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Penn Students Staying Put Despite Order To End Encampment; Trump Meets With Former GOP Rival DeSantis In Miami; Global Measles Cases Nearly Doubled In One Year. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired April 29, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, administrators at universities across the country are wrestling with how to contain growing pro- Palestinian protests on their campuses. The University of Pennsylvania warned protesters to leave, citing issues of vandalism and harassment, but demonstrators say they are not going anywhere.

CNN's Danny Freeman is in Philadelphia at the university this morning. Danny, we can see the tents right behind you.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right, John. We're on day five of this encampment protest here at the University of Pennsylvania and this morning, everything seems pretty calm. You can see there are students right here basically having breakfast and getting ready for the day -- beginning their organization.

Everything, like I said, is pretty calm here after a bit of a tense weekend because back on Friday night, the university actually told these protesters to disband this encampment. But as you can see, obviously, that has not happened.

Now, this encampment went up back on Thursday night. It was a joint effort between students from Temple, Drexel, and the University of Pennsylvania. There was a peaceful march on Thursday. They came here and set up shop. Initially, there were only about 10 or maybe about a dozen tents that went up. Now you can see quite a bit more.

The demand here, of course, similar to other universities we've seen disclose -- divest some of the investments that the university has.

Now, what I can tell you is that the university initially said that they respect and support the right of this community to protest. But then about 24 hours, John, after that initial announcement the university put out on Thursday night -- well, then on Friday, the university really turned its page right there, saying that this encampment had blatantly violated the university's policies. That they got credible reports of harassing and intimidating conduct.

And there is -- there was even incidents of -- incidents, I should say, of antisemitic graffiti that the university reported that they are investigating at this point as a hate crime. But that was the -- basically, the impetus for them then calling for this encampment to disband.

Well, that was on Friday night into Saturday morning. Obviously, as you can see, this encampment has only grown since then. So at this point, it's a little unclear what will happen next. But these protesters -- as you said, John, they say they're here to stay until those demands are met. We'll be out here all day, John, to keep you posted on what happens here in Philadelphia -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Danny Freeman for us in Philadelphia. Interesting to see the encampment right behind you, in this case. Other universities -- they have kept them pretty far away from the cameras. So thank you for being there Danny -- appreciate it -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this morning, an apparent detente between Donald Trump and his former rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. They met for several hours yesterday -- their first meeting since DeSantis dropped out of the Republican primary in January, you'll recall, after his 30-point loss in Iowa to Donald Trump.

DeSantis endorsed Trump after he left the race, but he endured months of attacks, and name-calling, and demeaning commentary from Donald Trump. You will remember the Ron DeSanctimonious nickname, of course.

CNN's Alayna Treene joins us now. She's got a lot more on what was -- what happened inside the meeting. It seems proving, especially in politics, time heals all wounds, but what are you learning about this meeting?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: I think that's right. I mean, on one hand, I wouldn't say that all of a sudden, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis are kumbaya and going to become best of friends after this one meeting, but it's a mutually beneficial thing for them to have some sort of peace right now.

And you're right. Ron DeSantis immediately endorsed Donald Trump when he dropped out of the race in New Hampshire. However, the two have not spoken since then. They have not met yet. And so, that's really a hugely significant part of this meeting yesterday.

And here is part of the thing. Donald Trump needs help fundraising, and he asked Ron DeSantis yesterday, we're told, if he could do that. And Ron DeSantis agreed. He said that he would tap into this donor network for the former president.

At the same time, DeSantis also benefits from having this more smooth relationships with the former president. A lot of people close to DeSantis, as well as just in Republican politics in general, think it's untenable for DeSantis to continue to have kind of this chilled relationship with Donald Trump, especially, of course, as he is the presumptive Republican nominee. He could potentially be president. And so, it benefits DeSantis as well.

Now, this meeting, we're told, was organized by Steve Witkoff. He's a luxury real estate developer that both men know very well in Florida. Witkoff is actually hosting a fundraiser for Donald Trump next weekend in Florida. And so, this meeting lasted several hours, and they really did try to

smooth some things out. But again, when I talked to Donald Trump's team about this the way that I view it is a lot of people in Donald Trump's inner circle and the former president, himself, still harbor some tough feelings for the Florida governor, but they want to see this path forward because it helps them and it helps DeSantis as well -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, Alayna. Thank you so much for that reporting.

Let's talk about this. Joining me right now is CNN senior political commentator and former Trump campaign adviser, David Urban. And Bakari Sellers, CNN political commentator and former Democratic South Carolina state representative, and also the author of the new book, "The Moment." Quite the image on front. Very foreboding, Bakari Sellers, David Urban. I'm scared I don't know about you.

