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Trump & Haley Now In 2-Person Race For GOP Nomination; Netanyahu Rejects Terms Of Surrender From "Monsters Of Hamas"; Netanyahu Under Fire For Opposition To 2-State Solution; Blood Test That Screens For Alzheimer's May Be Nearing Reality. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired January 22, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have watched the entire political elite yesterday and today, I have watched the entire media lead yesterday and today say that I should drop out for the good of the country to support Donald Trump.

(BOOING)

HALEY: Let me get this straight. Donald Trump won 56,000 votes out of three million in Iowa. He got 1.5 percent of the vote in Iowa. America doesn't do carnations. We believe in choices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Let's discuss with someone who knows New Hampshire well. Steve Duprey joins us. He's a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party.

Steve, thank you for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

Obviously, some prominent Republicans think that this is over. How close does Nikki Haley have to get to the frontrunner, Donald Trump, to keep her campaign hopes alive?

STEVE DUPREY, FORMER NH REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIR: Very close or a win, I think. The poll seemed to suggest there is a double-digit margin. But at the same time, our secretary of state, Dave Scanlan, has predicted a record turnout among undeclared voters.

They tend to break Republican, fiscally conservative, socially more moderate, not nearly as a religious or evangelical state as Iowa. So she could do very well.

I think they are going to need a 65 percent turnout there, which would be substantially above the usual 40-45 percent.

Then if she is within a few points, I think there will be a lot of people who are encouraging her to keep the fight going. Although, it is a pretty tough road. S

He'll have to quickly turn to South Carolina. And then Super Tuesday, March 12th, is now 12 states instead of five or six.

So if she is close or wins, I think she stays in. If it is a double- digit lead, look, this contest is over and the Republicans will have spoken.

SANCHEZ: Do you think she should drop out if Trump wins by more than 50 percent if he gets a majority of voters?

DUPREY: I think it's going to be very hard for her at that point to make a case for how she could win the nomination.

I'm going to be very candid. In 2016, when Donald Trump ran, it was a circus. He was a celebrity. He was a TV guy. He really did not have an organization anywhere in the nation.

In 2020, he was the incumbent. Really didn't need one.

The Trump team has done a fabulous job in the state just from a political point of view of organizing and being disciplined, having a good strategy and carrying it out.

It's one of the most highly organized residential primary campaigns I have seen in a couple of decades.

SANCHEZ: What would you say is the aversion to Donald Trump among those voters who have looked elsewhere? Is it what happened on January 6th? Is there a specific policy that they dislike or is it that they just don't want another four years with him?

DUPREY: No. I think most Republicans and a lot of the Independents who vote tomorrow, the undeclared, will agree with Donald Trump on a lot of issues. It is the chaos. It's the turmoil. It's the constant tweeting.

I was talking with someone today and I think they put it very well.

If Donald Trump on January 6th had said, hey, the election is over, stand down and let a very calm, traditional, peaceful transfer of power then, I think he would be up to 20 points over Joe Biden. And there would not have been any primary contest whatsoever.

I think there are a lot of people who are conservative but they want a president who is not so chaotic and is not tweeting of the time and insulting enemies and our foreign policy seeming to be zigging and zagging.

I think that is what has led to all these other candidates trying to jump in and make the case.

SANCHEZ: What do you make of Trump earning so many big-name endorsements in recent days?

We should note you are supporting former Governor Haley. But Senator Tim Scott, who you originally endorsed, is now backing Trump. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Congresswoman Nancy Mace coming out in the last few hours in support of Trump. What is your reaction to that quick alignment? Does it concern you for

Haley?

DUPREY: No. I do not think the average voter really cares much about what Senator Daines -- maybe they do in his state.

But you know what I found? Almost every single member of Congress is a herd animal. They seem to give up their independent-thinking mind.

And they are part of that political elite she talks about. They tend to gravitate in one direction when they see a tide flowing. When the tide goes the other direction, they jump and go that way.

I don't think there are that many Americans anymore, unfortunately, who look to their elected congressional leaders and hold them in their political opinions in high esteem.

So I do not think it makes any difference. And I think Nikki Haley is very smart to punch them in the nose and say, who cares?

SANCHEZ: Looking at the big picture, Steve, you advised Senator John McCain when he ran for president.

You also published a column in the "Union Leader" and it reads, in part, quote, "If you admired how John McCain campaigned and what he stood for, there is only one choice for your boat next week, Nikki Haley."

[13:35:08]

It doesn't strike me though, Steve, that even recently, Trump was ridiculing the late Senator, someone you clearly admired. It is tough to find common ground when it comes to their record. And yet, Trump remains the frontrunner for your party's nomination.

Does that signal a change to you within the Republican party? A change among voters and their values?

