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Biden Appears Open To Ukraine Using Western Missiles In Russia; Sources: U.S. To Charge Iranian Hackers Who Targeted Trump Campaign; Georgia Judge Throws Out Two Charges Against Trump. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired September 13, 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]
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Biden and a possible big shift coming in Ukraine. President Biden now appearing posed to allow Ukraine to the use of long-range missiles supplied by the West to target deeper inside Russia, something Ukraine's top officials have long called for and something that to this point has been something of a line in the sand for the Biden administration.
Biden's meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer today where this will likely be a topic on hand for their discussions, and just as Vladimir Putin is also now weighing in on this.
Let's bring in CNN's Kevin Liptak. He's got much more on the very latest here. Kevin, what is -- what are you hearing about what's driving this change in position coming from President Biden?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, there are a couple of reasons, Kate, why this conversation is happening now. One is just the general battlefield dynamic in Ukraine, which is struggling to guard itself against this onslaught of Russian attacks. The other was this specific revelation this week that Iran is providing Russia with ballistic missiles. That has changed the calculus in some ways, according to Western officials.
And you do see this enormous amount of pressure now being piled on President Biden to ease some of the restrictions that are in place on the American and Western long-range missiles and allow them to be fired deep into Russia. And there has been something of a divide within the American government on this issue.
On the one hand, you have officials who continue to be worried about the potential for escalation. And, of course, that has been at the top of President Biden's mind every time a new capability comes on the table when it comes to Ukraine.
You also hear officials worry about the effectiveness of this move and you heard the Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin give voice to this last week when he said a lot of the key assets that Russia has have already been moved out of range of these missiles. And he makes the point that the supply of these weapons is not limitless.
On the other side of this debate you hear a lot of officials, including some senior members of Congress, including Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who say that Ukraine needs this capability to win this war. And they point out these fears of escalation have not necessarily borne out over the last 2 1/2 years. So this is a critical debate.
Now, what officials say today is that President Biden isn't planning to make any decision or announcement today. He has sort of ruled out the possibility that the American weapons -- the ATACMS -- would be allowed to go deep into Ukraine. But what he does appear open to doing is allowing the British and French weapons to be fired further into Russia. And that's something that, of course, he will be discussing with his counterpart at the White House today, the British prime minister.
Both men recently dispatched their top diplomats to Ukraine on a -- something of a fact-finding mission. And they heard directly from President Zelenskyy about why this capability is necessary.
BOLDUAN: Kevin Liptak, thank you so much.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New this morning, the U.S. is expected to criminally charge the Iranian-supported hackers who they say breached the Trump campaign and stole documents. Sources tell us those charges could come as early as next week.
CNN national security reporter Zach Cohen has been working on his sources and on this story. What more are you hearing, Zach?
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, we're seeing another example of how the U.S. government is trying to fight back against efforts by foreign adversaries to interfere and influence the 2024 election, and this time using criminal charges.
We're learning from our sources that the Justice Department is expected to announce criminal charges tied to that hack-and-leak operation that was targeting the Trump campaign and successfully infiltrated the Trump campaign via an email account belonging to longtime Republican operative Roger Stone. They ultimately did obtain campaign documents -- private campaign documents and attempted to leak those publicly to different news organizations. We haven't seen those documents emerge publicly yet.
But clearly, the FBI has been continuing to collect evidence about who is behind this operation and this attempt -- what U.S. officials call an attempt to undermine and sow distrust in the U.S. election process and the 2024 election specifically.
And look, this is just one example of several that we've seen in recent days and weeks that the Justice Department specifically has been taking action on. And it's not just Iran. We've also seen just last week they announced criminal charges against a Russian-influenced campaign that they say was also intended to influence the 2024 presidential election.
I want to listen to what William Olsen (sic), the top national security official at the Justice Department, said just yesterday about this foreign effort to undermine and influence the 2024 election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW OLSEN, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Our adversaries are actively seeking to covertly influence voters and to undermine our democracy -- authoritarian regimes. So we're talking about Russia, Iran, and China, primarily.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: So whether it's Iran, whether it's Russia, or whether it's China, we're going to continue to see the Justice Department speak out publicly about these efforts to interfere in the upcoming election, but also try to do things behind the scenes and use every tool at their disposal to push back on it in real time.
SIDNER: All right, Zach Cohen. Thank you so much for you reporting there -- John.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So this morning, a behind-the-scenes look at the outsized role TikTok is playing this election season. Content creators seizing the moment to push the candidates and create buzz.
