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House Passes Bill Codifying Same-Sex, Interracial Marriage; White House Warns Russia Planning to Annex More Parts of Ukraine. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired July 20, 2022 - 10:30   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[10:30:00]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: You've sent this memo to employees saying, I know many of you are deeply upset and I stand with you. Goldman is covering the cost of those who need to travel out of state for abortions. Abortion is effectively banned in the state of Texas where you guys are allocating a lot of money, significantly investing, significantly hiring. I'm wondering if that has made you think differently about where Goldman puts its money and its people.

DAVID SOLOMON, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, GOLDMAN SACHS: Well, my first priority after the Supreme Court decision is always just thinking about our employees, their safety, their wellness. And so we did think about our -- you know, our medical support for our employees and we did make changes. And we basically said that anyone that needs any medical service of any kind, you know, anywhere in the country that they can't get it locally, we'll support them in that.

But we've been doing business all over the United States and we have people in many, many states in the United States. We've been doing business in Texas for 50 years.

HARLOW: Your second biggest presence is going to be in Texas.

SOLOMON: At the moment, our second biggest presence in Utah, okay? Our second biggest presence will be in Texas. But we have big presence all over the United States. We are where our clients are. We have presence all over the world. And we're going to continue to operate in these places.

HARLOW: So, I guess, I'm wondering are you worried about recruiting people in some of these states that are now passing much more restrictive laws. Do you think about that?

SOLOMON: I'm always worried about recruiting the best people. But, again, our foot print is all across the United States.

HARLOW: So, on the issue of guns, you lost one of your beloved Goldman Sachs employees in the New York City subway shooting. I wonder if that has changed your view on guns in America and regulations.

SOLOMON: Public safety is the fabric of our existence in our society. We have to make our communities safer. And in the context of that, we need good public policy that moves forward, the step that Congress has taken is a good step, but there is probably more to do.

HARLOW: Do you support an assault weapons ban? We had one up until 2004.

SOLOMON: I think that it is up to lawmakers to really look carefully at a variety of different tools that make our communities safer. And all these issues are complex. They are not unilateral. I think it is interesting to look at some of the horrific things that have happened and look at the age and timeframe around which people have purchased guns.

HARLOW: At 21, age limit at 21?

SOLOMON: I think that that is a very interesting thing to talk about.

I think that we need to think thoughtfully, I think that we need to be willing to have debate and discussion around different things that can continue to make our communities safer.

HARLOW: How worried are you about our democracy right now and how divided our country is? Does it --

SOLOMON: Personally, I think that more civility would be a really, really good thing but I think that our democracy is still strong and I'm optimistic that we will find a path somehow, we will find a path.

HARLOW: You are? You are optimistic?

SOLOMON: I'm actually optimistic. And history would tell you there have been times where we've been more divided, where it has been much, much rougher than it is now. This is a great nation. We have great resources. We have a very, very resilient economy.

I travel all around the world and there are still certain things that I see when I travel, people want to come to the United States. They want their kids to come to school in the United States. They want to get their assets in to the U.S. dollar, in the United States. We have issues, serious issues, that we have to continue to focus on. But our system is strong, our democracy is strong and we will find a path forward. And I am optimistic about that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to hear a note of optimism. We'll take it.

Coming up next, and this is important, the House votes to protect same-sex marriage. A number of Republican House members joining in that vote. But the key is what happens in the Senate. We are hearing one Republican senator who says he probably will support it. Are there others some? We are going to take you live to Capitol Hill, of course, like with everything, you need 60 votes.

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SCIUTTO: The House has moved to protect the rights of Americans in same sex and interracial marriages, passing the Respect for Marriage Act which would codify both in a bipartisan vote on Tuesday. Of course, the question is what happens in the Senate.

HARLOW: That's a big question. We're waiting to see. But this is significant. I mean, this comes weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade amid fears the conservative court could also nullify things like interracial marriage and same-sex marriage decided on similar substantive due process grounds.

So, let's bring in our Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju. So, now the Senate, right? You got to get ten in the Senate. Will they be able to?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That is the big question. And at the moment, it seems as though a decent possibility that they can, in fact, get ten Republican votes to break a filibuster after we saw the House vote last week, several dozen, 47 Republicans voting to codify same-sex marriage.

The expectation in the Senate is that there could be ten Republicans do the same in the Senate, which is really a sea change in the way that the politics of the issue have shifted particularly as Republicans in years past have railed against this, campaigned against this issue. But a number of them now say that this is essentially a settled issue and are willing to support this, including Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who told me just moments ago that he probably will support it and the number two Republican, John Thune, indicating that it is potentially -- could potentially get the 60 votes needed.

