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Republican Presidential Candidates Criticize Hunter Biden's Plea Agreement; 2024 GOP Primary Field, Trump Maintains The Lead; Effects Of Weather On Underwater Search; Biden Refers To China's Xi As A Dictator; China Criticizes Remarks As "Open Political Provocation"; After Shooting, Dozens Of Palestinians Attacked. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired June 21, 2023 - 10:30:00   ET

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

[10:30:00]

MIKE PENCE, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT CANDIDATE: As I said on that prior program, about a two-tiered system of justice, like one set of rules for Republicans and one set of rules for Democrats and with all of the issues that continue to swirl around the Biden family.

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC), U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT CANDIDATE: We are not happy about the fact that the kid gloves are back on for the Biden family. This DOJ continues to hunt Republicans and protect Democrats. I can't think of anything more blatant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Absolutely not true. Attorney General Merrick Garland made clear this morning, saying the Trump- appointed U.S. attorney assigned to the Hunter Biden case was given full authority to decide the matter as he decided was appropriate.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: A lot of legal stuff going on right now, Sara, and Donald Trump support among Republicans appears to have softened since his federal indictment, but he does still hold a clear lead in the primary field. There's a brand-new CNN poll that shows his overall numbers dropped from 53 percent to 47 percent in the horse race. You can see that Ron DeSantis, by the way, didn't move at all. There's a lot underneath these numbers, as well.

With me now, CNN Senior Political Analyst John Avlon and CNN Political Commentator Margaret Hoover both here, great to see you. I said a lot underneath these numbers as well. Let me put up the favorability numbers for Donald Trump because they tell the same story in that horse race we were just look at. His favorability is up by 77 percent in May to 67 percent now, Margaret. What do you see going on.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND HOST, PBS "FIRING LINE": I see light. Light, perhaps, at the end of the tunnel. Now, look, this is -- proves my thesis, actually, which has been that there is an opportunity for somebody, other than Trump, to emerge. And that while Trump does have a lock on a certain percentage of the base, maybe that's 30 percent, maybe that's 35 percent, if the field isn't super crowded, you can see that perhaps there is a plurality of Republicans who are actually looking for someone else because they're not ultimately comfortable with somebody who -- I don't know, has stolen nuclear secrets and not turned them over to federal prosecutors when they've asked?

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean -- and -- but that's why we're speaking as a Republican. I mean, but not just --

HOOVER: Oh, yes, I should mention I am a Republican.

AVLON: -- a plurality, potentially, a majority. I mean, you know, you're seeing all of a sudden, he's hard core unphased. Let's say, it's -- you know, the people who say he should not run for president. You know, he's -- this is -- he should drop out among Republicans. You know, that's now a quarter of the Republican field.

BERMAN: Let me put that number up because I think this is very interesting. We asked. should Trump end his campaign because of the federal indictment? The overall number was 59 percent said yes -- no, this isn't it, but I'm going to read the numbers out loud.

AVLON: Sure.

BERMAN: 90 percent of Democrats said he should end his campaign. 62 percent of independents said he should end the campaign. And 27 percent of Republicans say he should end the campaign. Talk to me about those two bottom numbers.

AVLON: Yes.

BERMAN: 62 percent independents and 27 percent Republican.

AVLON: I mean, that's what's extraordinary. This is drop out. This is that -- this federal indictment is functionally disqualifying and you should drop out of the race, that's more than a quarter of Republicans, that's a clear super majority of independents, and let's not forget, as independents go so goes the general electorate. So, it shows that this indictment has really cost him in a fundamental way.

HOOVER: You know what else it shows?

AVLON: Tell me where I'm wrong, Margaret.

HOOVER: You know, what -- yes, I actually -- I agree with you. And what it does is it tells us all why political consultants have jobs, because if you're a political consultant for Chris Christie right now, right. What this does is this proves the thesis that if you are blanketed in negative messaging for a week, people will hear it and it will affect how they think about you. That's for a regular candidate. Forget the fact that if you're a former president who has been federally indicted for the first time in U.S. history, you don't just have bad messaging. That's bad news.

