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House to Vote on Spending Package; Closing Arguments in "Rust" Trial; Voters Speak in Wisconsin; White House To Reach Haley Supporters; DeSantis Explores Options After Stop Woke Act Blocked; AI Produce Misleading Election Images. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired March 06, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Lawmakers are once again racing against the clock to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the week. They have, you have, we all have, unfortunately, been here before.

Today, the House will vote on a funding package of six annual spending bills mashed up into one that's been described as a mega mini bus.

And Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, he is going to need the help of Democrats to get this over the finish line and do so in time. And what does that mean for his speakership and future.

CNN's Lauren Fox is looking at all of it for us from Washington.

What is the reality of what's happening here, Lauren?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was really inevitable all along, Kate. When the deal was struck last summer in that debt ceiling proposal and passed in the House and Senate, it really did set out this course of this spending negotiation over the last several months. It just took them almost a year to get to this grand finale.

So, here's what's going to happen. The House of Representatives is going to vote today on this package of six spending bills. Then they're going to kick it over to the Senate. It's going to be up to lawmakers to decide how quickly they want to process it over there. They need to get agreement of all 100 senators to move expeditiously. The hope is that they might be able to get this done before the president has the State of the Union tomorrow night. If for some reason they can't get a time agreement, then you could see this kick into Friday, or over the weekend. But senators are optimistic they're going to be able to nail down some kind of agreement among their members.

Once this happens, you still have another six spending bills that have to be passed by March 22nd. That second tranche of spending bills is even more difficult to get across the finish line because it includes programs that are much more controversial. Now, for Johnson and his future, you already have members of the House

Freedom Caucus saying they don't like these bills. They're not supporting these bills. But ultimately, while many of them are grumbling, you haven't heard them saying this is the end of Johnson's speakership, in part because they do believe that when McCarthy set the course last summer with that debt ceiling deal, it became very difficult for any future speaker to get off the tracks that were already set for him.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: To continue with the analogy, let's see if this train remains on the tracks in the next couple days.

Lauren, it's great to see you. Thank you so much.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you, Kate.

Today, closing arguments are expected to begin in the trial against Hannah Guttierez-Reed, the armorer on the set of the movie "Rust" that left cinematographer Halyna Hutchins shot dead while she was filming a scene.

CNN's Josh Campbell has more on the trial.

Josh, the armorer is responsible for firearm safety on the set. What's the latest you're hearing in this case?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, so we could be wrapping up very shortly with this trial. You know, this is a trial that has been watched from coast-to-coast, particularly by the entertainment industry, because of the precedent that it might set.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed didn't shoot anyone. She wasn't holding the gun when it went off. Prosecutors don't even know how live rounds of ammunition made their way onto the set. But this hinges on whether the jury believes that she, in her role as the armor, was negligent in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Now, this trial has gone on for over nine days now. The jury hearing from over 35 witnesses that prosecutors have really focused on that negligence. And in one particular moment, I'll play this for you, the prosecutor got up and said, look, we went through the scene, taking pictures of everything we saw, and we actually saw what appeared to be live rounds of ammunition commingled into what are called dummy rounds. This was across the movie set. And he played this video for the jurors and actually showing them some of these photos, including one photo where Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is allegedly sitting there with a live round of ammunition in the shot.

Have a watch. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JASON LEWIS, SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: We were able to identify several points in time where the cartridges with a silver primer (ph) and a shiny brass cartridge ended up being spotted inside of the gun belts and bandolier that the cast members were wearing on the set.

There was one occasion where a live round was sitting right on Ms. Gutierrez's lap and she failed to identify it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, Reed has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Her attorney claims that his client is being scapegoated. They are focusing their attention on the "Rust" movie production itself, saying that there was this culture of unsafe practices, saying that they were rushing to get this thing finished in order to cut costs.

[08:35:07]

The attorney even pointing the finger and Alec Baldwin himself.

Watch.

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JASON BOWLES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Do you know what the primary thing was here? It was rush. Get this done so we can get the money. And that's all on production.

And Mr. Baldwin, he violated some of the most basic gun safety rules you can ever learn. From a young age we all learn, you don't point a gun at somebody ever unless you want to shoot them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, there was one particular strong moment yesterday where the defense called a witness who was with the Occupational Safety Health Administration. They conducted their own investigation of this movie set. That witness testifying that they found workplace hazards involving firearms. And although the movie put in place safety practices, this witness said that the movie production totally failed to enforce them.

