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National Guard Deployed in New York Subway System; President Biden Prepares to Deliver State of the Union Address. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired March 07, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:46]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: President Biden is preparing to deliver his State of the Union address tonight, a high-stakes speech that comes at a key moment in his presidency and the 2024 race. So, what does he need to say and do to convince voters that he deserves another four years?

Plus, the National Guard now being called in to America's largest subway system. Why New York is taking high-profile measures to deal with a surge in crime.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And stop me if you heard this before. Last month was officially the hottest record -- the hottest February on record. What scientists say as the global hot streak continues.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: In just a few hours, President Biden will deliver what may be the most consequential speech of his political career, the State of the Union.

A growing number of the president's top allies want him to ratchet up the intensity and ramp up his attacks on the Trump-led Republican Party, partly because, in the face of voter anxiety over his age, this will be the biggest forum possibly for him to make the case that he's fit for another four-year term.

Another issue that's worrying voters, Biden's handling of the economy. He plans to address that head on tonight, laying out a new plan to raise taxes for corporations after two-plus years of corporations raising prices.

Let's start with CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak.

Kevin, you just learned that President Biden is also set to make a major announcement tonight about the war in Gaza.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, that's right.

And this is the issue that's been consuming so much of the president's time over the last several night -- months. And we are learning that, tonight, President Biden plans to make a new announcement when it comes to getting humanitarian aid into Gaza.

He will say that he is directing the U.S. military to conduct an emergency mission to construct a port along the Mediterranean coast in Gaza. Officials are likening this to a temporary pier that would allow more aid to come in on ships through Cyprus into Gaza.

They say this will increase capacity by hundreds of trucks per day, things like water, food, medicine, more of it getting to those Gazans who are desperately in need.

Very importantly, they say this will not involve U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza. That's a line that President Biden has said he's unwilling to cross.

They say they are able to construct this pier from offshore, so, certainly, a significant announcement when it comes to humanitarian aid in Gaza, but also a significant political announcement for President Biden, who has been under increasing pressure to do more to alleviate the suffering there, so, certainly, a big announcement on that front in the speech tonight.

But, really, I think the centerpiece of this State of the Union will be these big buckets when it comes to domestic issues, the idea of economic populism. The president will call on higher taxes for the wealthy and for corporations. He will talk about lowering the price of health care.

He will also talk about this idea of freedoms both in the United States and abroad. He will address the issue of reproductive rights, trying to restore the protections that were stripped from Roe v. Wade. He will talk about the IVF issue, which has been such a hot-button political topic in the United States.

So, those are the topics he will talk about. Of course, it will also be the performance that will be closely watched tonight, how he says these things, how he looks while he's saying these things, of course, as this issue of age and fitness is the major backdrop of his reelection effort, but certainly a major moment for the president tonight in his State of the Union, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, Kevin.

And part of the way that the White House drives those issues home is who they actually invite as guests to the State of the Union speech. Tell us about who the Bidens are inviting.

LIPTAK: Yes, this is always kind of a cross section of the issues that they really want to drive home in the president's message.

And so, in the first lady's box, you will see a number of Americans who really kind of represent the issues that President Biden wants to talk about, among them, Kate Cox. She is the woman from Texas who was unable to receive an abortion and that the White House has really kind of relied upon to message their importance of restoring the abortion protections.

[13:05:09]

There will also be someone from Alabama, a woman from Alabama, who was seeking IVF and was impacted by the court ruling in that state. You will also see people who have received student loan forgiveness from some of the programs that President Biden has overseen.

Interestingly, you will see the prime minister of Sweden. That's the country that just today was able to join NATO. And, certainly, President Biden will use him to sort of represent his commitment to the defense alliance and to the fight in Ukraine, the importance of providing Ukrainians with additional assistance.

You will also see the president of the UAW. And, interestingly, you will see Maria Shriver. She's a women's health advocate, but she's also a cousin of RFK Jr., who is challenging President Biden in the third-party bid for the presidency. That has sort of irked the Kennedy family.

And, certainly, she will be sort of representative of that in the first lady's box tonight, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Kevin Liptak live from the White House.

Thanks so much, Kevin -- Brianna.

