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CNN International: House To Vote On Funding Bill As Midnight Deadline Looms; U.S. Resolution Calling For Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Fails; U.S. Condemns Russia, China For Vetoing Draft Resolution. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired March 22, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning or good evening, depending on where you are watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
In just moments, the House will vote on a $1.2 trillion package to fund the government. Will it pass and can it get to President Biden's desk by midnight to avert a shutdown? We are live on Capitol Hill. Plus, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will soon depart Israel after meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. This as Russia vetoes an American resolution at the UN, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. And Ukraine says that overnight Russia launched its largest attack yet on the nation's energy infrastructure, leaving more than a million people there without power. We're going to have a live report with the latest straight ahead.
But, we want to start with the shutdown countdown on Capitol Hill. U.S. House lawmakers are expected to vote this hour on a $1.2 trillion funding package. We will continue to watch it, and of course, just as soon as it happens, we will bring it to you. But, if the bill fails, the government will shut down at midnight tonight on the East Coast. House Speaker Mike Johnson will need the support of Democrats to get this passed after facing pushback from some of his Republican colleagues. Now, if it does pass the House, well, then it becomes a sprint to the finish to get the bill approved by the Democratically- controlled Senate. It's not clear if the legislation will pass the upper chamber by today's deadline. And that means that there could be a short-term lapse in government funding over the weekend.
Sunlen Serfaty is covering all this for us and live on Capitol Hill. So, Sunlen, what are you hearing from members in terms of whether they think this vote will succeed?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rahel. A very tense moment up here on Capitol Hill. Time is very short, and they know it. They are staring down that midnight deadline tonight. And you see here live pictures of the House floor where you see some lawmakers going to the floor, saying their final say before they move to a vote, and this vote should unfold and we should have a final count in the House in the next half hour or so. The key here is that Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, he needs two thirds of the majority of present people today, present lawmakers to vote with this bill. That is a very tight margin, and he is only going to get over the finish line with support from Democrats.
Now, House Republican leadership, they have expressed confidence last night and this morning going into the vote. They expect this to pass, but it is going to be very close. So, they are going to watch each and every vote counted on the floor this morning. Now, there has been some grumbling among House Republicans, saying that this bill was rushed too quickly. They had to waive that 72-hour rule. A lot of people saying that they didn't have time to read all of the pages of this over 1000 page spending bill, this massive spending bill. But again, time is very short. As you see there on the screen, starting to take the vote, move towards the vote here this morning, Rahel. So, we'll see the outcome in the next half hour or so.
SOLOMON: Yeah. We'll see how the numbers stack up. As you pointed out, he needs -- Speaker Johnson needs two thirds of people present, lawmakers present to vote in support of this. So, we'll see how it all shakes out. But, Sunlen, even if this does pass the House, how quickly can it progress to the Senate? We know senators are eager perhaps for their two-week recess. So, how quickly can they move this through?
SERFATY: Yeah. That's a very good point, Rahel. Things can move very quickly, or they can move very slowly when the bill eventually comes over here to the Senate, and they have to pass the same thing. The Senator has different rules. Any one Senator can stand in the way of this going forward quickly. They can object. They can have amendments. They can basically slow down the process considerably, and that matters because they are trying to move towards getting all of this passed before midnight tonight to at least avoid a partial shutdown over the weekend. So, we will see once the House passes that, what the landscape is over here in the Senate?
There is, though, an eagerness, as you know, for senators to get out of town. They are approaching a two-week recess that they want to go home, go back to their constituents also, of course, want to make sure there is no lapse in funding for some of these government programs.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Absolutely. And we'll continue to keep an eye on that vote. And just as soon as we have a conclusion, just as soon as we get closer, we'll bring it to our viewers at home.
Sunlen Serfaty live on Capitol Hill. Sunlen, thank you.
SERFATY: Thanks.
SOLOMON: All right. Well, Russia and China are blocking a U.S. resolution at the United Nations that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. Both vetoed the proposal with Russia describing U.S.-Middle East policy as "destructive". The U.S. Ambassador fired back, accusing Russia of "putting politics over progress."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Russia and China still could not bring itself to condemn Hamas' terrorist attacks on October 7. The second reason behind this veto is not just cynical, it's also petty. Russia and China simply did not want to vote for a resolution that was penned by the United States because it would rather see us fail than to see this council succeed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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SOLOMON: Now, despite the failure of the resolution at the United Nations, diplomatic talks to try to secure the ceasefire and the release of hostages are intensifying. Right now, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is about to head home. He wrapped up his Middle East trip by meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A short time ago, demonstrators gathered outside the Secretary's hotel, calling for his help and facilitating the release of hostages.
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Blinken and Netanyahu met against the backdrop of strained relations between the U.S. and Israel. And in just the last few minutes, the Israeli Prime Minister posted to social media, doubling down on his position that there is no way to defeat Hamas without a major military operation in Rafah. That, of course, is a point of major contention within the U.S.