Of course, we'll see what the jury ends up deciding here. Closing arguments expected to begin today, and then the jury will get the case.

Sara.

SIDNER: There's much there. It's really hard to understand why there were live rounds mixed in with dummy rounds.

CAMPBELL: Yes.

SIDNER: Man.

Josh Campbell, thank you so much for following this trial for us.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: As we learned this morning that Nikki Haley will be leaving the race, CNN spoke to some voters in battleground Wisconsin who say that they plan on voting for her even if she's not on the ballot. We'll bring that to you.

And, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, he launched his short-lived presidential run on a promise to fight so-called woke ideology. He then dropped it when that message didn't work. And now he seems to be back at it. His new plans after a federal court blocked what he calls the state's stop woke act.

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BOLDUAN: In just over an hour, Nikki Haley is going to be making the final remarks of her 2024 campaign as she is exiting the race. President Biden and former President Trump, they showed up with big wins last night, both claiming the overwhelming majority of party delegates at stake on Super Tuesday.

So, CNN's Gary Tuchman, he talked to voters in battleground Wisconsin as they're still preparing to cast their vote.

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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I want to ask all of you, we have some Biden supporters here, some Trump supporters, some Haley supporters. If the election were today, how many of you would be voting for Donald Trump?

One, two, three, four.

How many of you would be voting for Joe Biden?

One, two, three, four.

Is anybody still ready to vote for Nikki Haley?

One, two, three.

So that leads to my next question. Do any of you think that Nikki Haley still has a shot?

But you're still going to write her in if the election were held today? Both of you feel that way and you feel that way also? You don't. So, who would you vote for?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would vote for Trump.

TUCHMAN: You would vote for Trump. So let the -- my people who are voting for Donald Trump raise your hand again for a second. I'll start with you, because you said you're voting for Trump. Why -- why do you think you'll vote for Donald Trump?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would vote for him, just his strong stance on American patriotism. He's got the backbone that America needs desperately. So, he has my vote.

TUCHMAN: And do you not think Joe Biden is a patriot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not certain.

TUCHMAN: Not certain. OK.

What about you? Why are you going to vote for Donald Trump?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he's the man for the country right now. I don't like him personally, but I know that he -

TUCHMAN: You don't like what personally?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, his personality. I can see past that towards like policy. So, I think his policy is for economic growth. I'm concerned about border security and economic independence.

TUCHMAN: A question we've been asking in polling today, is he fit to be president if he's convicted of a felony? What do you think? Who's another one of our Trump supporters who wants to answer the question? What do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do.

TUCHMAN: And why do you? That wouldn't bother you if he's convicted of a felony being president?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would bother me, but it would bother me more to vote for Biden.

TUCHMAN: And why is that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just -- I think when the press is saying things about him, and what I see too, that he's incapable of speaking, that he probably has Alzheimer's.

TUCHMAN: Well, I - that - that's speculation. But, yes, he does make mistakes speaking, but so does Donald Trump, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Uh-huh. Right.

TUCHMAN: That doesn't bother you at all?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not in the same way.

TUCHMAN: OK.

Our Biden supporters, raise your hand. Why Joe Biden?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I'm not worried that he's not going to leave office. TUCHMAN: What does that mean?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that Trump may want to stay in the office or may make changes that precludes his leaving. I'll leave it at that.

TUCHMAN: And regarding both of you who are saying that you're still -- you're going to write in Nikki Haley at this point and -- because she doesn't have a chance to be president, why would you do that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think like many in this country, I feel like we have to vote between the lesser of two bad choices. I mean really bad choices.

TUCHMAN: And -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I just feel like, in my conscience, while I do think that President Trump did some good things, that I am - I am very concerned about what a second term would mean.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And our thanks to Gary Tuchman for that.

The sun is rising over the state capital here in Denver. The state capital of Colorado. Metaphorically, the sun is rising. It is the dawn of this new phase of this presidential campaign. An historic phase where we are seeing a rematch between President Biden and Donald Trump with Nikki Haley announcing she is going to drop out of the race.

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That will happen very shortly. We'll, of course, standby to bring that to you live.

