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Australian Prime Minister Greeted at the White House by Biden; Now: Trump back in court for second day of Cohen testimony; Meadows Received Immunity to Testify in Election Investigation, According to ABC News; Israel at War; Israel Urged by U.S. Military Advisers Not to Launch a Large-Scale Ground Assault on Gaza; States Sue Meta, Say Platforms Harming Kids' Mental Health; Interview with California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired October 25, 2023 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:30:00]
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Economies where no one fears coercion and everyone, as you say Down Under, gets a fair go. Together, we are standing with Israel against Hamas terrorism. We are standing with Ukraine against Putin's tyranny. And we are providing and proving that democracy can deliver on the challenges that matter most to people's lives from climate change to cancer.
And today we are fueling the spark of innovation that has long burned in the hearts of Aussies and Americans. Innovation that will help uplift people in the Indo-Pacific and all around the world. Innovation that took us to the moon will take us further in the years ahead.
Mr. Prime minister, the alliance between Australia and the United States has never been more important than it is today, and we have never been more committed than we are today. Australia and America stand ready. Ready to do the hard work, the historic work to tackle the challenges we face. Ready to take a giant leap together toward a brighter future, one of greater opportunity, dignity, security and liberty.
For Americans, for Australians, for all, may God bless our alliance and may God protect our troops. And now it's my great honor to introduce Prime Minister Albanese, I am honored to invite you to say a few words. Thank you.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: President Biden greeting the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, at the White House. Talking about the strong bonds between these two nations, and noting that the U.S. and Australia stand together in supporting Israel in the Middle East, stand together in supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia as well. Talking about the bonds between the two nations and noting there will be a state dinner tonight at the White House.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Yes. I mean, you see the statement that you're making just in the presentation there on the lawn of the White House and the big state dinner this evening. So, we're going to keep an eye on this for everyone. We're also watching this. Coming up, Donald Trump and his former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen face-to-face in a New York courtroom again today. Cohen back on the stand testifying about his former boss in a civil fraud trial that could threaten the fate of Trump's business empire.
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[10:35:00]
BOLDUAN: So, two former employees of Donald Trump are now going under oath, testifying against their old boss. Right now, in New York, Trump's Former Attorney Michael Cohen is back on the stand, testifying against Trump in the $250 million civil fraud trial that could take down Trump's business empire. Cohen testified -- started his testimony yesterday and talked about how he helped manipulate Trump's net worth, talking about reverse engineering.
Also, there's this, in D.C., Donald Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, he has now been granted immunity to testify in the 2020 election subversion case. According to ABC News, Meadows has spoken with a special counsel Jack Smith in his team at least three times this year. Reportedly telling investigators that he did not believe the election was stolen and said so.
CNN's Kristen Holmes following the story for us. She joins us now. Kristen, what more are you learning about Meadows, what he has said and what he could do here?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate. I actually want to start with some breaking news because we actually just heard from Donald Trump addressing this directly outside of court when he was on his way to the courtroom. And he said, he doesn't believe these reports that Meadows was offered an immunity deal, took an immunity deal. And he also said that he's spoken to Mark Meadows many, many times over the last years and he, being Meadows, strongly believed the election was rigged.
Now, this is important because, as you mentioned, in this ABC report it says that Meadows sat down with federal prosecutors on multiple occasions. And in those conversations, Meadows denied that he, himself, believed the election was stolen, and he said that Trump was being, "Dishonest" when after the election, after those polls closed in 2020, he went and said that they won the election. Claiming victory early on. The other thing, according to this report that federal prosecutors focused on were conversations between Meadows and Trump after he lost the election, as well as Trump's reactions on the day of the January 6th riot.
I do think we cannot stress enough how important Meadows is as a witness. Now, we do not know any kind of details of what this immunity deal could be. But just given his proximity to the former president, he was not only his chief of staff. He was one of his closest confidants and he was, essentially, in the final days of the White House, a gatekeeper for Donald Trump. Keep in mind, people -- Donald Trump does not usually use his phone. He didn't in the White House. He wasn't getting calls on his phone or texting on his own phone. He was often going through Mark Meadows, so that's one aspect here. We also know from that January 6th Committee hearing that Meadows was essentially painted as being at the epicenter of everything that was going on regarding election denialism. So, he could not be a more critical witness, if this is true, if these reports are true and what exactly this immunity deal looks like. But of course, I talked to a number of Trump allies who are concerned.
BOLDUAN: Great to see you, Kristen. Thanks for the reporting.
John.
[10:40:00]
BERMAN: All right. New reporting about what U.S. military advisers are telling Israel this morning. How they want Israel to learn from America's past battles.
In a huge social media lawsuit, dozens of states take on Meta, which owns Facebook, over what it calls addictive features that are affecting youth mental health.
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[10:45:00]
BERMAN: So, this morning, CNN has learned that U.S. military advisers are urging Israel to essentially learn from America's past battles, advising a measured strategic approach in its response to the Hamas terror attack.
