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Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) On Biden's Address To World Leaders At U.N. General Assembly Today; Feds To Seek Attempted Assassination Charge For Trump Suspect; Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) On Harris Campaign Weighing Visit To Southern Border During AZ Stop. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired September 24, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. In just a few hours President Biden is set to address the United Nations General Assembly. And later today Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak to the U.N. Security Council and then to the General Assembly tomorrow. There is new reporting that he plans to pressure officials for permission to use long-range missiles on targets deep inside Russia.

With us now is Senator and retired Marine Corps Col. Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska on the Armed Services Committee. Thanks so much for being here, Senator.

SEN. DAN SULLIVAN (R-AK): Hey, John. Great to be on the show. Thank you.

BERMAN: What's your feeling about allowing or permitting Ukraine to use American-made or any long-range missiles on targets inside Russia?

SULLIVAN: Well, I think it depends on the targets. But I think -- you know, I was actually in a meeting with President Zelenskyy yesterday and he wants to be able to do that on military targets, and I think that's important, and I would support that.

But one thing that came out of that meeting though, by the way, John, which was disturbing, every time I've been in a meeting with President Zelenskyy is I'm -- I asked him are you getting the weapons that you need -- the weapons you need now? And even yesterday he said no.

And this is one of the things that I've been really critical of the Biden-Harris administration on. They're not in it to win it. This pattern of delaying weapons no matter what I think about it is very long -- HIMARS, Patriots, ATCAMS, F-16s, tanks. Then we in the Congress pressure them. They finally do it. But this is still happening.

And the president of Ukraine told me that yesterday. And imagine how much further we could be in that battle against the Russians if the Ukrainians got the weapons they needed. So this is another --

BERMAN: Yeah.

SULLIVAN: This is a big flaw with Biden-Harris in terms of Ukraine.

BERMAN: One of the things that Zelenskyy consistently says is ultimately you always say yes. Ultimately you always give us permission so why don't you just do it much sooner?

Look, you criticize the Biden administration --

SULLIVAN: And he's still -- he's still -- he's still -- well, I don't know if he'll press it with the president, but he mentioned it with some senators yesterday -- the frustration.

BERMAN: The most senior members of the Trump campaign --

SULLIVAN: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- seem to feel very differently than you.

Donald Trump Jr. and RFK Jr., who now I guess holds a senior position, at least in that world -- they wrote an op-ed in The Hill last week saying that the U.S. should not give permission --

SULLIVAN: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- for Ukraine to use missiles deep inside Russia.

They said, "And for what? To weaken Russia? To control Ukraine's minerals? No vital American interest is at stake. To risk nuclear conflict for the sake of neoconservative fantasy of global full- spectrum dominance is madness."

SULLIVAN: Yeah.

BERMAN: Do you agree?

SULLIVAN: Well look, I'm -- what I -- I was a strong supporter of the national security package that wasn't just about Ukraine; it was about getting weapons to our allies in Israel, in Taiwan, and really importantly, rebuilding our own military industrial capacity, which is why I supported that. That is atrophied under the Biden administration.

But look, I think right now, particularly when people are talking different victory plans and peace plans, the most important thing we can do is get the Ukrainians the weapons they need, but also put them in a position of strength, which is what you need to be in in terms of if you have to start having these negotiations, which may or may not -- may or may not start soon.

Zelenskyy is going to be meeting with members of the Senate later this week and he is going to be laying out what he calls the "Victory Plan." But to me, the critical thing we need to do is make sure they have the weapons and are in a position of strength if this turns into some kind of negotiated settlement.

BERMAN: I do want to move on to the U.N. General Assembly --

SULLIVAN: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- which is to acknowledge that's a different position than taken at least by Donald Trump Jr. and RFK Jr. who are part of the Trump campaign.

SULLIVAN: Well, like I said, I've -- I'm on the record as supporting that national --

BERMAN: OK.

SULLIVAN: -- security supplemental and shaping it not just to be about Ukraine but about our own defense industrial base and helping Israel and Taiwan, which is why that got strong support in the Senate and House.

BERMAN: What do you want to hear from President Biden for the General Assembly today? You wrote a whole op-ed on it.

SULLIVAN: Yeah.

BERMAN: Particularly, what do you want to hear in regards to what's happening in Lebanon right now?

SULLIVAN: Well look, I think it's the president's -- probably his last major foreign policy address. And I think for the American people and our allies they need to ask is America and our allies safer today than we were four years ago? I think the answer is unequivocally no. And there is nowhere in the world that demonstrates that more than what's going on in the Middle East.

