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Violence Erupts at Pro-Palestinian Protest; Intense Phase of Israel-Hamas War to End?; Biden Campaign Focuses on Abortion Rights; Mar-a-Lago Hearing. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 24, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:49]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Today, Donald Trump's lawyers are in a Florida courtroom for a doubleheader, trying again to get his classified documents case thrown out and to keep the former President Trump from being hit with a new gag order.

Plus, today marks two years since the fall of Roe v. Wade. How the Biden campaign is making abortion rights a key reelection issue ahead of the first debate.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And it's an amazing story of survival. How a missing hiker endured 10 days in the California mountains without food or any supplies.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much for joining us this afternoon. I'm Boris Sanchez, alongside Brianna Keilar, in the nation's capital.

And just moments ago, the first of two pretrial hearings today in Trump's classified documents case wrapped up. During the proceedings, Trump's lawyers argued his charges should be dismissed because they claim the special counsel's office is unlawfully funded.

KEILAR: This is yet another pretrial hearing called for by Trump- appointed Judge Aileen Cannon that critics argue is unusual and needlessly postpones the trial.

Last Friday, she held a hearing allowing Trump's team to argue that the special counsel was unconstitutionally appointed.

CNN senior crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz is with us now on this story.

Katelyn, how did the first hearing go?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: I don't hear the show.

KEILAR: All right, we're having a hard time with Katelyn's audio.

SANCHEZ: That happens from time to time. (LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: Let's see.

Katelyn, can you hear us? We got this together?

POLANTZ: ... wasn't something that she seemed ready to do...

KEILAR: There we go.

POLANTZ: ... because she had so many questions for the prosecutors, especially this morning.

So the hearing lasted a little bit under two hours. And during that time, she at one point wanted to do a line-by-line reading of the public disclosures that had been made so far by the special counsel's office on how much money they spend for the work that they're doing.

That prompted the Justice Department attorney to tell her that they are fully committed to continuing to fund special counsel Jack Smith to pursue this prosecution to its very end. And Judge Cannon then asked more questions, even harsher questions, about how under the law the special counsel's office is able to operate legally, something that she's been grappling with now over the course of two days in these hearings, at times getting a little bit quippy with some of the prosecutor's answers, telling him not to cut her off.

But at the same time, on the other end, Donald Trump's lawyers, they are really swinging for the fences on trying to get politics into this proceeding. They are making legal arguments. They made them extensively today.

But, also, they keep asking Judge Cannon for more oversight, more hearings.

And then, twice, Emil Bove, the defense attorney for Donald Trump, said that there are extraordinary things with the special counsel's office that could be curbed if there was more congressional oversight there and then previewed a little bit of the hearing that's about to take place in a couple hours before Judge Cannon over limiting Donald Trump's speech, also called that an extraordinary effort by the prosecutors at the Justice Department to limit Donald Trump's speech with this upcoming debate and on the campaign trail -- back to you.

KEILAR: All right, Katelyn, glad we got that sorted out.

Katelyn Polantz, thank you.

And we're now three days away from the first presidential debate right here on CNN. And President Biden is really putting the spotlight on the issue of abortion ahead of Thursday's showdown with former President Trump. Today, the Biden campaign launching a new TV ad directly blaming Trump for the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

That's a ruling, of course, that came down two years ago to the day. SANCHEZ: Right now, Biden is hunkered down at Camp David, where he's

been preparing for the debate all weekend.

Trump, meantime, we're told, is holding informal policy discussions with advisers and allies.

Let's go live now to the White House with CNN's Kayla Tausche.

So, Kayla, walk us through this Biden push to prep for the debate.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, abortion is going to figure prominently on the debate stage on Thursday night, with the Biden campaign long believing that is the issue that is exemplary of what they see as their opponent's attempt to take away rights across the board from women in this country.

[13:05:12]

And there is a full-court press push today to mark the two-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Biden campaign out with a new ad as part of a $50 million battleground advertising push using the voice of one woman, in particular, a testimonial of a woman who was turned away for treatment for a miscarriage in the state of Louisiana.

Here's what she says in that ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The pain that I was feeling was excruciating. I was turned away from two emergency rooms. That was a direct result of Donald Trump overturning Roe v. Wade.

He's now a convicted felon. Trump thinks he should not be held accountable for his own criminal actions, but he will let women and doctors be punished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAUSCHE: Earlier today, Vice President Kamala Harris giving a speech of her own, using new and very sharp language accusing Donald Trump of stealing women's rights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Trump has not denied, much less shown remorse for his actions. Instead, he -- quote -- "proudly" takes credit for overturning Roe.

