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Spike in Strikes Around the Middle East Raised New Worries About the Situation; Israel-Hamas War; Two-State Solution Discussed in a Call by Biden and Netanyahu; 2024 U.S. Election; One Day to Key New Hampshire Primary; Before the Primary in New Hampshire, Haley Intensifies Her Attacks on Trump; In Recent Advertisement, Biden Campaign Prioritized Abortion Rights; Kyte Baby CEO Blasted for Declining Remote Work Request from Mother with Infant in NICU. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired January 22, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

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SARA SIDNER, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Days of attacks fueling new concerns about the potential of a Middle East conflict spreading across the region. There you can see just in the last few days, there was a strike in Syria's capital Damascus, there was also multiple attacks in southern Lebanon, and another Houthi missile shot down in Yemen. There was even an attack on a U.S. Air base in central Iraq. This is all putting the U.S. on edge as it now has to consider the possibility of a sustained campaign in the region.

CNN's National Security Reporter Natasha Bertrand is at the Pentagon. Natasha, how concerned is the Pentagon over this surge in the number of strikes that we're seeing?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Sara, this is exactly what the Pentagon had been hoping to avoid, a wider escalation of violence and tensions in the region, and something that they continue to insist has not widened really beyond Gaza. They say that they do believe still that the core conflict, the core war is still contained to Gaza between Hamas and Israel.

But clearly, as you can see from this map here, the conflict has indeed spread even wider than that because of these Iran-backed proxy groups that continue to launch relentless, really, near daily attacks on U.S. and coalition bases in Iraq and Syria, as well as the Iran- backed Houthis in Yemen who are continuing to launch strikes on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, including by targeting U.S. owned and operated vessels there.

Now, the question now is how do you respond to this? Because while Iran can -- appears to be waging this kind of lower intensity conflict using its proxy groups to kind of do its dirty work for it, the Pentagon, of course, does not want to get into a war directly with Iran. The administration writ large does not want to have this direct conflict with the Iranians. And according to officials, Iran is not eager to get into a direct conflict with the U.S. either.

But still, the Pentagon is grappling with what to do here because as these attacks go on, you are continuing to see U.S. personnel be injured, be put in harm's way. And the question now is how do you continue to respond to all of this when, you know, the Iranians are carrying this out through their proxy groups, and the U.S. is only continuing to respond in kind of an ad hoc kind of way, trying to take out various infrastructure. Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, this has been, really, the fear since the beginning of all this. Natasha Bertrand at the Pentagon with all that for us. Thank you.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right, with us now, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, CNN Military Analyst. Colonel, this is where the strike was in Iraq against the U.S. airbase, the Al-Asad Airbase there. No Americans were killed in that attack. My question to you, what happens when and if an American is killed, be it in Iraq or Syria or somewhere in the Red Sea?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST, FORMER MEMBER OF JOINT STAFF, PENTAGON, AND FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR TRAINING, NSA: Yes, good morning, John. Well, of course, it depends, I think, on the circumstances of a tragedy like that. But if an American were to be -- had been killed in the Al-Asad attack, for example, I think there would have been at least a direct response against the Iranian proxy group, the Iraqi pro-Iranian militia that was involved and claimed responsibility for that attack.

The other thing that could happen, although, as Natasha points out at the moment, it's a bit unlikely is that there would be an attack against the Iranians themselves. That would happen if they could have, basically, have the evidence that the Iranians were directly involved and gave direct orders for such an attack and for that specific attack. So, those would be, kind of, the two options that would be there. But there would definitely be a response if it were -- if the circumstances were the correct ones for such a thing.

BERMAN: As Natasha mentioned so far, the United States response has been reactive. But if the United States wanted to try to neutralize some of these forces that are going after them, whether it be from inside Iraq, these Iranian-backed militias there inside Syria or the Houthis in Yemen, which the United States is regularly hitting with airstrikes there. If they wanted to prevent further attacks, what could the United States do?

LEIGHTON: So, there would be several options that they would have. For example, in the case of Yemen, John, what they could do is they could attack the Houthis directly, not just the emplacements, you know, for their Sam (ph) sites and for their drone facilities, but they could also go after the leadership.

[10:35:00] They could take out just like the Israelis did in Damascus. They could take out members of the Houthi leadership. They could, for example, go in and to take out some of the installations along the coast and in places like Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, which the Houthis control.

In other areas, what they could also do is they could launch attacks from the air bases, for example, Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. They could launch attacks against, not only the various militia groups in Iraq or in Syria, but potentially also in Iran. Now, I think the Qataris would object to doing it -- doing something directly against Iran from a place like Al Udeid, but it is certainly, at least, technically a possibility.

