Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Putin Says, Wagner Group Simply Does Not Exist; Culture Wars Threaten Passage of Crucial Defense Bill; Actors Join Writers on Strike, Shutting Down Hollywood. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 14, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Pay raises for the military future, investments in military infrastructure, and so much more, all on the line as lawmakers are sparring over the massive defense bill today, a bill that was bipartisan until far right lawmakers got their way last night. The culture war is now threatening this must-pass bill.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Hollywood goes dark, an unprecedented strike shutting down productions, actors now joining writers on the picket line, which has not happened in more than 60 years.

I'm Sara Sider with Kate Baldwin. This is CNN News Central.

We begin what is happening in Russia in a new interview with a Russian newspaper, President Vladimir Putin appears to be attempting to divide top Wagner fighters from their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Putin said the private paramilitary group simply does not exist.

Russia's president was referring to the legality of the mercenary group as he described a meeting with senior Wagner fighters and their boss. The Kremlin says that meeting happened just five days after Prigozhin led a failed rebellion against Putin's military.

CNN's Alex Marquardt joins us now from Dnipro, Ukraine. Alex, what more are you learning about this conversation that Putin says he has and the fact that he's saying they don't exist legally anyway?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, Putin certainly does appear to be trying to weaken Prigozhin here, and he's dabbling in a bit of legalese. I think what he's saying here is two things, that on the legal front, mercenary groups are illegal, and then when it comes to Wagner, at least in Ukraine, that they no longer exist. And that's something that the Pentagon said yesterday as well, that their troops are still in Eastern Ukraine, but that they are not operational.

Major questions remain, Sara, to what extent Wagner will continue to operate in Africa and in the Middle East, where they have for years, what is the fate of their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that is still very much in the balance. But Putin did give this fascinating interview to this Russian newspaper, Kommersant. Here's a little bit of what he said. I want to quote from it. He said, we do not have a law for private military organizations. It simply does not exist. There is no such legal entity. He then goes on to say that it is not an easy question.

He also details that extraordinary meeting that happened five days after this Wagner mutiny on June 24th. He says that at the Kremlin, Putin met with 35 commanders from Wagner, including Yevgeny Prigozhin. And he said to these commanders, you guys can keep fighting. You can keep fighting under the commander that you've had if you want to. And, apparently, according to Putin, the men at the Kremlin were nodding along and then Prigozhin piped up and he said, no, the guys do not agree with this decision.

So, apparent division, real division on full display between Putin and Prigozhin. Putin did not detail what happened after that, but it is apparent, Sara, that he is trying to marginalized, sideline Prigozhin, while at the same time keeping the door open for these very capable Wagner fighters to join the Russian military and keep fighting. Sara?

SIDNER: One thing that is very clear is that Ukraine is happy to see this infighting between the Russian military and the Wagner group.

[10:05:06]

Thank you. Thank you so much, Alex Marquardt, for your reporting. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Over on Capitol Hill right now, the culture wars have erupted once again and what was a bipartisan must-pass defense bill has now become a mess of a political fight overnight. Hard line Republic s pushing a series of controversial changes that now threaten to sink the whole thing.

The bill is known as the National Defense Authorization Act, the NDAA, and it authorizes funding and sets the policy agenda for the Department of Defense. Put simply, they have to pass this bill and they do it every year. And it usually passes with wide bipartisan support. But the addition of anti-abortion, anti-diversity and anti- trans measures has changed that today.

CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill tracking all of this. So, Manu, the changes happened late into the night. Where is this going this morning?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Republican leaders are furiously moving behind the scenes to lock down the votes win over that hard right bloc that did push this bill further to the right. And at the moment, they are confident that they will have the votes to pass it, even as Democratic supporters of this bill have essentially revolted and are expected to vote for this. In large part, almost all of them expected to vote no.

But those changes that included nixing the Pentagon's policy that provided reimbursements for military service members or their family who travel out of state for an abortion, that is now would be killed as part of this bill. Also going after transgender veteran health care, also killed as part of this bill, and dealing with the diversity and equity programs at the Pentagon, also eliminated as part of these series of amendments.

And as a result, the Democrats who indicated before that they plan to support what has traditionally been a bipartisan measure are indicating that they will vote against it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): I'm not going to support a bill that that directly attacks the men and women who have sworn an oath to defend this country and give their life to this country.

REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): It's now become an extreme, radical defense authorization bill.

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): I'm still pissed off. I'm still frustrated. If we want to show America that we can come together and that we care about women, we got to stop being assholes to women. We got to start stop targeting women and do the things that make a real difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, that last comment coming from Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who's a Republican from South Carolina, someone who has been critical of her party's handling of the issue of abortion. She did vote for that amendment, claiming that it was essentially out of the Pentagon's bounds to reimburse people for elective procedures.

But the fact that that amendment was added is the reason why we expect a large number of Democrats to ultimately vote against it, including the Democratic leadership.

