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Presidential Candidates Head to South Carolina; Supreme Court Asked to Halt Execution; Boeing Pause in Production. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired January 25, 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]

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NIKKI HALEY (R), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Show me what you got.

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And new pictures showing the surface of the moon after Japan's historic moon sniper landing.

We'll be back.

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BOLDUAN: This morning, Donald Trump, as we talked about, is campaigning from a New York courtroom once again while he's also going full scorched earth against Nikki Haley on the other campaign trail in South Carolina. Donald Trump taking to social media to threaten Republicans and I guess really everyone, saying that anyone who contributes to Haley would be, quote, "permanently barred from the MAGA camp." Even before that, here was Nikki Haley last night.

[09:35:03]

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NIKKI HALEY (R), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump got out there and just threw a temper tantrum. He pitched a fit. He was - he was insulting. He was doing what he does. But I know that's what he does when he's insecure. I know that's what he does when he is threatened. And he should feel threatened, without a doubt.

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BOLDUAN: And here we go.

Joining us right now, the Washington bureau chief for "USA Today," Susan Page, and Sarah Longwell, Republican strategist, publisher of "The Bulwark."

So, Susan, temper tantrum. Bring it, Donald. What do you think of this approach and how things are looking in South Carolina?

SUSAN PAGE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "USA TODAY": You know, no better way to diffuse an attack than to use a little humor. That's something we saw with Nikki Haley. And, you know, the other thing we're seeing with Nikki Haley is, after months, almost a year of her being pretty -- treating Trump kind of gingerly, she is in it now. These next few weeks I think we should expect real rough-and-tumble politics. South Carolina has a rich history of difficult, tough, even dirty politics. So, I would brace yourself to - for the run-up to the South Carolina primary on February 24th, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, we're quickly being reminded of that. I like how you say it, the rich history of the politics in South Carolina.

Sarah, you've been talking to swing voters and focus groups for - I mean it's years now. If this ends up -- if Nikki Haley does not pull it off, we do not see -- you know she does -- we do not see a win and better performances, if this ends up being Donald Trump versus Joe Biden, John Berman said something yesterday that kind of reminded me that you're essentially looking at a double incumbent general election race. What does that do to swing voters?

SARAH LONGWELL, PUBLISHER, "THE BULWARK": Yes, well, the swing voters who are going to decide this election, you could sort of categorize them as either the double doubters or the double haters or the a pox on both their housers. Like they - they don't like either candidate. But right now they're frustrated with Joe Biden because he's the president and, you know, oh, I'm frustrated with the economy, or, you know, international affairs. But they've forgotten what they dislike about Donald Trump. And as Donald Trump becomes more present in people's lives and he's out there doing the kinds of things he's doing now, calling women horrible names, calling Nikki Haley bird brain, voters are going to remember, oh, yes, actually I hate that guy more. And I think that that's what it's going to come down to. It's -- you're not really building a pro-Joe Biden coalition, you're building an anti-Trump coalition.

But can I just say one thing on Nikki Haley, which is, you know, it is time for her to go the full Liz Cheney, right? She is - there is no path for her. There is no math for her. This Republican Party has changed to the point where, if Donald Trump owns this party, but Nikki Haley has a chance to go down swinging, and to be a legend, and burn the boats, and I want to see that from her because the party's not going to have her back. They already are done with politicians like her. So, it's time for her to go hard. And I love seeing that she's starting to do it.

BOLDUAN: I just - a pox on both their housers might be like a new tag line that I'm just going to live by. Just - just cynically on everything. It's really amazing.

With that in mind, kind of, Susan, let's talk about lessons learned or what you've seen in -- since we - you know, in the last two contests that we've seen so far. In your latest piece, you write about New Hampshire and how it both displays -- what happened in New Hampshire both displays Donald Trump's strength and also exposes Donald Trump's vulnerabilities going forward. What do you see there?

