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Democrat Jason Palmer Defeats Biden In American Samoa; Alabama Poised To Protect IVF With Key Vote; DA Fani Willis Releases Statement As Georgia Lawmakers Open Investigation. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 06, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

REP. TOM EMMER (R-MN) MAJORITY WHIP: And once he's apprised of that, which is our job, then he'll make the call.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And as we've laid out many times before, the House Speaker is under immense pressure from his right flank not to bring additional Ukraine aid to the floor, which is why this alternative option of using a discharge petition could be a potential tool to get Ukraine aid on the floor and not make it the responsibility of Johnson. But Emmer said that the political considerations here aren't top of mind for the speaker.

But of course, he's already heard from some Republicans who have argued he could lose his job if he pushes forward with that Ukraine aid -- Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Lauren Fox, live for us on Capitol Hill. Thanks so much.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: It was almost a clean sweep for President Biden on Super Tuesday. He dominated his few rivals. He won around 80 percent of the vote in almost every contest, except one, which we mentioned, by the way, quite often yesterday, American Samoa, 91 entire votes cast in the Democratic caucuses.

And Biden lost 51 to 40 to Jason Palmer, a little-known venture capitalist from Baltimore who has never held public office.

SANCHEZ: And Palmer's campaign says he didn't visit the island himself, but he did appear virtually at events. And he had three full time campaign staffers on the ground.

That is obviously not Jason Palmer. But he is joining us right now. Jason, thanks so much for coming on CNN NEWS CENTRAL and sharing part of your afternoon with us.

I'm wondering when what went through your mind when you found out you won the primary in American Samoa?

JASON PALMER (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I knew that there was a lot of support from the people in American Samoa because I'd done multiple virtual meetings with them. My team on the ground was keeping me updated with pictures that seemed to come in every 30 minutes of new signs that were being put up and new people they had talked to who were interested in my campaign and what I could do for the island. I think it really was the first time that a presidential candidate really took American Samoa seriously and listened to the people and responded to their needs.

KEILAR: It probably helps that you say it correctly. And I realize I've been saying it incorrectly. You had a message for them.

PALMER: You know, 99 percent of us here on the mainland have just never heard it correctly. So, you know, they forgive us, too.

KEILAR: Of course. It's an it's an education. You campaign remotely. Can you talk a little bit about that process?

PALMER: Yes, well, you know, when Super Tuesday is coming up and there are 15 states at the same time, you can't possibly go everywhere. I spent some time on the ground in Colorado. I spent some time on the ground in Vermont. I wasn't just focused on American Samoa.

I actually am on the ballot in 16 states and territories, and we're looking at adding additional states and territories, too, now that we have this win under our belt.

I mean, as you know, two thirds of Americans and two thirds of Democrats say that they want a younger candidate. They want someone who's in tune with them on Gaza, on immigration, on investing more in the American people.

And if you look on my Web site, you know, it's all about building a new color economy, restoring the American dream for young people, actually addressing the crisis in Gaza differently. I would not have vetoed those U.N. resolutions. In fact, what's happening to the Palestinians is terrible, and the United States should not be sending aid to Israel to continue to propagate that war.

SANCHEZ: Jason, we'll take you on the premise that you are running a serious campaign for president. I have to be honest. I'd never heard of you before last night, and someone flagged to me, Jason Palmer has won American Samoa -- Samoa, I'll get it right, I promise.

But I'm wondering --

PALMER: Samoa, you'll get it, you'll get it.

SANCHEZ: Samoa, yes. But I'm wondering what your response is to the White House that this is silly news. It sounds like you have a serious platform in your mind.

PALMER: I do have a serious platform. My platform is based on conscious capitalism, which is not something that I invented, but it's a movement that I've been part of for the last decade, which is that companies can be focused not on just making profit, but also on doing good for social causes, doing good for positive impact in the world. In my case, I invest in companies at the intersection of education and workforce technology. We help upskill people, we help educate people in prisons and jails, help them with getting reintegrated back in society, help more people graduate from high school, college, reduce the cost of college, these types of things. That's why I know exactly how to build the new-collar economy for the United States.

But conscious capitalism is bigger than just education and workforce. It applies to electrifying our entire economy. We can actually introduce more green jobs into the economy.

[15:35:00]

We can actually become a carbon neutral country by 2030 or 2035 with the right type of focus. And, you know, I'll admit, I'm definitely a long shot candidate. This is the first time that someone has beat an incumbent president in any primary election since 1980.

But, you know, this is giving voice to the two thirds of Americans who feel like it shouldn't just be Trump versus Biden. We actually need alternative voices to be heard. And they want a positive, optimistic platform for the future, especially young people. You know, most young people don't think they're going to do better than their parents.

