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Interview With Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI): Michigan, Pennsylvania And Wisconsin Consistent Tipping Point In Politics; Sean Diddy Combs Pleads Not Guilty To Federal Charges; New Indications Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Talks Have Stalled. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired September 17, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Today we are following former President Trump in Michigan and Vice President Harris in Pennsylvania. Two of three states that strategists say are the most consistent tipping point in American politics. The third being Wisconsin.

And in a new CNN.com piece, Ron Brownstein lays out why these states are so similar and how they can almost be viewed as one state. My pow- wee or my paw-wee, I mean, however really you want to say it. You could see they'd be connected here maybe by ferry, I don't know.

But historically, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, they just vote together. Over the last 100 years, they've chosen the same candidate in 17 of 26 elections. And that includes the last eight presidential elections.

As you can see, Trump won the trio once in 2016, President Biden in 2020. And here, roughly 50 days out from the 2024 election, polling from each state consistently finds the candidates in a statistical tie. Strategists in both parties consider Wisconsin Harris's best bet, and Michigan, a typical stronghold for Democrats, a closer call.

Let's zoom in on the state. You'll recall that in Michigan's primaries back in February, 13 percent of Democrats cast an uncommitted vote protesting Biden's support for Israel's war in Gaza. Of course, Biden is no longer top of the ticket.

But, and Harris hopes that fact, paired with the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, is going to be the thing that gives her the edge. Democrats have seen a surge in support in Michigan's white-collar suburbs. That is certainly of note.

Case in point, and this is what they're looking at, the 2022 gubernatorial election. Nearly 70 percent of white college-educated women voted for Governor Gretchen Whitmer -- Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: This election, as most of them are, is all about the battlegrounds, and both campaigns are targeting these states in their sprint to Election Day. Let's discuss with Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, a state that could be critical in this election. Senator, thank you so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us. We've heard warnings from fellow Democrats to the vice president that winning Michigan specifically is going to be a challenge. Do you think her campaign is doing enough to win your state? Do you share some of those concerns?

SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW (D-MI): Boris, first of all, it's great to be with you, and secondly, I think they are working very hard and really doing everything right. Last week we had Tim Walz in for two days in Michigan. On Thursday night there's going to be an amazing virtual event done with Oprah Winfrey and Kamala Harris that will be based in Michigan, in Oakland County, Michigan, where everybody's talking about the suburbs and women who care about reproductive freedom.

And so we know it's a race. We have 52 offices open, and we have volunteers and efforts going on that really rival anything I've ever seen, and I've been involved in a lot of different campaigns. But I would say this is one where the energy and momentum is definitely on the side of the Harris-Walz campaign.

SANCHEZ: During the Michigan primaries there was that 13 percent of Democrats roughly who voted uncommitted, a protest vote against President Biden and his support for Israel and its war against Hamas amid tens of thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza. The vice president was just asked about that at NABJ. She seemed to not outline any significant policy differences from President Biden in supporting Israel and its conduct in this war.

Do you believe that those voters are now throwing their support behind Harris, that 13 percent uncommitted?

STABENOW: I know that the vice president is listening and speaking with people and that there is an understanding that she wants very much to see all of this violence stop and hostages come home, and she's doing everything she can. She understands. She's someone who I believe that folks have growing trust in.

And so I think when the choice is Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, it's going to be a very clear choice. And I have to say, including today, where, as you know, we're on the floor right now.

[15:35:00]

We're voting on whether or not to protect IVF for families, which Donald Trump now says he supports, and yet he wasn't on the phone once last night urging people to vote for this bill, Republicans overwhelmingly are voting no. You know, when he wanted to stop the border bill, he was on the phone. When he tries to get the Speaker to shut down the government, then in the last few days, he's on the phone to Republicans.

But IVF, protecting IVS and the capacity to have or grow a family, we're voting on right now. And not only is J.D. Vance not voting today, he's in my home state of Michigan, but he's not voting on the floor today. But former President Donald Trump is not urging people to do the right thing and vote for this bill. SANCHEZ: Senator, that was a very smooth pivot to what I was about to ask you about, the Right to IVF Act, which, as you noted, is getting voted on right now. We had Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee on CNN earlier today, and he was asked about it. I want to play you a soundbite of why he says he's voting against this bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL HAGERTY (R-TN): This piece of legislation, to me, again, goes too far when it gets into cloning and gene editing. That doesn't suit me, and it doesn't suit the vast majority of Republicans. Again, it's a solution in search of an answer. This is not illegal in any state of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Senator, do you have any concerns about cloning and gene editing when it comes to this bill?

