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State Rep. Matt Gress (R-AZ) Discusses Arizona Republicans Blocking Efforts To Repeal Abortion Ban; Ex-Interpreter To MLB Star Ohtani Surrenders To Authorities; U.S. Defense Dept. Moving Additional Assets To Middle East Region Amid Iran Threat. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 12, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

STATE REP. MATT GRESS (R-AZ): But we need to provide voters this November with a real choice between, you know, respecting women and allowing for them to make a deeply personal decision with their family, their doctor and the clergy. That's really what we need to be doing.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Can you answer my question about the mental health exception, though? And just to clear, I just want to put up with the abortion ballot initiatives says about it just so folks know what we're talking about.

That, "There would be a good-faith judgment of each treating health care professional is necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual." That would be the exception.

Why is that an issue for you?

GRESS: Well, first of all, the medical health professional that they cite is any medical health professional in Title 32.

It includes a range of different health care professionals, like podiatrists, for instance. That's a Title 32 health care professional who has no business weighing in on the medical necessity or the mental health necessity of a pregnancy.

So I'm worried that that provision -- and there are many other problematic provisions in --

(CROSSTALK)

BRIANNA: But it's a treating --

(CROSSTALK)

BRIANNA: It's a treating health professional. So unless you're pregnant in your foot, they're probably not going to be the person treating the person, just to be clear.

GRESS: Well, that's not how some legal scholars are reading this. They've looked at it, and the way that it's written, it does differ to Title 32 health care professionals.

There isn't -- and you can have a number of different health care professionals in Title 32 that are treating you. And the way that this is written, in such a broad manner, it really opens up the door to, I think, putting women's safety and health at risk.

BRIANNA: What do you think they're going to do when it comes to a mental health exception, lie about it?

GRESS: It's -- here's the deal. Again, what we need to be focused on is providing safe health care to women so that they can make an appropriate decision within a reasonable timeframe and with reasonable exceptions.

This bill -- and that's not the only problem with the bill. But there are several others that --

(CROSSTALK)

BRIANNA: But that's really not what we're talking about. We're talking about reasonable exceptions. That's -- that is what this discussion is about whether or not you think something is a reasonable exception.

Because you know this seems to be headed to a choice that is going to be very likely a choice of a ballot initiative. So let's talk about this because this is going to be a difference.

Why -- what do you think they're going to do with that mental health exception?

CRESS: Brianna, my view is that that 15-week timeframe with reasonable exceptions that we've talked about, including rape, incest, and life of the mother, is a balance between respecting women and protecting new life.

The way that that measure has been written is a way that allows abortions to occur for almost any reason up until birth. That's how it's written.

Now you may take issue with that, but the authors of this initiative have been very clear that they want to enshrine in the constitution a nine-month abortion policy. That's how it reads, and that's how it will be implemented.

BRIANNA: I just want -- I'm not I'm not taking issue with it. You said the life of the mother. And a CDC analysis, even before Roe was overturned, found that pregnant people are more likely to die from mental health conditions than any other cause.

What do you think of that, 22 percent, the leading underlying cause of pregnancy related deaths?

GRESS: Well, I'm glad you brought that up, Brianna, because I believe that people who focused exclusively on abortion to the detriment of the larger issue. And that is women's health. In Arizona, according to our Department of Health Services, 90 percent of deaths of Arizona moms, who had pregnancy-related complications or postpartum complications, who died, 90 percent of those deaths could have been prevented with access to adequate health care.

That's why I've supported measures to bring more Ob/Gyns into our -- into our state, including in our rural and tribal areas. But it misses the larger point here, that we have to do a lot more for women's health.

We know that studies have shown that women have been disproportionately misdiagnosis, that their pain has been dismissed, that our research dollars -- we're spending 10 percent of the NIH research dollars --

(CROSSTALK)

BRIANNA: Yes, but that's not - but that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about people with serious --

CRESS: We are.

[14:34:59]

BRIANNA: We're talking about -- I understand. But, I mean, yes. I hear on pain. But we're talking about people with serious mental health disorders in some cases, substance use disorders that are comorbid with those mental health disorders.

And, certainly, the things you're talking about addressing pain not being dismissed, I think a lot of people can get on board with that. But we're talking about something different here.

CRESS: I don't see it that way, Brianna, because we're talking about access to health care. If a person has a serious mental illness or they have an addiction, that that can be treated.

And there are many women who are pregnant who are addicted to a substance of some sort, and they're getting treatment through their pregnancy. Not all, and that's a problem.

