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Biden to Make Last State of the Union Speech Before 2024 Election; Alabama Governor Signs IVF Protection Bill into Law; Rust Armorer Found Guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 07, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, she shared these pictures on social media of her then, she was a child of immigrants, and now the first woman of color to hold the second highest office in the country. We'll say I remember going back to the houses I lived in as a child to try to meet the families who are there now. It's always a bittersweet experience, so fun to see her do that.

All right, thank you all for joining us this morning. I'm Kasie Hunt. Don't go anywhere. CNN New Central starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The pressure is on. President Biden is preparing to give one of his most important speeches ahead of the November election. Tonight, State of the Union, his allies are hoping to see a fiery version of the president while Republicans are planning on how they will strike back.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The armorer in charge of weapons on the set of Rust found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. So, what does this verdict mean for the case against Alec Baldwin?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Conduct a controlled burn or let a derailed train sit and risk a catastrophic explosion. Those were the options left in the hands of officials in Ohio after that train derailed last year. Now the NTSB says they made the wrong call, while investigators say no one on the ground had enough information to make the right one.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman and Sarah Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: Hours from now, high stakes addressed by the current president and a promised real-time rebuttal by the former president trying to take back the job will paint the clearest picture yet of the rematch in the battle for the White House.

Biden's State of the Union tonight is considered one of the most critical speeches of his more than 50-year political career. His age, his popularity, his policies at the southern border and in Israel and around the world, all under a harsh microscope as he looks to convince skeptical Americans he can beat Donald Trump once again.

CNN White House Correspondent Arlette Saenz is leading us off this morning. Arlette, Biden's allies are really begging him to go for the jugular, to fight harder. Can we expect that tonight?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, President Biden is expected to spend the day putting the finishing touches on this speech, a moment that really will give him the clearest chance yet to try to convince voters to provide him with a second term.

There are Democrats who are eager to see the president have a bit more of a fighting spirit in the State of the Union Address. And so we'll be watching closely to see if that plays out. We'll remember back in 2023 he tangled with Republicans over Social Security.

But, really, this speech will give the president an opportunity to tout his accomplishments and also to lay out his vision for a second term. The speech is expected to focus heavily on economic populism. He'll talk about raising taxes on corporations up to 28 percent also raising the corporate minimum tax from 15 percent to 21 percent. He'll talk about efforts to try to lower costs for everyday Americans. That includes a push to lower prescription drug prices, as he's going to call for Congress to expand the number of drugs that can be negotiated under Medicare.

There's also expected to be a focus on democracy and freedom, a cornerstone of his 2024 campaign. And one of the key freedoms that the president often talks about is reproductive rights, an issue they believe will really galvanize voters heading into November.

The president is also expected to touch on Ukraine aid, something that so far Republicans in the House have blocked and also big questions about how he will address the issue of border security, especially with Republicans in the room who blocked the efforts for a bipartisan border proposal.

Now, the preparations for this speech have been ongoing for months. I'm told that in addition to working with his senior advisers, the president also once again consulted Presidential Historian Jon Meacham. And, really, what the focus has been in recent months is trying to identify the issues that he should prioritize in the speech, but also how to craft a message to convey to voters that he's ready for a second term.

SIDNER: You know, when the camera pans around and you start seeing who's in the crowd, it's interesting to see who's sitting in the first lady's box. Who are we expecting to see?

SAENZ: Yes. The guests that the first lady invites the State of the Union often reflect the priorities the President will stress in the State of the Union Address. She has a host of people who will be sitting there with her.

That includes the Swedish prime minister. It comes as Sweden is about to join the NATO alliance, a move really that President Biden had advocated for after Russia began its war in Ukraine.

There will also be a reproductive rights focus. Kate Cox, that Texas mother who had to travel out of state after facing a life-threatening pregnancy, as well as Latorya Beasley, who is a woman in Alabama who was going through IVF but had her procedures canceled after the Alabama Supreme Court decision on IVF a little bit earlier this year.

