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'Sham' Voting Under Way in Russian-Occupied Ukraine; President Biden Delivers Address at DNC Event. Aired 1-1:30p ET
Aired September 23, 2022 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:00:00]
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: That's after the Associated Press reported J.R. Majewski misrepresented his military service. Neither the NRCC, nor Majewski, have commented on the move.
And a quick programming note. He's talking to some of the biggest names around. Catch "WHO'S TALKING TO CHRIS WALLACE?" Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.
Thanks so much for joining INSIDE POLITICS.
Ana Cabrera picks up our coverage right now.
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Hello. Thanks for joining us. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Happy Friday.
Any moment now, President Biden will speak in front of a friendly audience, the Democratic National Committee. It comes with less than 50 days left in the midterm campaign at a time when the president is increasingly leaning into political fights and as a volatile economy remains top of mind for many Americans, the Dow down about 600 points right now.
We're going to bring you the president's speech live.
Also on our radar today, Ukrainians filling out ballots at the barrel of a gun. Russians have orchestrated sham referendum votes in four occupied regions in Ukraine. We will analyze Vladimir Putin's latest tactic.
Plus, calling Trump's bluff. The former president and his lawyers publicly suggested the FBI planted evidence at Mar-a-Lago. Well, now the Trump-appointed -- or approved, I should say, special master is daring them to make that claim in court.
We began at the White House with CNN's Arlette Saenz.
Arlette, notably, this is a political venue for President Biden's speech just moments from now. So what are we expecting to hear from the president?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, this is all part of the ramped-up political activity that we have seen from President Biden in recent weeks, as he's anticipating and describing what he believes will be a very tight midterm election campaign.
And that is why the president is using these types of political events to, one, try to tout some of the legislative accomplishments that his White House has achieved, things like infrastructure, bipartisan agreements when it comes to guns, and also that recently passed Inflation Reduction Act which touches economic climate and health care issues.
But it also provides the president with a chance to really hammer into his messaging against Republicans on things like abortion rights, and also Medicare and Social Security. The president is also expected to travel down to Florida on Tuesday, where he's expected to focus once again on health care, Social Security and Medicare, and also hold another DNC event down there.
But it really comes as the White House has really tried to ramp up the president's messaging when it comes to going on the attack against the -- against Republicans, but also describing what Democrats have accomplished. And, last night, in a fund-raiser with Democratic donors up in New York City, the president tried to lay out what is at stake, saying -- quote -- "This election is going to be tight, very tight. We lose the House and Senate, that changes the trajectory of much of what we are able to do" -- Ana.
CABRERA: As we await the president's speech, we know the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade really kick-started some momentum for Democrats. Is the White House planning to keep the abortion debate front and center leading up to November?
SAENZ: I think everything they have been signaling so far indicates that they will.
We heard President Biden in that fund-raiser last night in New York City talk about that recent ban, that recent proposal from Senator Lindsey Graham, who has proposed federal legislation that would ban abortions in most cases at 15 weeks of pregnancy. The president saying that that is an example of the extreme positions that Republicans have adopted.
Last night, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain was also leaning in and talking about that proposal, as the White House is hoping that the issue of abortion rights will really help galvanize female voters and also independent voters heading into November.
CABRERA: Arlette Saenz, thank you. Stand by.
Now to the sham vote literally being held under Russian guns. Right now, Ukrainians living in these four occupied areas outlined in green are being handed ballots by Russian soldiers, asking them if they want their region to become a part of Russia. The U.S. calling it all staged.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Kramatorsk.
Nick, what more can you share from there on the ground? NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, very
much it's expected this process -- I shouldn't really call it a vote -- has been going under way today.
And you would really not be surprised to learn that some people are being allowed to vote by the ballot boxes being brought to their homes. In fact, one polling station -- I say that in quote marks there -- rung by one of my colleagues in an occupied area said they had had 10 voters today.
This is just a sham. It's a process. It's very common for Russia to use the sort of visuals of democracy to try and endorse something it's already decided. And this, of course, is occurring under occupation, under military rule and conflict, frankly.
And so we know the results already, frankly, and that's been emphasized by Western and Ukrainian officials, Ukrainian officials pointing out the people have been ignoring some of this, trying to stay away from it, even encouraged them to report pressure to go to the polling stations.
[13:05:07]
We're likely to see results in the middle of next week. And that will be used by Russia to say, hey, the people living in those areas want to be part of Russia. They tried that in Crimea as well.