STABENOW: No, I don't. I mean, we have so many families, including a dear friend of mine in Michigan, Ellen, who a year ago had a beautiful baby boy, Carter, as a result of IVF. And what we do is we are celebrating those who want to have a family, want to start a family. That's what this is about. And it's about who decides that. You know, Donald Trump tries to make this an issue of federal versus state.

Well, we want to turn it back to the states. Well, you know what? We want to turn it back to the woman.

This is not about which level of politician is making your decisions on your health care. This is about women, about the pregnant person making the decision on their health care. And that's what they miss.

And I can tell you, in a state like Michigan, where we've put the protection of reproductive freedom into our Constitution back a few years ago, back in 2022, and had the highest voter turnout at any time in a non-presidential election, people of Michigan are watching and waiting. And they are extremely, extremely angry about what Donald Trump put in motion when he put in place those Supreme Court justices to repeal Roe v. Wade.

And now everything that goes with it, whether it's IVF or your choice on birth control or in Project 2025, the whole question of are they going to follow you around and monitor your pregnancies? This whole thing is horrible. And women know it.

SANCHEZ: I'm not sure if that monitoring the pregnancy thing was a shot at Senator Katie Britt, but that specific idea that pregnancies were going to be monitored has been debunked. Nevertheless, Senator Debbie Stabenow, we have to leave the conversation there, but I do appreciate your time. Thanks for joining us.

STABENOW: Good to talk to you.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, music mogul Sean Diddy Combs is in court right now on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. We'll break down the heinous allegations against him when we come back.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Breaking news, Sean Diddy Combs just pleaded not guilty in a New York courtroom after a sweeping indictment on federal charges that accused the music mogul of sex trafficking and racketeering, victimizing multiple women as far back as 2009. CNN security correspondent Josh Campbell joins us now with the latest. So Josh, what is happening in court?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, this is a developing moment by moment. Some really fascinating details coming in from our colleague Kara Scannell in court. Moments from now, we're expecting a federal judge there in Manhattan to potentially issue his ruling on Sean Combs' freedom, whether he will remain in federal custody or whether he will be released on bond.

Now, he pleaded not guilty a short time ago. He arrived in court. He was wearing a black shirt, gray workout pants. He had his hands behind his back. He was not handcuffed. He was described as looking around the courtroom with a stunned face.

And now, again, he pleaded not guilty, but then they moved into what's called the detention phase. Prosecutors say that he should remain in federal custody, describing him as a threat, a serial abuser, describing him as a serial obstructor. Interestingly, they brought up that video that CNN exclusively broke earlier this year inside a Los Angeles hotel where Combs is seen brutally assaulting his former girlfriend, saying that's evidence of his violence.

But also they allege that after that incident, he, quote, handed a stack of -- a handful of cash to one of the security officers at that hotel in order to try to make this whole thing go away. So, again, they're trying to make the case that he's conducted criminal activity. He should remain in jail.

For their part, his attorneys just took to the lectern. They're basically saying he is not a flight risk. The attorney says that Combs' passport is in the custody of the attorney.

They say that he traveled to New York on his own in order to be released. But, again, we are waiting right now to see how the judge will rule. Of course, this comes after this just extremely serious indictment that was unsealed today.

Combs is charged with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

[15:45:00]

He, of course, has pleaded not guilty, but extremely serious charges here that the government is alleging -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Josh Campbell, thank you so much for that update. Let's discuss with defense and trial attorney Misty Marris. Misty,

thank you so much for being with us.

Combs' attorneys want him to be released on bail. I believe it's a $50 million bond, a bond that's been secured by his Miami home. The prosecutors say that he should be kept in custody. Do you think he'll wind up getting bail?

MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Actually, this is a compelling argument that's being laid out by prosecutors. And why this case is a bit different than others that we've seen where bail is granted is all of this information that's coming out about his obstructionist behavior. So prosecutors are laying out that after he became aware of lawsuits, after he became aware of this very criminal investigation, he was actually reaching out to witnesses and victims.

That's going to be really compelling to the judge. In addition, the Cassie video that was just referenced, the argument is that he is willing to use force and intimidation in order to obstruct these witnesses. So all of that is going into the determination.

Now the defense on the flip side, they're saying he presented himself willfully. He's going to be monitored. He's going to stay in a location and you're going to be aware of where he is. And there's no reason to think that he's a flight risk alternatives passport.

Judge is about to make a decision, but I think this one might lean in favor of the prosecution.

KEILAR: That is really interesting. Prosecutors also brought up his apology for his violence that's seen in that 2016 video. Does that have any impact?