[07:05:04]

You also will see Jazmin Cazares, whose sister died in the Uvalde massacre at Robb Elementary School. President Biden and the first lady traveled there to meet with the families shortly after.

There's also going to be someone who has benefited from the president's efforts to try to lower student debt issues in this country.

And then there's Betty Mae Fikes, who was a foot soldier on Bloody Sunday. Today is the 59th anniversary of that historic moment in the civil rights movement. All of these guests really speaking to the priorities the president is trying to relate to the country in the State of the Union Address tonight.

SIDNER: Now, they send their own message just by being there. Arlette Saenz, thank you so much for your reporting. John?

BERMAN: So, this morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has reportedly encouraged House Republicans to show decorum during the address, which is something they have occasionally struggled with, including just last year.

CNN's Alayna Treene is in Houston, where the Republican National Committee will gather for its spring meeting today.

So, what are the plans for the official Republican response? Not so much the shouting and heckling that might take place.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, John, we know that the former president is going to be watching this address at Mar-a-Lago with a small group of his advisers, and he's going to be giving a live play- by-play, his words, of this speech tonight in his own response.

And I'm told that that will be mainly on Truth Social, where we'll see Donald Trump live posting on his social media site.

Let me just quickly read for you how he phrased it on Truth Social yesterday. The former president said, quote, I am pleased to inform you that tomorrow night, we will be doing a live play-by-play of Crooked Joe Biden's State of the Union Address. I will correct in rapid response any and all inaccurate statements, especially pertaining to the border and his weaponization of the DOJ, FBI, A.G.s, and district attorneys to go after his political opponent, me.

Now, kind of rhetoric that we can expect from the former president, but, look, he also really put a big point on immigration. That's also what we are told that House Republicans want to be focusing on as well.

We know that House Speaker Mike Johnson, he's going to be inviting us some of his guests along with some of the other New York representatives, New York police officers, and that is really as he is leaning into this message of violence and chaos, as he wrote on X yesterday in sanctuary cities, and, again, really trying to emphasize chaos at the border, immigration, themes we know that Republicans believe are one of Joe Biden and Republicans, excuse me, Democrats in general, vulnerabilities heading into November. That is going to be a big theme of this speech.

Now, we also know that Senator Katie Britt, she is a senator from Alabama, she will be delivering the official rebuttal to Joe Biden's State of the Union Address. And, you know, she's also going to be leaning into some of these immigration themes, we're told.

But I do think, you know, she is 42 years old. She's one of the youngest women in the Senate. She's the first female elected to Senate in Alabama. And so I think that will also be a stark contrast that Republicans are trying to set, particularly when it comes to Biden's age.

And, again, his age is also a big vulnerability that Republicans see they can continue to hammer him on as Donald Trump and Joe Biden head to a rematch ahead of November. John?

BERMAN: Alayna Treene in Houston, thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, IVF treatments in Alabama may be starting back up this morning after the governor signed a new bill into law overnight. The law now protects IVF providers and patients from civil and criminal liability.

Now, this is the result, you'll remember, of what became a mad scramble by Alabama lawmakers after the state Supreme Court ruling through fertility treatments statewide into a world of uncertainty. The court declared that under state law, frozen embryos are considered children and thus deserve the same legal protections as children.

Let's get to where they are now, as this is a new day for Alabama. CNN's Isabel Rosales is in Alabama.

Isabel, what are the clinics and hospitals that had to put a pause on treatments, what are they going to be able to do today?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kate, good morning to you. Two out of the three of them say that they are resuming IVF treatments. One of them is not. So, let's dig into that a little bit.

The Center for Reproductive Medicine at Mobile Health, this is the same fertility clinic embroiled in the case that led to the classification of embryos as humans, as children. This clinic, Mark Nix, the CEO of Infirmary Health, telling CNN that they will not resume IVF treatments.