DUPREY: Yes. I think there is some change there. And frankly, what the genius of Donald Trump, in 2016, which he realized before anyone in the country, is that he captured those voters.

Which are a large swarth of not only Republicans but Americans, who feel that NAFTA and letting China and the World Trade Organization, all this globalization, has not helped make their lives better.

It may have done Wall Street a good turn but it has not made Americans better. And people are angry about it. They are angry at both parties. And he captured that better than anyone. That is the opposite of what the traditional, old-fashioned Republican like me sort of stood for.

I think John McCain had such reverence for how, as the president of the United States, you can conduct yourself. You don't insult private citizens. You do not engage in name-calling with allies who you might disagree with. Maybe I am old-fashioned but I remember when Ronald Reagan was president and he did not let anybody in the Oval Office who was not wearing a suit. And he always wore his suit.

I think it is a symbol. It teaches young people in this country how to behave in civil and civic life. And John McCain stood for that space. Unfortunately, our public discourse has gotten cruder and, frankly, I blame Trump for a good part of that.

SANCHEZ: On that note, Steve, last question. If he wins the nomination, would you vote for him going up against President Biden?

DUPREY: I'm going to think hard and make that decision when we see how this plays out. I think people know that even though I can count on one hand, the number of Democrats that I voted for in the past. But I was not able to vote for President Trump last time.

And I did vote for Biden, even though I disagree with a lot of his policies. I think we will have to see how that plays out.

I will say I hope President Trump conducts himself in a way that makes all Americans who consider his candidacy think about voting for him.

SANCHEZ: Steve Duprey, we have to leave the conversation there. Appreciate your candor. Thanks.

DUPREY: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Israel's prime minister overnight rejected the latest conditions set by Hamas to secure the release of hostages. Terms that would've included an end to the war and a withdrawal of all Israeli forces out of Gaza. We're going to discuss the fallout straight ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:42:19]

SANCHEZ: There is growing anger in Israel as protesters hoping to be reunited with their loved ones take their demands straight to lawmakers.

The families of hostages stormed an Israeli parliament meeting today in Jerusalem, calling on the government to do more to save their relatives, with signs reading, quote, "You will not sit here while they die there."

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned down an offer from Hamas to end the war, saying he outright rejected the terms of surrender from, quote, "monsters."

But he is also rejecting international pressure for the possibility of a two-state solution despite discussing the matter in a phone call with President Joe Biden. Let's bring in CNN political and global affairs analyst, Barak Ravid,

who is with us now. He's also thee politics and foreign-policy reporter for "Axios."

Barak, you have Netanyahu saying he is rejecting this deal to bring hostages home because Hamas demanded an end to Israel's war.

Including the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and, quote, "the release of all the murderers and rapists." That is a quote from Netanyahu describing Palestinian prisoners that Hamas wants to be freed.

We're seeing the frustration of these hostage families. Is a deal at all within reach to save any of these remaining hostages?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL & GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: First, I am not sure if it is a completely accurate description that he rejected the deal. I don't think there was a deal on the table.

You know, Hamas' general position for weeks was that, first, end the war and then we'll discuss hostages and then they changed it and said, well, we release the hostages if the endgame is a full Israeli pullout from Gaza and ending the war and the release of all Palestinian prisoners.

And what Netanyahu was saying was that the position is not going to work.

But on the other hand, I think it does not mean that there are no negotiations and no counter offers from the Israeli side.

And I think the main issue is, how are you going to call the situation that will be created after such a deal is implemented? Are you going to call it the end of the war? Are you going to call it a ceasefire? Are you going to call it something else?

That is the main issue. Because Netanyahu cannot politically call it the end of the war. He can call it many other things. I think that is exactly what we were discussing right now.

[13:45:00]

SANCHEZ: Barak, there was a new poll that came out over the weekend from Israel's channel 13 News. In it, respondents were asked what was driving Netanyahu's motivations during this war.

And 53 percent said it was his own personal interest to keep the war going while 33 percent said it was an issue of national security concerns.

How does Netanyahu navigate that enormous chunk of the population believing he's in it for himself?

RAVID: Between 70-80 percent of Israelis say in several polls over the last weeks that Netanyahu should resign. Some said he needs to resign immediately. Some said he needs to resign after the war is over. So this political situation is not -- let's say, he has not been weaker.

In the same polls, his party won only 16 seats, which is half of what it has today.

But on the other hand, he still has the majority in the Knesset. And as long as he has this majority, he can continue for a long, long time. The elections are only three years away.

KEILAR: President Biden, as we mentioned, had this phone call with Netanyahu over the weekend. The two talked about a two-state solution.