OK, David, you know Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump personally. Ron DeSantis does what for Donald Trump now?

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Listen, I think Alayna is exactly correct. I think he's going to act as a surrogate. He's going to be out on the stump campaigning for Trump. He's going to be out raising money.

[07:35:03]

So overall, it's a very -- it's a -- it was a good weekend -- a net- plus for the former president, not to mention the fabulous polling that CNN had out for -- over the weekend showing that Trump is up substantially over Biden in lots of different areas. So I think the kumbaya, as Alayna puts it -- it is a good thing for Trump and DeSantis respectively, and good for the party overall.

BOLDUAN: We'll get to that polling in just one second, Mr. Urban.

Bakari, proof once again that time heals all wounds, especially in politics here?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, (D) FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA STATE REPRESENTATIVE, AUTHOR, "THE MOMENT: THOUGHTS ON THE RACE RECKONING THAT WASN'T AND HOW WE ALL CAN MOVE FORWARD NOW" (via Webex by Cisco): It's very interesting because time -- look, time should heal some wounds but the personal attacks levied by the president against these candidates and then watching them lose all fortitude and just crawl back to him is a bit concerning.

I mean, Ron DeSantis is in the same category now as people like Ted Cruz. Listen if somebody talks about my wife like a dog, I don't care what they're running for, I'm never going to crawl back to them and do anything for them, let alone tap dance like Ted Cruz.

Now, Ron DeSantis just kind of folding after calling Trump all of these names and saying that he wasn't fit to do this and that. I understand political banter. But there's going to be a book written long after Donald Trump is gone about how he was able to just get men to mold in his hands and kind of become shells of themselves. It's very interesting to see.

I don't think this benefits Ron DeSantis too much but it definitely benefits Donald Trump. So I agree with David. It's a net-plus for him.

BOLDUAN: One thing that, of course, everyone says when something like this happens with a former rival or whatever is ah, does this have something to do with the -- you know, running mate contention and the race to be running mate? DeSantis has previously said, David, that he has -- he has no intention of serving as vice president, but opinions change over time.

But regardless, one person that is a contender to being Trump's running mate and one who could definitely guess is very interested in it is South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. She is speaking out still, David, defending shooting and killing her family dog as she described it and willingly revealed it in her book. She put out a statement saying, "We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm."

Is this situation a problem for her in Republican politics?

URBAN: Look, any time -- so, I understand her -- or maybe I don't understand, but I can understand her --

SELLERS: The answer is yes, David. The answer is yes.

URBAN: No, no, no. Bakari, listen --

BOLDUAN: Bakari, this is the first time in a long time I understand --

URBAN: Hold on. Listen, Bakari, no --

BOLDUAN: -- what David's saying. David, go.

URBAN: Listen -- oh, come on. Listen to Kate. She's like the first time in a long time.

BOLDUAN: I'm kidding.

URBAN: Listen, I am -- I am -- I was shocked, right, to read her first-person account of -- that she killed a -- you know, literally, a puppy because it wasn't a good hunting dog, right? That was kind of the thesis right now. She said oh, it was aggressive, and it did all these things.

Well, there are dog trainers. People can -- behaviors can be modified. Look, we see that with the current president's dogs. He had some German Shepherds there that probably weren't so best suited to be around a lot of people in the White House. And so, those dogs weren't taken out back and shot; they were taken and put on a farm or given to somebody else who might be able to retrain them, right?

There's a lot of things you can do.

Now, you know, an old, sick horse or a goat that's knocking your kids over -- super mean and biting your kids -- is something different. Puppies? Like, look, Sarah McLachlan is out for Kristi Noem right now. That's all I got to tell you.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, I think more than Sarah McLachlan are -- Bakari, go.

SELLERS: No. I mean, it was disturbing. I mean, it was kind of sociopathic just reading the account of it. I have to ask, like, what editor allowed that to be printed, one?

And apparently, she's close to Corey Lewandowski. I'll just let close do the work there. And this is something that he probably told her would show strength or courage. And so, that's why you double-down on it and the president likes you to double-down on it.

I can't imagine Donald Trump allowing Kristi Noem on the ticket after showing that she murders puppies. I mean, we remember the hell that Mitt Romney got for just putting his dogs on the roof. Now, Kristi Noem is taking them out back and murdering puppies. I just don't think that's a good vice presidential nominee.

BOLDUAN: It's also just --

URBAN: Well, look, the only thing I would say --

BOLDUAN: Go ahead, David.