KEILAR: When it comes to the State of the Union, the opposing party's rebuttal is always a plot line, and, this year, part of the Republican response will involve Donald Trump resorting to his go-to strategy of posting, lots of posting.

CNN's Alayna Treene tracking this for us. She's at the Republican National Committee's spring meeting.

What is the counterprogramming plan tonight for Trump, Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Brianna, Donald Trump will be watching Joe Biden's State of the Union address at Mar-a-Lago with a small group of advisers, I'm told, and he does plan to give a live play-by-play, his words, of how that address is going.

He wants to be able to inject himself into tonight's coverage. And let me just read for you how he put it on TRUTH Social yesterday. He 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."

The post went on to say that he plans to particularly focus on any messaging around the border, as well as any talk of his legal troubles that come up.

Now, I do just want to add, I have covered Donald Trump for many years, and this is his way of trying to claim some of the coverage and the media attention around Biden's very important State of the Union address. He wants to insert himself into this. I'm also told from his advisers that most of this will be on TRUTH Social. He will be posting on TRUTH Social.

We can also expect some video messages from him also posted on TRUTH Social. So that is how Donald Trump is planning to take over some of this narrative here and really try to draw contrast with Joe Biden.

KEILAR: And, of course, this comes one day after Nikki Haley dropped out of the GOP primary, which clears the way for the RNC to fully pivot to Donald Trump.

TREENE: That's right.

I mean, Nikki Haley dropping out of the race yesterday has essentially made Donald Trump the presumptive Republican nominee. And the reason that is so important, particularly to the Trump campaign, is because they are very eager to begin tapping into the RNC's infrastructure, including their data operation, their data on voters, as well as their ground game strategy, and the money that they can provide him with to really boost his general election campaign.

And tomorrow is really the next turn of the wheel of all of this. It's the next phase of Donald Trump just tightening his grip on the Republican Party. We're going to see Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman, step down tomorrow. And then, right after that, they're going to begin nominating people to take over for leadership.

And we are expected, I'm told, to see Michael Whatley, Donald Trump's endorsed pick -- he's the North Carolina Republican Party chairman -- to take over as chairman during those elections, as well as Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to become the RNC's co-chair.

It's -- really, these are the people that Donald Trump wanted to install at the very top of leadership at the RNC. He's also tapped Chris LaCivita and James Blair, both people who are senior advisers on Trump's campaign, to serve in important roles at the top of the RNC as well.

So, again, this is really a big shift for the national Republican Party and doing exactly what Donald Trump wants, which is to unite around him now as he looks forward to November -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Alayna Treene, thank you so much.

Let's discuss on this big day with former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent and former senior adviser to the Biden 2020 campaign Alencia Johnson.

And, Alencia, one of the things Biden allies want is, they want him to be a fighter. They want him really kind of going on the attack. How much of that are we going to see, do you think, tonight?

ALENCIA JOHNSON, FORMER BIDEN 2020 CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: Yes, I can definitely expect for him to go on the attack.

Look, I -- remember when the special counsel's report came out and he was frustrated with what they said about him, that fiery response he gave to reporters. I think you will see a bit of that this tonight with President Biden's performance.

You will also see him talking about some very critical issues. Reproductive freedom is probably going to be one of the top things that they talk about, from who the first lady has in her box, to the fact that even senators and representatives have guests from the different parts of the movement, from the president of Planned Parenthood and Reproductive Freedom for All.

[13:10:09]

So he's going to hammer on those issues, issues that relate to black voters. And we will also probably hear him talking about what's happening with the Palestinian people.

SANCHEZ: Charlie, Speaker Johnson has asked Republicans to keep tonight polite.

Obviously, President Biden drew plaudits last year when Republicans kind of got a little bit rowdy. And he responded to them in a way that showed that he was, at least in that moment, very sharp and very with it politically.

How do you think Republicans are going to respond to the president tonight? Might we see another opportunity like that...

(CROSSTALK)

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, every speaker, every Republican speaker, has told his members to behave. Sometimes, it works. They don't want any "You lie" moments.

Johnson's going to sit up there with his best poker face and try not to express anything. But this is really hard for some of the members. It's like going to an arsonists convention and having wood and gasoline and say, none of you can throw a match, OK?

(LAUGHTER)

DENT: Someone -- somebody's just not going to resist.