Now, even if this bill passes the House, which we expect it to happen later this morning, this version is unlikely to reach the president's desk, given the Democratic-led Senate and the White House's opposition to many of these provisions in there. But this will set up a huge clash in this coming year over these key national security priorities and also a real indication of how Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House, runs the House and runs its conference, does cater to the whims of the right, but trying to keep his conference in line. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right. Manu, stick close, because there's going to be a lot of moving parts that could be happening during this show, during in the next hour, we could be seeing this.

What you're looking at right here, I believe this is a live camera outside the House speaker's office, Kevin McCarthy's office. It's just next to the box that you're in, Manu. But we were also looking -- Manu, thank you so much.

But we were also looking at just before that, I think, was a live look at the House floor, and we saw Adam Smith, who is the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. He is one of the co-authors of this bill that left committee with bipartisan support. I even heard the Republican chair of the committee just a couple of days ago on the House floor complimenting the work that they had done together, Republican and Democrat, to get this massive bill together.

SIDNER: They've been doing this for 60 years over and over again. But what you said is the most important thing, that it left committee with full bipartisan support, and now a surprise overnight. We'll have to see what happens with it.

All right, this morning, Republican House members defended adding those controversial amendments to the defense spending bill. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BOB GOOD (R-VA): The challenge that we face as a Republican House is we're dealing with an executive branch, an administration that truly does not understand or does not agree with what should be the ultimate purpose of the military, I would say the sole purpose of the military. The purpose of the military is to be the most effective, lethal fighting and killing machine so that no one wants to challenge us on the planet. That was the case before this administration.

We attacked this social experiment that the Biden administration made our military.

[10:10:00]

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Joining me now is California Democrat John Garamendi, senior member on the Armed Services Committee. Thank you so much for joining us this morning after this sort of surprise that the right wing part of the Republican Party came with last night.

It leaves a committee as a bipartisan bill. It has now got a lot of amendments. Do you, in any way, support the defense bill as it stands right now?

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA): Absolutely. I do not support it at all. The Republicans, the MAGA, extreme Republicans, have forced into this bill basically hijacking our national security bill to put in place some extraordinarily bad policies that are going to make it very, very difficult for the American military to operate.

The gentleman that was on just before me was correct. American military has to be the very best. But in order to be the best, you've got to be able to recruit. And 50 percent of the American population, between 18 and 30, that's the prime age for our new recruits, they're minorities.

The military has to understand diversity. They have to understand equity. We need women in the military. The prohibition on getting an abortion, let's say somebody, a naval officer is raped on a ship, cannot get an abortion. This is just outrageous. It is going to harm the military. We've got to get rid of these extremist policies and go back to basics. The basics is being able to recruit into our military at least half of our population and the other half being women. We have to be able to have policies in place that provide the services necessary both to recruit and to put into the military the rest of this program.

Hey, these people have tried to eliminate funding for Ukraine. There were numerous amendments. Fortunately, they were defeated. But the same group that is forcing in these social policies into this bill also tried to remove funding for Ukraine. It is outrageous. Democrats are going to -- yes.

SIDNER: Congressman, that was Marjorie Taylor Greene saying that she wanted to remove the $300 million, that did not go through.

But I want to ask you if there are any amendments that you could live with if you had to go forward? Are there any amendments that you could say, all right, I can vote on it now with this one or two of these amendments?

GARAMENDI: The answer to that is yes. This bill passed out of committee. When we marked up this bill two weeks ago, it passed out with a unanimous 58 to 1 -- well, not unanimous. 58 to 1 vote. Democrats and Republicans voted for it.

Some of these provisions were in the bill, but they were not radical. They dealt with the overarching issue of diversity and women. That was then hijacked here on the floor of the House in the last two days by the radical MAGA Republicans who have forced into this bill extreme policies on social issues, from women's rights, health care issues, all the way to diversity, how we're going to deal, how we're going to recruit into this and deal with the minorities in America.

SIDNER: So, I just want to make sure, are you saying --

GARAMENDI: We've got to recognize what's happened here.

SIDNER: Congressman, are you saying if the abortion policy, the transgender right policy, the getting rid of diversity policies, if those amendments do not come out, you will not support this bill, but otherwise you would?

GARAMENDI: I am an absolute no on this bill because of the amendments that the MAGA extremists have put into this legislation here on the floor of the House. Go back to what we had out of committee. It dealt with many of these issues, but dealt with in a way that was sensible. Go back to that, strip out all this garbage, and then let's go forward. Yes, I would vote for that. I did, and I would again.

SIDNER: We've got sources telling us that there are a few Democrats, a handful of Democrats, that may go ahead and vote on this final version the way it is now. What is your concern? Do you see that or are in your mind Democrats united here against this bill or do you see some breaking off? GARAMENDI: Well, we always would expect Democrats of a few, maybe more than that, to vote for any particular piece of legislation. We don't handcuff our team. We allow them to do what they think is necessary.

On the other hand, the Republicans that vote for this are going to be held accountable in the elections out ahead because this is clearly, clearly a problem for women all across this nation, not just in the military. Clearly, it's a problem for our minorities, which are 50 percent of the men and women that we need to recruit into our military.

