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Millions of Americans Preparing to View Solar Eclipse; Former President Trump Releases Video Stating He Believes Decisions on Legality of Abortion Should be Left to States. Schumer: US Ready to Respond Swiftly if Iran Attacks; Biden Races to Enact New Student Loan Forgiveness Plan. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired April 08, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, (D-NY): They will try to intervene. And this is something that's concerning to the average voter, is concerning to me as a representative of the 13th congressional district, that the power of one vote is going to be compromised because the Russians are meddling in U.S. politics.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Representative Adriano Espaillat from New York, thanks so much for being here on set with us this morning.

ESPAILLAT: Thank you. Thank you for having me in.

BERMAN: Appreciate it.

So we get a new weather forecast for the total eclipse just in. A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Not only can you see it, but you can feel it if you're in the path of totality. Tens of millions of Americans are preparing to see a total solar eclipse, the dramatic celestial show set to begin just a few hours from now.

And the United States bracing for the real possibility of a wider war in the Middle East. Iran vowing revenge for an apparent Israeli airstrike right that killed a top Iranian commander.

And another big attempt at clearing student loan debt. The Biden administration unveiling details on a new plan they say could benefit more than 30 million Americans.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: This morning, the existential question -- if there is a total solar eclipse in the sky, but it is too cloudy to see, does it make a sound? We are just about t minus six hours to show time. Everyone is scanning weather reports to figure out if they will get a view. Roughly 32 million Americans live in the path of totality. That is where NASA says the moon will appear to completely cover the sun for about four minutes, or as one scientist just told us, where the moon will eat the sun. That is science. Ninety-nine percent of Americans will view at least a partial eclipse, which is still pretty cool, but not totally cool. Again, science. The next time this will happen is 2044, 20 years from now. So consider this a deep tease.

CNN's Rosa Flores and Gustavo Valdes are both in the zone, as it were. Let's begin with Rosa in Kerrville, Texas. Good morning to you, Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Eclipse-mania here in Kerrville, Texas, is out of this world and is out of control. This is the heart of the Texas hill country, and according to the mayor of this town, about 100,000 people from all over the world are expected to be here in this town for this.

Now, let me give you that TikTok of what we're expecting, because the total -- this eclipse is going to cross from Mexico into the United States at about 1:27 p.m. in Eagle Pass, Texas, or near Eagle Pass, Texas. I just can't get away from covering the border here, and the good thing is that the federal agency that's going to be monitoring and following this eclipse as it crosses the border from Mexico is going to be NASA. So there's going to be no stopping this eclipse. It's going to continue on from Texas all the way to Maine.

Now, about the economic impact here. According to one on source, that could be about $6 billion across the United States. But the Texas slice of that astronomical pie is about $1.4 billion. And businesses are getting very creative, especially here in Kerrville. We're not just talking about all sorts of glasses for the eclipse but also pins that show that it's an eclipse. And guys, I'm not wearing this on this time, but you can see that it's an eclipse pen that's on here. Theres also, of course, crystal balls that are being sold in this town, just a little bit of everything, t-shirts like the one that I'm wearing.

But the business that gets the most points for creativity is the brewery that's just across the river from the park where I am. They're actually going to be given free beer during the four minutes of totality here. And what could go wrong when you give free beer in the dark? Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The beer keg is 60 pounds when its full. So we'll see how that goes tomorrow.

FLORES: -- to prepare for this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. So the beer line will be attached to this beer gun. And this allows me to quickly poor cups of beer.

FLORES: Are you afraid that you might spill beer over everybody.

[08:05:01]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope not. That's a great point. I don't know what it's going to be like. It seems if it's like nighttime, maybe we'll have streetlights on. I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: And John, I got just a couple of mood rings and also a legend that tells me that the weathers going to be good here in Kerrville. Just a few of these, you could tell if you read the legend, everything is going to be perfect. The weather is going to be perfect. The clouds are going to part. You see clouds right now, but don't worry about it. It's going to be perfect here in Kerrville.

BERMAN: I'm just going to keep the charade that none of us are concerned about you, Rosa Flores. Thank you so much for being there, showing us the one ring to rule them all right there.

Let's go to Mexico now. Gustavo Valdes, you're going to get it first before the rest of us.

GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's it. And we can see the sun starting to come out, out east. You see a few clouds. We hope that they go away. I'm in an urban forest is what they call it here in Torreon. There's going to be about 30,000, 40,000 people in this place at some point. some of them are trickling in, including six year old Huma (ph). Huma (ph), are you excited for the eclipse?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

VALDES: Do you know what's coming?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

VALDES: Yes, yes. She's trying to practice her English also. Are you going to be scared?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

VALDES: No. It's your first one, so are you going to remember this when you grow up?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

VALDES: Yes. Well, thank you.