Let's bring in CNN's Jennifer Hansler, who joins us from the U.S. State Department. Jennifer, Secretary Blinken had a very busy week across the Middle East. Talk to us a little bit about what he accomplished and what he did.
JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well, Rahel, it has indeed been a busy week of shuttle diplomacy for the top U.S. diplomat. Two days ago, he was in Saudi Arabia. Yesterday, he was in Egypt, meeting with a coalition of Arab foreign ministers to talk about the path forward in Gaza once the conflict comes to an end. But, the end of that conflict feels a very far distance away, especially coming out of these meetings in Israel. We expected that these meetings would be tense, would be tough. The U.S. has said all along that it really takes this in-person diplomatic pressure to get the Israeli government to move on any of the requests that they are making, be it humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza, be it protecting civilians.
But, as we see from the Netanyahu comments coming out of this meeting, it seems that these requests have once again not been heeded, at least in this public comment from the Prime Minister who is doubling down on the idea that Israel will go into Rafah where a million and a half people are seeking refuge with or without U.S. support. We are waiting to hear from the Secretary himself on how these meetings went. But, at this point, it does not seem that Israel is shifting its positions at all, despite this ongoing U.S. pressure, despite the fact that we are seeing tensions coming to the fore between the Biden administration and the Israeli government.
We heard the Vice President today double down on the idea that there is no way for the Israeli government to carry out an offensive in Rafah. There is no way for safe -- civilians to be safely moved out of that zone. So, we'll wait and see if there are actually any concrete solutions, any concrete steps that came out of these tense meetings today.
SOLOMON: And Jennifer, to that point, I mean, with the American resolution now being vetoed by Russia, what's next for U.S. efforts in the Security Council, and how much would you say the resolutions are symbolic?
HANSLER: Well, I think that's a really good point, Rahel. Like, these are likely a symbolic gesture. But, at the same time, the U.S. was pushing that these were going to help support the diplomatic actual concrete work that was going on, on the ground in Israel and in Doha today. They said that the passage of this resolution would have been a clear sign that the Security Council does back these efforts to bring the hostages home and to gain what they are calling a sustained and immediate ceasefire.
So, to see Russia and China veto this resolution, it does put a damper on these efforts. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, though, she said earlier that, for their part, the United States will keep at it, will continue to work toward a deal alongside Qatar and Egypt, who are the main interlocutors in these negotiations, and they will work with any Security Council member that is seriously interested in adopting a resolution that will help make that deal possible. At the same time, they are urging countries not to support a resolution that would give Hamas a path to walk away from these negotiations. Rahel.
SOLOMON: OK. Jennifer Hansler live for us here at the State Department. Jennifer, thank you.
Well, a doctor treating patients in Gaza's hospitals describes the conditions in those facilities as "apocalyptic." A raid on Al-Shifa Hospital by Israeli forces is now in its fifth day, leading to desperate and chaotic conditions inside.
Here is CNN's Jeremy Diamond.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT voice-over): A crowded stairwell at Al-Shifa Hospital, dozens of women and children await Israeli military instructions. For four days, thousands of civilians have been trapped here as the Israeli military raids the hospital, targeting Palestinian militants allegedly operating inside the medical complex. Soldiers are everywhere, the voice on the loudspeaker warns. If you leave the premises, the soldiers will shoot you. We have warned you. We have come here in order to get the Israeli hostages, then we will let you go.
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Soon, word of evacuations begins to spread. Now, they're forcing out the women, the voice behind the camera says. We don't know where they're going to take us.
The Israeli military says they have killed more than 140 militants in and around the hospital, and detained these five men described as senior terror operatives, among more than 600 suspects the Israeli military says they've detained. Eyewitnesses say medical personnel and other civilians have also been rounded up. Outside the hospital, the fighting continues, as seen through the lens of Hamas militants who have been targeting Israeli tanks and troops around the hospital complex.
Israeli airstrikes reducing parts of the surrounding al-Rimal neighborhood to rubble, sending thousands fleeing south. It's a journey marked by the sights and smells of death. We walked over the martyrs who are dead in the street. People are reduced to body parts, this woman cries. Where is the humanity? The newly displaced arrive on foot in central Gaza, carrying only backpacks and plastic bags, children clutching dolls and stuffed animals. Others like this mother and her triplets arrive with nothing at all. Tanks and artillery were firing at the buildings around Al-Shifa and forcing people to leave the building, she says. They make them leave with nothing on them, nothing, no pillow, no blanket, not even water.