And so possibly that will allow Putin to have some kind of extra justification for maybe a change in tactic. But, frankly, domestically, he's facing an extraordinary wave of dissent because of his decision just a matter of days ago to launch this partial mobilization across Russia. It was supposed to be about reservists. It was supposed to be about people with specialized skills for the military, those with combat experience.
But it essentially seems to be way more chaotic and random than that, according to some of the reports we're hearing. And, predominantly, it may seem to be focused in poorer areas, signs of hundreds of people waiting on airstrips to board cargo planes, and a very chaotic situation, which is fueling dissent in Russia, frankly, to the point we haven't seen in all 22 years of Putin effectively leaving the country, so a seminal moment for him, and one which any sham referendum can't really distract from -- Ana.
CABRERA: Let's dig into this moment.
Thank you, Nick Paton Walsh. We will check back as you gather more information on this referendum.
With us now is Angela Stent, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of "Putin's World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest."
Angela, I have to warn you that we may have to break away to go live to President Biden's speech this hour. But let's pick up where we left off with Nick. So, this fake vote is how Putin falsely claims this territory. Then
what? What does this vote tell you about his greater strategy right now?
ANGELA STENT, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR EURASIAN, RUSSIAN AND EAST EUROPEAN STUDIES, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Well, at the moment, he's trying to deter the Ukrainians from trying to take back any more territory with their American and other NATO weapons by saying, if you attack, let's say, Kramatorsk, you're now attacking Russian territory. And, therefore, this is a threat to the motherland, and we can use all means against you.
But I don't think it's going to work. The Ukrainians are going to continue their counteroffensive. But this is the reason why he's holding this sham referendum. Everybody knows it's sham. And as your reporter said, the numbers of people who are voting aren't very great
CABRERA: Angela, I have to interrupt. Forgive me.
We're going live to Washington, D.C., President Biden addressing the folks there at the Democratic National Committee. Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I tell you what.
I think I like this crowd.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Talk about being home.
And the fact you have got president of the union stand out there with other unions, I tell you what, man.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: I was going to, if you have a seat, take one. But you don't have any seats.
(LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: Look, Dasia (ph), that was a great -- she is pretty good for someone in the last year in college, you know?
(LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: Dasia, just remember me.
When you're president, and they say Joe Biden is in the outer office, promise me you won't say "Joe who?" when I come in.
(LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: Hey, folks. How are you all?
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: I'm going to talk about more than just the NEA today, because -- and I want to -- I have told your president I want to come back and just talk pure education as well.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: But I want to talk a little bit broader.
And, Becky, thanks for hosting this. I appreciate it very much.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Forty-six days to the midterms. We need to be crystal clear about what is on the ballot, because there's a heck of a lot at stake that is on the ballot.
Right now, right now, on the ballot, there's Social Security. It's on the ballot. You all have paid every single -- and paycheck you got, you have paid it.
(LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: You paid into. Holy mackerel.
(LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: Anyway, but there is a lot really -- truly, there is a lot on the ballot.
There's a -- my dad used to have an expression. He'd say, Joey, don't compare me to the almighty. Compare me to the alternative.
(LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: And we have a real alternative here, that this is not a -- this is going to be an election that isn't of significant consequence.
Gun safety for our kids and gun violence on the ballot. The idea you start school this year and kids in many parts of the country are learning how to duck and cover, rather than -- no, I'm serious. Think about it -- rather than talking about reading and writing and arithmetic, is a very different circumstance. It's not right. It's not who we are. It's not who we should be.
[13:10:07]
And, folks, look, the survival of our planet is on the ballot. And that sounds like hyperbole, but it genuinely is.
Well, I tell you what. The thing that we have found out, as everybody found out, there's not a lot of total climate deniers anymore after they have seen what happened this year. But guess what? We got a lot to do.
Got to say hi to me. (LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: We go back a long way. She was 12. I was 30, but any rate...
(LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: ... this woman helped me get an awful lot done. Any rate...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: But, right now -- and it's not hyperbole to suggest right now democracy itself, this is on the ballot as well.
Folks, I believe America is at an inflection point. And I apologize to -- I'm a labor guy. I have spent a lot of time with all of you, not all of you, but with the labor movement, since I got elected and my whole career.
But -- and I apologize if I repeat some things, but I think we are really at an inflection point. It occurs every three, four, five generations. It doesn't occur every election. By inflection point, I mean that these moments, these are going to determine the shape of everything to come after, what we do now.