BERMAN: And then very quickly, we talk about what's happening inside Gaza right now. And the idea of the Israeli Defense Forces did just release video of a tunnel -- the tunnel system they found under Khan Younis, where they say at one point, 20 Israeli hostages were being held. It is a reminder of how many hostages still are inside Gaza at this point.

There's talk of Israel being pushed toward a ceasefire. If they were to stop their offensive right now, where would that leave the situation in Gaza with Hamas?

LEIGHTON: Well, Hamas would continue to live to fight for another day, and president -- Prime Minister Netanyahu would not have achieved his goal of eliminating Hamas. So, it would be a situation that could only occur if the Israelis felt that they would be getting the hostages back, and even that might not satisfy the political goals of the Israeli government.

BERMAN: Colonel Cedric Leighton, always great to have you on. Thank you very much.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: So, it is now a head-to- head matchup in New Hampshire, Nikki Haley and Donald Trump. Exactly what Nikki Haley said that she was hoping for. You're seeing -- this is a live look of her speaking to voters in New Hampshire. We're going to take you right back to the campaign trail.

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SIDNER: Well, we haven't seen much of any of this, but it's just happened. Nikki Haley going hard after Donald Trump while stumping for votes in New Hampshire, this happened moments ago.

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NIKKI HALEY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But if he's going to lie about me, I'm going to tell the truth about him. And that is the fact that he needs to answer to why does he want to raise the retirement age to 70? Why, as president in 2018, did he propose a 25 cent per gallon gas tax increase on all of us? Why didn't he do anything to take care of the fentanyl flow in China? And everybody talks about the economy that Trump gave us and how good it was. And it was. But at what cost? He put --

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SIDNER: Going after him on several fronts. Joining me now, Rick Ganley, the host of "Morning Edition" on New Hampshire Public Radio. Thank you so much for joining us. You just heard those comments, that was just moments ago. Nikki Haley really going after Trump on policy and throwing back in his face some of the things he's criticized others for. What did you make of it?

RICK GANLEY, HOST, "MORNING EDITION" ON NEW HAMPSHIRE PUBLIC RADIO: Well, I think she's going a little harder now on Donald Trump than she has up until this point, you know, getting down to the wire here. When I talked to voters across New Hampshire and listeners who are, of course, paying attention to this race, and they are at a Nikki Haley event or talking about possibly attending a Nikki Haley event, they're kind of kicking the tires and shopping around a little bit.

They are looking for an alternative to Donald Trump. But a lot of them have said in the past that, you know, they're not sure that Nikki Haley is the right candidate. I think she's trying to differentiate herself in these final hours before the primary.

SIDNER: Yes, you know, we've seen a little bit of that and now it's getting stronger, as you mentioned, and we are --

GANLEY: Yes.

SIDNER: -- like down to the wire here, right?

GANLEY: Yes. True.

SIDNER: DeSantis is out, right? And so --

GANLEY: Yes.

SIDNER: -- you're listening to what voters are saying, that is no longer an option. I mean, does Haley really have a shot at this point in time?

GANLEY: Well, I don't think Ron DeSantis made a lot of traction here in New Hampshire. That was, you know, I think he knew that as evidence of he was not here in New Hampshire very much. He was polling in the single digits. I think listeners that I have talked to and voters that I have talked to when I've been around the state are really looking at this as a Donald Trump and possibly Nikki Haley race here.

This is -- and Donald Trump voters are, as you know, well entrenched. There are some Republicans, of course, across the spectrum that are looking for something else, possibly, whether because they are looking for a more so-called moderate candidate or they're looking for someone who is maybe a little less bombastic and less rhetoric. But I think they -- this is kind of always a two-person race here in New Hampshire.

SIDNER: And it's what Nikki Haley has been wanting and now she has it, and we are less than 24 hours away from votes being cast. I wanted to ask you about New Hampshire and the idea that it's particularly independent minded, if you will. What are some of the issues that you have been hearing from voters as you have been talking to them for these many months?

GANLEY: Really, it's economy. And that's the word that comes up every time we have asked people about their opinions, about what issues they most care about. The word economy comes up all the time. Inflation, I think, plays a big part in that. And even though it's eased up in some sectors like gas prices and so on, I think people are still feeling it mostly because of housing.

[10:45:00]

The housing stock here in New Hampshire is older (ph). There is not -- it hasn't been as much development to keep up with the influx of population. And I think people are generally feeling that we have had, you know, a record high housing prices and rents here in New Hampshire in particular, and you're seeing a lot more issues with people who are, you know, unhoused and people who are having to use services they have never had to use before and people in the middle class that have slipped. And I think that's really on people's minds.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about one particular issue because the Democrats, Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris starting this big push to talk about reproductive rights. Donald Trump has been campaigning that he's the reason that Roe versus Wade was overturned. Is that an issue that's being talked about or is that on the back burner?