Nussah (ph) isn't just fleeing the fighting, but the starvation that has left her eight-month-old babies thin and frail. You can see them, she says. Each of them is not even two kilos, eight-months-old and not even two kilos. Anyone who sees them would think they're only two- months-old, and they're eight months. It's a catastrophe, no water, no food and siege and gunfire. But, her journey is not over yet. She is heading further south in search of food and shelter, no longer taken for granted in Gaza.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: Well, the 2024 presidential election in the U.S. is still months away, but some voters say they've already made up their mind. Still ahead, the results from a new CNN poll. Plus, we will go back to Capitol Hill for the latest on that vote happening right now in the House on the spending bill. We'll be right back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. A chaotic scene now at the U.S. border led to hundreds of migrants being arrested. Check out this video. This is from El Paso, Texas, and it shows people rushing past razor wire. Authorities say that the situation is now under control and that they will be deploying more personnel.
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The circumstances that led to that incident are unclear. But, at the same time, tension continues to grow in the courtroom. We are still waiting for U.S. appeals court to decide if Texas is allowed to enforce its controversial immigration law.
Let's bring in CNN Senior U.S. National Correspondent Ed Lavandera, who was in Texas with the details. Ed, any more context you can provide on that incident there we saw in El Paso? ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's not exactly clear what is the events or the issues that led and sparked that intense showdown there between that large group of migrants and a handful of Texas National Guard soldiers that have been deployed there along the U.S. southern border, and we're standing along that razor wire. And just so people understand the context of the video that you're looking at, beyond that razor wire is the Rio Grande which separates the international boundary between Mexico and Texas. In the last few months, as part of "Operation Lone Star", the Texas state authorities have been adding razor wire as another barrier there before you get to the long-standing border wall that has existed here in El Paso for years.
So, if you watch that video, those migrants push past that razor wire, overwhelmed that small group of National Guard soldiers, and then run toward the steel border wall. And that's where essentially they turned themselves in to Border Patrol authorities. We are told by Customs and Border Protection that those migrants were all taken into custody. They're in the process of being -- processed through the immigration system. We're told some of them will apply for asylum, others might be deported. It's not exactly clear, because it does take some time, usually a couple of days before you really see the migrants being fully processed at this point.
So, exactly what led up to that, is not clear. But, it does come as we're awaiting the news of Senate bill for this controversial immigration law. And we've also been told by authorities, border authorities here that there hasn't been any kind of real escalating tension that they've seen along the border, even despite all of those barricades and that sort of thing, and that they describe this, Rahel, as an isolated incident.
SOLOMON: OK. Ed Lavandera live for us here in El Paso. Ed, thanks so much.
We want to get back to Capitol Hill where that vote to fund the government is still taking place. I think just moments left. Let's bring in Sunlen Serfaty, who was on Capitol Hill for us. Sunlen, provide some context here. What are we looking at and how close are they?
SERFATY: Yeah, Rahel. This vote is still ongoing, and what they need to reach that magic number is 288 votes for this spending bill. Now, that is two thirds of the majority, two thirds of the people present today, the lawmakers present that they need to pass this bill through. So, as you see here, you see the votes, yeas and nays ticking up. So, we will of course let you know when that gets formally passed through.
But, one other thing to keep in mind this morning, there seems to be a little bit of theatrics going in. We heard from Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene. She essentially said "stay tuned" when she was asked about some murmurs of potentially an effort to deploy a motion to vacate to vote on that, that for Speaker Johnson, and that is a direct shot potentially at Speaker Johnson, and many conservatives there really furious with how this bill came to be. They feel like he negotiated too much with Democrats that this bill was released in the dead of night and it certainly was released at 3 a.m. early yesterday morning, many conservatives saying they didn't have enough time to read this bill, which is 1,012 pages long.
But, those just a sideshow right now the thing that matters is the votes there that are being counted on the floor of the House, and they're continuing to vote as we speak. So, we will certainly bring that to you once that gets passed through. But, House leadership, Republicans expressed confidence going in this morning that this would get through. But, it is going to come down to a few votes, and Republicans certainly need Democrats to vote with them this morning. And then, of course, when and if it gets passed over here in the House, it then goes to the Senate, as we've been talking about this morning where that is a big question mark, a big TBD, how quickly they can get that through before the midnight deadline tonight. Rahel.
SOLOMON: OK. So, Sunlen, we're going to keep watching that. Don't go far. We'll come back to you just as soon as we have a vote. Thank you, Sunlen Serfaty, as we look at this live vote as the votes are tallied to fund the government.
Let's get a check now on the state of the race for the White House. A new CNN poll of registered voters in Michigan and Pennsylvania, two key battleground states, providing some insight into those swing states. So, in Michigan, Trump is ahead of President Joe Biden. That is 50 percent to 42 percent. In Pennsylvania, there is no clear leader, both candidates coming in at 46 percent each.
Let's bring in my panel today. We have Nathan Gonzales. He is the Editor and Publisher for "Inside Elections", and Molly Ball, the Senior Political Correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.
[11:20:00]
Molly, let me start with you. Michigan and Pennsylvania, I think it's really important to just explain that context. These are two really important states, and these are two states that Biden won in 2020, but by really slim margins. I mean, if he -- if someone on his campaign is looking at this poll today, they're thinking what?