So what I would like to hear, and I'm not holding my breath from President Biden or Vice President Harris to say this, is there has been a collapse of deterrents as it relates to Iran. Iran is the agent of chaos not only in the Middle East but even in Ukraine. And yet, this administration's focus on Iran has been lacking. The hallmark of this administration has been actual appeasement of Iran. They inherited a really good situation with regard to Iran deterrents from the Trump administration in a whole host of areas.

[07:35:00]

So I would like the president, in front of the U.N., to denounce the Iranians for what they are -- the agents of chaos. And I'd also like to do what I raised with the secretary-general of the U.N. yesterday is to say and the U.N. needs to stop this long-term systemic anti- Israel, even antisemitic positions that the U.N. has had.

So those are things that I've been calling for. I doubt the president's going to do it.

BERMAN: Do you think that the Israeli attacks on Hezbollah targets will be effective ultimately or will it increase the tension in the region?

SULLIVAN: Well, it's really difficult because right now Israel is trying to do what we should be doing. They're trying to reestablish deterrents against Iran and its proxies, and that has not happened with regard to the Biden-Harris administration. To the contrary, John. What they've been doing on almost every single issue -- they never talk about Iran. Think about it.

The Trump administration -- and I'll give you one example. At the end of the Trump administration maximum pressure sanctions brought the Iranians to their knees in terms of their economy, but also really limited their ability to export oil. They had about $4 billion in foreign reserves by the end of the Trump administration.

President Trump and Harris come in. They essentially don't enforce those sanctions. And now the Iranians have about $80 billion in foreign reserves. Guess what they're doing with that? They're funding and training, and equipping the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, and deterrences collapse. And we're seeing that chaos in the Middle East all over.

I actually -- I mentioned this to the president. You need to reimpose those Trump sanctions. He said he was interested in doing that. He told me to work with Jake Sullivan on it. They won't do it, and that's -- by the way, that would be a bipartisan move if they did that. The United States senators, Democrats and Republicans, want to reimpose those sanctions. That was very effective during the Trump administration.

BERMAN: Sen. Dan Sullivan, we appreciate your time. Thanks for coming in.

SULLIVAN: Thank you, John -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we've got brand new reporting for you. CNN has learned more than 400 economists and former high-ranking policymakers are endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as she tries to cut into Donald Trump's lead on the economy. The endorsements come at a critical moment in the campaign as both candidates hit the trail this week pitching their economic agendas across battleground states just 41 days now from Election Day.

CNN's Matt Egan broke the story, and he has our reporting for us now. Who is backing Harris and what is the reason they're doing so?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Sara, this is a sweeping show of support for Kamala Harris and her vision for the economy. It comes from more than 400 economists and former policymakers, many of them veterans of Democratic administrations, including officials such as former Biden economist Brian Deese, Obama economist Jason Furman. Another veteran of the Obama administration, Penny Pritzker. Allen Blinder who is the number two at the Federal Reserve, and he served in the Clinton administration.

Also some notable academics such as University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers, and Claudia Golden, the Harvard economist who last year won the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Now, as far as why they are backing Harris, it's because they believe that she's got the better vision for the economy. They describe this as a stark contrast between failed trickle-down economic policies that benefit the few and the policies that provide opportunity for all.

A key line in this endorsement, the economists say that it is a choice between inequity, economic injustice, and uncertainty with Donald Trump or prosperity. Opportunity and stability with Kamala Harris. Now, in particular, the economists argue that the Trump agenda could reignite inflation.

Just to remind people what we're talking about when we say the Harris agenda. Now, she has called for raising taxes on the wealthy, corporations, expanding the child tax credit, boosting small business, and also trying to address the affordability issue by building more houses. But also, she's calling for boosting demand by providing $25,000 downpayment assistance. Pretty important that the supply comes before the demand there.

But as you mentioned, all of this comes as they try to convince voters that they have the right vision for the economy.

Trump, today, going to Savannah, Georgia to pitch his economic vision and talk about tax policy. Harris, tomorrow, going to Pittsburgh. So these two candidates continue to try to convince voters that it's their vision that's going to be right. And remember, the economy -- it's the number one issue for voters.

SIDNER: It certainly is.

Matt Egan, thank you so much --

EGAN: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: -- for breaking that story. Appreciate it -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning students are heading back to class at Apalachee High School. This is their first time back since that horrific shooting by a fellow student there. Two students and two teachers were killed in that shooting earlier this month turning their school into a crime scene.

