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U.S. Shoots Down Houthi Missiles and Drones; Ecuador on High Alert; Josh Kimbrell is Interviewed about Supporting DeSantis; Timeline Unclear for Boeing's 737 Max 9's Return. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired January 10, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: What will it look like, presidential power, and what presidents are able to do without consequences. That's the parade of horribles, right? Both sides use it to push in different directions. But, ultimately, it also helps all of us as the court and the parties are kind of educating all of us about what the outer bounds of these arguments are.

And so when the court comes down with their decision, we'll understand that it's in part because if they had gone with Trump on this, you can see where that would lead us all.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's really -- it was really interesting. And I'm very thankful we could have that audio to come out so we could hear it live.

It's good to see you, Jennifer. Thank you.

RODGERS: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, one of the largest scale attacks on U.S. ships yet in the Red Sea. What the Pentagon is now discussing as a possible response.

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[09:35:02]

BERMAN: All right, new overnight, we're being told the U.S. Navy shot down 21 Houthi missiles and drones launched from Yemen. That is according to U.S. Central Command. This was one of the largest attacks coming from the Houthis in the Red Sea in recent months. A British navy destroyer took part in this combined response.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand is at the Pentagon for us this morning.

Natasha, what do you know about this and the possible response?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, John, this was a really huge attack by the Houthis. And they say that it was in response to the U.S. military sinking three Houthi boats on December 31st that ended up killing all of the militants that were in that boat. And so you kind of see this cycle of escalation picking up.

Now, what we know is that three U.S. destroyers responded to this barrage of missile and drone attacks by the Houthis overnight, as well as a U.K. destroyer. Just a really significant response here, shooting down 21 missiles and drones launched by the Houthis from Yemen. And we also saw that F-18 fighter jets from the Eisenhower aircraft carrier that is currently stationed in the Red Sea, they also participated in the shoot down of this barrage of missiles and drones.

And, look, I mean, an escalation like this, it really raises questions about whether the U.S. is going to respond in a more meaningful way, perhaps a preemptive way, against the Houthis in Yemen. And we kind of see hints of that in a statement that was released from Central Command last night discussing this Houthi attack. They said that the U.S., as well as 14 countries, issued a joint statement on January 3rd saying, "the Houthis will bear the responsibility for the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, or the free flow of commerce in the region's critical waterways."

Now, this is a statement that was released earlier this month by this coalition of countries. And a senior administration official told reporters afterward that that was really the last warning that the Houthis were going to get here. This is interrupting global commerce and trade in a very meaningful way. Maersk, the major shipping company, announced last week that it was going to be suspending operations in the Red Sea. Roughly 18 companies have now said that they are going to be rerouting around Africa to go back up and to avoid the Red Sea area. So, it's having a very significant impact in a way that the U.S. really cannot continue to ignore, according to current and former officials. So, we'll have to see if this prompts a reaction from the U.S. Perhaps strikes on the Houthis inside Yemen, as we have reported, is a possibility that is being looked at. But, of course, the U.S. has been deeply reticent to this point to expand the conflict in that way, John.

BERMAN: Yes, it's a great point, Natasha. It's one thing to keep knocking down the missiles and drones that are attacking you in the Red Sea. It's another to go after where they may be launched from or fired from in Yemen itself. That is what bears watching this morning.

Natasha Bertrand, terrific report. Thank you so much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Also this morning, Ecuador's president has declared a state of internal armed conflict is how it's described after a surge of violence from several criminal gangs. The country's been rocked by violence really since Monday when a high-profile gang leader escaped from prison. And yesterday what happened was just astonishing. More than a dozen armed men stormed a state-owned TV station during a live broadcast. You can see armed even with explosives. The employees were taken hostage while viewers watched it play out on air. Police eventually arrested the 13 gunmen involved, safely freed everyone at the station.

Let's get to our CNN's Patrick Oppmann. He's tracking all of this for us.

Patrick, what is happening there? What does this all come down to?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that attack on the TV station was just one of multiple attacks that took place across Ecuador. And what we -- for years now we've seen Ecuador -- it was not a country that was primarily involved in the drug trade become more and more of a key piece of real estate for the drug cartels to move cocaine primarily through Ecuador on to Europe and the U.S., and those cartels have been battling each other and the government for control of ports and areas to move the drugs through.

And yesterday, though, was really something astonishing, though where you saw attacks on police, prison guards, on hospitals, on a university. And then this just astonishing assault on a TV station in Guayaquil where the assailants came in, they had bombs, grenades, guns, and they tried to essentially take over this TV station to get their message out. They're very angry with the government for declaring this national emergency, for declaring a curfew, for putting the military in the streets, and they essentially tried to get the military to back off. The military is searching -- more than 3,000 police and soldiers are currently searching for one of the largest gang's leaders who walked out of prison. We don't know when, but he was noticed missing on Sunday. And it really speaks to just the sense of lawlessness that many Ecuadorians have been complaining about for a long time.