MOLLY BALL, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, I think it underscores what we already know about this race, which is that both nationally in this -- and in the swing states, it is a close race, but Biden is behind. He starts this race as an underdog. He has been losing in the average of national polls for months and months, and his campaign really needs to find a way to turn that around if he hopes to beat President Trump in November. But, what we've seen is that, historically, Pennsylvania has been a somewhat more Democratic-leaning state than Michigan. And we know that Biden has some specific weaknesses in Michigan, where there is a large Arab American vote that has been displeased with the way he has handled the U.S.'s involvement in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
And so, his team knows that he has got a lot of work to do to win back these voters. But, I don't think they have a clear plan for how they plan to do that, except to continue to beat up on Donald Trump. They believe that it's that contrast between the President and the former President that will eventually change those numbers.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And I want to talk about that contrast in just a moment.
But, Nathan, let me just go through a few of the takeaways from this poll. So, in Pennsylvania, Biden leads among women, voters of color, college graduates, independents, and it's about even with voters under 35. In Michigan, Biden lags Trump's significantly with independents and young voters, and he is split evenly with women, and his lead with people of color narrows in Michigan. Nathan, what are your thoughts about these takeaways?
NATHAN GONZALES, EDITOR & PUBLISHER, INSIDE ELECTIONS: Well, the big warning sign for Biden and Democrats in that, in what you just laid out, was among women. Being tied among women in Michigan is the -- is not going to work for Biden. He won -- according to the exit polls in 2020, he won women in Michigan by 13 points. If he is dead even with women now, it's -- the ballgame is over. And Michigan and Pennsylvania are must wins, I would say must wins for Biden. Trump, there is a path without Michigan and Pennsylvania, and Biden has to get there. And I think that's why you're going to hear Democrats talk about access to abortion, within that, IVF and other issues, to try to increase and make sure they have a healthy margin among women because that's where Democrats have opportunity.
SOLOMON: Molly, you mentioned sort of Biden leading into the camp, leading into the contrast between Biden and Trump. One thing we saw in this poll was that among Biden backers, some of that was just trying to get -- trying to keep Trump out of the White House rather than necessarily being fully up for Biden. And so, that might explain why Biden is out with this new digital ad, asking the famous political question, are you better off? And I think we have part of it. Are you better off than you were four years ago, trying to draw the contrast about COVID, about some of his policies. What are your thoughts about that strategy? Do you think that's a particularly effective strategy?
BALL: I will be interested to see if voters find this persuasive. I don't think we know yet. I mean, what we do know is that voters are looking back on the Trump presidency quite favorably. In some polls that I've seen, approval for Trump and his presidency is 10 or 15 points higher than any kind of approval rating that he enjoyed when he was actually in office. So, people are certainly looking back on the Trump presidency with sort of rose-colored glasses. You see the Biden campaign trying to reset that perception.
But, one of the issues that I think they may have is that we saw, even when he was in office, voters broadly did not blame Trump for the pandemic. They did not think it was his fault. They didn't necessarily like his handling of it. But, it's so far in the rear view now, and there were so many, I think, also criticisms of the way that Biden handled the emergence from the pandemic, that I wonder if that will continue to be a winning issue or if anybody really wants to revisit and re-litigate it. I think they have a similar problem when it comes to economics and jobs. A lot of the job gains of the Biden years, people see as a sort of mechanical bounce back from that COVID depression, not as a result of anything he did. So, of course, he is going to make this argument, things were terrible
in 2020. They look a lot better now. I just wonder if he is going to be successful in arguing that he is the reason and that people should give him credit for it.
SOLOMON: And Nathan, to Molly's point, I mean, is that risky? Because at least when you're talking about the economy, if you ask people how they feel about a few years ago, the thing that you tend to hear is while they do remember pre-pandemic prices, they do remember the things -- the cost of things before inflation. Is that a risky sort of strategy for the Biden campaign?
GONZALES: Yeah. Well, I think Molly first has it right that voters are thinking differently about what was the Trump administration and really the reality of it at the time.
[11:25:00]
I think as Americans, we tend to be selfish. We tend to be short- sighted. Americans are focused on the here and now. And when they see all sorts of problems that they're dealing with, or the country is dealing with, whether it's inflation, cost of living, gas prices, or the border, immigration, all these issues, they look who is in charge. And we have three branches of government. But, ultimately, we have a Democratic President, and Joe Biden is being held responsible. I think when you're in charge of something and things are going well, you probably get a little more credit than you deserve. When you're in charge of something and things are going poorly, you might get a little more blame than you deserve, and that is the burden of incumbency that Biden and the Democrats are having to deal with.