CNN's Ryan Young is joining us now and tracking all of this. So, Ryan, what are you hearing about the plans today to help them transition back into school?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kate, so much about this will be putting their arms around the students who will be coming back to the school. You think about the four people who lost their lives here. There were nine others who were injured during that day.

[07:40:00]

And if you look in the distance here a lot of people from the community have continued to come and pay their respects to the people who were lost. You can still see that growing memorial that's by the flag post that's over there.

What we're told is today will be a half-day. But the big question obviously is when you talk about that crime scene, they're going to shut down the hallway where the shooting happened. So you understand they're thinking about this. They'll have therapy dogs. They'll have counselors here on scene.

And there will also be a lot of extra security -- security that you will see and some security that will be hidden. But they want to make sure these students who are going to do a half-day here feel supported.

Take a listen to the sheriff talking about the measures they've put in place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JUD SMITH, BARROW COUNTY, GEORIGA: Obviously, a lot of emotions going today. The kids and the teachers have been communicating but not face-to-face in most regards, but they will today. So the overflow of emotions are not only tough for them, they're tough for us as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yeah, Kate. Look, we've talked to so many people in this community who at many times just break down crying because they know someone who was either injured in this or who is connected to the school.

Now, there has also been an outpouring of support from across the country. We're seeing hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised for the people who've lost their life here. The Rock, just this weekend, took the football team to a studio nearby and had them -- and gave them an outpouring of support. So you see the community ready to stand up for these kids.

But the emotions here will have to be overwhelming as you could imagine. The school is still trying to put itself back together. Having to open a place that, of course, as you noted before was a crime scene just less than a month ago. So school starts in about 35 minutes and from there we believe they'll have that half-day, and they'll move forward hopefully being able to give these kids some support as they try to move on with the school year -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, easing them back in. I mean -- and you talk about how the entire community shattered and connected and how small it is. The sheriff, I remember just seeing his face talking yesterday. He even spoke when this was all playing out about his connection to the school and how closeknit and small the community is, and how it's impacting all of them understandably.

Ryan, thank you very much. I really appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, federal prosecutors say they plan to charge Ryan Routh with attempting to assassinate former President Trump. Authorities say Routh left a note several months ago urging others to finish the job and offering $150,000 to anyone who managed to carry out the killing.

Let's get right to CNN's Katelyn Polantz for the latest on this. Katelyn, good morning.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Good morning, John.

This was a three-hour hearing in federal court in Florida yesterday. What happened with Ryan Routh is prosecutors wanted to keep him in jail pending trial -- keep him detained and convince the judge that they have enough evidence to do so even though he hasn't been formally charged. They were successful in that. And they also revealed during that hearing that they do plan to charge Ryan Routh with heftier crimes -- specifically, potentially attempting to assassinate Donald Trump.

Now, this is not a charge that we have seen yet. It has not yet been through a grand jury. Right now, Ryan Routh is only facing two possession of firearm criminal charges and waiting for what happens with that indictment. But that is a really significant development in this investigation.

One of the things the prosecutors are doing here is they've collected a lot of evidence about Ryan Routh. What he had in his car. Many cellphones, including one that showed how he had been looking up getting from Palm Beach to Mexico potentially after this apparent assassination attempt to make on Donald Trump's life. They also found he had been -- they had located that he had been around Mar-a-Lago for a month, essentially stalking Donald Trump.

And there was a witness that he gave a box to before heading down to Mar-a-Lago. That box contained a letter and in that letter Routh was writing specifically the words "this was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you." The witness opened the box after he was picked up by the cops on September 15. Routh, in that letter, said he also wanted to offer $150,000 to whoever could "complete the job." He was mad about Donald Trump's handling of relations in the Middle East.

This is only part of the evidence that prosecutors say they've gathered about Ryan Routh and only the sort of evidence they thought they would need to show right now to keep him in jail, which they are going to be doing. That was what the judge decided. The judge said that the weight of the evidence against the defendant is strong and John, there's more to come here.

BERMAN: Looking at the evidence important right now to keep him in jail but also will be crucial to the case that they want to make going forward.

Katelyn Polantz, great to see you. Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Kamala Harris seriously considering a trip to the southern border this week. Why? The latest on the campaign's plans. We've got that ahead.

And it was billed as a 45-minute college lacrosse workout with a Navy SEAL alumni. It ended with nine lacrosse players in the hospital.

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We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL)

SIDNER: This morning, Vice President Kamala Harris and her team as weighing plans to visit the southern border during a trip to Arizona on Friday. Immigration is, of course, one of the top concerns for voters and polling shows they trust Donald Trump more on that issue. Harris has repeatedly criticized Trump's immigration policies with a specific focus on his promise of mass deportation if he wins in November.