And we need more medical health supports and more health coverage for women while they're in pregnancy.

I mean, we do have some pretty perverse incentives, right now. Just two years ago, our state Medicaid program paid a fraction of the costs for childbirth, even though we cover half of all the births in the state.

So when you talk about access to health care, I think that's where we really need to be focused on.

But, you know, treating abortion as the end-all and be-all to mental health -- and that's the way that the initiatives written -- I think, misses the mark and that doesn't align with the values of Arizonans. BRIANNA: All right. I do just want to be clear, just to state the

facts, before I let you go, because you say it's up to nine months. It does say viability.

I know you take issue with the exception. You say that makes it a nine-month bill. But when we look at Arizona's statistics, 94 percent of abortions have been before 15 weeks. Abortions after 21 weeks are only 1.6 percent. They're extremely rare.

We tend to know that those are actually very much wanted pregnancies in those cases, and they're very extreme cases usually.

But Arizona State Representative Matt Gress, I really appreciate your time. Obviously, this is a -- it's a fraught subject. And a lot going on in Arizona. Thank you so much.

CRESS: Thanks, Brianna.

BRIANNA: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:41:56]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Now that betting bombshell rocking Major League Baseball. The former interpreter for L.A. Dodgers superstar, Shohei Ohtani, has just surrendered to federal authorities to face bank fraud charges.

Prosecutors saying the ex-interpreters but trade Ohtani's trust by stealing a staggering $16 million to help cover his game gambling debts.

CNN's Nick Watt is outside the federal courthouse in L.A.

Nick, what more are you learning?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you say, Ippei Mizuhara has turned himself in this morning. We haven't seen him yet, but we do expect to see him pretty soon when he makes his appearance here in this courthouse behind me.

Now, we have not seen him since a few weeks ago when he was basically trying to say that Shohei Ohtani had loaned him this money. He's expected in court, but he is not expected to enter a plea.

Now, there are still some questions, even after reading through this long complaint. One is we're told that Ippei Mizuhara won about $140 million gambling. He lost about $180 million gambling.

And were told that he stole $16 million from Shohei Ohtani. So that's still, so like by my bad math, a $24 million hold it. I can't quite account for.

The other thing that's really interesting from the complaint is reading the text messages. A lot of evidence seems to be text messages between the interpreter and the bookie.

I'm going to read one from the bookie. This was from last fall when the interpreter seemed to be in a bit of a whole and didn't necessarily have the cash to pay up.

This is from the bookie: "I'm here in Newport Beach and I see victim A" -- that's Ohtani -- "walking his dog. I'm just going to go up and talk to him and ask him how I can get in touch with you since you're not responding. Please call me back immediately."

Then there's another text, which is from March 20th. This is just as the story was breaking.

The bookie asks the interpreter: "Obviously, you didn't steal from him." The reply comes back from Ippei Mizuhara, "Technically, I did steal from him. it's all over for me."

Now one of the things that is also now very clear is that Shohei Ohtani had absolutely no idea that this was going on. The interpreter was basically managing the bank account, keeping everybody else out of it, keeping Shohei Ohtani out of it.

So Shohei Ohtani is really being described here as an absolute victim. Had no idea. So he's in the clear.

But listen, it's not as if Dodgers fans ever doubted their golden boy, who is playing like a dream, doing what he does best while all of this nonsense goes on behind -- Jess?

DEAN: All right. Nick Watt for us in Los Angeles laying it all out. Thanks so much.

Brianna?

BRIANNA: We're getting some new details on that breaking news that was coming to us out of Texas. We're told there are multiple serious injuries after a tractor trailer crashed into a Department of Public Safety office.

[14:45:00]

This is happening in Branham. It's about an hour northwest of Houston. The sheriff there telling CNN he now believes this was a criminal act. And the DPS says a suspect is under arrest.

Video from the scene, as you can see there, showing what appears to be a gap missing from the front of the building there. We're told that this was a building where drivers' licenses were issued.

We'll continue to follow that and bring you the very latest.

Forty rockets just fired at Israel from Lebanon. We are following breaking news out of the Middle East. These are live pictures. We'll be back with more, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:50:17]

BRIANNA: As were looking at some live pictures here of Tel Aviv, we're getting word of our breaking news here. Forty rockets just fired at Israel from Lebanon. Israeli forces say there were no injuries as they intercepted the barrage.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militants are taking responsibility for the attacks.