And so I always fear that somebody is going to make some kind of outburst at an inappropriate time. And that's what they're trying to avoid.

KEILAR: To put that into context, I was there covering Congress when that "You lie" moment happened.

DENT: Oh, yes.

KEILAR: And I ended up having to fly down on assignment to cover the congressman in his home district in South Carolina for that.

It's almost quaint now, you know? But I just wonder. The State of the Union so often -- and we make a big deal out of it. It is a big deal. It is this important moment. But it often doesn't move the needle a ton. I wonder, though, Charlie, if you think there is an opportunity for

Biden to do that.

DENT: Well, look, these speeches usually drone on too long. They throw -- it's a smorgasbord of every idea they have ever had. They throw them in there, everything they have ever done.

But what will happen today, I mean, I suspect Biden will use this as an opportunity to confront Republicans on Ukraine funding. Bring that bill up tomorrow. Let's vote on that. He will say, take up the bipartisan immigration bill that Senator Lankford negotiated with Chris Murphy and put pressure on it.

I think he will confront them there. And IVF is another area in women's health. He will confront them there. And he's going to probably have to dance on some other issues, the economy. He's got to be careful on the economy, because he's going to try to say how great it is, when much of the public doesn't feel so good right now, particularly on inflation.

SANCHEZ: The dancing on the economy, I'm curious to ask you about, Alencia, in part because what we heard from the reporting from Kevin Liptak is that President Biden is going to put forward this message of economic populism, raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations, while going after corporations for what he describes as price gouging.

How much of that is because of a concern that, in the American populace, a lot more lower-class or underprivileged folks are trending toward the Republican Party and Donald Trump is persuading voters that Democrats used to dominate with?

JOHNSON: Yes, I think that message frame is coming from within, I will be honest, the Democratic Party of young people, of people who are saying, listen, I went and got the education, I have done what everyone says I'm supposed to do, and it's still not working for me.

And they're understanding that a lot of this has to do with the fact that wealthy people and corporations are getting nice tax breaks. And so President Biden is speaking to that segment of the Democratic base. And also, to your point, there are people who, for some reason, after even these indictments, they still think that Donald Trump is a great businessman.

He is making the case for the facts that he is not, right? If you want someone to handle the economy, that's President Biden. I also think tonight he will talk about the fact that it takes a little bit of time for people to feel policy.

He's going to talk about how people aren't feeling the difference, but it is coming, and these are the plans to move forward if he is reelected. I mean, this is going to be the first time we hear from him since Super Tuesday. And so some of this will also be for folks to shore up their support of him, both on the Democratic side, but also those independents and moderates who may have voted for Haley and don't want Donald Trump. KEILAR: People care about their bank account, more even than they

care about whether they see Trump as a good or terrible businessman, right?

And Trump put these tax cuts in place, totally a killing for corporations. But there were also a lot of just regular Americans who also benefited from it. Now, it cost a lot to do those tax cuts. That aside, is he vulnerable in this regard to an economic message?

DENT: Well, I mean, if you want to talk about those tax cuts, a lot of ordinary Americans saw tax reductions. Every income bracket was lower.

They had their standard deductions doubled. I mean, these were helping working people. So I think that's a good message for Republicans, frankly.

KEILAR: SALT deduction is a different thing, I should say.

DENT: It was fair, though. I mean, that was good policy. Notwithstanding all the histrionics from some folks, that was -- that was -- that took money away from basically higher-income people. And so that was actually a good promotion.

But one thing, though, that I think Biden's got to be careful, and he's going to talk about issues like student loan forgiveness. Democrats are really struggling with people without a college degree. I don't think this helps in any way, because a lot of folks who didn't go to college have mortgage payments. Who's helping them?

[13:15:10]

And it's a redistribution of wealth from basically lower-income people to people who will be having greater earning potential. So those are the types of issues he's got to be really careful with.

JOHNSON: Well, I'm going to be -- disagree with you a little bit on that.

DENT: It's inflationary too.

JOHNSON: Because he also is making a case for union workers. He's talking to Middle America.

He is actually talking to people who don't just have a college education. And I think too often some of the issues that he speaks about, Republicans like to use that as this is a college-educated issue.

But voting rights, access to health care, access to jobs, even in the fear of what's happening with A.I., I think this administration is balancing that. And you will see him talk about that a lot more today.