It does not have to be that way in the United States of America. We know how to innovate. We know how to make a more equitable economy. And honestly, I'm not going to wait. We're going to be pushing, pushing, pushing all the way to the convention.

KEILAR: And yet Biden isn't going anywhere. Right. I mean, it seems even -- even with your win, it's sort of unofficially official that now you have the race for the general election, Biden versus Trump.

And you said Biden, he needs to be younger. That's not going to happen. You said Biden needs to hand this off to a new generation. That's not going to happen this cycle, Jason. So where does that leave voters who are making a choice here?

PALMER: Well, I wouldn't say -- I mean, Biden's team has said for sure he's running for president. His goal is to accept the nomination. But I hold out a small chance that Joe Biden actually wants to be remembered like George Washington, that he knew when it was time to pass the torch to the next generation.

He could do that tomorrow. He could do that in a month. He could do that at the convention.

Now, that said, he may continue to run for president. And if he does, then I will support him because I'll support whoever the Democratic nominee is. And I voted for Joe Biden four years ago. I just don't think he's the best president for our times right now.

I do want to also take this moment to mention that I will be co- founding a new organization in the next few weeks. This will be the first time that I'm mentioning it. We need to actually pull the country together. And in fact, that's going to be the name of the organization "Together!" -- with an exclamation point. And its goal will be to try to rally independents and young people to the cause of taking back our government, having it be radical common sense, actually passing bipartisan legislation, none of this constant government shutdown and continuing resolutions.

We actually need to address these problems. And this is going to be an important part of what I do over the summer while continuing to campaign for president.

KEILAR: Jason Palmer, it's great to have you, the victor in the Democratic primary in American Samoa. Thank you for being with us.

PALMER: Hey, great pronunciation. Thank you.

KEILAR: Caucuses, caucuses, man, I am messing this up.

SANCHEZ: It was a caucus.

KEILAR: It was a caucus. Yes. All right, Jason, thank you so much.

Alabama soon having a new law in the books meant to protect in vitro fertilization, at least one clinic, though, saying it's still not resuming treatments. We'll have that next.

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SANCHEZ: Legislation to protect in vitro fertilization in Alabama should soon be on its way to Governor Kay Ivey's desk to be signed into law. State lawmakers are set to hold a key vote this afternoon after Alabama Supreme Court ruled last month that frozen embryos are unborn children, throwing many families' plans into chaos. Three of the state's fertility clinics put IVF treatments on hold almost immediately because of the huge threat of liability. This new law would protect patients and providers from that legal liability.

Joining us now is Dr. Beth Malizia. She's a fertility specialist and co-owner of Alabama Fertility, which has paused some IVF treatments. Doctor, thanks so much for being with us.

When this bill becomes law, we understand you're ready to begin procedures immediately. Is that right?

DR. BETH MALIZIA, CO-OWNER, ALABAMA FERTILITY: That's correct, yes, we have patients who are anxiously waiting this news, hopefully later this afternoon, and they're already teed up on medications and we're ready. We're ready to go. We're ready to take care of our patients as we always have been.

SANCHEZ: We understand there were also patients that were planning to leave the state or who potentially already left the state for IVF treatment. Have you been in contact with any of them, what their plans are? MALIZIA: Yes, so when we got this news from the Alabama Supreme Court,

it slowly trickled in and made us reevaluate exactly what we were doing and make sure we're staying safe for our patients in our clinic. So we put a couple of our specific treatments for IVF on hold. Each patient received a call from their doctor specifically.

So we made lots of phone calls. We modified patients' plans individually to try to ensure that we were giving them the best opportunities and gave them some choices.

I personally have only one patient that has decided to go out of state, but I totally respect that decision and I think patients need to do what's best for them.

SANCHEZ: There are warnings out there from legal experts that say that courts could cite the Alabama Supreme Court decision to treat embryos as people in other areas of the law as well. I'm wondering if you share that concern and if you think that this legislation goes far enough to protect your patients.

MALIZIA: So for now, we are been pushing very, very hard on this legislation.

[15:45:00]

My partners and myself, as well as many patients were at the statehouse last week, back again yesterday. I'm holding down the fort here in Birmingham and my partners are back at the statehouse today.

So we are very hopeful that this legislation is going to give us at least some temporary protection to be able to get back to work and take care of patients. There is some talk of some more long-term conversations. We respect that.

We want everyone comfortable with what we do. I'd love to educate people more about what we do in the world of IVF and we want to be a part of that process. So we want patients and physicians to be a part of the process if we start discussing more specifically what IVF care is and what we do.