CNN's Natasha Bertrand live at the Pentagon with the very latest on this. What exactly are they advising, particularly when it comes to a possible ground invasion?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, John, they're advising Israel to have a very clear strategy and one that doesn't get them bogged down in a long-term, kind of, occupation of the Gaza Strip. And so, what they have been telling the Israelis is to avoid the kind of street by street, house by house fighting that the U.S. did against insurgents in Iraq in 2004 in Fallujah. And focus more on precision airstrikes, as well as special operations raids to try to target some of these senior Hamas figures that Israel has said that it wants to eliminate in order to degrade the organization as a whole.
Essentially, the message has been trying to steer them away from a large-scale ground incursion that does not have very clear military objectives, and towards something that is more precise and more well thought out in terms of not only the strategy to getting these Hamas figures, but also an exit plan. That is one of the key messages that the administration has sought to drive home from the Israelis is learn from our mistakes when it comes to the U.S. war on terror and have a strategy to withdraw and have a governance plan in place, right, for Gaza because Hamas right now is in control of the entirety of Gaza. And so, all of these things are being communicated to the Israelis via a three-star general on the ground there, General Glenn, who led marines in Fallujah back in 2004. Someone very well equipped to advise them on the complexities of urban warfare.
John.
BERMAN: Yes, someone who knows firsthand what can go right and what can go wrong there. Natasha Bertrand at the Pentagon, thank you very much.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: Coming up, dozens of states taking on Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram. The massive lawsuit claiming the social media giant and its platforms are literally harming young people and contributing to a -- the mental health crisis. One of the attorneys general leading this lawsuit joins us.
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[10:50:00]
BOLDUAN: A massive lawsuit was just announced taking on Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. In this latest move to rein in social media giant, state attorneys general have joined forces to essentially say, you are hurting our young people. 33 state attorneys general are now filing this lawsuit that alleges this, in part, and I'll read it. It alleges, Meta's design choices and practices take advantage of and contribute to young users' susceptibility to addiction. They exploit psychological vulnerabilities of young users through the false promise that meaningful social connection lies in the next story, image or video and that ignoring the next piece of social content could lead to social isolation.
And they're not alone. In addition, eight other states are filing separate but similar lawsuits in state court. One of the attorneys general leading the federal lawsuit is the Attorney General of California, Rob Bonta, and he joins us now.
Attorney General, thank you so much. First and foremost, why now to take this -- are you all taking this step? Because as we know, there has been concern and it has been studied and displayed for years the impact social media platforms can have on young kids' mental health.
ROB BONTA, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: You know, we want to bring a case when the facts are aligned, when the case is fully built out, where we've analyzed our theories of legal liability. And over the last two years, we had an investigation that's launched. We've interviewed witnesses. We've received volumes and warehouses of documents and did our due diligence.
So, now that that is complete, we've had an opportunity to discuss the federal and state theories of liability. We're ready to file. It's important that we -- when we do it, we do it right. And so, our due diligence is complete, and we have come to a very sober and somber conclusion that Meta is hurting our children, the nation's children, that they are doing it knowingly and that they're lying about it. And as a father of three, as the attorney general of California, I can't stand by and let that happen, so we have taken action to hold them accountable.
BOLDUAN: So, what does accountability though look like here?
BONTA: Well, we have a number of causes of action. We have a federal cause of action, as well as two-state causes of action for California. And accountability looks like change, behavior change. We call it in the legal world, injunctive relief, but it means changing your behavior going forward. In short it means, stop harming our children. Discontinue the practices that harm our children knowingly today. It's easy.
And when you drill down to what it looks like, it looks like reviewing and analyzing things like endless scroll, and autoplay, and the like button, and the plastic surgery filter, and the alerts, beeps and vibrations that hit children's phones in the middle of the night when they're sleeping, and in the middle of the day when they are learning. It looks like looking at a different algorithm, different default settings. There's a whole number of ways to achieve that result. And it is known to Meta how to do it.
[10:55:00]
So, this is not something that's rocket science. It's not something that is unknowable or unknown. It's known. And all it requires is the will of Meta to make the change. And if they don't express that will through action, we will force them to through court.
BOLDUAN: Well, that's why we're asking because I want to read part of a statement from Meta about this. We share the attorney generals' commitment to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online, and have already introduced over 30 tools to support teens and their families. Going on to say, we're disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age- appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path.
Was there another path here? Could you get a quicker fix and a quicker solution for the country's kids if you would work with the companies rather than take them to court?
BONTA: Look, if they -- as they say, share the commitment to the health and safety of the nation's children they know exactly what to do. It's one thing to say it. It's another thing to act on it. We need action, not words. And if you share that view, act on it. It's really that simple. They have known for the last two years that they have been investigated by attorneys general throughout the country.
And by the way, multiple states, 33 states, bipartisan states, states that don't agree on a lot but agree on this. Red states and blue states, Republican states and Democratic states, they agreed that Meta is hurting our children. So, this is no surprise. They've had two years to act. You know, it's a -- I think those are empty words, really, to say that now, now that the lawsuit is coming.
They knew it was coming. They had two years to act to change their course of conduct. They can still change their course of conduct. It's not too late. It's not a point beyond return. So, if they mean what they say, act on it.
BOLDUAN: Well, we'll continue to follow this as this lawsuit starts making its way through. Attorney General, thank you for your time.
John.
BERMAN: All right. Counting down to what could be the decisive vote on House speaker. Republicans telling our reporters that this time will be different. We're getting fresh information just in.
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