Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Election Eligibility For Trump Will Soon Be Decided By Illinois Board Of Elections; Financial Monitor Who Said Trump Avoided Paying Taxes Gets Backlash From Trump; Russia's War On Ukraine; Lack Of Ammunition Causes Ukrainian Army To Struggle For Survival; 2024 U.S. Election Race; Ad Warning Against Trump Vs. Biden Repetition Released By Haley Super PAC. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired January 30, 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]

SARA SIDNER, CNN HOST: U.S. Supreme Court, which plans to hear arguments on this very matter on February 8th.

CNN's Marshall Cohen is joining me now. Marshall, what are we expecting today in Illinois? Because we have heard from the judge.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: We have. The judge who -- the retired judge who presided over a hearing last week on this Trump disqualification matter, he issued recommendations over the weekend which were very, very interesting, very powerful recommendation. He says that Trump did engage in the insurrection, but should stay on the ballot. I'll explain why in a moment.

But happening today, the Illinois election board will meet. Their meeting is supposed to begin any moment in Chicago. There's eight members on the board, four Democrats, four Republicans, it is bipartisan, and obviously you need a majority to take Trump off the ballot. They will be reviewing that recommendation from the retired judge, who himself is a Republican, Clark Erickson. He told the board that they should dismiss this challenge against Trump because based off his understanding of Illinois state law, the board does not actually have the legal authority to undertake a complex constitutional analysis of the 14th Amendment and its implications.

But he went on to say that if the board does believe it has that power, that they should go all the way and remove Trump from the ballot. He said, based off of the evidence at that hearing that Trump engaged in the insurrection and should be removed, but it might be up to the board or the courts. Sara.

SIDNER: All right. And we know that retired judge has said that he did believe he was involved in insurrection, but believed he should be kept on the ballot. Thank you so much, Marshall Cohen, for all of your reporting on this issue.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: All right, what about other major legal cases facing Donald Trump. Cases that we reasonably thought we might have rulings on by now?

With me now is CNN Legal Analyst Jennifer Rodgers. Counselor, great to see you here. The first one is the federal appeals panel that heard arguments three weeks ago, January 9th, over whether Donald Trump had some presidential immunity over January 6th. Three weeks, no ruling. What's going on?

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST AND FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yes, I'm surprised as well. I thought it would be sooner because we have a trial date coming up of March 4th in that case. And the trial court has not been able to do anything while the appeal is pending.

Listen, it's one of two things, either they're really just trying to put together a comprehensive, thorough, persuasive opinion that they think the Supreme Court may then not take up on appeal because that would delay things further, or there's a dissent. When there's a dissent, the judges engage with one another. They, you know, try to persuade one another. They exchange drafts of their opinion so that makes the procedure last longer. So, there might be a two to one split on this issue.

BERMAN: If there's a Senate, it might not change the outcome of the ruling immediately. But what would the impact be going forward?

RODGERS: Well, it suggests to me if these three judges are not on the same page, if one of them has dissented, it just makes it a lot more likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will take the case because if one of the judges isn't on board then -- of these nine judges on the Supreme Court, at least four of them are likely to not be on board with the majority opinion and want to take the case.

BERMAN: And that's just one possibility. Of course, the other possibility is they all agree. They're just trying to make it perfect when they hand in their final assignment, as it were.

The other case we're waiting on a ruling is the civil fraud case here in New York from Judge Arthur Engoron who heard all the arguments. There's no jury in this case. He will issue the ruling and the amount of damages facing Donald Trump. But at issue here is also control of his business empire. And "The New York Times" just issued a report about an auditor or a judge who has been overseeing that empire during the trial, Judge Barbara Jones, who gave a report to Engoron that said, among other things, she found missing disclosures, typos, math errors, and questions about a $48 million loan between Mr. Trump and one of his companies. Ms. Jones, now a law firm partner, told the judge that collectively the issue is, "May reflect a lack of adequate internal controls."

RODGERS: Yes. So, what's interesting here is the judge appoints Judge Jones as a monitor. So, she's been on top of the organization in its books for over a year now, and her report says there are problems. What's interesting to me is not that there are some problems here and there, monitors often find those things. But the Trump Organization's reaction to her report, you know, when you have a monitor, you need to be on your best behavior. You want to be saying, sure, tell me what's wrong. Oh, maybe I can persuade you that there's no problem. But if not, let me fix the problem.

Judge Engoron is about, to not only decide how many hundreds of millions of dollars of damages, but whether or not Donald Trump and the other Trump Organization executives can continue to do business in New York, right? You are regulated when you're a business in New York. The government has a right to do that, to protect consumers, protect lenders, and so on. They're basically showing by what they've been saying, they're not able to be regulated. They're not even responsive to this monitor who's been appointed to oversee them. So, that, I think, is really bad news for them as Judge Engoron considers these very important questions.

BERMAN: So, this kind of report, going to the judge, deciding how much control Trump can have over his empire, how might that impact his decision?