(BOOING)

HARRIS: My fellow Americans, in a court of law, that would be called an admission and some would say a confession, all pointing to the ultimate issue.

In the case of the stealing of reproductive freedom from the women of America, Donald Trump is guilty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAUSCHE: Now, to further make that case, the Democratic National Committee in a memo today says that the party is spending at least $8.3 million in every state in the country -- that's a 25 percent increase from the last election -- to make sure that voters know exactly what Trump's record is on this issue, including his support, potential support, for a ban at the national level.

And that's something that we expect Biden to highlight on Thursday -- guys.

KEILAR: And, Kayla, we're learning that President Biden is preparing for the possibility of a very disciplined Trump on the debate stage. Tell us about this.

TAUSCHE: Well, one of the things that we know the Biden team has been thinking through is essentially compiling a list of the wildest Trumpisms that they can call out the former president for on the debate stage.

But the problem is, that argument won't necessarily land if the opponent that the president is standing across from appears to be more mild-mannered and more well-behaved. And so that is a version of the president that his team has been preparing for.

Mitch Landrieu, who's a co-chair of the Biden reelection campaign, said yesterday on "Meet the Press," though, it doesn't matter which Donald Trump shows up to the stage, that his reputation precedes him, and that Biden's going to call that out.

SANCHEZ: Kayla Tausche live for us from the White House.

Thank you so much, Kayla.

Let's discuss with CNN senior political commentator and former special assistant to President George W. Bush Scott Jennings. Also with us, Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky. She's the co-founder of Lift Our Voices.

Thank you both for being with us.

Scott, first to you.

A very disciplined Donald Trump, I don't think I have seen that on a debate stage before.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You have, actually, the second debate in 2020, which, by the way, I had forgotten, but I realized recently they also had muted microphones that night.

But Trump came out, in my estimation, very disciplined, very measured. And I actually think he won that exchange. Now, that having been said, the first debate was a disaster. He was overly aggressive. It cratered his campaign. And by the time the second debate happened, things were pretty much off the rails. Millions of people had already voted and it was too late.

So if I were in their shoes, I'd be aiming for a debate number two performance this time around, show you're in command of the facts and try to keep the debate on topics that benefit you, inflation, immigration, crime, national security.

If he spends time on that and doesn't go down rabbit holes on January 6 and relitigating the 2020 election, he will have a successful night.

KEILAR: All right, Julie, if Trump does that, how should Biden prepare to address it?

JULIE ROGINSKY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, look, I'm glad the president's preparing for every contingency.

But if Scott thinks that the second debate was disciplined Donald Trump, I guess, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, so disciplined for whom? Disciplined for Trump? I'm not even sure that was disciplined for Trump.

I don't think Donald Trump can help himself. I think Donald Trump has a pathology. And that is that he thinks he's speaking to his base. He thinks this is all entertainment. He thinks this is all kind of something that the most extreme elements of the MAGA base want to hear.

And that's who he's speaking to. He's not speaking to undecided voters. He's not even speaking to moderate Republicans. And so the problem for him -- look, Scott, you're right. If he sticks to those issues, he will have a successful debate.

But I sincerely doubt that he has the discipline or the stamina to do anything other than go down these rabbit holes, whether it's about Hunter Biden, or January 6, or sharks, or car boat batteries. I mean, who knows?

[13:10:10]

The one thing we know is that we don't know what kind of craziness Trump can come up with. And that's what makes prepping against him so difficult for the Biden team.

SANCHEZ: Julie, what do you think of the way that the Trump team has seemed to manage expectations of President Biden going into this debate? Because, up until a few weeks ago, what we were hearing was that Joe Biden was having a hard time keeping track of information, that he was mentally deficient in some way, that his age had caught up to him.

But, lately, what you have heard is sort of, from folks like Doug Burgum and others, that Joe Biden is a formidable debater.

ROGINSKY: Nice try, I guess, but they have spent the last four years calling him sleepy Joe, saying he's effectively senile, that he's not ready for prime time, that he's not ready for even 3:00 in the morning time. But the reality is that that's what's seeped into the base for Trump.

And so they're expecting a particular Joe Biden to show up, the same way they expected a particular Joe Biden to show up to the State of the Union. And then, when a different Joe Biden, an incredibly animated Joe Biden, showed up, they pivoted and said, oh, Biden must be on something. He obviously -- this is not the Joe Biden that we have prepared people for.

They will have an explanation for any kind of debate Biden has. If Biden has a good debate -- and Biden -- listen, Biden's been a good debater over the years. If he has a good debate, they will come up with some excuses to why that worked for Biden that's not having to do with anything that bears any resemblance to reality.

