Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) Interviewed on Democratic Strategies for Dealing with Immigration Issue; Thousands Attend Alexei Navalny's Funeral in Moscow; Russian Historian Interviewed on Anti-Putin and Anti-War Protests Taking Place at Alexei Navalny's Funeral; Judge To Hold Critical Hearing on Trump Trial Date; New Video from Chaotic Scene in Gaza Where 112 Civilians were Killed. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired March 01, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY, (D-CT): To give him exceptional new powers and resources to control the border, and Donald Trump, seeing the border not as a problem that needs to be fixed but as a problem that he can exploit. And I think the American public are on to this. Republicans say they care about the border but actually are never willing to do anything about it.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So I know you've pointed to New York three were Tom Suozzi won that open seat in a special congressional election race as how Democrats can not run away from the issue of immigration. But do you really think that Democrats -- or how do you think that Democrats should talk about immigration in an election year?

MURPHY: So there's additional polling out yesterday that shows when Democrats just simply point out what happened on the bipartisan border bill, that it was the toughest bill if enacted in decades, and it was killed by Donald Trump, that Republicans' political advantage on the issue of immigration disappears. It literally disappears because people kind of have come to that conclusion, that yes, Republicans talk a big game on immigration, but have they ever done anything? No, they haven't.

I think Democrats should lead with a simple message. We believe in border security. We want to protect the border and we have a plan to get that done. Republicans have no plan to get that done.

Now, I also think that we should talk about the importance of providing a pathway to citizenship for people that are here. We should maintain robust legal immigration. But we should not be afraid by talking about the fact that we are now the party that has the plan to control and protect the border. And it is Republicans who are standing in the way of controlling the border because they want the border to remain out of control because they think it helps them politically. I think we should lead with that message. Democrats historically have been a little reticent to be out front on our front foot talking about border security. It's not a Republican issue. It's an American issue. Everybody in this country cares about the border. Everybody wants legal immigration, and Democrats should be out there on the offensive, telling the story of what happened in Congress over the past few months and telling people how Donald Trump really is trying to keep the border a mess.

BERMAN: Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut, we appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Extraordinary images of defiance and courage. Thousands of people crowding the streets in Moscow to pay their respects to the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

BERMAN: Donald Trump expected in a Florida court shortly. Could the Mar-a-Lago documents case go to trial during the Republican Convention?

BOLDUAN: And dangerous conditions are setting in out west. Weather officials are warning for some parts, it's basically too late to evacuate if you haven't already gotten out. Look at the mess already, the nasty weather coming in, bringing record breaking snow.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. Sara is off. This is CNN News Central.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

BERMAN: We do have breaking news. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's casket has just arrived at the cemetery where he will be laid to rest. Tens of thousands of mourners flooded in to pay their respects to the man they called a true hero and a brave man. Applause broke out as Navalny's body arrived at the burial site, many people defiantly express their sadness and anger over his death. They were chanting "Russia without Putin," even "Putin is a killer", despite the danger that that put them in.

Our Matthew Chance has been reporting all morning long. He is outside the cemetery right now. Matthew, if you can hear us, what are you seeing?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, you're right. I'm right outside the Borisovsky Cemetery in one of the suburbs of Moscow where, as you've just been saying, the casket of Alexei Navalny is already inside with what we think are friends and family attending the actual burial. But you can see how many thousands of people there are outside the cemetery gates carrying flowers, carrying messages, mourners that are -- have been queuing up here, lining up here all day to pay their last respects to Russia's most prominent opposition figure.

But it is also a very tight security operation. You can see there are riot police, like this one here, who are lining the entire route that the funeral procession has taken. And they're not letting these thousands of people who have come to pay their respects to Alexei Navalny at the cemetery actually inside the grounds of that facility. There's a metal detector that has been set up. Perhaps people will be allowed in later, but at the moment they have not been. And they're just standing out here waiting for the opportunity to go inside. All day, John, we've been seeing people with messages of support, chanting those slogans, chanting Alexei Navalny's name, chanting opposition slogans, anti-Kremlin slogans, anti-war slogans as well.

[08:05:4]

And these are exactly the kinds of scenes that the Kremlin did not want to see, particularly in the weeks running up to a presidential election in this country in which Vladimir Putin is expected to be reconfirmed for a fifth term as the country's leader. But nevertheless, dissent in Russia is very barely tolerated. Over the past couple of weeks since the death of Navalny, we've seen hundreds of people across the country be detained just for laying flowers at makeshift memorials in towns and cities across Russia.

At the moment, as I say, the thousands of people that have turned out at Alexei Navalny's funeral, they're not being detained. We're not seeing any police action as far as I'm aware so far, to clear up these crowds. That might change in the future. Obviously, we're going to keep close eye on it. But as I say, the riot police are making absolutely sure that nobody steps out of the bounds of the designated root of this funeral, while so many people, so many Russians here are gathering, as I say, to pay their respects, John.,

BERMAN: Matthew Chance outside the cemetery. Matthew, it's so great having you there so that we can see these crowds, these thousands of people who have arrived to pay their respects to Alexei Navalny, but to also see that security, those troops that are standing by there on watch, guarding. Matthew, stay safe. We'll come back to you as soon as we can. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Literally right over his shoulder, you can see there, John.

