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White House Relieved After Press Conference; Biden Hits the Campaign Trail; AT&T Customer Breach; Armorer to Testify in Baldwin Trial. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 12, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

INGE NEIL, MICHIGAN VOTER: And he would be the vice president.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's what you would like to see, them switch.

NEIL: Well, he has lots of experience, lots of knowledge. I think he's very bright. I think he still has a lot to offer.

TUCHMAN (voice over): Meanwhile, we heard several similar answers from the seniors regarding this question.

TUCHMAN: The Democratic governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, says it wouldn't hurt for Joe Biden to take a cognitive test. What do you think about that?

CAROL WISEMAN, MICHIGAN VOTER: I agree as long as Trump also takes a test from an independent tester.

TUCHMAN (voice over): Opinions clearly very at the senior center on what President Biden should do. But there's an overall recognition here that his debate performance was a big letdown.

TUCHMAN: Do you think it's a one-off that it wouldn't happen again in another debate performance?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope so.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: President Biden's news conference does not appear to have called - calmed nervous Democrats. This morning, one of his top allies opening the door for Biden to step aside, even while saying it's time for his party to stop talking about Biden leaving the race.

And a massive data breach at AT&T, leaving nearly all of their customers exposed. What the company is saying about the second major leak this year.

And an eagle-eyed truck driver is being called a hero this morning after spotting a one-year-old child abandoned on the side of a busy Louisiana highway. New details on this remarkable rescue. What a cutie.

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

Happening today, a defiant President Biden has gone back on the campaign trail in a key battleground state as public calls for him to step aside grow louder in Congress, but also seeming to grow louder in a new strategy. One where top Democratic lawmakers are able to say they still support Biden, but also leave plenty of room for him to change his mind.

Listen to one of his closest allies, Congressman Jim Clyburn, who has been on the stump for him, said earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM CLYBURN (D-SC): Let Joe Biden continue to make his own decisions about his future. He's earned that right. And I am going to give him that much respect. If he decides to change his mind later on, then we will respond to that. We have until the 19th of August to open our convention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: The 19th of August, the Democratic Convention. That's just 38 days away. And last night, three more Democratic lawmakers called for Biden to step aside, including the top Democrat on the House Intel Committee, Congressman Jim Himes.

Let's bring in CNN's senior White House correspondent Kayla Tausche.

Kayla, Clyburn is essentially doubling down on kind of what Pelosi said, that it is up to Joe Biden, and he would prefer that people just stopped talking about it and move on. What are you hearing this morning?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this morning, Sara, the White House and campaign, the people I'm talking to inside of both of those buildings, say that they expected more defections after last night because of the pressure that had been building up into last night. Although they remain relieved and pleased with how the president handled his time on stage, nearly an hour fielding questions from ten questioners. A time in which they say that he was able to make some jokes, exhibit some personality, show some substance on foreign policy and hopefully put some questions to bed on his fitness and his acuity, although they acknowledge that there will be more questions, more conjectures and, yes, more defections, even in the coming days.

But one thing that President Biden did last night that we haven't heard him do was say that while he believes he's the only person qualified at this moment to be president and to beat Trump, he acknowledged that there are other people who could potentially be qualified too. He took a moment to praise his vice president, Kamala Harris, saying she could be president on day one, and also raised the potential that she could beat Trump too.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If your team came back and showed you data that she would fare better against former President Donald Trump, would you reconsider your decision to stay in the race?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, unless they came back and said there's no way you can win, me. No one's saying that. No poll says that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAUSCHE: He also suggested no delegates for the Democratic National Convention would be interested in switching their vote to another candidate. But that just signifies that they've given it some thought, they'd run the traps, and they've given President Biden a conclusion on that.

Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, the polls are not saying he cannot win. That is true. But they are very, very tight.

I do want to ask you about where he's going today. He's headed, I think, to the battleground state of Michigan.

[09:05:02]

What are you expecting him to do there?

TAUSCHE: Michigan is incredibly critical. And on those polls, Sara, his campaign put out a memo yesterday saying that President Biden still has a path, but that path requires him to win Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. The so-called blue wall of states that he flipped in 2020. But CNN polling is showing that Michigan currently leans Republicans. So, he has a lot of work to do there.

