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Today, Biden Takes His Message on the Road After Fiery Speech; Biden Says, Freedom and Democracy are Under Attack; United Airlines Flight Loses Wheel During Takeoff in San Francisco. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 08, 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]

PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Boeing to demonstrate what they are going to do to fix these issues, and we will not let them increase their production until they satisfactorily do so.

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. I mean, I will say the number of near misses on runways and in the air and other places certainly, I'm glad that we're not covering actual misses and injuries for the most part. People have been safe, but it is definitely concerning.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Mr. Secretary, thank you very much for being here.

BUTTIGIEG: Thank you.

HUNT: And thanks to all of you for joining us this morning. I'm Kasie Hunt.

Don't go anywhere. CNN News Central starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Campaign kick-start, President Biden's fiery state of the union and now his administration officials are fanning out across the country to deliver his message.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Family business, literally the Trump family takeover of the Republican National Committee becomes official this morning, as he faces a deadline in days to come up with half a billion dollars to cover legal losses.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Do you know where that tire went? Something you might ask about your kid's Lego set. Not a conversation, however, you expect between a pilot and air traffic control.

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

SIDNER: It's on and popping this morning. President Biden and the White House officials kick off coast-to-coast stops as they take last night's fiery State of the Union message directly to the American people.

President Biden visits battleground Pennsylvania today, and over the next 18 days, White House officials will fan out across 22 different states as reviews of Biden's speech are now pouring in.

The headlines this morning, Biden chooses a hammer over an olive branch from Politico. The Drudge report, Biden roars. And brace yourself, USA Today writes, for a brutal Biden-Trump campaign.

In all, Biden referred to Trump 13 times without ever actually saying his name, opting instead to go after his predecessor and the threat Biden says he still poses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: The threat to democracy must be defended. My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6th. I will not do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Arlette Saenz leaves us off at the White House for us this morning. How do Biden's advisers believe this all went? There was some hand-wringing before the speech.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sara. President Biden's advisers feel the president accomplished what he set out to do and laying out a vision for a second term, but also presenting a direct contrast with former President Donald Trump.

It was a highly political speech, one where President Biden was quite fiery as he tangled directly with Republicans on issues like immigration and taxes. But the president also really used this as a chance to draw that contrast with Trump, even as he did not name his predecessor directly by name, simply referring to him as my predecessor at least 13 times in this speech, really trying to set up those contrast arguments when it comes to democracy, freedoms and reproductive rights.

Take a listen to a few of those moments from last night's State of the Union.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Now, my predecessor, a former Republican president, tells Putin, quote, do whatever the hell you want. That's a quote. A former president actually said that, bowing down to a Russian leader. I think it's outrageous, it's dangerous, and it's unacceptable.

My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6th. I will not do that. This is the moment to speak the truth and to bury the lies. Here's the simple truth, you can't love your country only when you win.

My predecessor came to office determined to see Roe v. Wade overturned. He's the reason he's overturned, and he brags about it. Look at the chaos that has resulted.

I will not demonize immigrants saying they are poison in the blood of our country. I will not separate families. My predecessor told the NRA he's proud he did nothing on guns when he was president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: The president also used this speech to try to tackle one of the concerns facing many American voters, and that is the president's age and stamina. The president at the end of his speech really tried to direct address this head on, using a bit of humor as he talked about his age, but also arguing that this is a campaign not about someone's age but about how old their ideas are.

[07:05:05]

Now, the president is set to hit the road today to take this message directly to the American people. He will travel to the battleground of Pennsylvania visiting the all-important Philadelphia suburbs to lay out his campaign arguments. Tomorrow, he will be in the state of Georgia while Vice President Harris is out west to this weekend in Arizona and Nevada.

The Biden campaign is really trying to capitalize off of this moment. The president's biggest audience so far in the 2024 campaign, they want to build off of this momentum trying to make their push in this campaign especially as they're preparing for this face-off against former President Donald Trump in November.

SIDNER: Arlette Saenz, thank you so much for that wrap-up.

John, lot of efforts being used here, but they're the good ones, feisty, fiery and I'm sure President Biden is hoping that will also mean frontrunner. We will see.

BERMAN: I don't think there are any bad F-words, but I appreciate what you're saying there. It was a lot of shouting for after 9:00 P.M., that's for sure, too much for some people.

And this morning, new reaction to the speech from Republicans, many of whom, of course, backed Donald Trump, who tried to overturn the results of an election and has called for his political enemies to rot in hell.

Now, we mention that because these Republicans are calling President Biden's speech divisive and hyper-partisan.

Now, the official Republican response took shots at the president on immigration, the economy, and his age.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KATIE BRITT (R-AL): Right now, our commander-in-chief is not in command. The free world deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader. America deserves leaders who recognize that secure borders, stable prices, safe streets, and a strong defense are actually the cornerstones of a great nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That was Senator Katie Britt from Alabama.