[10:35:00]

RODGERS: Well, you know, because again, he's deciding not just the damages but also whether they can continue to do business. If they show that they're really unable to be overseen by regulators and by the government, they just refuse. I mean, their response is she just wants to make more money. She just wants to continue to bill us that's why she's saying all these things. That's not the right response if you want to keep doing business in the state.

BERMAN: Jennifer Rodgers, always great to see you. Thank you very much.

RODGERS: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: Ukraine's military is struggling to hold off Russian attacks as supplies there are running low. And another round of U.S. funding remains stalled in Congress. Our CNN crew is in eastern Ukraine on the front lines where they came under fire. The situation becomes even more desperate. We'll bring that to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:20]

BERMAN: This morning, harrowing new video captured by CNN from the front lines of the battle in Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers engaged in trench warfare against the Russians. Even as they face a shortage of critical equipment and ammunition, and with no help coming from the United States as funding debates continue on Capitol Hill. Our Frederik Pleitgen reports from the front lines.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, John. Well, ammo shortages certainly are a big problem for the Ukrainians, on pretty much all the battlefields here in this country, and they are getting a lot more severe as time goes on. One of the areas that we went to is in the east of the country, where the battles are taking place in force. There's a lot of trench warfare, but also assaults and tank assaults, and we do have to warn our viewers, what you are about to see could be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN (voice-over): All out warfare in unforgiving terrain. Forest battles in eastern Ukraine mean facing a near constant Russian onslaught. Vladimir Putin's army trying to break through Ukrainian defenses. Dmytro is one of those holding them up.

The situation is very active and very tense, he says, because the enemy has much more equipment and manpower. Basically, every day they try to storm the positions.

A dead Russian soldier and a destroyed tank showed just how close the Russians have come. It's a fight for survival and against the elements. The trench cold and soggy, the only heat coming from candles the soldiers cower around, gathering strength to face overwhelming Russian firepower.

They shoot direct fire. Planes are flying. Basically, they have it all, he says. But probably the worst are tanks. When they fire, you don't even hear it. You hear an airplane when it comes over. With a tank, you're in God's hands.

Artillery fire, another threat here, as we found out when we came under fire trying to make it to the area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).

PLEITGEN: This is unfortunately something that when we work here in the east of the country happens all too often. We were getting ready to film here and then, all of a sudden, we heard what appeared to be outgoing artillery. But then a shell came in --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language). 100 meters, guy. 100 meters.

PLEITGEN: 100 meters, got you.

We're now trying to make our way out of here as safe as possible. That means we have keep distance between our cars, but we also, of course, have to keep moving the entire time to make sure that we can get out of here hopefully safely.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): We believe a Russian drone spotted us and directed the artillery fire, but two can play that game. Naziriiy is a Ukrainian drone pilot. He guides Kyiv's artillery guns, targeting Russian infantry, but also armored assault formations, including main battle tanks. He says, ammo shortages mean he has to be extremely precise.

It's no secret we're starved of artillery shells, he says. We try to work as efficiently and accurately as possible to hit the enemy's firepower.

Trying to fight back any way they can on one of the toughest battlefields of this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN (on camera): So, there you can see just how hard those battles are in the east of the country, John. But one of the things that the Ukrainians point out is they say, by and large, they are able to hold the line there. They say, within the span of just a couple of days, they managed to destroy around 40 Russian tanks and armored vehicles. All this as they are getting hit by artillery and a lot of aerial bombs as well. John.

BERMAN: Remarkable report from Frederik Pleitgen there. Imagine having the courage for the Ukrainians to serve on those front lines, in those trenches, and not knowing if you're going to have the shells, the artillery shells, to continue.

Sara.

SIDNER: It is hard to go from that true life-threatening situation to this ridiculousness. Far right conspiracy theories now linking Taylor Swift, the NFL, and a supposed political plot by Democrats. We debunk the wild stories coming out after you saw that kiss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:48:47]

SIDNER: A super PAC backing Nikki Haley has launched a new ad in South Carolina, warning against another election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I voted for President Trump twice, but chaos follows him. We can't have a country in disarray, in a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos. We won't survive it. Trump and Biden, it's going to be another nailbiter of an election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Haley, this morning, once again, maintaining her stance to stay in this race.

Joining me now to discuss is CNN Political Commentator and Republican Strategist Alice Stewart, and Republican Strategist Shermichael Singleton. Thank you both, for joining us this morning. Haley's new ad, Alice, she is basically saying, enough of the chaos, which she has been saying quite a bit but more forcefully now. Is this argument working?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, unfortunately, Sara, it hasn't worked up until this point. And she subtly made that message leading up into Iowa and came in third in Iowa, and she subtly made the case in New Hampshire and came in second in New Hampshire. Look, I've said all along that all of these GOP challengers should have been much more forceful in going after Trump because you have to get through Trump to get to Biden. And sitting on their hands and not really going after him for all of the issues that he has.