SANCHEZ: On that note, doctor, this bill, it doesn't address the root issue, right? Fundamentally, under the current Alabama state law, embryos are unborn children. And so, there are ways -- I was talking to a state legislator earlier -- there are ways in which he believes that there could be loopholes and that patients could once again be targeted.

So I'm wondering to opponents of IVF in Alabama and beyond, what would you say to them about the procedure? What would you say is perhaps their essential misunderstanding about what it is that you do for families?

MALIZIA: I think there's two points to be made to that. Number one, there are not that many opponents to this. You know, remarkably, regardless of patients affiliation regarding any of their religious or political affiliation, most patients and even just, you know, members of the community are supportive of IVF.

There was a poll done of GOP voters in Alabama showing 81 percent support IVF and fertility treatments. So I think hopefully across the board, this is something that's supported more than it is opposed.

And then the second thing, to answer your question, is that this is a conversation that we have every single day with patients in our office. We take into consideration all of their concerns. We want to provide their care in a way that they are comfortable. We are not creating embryos for the use of discard. We are creating embryos to have the opportunity for patients to grow their family in a healthy way.

So all of the things that are sort of discussed out there, I would love to have those things reviewed with physicians who do this day to day. A lot of the concerns that people have are about things that we're already doing.

We're already talking to patients about -- we have lots of things that are helping us through that. But the patients are directing that process and that conversation.

SANCHEZ: And Dr. Beth Malizia, thank you so much for the time.

MALIZIA: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

So Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis just released a fiery response to Republican lawmakers in Georgia who are conducting their own investigation and allegations of her wrongdoing. We have more in just moments.

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[15:52:22]

KEILAR: Just into CNN, we're told Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis just spoke. A judge currently deciding if she should be disqualified from the election subversion case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia. And Republicans in the state's Senate are now leading their own investigation of her probe.

We have CNN's Nick Valencia in Atlanta following all of this. Nick, what is Willis saying?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, this committee was formed in the Georgia legislature to investigate whether or not Fani Willis misused public government funds, whether or not she has a conflict of interest.

But there were certainly moments during today's hearing that felt more like political theater, and Fani Willis seems to agree.

This is what she's saying to us in a statement, saying, quote: The Republican Senate hearing is a political quest by politicians who are upset that I do the right thing and stand up for justice, no matter who the person is who may have done wrong in Fulton County. They can continue with their games, and I will continue to do the work of the people.

VALENCIA: You know, it's not lost on us, Brianna, that this hearing comes just a day after Super Tuesday, the pathway cleared for Donald Trump to become president of the Republican Party.

So we asked the chairman of this committee, who is a Republican, Bill Kauser (ph), if this is a signal that he's sending to Trump to have this hearing, that he has Trump's back, that Republicans in the state have Trump's back. He didn't answer the question, but he did say they're seeking whether or not there are guardrails that they could put in place in Georgia law, if there's any Georgia law, state law that Fani Willis broke.

Now, let's be clear, there's no allegations at all whatsoever that Fani Willis broke any state laws, but that's what the committee here says that they're investigating. And they have the power to make Fani Willis' life a lot more complicated and difficult. They do not have the power to remove her, but they do have subpoena power to get people to testify under oath.

And that's what we saw today, defense attorney Ashley Merchant testifying, you know, basically reiterating her argument as to why she believes Fani Willis should be disqualified from this case.

And those claims largely went unchallenged by the majority Republican committee. We did catch up with one of the Democrats on the committee who called this hearing today silly and said that the Republicans are continuing on with political literature and that they just want to keep this story in the news.

We should mention also, not only does this committee not have the power to remove Fani Willis, but the recommendation of what to do next will come long after Judge Scott McAfee makes his decision. Remember, he said last week he expects to order -- or give his order in this case of whether Willis should be disqualified in the next two weeks -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, very good point there. Nick Valencia, thank you.

[15:55:00]

Still ahead, you can call them out of this world absentee votes, how astronauts on the International Space Station cast their ballots for Super Tuesday.

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SANCHEZ: So millions of Americans cast ballots yesterday for Super Tuesday, but only two people can say they just did it from space. Here they are, Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara from the International Space Station.

[16:00:00] KEILAR: Well, it turns out -- and I guess this makes sense, right, that voting from space, it's just as complicated as it sounds. NASA says, after an astronaut fills out an electronic absentee ballot, the encrypted document is then sent by satellite to a ground antenna in New Mexico, then to mission control in Houston, finally on to their county clerk's office.

And I think the biggest bummer is that they don't get that I voted sticker.

SANCHEZ: That is true. Yes, a circuitous route that it goes on.

I'm not sure that I've ever used that word in conversation before, so I feel like I deserve a sticker for that.

KEILAR: Yes, you do. We'll give you one.

SANCHEZ: Thanks for joining us this afternoon. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.