So I don't really think they should worry about setting expectations, because, regardless of what happens, they will have some crazy cockamamie theory for why Biden showed up and performed better than they have expected Biden to show up and prepare.

KEILAR: What do you think, Scott?

JENNINGS: I think this debate is largely, honestly, going to be about image and plausibility and don't have a meltdown. Let's presume for a minute that neither of them has some career-ending meltdown moment. I think that's probably likely, hopefully, for both of them.

So, then, what are you looking for? These guys are so well-defined, but are you plausible for the next four years? Because of his age and because of what people have observed, the polling shows that the American people don't think Biden is plausible for the next four years. And because of the way he left office, a lot of people don't think Trump is plausible for the next four years.

So coming out of a debate like this, you're trying to drive, who is the most plausible person who can hold the office for four years? If I were either of them, that's what I'd be driving for. Obviously, Biden's in an age hole on that, and Trump is in a hole based on how he left office the last time.

SANCHEZ: What are your thoughts on the dynamic in the room, given that, as you noted with the second debate in 2020, the microphones will be muted, there's not going to be an audience?

JENNINGS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Does that handicap Donald Trump, who seems to relish being in a crowd of supporters?

JENNINGS: I don't think so.

And, of course, if there was an audience, they wouldn't all be for him, of course, in the room. But having the muted microphones seemed to really help him in the second debate in 2020. So I actually think it'll be of some benefit. But, ultimately, it's really up to them, right? I mean, you want to get the biggest percentage of the 90 minutes over

the target of your issues. And so if Trump can steer it to inflation and immigration for most of the time, that's a success. And if Biden can steer it to, say, abortion and January the 6th and whatever, that's a success for him.

I mean, obviously, they're running on such different issue sets, their ability in the moment on stage to pivot and try to get back to the issues that work for them, we will see who's the most skillful debater. They both have some experience. Biden, of course, has a lot more. He's been in office for over 50 years.

KEILAR: Well, I will say, you never quite know what the moment is that is coming your way with the debate. You just don't. We get excited to see what's going to happen. We wonder what's going to happen. But you don't really know until it does happen.

JENNINGS: And who will -- and who's watching.

KEILAR: Yes.

JENNINGS: And if you don't watch, all you may see is a clip or two clips, and that may define the whole thing for you.

KEILAR: That's right. So true. That's right.

SANCHEZ: Let's hope there isn't a meltdown. Man, you planted that seed in my head. Now I...

JENNINGS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: I'm, like, nervous about a potential meltdown.

JENNINGS: Everyone should tune in to CNN to find out, right?

KEILAR: Yes.

SANCHEZ: A hundred percent, 9:00 p.m. on Thursday.

KEILAR: And let's hope we don't have a meltdown either.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: So far, pretty decent.

Scott, Julie, thank you to both of you. We appreciate it.

And join CNN as President Biden and former President Trump meet for their first debate of the 2024 election season, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderating this, all live from Atlanta this Thursday, beginning at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

And ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL: We're following a meeting that is under way right now at the State Department between Secretary Blinken and Israeli defense -- and the Israeli defense minister, which is coming at a critical time, as Prime Minister Netanyahu signals the intense phase of the war with Hamas is about to end.

SANCHEZ: And chaos outside a synagogue in Los Angeles. President Biden saying he's appalled after a pro-Palestinian protest turned violent. We have the details on what happened there.

And a guy goes on what he thought would be a three-hour hike into the California mountains. Look at these pictures. It turned into a 10-day fight for survival.

[13:15:04]

How he did it -- after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Happening now. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Washington. Here's video of Gallant arriving at the State Department just moments ago.

He's speaking with several top Biden administration officials over the next few days.

KEILAR: Before his visit, Gallant said that Israel was moving to phase C of its operations in Gaza.

We have CNN's Kylie Atwood at the State Department following all of this.

All right, Kylie, has the U.S. gotten any clarity on exactly what that means, this next phase in the Israeli operation?

[13:20:02]

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, I think that is a major motivation for these meetings here that we're going to see, this one with the secretary of state just beginning now.

We will also see Gallant meet with the secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, tomorrow. And, obviously, these meetings come at this critical moment, when the future of this conflict, both of these conflicts, the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas and the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah on the northern border, both of those are quite unknown at the moment.

And it comes just on the heels of Prime Minister Netanyahu saying over the weekend that the current phase of the conflict ongoing in Rafah against Hamas and Rafah is coming to a close. And so what he said is that they're going to continue, the Israelis are going to continue -- quote -- "mowing the grass" in Gaza. But they're going to shift their operations to the north.

