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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump vs. GOP Over Money?; Republicans Attack Biden Nominees of Color; Queen Elizabeth Breaks Silence; Report: Chinese Government Responsible for Genocide, Sent 2 Million Uyghurs & Other Minorities to Detainment Camps. Aired 4:30-5p ET

Aired March 09, 2021 - 16:30   ET

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

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When Meghan and Harry say the palace did know about it and they didn't act, she is saying, we didn't know the full extent of what you're describing here, presumably, the mental health issues there.

[16:30:05]

She also talks about how recollections may vary. So, I think what she's talking about there is this conversation about the skin tone of Archie. There's a recollection that Harry had. There's a very different recollection in terms of the other person that was in the room, a family member. We know it wasn't the queen or Prince Philip.

And then that other line, Harry, Meghan, and Archie will always be much-loved family members, and they're going to be taking this seriously, and it'll be addressed by the family privately, and what they're saying there is, let's deal with this family issue privately, not on TV. Let's calm this down. We can deal with this. We are a family. It can be sorted out.

So it's quite a loaded statement. But they're not conceding everything that Harry and Meghan said here. They're challenging a lot of it. But they do want to make progress and deal with this privately.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Of course, that's what the queen put out in his statement. But there have been a whole bunch of other leaks from Buckingham Palace painting Meghan in a bad light, et cetera.

Where do you think this goes from here?

FOSTER: I think, if they can agree to do this privately, then hopefully they can. I mean, it's very hard to see, isn't it?

When you look to that interview, there's a very bad relationship between Harry and Charles, and Harry and William haven't spoken for a very long time. He does speak to the queen, but he's going to have to speak to those other two to resolve this.

We will have to see how it goes. But at the moment, they're trying to draw a line on this. And I have to say, the briefings that you're talking about there, I received them as well last week. They have all stopped. So there's a massive effort certainly on this side of the water to end this.

And I spoke to the Sussex office this evening. They had no comment to make. So, it looks like they're making some progress here. Ultimately, it's a family. They need to deal with it.

TAPPER: All right, Max Foster, thank you so much. Appreciate that report.

In the politics lead, 49 days in office now, President Biden has fewer Cabinet-level nominees confirmed than any of his recent predecessors, only 13 of 23 positions fill that need Senate approval. Biden has even more nominees on the deputy and assistants level who need confirmation.

But some Republicans seem to be laying the groundwork to stop him from getting them confirmed by resorting to what critics see as a decades- long practice Republicans use against Democratic officials from the civil rights community, misleading attacks.

CNN's Abby Phillip now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two of President Joe Biden's picks for top Justice Department posts, both women of color, are on the receiving end of some of the most expensive and intense attacks by conservatives of any of his nominees.

NARRATOR: She supports defunding the police, led a group that wants to reduce punishments on white supremacists, even terrorists.

PHILLIP: In false and misleading multimillion-dollar ads like this, Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke, both seasoned civil rights attorneys, are being painted as radical choices.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Your record is one of a an extreme partisan advocate. Your record is an ideologue.

PHILLIP: In her confirmation hearing today for the position of associate attorney general, Gupta defended herself.

VANITA GUPTA, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: As a lifelong civil rights lawyer, I have committed my career to ensuring that the promises made in the Constitution are kept and that our federal laws are fairly and impartially applied. I do not support defunding the police.

PHILLIP: Republicans have also accused civil rights lawyer Kristen Clarke, who has been tapped to lead the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, of reverse racism and anti-Semitism, even using her words against Biden's attorney general nominee, Merrick Garland.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I find it particularly troubling that during the hearing and in response to his questions -- to questions, he advocated for both Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke, both of whom he barely knows. PHILLIP: Their supporters see a pattern.

SHERRILYN IFILL, PRESIDENT, NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND: There has almost been a barrier that has been erected by the right that you have to go through a gauntlet if you have devoted your life to civil rights legal practice.

PHILLIP: For decades, Republicans have worked to stop the civil rights nominees of Democratic presidents using a similar playbook, conjuring fears about crime and accusations that they would implement preferential treatment for racial minorities.

IFILL: They're almost fantastical. And, frankly, I'd heard about the ads. And when I saw the ad, it was so ridiculous, so preposterous, so -- every word so untrue, with the exception of "and" and "the."

PHILLIP: Gupta's nomination in particular has drawn support from unlikely quarters. Grover Norquist, head of the conservative group Americans For Tax Reform, the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Sheriffs Association, and nearly a dozen other police organizations have all put their support behind her.

Gupta and Clarke are just two nominees of color who have faced difficult paths to confirmation in a narrowly divided Senate, leading to accusations that they are being targeted because of their race or gender.

Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican, pushed back on that suggestion today.

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): Can you oppose the nomination of a woman or a racial minority on the merits without being racist or sexist?

[16:35:04]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIP: Whether it's President Bill Clinton, President Obama President Biden, this phenomenon of blocking these nominees dates back some 30 years. Many of them have ties to the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund, an organization, as you know, that was founded by Thurgood Marshall, a legendary civil rights giant and former Supreme Court justice.

A lot of people watching this say it all seems to indicate that speaking frankly about race will be held against you if you're up for one of these civil rights posts, and it calls into question whether things have really changed very much since last year's supposed racial reckoning on race and criminal justice after those protests last summer -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Abby Phillip, thanks for that report.

Former President Trump may still control Republican politics, but up next, why he's in a fight with the party itself.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:40:18]

TAPPER: In our politics lead: the latest chapter in the ongoing saga and drama about President Trump, former President Trump, vs. the Republican Party.

And this drama is about money, it's about influence, and it's about power. The RNC is ignoring a cease-and-desist letter from Trump demanding that they stop using his name and picture to fund-raise. So, Trump is now taking matters into his own hands. And he's urging his supporters to donate to his Save America PAC, instead of donating to the Republican National Committee, writing -- quote -- No more money for RINOs."

That stands for Republicans in name only.

"They do nothing but hurt the Republican Party and our great voting base. They will never lead us to greatness."

Let us discuss, Ayesha and Gloria.

Ayesha, let me start with you.

So, Trump is clearly trying to maintain his grasp over the party with his hold over the money. Why? What does he want here?

AYESHA RASCOE, NPR: He wants influence. And whoever controls the purse strings is the one who will have the influence over the future of the party.

And President Trump, or former President Trump, let's be clear, Trump has always been one who didn't want others making money off of his name. And he's also someone who's always looking at everything in a very transactional way, i.e., he -- if you use his name, you owe him. He doesn't want anyone to be able to profit off of the Trump name who was not sufficiently loyal to him.

And so -- but if you are running the Republican Party or some of these Republican committees, you may be looking at things other than just loyalty to former President Trump. And Trump wants payback for those who voted against him when it came to impeachment.

TAPPER: But, Gloria, if you're one of the heads of the either the RNC or the NRCC, which elects House Republicans, or the NRSC, which likes House -- Senate Republicans, and you see this message from Trump, don't give money to Republicans, give it to me, I mean, I know that they're afraid of standing up to him.

But, like, isn't there like a certain amount of self-preservation here? They would want -- you would think they would push back?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, one would think so.

But I think what the self-preservation they're thinking about is, what happens to them if they cross him? Look, it's absurd. It's ridiculous that you have a president, a former president, and saying to the Republican Party, don't fund-raise off of my name?

And one of the -- another reason he's doing this, of course, is because he's afraid that they will fund the wrong people, that he won't have ultimate control. And he really cares about vengeance and power above all else.

And for vengeance, he wants to make sure that they don't send the money off to those so-called RINOs that he's talking about. He wants to make sure that the money goes to the people who pass his personal litmus test. And he wants to be in control of it, and potentially use it as he cares to.

TAPPER: But, Ayesha, I guess what I don't really fully understand here is, the Trump presidency, they lost the Senate.

BORGER: Yes.

TAPPER: They have not won back the House. They lost the White House .It's very infrequent that an incumbent president is not reelected.

I mean, this doesn't seem to be a winning direction for them. I thought there was a moment there where it looked like they were going to try to distance themselves from him, but, Ayesha, I guess not.

RASCOE: Well, you -- Senator Lindsey Graham has said publicly that, yes, Trump is a lot of trouble, but we can't win without him.

And so I think that they -- that what Republicans seem to be betting is that, yes, this is troublesome. And even listening to CPAC a few days ago, you wouldn't know that they had lost the Senate and lost the presidency. They were saying this was the best presidency that ever happened.

So there's a bit of revisionist history going on as well. But that -- this is where their base is, and that's the problem. They're worried that if they try to cut Trump off or try to separate themselves from Trump, that they will also be separating themselves from their voters.

And so they're trying to do this dance with him. But, as always, Trump is not making that easy.

TAPPER: And, Gloria, one of the most vocal Republican critics of Donald Trump is Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.

He told our own Jeff Zeleny that it's time to give an alternative to Trump's vision. Take a listen.

[16:45:03]

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): Anytime in the history of the party, there had been competing vision, except for now. It's just been Donald Trump's vision. And nobody else had said anything else. We have a right and a responsibility to offer competing visions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, he acknowledges that his effort might not be successful.

What do you think of this all?