Now, later today, Donald Trump will cement his takeover, really a family takeover of the Republican National Committee. Shortly, Ronna McDaniel and her co-chair will officially step down, a move essentially forced by Trump, and then two candidates that he has endorsed, one of whom is his daughter-in-law. They're expected to easily win elections for the top positions.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at that spring meeting in Houston and we'll watch it unfold today. Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Yes, well, good morning, John. I do want to just start with some of the reaction to Joe Biden's speech last night. We saw Donald Trump. He watched the address from his home at Mar-a-Lago and, as promised, delivered a live play-by-play on true social in response to Joe Biden's speech.

And it really was a stream of consciousness reaction from Donald Trump. He attacked Biden heavily. He went after him on his positions on Ukraine and Social Security, but his attacks also grew increasingly personal.

We know that House Speaker Mike Johnson warned Republicans to maintain decorum yesterday in the chamber, but that was advice that did not reach Donald Trump. He very much attacked Biden. He mocked his appearance. He mocked his hair and his walk and also claimed that he was, quote, so angry and crazy.

Now, Donald Trump also responded on Truth Social with some video, taped video messages in response to Biden's speech, one of which really trying to turn the tables on Joe Biden's argument that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy, as we have seen Donald Trump do in the past. He claimed that Biden is the true threat. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Joe Biden is on the run from his record and lying like crazy to try and escape accountability for the horrific devastation he and his party have created all the while they continue the very policies that are causing this horror show to go. We cannot take it any longer as a country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, John, obviously, we have heard this type of rhetoric from Donald Trump in the past, as well have seen him live post during these large events, but they do take on new significance now that he is the presumptive Republican nominee.

And it also comes as his grip on the Republican Party is tightening, something we're going to see play out today here in Houston with that RNC spring meeting. We're going to see Ronna McDaniel step down from her position as chairwoman. It comes after Donald Trump and her relationship had really grown tense and had been a struggle for over a year now, and we're going to see Donald Trump's handpick replacements for her glide to their path to the top of leadership at the committee.

And, again, this comes as Donald Trump is very eager to use the weight of the RNC, have their full infrastructure behind him, including their data operation, their ground game strategy, their pull with voters, and, of course, their fundraising.

But the way it's been described to me, John, by senior advisers is, yes, it is normal for a presumptive nominee or a candidate to have their own control in a way over the RNC or a committee when they take power.

[07:10:12]

But it has been describe to be as more of a takeover for Donald Trump as he tries to sink his vision with the RNC. John?

BERMAN: And his family with RNC. Alayna Treene in Houston, thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, George Santos is trying to make a political comeback already. The dramatic turn that one primary fight in New York is about to take.

And a soldier who dreamed of being Jason Bourne now accused of selling military secrets to China.

A spike in E.R. visits has doctors issuing a new warning to parents about melatonin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault at home, as they are today. What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack both at home and overseas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: President Biden laying out what he believes are the stakes right now and with a very keen eye toward November, of course, a speech The Atlantic dubbed the most unusual State of the Union in living memory.

Let's test that against history right now. CNN Presidential Historian Tim Naftali joins us. It's good to see you, Tim.

You've studied many a president and you studied many of these major addresses. What did you see in this speech?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, first of all, this is the first time in over a century that a president, an incumbent, is running against a former president. This is the first time in history that an 81-year-old man has ever given a State of the Union Address. And this is the first time in history that an American president faces a re-election challenge against an instigator of an insurrection. So, just there, we're talking about an unprecedented historical speech.

President Biden, in many ways, had to give a State of the President speech more than a State of the Union speech. People were watching to see his energy level, his vibrancy, his fight, his willingness to fight for re-election, and people saw it yesterday. They saw all of that.

BOLDUAN: It's a really interesting framing. I hadn't thought of it that way. People were looking to see how he did, not how he presented the message or not how well-crafted the policy was. That's interesting.

But in part of that was it was a surprising bit how many times that he did bring up Donald Trump, though not by name, talking about his predecessor to draw contrast between then and now. Let me play a little bit just to remind folks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Now, my predecessor, a former Republican president, tells Putin, quote, do whatever the hell you want.

My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6th.

Many of you in this chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And Washington had a couple questions for you. Do you think that was effective? And do you think he did it because he wanted to, or do you think he did it because he needed to?

NAFTALI: The Biden coalition is the old Democratic coalition of the 1990s plus folks who don't want to vote for Donald Trump. There are independents and some former Republicans who will support Biden in 2024 as they did in 2020 just because they don't want to see Donald Trump in the White House again.

It is very important for the president to remind those elements of his coalition that he well understands the mandate they give him. So, I think he had to mention it. That can't be the only message he delivers because there are progressives in the Democratic coalition who want to hear much more and he gave them more about Gaza last night and he also wants everybody wants a vision for the future.