MARRIS: Well, is this guy credible? Keep in mind what he had done with respect to this video. He had come out and he had said, none of what Cassie has alleged is true.

Then this video becomes public. Now he's apologizing and saying, I was a different person then. And, you know, I'm sorry for what I had done.

That's all leading to, can we take his word for it? Can we take his word at this moment where we're deciding whether or not he is a danger to witnesses and a flight risk that he is going to appear at the next court appearance. He's not going to use his massive amount of money and connections to leave the country and that he's not going to use that influence that he has on many people, which is the root of this indictment in order to intimidate witnesses and potentially victims moving forward.

So certainly that is going to have an impact on the judge today.

SANCHEZ: It strikes me, Misty, that there's not a lot of specificity in this indictment as far as where and when these crimes allegedly occurred. I wonder what you make of that.

MARRIS: So in order for the prosecution to get an indictment, they bring it to a grand jury and they need to find probable cause that a crime was committed and probable cause that the individual they're seeking to indict committed the crime. It doesn't necessarily mean that in the indictment there has to be every single piece of information and factual aversion that the prosecutors might bring into the courtroom when the case ultimately goes to trial.

There's strategic reasons to do so. Oftentimes it relates to protecting potential victims and witnesses. We also know from the prosecutor's press conference today, this might not be over. We're talking about a criminal enterprise and it's the Combs enterprise, according to prosecutors.

That means there could be others who could face indictment or who are cooperating witnesses. Also, prosecutors made an overture for anyone who was a victim to step forward and to speak about their experience with the prosecution. So there's just more to the story. This was enough to get probable cause and strategically certain information was not provided.

KEILAR: Kind of put out an all call there at the end. It was really interesting.

SANCHEZ: Notably, he was the only one named in the indictment. Misty Marris, thanks so much for the analysis. Appreciate you.

Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Moments ago, Vice President Harris reiterated her stance that a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is the only way to achieve peace. That despite growing signs that ceasefire talks have stalled.

SANCHEZ: Let's go straight to CNN senior White House correspondent MJ Lee. MJ, what are you hearing?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it was already no secret that the ceasefire talks had seriously stalled and there is now one more clear sign of this. Senior administration officials telling us that at this moment in time, the president's national security advisors have no plans to present him with an updated ceasefire agreement proposal.

You'll recall that U.S. officials in recent weeks had been saying that the so-called bridging proposal was being finalized so that it could ultimately be presented to some of the mediators like Qatar and Egypt. But these senior officials tell me that they first want to have some degree of confidence that Hamas ultimately would get to a yes on such an agreement. And importantly, they currently do not believe that they're interested in getting to a deal.

So needless to say, there's a lot of finger pointing going on at Hamas, including this allegation that they recently changed the terms of the agreement related to the kinds of prisoners that would be released in exchange for the hostages that Hamas is holding.

There is also, of course, the important factor of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and whether he himself is interested in a deal. As you mentioned, the vice president again reiterating that the war needs to end. But the problem for her and this White House is that it is entirely unclear that either side is interested in getting to a deal right now.

SANCHEZ: MJ Lee from the White House, thank you so much.

KEILAR: And this just into CNN, a vote to advance a bill that would have protected access to in vitro fertilization has failed in the Senate.

[15:55:02]

This is the second time that a vote to advance the bill failed after another vote fell short in June.

SANCHEZ: Now Democrats aim to put their Republican colleagues on the record on a key issue ahead of November's election.

There you see Senator Tammy Duckworth, who sponsored this bill, speaking on the floor of the Senate. Republicans criticize the legislation as unnecessary overreach and a political show vote. We should note two Republicans that previously voted for this bill voted for it again, Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins.

Stay with CNN. We're back in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: You know, there's really nothing that soothes the soul like a good Target run. Unless you're eight years old and you're riding solo. Police in Ohio responded to a call this weekend after a family discovered that their kid was missing and a neighbor's Ring camera had caught the young girl getting into an SUV by herself and driving off.

SANCHEZ: Yes, another driver caught this video of her on the way to Target. That's her in the white car. Police later spotted it in the store's parking lot and found the girl inside.

[16:00:00]

You see her kind of doing well, and then she starts swerving, not necessarily staying inside the lanes.

The police department later joked about the incident online, saying they're not sure what she bought or if she was even able to use her Target app to save 5 percent. Though they did let her finish her Frappuccino. We are not mean, according to the Bedford Police Department.

KEILAR: I'm not showing that to my kids because they might get some ideas. They love a good Target run.

SANCHEZ: You go for one thing, you wind up getting a bunch.

KEILAR: $200 later.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much for joining us today. The lead with Jake Tapper starts right now.