CNN senior correspondent Donie O'Sullivan takes a deep dive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: What's your most viewed video?
NESA E., TIKTOK CREATOR: Born in Iran, raised in Iran, but more patriot than those who vote blue, with a Trump flag in my office.
That was just a couple of days ago in the airport on my way here to Atlanta.
O'SULLIVAN: Right.
[07:35:00]
NESA E.: Donald Trump is the biggest, most existential threat to Gen Z's future.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Nearly all TikTok users said in a survey that they use the app because it's entertaining, but more than a third said they also use it to keep up with politics.
NESA E.: It's been a really fun time to be on the internet.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): So I met with two Gen Z TikTokers to talk about how and why they make political videos.
NESA E.: Despite what some people refuse to believe, Donald Trump is receiving so much support from people that are young -- like, kind of like my age.
O'SULLIVAN: Right.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Nesa is an Iranian immigrant who has amassed thousands of followers with her pro-Trump TikToks, many of which show off this MAGA store in Forest Lake, Minnesota.
NESA E.: You will get compliments from most people on social media as long as you support their opinions. And I believe the algorithm also plays a huge part, specifically on TikTok.
O'SULLIVAN: You know when you're posting this stuff that it's going to start a debate.
NESA E: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN: And that's kind of the point?
NESA E.: Kind of, yeah. I believe I'm providing a space for Republicans and Democrats to have debates.
O'SULLIVAN: Hmm.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: All right. Joining us now, CNN political analyst Jackie Kucinich, and Republican strategist Sarah Chamberlain. Thank you both for being here this morning.
You saw that piece from Donie O'Sullivan and it's enlightening. Gen Z engaging in politics in TikTok in a big way. But I guess the ultimate question is: Is that going to mean they actually vote in significant numbers? Because I feel like every single election year people talk about the youth vote, the youth vote, the youth vote, and it doesn't materialize in a significant way.
First, to you, Jackie.
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE BOSTON GLOBE (via Webex by Cisco): I mean, I -- that is always the open question, Sara, and certainly, the campaigns are doing everything that they can to get out to Gen Z.
It's one of the things that we've seen sort of right itself for the -- for the Harris campaign after President Biden decided to step aside because he wasn't reaching those voters. And certainly, TikTok, on both campaigns, is somewhere where they're reaching out finding young voters.
SIDNER: And also see older people do vote more consistently and in far bigger numbers.
What do you -- what do you make of this?
SARAH CHAMBERLAIN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, CEO, REPUBLICAN MAIN STREET PARTNERSHIP: So I think that older people obviously will turn out to vote. The youngers -- we always have this discussion though I think now with TikTok and, actually, I think with Taylor Swift -- believe it or not, I think that will help.
And I love to see the young people get out and vote and do the democracy. I mean, we need them to vote. We can't just rely on older people to be voting all the time.
SIDNER: I'm curious what you think the candidates should focus on. Should they focus on those voters that they know are going to go to the polls or are they really in this very tight election really putting their focus, or should they be putting their focus on those who don't tend to vote that often?
CHAMBERLAIN: So I think they should focus on the people. As Republicans, we need the people who typically vote to turn out. It would be great to have the younger people, as I just said, but for the Republicans to win, especially the Republican Main Street Partnership members of which I am the CEO of. We need everybody to vote but we especially need the typical voters from, like, 40 and on up, and make sure they get out.
SIDNER: Jackie, I guess the -- there's a big question: To debate or not to debate? It looks like Donald Trump is not going to debate Kamala Harris again. He went on Truth Social. He said it in public, saying there will be no third debate. There is his Truth Social there.
TEXT: When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words of his mouth are, "I WANT A REMATCH." Polls clearly show that I won the debate against Kamala Harris, the Democrats' radical left candidate on Tuesday night, and she immediately called for a second debate.
SIDNER: What do you make of this? Is this going to matter to him more or to her?
KUCINICH: So I think you can see by what the candidates are saying who -- where they think their best positioning is. The Harris campaign wants more debates. She did very well at the debate on Tuesday -- the other night. And Trump -- I mean, he was in the spin room, Sara. You don't come into the spin room if you had a good debate.
So the fact that he does -- he's saying that he won and he's doing it because he doesn't need to -- that is not the case here. Usually, what would happen in a normal campaign, which we are not in, the campaign would take advantage of all of those eyeballs again to have a better debate. That's not -- that's not what's happening here.
So I can't -- we love the debate about the debate, and he can always change his mind, but right now it looks like we're just going to have to settle for what we saw the other night.