[09:40:02]

But what we've seen, just in the last 24 hours, is the military saying that they are not going to put up with this. The government saying that they're treating these groups, these gangs, as terrorist groups, and they will go after them with -- with every -- every weapon in their arsenal. And then regular Ecuadorians saying that there is a before and after, as they watched this hostage situation unfold for a while, live on TV, that they cannot go back to the lawlessness that they have been living with for so long, the sense of helplessness, and that their country needs to deal with this gang situation before it gets any more out of control.

BOLDUAN: Yes, any more out of control.

Patrick Oppmann, thank you.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: That was just terrifying.

All right. Right now, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, preparing for a head- to-head debate on CNN tonight. Up next, we'll speak live to a DeSantis surrogate from Haley's home state of South Carolina about their campaign strategy there. That's ahead.

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[09:45:19] BERMAN: All right, tonight, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley will face off in the final Republican debate before the Iowa caucuses. This is a CNN debate. Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will be moderating in Des Moines.

Joining us now is South Carolina Senator Josh Kimbrell. He is a surrogate for the Ron DeSantis campaign.

And, Senator, thank you so much for being with us.

People who listened very carefully there might have noticed that I said you, a state senator from South Carolina, where Nikki Haley was the governor, is here on behalf of Ron DeSantis. Why is that?

JOSH KIMBRELL (R), SOUTH CAROLINA STATE SENATE: We just lost -- just lost him.

BERMAN: You just lost me? It was really a great question. It's a shame you missed it.

Senator, are you back?

Senator?

Senator Kimbrell has been in Iowa campaigning on behalf of Ron DeSantis quite a bit, but as I did say, he is a South Carolina state senator, which might make for an interesting answer if we get his audio back, about why he chose to support Governor Ron DeSantis and not South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

Senator, can you hear me?

KIMBRELL: I've got you now. Good morning. It's always fun to do live TV. And, yes, good morning from South Carolina. You're right, it's a -- a lot of people raised those eyebrows when they hear a South Carolina senator endorsing the governor of Florida over the former governor of South Carolina. There's a reason for that. I'm -- I'm a native South Carolinians. Born and raised here. Lived here my whole life. And been involved in politics even back during the Haley administration.

And Ron DeSantis is a conservative that Haley always claimed to be. The -- Governor Haley, unfortunately, campaigned as a conservative, didn't really govern as a conservative, and Governor DeSantis campaigned and governed as a conservative. So, there's an authenticity question at play here.

BERMAN: Senator, if you can still hear me, and sometimes live TV is more fun than other times, but if you can still hear me, I was going through your Twitter feed and I noticed that you reposted this tweet from a conservative writer who said, "a vote for Donald Trump in the GOP primaries is essentially a vote for Joe Biden in the general since Trump cannot mathematically win in the general. You are helping to guarantee a Democratic victory."

Why don't you think Donald Trump can win in the general election? KIMBRELL: Well, look, it's more that I think Ron DeSantis is a

stronger contender in the general election. I mean if you look at Florida, Governor DeSantis won Florida by 15, 20 more points than Donald Trump did.

BERMAN: But you posted a tweet that said Donald Trump can't win. So, why do you think Donald Trump couldn't win in the general?

KIMBRELL: Well, I think -- look, I think going into this election, dynamics have shifted. I think the former president -- I mean I think he could still pull out a win if he's the nominee. But, ultimately, I don't want it to be close. I want to win by not just a touchdown, by a field goal, I'd like to win by a few touchdowns. And with Ron DeSantis you have the governor, who I'm not worried about it being close. If it's not close, there's no question. And I think you -- you have states like potentially Virginia, certainly Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, those states are in play with the governor of Florida as the Republican nominee, where they may not be in play with any other candidate, and frankly including Governor Haley.

So, ultimately, I think Ron DeSantis represents the best chance for the Republican Party to recapture the White House over Joe Biden, and to win by a few touchdowns, not just a field goal. That's my ultimate goal. And that's why I think, if you look at what happened in 2022 in Florida, I mean, look, nationally last year, back in 2022, we were talking about a Republican wave we expected. That didn't happen. The only place it did happen was in Florida, and Governor DeSantis crushed it and took a purple state and made it a red state. It's no longer a swing state anymore. And, frankly, we need that kind of leadership on the national level to be sure that it's not a close election in November of this year and we do make Joe Biden a one-term president.

BERMAN: Iowa is up first. It's on Monday. But one week after that is New Hampshire. And this is brand new CNN-UNH poll which shows that Governor Ron DeSantis isn't in first, second, third, or fourth place in New Hampshire, but he's down in fifth place, 5 percent, behind Vivek Ramaswamy. Why do you think that is?

KIMBRELL: Well look, New Hampshire has always been a moderate state in the early nominating process. Iowa is always a conservative start off and then you have New Hampshire and then you have my state of South Carolina. I would remind you, in 2000, George W. Bush versus John McCain, George W. Bush did well in Iowa, everybody said, OK, he's on his way to the nomination. He didn't do well in New Hampshire. McCain won New Hampshire. And all the narrative and every major media outlet was that McCain is now surging, he's the favorite for the nomination, he's going to cruise on in to South Carolina and win here. Of course, that's not what happened. George W. Bush ended up winning here because we're a conservative state and Bush went on to be the nominee and then ultimately the president.