URBAN: Kate, the only thing I would say -- the only thing I would say is maybe she was getting out ahead of the story. Maybe the story was going to leak, or someone was going to put it out and attack her.

BOLDUAN: Like, that's -- wait, wait. That's like -- that's like oppo research?

SELLERS: She -- I mean, it's not a story that leaked, she --

URBAN: No, no. I'm saying that it was going to get out there anyhow and she was trying to control the narrative on -- she did it because she was being compassionate.

[07:40:00]]

Look, this wasn't an old -- the issue was this wasn't an Old Yeller moment the way it was presented in the book. It wasn't a situation where she said sadly, I had to take Old Yeller out back and put a bullet in the rabid dog. It was one of the worst moments of my life.

She said I couldn't stand that dog. I mean, it was like there was -- the way it was presented --

BOLDUAN: According to the excerpt, it said she hated the dog. That's how she wrote it -- "I hated the dog."

URBAN: That exactly -- BOLDUAN: Yeah.

URBAN: Yeah, exactly. So that's my point. There wasn't an Old Yeller moment where she's crying over the dog as she looks away and shoots the dog. It didn't come across that way and it was totally tone deaf and very flat.

BOLDUAN: We also have -- I'm -- yes, we're going third question on this one and here's why. Kari Lake, in Arizona, who is also seen as a contender to be -- to be V.P., on Sunday, put out a tweet. We're going to put it up and then you guys can weigh in on why you think that she's doing it on Sunday and if you think he is doing with an ulterior motive as she's holding her dog and just lamenting that she's said that she can't take the Pug on the trail with her.

TEXT: Everyone wish Sushi a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She's brought our family so much joy & tons of laughs over the years. Jeff and I are so busy on the campaign trail, sometimes I wish we could just bring our Pug along. Should we?!

BOLDUAN: Bakari, I mean, there's capitalize on a moment, I guess.

URBAN: Shear coincidence.

SELLERS: Yeah. That's petty.

BOLDUAN: Always.

SELLERS: That's petty. I like petty. I like petty a lot and I think she executed that really well. It's one thing to be petty and another thing to execute your petty with that type of precision.

Neither one of them are going to be Vice President of the United States, and Kari Lake won't be a U.S. senator. But watching them go back and forth and just watching the debate around this has been fascinating to see. The bar is really low. I mean, you can excel and be on Donald Trump's short list. All you have to do is not murder puppies.

BOLDUAN: Honestly, I -- we talk about a lot of wild things, especially the three of us. I -- this was not on my bingo card for things that we would be discussing when it came to where this presidential campaign was going.

URBAN: Well, Kate -- yeah, yeah.

BOLDUAN: And guess what? And guess what, boys? We've still got six months.

Yes, David?

URBAN: Yeah, Kate, and I was going to say also it's day three of this story, right? I mean, that's the problem. It's not -- like, this story has legs. It's been going and going and going. And so, if you're Gov. Noem, it's just -- it is a really, really bad week for you.

BOLDUAN: It is a strange moment for all of us.

It is good to see you. Thank you, gentlemen.

URBAN: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: John.

SELLERS: Thank you.

BERMAN: It's just --

BOLDUAN: The eyebrow raised. It says so much.

BERMAN: -- It's just the irony here.

This morning, a cat has been reunited with her family after being found 650 miles away from home. Galena the cat mysteriously disappeared two weeks ago from her home in Utah. Her owners put up flyers and reached out to friends and family and searched all over, but there was no sign of Galena the cat.

Then they got a call that Galena's microchip had been picked up in California. So this is what they say happened. The cat had hopped inside an Amazon box that her family was using to return a pair of shoes. Her owners say they had no idea she climbed inside and shipped the box off. Luckily, an Amazon employee found the stowaway and took care of her until she could be reunited with her family. Despite six days without food or water, Galena is doing just fine.

Let me just make two points about this. Number one, this is one more story about microchips. Every one of these stories we do is about microchips. I'm getting one soon in case I get lost.

Number two -- number two, just saying I'm not a cat owner but a pair of shoes -- a cat weighs more than a pair of shoes -- any pair of shoes. I'm just saying they put the cat in a box with a pair of shoes. That's all I have to say about that.

New warnings from world health leaders as measles cases are rising at an alarming rate. And why millions of Americans are about to lose their internet access.

It's a cat!

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:48:17]

BERMAN: This morning, no court for Donald Trump in New York. His criminal hush money trial resumes tomorrow. Ex-Trump fixer Michael Cohen's former banker Gary Farro will likely be on the stand. Remember, this entire case is about allegedly falsifying business records in order to cover up a relationship or a dalliance with former adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Farro is expected to walk the jury through how Cohen funded payments to Daniels through a home equity line of credit. With me now is criminal defense attorney William Brennan.