BORGER: I think -- look, I think Adam Kinzinger is a man of some courage. He's potentially sacrificing his political career. And he said as much publicly.

He knows this could cost him a loss, but he has decided that he has to take a stand, as he puts it, for the truth. And he's decided to do that in a big way. Not just with a vote, but with talking to people around the country, trying to raise money to reform the Republican Party.

And he may not be successful, but he wants to be a part of history that says, at least I tried to do it. I think that's an important point that he's making. And he may lose his seat as a result.

TAPPER: Or he may not.

BORGER: Or he may not.

TAPPER: He ran ahead of Trump in his district.

Ayesha and Gloria, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it, as always.

Genocide happening right now. The first independent report showing China's intent to destroy a particular ethnic group, as CNN talks to the sister of someone caught in the middle.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:50:34]

TAPPER: In our world lead today, a damning report out today finds that the government of China is responsible for a genocide, and an attempt to, quote, destroy Uyghurs. Uyghurs are a mostly Muslim minority group in the region. The report conducted by 50 global experts and human rights, war crimes and international law concludes that the Chinese government violated every single provision in the United Nations' Genocide Convention. Two million Uyghurs and other minorities have been placed in internment camps in China.

CNN's Kylie Atwood sat down with a sister of one current detainee who says has been so abused, he's unrecognizable.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rayhan Asat hasn't seen her brother in almost five years, after he returned home to China and disappeared.

Now in a rare interview with CNN, the Chinese national living in the United States says recent images of him are shocking. She hasn't seen them herself, but says he was described as --

RAYHAN ASAT, UYGHUR HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE: Absolutely unrecognizable. He lost tremendous weight. He looks like a bone with a human face except the face is absolutely unrecognizable.

ATWOOD: Ekpar Asat, a successful Chinese entrepreneur, went missing in 2016 after arriving back in China from a State Department program in the U.S.

ASAT: Years have gone by and I'm still looking for answers.

ATWOOD: She said the Chinese government without evidence or trial sentenced him to 15 years in prison on charges of incitement of ethnic hatred and ethnic discrimination. The Harvard Law school graduate says 35-year-old Ekpar never criticized Chinese leadership, his sister says, and believes he's one of up to 2 million Uyghurs and other minorities detained by the Chinese government and put into internment camps.

ASAT: He spent three years in the concentration camps, and only in January 2019, he was transferred to prison.

ATWOOD: The Chinese government says it's a policy of re-education. The U.S. government has called it genocide. The Chinese dispute those claims.

WANG YI, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): The claim that there is genocide in Xinjiang couldn't be more preposterous. It's just a rumor, fabricated with ulterior motives It's a lie through and through.

ATWOOD: After years of staying silent, Rayhan has begun speaking out, taking to new social media platforms and speaking with us. A great risk, she says, to her and her families' lives.

What do you think would happen to you if you went back to China?

ASAT: I think I would also disappear into the shadows of these internment camps.

ATWOOD: Your parents are still in China?

ASAT: They are.

ATWOOD: Do you fear for their safety?

ASAT: I do. Every time I speak out, I do. ATWOOD: Now, Asat is turning her attention to the new Biden

administration, which is facing mounting pressure from human rights advocates to hold China accountable for these camps. Former detainees tell CNN inmates are subject to rape and forced sterilization, which the Chinese government denies. President Biden voiced concern about these alleged human rights abuses in China during his first phone call with President Xi. Biden publicly claimed China will face repercussions. His administration has yet to offer specifics.

NED PRICE, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: I think the question that we are posing to like-minded allies and partners around the world is, what collectively can we do?

ATWOOD: For her part, Rayhan is very clear. She believes the Biden administration must put this genocide above everything else when dealing with China.

ASAT: I would love to have an opportunity to make a case for President Biden and Secretary Blinken that any future engagement with China has to have some form of conditions, one of which to release my brother.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ATWOOD (on camera): Now, Jake, a State Department spokesperson told me they continue to raise Asat's case in meetings with U.S. and Chinese government officials, and the State Department continues to call for his immediate and unconditional release.

[16:55:08]

TAPPER: All right. Kylie Atwood, an important report. Thank you so much.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Before we go, we want to remember just one of the 527,000 lives lost to coronavirus in the U.S. Today, we're remembering 50- year-old Ron McBride. He was a behavior interventionist at Sumter High School and a pillar of his community in South Carolina. He coached basketball, track, and football. His principal said he got to the school every morning at 6:00 a.m. to open the doors for students who needed to arrive early.

Last Thursday, the South Carolina General Assembly honored McBride with a resolution.

To the McBride family, may his memory be a blessing.

The news on CNN continues right now.

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