Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Foreign Aid Bills Head to House Floor; World Leaders Call for De-escalation; New Polling Shows Tight Race; Police Investigation at Iranian Consulate in Paris; Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) is Interviewed about Israel's Strikes and Foreign Aid; Swift Releases Double Album. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 19, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:32:09]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Today, a crucial vote on Capitol Hill and another big test for House Speaker Mike Johnson. On the House floor, lawmakers will be facing a choice, vote yes on a procedural vote, if you will, or vote no and block the package of foreign aid bills to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The bills and this vote splintering House Republicans still and still threatening the Republican speaker's job.

Let's get the very latest. CNN's Lauren Fox is joining me now with all of this.

And, Lauren, House Democrats came to Johnson's rescue late last night in another key vote. Are they ready to do it again?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, obviously, what you are talking about is what unfolded on the House Rules Committee last night. Typically, these are rules that are passed out of this committee, this is known as the speaker's committee, and it is passed out of this committee with the Republican or the majority support. In this case, there were three Republicans who voted against the rule, which meant that Democrats swooped in at the last minute, voted to advance these bills, that means get this debate to the floor. And we do expect that to also occur today because there are a number of Republicans who have already said they are not only opposed to this legislation, they are opposed to voting on this procedural step known as the rule. That means that Democrats are likely going to step in to advance this set of three important supplemental packages, including one for Israel, one for Ukraine, and one for the Indo-Pacific.

Now, this has been brewing for the last, you know, several weeks on Capitol Hill. Johnson, at one point, seemed like maybe he wasn't going to go forward. Then he announced on Wednesday that he was going full steam ahead. We expect the final votes on these packages to happen tomorrow. Then they will be tied together, sent to the United States Senate. That process could also get underway over the weekend. And then we could see a vote next week in the United States Senate.

But, obviously, this has taken months, Kate. And this package that we are seeing today in the House, it looks very similar to what the Senate passed months ago out of their chamber.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And in the mix with all of this and still hanging out there is, as Speaker Johnson allows this to move forward, will his fellow Republicans, Marjorie Taylor Greene most specifically, try to oust him from his job? We're going to standby because we could actually see some action today on that.

It's great to see you, Lauren. Thank you so much.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks, Kate.

The Middle East and global leaders at the G-7 united in calling for de-escalation after U.S. officials confirm Israel struck Iran overnight. A U.S. source saying further direct strikes are now over. Both Israeli and Iranian leaders are downplaying this latest retaliation as well, with one Israeli leader even calling it lame in Hebrew on social media.

[08:35:02]

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke barely an hour ago, saying the G-7 as a whole remains committed to de-escalation in the region. But beyond that, he didn't comment much at all on the strike as U.S. leaders are not condemning or endorsing it.

Joining me now are CNN's global affairs analyst Kim Dozier and CNN national security analyst Beth Sanner.

Thank you both for coming on today as this strike happened overnight.

Kim, I want to begin with you.

How significant is this strike by Israel inside of Iran?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, significant in the self-control that the security cabinet showed, the war cabinet, in that, you know, it could have gone for something much larger, something that had to be attributed to Israel. But the way it did this, by using quadcopters apparently, which it's used before in attacks that Iran blamed on Israel, attacks that assassinated various nuclear scientists and hit various nuclear bases, this was done targeting military bases so Iran could hide any damage from the public. So, it was a strike, yes, but very deniable by both sides and face-saving. It's a recipe for tamping down the tensions and gave Iran a way out so that it didn't have to follow through with its threats to strike back.

SIDNER: Yes, you know, Israel said it carried out a minimum response sort of geared towards two military bases.

I'm curious, you know, Beth, what you think of Israel's response when it comes to what they're saying now after this attack. BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think this puts everybody in a much better position. You know, we're all kind of breathing a sigh of relief. But looking ahead, I think there are two factors here. One is that I think Israel is showing that they were threading a needle to try to deter Iran, to try to put this reestablish deterrence, but at the same time keep both the United States, and very importantly the Arab countries that supported them, both overtly, like Jordan, but also through radar sharing kind of ISR information, UAE and Saudi, in defending Israel against this strike. And I think it shows that Israel understands that the best offense in the future in dealing with this really broad and deep Iranian threat in the region is not by being isolated, by having these partnerships. And so this could be really a very good move forward. But at the same time, risks of escalation remain.

SIDNER: Right. And I want to talk a little bit about that because Iran's foreign minister was talking to our Erin Burnett last night before Israel's attack on Isfahan. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOSSEIN AMIR-ABDOLLAHIAN, IRAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: In case the Israeli regime embarks on that venturism again and takes action against the interests of Iran, the next response from us will be immediate and at a maximum level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Immediate and a maximum level. That was just a couple of hours before Israel struck Iran.