PAGE: So, two big victories. Early conclusion effectively of the Republican presidential nomination, credit him with that. But, man, does he have some problems as we turn to the general election. The voters who voted for Nikki Haley in New Hampshire, more than 80 percent of them say they would be dissatisfied with Trump as their nominee. He has trouble with independent voters, with moderate voters and with college-educated voters, especially with women. Those are swing groups he'll need to win a general election.

And just one more thing, these courthouse - this courthouse campaign has served him well in the Republican primaries. Not so well perhaps if there is a conviction, because even among Republicans in Iowa and New Hampshire, and significant portion say a conviction would make him unfit for the presidency and could give these courtroom drama a political bite that it hasn't shown so far.

BOLDUAN: And let me take you back to South Carolina, even though you say it's over, Sarah. I totally respect it. Donald Trump is trying to basically force Nikki Haley out by embarrassing her. Kind of blast -- and part of that was blasting out all of the endorsements that he's gotten from - in South Carolina from people who worked alongside Nikki Haley in her home state.

But you also just did a piece for "The New York Times," and the headline was, "What 17 of Trump's Best People Said About Him," which is -- I read it as kind of a different take on endorsements, or non- endorsements in this case, to people who worked closest with Donald Trump for a period of time.

[09:40:17]

What do you make of the contrast?

LONGWELL: Yes. So, I wrote that piece in "The New York Times" for two reasons. One was to sort of aggregate all of the things that the people who worked in Trump's cabinet have said about him since they left, because many of them have said he is unfit to hold office. And the second reason I did it was as kind of a call to action. You know, these folks are being very quiet now as we're in the middle of a Republican primary. Nikki Haley's right there. Go out and defend her. Say, vote for her, this other guy is unfit. He's a danger to our country. They've said it before. Some of them wrote books about it. Some of them did profiles in "The Atlantic." But they've got to take this directly to voters. And - and, you know, many of them have defended democracy before in uniform. And I think they need to defend democracy again now by telling voters that Donald Trump is unfit.

BOLDUAN: It's great to so you guys. Thanks for coming in.

John.

LONGWELL: Thank you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, with just hours to go, the Supreme Court asked to halt an execution that would be the first of its kind. The method they want to use and why it's so controversial.

Cleared for takeoff. Why some of the grounded Boeing Max 9 planes could be back in the skies as soon as this weekend.

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[09:45:57]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: In Alabama, a death row inmate is again asking the Supreme Court to halt his execution hours before he could be put to death. Kenneth Eugene Smith is set to be executed by nitrogen gas as soon as tonight. That would be the very first time this method has ever been used in the United States. Smith was convicted in a 1988 murder for hire targeting a minister's wife. He was about to be executed by lethal injection in 2022 but that was halted as he was on the gurney.

CNN's Isabel Rosales is joining us now from outside the prison in Atmore, Alabama.

What are the concerns with this execution method? I mean the obvious one is that it's never been used before in the United States.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Incredibly controversial and untested, as you're saying, Sara. This is the first new method of execution since 1982. That is when lethal injection was first introduced and used.

Alabama is just one of three states, alongside Oklahoma and Mississippi, that has even approved the use of this nitrogen gas, execution by nitrogen gas. But if everything happens today, without a successful, legal challenge, this will be the first time that nitrogen gas is ever used in an execution.

Now, Smith originally asked to be executed by nitrogen gas. He asked for this. But he says that once he saw -- in court documents he says that once he saw the proposal of the state on how they would carry this execution out, he had grave concerns that he would be put through torture, through excessive pain. And a large part of that, the sticking point here is the mask that they're going to use. A five- point facial mask. And he's worried that he's going to vomit inside of that mask and choke on his own vomit versus actually dying from the nitrogen gas.

He preferred a hood. Something over his face where -- I'm sorry, these are sensitive details here, where the vomit could, you know, clear out and he would not choke that way. This is a big sticking point.

And we know from Reverend Jeff Hood, his spiritual adviser, that he, Smith, will not receive food past 11:00 a.m. Eastern, so here in an hour or so, because of that concern and to mitigate the risk of him vomiting.

Here's what Smith said to "The Guardian" in an interview on Sunday. "Throwing up in that mask, because if I do, brother, nobody's going to help me. I'm going to drown on my own vomit and my wife will have to sit there and watch."