AVLON: Who --

HOOVER: And if you're a political consultant for Chris Christie right now, you want to cut that out and run it in Iowa, and in New Hampshire, and South Carolina, and every one of these close states that are always very tight.

AVLON: But it --

HOOVER: Wisconsin, George --

AVLON: It's not --

HOOVER: -- Arizona.

AVLON: Yes, but it's not about the messaging of the consultant class here, right? I mean, first of all --

HOOVER: No, it --

AVLON: -- this has been a Teflon don (ph) for a long time. Now, this, all of a sudden, is having an impact on his core support, not just independents. The second thing is, I think with that -- DeSantis not moving. And actually, people are saying he -- they won't vote for him under any circumstances rising, I think there's an opening for a third party.

HOOVER: Who?

AVLON: A third option. A third candidate. Not a third party.

HOOVER: Are you saying a third party --

AVLON: No, I am definitely not --

HOOVER: I just want to be clear.

HOOVER: Let me clear that. That was a misspeak. A third option for the Republicans, someone not named Trump or DeSantis to come up through the middle of the Republican PAC. Now, whether that'll be Tim Scott, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, who knows. But I think there's an opportunity for someone else.

BERMAN: Just one point I want to make, you're talking about Chris Christie, you're talking about his attacks being successful against Donald Trump. Chris Christie has gamed since May. He was at two percent in May. He's at three percent now.

HOOVER: That's a 50 percent increase.

BERMAN: So, maybe effective to tarnish Donald Trump. I'm sorry, I'm being facetious. But it may not help him necessarily, per se. I just want to put up one other number so people can see. This is favorable opinions, not just of Donald Trump, but also of Joe Biden.

[10:35:00]

Because if you are a Democrat and thinking, OK, bad news for Trump, good news for Biden. Joe Biden's favorability is at 32 percent. His unfavorable is 56 percent. I mean, basically the same as the twice- indicted former president.

AVLON: Which is stunning but that should be a real reality check for Democrats about wishing, you know, wishing that, you know, Trump's going to be the nominee because therefor Biden will slide in. His faves are not significantly higher. His unfave is better. You know, objectively, you can say he does not deserve to be there, but there are clearly, even among Democrats, is concerned about running for re- election. And Democrats need to deal with that even if they don't want to.

HOOVER: Yes. And by the way, you know when that's kind of really come home to roost, those numbers come home to roost if it's not -- if Joe Biden is not running against Donald Trump.

AVLON: That's right.

HOOVER: If Joe Biden is running against a transformational Republican figure who represents, I don't know, maybe two or three turns of the wheel generations younger than him, then Republicans are in a very strong position to re-take the White House, again, if it's not Donald Trump.

BERMAN: Quick bonus question.

AVLON: Yes.

BERMAN: We mentioned Ron DeSantis hasn't moved since May.

AVLON: Mm-hmm.

BERMAN: Any thoughts about why?

AVLON: Yes. I think that Donald Trump did an effective job defining him early on while he didn't leave Tallahassee. I think that pudding ad was actually enormously effective, most effective out of the cycle. So far, just in terms of defining him as, sort of, odd, perhaps not a people person. And perhaps, you know, having a cruel streak, which I think is an issue. So, I think he's not claimed his own narrative and that is -- there's an opening.

HOOVER: I also just think -- a six-week abortion ban is not going to win you suburban women voters. And even Republican base voters want somebody who can win broadly.

BERMAN: Margaret Hoover, John Avlon, great to see you here in person.

AVLON: You bet.

BERMAN: Appreciate the time.

Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right. This just in to CNN, we've learned that the U.S. Coast Guard is going to be holding a briefing on the search for the missing OceanGate vessel, that is at 1:00 p.m. eastern today. So, updates coming soon on the search for that missing vessel.