So her mother Olivia (ph) is going to be here, and people are starting to trickle in. NASA is installed about 100 yards from where we are. There are two telescopes here. They were here to have a planetarium, and there are scientists from all over the world that are going to be closely watching this eclipse, and the rest of the world.

Now, to answer your earlier question as to whether the eclipse will make a sound if it's cloudy, listen to this. There are a lot of birds that live in this forest, so they're going to have experts here studying what happens during an eclipse. Right now, it's still dark, it's early in the morning. They're trying to get on with their daily routine. You can hear the nodes are making. They're going to have experts not only listening, seeing what happened, but telling the people what's happening.

We're hoping for not cloudy days and a big show on this sky. BERMAN: Extraordinary stuff. Gustavo Valdes, Rosa Flores, our thanks to both of you. Everyone, obviously, get your eclipse viewing glasses. This rare opportunity will not come around again for two decades. You can join CNN for special live coverage of the eclipse across the country today at 1:00 p.m. eastern, or you and stream it on Max.

And Kate, I do have to tell you, you heard the birds there going -- you know what's coming. The birds there are going crazy. We've got a whole segment coming later in this broadcast about the effect of eclipse on animals, because in 2017, the last time we had a total eclipse, the Galapagos tortoises inexplicably started mating, during the eclipse.

(LAUGHTER)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And if you have not had the pleasure of seeing a Galapagos tortoise mate, you have not lived.

BERMAN: You'll have to wait 20 years if you miss it today.

BOLDUAN: And when you do see it, it's just like your retina. It will be burned in there forever and you can no longer unsee it.

BERMAN: It's hard for you, but think about for them. If they have to wait another 20 years, it's even worse.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: Back to you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Oh, now my back hurts again. He makes me laugh sometimes so hard that my back actually gets reinjured.

OK, moving on. Coming up for us, on high alert, how the U.S. actively preparing for, quote, significant attack by Iran. We have new details on what they're preparing for.

And the new warning also coming from top economists, why they say oil prices are the most serious threat to the U.S. economy right now.

After considering backing a federal ban on abortion, why Donald Trump just said it should be left only to the states to decide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:13:28]

SIDNER: New this morning, former President Donald Trump saying he'll leave it up to the states to make decisions on abortion rights if he wins in 2024. Trump stressed there should be, in his opinion, exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. Abortion rights expected to be one of the big issues for voters in November.

CNN reporter Alayna Treene is following all this. Alayna, when you look at all that he said, he promised he was going to put something out. What else did he lay out for the American people? ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Right. Well, after weeks of --

months, I should say, not just weeks, of sidestepping this issue and not being very clear with where he stands on abortion, Donald Trump released a video statement this morning saying that he believes it should be left up to the states. He also took credit for overturning Roe versus Wade, saying that he had stacked the Supreme Court with the three conservative justices that helped do that.

And that's kind of where he leaves this. And I want to just remind you, Sara, that this is exactly what we have seen from him from months. He believes that this issue is a political loser. That's what he tells people privately, and publicly he notes that this is something that Republicans are very vulnerable on. And he recognizes the political landmine that kind of comes with this issue. I want you to take a listen to how he phrased it in that video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land, in this case the law of the state.

[08:15:00]

Now, it is up to the states to do the right thing.

Like Ronald Reagan, I am strongly in favor of exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. You must follow your heart on this issue, but remember, you must also win elections to restore our culture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: There you heard it from him, himself, "you must win elections" and that's really what some of this comes down to.

Now, I can tell you that this is not exactly resonating well with some of Donald Trump's anti-abortion allies and pro-life groups. We had a statement from Marjorie Dannenfelser this morning to CNN, where she told me that she is deeply disappointed in this statement from Donald Trump.

I am going to quickly read some of that for you. She said: "We are deeply disappointed in President Trump's position. Unborn children and their mothers deserve national protections and national advocacy from the brutality of the abortion industry."

The statement goes on to say, "Saying the issue is 'back to the states' cedes the national abortion debate to the Democrats."

And so definitely not what I think a lot of his leading anti-abortion allies had wanted him to do, not going as far as they thought he should. Again, with Donald Trump just leaving this to the states -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Alayna Treene, thank you so much -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, he says the US is ready to "respond" swiftly if necessary.

What we are talking about is a very real threat from Iran right now. The United States is on high alert, actively preparing for a significant attack that could come anytime from Iran, possibly targeting US or Israeli assets in the Middle East after last week's Israeli airstrike in Syria that killed top Iranian commanders.

US officials believe an attack by Iran though is inevitable.

CNN's Alex Marquardt is following all of this and he is joining us now. And Alex, we've talked about this a lot. I mean, Iran is in the backdrop, in the background of everything involving Israel's war against Hamas, but they have not been directly involved to this point. Is that about to change?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That is a very important point and that is the line that US officials now fear Iran could cross.