In the meantime, how does the Biden campaign, how does the White House try to reach these Nikki Haley voters? He's got a big opportunity tomorrow night. It's the State of the Union Address.

With me now is CNN contributor, and former White House communications director, Kate Bedingfield.

Kate, great to see you.

So, there's this big speech tomorrow night. And I do have to tell you, every voter I talked to coming out of the polls here in Colorado, they were well aware that Joe Biden was delivering the State of the Union Address tomorrow night. How does he reach a Nikki Haley voter?

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, that's great. That's a great opportunity for Joe Biden then.

So, you know, tomorrow night I think he really has a big moment to lay out the contrast. He can talk about his vision for the economic future of this country. He can talk a lot about what he's done for the middle class. But also, critically, how he will continue to fight for the middle class. His task tomorrow is really to lay out a vision for the next four years. What it looks like under Joe Biden, who would thrive, who he's fighting for, whose side he's on critically, versus what the world would look like under Donald Trump.

I think for -- to reach these -- these Haley voters, and we saw this, you know, in the results last night. I mean we saw suburban voters who are going to be so critical to determining the outcome of this election. They didn't come out for Donald Trump. They came out for Nikki Haley. They told exit pollers that they couldn't -- they couldn't stomach voting for Donald Trump, even if he's the Republican nominee.

So, there is a path for Joe Biden through the suburbs, in particular. And so he's really got to make this race about issues that we know motivate those voters. This question of who's going to protect your right to choose. This -- on this question of democracy and freedom and under -- under Donald Trump or Joe Biden, under which presidency are you going to have more rights? Are you going to be able to live your life the way you want to live it.

So, he has an opportunity tomorrow night when people are going to be paying attention in a way that, at this stage of the game they're not really paying attention to presidential politics most nights. So, it will be a big moment for him, no question.

BERMAN: I will tell you the Democratic voters that I spoke to yesterday, many of them told me they were listening to what the president was going to say about Gaza. These are Democratic voters who have some concerns about U.S. support for Israel in the war against Hamas in Gaza. How do you think the president handles that, particularly with a not insignificant number of people in Minnesota and some other states voting for uncommitted or none of the above in these primaries.

BEDINGFIELD: Well, I think he'll probably use the opportunity tomorrow night to explain what he's doing to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza, to continue to push the Israeli government, to push Hamas, to push all parties to come to a table to get to a ceasefire, to get hostages out, and to get to a point where we're moving past the most brutal phase of this conflict and into -- into the next phase.

Obviously, his administration has been doing an enormous amount of work on this. Now, the challenge with work like this is that it's often behind the scenes, sometimes necessarily so. So, he has an opportunity tomorrow -- tomorrow night to explain to voters what he's pushing for, why, and his own personal values behind it too, which I do think is an important piece of this conversation that doesn't always - doesn't always show up. So, he'll have a chance to do that.

But I think the other thing to think about is, for voters who are frustrated with his policy, you know, if you look at the choice in November, it's going to be a choice between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Donald Trump went on Fox two days ago and was asked what the IDF should do, and he said they should go into Gaza and finish the problem. So, as the race -- as the race crystallizes, as the choice becomes not just Joe Biden and, well, I'm frustrated with some elements of his policy and in theory I'd like to see another option, the choice is going to be, Joe Biden or Donald Trump. And I just -- I think for voters who are concerned about the loss of life in Gaza and what they're seeing, what they're witnessing there, Donald Trump isn't the answer to alleviate that suffering.

BERMAN: So, Kate, Linwel (ph) Manuel Miranda (ph) tells me you've been in the room where it happens. For a State of the Union Address, you've been there as the preparation goes on. What is happening right now to get ready for this speech? Who's talking to him? How willing to criticize President Biden are the people behind the scenes?

BEDINGFIELD: Sure. Very willing. It is a candid -- it is a very candid discussion. The president rehearses a lot for the State of the Union. That's one thing that sort of separates the State of the Union from a lot of other business the president does. You know, there aren't that many moments, just given how - how much demand there is on the president's time all the time, there aren't that many moments where the president really has an opportunity to rehearse, to take time, to go through the speech many, many times, to deliver it, to think about how he wants the key sections of the speech to land and how he wants to deliver them. So, there's a lot of rehearsal that goes on in the last couple of days leading up to the Status the Union.