SOLOMON: Molly, I'm curious, we've heard some interesting sort of reactions from the Biden campaign this week. So, today, they were trolling Donald Trump again. They called him, in a statement, "broke dawn". Earlier this week, we heard from the campaign. They said that he would fire himself if he was on the apprentice, all of this because of his weak fundraising. I'm curious sort of what the strategy here. Is this sort of trying to beat Trump at his own game, the monikers, the trolling? What are your thoughts about the strategy here?
BALL: Well, we'll see if it makes an impression. I mean, one thing you continue to hear from voters, even though it has been quite some time since Donald Trump was a private citizen on TV, acting as a businessman, voters still do think of him that way. Voters still think of him as someone who has been economically successful. So, clearly, the Biden campaign trying to dent that image, pointing to the cash crush, the crunch that Trump faces, both personally and with the civil judgments against him, which he faces a Monday deadline to come up with quite a lot of cash for that, and also in his campaign where his fundraising has suffered. And traditionally, it has been an important advantage for campaigns to have a fundraising advantage.
But, we also saw going back as far as 2016 that Trump's ability to command voters' attention is so formidable that he doesn't necessarily need to reach parity on things like hiring campaign staff and running TV ads. So, clearly, the Biden campaign is trying to get under his skin and trying to register this contrast with the electorate. Whenever I talk to Democrats, and I'm not saying that I necessarily believe this is true, but there is a persistent feeling that voters have not tuned into this race, and that their primary need is to just to get people to pay attention and understand the reality of a potential Trump comeback.
So, they're trying to put that on people's radar, trying to get people to accept the real contours of this race in a world where most Americans wish that this were not the presidential contest we were having.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And Nathan, to your point about people remember the here and now, take a look at this at that the Biden camp unveiled about sort of on the heels of the 14th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. Look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Obamacare is a disaster. What we'd like to do is totally kill it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope that the --
TRUMP: Obamacare is a catastrophe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: So, sort of trying to compare the past, remind people of the past, but also trying to remind them of the present. But, I wonder, with so many pressing issues for voters, how potent of an issue is healthcare, do you think?
GONZALES: Well, healthcare, to some extent, is a very -- it's a consistent part of our campaigns. Usually, it's the cost of prescription drugs. I think we're going to hear the Biden administration talk about capping insulin costs. With regard, though, to repealing the ACA, this gets into that similar dynamic we've been talking about for a few minutes, where you're trying to get voters to focus on the hypothetical. If you elect Trump again, if you elect more Republicans, then these health -- this -- the Affordable Care Act and benefits from that are at risk. And that's a hypothetical, and it could be reality, but voters are focused on right now. And that's where that contrast that between Biden and Trump is critical, and trying to just get people to think about the future, even though they're unhappy or dissatisfied with the status quo.
SOLOMON: OK. We'll leave it here. Thanks to have you -- thanks for you both, Nathan Gonzales, Editor and Publisher of "Inside Elections", and Molly Ball, Senior Political Correspondent at The Wall Street Journal. Thanks, guys.
GONZALES: Thank you.
SOLOMON: All right. Still to come, more than a million people without power after Russia carries out a massive assault on Ukraine's energy system. Plus, on Capitol Hill, they're still counting votes on the spending bill. We will be live after this.
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[11:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Happening right now, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is leaving Israel after his Middle East diplomatic trip. He is speaking now from the airport there. Let's listen together.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: When you get down to the last items, they tend to be the hardest. So, there is still a lot of work to be done, hard work to be done, but we're determined to try to get it done. We also talked about the imperative of surging and sustaining humanitarian assistance for the people in Gaza. 100 percent of the population of Gaza is acutely food insecure. 100 percent is in need of humanitarian assistance. There have been some positive steps taken in recent days to improve the situation, but it's not enough. And we talked about what needs to happen to get much more assistance to many more people more effectively.
We also talked about Rafah. We share Israel's goal of defeating Hamas, which is responsible for the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust. And we share the goal of ensuring Israel's long-term security. As we've said, though, a major military ground operation in Rafah is not the way to do it. It risks killing more civilians. It risks wreaking greater havoc with the provision of humanitarian assistance. It risks further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardizing its long-term security and standing.
So, we're looking forward to having Israeli officials in Washington next week to talk about a different way of achieving these objectives, objectives that we share, of defeating Hamas, and ensuring Israel's long-term security. It really requires an integrated, humanitarian, military and political plan. As I said, we'll be talking about that next week, going through the details of what we see is the best way forward. We also had an opportunity to talk about the longer-term trajectory. What needs to happen once the conflict in Gaza is over? The conversations that I had with our Arab partners over the last couple of days, and that we had here in Israel as well.