I want to shift the focus to the gag order because still, we have no ruling from the judge on this. Donald Trump has talked about the jury. He's talked about witnesses. He's talked about family members of the judge.

Why is it, do you think, that the judge has not issued a ruling -- a contempt ruling yet?

WILLIAM BRENNAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY (via Webex by Cisco): Well, good morning, and thanks for having me.

I think the reason that Judge Merchan has not yet issued a ruling is that he's juggling a lot of balls right now. He needs to get this trial to the jury. And he's really in a difficult position with regard to penalties because the ultimate penalty would be jail time, and if he puts this particular defendant in jail, it will be absolute chaos. Not only would it disrupt the trial, it would have a national ripple effect.

I think he's holding the scepter of penalty over the defendant's head in the hopes that it will temper the future remarks of this particular defendant.

BERMAN: But every day you don't issue a ruling, does that not allow for Trump to say more things?

[07:50:00]

BRENNAN: No, I don't think it does. It's not uncommon for trials when contempt issues come up for the contempt issue to either be tabled until the end of the trial or postponed. And again, we're really in a unique situation with having a former President of the United States facing potential jail. He really is in an extremely difficult position there.

So if you -- if you -- if you flip it on its face and -- say he issued a ruling today and it was -- I think in New York, the maximum penalty per count is $1,000. And he says well, there's 15 allegations, there's $15,000. I mean, what effect practically would it have on this particular defendant? So he's in a tough spot.

I don't think that the ruling is as pressing as the threat of sanctions. He could always impose sanctions after the trial, but this thing is rolling along. We're a lot further at this point than we thought we were going to be. The jury selection went rapidly fast.

BERMAN: Right.

BRENNAN: And I really think having spent several weeks in front of Judge Merchan recently -- I think he's a guy that likes to get the case where it should be, and that's to the jury.

BERMAN: You know, you mentioned how unique this trial is, which brings me to this point. Juries -- this is not a sequestered jury. I mean, they were home for the weekend. And for them, they were home for what's a long weekend because they are not in court today.

Given that it's a former president on trial, how can you be sure that they're not consuming some media, some coverage? I just can't imagine living in a world where you don't pick up some of the noise out there about this case.

BRENNAN: No, you raised a great point. I mean, especially if it was 40 years ago, you'd just have to avoid the print media. But you'd have to be boy in the bubble at this point not to get something in. It just comes in at this point through osmosis.

So I think if I were trying a case -- with one of the cases I try now when we have jurors that are instructed that way, I just assume that some, if not all of the jurors are getting information they probably shouldn't have and you just keep your fingers crossed.

BERMAN: Yeah, but doesn't that then make it all the more important for the judge to try to limit what some of the people involved in the trial are saying publicly? Because if you keep on repeating things in the public the jury is going to hear it.

BRENNAN: Well, this particular order focuses on four areas: the jurors, the witnesses, families of court staff, and the families of Judge -- the family members of Judge Merchan. There's already been remarks made in all of those areas so, at this point, it's just repetitive dribble.

I don't know that the gag order -- the focus on the gag order I think really is the tail-wagging of the dog. I think the takeaway here is that we're early on in a four-week -- proposed four-week trial and you've got three witnesses in the box. I mean, that's amazing to me.

BERMAN: Yeah. And look, I'm with you on this. I'm going to take the under on the length of this trial, at least based on how it's going so far. It's hard for me to see it going the six or seven weeks that everyone thought it might initially.

Listen, William Brennan, great to see you.

BRENNAN: I agree with you.

BERMAN: Counselor, really nice to see you this morning. I appreciate it.

BRENNAN: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right. This morning, a new warning about measles after the World Health Organization found cases nearly doubled globally in one year.

CNN's Jacqueline Howard is with us now. You know, what do the numbers show?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yeah, John. What we know from these numbers -- in the year 2022, there were more than an estimated 171,000 measles cases around the world. But then, that number jumped to more than 321,000 in 2023. And, John, so far this year, we're already at more than 94,000 measles cases.

The reason why health officials say we're seeing this rise is because we're seeing a drop in vaccination coverage. And we know that measles can spread so easily if people are not vaccinated. I mean, the virus is so contagious if an infected person coughs or sneezes it can linger in the air for up to two hours.

But with the vaccine, we know two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is 97 percent effective. So that is our best defense against this virus. And that's why health officials say this rise in cases is alarming and something that they're watching very closely, John.