SIDNER: Sarah, there's a curious thing that the -- that the Harris campaign has been saying -- that they're the underdogs. And part of that is to sort of rile everybody up to say, like, you know, this is going to be a really hard-fought race. But when she is the incumbent is that a good move because she comes from the incumbent administration?
[07:40:00] CHAMBERLAIN: I actually think it's a great move on her part. I mean, she needs to motivate her base to make sure they get out because this really is a tight race. If you look back to Hillary Clinton, she did not get her base out and she paid the ultimate price and Donald Trump won.
So I think it's a brilliant strategy. Get the Democrats fired up. Get them to turn out. As a Republican, I would prefer she not do that, but I think it's brilliant on her part, absolutely.
SIDNER: I am curious just to ask you Jackie why you think this race is so, so historically, like, the closest race we have -- we have really ever experienced.
KUCINICH: Well, the country is so polarized, which is why Sarah is absolutely right. Each candidate needs to get out their base.
And certainly, we're seeing in terms of fundraising that the Harris campaign, right now, has a whole lot of enthusiasm. But dollars only do so much.
They need people to get to the polls. To mail in those ballots because, I mean, right -- it is -- every day is Election Day at this point in a lot of states because yes, it is in November, but because of mail-in -- because of mail-in voting they can do it right now. So the -- it's those voters on the margins that are -- that are competing and, of course, keeping -- making sure the faithful get out there. And both campaigns are going all out. We're seeing them all over the country.
SIDNER: That's true.
Jackie Kucinich, Sarah Chamberlain, thank you both so much for coming on this morning. I appreciate you -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: So today, the FAA is investigating another close call. An Alaska Airlines pilot having to slam on the brakes and abort takeoff in Nashville. The crew forced to brake so suddenly as a Southwest Airlines flight taxied across the same runway that they reported blown out tires.
This is the latest in a string of close calls that we have been reporting on quite recently. Often -- when it comes to this, often it's left to hero pilots to keep these close calls from turning into tragedy. And Pete Muntean sat down for an exclusive interview with two of those pilots.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT BRADEEN, FIRST OFFICER, FEDEX EXPRESS FLIGHT 1432: Cleared to land 18 left FedEx 1432 heavy.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The voice that you are hearing is that of FedEx pilot Rob Bradeen approaching Austin- Bergstrom International Airport before dawn on February 4, 2023. Bradeen, alongside Capt. Hugo Carvajal, thought this was going to be an uneventful landing.
BRADEEN: It was very routine right up until the very end.
MUNTEAN (voiceover): This investigate animation shows the disaster that was unfolding in front of the FedEx pilots. A Southwest Airlines flight was cleared for takeoff in front of them, but it sat on the runway for 19 seconds, a delay invisible to even the air traffic controller in the tower with thick fog blanketing the airport.
AUSTIN TOWER: Southwest 708, confirm on the roll?
SOUTHWEST PILOT: Rolling now.
MUNTEAN (voiceover): The two airplanes continued barreling closer together when Bradeen began looking out of the windshield.
BRADEEN: And I saw a position light in the silhouette of the Southwest airplane right over the glare shield with closure.
MUNTEAN: You saw the silhouette of the other airplane?
BRADEEN: I saw the silhouette of the other airplane, which is when I called for -- called go around, go around, go around.
Southwest, abort. FedEx is on the go.
MUNTEAN (voiceover): Investigators say Capt. Carvajal nosed up immediately, missing the Southwest flight by 150 to 170 feet. The move not only spared the lives of the FedEx crew but the 131 people on Southwest flight 708.
This is the FedEx team's first interview since their close call.
MUNTEAN: How terrifying was that? What was the feeling like?
BRADEEN: It was definitely a shocking moment. You don't expect to see an airplane that close.
CAPT. HUGO CARVAJAL, FEDEX EXPRESS, FLIGHT 1432: I knew it was pretty close because I knew Rob's -- just the inflection in his voice when he said go around. And then the focus at that point is just getting away from the ground and getting away from the airplane.
MUNTEAN: The Austin incident is now known as the closest near- collision during a time when they kept happening at airports coast to coast. The National Transportation Safety Board has now investigated at least a dozen similar incidents since the start of last year.
JENNIFER HOMENDY, CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: Great job.
MUNTEAN (voiceover): During an NTSB hearing this spring, chair Jennifer Homendy thanked the FedEx pilots for saving lives.