There's a lot of discussion about what are going to be the big key takeaways, what are going to be the moments that are going to provoke a response in the room.

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How is -- how do things land in the room there in the well of the congress versus for the average viewer who's watching on television. And how do you ensure that you're underscoring the things that you want the average viewer to take away from what is actually ultimately a very long speech.

But, yes, I mean, there is a lot of candid discussion of this. The president, I can tell you as somebody who's been there many times, the president welcomes feedback. He wants to debate these points with his advisers. He wants to hear competing viewpoints and then ultimately zero in on a speech that's going to tell the story that he wants to tell.

So that's the - that's what goes on in the last couple of days leading up to the State of the Union. A lot of preparation.

BERMAN: Thank you for that inside look. Kate Bedingfield, great to talk to you. Appreciate it.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John.

Still ahead, this man deliberately got 217 vaccine shots for Covid-19. Why? And what happened to him? That's coming up next.

Also, in minutes, a Georgia state senate panel is launching its investigation into Fulton County DA Fani Willis and the misconduct allegations against her. All that's ahead.

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BOLDUAN: A federal appeals court hits the brakes on the Florida governor's anti-woke agenda for his state. Well, now, Ron DeSantis is preparing to make his next moves after a lower court says that some of his anti-woke push violates employers' free speech.

CNN's Carlos Suarez is watching this, following this from Miami.

What happens now, Carlos?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, the Florida governor will have to decide whether he is going to appeal this decision. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals really did not mince words, denouncing the law as committing, quote, "First Amendment sin." The ruling, as you noted, upheld a lower court's decision that found that the Stop Woke Act violates the U.S. Constitution.

The act signed into law by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in 2022 was challenged by two Florida-based employers who wanted to require diversity and inclusion training for workers. DeSantis championed the law throughout his failed run for president, and it was a key part of his war on, quote, "woke ideology." The law banned teachings or mandatory workplace activities that suggest a person is privileged or oppressed based on their race, color, sex, or national origin.

Now, the state of Florida argued that the legislation regulated the conduct of requiring employees to attend meetings. The court, however, they disagreed and said that the law targets speech. Court of Appeals Judge Britt Grant, who was appointed by former President Trump, issued the opinion, writing in part, quote, "even if we presumed that the act served the interest of combating discrimination in some way, its breadth and scope would doom it. Banning speech on a wide variety of political topics is bad; banning speech on a wide variety of political viewpoints is worse."

The governor's office pushed back on the ruling, saying that the court, quote, "held that companies have a right to indoctrinate their employees with racist and discriminatory ideologies. We are reviewing all options going forward."

Monday's ruling focused on the workplace related provision of the law. A lawsuit challenging how race is taught in classrooms is still playing out in federal courts.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Carlos Suarez, thank you so much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, a tech watchdog is warning of the serious implications that top AI generators could have on the presidential election. The tech watchdog group, Center for Countering Digital Hate, found despite some guardrails that they can -- photos can be manipulated into producing fake election-related images despite some of those safeguards that are in place. The tech watchdog Center for Countering Digital Hate researchers entered prompts to see what photos they could create with AI. Some of the fakes included a photo of President Biden sick in a hospital bed, a photo of boxes of ballots in a dumpster, and a picture of former President Donald Trump getting arrested.

CNN's Clare Duffy is joining us now.

You're looking at these generations. And we have seen how AI can work. You know, young folks get on there. They're easy to create some of this. But there were guardrails in place. What is being done to try to deal with this potential impact on a presidential election?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, Sara, I mean, that's what's really alarming about this is that all of these platforms say they technically don't allow people to create potentially misleading AI generated images. In some cases going so far as to say they don't allow political misinformation.

But as with many tech platforms, putting the policies in place is often much harder than actually enforcing them. And I think that's what you're seeing here.

These researchers tested four top AI generators, Mid Journey, Stability AI's DreamStudio, OpenAI's ChatGPT Plus, and Microsoft's Image Creator. And they tested them using these prompts related to the presidential election to see if they could get them to create potentially misleading images related to the candidate its election fraud. And what they found is that in 41 percent of their tests, these AI tools were creating potentially misleading, photorealistic images.

And I think this just really speaks to just how real these concerns are that these new AI tools could create misinformation that could cause harm and confusion ahead of not just the U.S. election in 2024, but elections around the world.

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