He's also seeing some cratering from a critical constituency, which is organized labor. The United Auto Workers reportedly reconsidering whether Biden can win against Trump. A fact that appeared to surprise Biden when he learned that last night. So, when he goes to Detroit for an event later this evening ,appearing alongside elected officials and some labor officials as well, he's going to have to make his case and try to win some hearts and minds, Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Kayla Tausche, thank you so much, live there from outside the White House. Appreciate it.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us right now, CNN's senior political commentator, former senior adviser to President Obama, David Axelrod, and CNN political commentator and President Biden's former communications director, Kate Bedingfield.

Thanks, guys, for being here.

David, we played what Jim Clyburn said when speaking with - on the "Today" show this morning. What do you make of what Clyburn's saying? What is his message? What do you hear?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, the president made an unequivocal statement at the beginning of the week that he was in to stay in his letter to Congress, and yet all of the congressional leaders and - including Speaker Emeritus Pelosi, are saying the same thing, which is, well, we - you know, it's up - up to him. We want to give him time, room to decide. It's his choice. But the implication is that he may have made an unequivocal statement, but he ought to consider it. And I think they're trying to give them room.

Listen, Jim - nobody loves in respects Joe Biden more than Jim Clyburn. But there are certain immutable realities of politics. And while the president, I don't know what his aides are telling him, but he's in a very tough spot right now to win this election. And if they're not telling him that, they're doing a disservice to him.

BOLDUAN: One person who's speaking out and speaking to others, it - kind of projecting and has a message for others is, Kate, is Congressman Jim Clyburn. He's a top Democrat on House Intel. He came out after the debate calling on Biden to step aside. And then he spoke on CNN to talk about his reasoning.

Let me play something from him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): But this is the moment, and in the next 96 hours perhaps is the moment to set aside the poetry, the loyalty and the love and ask yourself a hard question, which is, are you sure he's going to win?

Because you're not just gambling your own political reputation. You are gambling the future of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I may be mixing up my Jims. That was Jim Himes, of course. If I said Jim Clyburn right before the soundbite, apologies, everyone.

If you're confused by that, we need to have a talk when do you see the two men.

Within the Biden orbit, Kate, when you hear that from Mr. Himes, what are they saying? What - what do you think?

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think, look, the argument you heard from him there is, is Joe Biden sure he can win? No one can ever be sure that they're going to win an election, let alone a presidential election. So, I think that argument is probably not particularly persuasive to the Biden team. They are looking at the data. They are saying we see a path. They, you

know, went - many of his top aides went to the Senate caucus yesterday to make that case. I presume it looked a lot like some of what they put out in that memo yesterday, which I thought was quite good in illustrating where they believe there is room for Biden to grow and why they think he can win the election.

So, I don't imagine that that is a particularly persuasive argument to them. I think you heard Joe Biden say quite clearly again last night, he's not getting out of the race. He doesn't believe that he cannot win this race based on what he's looking at. I think any person who is discerning and is looking at the state of the race today would say, yes, he has a hill to climb. But we also haven't seen other Democrats who have been floated as possible replacements poll much better. I think it is - there is simply an acknowledgement that we have work to do as the Democratic Party over the next four months to defeat Donald Trump. Everybody should be united behind that goal. And it's going to take everybody pushing hard to do that.

And I think that's where Joe Biden's team's mindset is. And I think we heard pretty directly from the president last night that that's where his mind-set is.

BOLDUAN: Yes, kind of in contrast to Jim Himes, you have Chris Coons, who was on with - on our show on with Sara just earlier, and he basically was saying to fellow Democrats, air your grievances in private, not with public speeches and public statements, if you have concerns about Biden's candidacy.

[09:10:05]

Also, David, he downplayed the 17 electeds (ph) that have come forward to break from Biden. Quantitatively, he is accurate, it is a fraction of elected Democrats, but the impact it seems is outsized of what it could be having.

What do you think? Is that a persuasive argument hearing from Chris Coons or any elected saying, if you have issues, let's air them in private? That clearly isn't happening, right -- happening anymore.

AXELROD: Yes, look, one of the issues is that the president is pretty insulated. He has a very small coterie of advisers who he actually trusts and listens to. It's not like there's an open door or there's a vehicle.

And I - let me just say this. A couple things. One is, Kate mentioned the Senate caucus yesterday. If you talk to senators who were in that caucus, yes, they made their case about the path that Biden has. Most of the senators would tell you, they didn't meet with a very receptive audience there. And that was a room full of people who love and respect and appreciate the president and everything he's done.