GANLEY: You know, not as much as I might have thought. I think that really depends on the demographic as well. Democrats, that is obviously a motivating factor and you will see that across the spectrum. Of Republicans, I cannot say that I've heard a lot about it. Maybe younger voters a little bit more on the Republican side, but I'm actually surprised that that hasn't come up as often. Again, it's more of a -- an issue on the left than it is on the right.

SIDNER: It's the economy. All right. I do want to ask you about the Democrats. There are, I think, more than a dozen people that are on the ballot for the Democrats, but President Joe Biden's name is not on the ballot because of the decision --

GANLEY: Right.

SIDNER: -- by the DNC to put South Carolina as the first Democratic primary. Is this going to be a problem for Biden, you think?

GANLEY: You know, I would think -- that's a good question. I think the enthusiasm for either Donald Trump or Joe Biden is not what either party would like. I feel like maybe -- I'm -- I really don't know what to expect tomorrow as far as the right-hand campaign is concerned. I think that the DNC, the Democratic National Committee did not do itself any favors in the PR department when they called New Hampshire's primary useless. I think that was probably a bad message to get through. At the same time, the Biden White House has sent a lot of surrogates up to New Hampshire in the past two weeks to do a lot of campaigning with a kind of a nudge and a wink.

So, you know, I'm -- I -- I'm really interested to see what happens on the Democratic side. Of course, the turnout probably won't be all that big on the left tomorrow, but it will be interesting to see the results.

SIDNER: Rick, you know what? Honesty is the best policy. And you know, we just don't know. So, that was the best answer that you could possibly get. We will wait and see.

GANLEY: What else can you say, right? Yes, yes.

SIDNER: That's right.

GANLEY: Exactly.

SIDNER: Thank you so much.

GANLEY: Wait and see.

SIDNER: We appreciate it.

GANLEY: Thank you. I appreciate it.

SIDNER: Kate.

BOLDUAN: A remote work request denied. A story which then took off like wildfire online and has now led to the CEO of a baby clothing company apologizing not once but twice.

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BOLDUAN: Backlash for a baby clothing brand. The CEO of Kyte Baby is responding now to the growing anger over turning down an employee's request to work from home while her baby was in the NICU. What happened next? The story went viral after her sister posted about it on TikTok, which has led to this very public apology from the company's CEO.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YING LIU, CEO AND FOUNDER, KYTE BABY: I wanted to hop on here to sincerely apologize to Marissa for how her parental leave was communicated and handled. It was my oversight that she didn't feel supported as we always have intended. I will be reviewing our HR policy and procedures to make sure to avoid hurting our staff and our community in the future.

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BOLDUAN: CNN's Camila Bernal has more on this. Camila, what's the latest here?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kate. So, this company just continues to apologize because after that first video, the one you just watched, well, people online said she was being scripted, not genuine. And so, she had to put another TikTok video on and apologize a second time, this time off script. And saying, she not only understood her criticism for not being genuine, but also for not allowing this employee to work remotely. I want you to take a listen to that second apology video.

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LIU: This was a terrible decision. I was insensitive, selfish. I cannot imagine the stress that she had to go through. I fully realized the impact of my action, my decision, my shortsightedness.

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BERNAL: Now, here's the back story. This all started in December when Marissa Hughes and her partner decided to adopt a baby. That baby was born prematurely and was in the NICU. And so, what happens here is that according to company policy, she's only allowed two weeks of maternity leave. And she has to sign this contract saying that she will work at least six months with the company after her leave, and she was unable to sign that contract because her baby was in the NICU.

And so, the company released a statement saying that yes, they had denied that remote work, thinking that the job that she was doing could not be done remotely, and later said that she had her job still if she wanted to go back to it. In addition to all of that, what the company is now saying is that they're also revising their maternity leave policy.

But Marissa Hughes, essentially, saying that she doesn't want to return to work there. She said she acknowledged the apology, but said she just didn't necessarily feel comfortable or believe that she should return to work. She was also saying that she's encouraged by the changes in the company and thanking people for praying for her baby who is in the NICU, Kate.

[10:55:00]

BOLDUAN: Yes, which is the most important thing here, that's for sure. Camila, thank you.

John.

BERNAL: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right. Moments ago, fresh attacks from Nikki Haley on Donald Trump. Trump just left court in New York after an unexpected adjournment. We are waiting for his first public statement.

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SIDNER: A sick juror and concerns about a potential COVID exposure forces Donald Trump's civil defamation trial to be unexpectedly adjourned for the day. But before leaving court, his attorney confirmed the former president still plans to testify.

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