Iran has been more than happy to get involved in this war, indirectly by helping proxies like Hezbollah, the groups in Iraq and Syria, the Houthis carry out strikes against US and Israeli targets, but until now, administration and intelligence officials have told us that Iran has shown no interest in getting involved directly, that may soon change, and it is because of that Israeli strike that that was carried out exactly a week ago, I believe against the Iranian consulate in Damascus, in which an Israeli attack killed some seven senior members of the Revolutionary Guard of the IRGC.

Now US officials believe that Iran could respond imminently within the next few days, they say, against American and/or Israeli targets.

Now, the US has been trying to distance itself from that Israeli strike, saying publicly that this was Israel that carried it out, that they had no prior knowledge, that they had no involvement in this. But at the same time, warning that Iran should not retaliate against US interests.

Of course, Kate, there are US -- potential US targets all across the region and goes without saying that if Iran were to get involved directly, that that would escalate this conflict quite significantly -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So we now hear what Chuck Schumer is saying about this. What are the Israelis though saying?

MARQUARDT: Well, the Israelis are certainly ratcheting up their rhetoric in terms of the possibility of this war expanding. When it comes to Iran specifically, they're saying that they are ready to deal with Iran offensively and defensively. There are really two pressing issues right now, Kate, in terms of the

potential escalation. An Iranian response against US or Israeli targets, and what Israel may do when it comes to Lebanon.

Now, remember for the past six months, there has also been this low level war going on between Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon and Israel. Tens of thousands of Israelis have been displaced.

The US has been working furiously to prevent a second front from opening up, but now Israel is saying that they are ready to move from defense to attack when it comes to Hezbollah.

They are preparing ways to get more troops and equipment faster to that border. Now I've reported recently that US intelligence believes that Israel could open up a second front by attacking Southern Lebanon by early summer. US diplomats trying to prevent that from happening to create a buffer in Southern Lebanon to push Hezbollah away from that border, but Israel may feel that that is not enough and launch a broader campaign into Southern Lebanon -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Alex, it is good to see you. Thank you so much for reporting -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, back here in United States, President Biden pushing for with a new student loan forgiveness plane and trying to get that through ahead of the 2024 election, but who would be eligible?

Also, it was a blockbuster night at the women's March Madness championship game. Everyone was talking about Iowa, LSU nope. The quiet storm coming through, we will talk all about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:24:25]

BERMAN: This morning, Ukrainian officials are denying being involved in drone attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The plant took three direct hits.

A Kremlin spokesperson called it a very dangerous provocation. The power plant is currently under Russian control. Again, Ukraine denies involvement.

New video of a terrifying sight, an engine cover on a Southwest plane falling off during takeoff, hitting part of the plane's wing. The Denver flight was headed to Houston when this happened? No one was hurt.

This was a Boeing plane, but it is not clear if this was a plane issue or an airline maintenance issue.

And tonight, a classic battle of the big men. Seven-four, Zach Edey, of Purdue takes on seven-two Donovan Clingan of UConn in the NCAA men's finals.

[08:25:10]

That's like 25 feet of college centers there. Tipoff is at 9:20 PM.

Overnight, South Carolina defeated Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes, completing a perfect season. They won the women's championship -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, speaking of college this morning, the Biden administration is revealing details of a new plan to try and wipe out student loan debt for millions of Americans ahead of the election.

The new round of proposals come almost a year after the Supreme Court struck down his initial plan.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joining us now from the White House.

Priscilla, what are you learning about this latest proposal now?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Sara, this is yet another attempt by the white house to address an issue that is facing voters this election year.

Now, this is following, as you mentioned, the Supreme Court striking down President Biden's plan to provide some relief to those with student loans.

Now, this today, the administration will unveil new details that altogether, with the measures that they have released over the last few months could benefit more than 30 million Americans.

Now, these plans would benefit people who fall under these categories. Let me read some of those to you.

Borrowers who already qualify for student loan forgiveness under existing programs, but have not yet applied. Those who have entered repayment, at least 20 years ago, those who enrolled in "low financial value programs" and those experiencing financial hardship.

Now, these plans still need to go through a public comment period. So it may take some time before these all take effect, but the White House says that some of these borrowers could see relief as early as this fall.

Of course, this is all part of the president's pitch to lower costs for Americans. And today, he is going to take pick that pitch to battleground Wisconsin, where he will be talking about all the efforts his administration has made that have helped the American pocketbook and especially front and center, the programs that he is rolling out to provide some relief to borrowers.

SIDNER: Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much for all the reporting -- John.

BERMAN: We have a new update on job security for House Speaker Mike Johnson as the push to oust him heats up. And the astronomical phenomena that could get tortoises feeling a bit

extra frisky. It is only Monday, but the solar eclipse is moving hump day a little earlier this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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