So, I'm not really worried about New Hampshire. I think Iowa is a much greater test for conservatives. Iowa's going to be a more conservative state that's going to really more mirror the values of South Carolina than New Hampshire. And, ultimately, even in New Hampshire, we keep hearing about the Haley campaign pretty well encouraging Democrats to go and primary for her there in New Hampshire. So, ultimately, if you have a lot of crossover, a lot of Democrats voting in a Republican primary, in a state that's already moderate, I'm not really worried about New Hampshire.

[09:50:01]

I view it as certainly important we need to compete everywhere, but Iowa matters, South Carolina is the firewall, and I think that -- that was true in 2000 with Bush and McCain.

BERMAN: Senator -- just very quickly, Senator, if Ron DeSantis were to drop out at some point, do you see yourself supporting Donald Trump or Nikki Haley?

KIMBRELL: We're not talking about him dropping out. I think he's going to win Iowa tonight. And I think he's going to do well and get a surge into South Carolina.

So, I'm not going to answer that premature question. I still feel pretty confident that DeSantis will be the nominee of the party.

BERMAN: State Senator Josh Kimbrell from South Carolina, thanks for sticking with us. Appreciate it.

Kate.

KIMBRELL: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: That is a good question though, John.

Coming up for us, Boeing's CEO acknowledges a quote/unquote "mistake" in comments after Alaska Airlines' terrifying mid-flight incident. What the NTSB is now saying about that today.

We'll be back.

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SIDNER: The National Transportation Safety Board says it expects a preliminary report in less than a month on what caused the door plug of an Alaska Airlines flight to blow off the plane on Friday leaving a refrigerator-sized hole minutes after takeoff. Boeing grounded most of its 737 Max 9 planes indefinitely as authorities inspect them.

[09:55:05]

This as the CEO of Boeing is acknowledging now that the company's so- called mistake but won't specify exactly what the mistake is. And the NTSB wants to know the answer to that, too.

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JENNIFER HOMENDY, NTSB CHAIRWOMAN: I have a lot of questions on that statement we don't know. We've been very focused on the door plug and on the surrounding structure. So, I did ask for clarification, but I -- I haven't received anything yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: We will all be waiting for that, especially those passengers on that plane and the staff, as well. A source with Boeing says the company believes the issue started in the aircraft's manufacturing supply chain.

Let's get straight to CNN's Pete Muntean.

Pete, as you look at this investigation, there's a lot that we don't know, but there are some clues in the investigation so far, correct?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Some really big clues. Remember that Max 9s in the U.S. are still grounded by the FAA pending new inspections by airlines. Airlines are still waiting on guidance from the FAA. And the FAA says it's reviewing guidance from Boeing.

Boeing's CEO, Dave Calhoun, acknowledging the company's mistake after this dramatic in-flight blowout involving one of its 737 Max 9s.

But here's the issue, as you mentioned. Calhoun did not exactly say what the mistake is. You heard NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy on "CNN THIS MORNING" say that she wants to talk to Boeing's CEO about that but they have not spoken yet.

One question investigators will ask Boeing is whether or not they had any previous problems with the door plug. That is the part of the left side of Alaska 1282 that shot off with an explosive bang on Friday at 16,000 feet.

Remember, this is a door that's visible from the outside of the plane. Normal window, wall, and seats inside the plane. What is critical here are the bolts that essentially keep this part from shooting off. Both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines say they've discovered loose bolts as they prepare for these FAA-mandated inspections. United noted possible installation problems.

I want you to listen to now part of this company-provided excerpt from Boeing's all-hands safety meeting held just yesterday and CEO Dave Calhoun told employees that Boeing will be a huge part of this investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE CALHOUN CEO, BOEING: I got kids, I got grandkids. And so do you. This stuff matters. Everything matters. Every detail matters.

We're going to approach this, number one, acknowledging our mistake. We are going to approach it with 100 percent and complete transparency every step of the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: So far it's been an incredibly controlled message from Boeing. This is just the latest black eye for the company following issue after issue with the Max line. Two Max crashes abroad led to this 20-month grounding in the U.S. It ended in 2021. That was an issue with the flight control system. Since then, it's been dogged by quality control issues.

Essentially, Spirit Arrow Systems is the contractor that builds the fuselage. They could be a party to this investigation.

By the way, this is a new airplane. Rolled off the factory floor only back in October.

SIDNER: Pete Muntean, a lot of people don't know that -- well, they probably do now though, that you're a pilot, so I know you're watching this really, really, really closely. I thought that the statement from the CEO was touching, but it did leave a lot of questions, and the NTSB is watching very closely. I know you will be, too. Thank you so much.

MUNTEAN: (INAUDIBLE). Thanks.

SIDNER: John.

BERMAN: All right, Sara, I have live pictures right here from the U.S. Capitol. Moments from now, the first steps from House Republicans to impeach the secretary of Homeland Security.

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