BERMAN: And preventable, also.

HOWARD: Exactly.

BERMAN: Look, what's the --

HOWARD: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- situation in the United States?

HOWARD: Yeah. Here in the U.S., we're also seeing a rise in cases -- again, associated with a drop in vaccinations. And the reason why this is really concerning -- in the year 2000, John, we eliminated the measles virus here in the U.S. But if we continue to see an outbreak that lasts more than a year, we could lose that elimination status.

[07:55:00]

And so far, this year, we're already at 128 cases across 19 states and New York City. That number is more than what we saw in all of last year. In 2023, we were at 58 cases. John, we've already surpassed that. So again, this is a serious situation that health officials are watching play out.

BERMAN: Serious and, as we said, preventable.

Jacqueline Howard, thanks so much -

HOWARD: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- for being here -- appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right. So just what Major League Baseball needed, see- through pants. Yes, that is just one of the string of complaints about this season's new uniforms. Other complaints -- other complaints include that the uniforms are collecting too much sweat.

Now, Major League Baseball is agreeing to make some changes to the new gear from Nike? Why? The League sent out a memo yesterday about the changes that are planned and they're also promising to make the lettering on the back of the uniforms bigger.

The MLB Players Association blames the issues solely on Nike's new design, saying in a statement and memo that at its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn't need to be innovated.

So, zebra -- multiple on the lamb. Officials are still looking for one zebra that escaped a trailer in North Bend, Washington on Sunday after the zebras were seen making their way down a busy highway. We'll show you at some point. The Washington State Patrol said that four zebras managed to escape when the driver stopped to secure the trailer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON-ERIK ANES: This must be a joke. And then I saw some cars, like, get into the neighborhoods, too, like, to try to fence them in or something. I don't know. They just started hanging out in the grass in somebody's yard over here across the street.

WHITNEY BOMQUIST: No. I called someone. I was, like, so I found the missing zebras. Like, they're in my yard. You know, I'm not sure what to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: But she has the exact correct facial expression. I found a zebra in my yard and I'm not sure what to do.

Still, there has been no explanation quite yet of how exactly the zebras broke out.

So, this week, nearly 60 million Americans may have to decide between paying for their internet or paying for food. A government program that helps keep low-income households online is set to run out of money by Wednesday. It has to do with a bill that keeps the program going that's been stalled in Congress.

CNN's Jason Carroll has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CINDY WESTMAN, ACP RECIPIENT: I have a growing child and with inflation and the cost of food, I don't have that much in food assistance.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And for Cindy Westman, times are tough but manageable for now. She lives on disability and carefully budgets each month to care for her 12-year- old daughter who has cerebral palsy and autism.

WESTMAN: I even have to budget when I have an oil change.

CARROLL (voice-over): Now a program Westman relies on will run out of funding at the end of April, cutting off a critical lifeline for her and millions of other low-income Americans. It's called the Affordable Connectivity Program or ACP. The 2021 pandemic-era benefit helps Americans afford internet access, crucial for rural Americans like Westman who use it for telehealth for her daughter, especially when service goes out in her hometown of Eureka, Illinois. WESTMAN: Having that funding allows me to afford a portable hotspot backup internet that I was using for my daughter.

CARROLL (voice-over): The Federal Communications Commission warns the ACP will end unless Congress extends it, forcing more than 23 million American households to either pay hundreds more for internet or go without it, widening a digital divide -- and not just in rural areas.

Before the ACP, Milton Perez had to use free internet on the subway platform. He calls his apartment an internet dead zone, which made taking his online classes nearly impossible.

MILTON PEREZ, ACP RECIPIENT: Well, I had to walk out in the front of the building to be connected to the class.

CARROLL (voice-over): Perez, once homeless himself, works as an advocate for people experiencing homelessness. He now helps connect those still in shelters to the internet.

PEREZ: Seeing during my shelter stay the difference between people who had internet access and that didn't, and it could be deadly.

CARROLL (voice-over): Millions of veterans also rely on the program, like Walter Durham in San Diego. He uses the internet to contact doctors and to chat with his daughter overseas.

WALTER DURHAM, ACP RECIPIENT: I'm going to have to either do without Wi-Fi or I have to come up with other means to pay for Wi-Fi. So -- because I can't count on the politicians doing anything to help the American people.

CARROLL (voice-over): Legislation to extend the program has received bipartisan support but like so much in Washington, the bill has stalled.

CARROLL: Is there anything that realistically can be done?

REP. YVETTE CLARKE (D-NY): Absolutely. We need to make sure that this bill comes to the floor.