[10:40:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Democrats are talking about bringing up to codify same-sex marriage over here. Would you vote for that?

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I'm looking at the bill and I probably will.

RAJU: Codifying same-sex marriage, would you support that?

SEN. TODD YOUNG (R-IN): Right now, I'm focused on the chips. I haven't read that bill and the details are really important, yes. So, I'd feel more comfortable answering that after I have read the legislation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So, that second part was actually Todd Young of Indiana, who said that he had not seen the legislation yet. But John Thune, the number two Republican, told me that they would take a, quote, hard look at this issue. He also said that there's probably a decent it could get 60 votes because of the vote that happened in the House.

He would not say whether or not he, in fact, would vote for this, but it's unclear the timing in the Senate, the majority whip. Dick Durbin told us moments ago that he does want to move on this quickly as possible but there is not a lot of time before the August recess when the senators will be going for their summer breaks. Can they get it done by then? Will the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, prioritize this to put this on the floor? That is still unclear. He has not said so explicitly, even as Republican support for this issue grows. Guy?

SCIUTTO: I mean, remarkable that you have to pass a law to codify interracial marriage in the year 2020, but that is where we are. Manu Raju on the Hill, thanks so much.

HARLOW: All right. The battle over abortion rights escalated yesterday. We saw it all play out at the Supreme Court. 17 Democratic lawmakers arrested at a protest outside the high court. Congresswoman including Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, as shown here marching from the Capitol to the court wearing especially made green bandanas with the words, won't back down.

Of course, the court itself has been physically fenced off for weeks since that draft opinion of the Roe decision was leaked back in May.

SCIUTTO: And in Indiana, the doctor attacked by the state's attorney general after providing an abortion for a ten-year-old girl who was a rape victim, she is now fighting back, the doctor. Attorneys for Dr. Caitlin Bernard have filed a Tort claim notice, which is a step towards a possible defamation lawsuit against the attorney general, Todd Rokita. Bernard's attorney spoke with CNN earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN DELANEY, ATTORNEY FOR DOCTOR WHO PERFORMED ABORTION ON TEN- YEAR-OLD RAPE VICTIM: He accused her of failing to report child abuse, which is false. She absolutely did that and complied with the law. He accused her of being an activist acting as a doctor, which suggests that she was pretending to be a doctor without a license, which is a crime, when it is obviously readily available to him just looking up her license that she is actually a doctor in good standing.

We certainly hope that he will get some good legal advice because he should not continue to defame my client.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: The attorney general accused of that. The notice triggers a 90-day period for the state of Indiana to investigate or settle Dr. Bernard's claim. In a statement, the attorney general's spokesman called the move part of a divisive narrative, saying it was an attempt to distract from the attorney general's work.

Well, the White House is now warning about Russia's possible next move annexing more of Ukraine. The state of war there next, I'll speak with General David Petraeus.

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[10:45:00]

HARLOW: Well, outgoing U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his final question session with British lawmakers this morning had a message for whoever succeeds him. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Number one, stay close to the Americans. Stick up for the Ukrainians. Stick up for freedom and democracy everywhere.

I helped get this country through a pandemic and helped save another country from barbarism. And, frankly, that is enough to be going on with. Mission largely accomplished for now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Johnson resigned earlier this month, forced out by his own party, we should note, after a series of scandals during his tenure. The new prime minister expected to be announced September 5th, the same day British parliament returns from its summer recess.

Well, the White House is now warning that Russia is preparing to annex more land in Ukraine. Officials say the Kremlin planning to follow a playbook it used to take Crimea in 2014. They do this, hold sham elections, install pro-Kremlin officials, force Ukrainian citizens to then apply for Russian citizenship.

But Ukraine continues to fight back, overnight shelling a key bridge that Russian forces use to access Kherson in the south, which Russia has now occupied for more than four months.

Joining me now to discuss, retired General David Petraeus, former CIA director, former commander of U.S. Central Command. General, thanks for taking the time again this morning.

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS (RET.), FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Good to be with you.

SCIUTTO: So, first, you follow this war very closely. I'm curious where you think the fighting stands. The Russian advance in the east appears to have stopped for a bit or at least taken a pause and Russia seems to be forced to move forces to the south where Ukrainian forces are making some, though incremental progress, around Kherson which Russia has occupied for some time. Still a still a frozen conflict there or do you see the momentum shifting?

[10:50:01]

PETRAEUS: Well, I think that there are certain dynamics that we can clearly see and then some unknowns. The dynamics we see are Russia having seized the rest of Luhansk Oblast or province, then taking an operational pause. As you noted, they needed to replace the losses of personnel and equipment, ammunition and so forth.