We're determined that Israel succeed and making sure it can defend itself, that October 7 never happens again, that it emerged from this, strong, secure, integrated in the region with a future of security and peace, not only for Israelis, but for Palestinians, and for our other friends in the region. And we believe there is a path forward to do that. We'll be continuing to work to flush out that path and to try to walk down it in the days when we (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Secretary, thank you. Can you give us an update on the ceasefire talks in Doha? What is the latest that you've heard from the negotiators? And also today, Israel has announced a land seizure of 800 hectares in the occupied West Bank, just when you're doing your visit here. What are your thoughts? BLINKEN: So, on the negotiations, I can't give you any more details other than to say that we're intensely engaged in them, working with the Qataris, working with the Egyptians, working with Israel. And we have teams in Doha. And as I said, we've gotten it down to a few remaining gaps. But, the closer you get to the goal line, the harder that last yard is. So, there are some hard issues to work through. But, we're determined to do everything we can to get there and to get people home. And the negotiators will be working intensively to see if we can get that done.
I hadn't seen the news you referred to. But, look, you know our views on settlement expansion. You know our views on everything from demolitions to evictions to other steps, unilateral steps that are taken that make the already challenging prospect of two states even more distant. So, I haven't seen the specifics of this. But, anyone taking steps that makes things more difficult, more challenging this time, it's something that we a problem.
[11:35:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A tiny clarification. When you say we have teams, you mean U.S. has teams on the ground in Doha today? And can you just confirm the negotiations have begun like they've been continuing?
BLINKEN: I can't -- it's -- it should be going forward, if not, immediately now, certainly in the hours ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Can you tell us in practical terms what the U.S. was trying to achieve with the resolution that was put forward at the United Nations today? And then, on your conversations today, you described in broad strokes some themes that are familiar. I wonder whether you delivered or heard any messages today that are new and different from your past conversations here.
BLINKEN: So, on the resolution, which got very strong support, but then was cynically vetoed by Russia and China, I think we were trying to show the international community a sense of urgency about getting a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages, something that everyone, including the countries that vetoed the resolution, should have been able to get behind. The resolution, of course, also condemned Hamas. It's unimaginable why countries wouldn't be able to do that.
But, I think the fact that we got such a strong vote, despite the veto by two of the permanent members of the Security Council, again, is evidence and demonstration of the commitment, the conviction of countries around the world and notably on the Security Council to see about getting the ceasefire and getting the release of hostages now. That's what the resolution said. That's what it called for. And I think it showed that a strong commitment to that from many, many countries.
With regard to the conversations we had, look, this is an ongoing process. As I said, we really were focused on three things, the hostage negotiations, humanitarian assistance, and Rafah. And it was important that, again, we focus on all three things. We -- I can't -- I'm not going to get into the details of what we discussed. But, I think, from my perspective, at least, these were important candid conversations to have at a critical time on all three of those issues.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Israel will be isolated if it doesn't change its path?
BLINKEN: Again, what I shared and I think what they've heard from President Biden as well directly is, we have the same goals, the defeat of Hamas, Israel's long-term security. But, a major ground operation in Rafah is not, in our judgment, the way to achieve it. And we've been very clear about that. But, most important, we have the -- a senior team coming to Washington next week. We'll all be taking part in those discussions. We'll be able to lay out for them in detail. I started to do that today. But, it's important that the teams with all the expertise lay out in detail how those goals can best be accomplished with an integrated humanitarian, military and political plan. We'll put all that on the table. Of course, we'll hear from them too. And we'll take it to next week. Thanks.
SOLOMON: OK. We've just been listening to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as he prepares to leave Israel and head back to the U.S. It is his sixth trip to the region since the October 7 Hamas attacks. A few things he covered, in broad strokes, he talked about some of what was accomplished on this trip to the region. He said that conversations focused on hostage negotiations in Gaza, humanitarian aid into Gaza, and a potential possible military operation into Rafah.
On Rafah, he said we talked about Rafah. We share the goal to defeating Hamas and ensuring Israel's long-term security, but a major operation in Rafah is not the way to do it. It risks further isolating Israel.
All right. Let's go back to Capitol Hill now where we have been tracking that vote in the House of Representatives on the spending bill. Let's bring back in Sunlen Serfaty, who has been with us all hour following this vote. All right. Sunlen, where do we stand?
SERFATY: Yeah, Rahel. The vote still ongoing on the House floor. There you see the number there, very close to the 288 votes needed to pass this bill in the House. So, we expect that at some point in the next half hour or so. Now, notably, when and if it passes the House, that's just about 12 hours before their midnight deadline up here on Capitol Hill to get this spending bill through to avoid a partial government shutdown on some of these key programs that need funded. And it not lost on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who as the House is voting just moments ago, he took to the Senate floor and he came out and fired an essence, a warning shot at anyone who is potentially thinking about delaying or using partisanship in this side of Capitol Hill.
Now, Schumer took it to the Senate floor and he called on all 100 senators to agree to a vote to put forward today.