They have some concerns about the legal language, saying that they need legal clarity as to the extent of the immunity that clinics and patients would have, telling CNN in a statement, quote, at this time, we believe the law falls short of addressing the fertilized eggs currently stored across the state and leaves challenges for physicians and fertility clinics trying to help deserving families have children of their own. [07:10:05]

Meanwhile, Alabama Fertility says that it's set to resume those treatments as early as today or tomorrow. And then the University of Alabama at Birmingham says it is working to promptly move to restore those IVF treatments.

So, let's talk about the law again, again, signed quickly by the governor just an hour after it passed through the legislature. The law is designed to protect those who provide and receive IVF by offering criminal and civil immunity. This is crucial because IVF clinics routinely dispose of unwanted, non-viable frozen embryos that they don't need.

The supply is immediately and retroactively, but here, importantly, Kate, it does not get to the heart of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos are human beings.

BOLDUAN: So, that means there is more to come. It's good to see you, Isabel. Thank you for that update. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Just ahead, what the guilty verdict of the armorer in the Rust shooting trial could mean for actor and producer Alec Baldwin.

Also, an investigation into the train crash in East Palestine, Ohio, finds the controlled burn that sparked explosions and sent plumes of this toxic smoke in the air was not necessary.

Plus, new CNN reporting this morning on what President Biden's allies have been stressing over and why tonight may be its chance for the president put those fears to rest. That's ahead.

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[07:15:00]

BERMAN: This morning, we're waiting for a sentencing date for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. The armorer of the film set of Rust was let out of the courtroom after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed when Alec Baldwin fired a gun containing a live round during a rehearsal in 2021.

CNN's Josh Campbell has the latest.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After deliberating for about two and a half hours, the jury in the U.S. State of New Mexico has found Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter. She was the armorer on the set of the movie Rust back in 2021 when a gun being held by actor Alec Baldwin went off killing Halyna Hutchins, the film's cinematographer.

Now, this jury had heard from 37 witnesses over the course of this ten-day trial, ultimately rendering their verdict, again, guilty of involuntary manslaughter. She was found not guilty on a separate charge, involving evidence tampering. Here's the moment the verdict was read in court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We find the defendant, Hannah Gutierrez, guilty of involuntary manslaughter as charge in count one. We find the defendant, Hannah Gutierrez not guilty of tampering with evidence as charge in count two.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, CNN has reached out to both the prosecution and defense for comment on the verdict. All along, both sides had agreed that negligence was at play here. They disagreed about who was to blame. Prosecutors saying that, as the armorer, Gutierrez-Reed was ultimately responsible for weapons safety on the set of that movie. Her attorney had indicated that his client was being scapegoated. They blamed the Rust film production company for creating an unsafe work environment, as well as pointing the finger at actor Alec Baldwin himself.

For his part, he also faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is set in the state of New Mexico this July.

Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.

BERMAN: Our thanks to Josh for that. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Opening statements begin later this morning in Michigan in the trial of that father of a teenage school shooter that killed four people. James Crumbley faces four involuntary manslaughter charges, one for each of the students his son shot and killed at Oxford High in 2021.

A jury found James' wife, Jennifer, guilty last month on those same charges in what was a historic trial that tested whether a parent can be convicted for a mass shooting carried out by their child, a key piece of evidence in James Crumbley's trial, the gun his son used.

Jennifer Crumbley testified her husband bought it for their son just four days before the deadly shooting and that he was in charge of securing it. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Joining the first lady at the state of the Union, a Texas woman who sued her state for the right to have an abortion. Why she's attending and what she wants to hear from President Biden tonight.

And the new SAT exam debuts this week with some big changes.

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[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: We are getting new details this morning about President Biden's State of the Union address tonight. One way the White House makes a statement with this big moment with every president is who they invite to sit with the first lady in the gallery. And among the guests invited tonight is a woman who waged a legal battle with the state of Texas over her right to have an abortion after her fetus was diagnosed with a rare and deadly condition.

CNN's Dana Bash sat down with her. She's with us now. Dana, what did Kate Cox tell you?

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, she told me that she got married young, and that she never even considered that abortion would be something she would have to deal with. Then she and her husband, who I should say they already are parents of two young kids, they were told that her third pregnancy was not viable.