And this is all happening as the White House says it is watching very, very closely amid what officials call a real and incredible threat against Israel from Iran or it's proxies.

These are concerns that follow an Israeli airstrike -- you see it here -- on Iran's consulate in Syria last week. It killed three generals. It killed other officials as well.

And Iran has vowed to retaliate for this, something that could happen as soon as this week, according to sources. The U.S. announcing today that it is sending additional assets to the region to deter potential attacks.

We're joined now by retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. He is a CNN military analyst.

And you heard it there, 40 rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon. Hezbollah claiming credit. How are you seeing this moment?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: So, Brianna, at this moment, it's probably not the opening salvo in Iran's efforts to answer Israel's attack on its consulate in Damascus.

But what it might be is kind of a probing action by Hezbollah. Hezbollah has been doing a lot of these kinds of attacks, really ever since the seventh so I've October even before that.

So what we're seeing now is kind of a simmering pot, if you will, on the stove of the Middle East. But that pot is not boiling over at the present time, but it could very easily.

BRIANNA: If they're probing, is there something kind of tactical about what they're doing or --

(CROSSTALK)

LEIGHTON: Yes, what they're trying to do is they're trying to actually see how the Israelis are going to defend themselves.

How good are they at shooting down these missiles? What kinds of weaknesses are there in the Israeli air defense system and their radar systems? Those are the kinds of things that Iran and Hezbollah are looking at.

And if they can extrapolate from that, perhaps, a path to attack some valuable target, they're going to do that. BRIANNA: What are you expecting that a retaliation for the consulate strike would look like and who would come from?

LEIGHTON: It will probably come from the proxies. And we can expect two different things, besides terrorist attacks of a small nature, like we've seen for decades now. What I' expect is swarms of drones that would go after certain targets within Israel and possibly cyberattacks as well.

Though cyberattacks could affect both commercial and government establishments in Israel. Because Israel has a very booming tech industry, there'll be a very valuable target for the Iranians to hit.

BRIANNA: Talk to us a little bit about the U.S. assets that are moving in to be a deterrence to any sort of retaliation.

LEIGHTON: So what we know so far, it's kind of really days right now, but we have air assets that are in the region already and some that are moving and you're going to be pre-positioned, either at bases in Europe or in the Middle East.

And they're going to be ready to respond should the Iranians attack bases that the U.S. has in either Iraq or Syria or the gulf states.

We don't expect the Iranians to attack any of those. And we don't expect their proxies to do that. Although, the proxies are kind of waiting to see what will happen with several other things that are going on right now.

One of those is Iraq's prime minister visiting the United States on the 15th of April. And he's going to want to have U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq. If those forces are withdrawn from Iraq, that will be seen as an Iranian victory and they won't attack us at that point.

BRIANNA: It feels a little bit like people are holding their breath as they wait to see what happens. I mean, even we look, it seems like the Dow kind of what the bed today a little bit, actually dropping 500 points because there are concerns that there can be a conflict, this could affect oil prices.

On so many fronts that this could affect peoples' lives really all around the world. How are you seeing that?

LEIGHTON: So this could be a really -- the Dow dropping like this is kind of a precursor to what we see from an economic standpoint because it could cause a lot of economic dislocations.

We already see economic dislocations because of what's going on in Yemen with the Houthis attacking shipping in the Red Sea. The same kind of thing could happen almost anywhere in the Middle East and around the Middle East.

And because we are still dependent on petroleum, the Middle East is, of course, the big producer of petroleum, natural gas. All of those things could perfect commodity prices and could affect not only the regular inflation rate in the U.S., but all around the world as well. BRIANNA: Yes, big ramifications here as were watching this.

Cedric, always great to have your input. Thank you so much.

LEIGHTON: Thanks, Brianna.

[14:54:45]

And House Speaker Mike Johnson heading to Mar-a-Lago, hoping that forging closer ties with former President Trump, maybe it will save the speakership. What the former president is expected to get out of the meeting as well, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA: The House speaker on the defense and a former president going on the offense. Mike Johnson heading to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring as Trump stokes election fraud claims. But will it save Johnson or will it sink him?

Plus, a potentially consequential hearing in the classified documents case as two of Trump's co-defendants look to get some charges dropped and as a Trump lawyer, who's become a key witness in the case, leaves his legal team.

[14:59:56]

DEAN: And Vice President Harris lands in Arizona, the current epicenter of the abortion rights battle. The state's reversion to an 1864-era ban could be pivotal in a critical election year.