[11:40:00]
He said "Let's finish this job today." He promised that once the House votes today and votes -- this -- it passes this that the Senate will spring into action. But, over here in the Senate is a different set of rules. All 100 senators need to agree in essence to move forward to hold that vote. And in essence, it only takes one Senator to slow down the process, to delay the process. And of course, time is of the essence. So, the majority leader really trying to send a message to senators up here that they should not be doing this, reminding them of this deadline. He said, let's avoid a weekend shutdown. If an individual Senator resorts to partisanship, stonewalling did their aid, it's almost certain that we'll have another government shutdown into the weekend.
So again, stakes are very high up here on Capitol Hill, as we look at the vote counting up now on the House. They are just waiting to get through this first step, an important stuff, but of course the next step over on Capitol Hill in the Senate after that. Rahel.
SOLOMON: And Sunlen, as we watch to see how this last number of votes, walk me through -- I mean, it's hard to miss that there are more Democrats that supported this than Republicans, perhaps unsurprisingly. That said, walk me through the implications here for the new House Speaker. I mean, it wasn't long ago that his predecessor was ousted for similar reasons.
SERFATY: That's very true, and that is something that in his shadows of this vote today, and I keep looking down to watch the House floor vote to because we are just one vote away here from it going over the finish line. That has been really in the shadows of the conversation up here on Capitol Hill today. What this means for Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, a lot of Republicans, conservative Republicans were not happy with the way this was negotiated, not happy that the bill was released overnight, Thursday night, 3 a.m. yesterday, that they just frankly haven't had time to go through this bill. And they said that's important. Of course, they want to read every line, and they feel like he negotiated a little too much with Democrats here.
So, there is murmurs of the resolution, a motion to vacate, which in essence is what happened to Speaker McCarthy, and Marjorie Taylor Greene making some moves this morning to do that. So, we will be watching that sideshow going on as this vote is taking place on the House floor.
SOLOMON: And Sunlen, I'm actually just hearing now, as you speak, from the control room that Marjorie Taylor Greene has in fact drafted a resolution to oust Mike Johnson. Talk to me a little bit about -- was a feeling on Capitol Hill that maybe he would get a bit more grace than Kevin McCarthy did. Has that changed?
SERFATY: It's a good point. And he is such a new Speaker. He was plucked from relatively a backbencher, so to speak, up here on Capitol Hill. So, there was a feeling that him -- getting him into the speakership, he needed a little room to grow into that. And it seems like there was not much appetite to give him that time, the fact that Marjorie Taylor Greene file this resolution. One thing to watch very closely and getting a little procedurally here is, if that's a privileged resolution or if it's not a privilege resolution. If it's privileged, that will require the leader to hold a vote on that motion to vacate within two legislative days. If it's not privileged, then they have a little more wiggle room. So, that procedure is important because that's going to define exactly
how much this mucks up the works, in essence, up here on Capitol Hill, or if it's just a firing shot.
SOLOMON: And Sunlen, if it helps -- I'm hearing from the control room that apparently it was privileged. So --
SERFATY: OK.
SOLOMON: -- so, continue your thought and put that in context for us, if you might.
SERFATY: Very good point. Thank you for adding that context, and as everything up here on Capitol Hill is unfolding, though that's so important. So, we will see how that slows things down up here. That is, in essence, a big warning shot for Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, that there is right flank, his conservative right flank is unhappy with how he has been acting, unhappy with how he is negotiating. So, they want to make that known. So, we will see, as the vote is just ticking by here and people take into the floor as this plays out over the course of the day here.
SOLOMON: OK. The major breaking news is we see Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene filing this motion to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson who has not been in the role very long.
Sunlen Serfaty, as the House votes on this bill to fund the government, we will continue to follow all of this, Sunlen. So good to have you today. Thank you.
SERFATY: Thanks.
SOLOMON: All right. Now, we're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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[11:45:00]
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On this vote, the yeas are 286. The nays are 134. Two thirds being in the affirmative. The rules are suspended. The resolution is agreed to. And without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: All right. The measure has passed. House of Representatives there. That happening literally just moments ago. Let's bring back in Sunlen Serfaty, who has been with us all hour long following this vote. OK. This was a key hurdle. They got it across the finish line here. Talk to us about what happens now. SERFATY: That's right, certainly a key hurdle, the first hurdle up here on Capitol Hill cross, you saw there, the vote called at 286. That was two thirds of the present members up here on the House side today that voted "yes" for this bill. Now, they got over the finish line, as you see there, with considerable Democratic support. Republicans needed that. They know they needed that, and they expressed confidence going in. So, that bar met today. This bill now heads over to the Senate, and where, Rahel, we've been talking about all morning, where now this is another huge hurdle that they have to clear now, just 12 hours before the deadline.
And you saw Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer take to the Senate floor moments ago, warning his level -- warning his members, in essence, not to slow things down, telling them the requirements that they have as lawmakers to avoid a partial shutdown over the weekend. And he was really pleading with members, "Let's not do this. Let's just get this over the finish line." And he is talking to each and every one of the 100 senators, because by Senate rules here, they can slow down things. Any one member can slow down things. They can offer amendments. Things can go very, very slow or very, very fast. And obviously, the leadership over here in the Senate is looking for things to move quickly because they just do not have the time.