But if you really look at the data, I mean the president's been behind for ten months consistently in this data. If you look at average polling and so on, and deeper data that the analytics people look at, he now is behind in all the battleground states, and in some cases well behind, beyond the margin of error. And so he really needs like a royal flush to win this race.

So, yes, of course he can win. Anyone can win. But given the stakes, and I think this is what those Democratic officials are thinking, given the stakes, you know, the fact that he can win is not a persuasive argument. The question is, what are the odds that he would win, and would we have a better chance with someone else? And that's the question everybody is pondering.

BOLDUAN: And if this has now become, meaning his - honestly his candidacy and that press conference, Kate, a Rorschach test, who does that benefit, and what's the impact of it?

BEDINGFIELD: Well, I think, let's look at how voters are receiving it. I mean we - just before we came on you guys aired a package where, you know, voters in some of these key swing states, particularly older voters who, by the way, are one of the most reliable voting blocs, said Joe Biden should stay in the race and he should keep fighting and we think he's our best chance.

So, I think its - I think it is foolish - I think in all of this back- and-forth, it is foolish to assert certainty. I think there is data that makes the case either way. I think Joe Biden is taking a real - is going to take - I, you know, I think we saw flashes of it last night. I think we're going to see it when he's out campaigning. He's going to take the argument to Trump. And we have four months to make the case. I don't think anybody has a magic wand and can say with certainty which direction is the right one to go.

Joe Biden has been very clear, he's staying in the race. He beat Donald Trump in 2020. He has an effective message against Trump. And he's going to get out there and deploy it. And so I think the question for Democrats is going to become, you know, this is the moment to look in the mirror and decide, do you want to win this election? Joe Biden has shown no indication he's going to step aside. He has a good case to make. And it's time for Democrats to go to the mat.

BOLDUAN: I will say, that is now officially going to be my moniker for the rest of this election. Kate Baldwin, foolish to assert certainty, is what I'm going to put as a caveat for all reporting for the rest of this cycle.

It's great to see you. Thank you, guys. David, thank you so much. Thanks, Kate.

Coming up for us, the "Rust" armorer, convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the "Rust" movie set, now called to testify in the trial against Alec Baldwin. What is going to happen when she takes the stand?

And right now, more than 1 million residents in Texas remain without power as blistering heat continues to threaten the area and officials say some may be in the dark until next week. What is happening there?

Plus, new details about a crime spree that ended with officers - I'm going to read it. I'm going to read it. With officers pulling hamsters out of a man's pants. We'll be back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:18:47]

SIDNER: New this morning, and it ain't good. We are learning call and text messages records of nearly all of AT&T's cell phone customers were exposed in a mask data breach. We're talking tens of millions of people.

CNN's Matt Egan is joining us now with details.

I want to ask you the first question, but really my first question is a personal one, can they read the text messages? Can they hear the calls? What's going on?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: No, Sara, don't worry, your text messages complaining about John Berman last night are safe.

SIDNER: Excellent.

EGAN: The details - the actual content of the text messages and the phone calls, not included here. And it's really important to note that AT&T stresses that at this time the stolen data is not believed to be publicly available, though emphasis on "at this time."

SIDNER: Right.

EGAN: Because, of course, this could change.

Now, what AT&T said this morning is that back in April they learned of what they described as an illegal download of data from a third-party cloud platform. The company says they immediately hired cybersecurity experts and investigated. And they've learned that the hacked data includes the telephone numbers of, quote, nearly all of its cellular customers between May and the end of October of 2022.

Now, unfortunately, millions of non-AT&T customers are going to be impacted here as well because AT&T says the stolen data includes customers of wireless providers that use its networks.

[09:20:09]

SIDNER: Oh, boy.

EGAN: And also people who were called or texted by AT&T customers. So, the universe here is quite large. Now, it's important to note that, Sara, that AT&T is saying that the names of the customers, the Social Security Numbers, that's not included here either. But what is included is the phone numbers. And AT&T acknowledges that there's publicly available tools that are out there that can link the names of customers when you have those phone numbers. Now -

SIDNER: Oh, I knew that. You can do reverse lookup. It's like not hard.

EGAN: Right. SIDNER: Yes.

EGAN: Now, AT&T put out a statement. They say that they're going to notify current and former customers who were impacted. They're going to try to provide resources. They said, "we sincerely regret this incident occurred and remain committed to protecting the information in our care.

SIDNER: So, this I think you said happened back in April. How - it is, what, July. Why are we just learning about this?