At the same time, they had to move a number of their ammo storage sites, their fuel depots and their headquarters out of range of the U.S. and U.K.-provided multiple launch rocket systems, which have had a huge impact especially with the accurate rockets that the U.S. has provided. They have just been -- they have taken out well over a dozen of these different fuel, ammo and headquarters locations.

And then you see the Russians now launching a new offensive, but it is a bit nowhere near the kind of substantial offensive that we saw in Luhansk. They are now trying to seize the rest of Donetsk, the neighboring province just to the west, down in the southeast of Ukraine, and we see the Ukrainians getting ready for what we believe will be an offensive, they have announced this, in fact, an offensive to liberate the city of Kherson, just north of Crimea, and perhaps to liberate all of Kherson Oblast.

Again, time will tell whether or not the Ukrainians' force generation with the massive weaponry that we and other countries have provided will sustain them in this and make this capable for them. And I should just note that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin just announced this morning during a virtual meeting of the 50 nations supporting Ukraine that we are providing four more of the multiple launch rocket systems which will take that to 16, also more of the precision ammunition for those systems and for the 155 millimeter howitzers that we've provided. So, that is what we see ahead.

This could be an opportunity for the Ukrainians to get on the offensive themselves rather than on the defensive, noting that the Russians have very costly experience of grinding offensive in retaking all of that area of Luhansk and now trying to take areas of Donetsk. So, it's going to be a very interesting summer, I think.

SCIUTTO: Putin has made a lot of mistakes in this war, including assuming, one, that Ukraine would fold quickly, but also that NATO would disunite rather than unite, as it has done, but he is also, as you know, nimble, he makes changes midstream, and now he is meeting with both the Turkish and Iranian leaders. Why do you think and how important is that?

PETRAEUS: Well, the real objective here, of course, is to get Iranian drones. Russians are running out of their own drones. We have export controls on microchips to Russia, which means that they are very limited in what they can build in terms of replacement systems, including, of course, in unmanned aerial vehicles.

And then he'd like to keep Turkey somewhat on side or at least as neutral as Turkey can be, noting that it is, of course, a NATO member, and it has been providing Turkish drones to Ukraine. So, is this a complicated triangular dynamic here, diplomacy that is being carried out.

And, again, it's going to be very interesting to see how many Iranian drones are provided and how effective they are actually on the battlefield, noting that they have been developing their indigenous drone sector for quite some time. SCIUTTO: Final question, if I can. You've been following the January 6 committee hearings, I know. And there will be a very key witness, perhaps the most senior, perhaps one of the most significant so far. Matthew Pottinger served as deputy national security adviser under Trump, will take the stand as it were tomorrow afternoon regarding -- tomorrow evening rather, regarding the president's actions or inaction on the day of January 6. You know him. You presided, in fact, over a ceremony in which he was promoted in the Marines in 2016.

He is taking a risk here. We have seen how the former president and others on the right treat those who have testified against the former president. What is your reaction and what do you think that he will face after this?

PETRAEUS: Well, first of all, he is a very forthright individual. He is a great Marine officer. He is still in the Marine Reserves. I did, as you noted, promote him to major in New York some years ago and he served in the greater central command region when I was privileged to command that. He was in Afghanistan on the ground at the time.

He has very high integrity. He is a man of character. He was the deputy national security adviser at the time having earlier served as the China czar, if you will.

[10:55:00]

He was one who was very professional throughout the entire period of President Trump's tenure and he resigned in protest essentially when he viewed the final text from President Trump on that day.

So, again, I think that he will accurately layout what it was that prompted him to resign on that day and his reaction. And I think that he will then continue on with his life. He has built a very impressive consulting firm having to do with analysis of China.

SCIUTTO: And he was deeply involved in the president's China policy, as we know.

General David Petraeus, always good to have you on, thanks for taking the time.

PETRAEUS: A pleasure, Jim, thank you.

SCIUTTO: One brief programming note. Tomorrow, I'm going to be speaking with the chief of MI-6, that's the U.K. Foreign Intelligence Service. It will be Richard Morris' first ever sit-down interview outside the U.K. Be sure to tune in here first on Friday for that conversation.

HARLOW: Fascinating to hear from him. I look forward to that. You'll be joining us from Aspen tomorrow for that.

SCIUTTO: Indeed.

HARLOW: We'll see you right here tomorrow. I'm Poppy Harlow.

SCIUTTO: Nice to have her D.C. I'm Jim Sciutto.

At This Hour with Kate Bolduan starts right after a quick break.

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