HOMENDY: This incident could have been catastrophic if not for the heroic actions of the FedEx crew. MUNTEAN (voiceover): On Thursday, Carvajal and Bradeen received their
union's Superior Airmanship Award for their teamwork and vigilance that prevented what could have been one of the worst air disasters in decades.
CAPT. JASON AMBROSI, AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION: This could have been a tragedy if there were not two well-trained and qualified pilots on the flight deck that day. We could certainly be telling a very different story right now.
MUNTEAN: Are you heroes?
BRADEEN: I guess it depends on your perspective. To us, we did our job. That's what we're trained to do.
MUNTEAN (voiceover): Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Our thanks to Pete for that.
The White House is calling out a far-right conspiracy theorist for spreading "racist poison," and some of the most conservative Republicans agree she is toxic. So why is Donald Trump traveling the country with Laura Loomer?
[07:45:05]
A daring rescue as a home is engulfed in flames. How they saved two children.
(COMMERCIAL)
[07:50:10]
BERMAN: This morning a Georgia judge has thrown out two charges Donald Trump was facing in the sweeping Georgia election subversion case.
CNN's Marshall Cohen is with us to explain what this means for this whole case going forward, Marshall.
MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: John, good morning.
It's a little complicated so I'll break it down for you step-by-step.
The sweeping election subversion case in Georgia against Donald Trump has actually been paused for a few months now. There are some appeals underway. So these rulings don't immediately apply to former President Trump, but if the case goes back to the trial court down the line they will.
And the decision from the judge would throw out two of the charges that former President Trump is facing for alleged false statements pertaining to the fake electors' plot in 2020, and also related to a lawsuit that the Trump campaign filed in Georgia attempting to thrown out the legitimate results. So that's a win for Trump for sure.
But in another ruling the judge, Scott McAfee, upheld the RICO charge -- the racketeering charge that is really the heart of this case -- the heart of this indictment. He said that is proper and can move forward. And, of course, Trump is facing that charge as well.
But when you chalk it all up it was a victory for the former president and that was celebrated by his attorney Steve Sadow who put out a statement yesterday reacting to this ruling. He said that "President Trump and his legal team in Georgia have prevailed once again."
For those keeping score at home, John, Trump was initially charged with 13 criminal counts. The judge threw out three earlier this year. And these decisions would take two of them off the board. So, 13 minus three minus two would get us to eight counts that Trump is still facing in Georgia, including, as I mentioned, that all-important RICO charge -- John.
BERMAN: Eight counts left -- or as Kate knows, that would be 11 in the metric system.
BOLDUAN: I can't --
BERMAN: Marshall Cohen, you went there. You said it would be complicated and it ended up being easy.
SIDNER: Wow.
BERMAN: Thank you so much -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: Math is my favorite thing.
BERMAN: He started doing math right there and I got nervous again.
BOLDUAN: I know. He was not converting from kilometer -- from metric to whatever we do. Anyway -- or do we do metric? Well, moving on.
Let's do this -- something I do know. Donald Trump facing questions still today over this debate performance Tuesday night and also facing questions about the people that are now in his ear.
This woman, Laura Loomer, is a far-right activist. She traveled with Trump to the debate and afterward she was seen in the spin room. She is known to say blatantly racist and sexist things, also leaning hard into many conspiracy theories.
A good measure of how controversial she is, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a magnet to controversy and conspiracy theories herself, had this to say about Loomer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Her rhetoric and her tone is -- does not match the base, does not match MAGA, does not match most Republicans I know, and I am completely denouncing it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: CNN's Brian Stelter has been following this and he's back with us forever once again. Brian --
BERMAN: In a big way.
BOLDUAN: In a big way.
Brian, what are you hearing about this?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST (via Webex by Cisco): Yes. Good morning, everybody. Yeah, this is so striking.
Laura Loomer is a far-right activist. She's also craving attention. But she describes herself as an investigative journalist, which is really telling because she wants to the credibility of journalism. But in reality, she's a social media bomb-thrower. She seeks attention through outrageous stunts and offensive posts. As you said, a long history of racist and Islamophobic rhetoric.
And now she's traveling with the former president, potentially giving him campaign advice.
Here is the kind of posts that Laura Loomer is known for. This is one that's getting a lot of attention this week where she's assailing Kamala Harris with a racist comment, saying "The White House will smell like curry" if Harris wins, and "White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center," presumably a reference to India.
That's the kind of content that Loomer is known for. Perhaps Trump appreciate it. We don't know. What we do know is that she has been traveling on his plane this week.
BOLDUAN: Has Trump said anything about running around him -- about any role that she plays or will play with the campaign?