[10:50:00]

Whether it's his tone and tenor, whether it's the chaos and drama, whether it is the election denying, whether it's all the legal issues. These should have been more front and center on the campaign and drawn much sharper contrast. But I commend her for pointing out the obvious.

SIDNER: I'm going to interrupt you. I'm so sorry. Really quickly, President Biden is now leaving the White House. We're waiting to see if he makes comments on the three soldiers who were killed in Jordan in an attack. Let's listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, do you hold Iran responsible for the death of those three Americans?

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I do hold them responsible in the sense that they're supplying the weapons to the people who did it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President --

BIDEN: Well, we'll have that discussion.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These attacks in the past, what will be different this time?

BIDEN: We'll see.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- a wider war in the Middle East, how worried are you?

BIDEN: I don't think we need a wide war in the Middle East, that's not what I'm looking for.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you concerned if Donald Trump be allowed on ballots?

BIDEN: Of course, I'm concerned, that's fine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did you (INAUDIBLE) to be the threat to democracy as you say?

BIDEN: Because guys like you?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you done everything you can do with executive authority or is there more you can do after this presidency (ph)?

BIDEN: I've done all I can do. Just give me the power. I've asked for the very day I got in office. Give me the border to control (ph). Give me the people, the judges (ph). Give me the people who can stop and make it work for us (ph).

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But by the time the restoration (ph) in the military, there's all been in the middle of --

BIDEN: We'll see.

SIDNER: All right. So, you see President Biden there going to his aircraft. I do want to mention, the very first thing that was asked of him was, should Iran be held responsible for the killing of three U.S. service members in Jordan in that drone attack? And President Biden responded saying, I hold them responsible for supplying the weapons.

So, he's talking about supplying weapons to groups who are backed by Iran, but then he was asked again about something in the Middle East. He says, I don't think we need a wider war in the Middle East, when asked what he is going to do in response. Those are two very strong statements from Joe Biden. We are waiting to see what exactly is done in response to the killing of three service members there in Jordan. We will be waiting to see if there is more. He has said he is going to an event where there will certainly be more questions.

All right. Let's go back to our panel now because we are in campaign season at this point in time. And I do want to bring up this situation in the Middle East. And I will start with you Shermichael. The Middle East again, in a very tangled web, where we are seeing attacks now. Three service members, U.S. service members have been killed. What do you think going forward, we're going to see her on the campaign trail because Nikki Haley has already weighed into this.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I mean, look, I think the president's response, Sara, we're right on point. Most Americans don't want another prolonged war where our young men and women are going to fight for who knows how long. But I do think Americans expect some type of a response, and I would presume in the next couple of days that the president is likely going to deliver what that very short brief, yet strategic response will be to deter further attacks on our men and women.

With that said, I think Republicans are going to attempt to address this issue by focusing in part on the Secretary of Defense, sort of dealing with his health issues. They're going to point to that and say, well, we need someone properly advising the president who isn't distracted. I think they're also going to say, perhaps the president's response isn't strategic enough. You've seen Senator Lindsey Graham say, we should bomb the heck out of them. That sounds great, Sara. But again, the question is how long do we attempt to do that as we address this issue?

So, I think the president is striking the right tone, the right tenor, and the right balance, which is what most Americans want. Let's respond for the men and women that were lost, but let's not find ourselves in another prolonged conflict.

SIDNER: Yes, I mean, there are lessons to be learned from the wars that have -- we have undertaken in Iraq twice and in Afghanistan, particularly the longest war that we've been involved with. I do want to ask you, lastly, Alice, because he was also asked -- President Biden, about the border which is such a huge issue because there is a crisis and there is chaos at the border between the United States and Mexico. What do you think about his response? President Biden saying, hey, I want more judges. I want more people on the border that can deal with this crisis. Give me the power.

[10:55:00]

STEWART: Look, I think on the border, more judges that's in the issue. Securing the border is the answer to this problem. And I do commend him and Democrats and some Republicans who are working for a bipartisan border bill but we have to get something done. And we can't have Republicans holding it up because they don't want Biden to have the win. I think it would be important and helpful, not just for Democrats, but for all Americans if the president were able to get some kind of bipartisan border security package done.

And if I can't go back to, I agree with Shermichael. No one wants a wider escalation with Iran. We want to try and end this as peacefully as possible. But President Biden's, response to Iran just to say, don't, that's not a foreign policy strategy with a country and a force like Iran that is engaging their proxy partners in killing Americans. Whether or not we think we're at war with Iran, Iran is at war with America after they killed three American soldiers.

So, I think there definitely needs to be a more forceful approach to Iran, whether it's direct sanctions on them, not just with proxies. And this administration certainly needs to show a lot more strength. Otherwise, we will not have a peace in that region or elsewhere with regard to Iran.

SIDNER: Alice Stewart, thank you so much. Shermichael Singleton, thank you as well.

SINGLETON: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: Lots of things to discuss today.

STEWART: Thank you, Sara. Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: John.

SIDNER: An undercover military operation in the West Bank. We've got brand new security footage from the hospital where it happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)