I also want to bring up this picture of Reverend Hood, again, the spiritual adviser, and Smith. You can see them smiling in this picture taken on Monday. Smiling. But Hood says - Reverend Hood says that Smith is terrified, terrified of how the day will unfold. And Hood is worried about his own safety, too. If that perfect seal is not maintained in the mask, that nitrogen could leak out into the execution chamber. He, in fact, had to sign a waiver indicating that he acknowledged his own risks that he was taking here before he would be allowed in the execution chamber.

Here's what else he had to say.

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REV. DR. JEFF HOOD, INMATE KENNETH SMITH'S SPIRITUAL ADVISER: I mean, it's lunacy. I mean it's absolute lunacy. I mean for months we have been asking the Alabama Department of Corrections for more information. Is this going to be safe? What's going to happen? They have, in tradition fashion, been completely silent the entire time. And today I go into the chamber to orient myself with the warden and one of the captains of the execution squad. And as I asked questions, he's consistently saying, either we don't know or we can't tell you.

And I hope that the rest of the country is looking at Alabama and saying, what is going on down there?

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[09:50:00]

SIDNER: Well, you heard those dramatic words there from his spiritual adviser. That was also Isabel Rosales in Alabama for us. Thanks to Isabel.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Counting down the days until the end of dry January. If you took part and if you stuck with it, the science of all the good it did for you in the past 25 days.

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BERMAN: So, this morning there is a pause at a Boeing production plant in Washington so workers can focus on safety. This as the FAA has cleared the way for Boeing 737 Max 9s to fly as soon as this weekend.

CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean is with us.

Pete, what are you seeing here?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest is that the FAA has done its part. It ended the 19-day long emergency grounding of the 737 Max 9, reviewing the data from Boeing, airlines, and about a quarter of the fleet that's out there in the U.S. So, the Max 9 can fly again, but not before airlines do final checks of each plane. Here is what the FAA is calling for, a detailed visual inspection of

the door plug. That's the part that violently shot off Alaska 1282 three weeks ago.

[09:55:03]

FAA also wants checks of the bolts and the guides that hold the door plug on the plane and any abnormal conditions to be corrected. Remember, both of the airlines that operate these planes in the U.S. found loose door plug bolts.

Alaska Airlines has 65 Max 9s. They say these inspections will take about 12 labor hours, meaning the first few Max 9s at Alaska Airlines will be flying as soon as Friday, the airline says. United Airlines has 79 Max 9s. United says its planes will be flying by Sunday.

Airlines really can't wait to put this chapter behind them after being forced to cancel flights by the thousands. And even still the big question, the million-dollar question here, are these planes going to be truly safe now that they've been ungrounded?

Important to note, the NTSB has not finished its investigation. And this week I asked the question to FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker if these planes will be ready now that they are ungrounded.

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MUNTEAN: Should the flying public feel safe being on a Max 9 when it is ultimately ungrounded?

MIKE WHITAKER, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: If the aircraft is ungrounded, that means that we believe it's airworthy. And if it's airworthy, the aircraft is safe.

I can say that we're not going to let that aircraft back in the air until we're convinced that that issue has been taken care of.

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MUNTEAN: One other big piece of news from the FAA. It says it will deny any request by Boeing to expand 737 Max production while the FAA is auditing Boeing's quality control. The FAA chief also told me that inspectors are now on site at the Boeing plant in Renton, Washington. That is where Boeing is halting production for the day today as it does this quality standdown and hears from workers about where things can be improved.

John.

BERMAN: In terms of getting those planes up in the sky, I imagine most passengers want them to take their time and make sure those bolts are screwed in tightly.

Pete Muntean, great to have you. Thank you very much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John.

Right now, Donald Trump back in a New York federal court for his defamation trial. His lawyers saying he wants to testify. How soon that might happen. That's ahead.

And moments from now, former Trump White House Adviser Peter Navarro will be sentenced for defying a congressional subpoena in the January 6th investigation. How much jail time might he face? That's ahead.

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