CNN's Eva McKend is joining us now. What more are you learning about this potential trip?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, our colleague Priscilla Alvarez reporting that this could be an effort to close the gap with the former president on this issue of immigration.

[07:50:00]

We saw that New York Times/Siena poll this week that showed more battleground state voters trusted Trump on immigration by about 10 percent. And so, evidently the campaign's view was that her going to the border will allow her to again emphasize that it was the former president who stood in the way of Congress passing a bipartisan border enforcement bill. And it is her who has this experience as California Attorney General tacking (PH) transnational criminal gangs.

It also answers to this Republican criticism that she just doesn't go to the border enough. But no final decision has been made.

SIDNER: Eva McKend, so how exactly is the vice president -- has she viewed immigration?

MCKEND: I think that this is really an important question. It's important to look back at her past statements because historically, she was very critical of the Trump administration's immigration policies when she was in the Senate. She described the border wall as a useless symbol and said that a wall will not secure our border.

She has said the immigration debate, in her view, is defined by false choices. She brought a Dreamer as her guest to the State of the Union when she was in Congress. And the first organization she actually visited after being elected to the Senate was an immigrants rights group called CHIRLA out of California. So for a very long time she has been viewed as a real ally to the immigrant community, Sara.

SIDNER: Eva McKend, thank you so much for your reporting there from Washington, D.C. for us this morning -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And joining us right now is the Democratic governor of Colorado, Jared Polis. Governor, thank you so much for being here with me this morning. Forty-plus days to the election. Some states have already started voting early. Trump remains 10-plus points ahead on the issue of immigration and border security.

Why is Vice President Harris not making up more ground on this, do you think?

GOV. JARED POLIS, (D) COLORADO: Well look, whether she goes to the border now or she goes after she's elected, I think it's really important to see firsthand what she's committed to. Kamala Harris is somebody that when she sees a challenge she forges a solution, right -- doesn't try to divide people with politics like the other side.

I think what you have right now is a really unique situation. Democrats actually want to secure the border and solve the issue. Republicans want to keep this as a political issue for their own political gain. So there's a bigger incentive right now and I think Americans voters are smart to this. If they want the border issue solved, if they want real security, they need to give the Democrats a chance to get it done.

BOLDUAN: Does it concern you if that spread -- 10 points -- he continues to have a 10-point advantage and voters don't see it more your way as you're describing it?

POLIS: Well look, former President Trump is very vulnerable on this because the truth is there was a bipartisan solid plan to secure the border. More border control agents -- tens of thousands -- protections and barriers, high tech. Everything you needed to do -- great ideas. Republican and Democrats came together. Former President Trump effectively said no, I want to run on this. Don't solve it.

And so where we are -- we are where we are today. We have a porous border because of former President Trump's actions taking on the border security bill. I think the American people are read for progress, not politics, and that's exactly what Kamala Harris represents.

BOLDUAN: The thing is that you say he's vulnerable, meaning there might be an opening, you think, in creating that distinction. It's not showing the polls though that they think he is -- that they trust him less. They trust -- voters trust him more in battleground states on handling it even if you say that he's vulnerable.

POLIS: Well, I think the more awareness there is about how he destroyed and effective bipartisan plan to secure the border and doesn't have one of his own, besides words, I think more people see right through that. The American people want a solution on this and the more they look at what former President Trump has to offer, he offers more of the same problem versus moving forward and finally securing the border.

BOLDUAN: Donald Trump has been focused on your state for similar reasons as he has focused on Ohio -- and Springfield, Ohio specifically. Trump saying that Aurora, Colorado -- saying it's overrun by a Venezuelan prison gang. He's held it up as an example of what he says is Biden's and Harris' immigration policies putting people in danger.

I want to play for everyone what he said this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Under border czar Harris, Venezuelan gangs have taken over entire apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado. The government -- the governor is petrified in Colorado. He's a liberal governor. He doesn't know what to do. The guy is so scared of these guys and maybe you can't blame him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: You defended the city, Governor. You called it a wonderful city this weekend. Donald Trump says he's going to visit Aurora to highlight the problem. Do you want him to come there?

POLIS: Well look, Aurora is our third-biggest city -- over 400,000 people. It's a terrific city. I was there last week. If the -- if the president comes, I'd hope he doesn't bring with him an element of lawlessness or people that are causing trouble.