Also, ahead for us, two steps forward, but how many steps back now? President Biden referring to China's leader as a dictator. And we learned some U.S. officials, they were caught off guard by the whole thing. China responding furiously. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

SIDNER: This afternoon, we are going to hear from the coast guard for the first time since those noises were heard coming from the sea, and the weather will directly affect how rescue crews are able to navigate.

Joining us now is CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Derek, what was the weather when the crew disappeared and what will we expect as they're continuing this search?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. When the crew disappeared on Sunday, conditions were not favorable. There was low cloud, fog, mist and wind in the area as a cold front sweep through the region. This is the search area. Here's New Finland, this is the latest satellite loop.

And what's happening now is that cold front has advanced eastward. So, improving conditions about as ideal as one could get for a search and rescue operation of this magnitude and this complex, considering that we're in the North Atlantic where ocean swells can very easily get above 15 feet. But right now, they're running about three to six feet and water temperatures there. This is the sea surface temperatures running about 55 to 57 degrees, according to analysis that we did here internally within the CNN Weather Center.

So, we did a bit of deep dive into what conditions would be like on the surface and what they would be like at the bottom. And the search and rescue operations ongoing at the surface are not really impacted too much by the weather because, well, let's talk about that sonar ship, right. The many ships that are searching for this submersive vehicle -- vessel under water. There's just between the surface and 660 feet, really, not much of a difference in the ocean temperature, some of the currents mixing in with the wind and the sunlight, as well.

But as -- when you start decreasing in depth, we're talking about 200 meters or 660 feet down to 3,000 feet, that's where we get to the thermocline, and that's where temperature drop dramatically, down from 50s all the way to about 39 degrees at that level. And then you go down even further, you get down closest to where the Titanic, what they were originally searching for around 12,500 feet, and that's where temperatures get extremely cold. Flirting with the freezing mark but just above that.

And it's just amazing, Sara, when we dive deep into what really is happening and what they could be experiencing at those depths, if they do ultimately find the submersive vehicle, you know, we know more about the surface of the moon and distant planets than we do the depths of our ocean. That really puts into context. Sara.

SIDNER: It does put it into context and they're doing something that has been done before.

VAN DAM: Yes.

SIDNER: But it is extremely urgent. The timing of all this makes such a difference.

VAN DAM: Right.

SIDNER: Derek Van Dam, thank you for explaining all of that. Really interesting.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: There's now new reporting that U.S. officials were caught off guard by comments by President Biden about China's leader. At a political fundraiser last night, Biden called Xi Jinping a dictator, setting off a furious response from China's foreign ministry which called Biden's comments, "Absurd."

Let's get to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez who's travelling with the president. Priscilla, and now, U.S. officials, they were surprised that this all came up?

[10:45:00]

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Kate. They were surprised that he said this. And of course, it came at a fragile time for U.S. and China relations. Now, these remarks by President Biden were at a fundraiser that was held yesterday evening. And during those remarks, he said, "The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two boxcars full of spy equipment in it. He didn't know it was there." Biden went on to say, no, I'm serious. That's what's a great embarrassment for dictators when they didn't know what happened.

Now, of course, what President Biden is referring to there is the Chinese spy balloon that the U.S. shot down earlier this year. Over the weekend, President Biden made similar comments saying that that was an embarrassing incident for China. But of course, this is an incident that inflamed tensions between the United States and China. And over the weekend, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his Chinese counterpart in China to try to smooth over these relations and stabilize the situation. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Right, Priscilla. I mean, Tony Blinken just left China with -- and part of the intention there was to ease tensions between the nations. What more are you hearing about how China is responding?