So this is an opportunity for U.S. officials to get further clarity on what mowing the grass in Gaza continues to look like, as there are continued issues with getting humanitarian assistance into Gaza, because one of the reasons, of course, being the continued Israeli military operations ongoing there. And, of course, they will focus in on those questions as to what the

Israelis are planning in the north. We know that U.S. officials have not explicitly told Israel that they are completely opposed to operations against Hezbollah. But they have warned them that this could turn into an all-out conflict quite quickly.

And that is the U.S. concern right now. They want to de-escalate things and their concern about it going in the opposite direction. I also think that we should expect there to be conversations about weapons sales between the U.S. and Israel, as Netanyahu has complained in recent days repeatedly that those weapons from the U.S. and Israel have slowed to a trickle.

And U.S. officials have repeatedly said that is just not the case -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Kylie, thank you so much for that.

Today's meeting is happening just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the intensive phase of the war against Hamas is about to end.

SANCHEZ: And in the same TV interview, he announced that he was ready to strike a partial deal with Hamas to return some hostages.

CNN'S Paula Hancocks is live in Jerusalem with the latest.

Paula, what more are you hearing about these statements and how they're being received and what the endgame looks like in Gaza?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris and Brianna, this really gave us some clarity as to the way the Israeli prime minister is thinking about the endgame in Gaza.

He has said that the intense phase has -- is about to end in Gaza, but has said the war is not about to end. He's basically saying that the current stage in Rafah is about to end.

He also spoke about the hostage deal, the cease-fire deal that's on the table at the moment that President Biden has very publicly endorsed. And he said that he's willing to sign a partial deal with Hamas to get some of the hostages back.

But he also said at the same time that, once that cease-fire is over, he had every intention of going back into Gaza to try and eliminate Hamas. He said he is not ready to give up on that ambition.

Now, this did provoke fury among the hostage families, saying that it is not good enough to say only some of the hostages will come back, that he has broken his contract with the people of Israel. We also heard from Hamas saying that it shows that he is rejecting the deal on the table that President Biden has endorsed.

Now, since that, he has tried to walk back his comments somewhat, saying that he is still committed to the Israeli deal that President Biden is standing behind, also saying that Israel will not leave Gaza until all 120 hostages are brought back, the living and the dead.

So he really did start a bit of a firestorm here in Israel. There was a lot of criticism about his comments on that particular deal, a deal, I should add, is pretty much in limbo and stalled at this point.

KEILAR: All right, Paula Hancocks, thank you for that report from Jerusalem.

In the meantime, Los Angeles police are stepping up patrols around houses of worship after violent street fights broke out Sunday during a pro-Palestinian protest. The clashes erupted in front of a synagogue in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. Video here, you can see some of it. It shows scuffles between demonstrators and pro-Israel counterprotesters spilling out to nearby streets.

Both groups can be heard taunting, shoving and grabbing each other.

SANCHEZ: At least one man was seen with blood on his face and clothes. And, today, President Biden says he's appalled by the violence, condemning anyone blocking access to places of worship.

CNN national correspondent Camila Bernal joins us now with more.

And, Camila, there's new information about why protesters targeted this particular synagogue.

[13:25:03]

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, Boris, we're now learning that they were targeting this synagogue because of a real estate event that was happening at the temple.

But I do want to point out that this was not organized by the temple. It was actually organized by a firm that markets real estate in Israel. And in the videos, you can see how police officers were trying to push these protesters away from the temple. It got extremely violent. They had to call for backup.

You have police officers in riot gear. You see it there on your screen as they were pushing them away from that area. But then fights broke out all around the neighborhood. I talked to the volunteer director of security at the temple, who told me that these people came for a fight, came to escalate things.

And he told me they got that fight, because things absolutely got violent in that area. You can see the pushing, the shoving, the screaming. I want to show you another video where you can actually see what appears to be two men wrestling on the ground at some point and people all around them pushing and shoving and trying to reach them, and so, again, just violent, violent incidents that happened here in L.A. on Sunday.

There's another video where you can see people who have blood on their faces and their mouths. You see another video where you see someone throwing an egg at one of the protesters. You see it right there on your screen. It happens quickly.

But, again, it's just all of these fights that broke out and that people are right now calling out, leaders here in L.A.

You mentioned the president, the governor of California, all of them saying this is unacceptable, Mayor Karen Bass saying that she's calling for additional patrols in the area and around houses of worship, so just people denouncing this and calling it out and saying how horrific this is and how it does not belong here in Los Angeles and really anywhere, especially not outside of a synagogue -- guys.

SANCHEZ: Camila Bernal, thank you so much for that update.

Coming up: another week of extreme weather, tens of millions facing unrelenting heat, as the Midwest sees flooding. Where and when you might expect some relief.

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