And they came to the excruciating decision to end the pregnancy, one they didn't think would end up with a lawsuit that made national headlines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: How many weeks pregnant were you when you first heard Trisomy 18 and that you're at risk for your baby having that, which is a rare chromosomal disorder?

KATE COX, SUED TEXAS FOR ABORTION ACCESS: I think I was around 13 weeks when it first came up as a risk. The first thing we saw was a very clear issue of development of the spine. And so we thought, well, maybe our baby will have a life in a wheelchair.

And then the next week, we saw more. And that continued over five weeks. And that's when we got the full diagnosis. And that final ultrasound was catastrophic.

[07:25:02]

It was -- our baby would never survive.

BASH: The moment as a parent, as a mother, when you learn that there's something wrong with your pregnancy, I know what that's like, and it's etched in your memory forever.

K. COX: I asked the doctor best case scenario if she survived the pregnancy because the full Trisomy 18 babies, often miscarry or are stillborn. And so if we survived the pregnancy and we survived the birth, how long best case scenario did she think we could have with her? And she said the longest would be a week.

I asked my doctor, what do women do when they receive a diagnosis like this? And she told me some women choose to continue the pregnancy and some choose not to. And I asked her if that was an option in Texas, if I chose not to, to the pregnancy and she told me it was not.

BASH: So, you filed a lawsuit, and the court granted the restraining order on the law saying that you could legally obtain an abortion, and that you would not be at risk for driving your wife, that the doctor would not be at risk. But then the next day, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked the decision. What were those days like?

JUSTIN COX, SUED TEXAS FOR WIFE'S ACCESS TO ABORTION: Well, when we got the ruling from the judge, we were excited and hopeful. We thought, well, you know, maybe everybody will see the, you know, common sense that comes with this issue like we do, that this is medical care, this is what's needed, going from hopeful to feeling like, okay, this isn't going to be as easy as we thought.

K. COX: It was really crushing, pregnancies are complicated, and it's difficult sometimes to build your family, so it's really terrifying when that's left up to politicians and judges.

BASH: You did make the decision to travel outside of Texas. You went to New Mexico to have an abortion, tough decision.

J. COX: We were on a strict timeline and we couldn't wait any longer so the decision had to be made.

K. COX: It's the hardest thing we've ever been through in our lives. And the laws today added a lot more pain to what was already the most painful time in our lives. That's why I want to share our story and that's why I hope it will be different one day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Kate and Justin told me they were never particularly political. They didn't even vote regularly. But this experience clearly inspired activism. She said that when she got the call from the White House about flying in to D.C. for tonight's State of the Union, Kate, she missed the call because she was deep in mom mode, and then she saw on her phone, and it said, missed call from Joseph Biden. Kate?

BOLDUAN: I mean, I'm giggling because everyone appreciates what mom and dad mode is when you don't even know where your phone is, let alone being able to find a call when you're deep into something.

But one thing is they've never been particularly political but it seems -- that seems absolutely, you can see that on their faces when they're telling their story. This is not about politics for them and it definitely is a huge political issue, though, in this moment. It's really wonderful to hear them and let them speak, Dana. Thank you for bringing that to us.

BASH: They are incredibly, incredibly brave. It only happened three months ago.

BOLDUAN: That's -- and I think that's -- you know, it's incredibly raw still for them, for sure. It's good to see you, Dana. John?

BERMAN: All right. The Oscars just around the corner and all your favorite Hollywood stars are prepping for the big day. Hair, makeup, wardrobe, and Jimmy Kimmel jokes may be weight loss drugs. The company who makes these drugs issuing a new warning just because the stars may be doing it doesn't mean that you should.

A surprising revelation for East Palestine, Ohio, the NTSB says the toxic burn of the Norfolk Southern derailment was not necessary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH): This is a really, really troubling set of circumstances. This town very well may have been poisoned to facilitate the rapid movement of freight, or at the very least, it was poisoned for reasons that we can't identify.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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