After the phone call, Netanyahu tweeted, "I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over the entire area west of Jordan and this is contrary to a Palestinian state."

Then his national security minister tweeted out, "I do deny a Palestinian state always."

If you compare that to what Netanyahu's senior adviser told CNN Thursday, it's kind of different. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK REGEV, SENIOR ADVISER TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: The idea is to find a formula where the Palestinians can rule themselves but not be in a position to threaten Israel. That is the formula that can help us move forward and find solutions that will be good for Israelis and good for Palestinians, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: President Biden, Barak, says he is convinced that a two-state solution is still possible under Netanyahu.

Is this a matter of Netanyahu saying something different in private or in public or is it being misrepresented? How do you parse this?

RAVID: I think we can all agree that Netanyahu is not the new kid on the block. OK? We have known his policy for 30 years. He has been prime minister for 15 years.

He has a track record. When he was prime minister, there was no progress made on the peace process with the Palestinians. If anything, it was the other way around.

I think that anybody who thinks that Netanyahu is the person, the leader that will agree or implement or even move forward with a two- state solution, I don't know, was not with us in the last two decades.

With the respect to Mark Regev and what he said, Mark has made a career of trying to translate Netanyahu's rejectionist positions in English that would sound better.

But unfortunately, again, we have a track record and we all know what happened. I just don't see any possibility. Really. I am working -- I'm covering Netanyahu for almost 20 years now. People don't change at the age of 74.

SANCHEZ: Barak Ravid, really interesting insight, given all the public messaging from Israeli officials. I appreciate your expertise. Thanks.

RAVID: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

So screening for Alzheimer's disease can be frustrating. It can be expensive, too. But a new test could make it all much easier. We will explain after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:53:40]

SANCHEZ: Some important health news. A new study suggests a blood test that's currently used for research can be used to screen for Alzheimer's disease with high accuracy.

KEILAR: That's right. As many of you know, Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia. So accurate and affordable screenings before symptoms appear could really be a game changer, as you can imagine.

We have CNN's Meg Tirrell here with the details.

This is so exciting, Meg. The idea of this just being a blood test. What can you tell us?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We are moving towards this becoming maybe a bigger part of regular medicine.

Right now, the way that doctors look for signs of Alzheimer's in the brain is looking for buildup of amyloid beta and other proteins.

The way they look for those is either with using a brain scan, through PET imaging, or through a spinal tap or a lumbar puncture to look at cerebral spinal fluid. Those are expensive and not widely accessible to people.

So having a blood test could make this a much more available thing that people have done.

This test looks at a marker known as P-TOW 217 in the blood and they found that it had highly accurate results that corresponded with what we might see with the cerebral spinal test or that lumbar puncture.

They say that this should reduce the need for confirmatory testing by 80 percent. So mean that only about 20 percent of patients who had this blood test need to go on to confirm it with another form of testing.

[13:55:00] This company that makes the test, which is called Alls Tests (ph), says it is available for research purposes now. But over the coming months, they expect to make it available for clinical use as well -- guys?

SANCHEZ: Meg Tirrell, thank you so much for the update.

We want to take you to Wisconsin now, Waukesha County, where Vice President Kamala Harris is speaking out, marking the 51st anniversary of the Roe versus Wade decision.

A big part of the 2024 campaign for the White House is casting themselves as defenders of abortion rights.

Here is the vice president speaking in Wisconsin.

KEILAR: I can't hear anything. Is there volume?

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now many of you know I started my career as prosecutor specializing in crimes against women and children.

What you may not know is one of the reasons why. When I was in high school, I learned that one of my best friends was being molested by her stepfather. So I said to her, you have got to come stay with us. I called my mother and my mother said, of course, she should, and she did.

So, the idea that someone who survived a crime that is violence to their body and a violation to their body and then would not have the authority to decide what happens to their body next, that is immoral. It is immoral.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Let us all agree one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree that the government should not be telling her what to do with her body.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: If she chooses, she will consult her pastor, her priest, her rabbi, or her mom, but not the government telling her what to do.

This is, in fact, a health care crisis. There is nothing about this that is hypothetical. Today, in America, one in three women of reproductive age live in a state with an abortion ban, one in three.

And let us understand what that really means for people across our nation. Let us understand the horrific reality --

SANCHEZ: We've been listening to Vice President Kamala Harris delivering a speech in Waukesha, Wisconsin, marking the 51st anniversary of the day that Roe versus Wade was decided. Obviously, Wisconsin is very important on the electoral map. It's a

state that Biden won by 20,000 votes back in 2020.

And abortion rights was central to the last governor's campaign there. So this is a message that is well received among Democrats in that key battleground state.

We will, of course, monitor these remarks. We will take a quick break and bring you the latest when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)