SANCHEZ: Alencia Johnson, Charlie Dent, pleasure to have you both. Thanks so much.

DENT: Great to be with you.

SANCHEZ: Still plenty more news to come on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

An unusual sight, hundreds of troops, some with assault rifles, monitoring New York City subways. Why they have been sent in.

Plus, are we looking at another spy balloon? What we're learning about the suspicious object spotted off the coast of Alaska.

KEILAR: And hungry parents are being forced to ration food between their starving children, as the U.N. accuses Israel of allowing only a quarter of planned aid missions into Northern Gaza last month.

These stories and more this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:20:50]

KEILAR: The National Guard is headed down into the New York City subway system as part of an effort to address crime and violence on the tracks and in the trains.

Governor Kathy Hochul says the new plan will call for more visible law enforcement, with more than 1,000 members from several agencies working with the NYPD to patrol stations. It would also mete out harsher penalties for attacks on passengers and it would track repeat offenders.

The NYPD says major crimes in the system are up 13 percent so far this year.

Let's talk now with CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller with us now.

All right, John, how is this going to work? Is the National Guard there just as a presence, or will they actually be doing any law enforcement duties?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So, the National Guard is part of the 1,000 that the governor is sending. They are 750 of the 1,000, but they will be a uniformed presence, but not a law enforcement presence.

They're not going to be in the position to make arrests or do enforcement on minor violations in the transit system, which is a lot of what drives people to feel unsafe there. They will be doing mostly bag checks.

KEILAR: So, the NYPD, do they think that National Guard troops are going to be an effective deterrent?

It is certainly a sight to behold as you walk into these stations and see a Guardsman there with a semiautomatic weapon.

MILLER: Yes, so when you see a soldier in a green uniform standing in a subway station in full uniform carrying an assault weapon, that can be a little disconcerting.

But I also think, if you're one of those passengers who feels nervous about going in the subway, seeing anybody from the government in a uniform with a weapon is probably going to put you a little bit at ease. On the other hand, you can't disregard that, if crime has gotten to the point where you need to send in the army, it's a bad look.

KEILAR: Yes. No, it really is.

According to the NYPD, it is at that point. The rise in crime on the transit system has been driven by felony assaults, grand larcenies. But can you put that into context for us? Overall, how bad is crime really across the New York City transit system?

MILLER: So, not that bad.

We're dealing with a couple of really important factors here. One is perception and the other is reality. Frankly, crime is now back down to levels where it was before the pandemic, and we saw crime rise in many places. So, with about four -- between three and four million passengers a day coming into the transit system, you have an average of between five or six index crimes or felony crimes.

If that was a city of three or four million people, that would be an extraordinarily low crime rate. So it's not the serious crime. But the factors on perception are, people see disorder there and they read in the news about the slashing of a conductor, the assault of a guy who tried to break up two men who were harassing a woman on the platform the other day.

These make the paper because they know that commuters read the papers and that people are concerned. The real issue that they're fighting here is changes in the state law that took things that used to be crimes, where police could make an arrest, and reduce them to violations where they're just a ticket, and district attorneys' policies about not prosecuting minor crimes.

So, a lot of what people are fearful of in the subway, if it's not the serious crime, it's just the feeling of disorder, is things that will never make it into handcuffs or into court.

KEILAR: Is anyone worried about this, anyone who does not want the Guard there? Are you hearing about that?

MILLER: Yes, so if you take it from the perspective of Mayor Adams or the police commissioner, rather than 750 National Guard people, more State Police, more metropolitan and transit police, they would have rather just had the money.

Last year, they got $60 million from the Transit Authority, and that allowed them to flood more New York City cops into the system by using overtime to a massive degree. But that is not the offer that's on the table.

[13:25:11] So they met today at police headquarters with State Police, the National Guard, the MTA police. And they're trying to figure out who's going to go where and what are the best times and places to be.

KEILAR: All right, John Miller, thank you so much. We will keep an eye on this story as it develops as well.

Next: the Pentagon now confirming that an object floating off the coast of Alaska was another balloon. But where did it come from and was it being used as a spy balloon?

And later: Researchers investigated, but just the mind, not -- pardon me -- not just the mind, but the actual brain of a killer. What they say it revealed about the Maine mass shooter.

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