STELTER: No, no yet. But I think this scrutiny -- this national media scrutiny this week might change that. We shall see.
Earlier this summer, though, Trump spotted Loomer at a cryptocurrency conference and gave her a shoutout from the stage. That's not the only time actually he's given her a lot of credit. Here are some examples.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Laura Loomer -- stand up, please, Laura. Great job you do. Great job. You want to try and have her on your side, right?
[07:55:00]
The great Laura Loomer. Some of you know Laura. She's a fantastic person, a great woman.
A friend of all of ours and a -- this woman is amazing, Laura Loomer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER: If I didn't know better, I'd say Trump is helping make her famous. She's been seeking fame for a long time. She's a failed congressional candidate, for example. But she's been successful now in getting inside Trump's inner circle.
BOLDUAN: But, I mean, take a look back. If past is prologue, I mean, no matter the scrutiny that comes to her and to Trump for hanging out with her --
STELTER: Yeah.
BOLDUAN: -- how likely is Trump going to be to distance himself from her?
STELTER: You're getting at what we both know having covered Trump for years. He is very unlikely to actually fully distance or to express any kind of regret, right? It's possible that she'll just stay on the sidelines. She'll just hang out with him and never be on the campaign in an official capacity.
But given what we've seen in recent days where Loomer, for example, has promoted that lie -- that racist lie about animals being eaten in Ohio, there are connections between the people Trump hangs out with and the rhetoric he shares at rallies and this week on the debate stage.
You know, we know that some advisers have been trying to encourage Trump to behave, so to speak, in the final weeks of this campaign. But people like Loomer stoke and press the buttons on his most basic impulses. And frankly, I think it's important that we still scrutinize this and pay attention when there's this kind of racist rhetoric that is finding its way into the presidential campaign.
BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Brian. Thank you.
STELTER: You, too -- thanks.
SIDNER: All right. On our radar this morning an update in the trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in the beating death of Tyre Nichols. On Thursday, jurors, for the first time, watched footage of Nichols being beaten from those body-worn cameras of those officers.
A police lieutenant testified that the officers did not comply with departmental policies and training, adding that the other officers should have intervened to stop the beating.
Mortgage rates fell this week to the lowest point in over a year and a half. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped to 6.2 percent this week, a decline from 6.35 percent a week ago. But mortgage costs are still twice as high as they were three years ago when the average 30-year rate stood at around three percent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TEXAS POLICE OFFICER: Is everybody out?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, there are kids in there.
TEXAS POLICE OFFICER: Where at?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're right here.
TEXAS POLICE OFFICER: Come on! Come on!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Wow -- taking out that air conditioner to save those children.
Two Texas police officers hailed as heroes this morning after rescuing two children from a burning home. That rescue happened just seconds before the fire reached the room where those kids were. The dramatic body camera video capturing the rescue Tuesday as they were being pulled through that window. You see them there.
The 7- and 9-year-olds had to be treated for smoke inhalation, but they are OK this morning.
BERMAN: So, by most measurements, Elon Musk is the richest person on the planet. This morning we learned he's on track to become the world's first trillionaire.
CNN's Matt Egan is here with this brand new reporting. All right, Matt, how does this work?
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, John, if Elon Musk is going to become the world's first trillionaire it's going to depend in large part on the success of Tesla, right? This is the EV company that is the most valuable automaker on the planet. It's worth $720 billion. That's more than Bank of America, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks combined.
And if Wall Street keeps pouring money into this company -- which, as you can see from this stock chart, they've been pouring a lot of money into this company -- if that continues -- and there's no guarantee -- then obviously Musk's net worth will keep going up.
He's already worth $250 billion. That's $21 billion more just this year alone. Think about that. The year is not even over and he's $21 billion richer.
And yes, this report from Informa does project that he will be the first trillionaire by 2027.
Now, this is no slam dunk. Obviously, if there's a market downturn, if Tesla stumbles, then that could delay or even cancel this milestone altogether.
But Musk -- he obviously has a big head start here. He is the richest person on the planet by a lot. Forty-one billion dollars richer than number two on that list, Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos. Well ahead of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. And, of course, Tesla is not Musk's only asset. It is his biggest, but
he has this sprawling business empire, right? I mean he owns almost half of SpaceX. That's the private aerospace company that just yesterday made history with the first-ever commercial spacewalk.
He owns a big chunk of The Boring Company; Neuralink; xAI, the artificial intelligence startup. And then also, maybe his most controversial business, X. That's the social media company formerly known as Twitter.