What do you see happening next after a warning like that? Was it just bluster? Because we're seeing a very different response from Iran after the attack. This goes to you, Beth.

SANNER: Yes, I think it's called deterrence. You know, they were trying to scope down what Israel would do. And I think that that worked. And now they're really shaping the message, just like they shaped the message after the massive attack on Israel by calling it very proportional. Now, they're downplaying this and saying that there was no damage. This were a couple drones. These didn't even come from Israeli territory. These were drones flown from somewhere inside Iran. So, nothing really to see here.

And so I think we're just kind of in messaged control, which the Iranians are in a very good position to do in their closed society.

SIDNER: All right, we just heard about a half an hour ago from Secretary Antony Blinken, who's at the G-7 meeting in Italy. Let's listen to what he said. He was asked about this. He didn't really bring it up himself. He didn't speak directly to the attack. But he was asked by a reporter about what happened in Iran as opposed to - or from the Israeli strike.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States has not been involved in any offensive operations. What we're focused on, what the G-7 is focused on, and again it's reflected in our statement and in our conversation, is our work to de-escalate tensions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:40:05]

SIDNER: Kim, what does it tell you about the U.S. and its position on this after warning Israel that, look, this looks like it was over before all this happened, before they attacked Iran.

DOZIER: I think the U.S. is relieved right now because they knew that Netanyahu felt pressure to respond to show the Israeli public that they wouldn't let this historic strike go unanswered. But you haven't seen, at least on all of my news releases from the Israeli defense forces or from the Israeli government, you haven't seen a public declaration that they carried out this strike. You haven't seen them owning it on social media or crowing in any way. So, they're letting it sort of pass.

The Israeli public knows what happened. That's good enough for them. And the Iranian government can tell their people, oh, it hit a couple of bases. Mostly what you saw exploding was our counter offensive weapons. Nothing to see here. And so I think, for now, we move on.

SIDNER: It seems that everyone is in de-escalation mode at this point. Good for the world.

Kim Dozier and Beth Sanner, thank you both so much for your analysis.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we've got some brand new polling from battleground states out this morning.

With us, CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten.

What do the numbers show?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: What do the numbers show?

You know, John, we've been looking at the national polling and it's generally been showing perhaps a trend line towards Joe Biden in the battleground states. Look, we still have a pretty close race on our hands, right? In Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, these Fox News poll show that Joe Biden and Donald Trump are tied. In Georgia we still see that Donald Trump is pretty far ahead, up by six. And this has generally been in line with what we've been seeing throughout this campaign, which is that Joe Biden is holding much better in the Great Lake battleground states, like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, than he has in those sun belt battleground states like Arizona, Nevada, and, of course, George, on this particular one where Donald Trump has held a pretty consistent lead through this campaign.

BERMAN: You know, one thing that's notables is all these states here up on the screen, in 2020 Joe Biden won Michigan by the widest margin.

ENTEN: Correct.

BERMAN: Substantially so.

ENTEN: You're correct, by three points.

BERMAN: So, what's happening there now?

ENTEN: Yes, so what's happening here. You know, on this particular one, if we were just looking at one poll, right, and saw, OK, Donald Trump ahead by three points, that's well within the margin of error. But I want to sort of take a look here at the trend line, and that is that there really isn't much of a trend line, there's just a lot of consistency going on here. Fox, Trump plus three. "Wall Street Journal," Trump plus three. CNN last month, Trump plus eight. Quinnipiac, Trump plus three back in March. And Fox, back in February, had Trump plus two. So, in fact, there isn't any real trend line that we're seeing away from Donald Trump. Despite what we're seeing nationally, in Michigan, we are still seeing that Joe Biden is trailing Donald Trump by a consistent - a small but consistent margin. And that, of course, is very interesting because, as you pointed out, Michigan was that swing state that Joe Biden carried by the widest margin last time around.

BERMAN: I won't be surprised to see President Biden are someone close to him nearly move to Michigan in the next several months because they absolutely need that to put together 270.

ENTEN: It's a lovely state.

BERMAN: Talk to me about the why here. What are you seeing behind the numbers that might indicate why this is all happening?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, I think there's a lot of talk in this campaign about the lesser of two evils. I'm not quite sure that is an app description, right? This is viewed favorably across Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. In the 2020 exit polls, what do we see? Fifty percent of voters viewed Joe Biden on average favorably in those states, compared to just 45 percent for Donald Trump. Look at the Joe Biden trend line, where he is now. Joe Biden is far less liked than he was four years ago, just 43 percent of voters now view Joe Biden favorably in these states. And Donald Trump, despite everything that has happened, everything that has happened, is actually slightly more liked, 47 percent favorable rating.