EGAN: Yes, the timing here is noteworthy. AT&T says they immediately investigated, hired experts. But what happened was they said that in May and in June the Justice Department determined that a delay in disclosure was warranted. And in just the last few moments, we got a statement from the FBI.

SIDNER: OK.

EGAN: And the FBI confirms that they did discuss a potential delay due to, quote, "potential risk to national security and/or public safety."

SIDNER: Wow.

EGAN: The FBI says that the DOJ, AT&T and the FBI, they all worked together to sort this out.

And AT&T says that at least one person believed to be connected to this has been apprehended.

SIDNER: Oh.

EGAN: We don't know the identity of that person, where they were apprehended, and where - whether or not this person was connected to any known hacker groups or anything like that. But we have reached out to the FBI and Justice Department for more details.

SIDNER: It is a story worth following. It affects so many tens of thousands of people -

EGAN: It does.

SIDNER: Including people in positions of power. Clearly that's why the FBI is getting involved as well.

EGAN: Absolutely.

SIDNER: Matt Egan, that was a great story. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

EGAN: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: Kate.

BOLDUAN: Alec Baldwin heads back to court this morning and will come face to face with the person he blames for Halyna Hutchins onset shooting death. Hannah Gutierrez Reed is who we're talking about. She was the armorer on the "Rust" movie set. She's expected to testify today. She was convicted already and sentenced to 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter for Hutchins' death.

CNN's Josh Campbell is outside the courthouse in New Mexico, has been following all of this.

And, Josh, her attorney already says she's not going to cooperate. So, what is going to happen when she takes the stand?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, it's going to be quite a moment as Alec Baldwin looks across that defense table, as you mentioned, at one of the people that he believes was ultimately responsible for this fatal accident. And there's long been this question about how a live round of ammunition actually made its way onto the set of that movie. But what we learned yesterday in court is that in the minds of investigators, there is no mystery here.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARI MORRISSEY, SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: Is there evidence that Hannah Gutierrez brought the live rounds onto the set of "Rust"?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

MORRISSEY: As you sit here today, do you have any question about who introduced the live ammunition to the set of "Rust"?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

MORRISSEY: Who do you believe it was, based on your investigation?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hannah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: And as you said, her attorney told CNN that they're not expecting her to cooperate. But I think there could be sparks in court whenever Baldwin's attorney steps up. You can only imagine, you know, if he - if that attorney is actually, you know, going question after question, how could you do this, why could you do this? Even if she doesn't respond, that could be potentially impactful on the jury. So, we'll certainly be watching for that.

Finally, we're also getting insight into the thinking of the family of Halyna Hutchins. Acclaimed attorney Gloria Allred has been here as a family representative in court. I talked to her yesterday, and she made the point that, look, this goes far beyond one specific incident. It has ramifications across the film industry. She says that no one working on these sets should be in fear for their life.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GLORIA ALLRED, HUTCHINS FAMILY REPRESENTATIVE: Every member of a crew on a movie set or television set has a right to be safe. It's their workplace.

Yes, celebrities matter. Actors matter. But so does everyone on the set.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, court will kick off here this morning in just a short amount of time. They'll start with motions and then they'll bring in the jury and the testimony will continue, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Josh, thank you so much. We're going to be watching that one.

Also this morning, jury deliberations are set to begin in the federal corruption trial of Democratic Senator Bob Menendez. We're standing by to see if he will (INAUDIBLE) guilty of (INAUDIBLE) dozen charges that could potentially send him to prison for years.

Plus, a harrowing story of survival after a one-year-old baby was left abandoned on the side of a highway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:29:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning, the number of congressional Democrats calling on President Biden to step aside has grown to 17, including three who spoke out publicly after President Biden's press conference last night.

CNN also has new reporting that former President Barack Obama, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have had private discussions expressing concerns about how much they think it's become - about how they think it has become much harder for President Biden to beat Donald Trump now. Neither quite sure what to do according to the reporting.

CNN's Lauren Fox has much more on this and she's joining us now.

Lauren, another Democratic leader, Jim Clyburn, also speaking up this morning.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, and one thing that is becoming very clear is that Democrats are divided still after this press conference. It did little to quell some of those folks who believed that Biden has some real vulnerabilities going into November against Donald Trump.

[09:30:00]

But at the same time, people who are supporting Biden, like Jim Clyburn, are continuing to stick by him and applauding his performance last night at