And so the Republicans are going to be held accountable in the next election because they're voting against -- they're voting for policies that eliminate rights for women. They're voting for policies that harm minorities of all kinds in this nation. So, in the next election, you can bet the Republicans are going to be held to account.

[10:15:03]

SIDNER: But this is happening right now and will affect policy going forward. If this bill passes, what is your a biggest concern with how this will affect the military?

GARAMENDI: If this bill passes, it's going to be extremely difficult to recruit the American population. Keep in mind, 50 percent of the men and women between the age of 18 and 30, that's the prime recruiting ages, they are minorities. These pieces of legislation simply ignore that fact.

And the reality is the military needs to understand. They need to understand the racial issues. They need to understand the history of slavery in this country. They need to understand that women need to have access to all kinds of reproductive rights and programs.

The reality is, because of what the Republicans have put in this bill, that will not be available. So, we have a major recruiting problem that they're putting on to the military. And for those that are in the military, it becomes even more problematic.

For example --

SIDNER: Congressman, let me just quickly -- I just want to quickly interject because this question was asked by our Kate Bolduan to Mr. Kirby. I do want to ask, would you -- if this bill passes the way it is now with these amendments that you are calling extreme, would you expect that the president veto the bill? Do you want President Biden to veto this bill if it passes the way it is?

GARAMENDI: This is the first half of a very, very important process. The Senate will take up their version of the bill. Hopefully, they're far more rational and sane than the Republicans in this House. We'll see what happens there.

Ultimately, there will have to be a compromise between the Senate and the House. If the Senate version adopts what is in this bill, in the House bill, I would expect the president to require us to go back and rewrite it.

Now, that may be a veto or that may be a threat of a veto, but we've got about six or five months out ahead of us before this bill will actually be on the president's desk. And during that period of time, I would hope the American public would understand what the extreme MAGA Republicans have done to harm our national defense, to harm our ability to recruit and to maintain within our ranks the men and women that are serving today and we would want to serve tomorrow.

SIDNER: All right. Congressman John Garamendi, thank you so much for coming on and explaining your points here on this bill that, by the way, we're watching it happen live right now, where they're going through some of the amendments right now and voting on the House floor. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, some of your favorite T.V. shows, movies are hitting a hard stop right now, and they will be on hold as of this morning as two strikes shut down sets in Hollywood and beyond. The main sticking points that's holding all of this up, that is ahead.

Plus, the fight is on in Iowa now. A closer look at how Republican presidential candidates are trying to win over evangelical voters, their messages to what has been this vital Republican voting bloc.

We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:20:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning and for the foreseeable future, the real action in Hollywood is going to be on the picket lines. And for the first time in 40 years, the SAG-AFTRA is now on strike. And for the first time in more than 60 years, the entertainment industry is facing dual strikes. The union comprised of roughly 160,000 actors, joining over 11,000 writers that have already been on strike since May.

CNN's Chloe Melas has the very latest on this. This is going to be picking up pretty soon, Chloe, from the statements that you have -- since the statements that you -- since the statements and comments that I have seen and heard from both sides overnight, it sounds like the studios and the actors are really far apart still.

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: You're exactly right, Kate. I mean, look, we heard Bob Iger come out, who runs Disney, and he says, basically we don't make as much money as you think that we do. And so we are offering unprecedented historic pay. And we have already put a clause in about artificial intelligence and we found a way to address it. But then you hear from SAG-AFTRA, you've heard from the union that represents, you said, the over 160,000 actors and the president, Fran Drescher, drawing a hard line yesterday.

And it's not just about artificial intelligence. It's about more pay. It's about what does the future of production look like in the age of streaming. And the actors and writers alike, they are demanding that they be met closer to where they want to be, and that's why they went on strike.

So, like you said, I'll be there at some of the picketing and the locations this afternoon. It starts at 12:00 Eastern. But I also just want to point out to you that there was a real big issue with A.I. that came to the forefront yesterday, and it's that there was a proposal by the AMPTP that represents the studios saying, okay, here's what we're going to do. When it comes to extras, we will offer one day's pay. We will scan the actor, and then we will be able to use their likeness in perpetuity without ever paying more than just that one day rate. And that's one of the things that you heard Fran Drescher and others take issue with saying we're being taken advantage of.

And so the AMPTP, though, is drawing their own hard line. Kate, like I just said, that they feel like this is more than fair.

BOLDUAN: Chloe, thank you so much for that. I appreciate it.

Coming up for us, the coast to coast heat is putting millions on alert, threatening to topple dozens of records. The warning signs that you need to know if you're out in this dangerous heat.

[10:25:02]

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Today, more than 90 million Americans are under extreme heat warnings across 15 states and parts of Europe are also feeling the effects of record-setting heat. We learned this morning that in Greece they had to briefly close the Acropolis of Athens because of just how dangerous the conditions were becoming there.

[10:30:01]

Temperatures there could peak at nearly 108 degrees in Athens by midday.

Here in the United States, it's not just the temperatures.