So, this isn't just the lesser of two evils that's going on. The fact is that Donald Trump is in fact better liked than he was four years ago and is better liked than Joe Biden is right now in these battleground states. It's pretty gosh darn clear.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, great to see you. Thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: Sara. SIDNER: All right, we are following some breaking news for you.

According to Paris police, a man was seen by a witness entering the Iranian consulate in Paris carrying, and this is a quote, a grenade or explosive vests. Police are on the scene at this very hour. We will have more on this breaking news just after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:48:49]

BOLDUAN: We have a developing situation unfolding in Paris that we're following. This is just into CNN. We're told a police operation is underway at the Iranian consulate in Paris after a man was seen carrying a grenade or an explosive vest into the building.

CNN's Melissa Bell is pulling together the details for us. She's joining us right now.

Melissa, what is happening right now?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, pretty big police operation underway in the west of Paris. So, you're talking about a 16,000 (ph) small here (ph), a search well-heeled (ph) areas of Paris. And that's where the Iranian consulate is located.

They've entirely barricaded off that whole part of Paris.

What we understand from Paris officials is that a man was seen entering the Iranian consulate about three and a half hours ago, that he was carrying - he was armed, this is what they're saying, either carrying a grenade or an explosive vests. That is unclear. And what appears to be the case, although they haven't given much more information than that for the time being, is that the operation appears to be ongoing for them to get their hands on this man who's now inside the Iranian consulate.

So, the details are pretty sketchy for the time being, but a big part of Paris cordoned off. And this is, of course, the kind of threats that they're on high alert for. This is a city that's been on an even higher level of alert than it is usually.

[08:50:02]

Since the attack, the terror attacks the last two years, you've had a police presence, of course, in the street, but also military personnel, 3,000 of them, that patrol the streets of France day in, day out. That was doubled in the wake of the Moscow attacks of last month.

So, this was a city on its highest level of alert. And, of course, all of those forces now mobilized around that 16,000 (ph) Paris in the hope of trying to extricate this man from the Iranian consulate. For now, the detail much favor about who he is, why he's there, or the details of how he got in, in the first place.

BOLDUAN: A lot to work through. Clearly it's all unfolding still as we speak.

Melissa Bell, pulling all the details together. We're going to bring you updates throughout the morning as the breaking news continuous.

John.

BERMAN: And, obviously, that follows the breaking news, that Israel conducted some kind of a strike inside Iran, targeting a military facility near the city of Isfahan. Though this morning, the United States says that it was not involved in any way in offensive operations. And the world seems a bit relieved that neither Israel nor Iran are playing this up at all. In fact, they're both trying to downplay it.

With us now is the Democratic senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia, Tim Kaine.

And, Senator, if you're like me, I went to bed last night with the news that Israel was conducting strikes against Iran. And there was a very real concern of this spiraling out of control. Yet we wake up and both countries are downplaying it. So, how do you explain it?

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): John, President Biden strongly urged Israel to avoid any response once the U.S., Israel and others very effectively defeated the missile and drone strikes that Iran launched into Israel. And that followed the Israeli attack on a consulate in Damascus that killed Iranians. The last thing we need is escalation right now. In this region we need to deescalate, hostage deal, ceasefire, de- escalation, that's what we need.

So, yes, I was troubled when I saw that Israel had decided to wage a strike inside Iranian territory. But it seems, from what we know now, to be fairly calibrated, to send a message to Iran, you launched against our soil, we can read reach out and touch your soil, but we're not intending to cause great harm.

And if that is the understanding now, both Iran and Israel want to show that they have capacity, but they want to de-escalate. Hopefully this will stop and there will be no more back-and-forth.

BERMAN: So, relieved?

KAINE: It's - it is - yes, I am. I think I went to bed, just like you, worrying, what would this portend? And yet the fact that both Israel and Iran are downplaying it is a - is a good sign. So, this - the escalation needs to stop. And in this region, Houthis firing into the Red Sea, Hezbollah firing into Israel from - from Lebanon, the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. What we need to see is de-escalation. And hopefully the events overnight was Israel just showing it has a capacity.

BERMAN: Yes.

KAINE: But calibrating that demonstration to avoid significant escalation.

BERMAN: It is a strange thing when a military strike somehow seems to calm nerves around the world.

KAINE: Yes.

BERMAN: But we'll leave that for a second because the U.S. House will, we believe, vote over the next day or so on an aid package to Ukraine, to Israel, not to mention Taiwan.

How much credit you give Speaker Johnson for pushing this forward?