Now, we also, of course, have been talking about this side issue over in the House of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. She did file a resolution, a motion to vacate Speaker Johnson. It is still unknown exactly what is going to happen with that although she did file it as a privileged resolution. That means, once she is recognized, she has to go on the floor and talk about that. Once she is recognized, they need two legislative days and they have to vote on it. So we will see what happens with that, because this is in essence tangled up with their two-week recess that they are about to take on Capitol Hill. Many members pleading with her not to do that, not to bring Speaker Johnson's fate into the mix on what already is a very complicated day up here on Capitol Hill.
But, I think, Rahel, this just speaks to the frustration that you have among many conservatives, many far-right conservatives, frustration about Speaker Johnson and the way he negotiated this first -- this big bill and this big potential shutdown. He negotiated a lot with Democrats. The bill -- the texts was not released till in the late night, 3 a.m. on Thursday morning, and that angered many conservatives.
[11:50:00]
So, that is going on. But, the important first hurdle cleared in the House. This bill now heads over to the Senate where they must pass it by midnight tonight to avoid that partial shutdown.
SOLOMON: And then, Sunlen, if we could take a step back, remind us how we got here? Because we've seen month after month of continuing resolutions like sort of kick the can down the road for months now and finally getting to this point. We've heard this week members of both parties say that they got wins, which would tend to mean that maybe there was some compromise. There was some negotiation that tends to be how negotiations go. How do we get here?
SERFATY: That's right. And it's smart of you to note that this has been a piecemeal approach, that this is not the way appropriations are typically done on Capitol Hill. But, they broke apart a lot of these pieces and a lot of these appropriate appropriations bills were just a stopgap measure, so to speak. These six bills together, which would fund key programs in, for instance, health and DHS, Labor Department, Education Department, defense spending, this would go for about six months till the end of September, the key fiscal year. So, in essence, they wouldn't have to deal with this anymore. That also part of the frustration of a lot of members up here, the fact that this is a problem in essence of their own making because they didn't deal with the appropriations process, as they typically do.
SOLOMON: OK. Sunlen Serfaty, so good to have your insights and contexts today. Thank you.
SERFATY: Thanks.
SOLOMON: All right. We're going to take a quick break. One more thing is just ahead. Why Nike is warning of a drop in sales, and what the sportswear giant plans to do about it, when we come back.
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SOLOMON: And one more thing before we go, the changing fit of Nike. Shares of the world's largest sportswear maker have slid nearly eight percent in early trade. That's after executives forecast a drop in sales. It comes as the company struggles to compete with newer brands. Nike says some changes are afoot, well done, writer, including cutting back on supplies of classic shoes in favor of new products.
For more on what all of this means for Nike and for consumers, let's bring in CNN's Nathaniel Meyersohn, who joins us from New York. Nathaniel, I love this story, because Nike is considered one of those companies. It's sort of a bellwether. Talk to us about what's happening here. Has Nike lost some of its cool?
NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Rahel, I think Nike is still pretty cool, but it has lost a little bit of a step here, particularly because of the competition. You look at brands like Hoka and On Cloud running, those brands are really squeezing Nike right now. So, Nike sales last quarter grew just two percent. Hokas grew 22 percent. And even Joe Biden is wearing Hokas. They have a lot of stability. People think they're kind of ugly, these Hokas, but people really like them. They're good running shoes. And so, that's hurting Nike.
And so, what Nike is going to do is that it's going to pull back on some of its classic shoes like Air Force 1s to try to create demand for new products. So, Nike really needs to come up with some new innovation, some hot new shoes, to try to get people interested in the brand again. So, what is the new Air Jordan for Nike that can compete with Hoka and "On" and Adidas?
SOLOMON: Nathaniel, this was so insightful because I just bought some Hokas because I'm preparing for a race and I had no idea that they were considered ugly. This is news to me.
[11:55:00]
MEYERSOHN: I am so sorry to break it to you, Rahel. But, we wish you the best of luck in your race.
SOLOMON: Nathaniel Meyersohn, the chief correspondent of cool, thanks Nathaniel.
All right. And let's take a quick look at how Nike is doing on Wall Street. Yeah, shares are off about 7.3 percent, currently trading at about $93.49 a share. Let's take a look at the broader markets. U.S. markets are mixed. The NASDAQ is fractionally up, but the Dow Jones is off, as we continue to wait and see if we cross that 40,000 threshold mark. I don't know. Have some ways to go today. The S&P is off fractionally as well.
Let's take a quick look at Europe and Asia. Europe is mixed. FTSE 100 is up. CAC 40 is off. Asia is also mixed.
All right. We know your time is money. So, thank you so much for spending some time with me today. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World, it's coming up next.
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