ALVAREZ: Well, they have a stark response. And in it, foreign ministry spokesperson said that, "The remarks seriously contradict basic facts, seriously violate diplomatic etiquette and seriously infringe on China's political dignity, which is an open political provocation." So, strong words there coming from China. Now, President Biden had indicated over the weekend that he hopes to meet with the Chinese president in the months to come. The last time the two met was on the sidelines of a summit late last year. So, the question now is whether that will continue to hold in the weeks and months to come. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Priscilla Alvarez, travelling with President Biden now -- right now. Great to see you, Priscilla. Thank you.

John.

BERMAN: In Arkansas, a federal judge overturned the state's ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth. In an eight-page ruling, the judge said the 2021 law violated the U.S. constitution and that it cannot be enforced by state officials.

In Georgia, the state's election board dismissed the years-long investigation into alleged misconduct by Fulton County election workers during the 2020 election. The board said it found no evidence of conspiracy. Donald Trump had baselessly accused election workers of counting what he called fake mail-in ballots.

In Philadelphia, the damaged portion of I-95 that collapsed earlier this month, it will re-open this weekend. Pennsylvania's governor says, the re-opening comes well ahead of schedule, thanks to the 24/7 work by crews at the site. The overpass collapsed 10 days ago after a truck crashed and caught fire, killing the driver.

Sara.

SIDNER: Ahead, violence in the West Bank escalated overnight after four were killed in one of the deadliest shootings this year. We'll take you to the scene of the attack, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

BERMAN: A surge of violence in the West Bank overnight. This morning, hundreds of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian village there, at least one Palestinian man was killed and a dozen more injured. This follows similar violence by settlers overnight across the region. Multiple cars in flames there.

The violence follows the deadliest attack on Israelis since January, that is according to CNN's count. Four people were killed, four more injured in an attack at a gas station. The two suspected gunmen were later killed by Israeli forces. CNN's Hadas Gold reports from the West Bank.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: The attacks started here at this Hamas restaurant that's part of a gas station complex just outside of the borders of the Eli settlement in the occupied West Bank. The attackers came to this restaurant, shooting through to the restaurant, killing the first of the three victims, including two teenagers. The fourth victim was killed at the gas station that's just in front of us. Israeli officials saying that another four people were injured, and saying it was the work of two Hamas operatives who came here in a car.

The first of the gunman was shot and killed by an armed civilian who happened to be on site, and the second gunman managed to get away, steal a car, that triggered an hours-long manhunt by Israeli forces before he was cornered and shot and killed as well just north of here.

But here at the scene, we are still seeing evidence of the bloody scene from the night before. We're seeing bullet casings on the ground, medical gloves, medical equipment, as well as blood stains. And here on the restaurant itself, you can still see it is riddled with bullet holes, including this one bullet hole that managed to make its way through and smashed this window.

Hours after those attacks at the gas station restaurant that killed those four Israelis, Israeli settlers rampaged through Palestinian villages like this one of Luban Ash-Sharqiya, burning, as you can see, dozens of cars, parts of these cars just completely melting off. In fact, right here, the morning after and there is still smoke smoldering from the fires. We've been speaking to villagers here that say their homes were damaged. Palestinian officials say that at least 37 Palestinians were injured, mostly as the result of stone throwing.

Villagers we're talking to here saying, they haven't seen violence like this against their property, against their homes since the days of the Second Intifada and that they now live in fear of what can come. There's now a big push, especially on the right-wing of the Israeli political spectrum and the right-wing of this current government for a much bigger and broader military operation in the occupied West Bank than what we've seen in the past. That could lead people here fear to even more violence. Hadas Gold, CNN, Luban Ash- Sharqiya in the occupied West Bank.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

[10:55:00]

BERMAN: And our thanks to Hadas for that report.

Sara.

SIDNER: We are just a couple of hours away from the U.S. Coast Guard giving us an update on the missing Titanic tour submersible. The first since we learned of those banging sounds caught on sonar. Plus, we'll talk to an experienced rescue diver and why he says, all hope is not lost.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: About 72 hours in and running out of oxygen. Search teams may have just hours left to find and rescue the people onboard that missing sub.

[11:00:00]