KAINE: I am so glad that he is. I mean we've been very frustrated in the Senate because it's taken too long. It took us too long. You know, we didn't get action in the Senate on this till February. But we have been waiting on the edge of our seats to see if the House would finally move.

I'm very, very glad that the speaker is doing it. It's in an unusual posture where he's basically taken the Senate bill, split it into three. He'll have separate votes on each of the three pieces and add in a fourth piece that the House wants, which includes some - like a, you know, the regulation of TikTok, some sanctions on Iran that the Senate acted on in my Foreign Relations Committee the other day. But then the - whatever they pass, and I think they'll likely pass all four bills, it will come back to the Senate as a single bill, and we'll take it up as a single bill.

The speaker's strong words about the need to provide defense support to Israel, but also to Ukraine the other day, were very powerful. And, you know, I think he has got a sense of resolve about it. And clearly the Democrats are helping him. The vote yesterday that set up this weekend vote needed Democratic votes on the Rules Committee to make it happen. Democrats supplied the votes to enable us to move forward. So, I think you'll see this get out of the House in a bipartisan way this weekend.

BERMAN: We've got about 30 seconds left. What do you think about the fact that it's possible this costs Speaker Johnson his job?

[08:55:03]

KAINE: I don't think it's going to cost him his job. I don't think the House has anyone else that could get the votes to be speaker. And given that they don't, I don't think they'll move him aside. And I also think that Democrats, once this bill passes, Democrats would come to his aid and make sure that he's not pushed aside.

BERMAN: Bi partisanship. Strange, but bipartisanship that would be.

Senator Tim Kaine, from the Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committee, particularly great to have you this morning. Thank you very much.

KAINE: You bet, John. Glad to.

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: Strange, but good, John. Speaking of which, just a few hours ago, Taylor Swift gave fans a huge surprise. She released not one but two albums, sending fans into a frenzy.

(VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Swift released her long-anticipated 11th studio album, "The Tortured Poets Department," late Thursday night. And then, at 2:00 a.m. this morning, she released "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology," with 31 total songs between the two albums.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister is joining us now.

Elizabeth, did you stay up all night, and a lot of Swifties did stay up all night trying to hear all of those songs?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I am coming to you right now, Sara, with very little sleep, but for good reason. This is an international holiday, right? This is the day of the Swifties. Really a huge cultural moment for a cultural icon.

And I spoke with many of the Swifties over the past few days. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER (voice over): The epic countdown ending overnight with the release of Taylor Swift's 11th studio album. And then some. "The Tortured Poets Department" dropping just before midnight on Friday. Only to be followed by a surprise drop at 2:00 a.m. of 15 additional songs. Swift announcing the surprise, telling her fans, she released a secret double album.

TAYLOR SWIFT, MUSICIAN: How does that sound?

WAGMEISTER (voice over): The global phenomenon that is Taylor Swift. The only solo artist in music history with four Grammy's for Album of the Year. Much more than a singer, Swift is a cultural icon. Now with "The Tortured Poets Department" exploding to even greater heights.

With the album's first single, "Fortnite," in collaboration with Post Malone. And songs like "Florida," featuring Florence and The Machine. Her dedicated fans anticipating this moment since the album was announced earlier this year at the Grammys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a pretty big fan. I love her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know every lyric to every song.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really excited.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): Swifties counting down to the release by decoding clues coming from Taylor herself, including some at this pop- up installation at The Grove in Los Angeles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can take a picture and decipher it and be like, oh, maybe it's this lyric.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): Arguably the most famous musician on the planet, the 34-year-old superstar is breaking through her already sky high ceiling with new songs like "Guilty as Sin?" And, "But Daddy I Love Him."

With this release, Taylor is likely to smash even more records in 2024. After already earnings Spotify's most streamed artists of 2023. Headlining her Eras Tour, the first tour to ever break $1 billion. And releasing a blockbuster concert film. She also boasts almost a half a billion social media followers.

But the impact of "The Tortured Poets Department" is expected to exceed all that and more, engaging Swifties with not only music, concerts, and films, but also bracelets, t-shirts, even tattoos.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I don't think I've ever felt that way in a concert, just to be surrounded by so many girls giving out friendship bracelets, just girlhood moment.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): A connection her fan -

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's coming from the White House. They have White House DOJ people in the trial, in the DA's office, representing the DA because he's probably not smart enough to represent himself. He's a guy that got elected using Trump. And you're not supposed to do that. Very much like Letitia James. All of it. But, New York is going down as a very corrupt place to do business, that I can tell you. A lot of people are not going to be moving to New York.

[09:00:02]

But this is a rigged case. And this is a case that was put in very strongly because of politics. So, instead of being in Pennsylvania.