Let's talk more about this. Joining us right now is Nina Khrushcheva. She's a Russian historian and author, also the great granddaughter of 20th century Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. It's really good to see you, Nina, thank you so much for coming in. I mean, what do you think of the sea of people that we are seeing, Matthew Chance is seeing on the ground, from the funeral service through now the burial that we just continue you to get more images out, what do you think of this?

NINA KHRUSHCHEVA, GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER OF NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV: Thank you. Well, it is heartbreaking and heartwarming both at the same time. I'm not surprised. I actually expected this amount of thousands of people because we see that, we saw it when the presidential candidate, who was not registered, Boris Nadezhdin, was running with anti-Putin slogans and collected many, many signatures around Russia, and people were queuing to sign up for him. So we the protests to somewhere brewing and then it can jump out at any moment.

But what I'm also interested in is how despite all the police, and you wouldn't expect any less, it is allowed to take place. It is allowed to take place the way it has taken place. And of course, the slogan originally was just the memory of Alexei Navalny. Thats what they were chanting. And then it started to be no war, Putin is a murderer, and so on. But the state allowed it to continue, to go through with, to kind of follow some Christian norms that Yulia Navalnaya, the wife, now widow of Alexei Navalny spoke about, that Putin has no, he's a false Christian because he doesn't allow Alexei to be buried properly.

So they're allowing it to happen. And so even despite the fact that in, what, two weeks Russia would go through reconfirming Putin, they still allowed it to happen. So for them it's important to show they're not as godless and they're not as barbarian as they are being presented. And so I think it's good for Alexei Navalny, and I'm thinking about other in previous years, the funeral of Andrei Sakharov in 1989 when there was actually a little police, but a lot of -- many more, even many more people than now. So the state kind of stayed away from the funeral, but allowed it to happen.

BOLDUAN: Just an update from our teams that were seeing the latest update, Nina, in that Alexei Navalny's coffin has now been lowered into the ground to the sound of Frank Sinatra's song "My Way." His team reported this during a live transmission of the burial ceremony. That seems something that Alexei Navalny would do, right? It seems that's the way that Alexei Navalny, the way he kind showed his defiance often was with humor and doing it his way.

I want to play for you what we heard from two people who were within the procession that our correspondent Matthew Chance spoke with, because it is -- I find it so remarkable and brave that people would stop and speak in a limited way about why they were there this morning. Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:10:09]

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Why have you come here today with so many other Russians to pay your respects?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess it's symbolic value for people who don't agree with everything that's happening in Russia. I can't be specific because we can say like bad words.

CHANCE: It's risky for you to be here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it's certainly risky.

CHANCE: Why take the --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because that's my stance. And I believe that's to show solidarity, that you are not the one who is has to deal with this.

CHANCE: All right, sir, thank you very much. I've got Paulina (ph) over here as well. The fact that Navalny is dead, has that united people here? What does it say about the state of the country of Russia?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say it united some people, but at the same time, it's obviously horribly sad. It upsets me, obviously, and other people here in this group. But I think it's kind of a uniting thing since a lot of people come, we came here to pay their last goodbyes.

CHANCE: What does it say about your country, about Russia?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are obviously some people who are, I guess, against the whole thing that's happening right now. I can say it, obviously, but there are some people who have good hearts, basically, I think.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BOLDUAN: What does, what are these people up against that are showing up today and speaking out? And what does it mean for the resistance and opposition movement today in Russia, Nina?

KHRUSHCHEVA: Well, that doesn't surprise me. I was just there until last month for six months, and there is a lot of apposition. I mean, of course the Kremlin is very eager to make sure that nothing comes out, that no steam would come out. But you talk to people and they're against it. I mean, they are afraid because the state has very long hands, and we see that.

But at the same time it's not as monolithic as it is often presented here in the west. So it's another thing, the reason they come out, and it's dangerous, but it's not as dangerous, once again, as we think it is from far away, because this is an officially sanctioned thing. They may be started -- I don't know whether they're going to be named collected or somehow because there are thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people. It would be difficult to arrest everybody. But it is officially sanctioned. And there's an officially sanctioned thing, it's reasonably safe to go out precisely because it's allowed to do that. It's a Christian thing to do.

So people may be in danger, but they don't think there is as much danger when they do an individual projects because there are masses of people. I was a bit surprised, but not really when there were chants no to war, but that was later in the process, and I don't think the state decided -- it seems to be the state decided it's not worth really shutting it down because it would create more problems that it actually, that it actually solves.

So in this way, Russia's still protests when the state allows it to speak out. And I think that more and more Putin will stay in his power for another six years, the less is going to happen, the less the state will take chances of this kind, because, once again, I think after 25 years in power, Putin gets more and more paranoid. So people will be less inclined even in the official sanction, but there's a possibility protests will go up.