[07:55:00]

Obviously, we welcome anybody to the city of Aurora -- to Colorado -- but obviously we worry about some of the criminal element that he brings with him. He's a convicted felon himself and a lot of the people that associate themselves with him might engage in acts of terror against the residents of Aurora.

So if he comes, welcome. Behave yourself. Play golf on one of our great municipal golf courses and dine in one of our great restaurants. We'd be thrilled to have you. But tell you crazy hanger-ons not to come with you.

BOLDUAN: So, Colorado has a long and successful history of vote by mail. Donald Trump, for years, has tried to undermine mail-in voting and early voting, kind of conflating them both in some ways, and he's doing that again. Yesterday, he called early voting stupid and raising doubts about its security, though he told supporters in April -- he said mail-in voting and early voting are good options. And then earlier this month he accused Pennsylvania, without evidence, of widespread mail-in ballot fraud.

Other than, without evidence, creating doubt what impact do these mixed signals have on voters in your state?

POLIS: Well, I think you're paying too much attention to these -- this -- you know, these words coming out of his mouth. This nonsensical stuff --

BOLDUAN: You do?

POLIS: -- that he says. We really have to move past Donald Trump. We really need to move past Donald Trump. Look, mail voting is what Colorado has been doing for almost two

decades. It's perfectly safe. It's secure. Republicans have won, Democrats have won. There's a paper ballot. We have a long ballot with lots of initiatives. People like to research them in their homes before they cast their vote.

We also make early voting available. So if you lose your mail ballot or you don't trust mail ballots you can vote early, a week or two before the election at one of the many early-voting sites. And if you don't do that -- if you really want to vote on Election Day, we make that available too.

So voting should be easy for the American people to exercise their right. Grandparents and great-grandparents have died to defend that right in war, and it's up to us to make it count.

BOLDUAN: And Colorado is a -- is a good example of the success of all three types of those votings and has for years.

It's good to see you, Governor. Thank you very much for coming in -- John.

BERMAN: All right. The man convicted of killing 10 people in a mass shooting at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado will spend the rest of his life in prison. That decision came just hours after the jury convicted him of first-degree murder, rejecting his insanity claim. He opened fire at the Kings Soopers grocery store in 2021. On top of 10 consecutive life sentences he also received an additional 1,300 years in prison for other felony counts.

Kmart, the discount retail giant, is closing its last full-sized location in the mainland United States. The store, located on Long Island, will close its doors on October 20. This marks the end of an era for Kmart's full-sized stores. The brand will maintain a small presence through a convenient store in Miami.

The government making at-home COVID tests available for free again. Each household will be able to order four at-home test kits starting at the end of this month. You can get yours at covidtest.gov -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. This morning three Tufts University lacrosse players are still in the hospital after an extreme workout with a Navy SEAL graduate. The voluntary 45-minute workout initially sent nine players to the hospital with a dangerous condition that can be life- threatening.

Joining me now is CNN's Meg Tirrell. Meg, what is this condition? What happened here?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN Yeah, Sara, this sounds like this really mysterious occurrence. Fifty members or so of this team participated in this workout last Monday. Over the following days a few of them started to feel ill. And as you mentioned, nine of them ultimately were hospitalized. Three are still in the hospital.

They were diagnosed with a condition known as rhabdomyolysis. This is a relatively rare muscle condition where the muscles start to break down and sort of leak their contents into the bloodstream. This can be very dangerous and can overwhelm the kidneys and affect other organs. In really severe circumstances it can lead to the need for dialysis to help with this. And so we know that those three are still in the hospital.

The university says this was after a Navy SEAL graduate -- somebody who had just participated in a training program with the NAVY SEALs ran this training. We don't have details about exactly what this involved in terms of the training, but the university says they have appointed an outside investigator to look into all of this and really figure out what happened here that contributed to so many of these players getting injured, Sara.

BERMAN: So I showed up in this discussion because I had rhabdo. I had it after I passed out at mile 25 of the Boston Marathon in 2022. It was heat stroke that did it but rhabdo came after. I was in the hospital for three days.

But what's unusual about this case is that a bunch of people got it. It's not like contagious. It's not like, you know, you spread it from one person to another. So the same thing happened -- it had to happen to all of them, right, Meg?

TIRRELL: Yeah, that's what's really interesting about this. It sounds like what's something else at play here. And doctors have raised that. I spoke with Dr. Robby Sikka who is a sports medicine doctor, and he noted that supplements can contribute to this. So I asked the university, and they said all of this is part of the investigation. They don't know.

But there are instances in the past where this has happened to several members of a team.