

Now, Trump did eventually put on his protective glasses, but not before drawing ridicule for looking straight into the sun. You're not supposed to do that.

Tomorrow Vice President Harris plans to take in the eclipse with young students in Philadelphia, according to a White House official.

And as for President Biden, the White House will not say if he has plans to watch it, but he's headed to Wisconsin and he'll have to cross the path of totality to get there.

And you can join CNN for special live coverage of the event. "ECLIPSE ACROSS AMERICA" starts tomorrow and 1:00 p.m. Eastern, or stream it on Max.

And that's it for INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. You can follow me on X, formerly known as Twitter @mkraju. Follow the show on INSIDE POLITICS". And if you ever miss an episode you can catch up wherever you get your podcasts, just search for "INSIDE POLITICS".

Up next, STATE OF THE UNION with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. Jake's guests include Congressman Mike Turner, an ambassador Cindy McCain.

Thanks again for sharing your Sunday morning with us. And on this April 7th, a very happy anniversary to my wife, Archana. That's 17 years. I'm a lucky guy.

See you next time.

[08:56:04]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:00]