BOLDUAN: Nina Khrushcheva, thank you so much for coming on this morning. John?

BERMAN: So a classified documents trial during the Republican National Convention, it is possible, and we could learn if it will happen not long after Donald Trump arrives in a Florida courts shortly.

Brand new video from the scene were more than 100 people were killed in Gaza.

And a major winter storm could dump a record setting amount of snow. Now, I'm six-four. It could be two of me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:18:35]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So any moment now, Donald Trump is expected to head to a federal court in Florida for what will be a big moment in the case against him and his mishandling of classified documents.

The judge overseeing this case could set an actual date that this goes to trial and trial begins.

Overnight, Special Counsel Jack Smith, he asked for an early July start. Donald Trump's team said in the filing they want it pushed to August.

CNN's Paula Reid is outside the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida for us. What is going to happen today, Paula?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Okay, this is high stakes for both former President Trump and the Special Counsel's Office. Right now, they are all focused on timing. This case, of course centers around the 40 criminal charges that Trump faces for his alleged mishandling of classified documents and alleged efforts to obstruct efforts to get them back.

But right now, all eyes are on the calendar. The judge in this case, Judge Aileen Cannon, she is a Trump appointee and she initially put this case on the calendar for late May, for May 20th, but she left the door open to pushing it back because of just all the breadth and depth of discovery involved in a case like this.

And today, she has asked both sides to come prepared to talk about the calendar and where they might be able to move this trial. And the special counsel has asked her to move the trial to early July.

But Trump's lawyers have asked her to place it on August 12th. Now that might be a little surprising to people, Kate, because as we've reported consistently, Trump's lawyers want to push this entire case along with all the other trials until after the November election.

[08:20:11]

There's a little bit of gamesmanship going on here. The Trump lawyers make it clear that they do not believe that the former president should be tried while he is campaigning to go back to the White House, but if they could get her to schedule it in August, that will take up some room on the calendar and make it difficult to schedule any other trials and they could always come back and once again asked to delay the case. Because again, this is an incredibly complicated one.

So all eyes on Aileen Cannon today as she hears arguments from both sides, the Trump team insisting that Trump has a First Amendment right to political speech, they argue that he should not have to be in a courtroom. But the special counsel has consistently said they believe it is in the public interest for one or both of these trials, these cases that they brought against the former president to happen before folks go to the ballot in November.

But their other case, of course, the January 6th prosecution of Trump that's on hold, because the Supreme Court has agreed in two months to your oral arguments on Trump's claim of immunity, so it's really unclear if that case will be able to go before November. That's why we're all watching so closely today to see if this case gets put on the calendar and if so, when?

BOLDUAN: And the ripple effects from it all. It's good to see you, Paula. We will be sticking close to you. Thank you -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we have brand new video just in from the scene in Gaza where more than 100 people were killed.

And shortly, closing arguments begin in the fight to remove Fulton County DA Fani Willis from the Trump election interference case in Georgia. You will see these closing arguments live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:13]

BERMAN: We're getting new video just in of the scene in Gaza where more than 100 people were killed while gathering around food aid trucks.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BERMAN: Leaders from all around the world including President Biden had been responding to this incident.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is at the White House. What are you hearing this morning -- Arlette.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the White House has described this incident as alarming and tragic and President Biden yesterday spoke with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar. And in those conversations, the White House said that all the leaders discussed the need to really act urgency in the sense of trying to reach some type of agreement when it comes to a hostage release, getting more aid in and reaching some type of temporary ceasefire.

It really comes as the Biden administration and officials from Qatar and other Arab countries have really been working around the clock trying to secure some type of deal between Israel and Hamas.

Now President Biden yesterday told me that he does believe that this incident that left at least a hundred people dead, that it will complicate these negotiations. But officials say it really highlights the urgency in which they need to act.

This area severely needs additional assistance to get to its people. And the White House has been hoping that they would be able to secure some type of agreement in the near future when it comes to security to hostage release, getting that aid in, and also having a temporary ceasefire.

The president at the start of the week had indicated that he believed it could be reached by Monday. Yesterday, he walked that back a little bit saying that he is still hopeful, but it probably will not be happening before Monday.

But in the wake of this incident in Gaza City, there have been calls from the international community for there to be an independent investigation into this matter.

The UN secretary general said that just yesterday, France this morning said that they would sign on to that. So there's still a lot of questions about how exactly this all played out and it does come at a time when the US is facing a pressure as they're trying to help push along this deal as they would like to see some type of temporary ceasefire come together in the near future to get aid in and get those hostages out.

BERMAN: Yes, before Ramadan, which is fast approaching. Arlette Saenz at the White House, thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Up to 12 feet of snow could be hitting parts of the Sierras this weekend, and even at lower elevations, people could be facing snow drifts as high as one-story building. We'll have more on that what they're up against out west.

And also, there is new polling suggesting that President Biden could be in trouble with another key bloc of voters.

We will be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]