They just don't want to elect someone because he wants to be president. They want to know, if we re-elect you, sir, what do you plan to do in the next four years. So he had a heavy, heavy burden on his shoulders last night. BOLDUAN: One thing that we know about the State of the Union is it's a lot about some -- it's a lot about tradition and it's a lot about you see like institutional Washington right before your eyes. That's what you're looking at with the State of the Union and looking at this speech in the historical context.

Biden did what used to be kind of thought of as unthinkable, which is criticizing the Supreme Court and directly addressing the justices as they sat right before him in the chamber.

I want to play this for folks. This is when he was talking about the decision that overturned Roe versus Wade.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: The Supreme Court majority wrote the following, and with all due respect, justices, women are not without electoral power -- excuse me -- electoral or political power. You're about to realize just how much you've been wrong about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: So, what did you make of that moment and the fact that it's coming from Joe Biden nonetheless?

NAFTALI: Well, first of all, reproductive rights are a very important element of the president's message and the vice president's message.

[07:20:00]

It's got to be a way to energize and mobilize people to go out to vote for the team for the ticket in 2024. See, he, of course, had to mention it. He also believes it.

In terms of attacking the Supreme Court, well, American culture changes and our political culture doesn't stay the same. We are in a particularly divisive partisan moment where people expect their leader to show fight, show the willingness to basically express their disappointment with the status quo.

So, I believe that just as Republicans expect a certain level of fight obviously from Donald Trump, and they get that and more, Democrats and independents are expecting the same level of fight from Joe Biden and he gave it to them yesterday.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Tim. Thank you. John?

BERMAN: So, yes, that was really George Santos in the House Chamber for the State of the Union, and, yes, George Santos is really running for Congress, and, yes, it is already getting weird.

And words you do not want to hear from your pilot, hey, guys, we lost a wheel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

SIDNER: This is not where you want to find a wheel from the airplane that you're on. A United Airlines flight lost one of its landing gear wheels as soon as the plane took off from San Francisco Airport. Take a look.

Cameras captured the moment the wheel came flying off. Air traffic controllers immediately stopped traffic on the runway.

Let's get right to CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean. I mean, I don't know how this happened, maybe you do, but this is rough this morning.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: You know, sometimes airplane tires burst, sometimes they catch fire, never or rarely ever do they fall from the sky and cause damage on the ground.

This was the scene at San Francisco International Airport as these plane spotters did this live stream they were able to capture this tire falling from what appears to be the left main wheel assembly on this 777.

There are six tires, each on one of those landing gear assemblies, fell off and on to the runway. This flight, about 250 people on board going to Osaka. So, this is the very beginning of this trip at 11:35 A.M. Pacific Time.

And usually something like this, is not immediately apparent to flight crew. So, it had to be up to air traffic controllers on the ground to tell other planes to abort their landings as they were coming in and to tell the pilots, hey, a tire just fell off of your airplane. You can listen to the air traffic control audio here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last departure lost the wheel on departure, so we're going to have to check the runway down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you guys know where that tire went?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. So, it's probably going be a few minutes for you guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Six tires on each one of those landing gear sets, they each weigh about 265 pounds. That's not including the wheel hub assembly.

So, this caused a fair amount of damage there on the and the employee lot at SFO looks like it took out a Toyota Corolla, also a Tesla Model 3, something like this typically not apparent to the crew, FAA investigating this right now.

The question is how did this wheel come off? Probably not a Boeing issue because this airplane was 22 years old so not recently in the factory. Was it a maintenance-induced issue? This plane may have been in maintenance, although we're just speculating now, because it came in from Paris. There's a maintenance base at San Francisco International Airport.

And also, was this just something that simply broke? These wheels take a lot of punishment, Sara. They have to support this airplane that's 300 tons. That's why there were 14 of them on a 77. But imagine getting the call that your car was just destroyed by a tire that fell from the air. Of course, United Airlines says it's helping out those people who had their cars damaged. Although if I was one of the might be asking maybe for some points or some status from United to get a little bit of zipping out of this.

SIDNER: Something. I have no idea that those tires were that heavy, but, boy, they did quite a bit a damage there to those two cars.

Pete Muntean, thank you so much for that update. Kate?

BOLDUAN: One thing I doubt is that Pete Muntean needs better status on airlines, right? I mean, I feel like --

SIDNER: He can fly it himself.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. I kind of got this one in the back.

Coming up for us, we now know when President Trump needs to come up with half a billion dollars. Spoiler alert, it's soon.

Miami Beach tried to break up with spring breakers. Why they're still showing up despite officials' pleas to stay away. It's like defiance. You tell me you don't want me to come?

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[07:30:00]