What we do in the next several years is going to determine what this country looks like in 25 and 30 years. It is that consequential, now 46 days to choose, 46 days.
The path offered by Democrats is contrasted with the one by the MAGA Republicans. And, by the way, not all Republicans are MAGA Republicans.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: So, I want to make that clear. And for years and years, I had the reputation. Remember, I got beat up in the campaign by saying I wanted to unify the nation and unify the parties. You used to be able to do that.
But things have changed a whole bunch. The MAGA Republicans control the Republican Party right now. And that is self-evident. That is self-evident. So, there is a lot at stake here.
And I'm going to talk a little bit about that right now. Earlier today, after opposing and obstructing everything we tried to do to stop progress for the last two years, the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, went to Pennsylvania and unveiled what he calls a Commitment to America.
Now, that is a thin series of policy goals with little or no detail that he says Republicans are going to pursue if they regain control of the Congress. In the course of nearly an hour, here's a few of the things we didn't hear. We didn't hear him mention the right to choose. We didn't hear him mention Medicare. We didn't hear him mention Social Security.
So let's take a look at what Kevin said today. He said Republicans want to -- quote -- "preserve our constitutional freedom."
That sounds great. I'm for doing that as well. We all are. But look at what they have actually done. The MAGA Republicans just cheered and embraced the first Supreme Court decision in our entire history, the first one in our entire history, that just didn't fail to preserve a constitutional freedom, but actually took away a fundamental right that had been granted by the same court to so many Americans, the constitutional right to choose.
And now nearly half the states in the United States of America have either passed a ban on abortion or will shortly. And, in many states, abortion is already banned even in cases of rape and incest, a fundamental change.
Already, 166 House Republicans have signed onto a bill that would ban abortion nationwide. And the senior senator from South Carolina, Lindsey Graham, has proposed a national ban on abortion with criminal penalties put on doctors and put them in jail if they in fact violate the ban.
So, in 46 days, America is going to choose. If Republicans win control of the Congress, abortion will be banned. And, by the way, it will be initially banned. But, if they win Congress, I will veto it.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: But think what's happening. They're banning it in the case of rape and incest in many states, no exceptions.
And they're going to -- and they're trying to criminalize it nationwide. But if you give me two more Democratic senators in the United States Senate, I promise you...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: I promise you, we're going to codify Roe.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: We will once again make Roe the law of the land. And we will once again protect a women's right to choose.
And the power to get this done is in the hands of the American people, especially the women of America.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And -- no, no, it really is.
Justice Alito said that women can decide the outcome of this election. I'm paraphrasing something -- a quote in the actual decision.
[13:15:00]
Well, he ain't seen nothing yet.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: I don't believe the MAGA Republicans have a clue about the power of American women.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Let me tell you something. They're about to find out.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And, folks, Kevin McCarthy also talked about -- quote -- "longer, healthier lives for Americans."
Again, sounds great. Who's not for that? Well, just look at what the Republicans are doing. Already, 158 House Republicans have signed onto a Republican budget that will cut Medicare and Social Security already.
(BOOING)
BIDEN: The man in charge of electing Republicans in the U.S. Senate, Senator Rick Scott of Florida, has proposed a plan to put Social Security on the chopping block every five years, de novo.
No, I know this sounds like -- but I really mean it. Look, go on the Internet and check it out. They have laid out the platform. It means, every five years, according to, if they succeed in the Senate, that Congress will vote to either cut, reduce, or completely eliminate Social Security or bring it back exactly as it is.
What do you think the prospects of it coming back exactly as it is? You have been paying into Social Security ever since you got your first paycheck.
Well, then there is Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
(BOOING)
BIDEN: As my mother would say, God bless his soul.
(LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: Look, he thinks waiting five years is too long. He wants to put -- no, he wants to put Social Security on the chopping block every single year. If Congress doesn't vote to keep it, it goes away, an affirmative requirement to vote to keep it.
Now, think of that. It is not just Social Security he wants to put up. He wants Medicare, Medicaid benefits. Every federal budget, every federal benefit gets up and has to be voted on every year, de novo, just from scratch.
So, in 46 days, America is going to face a choice. If Republicans control the Congress, Social Security will be on the chopping block. But if you support the Democrats, I promise you this. Social Security will be protected, period. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And I won't let any MAGA Republican take it away.
Leader McCarthy talked about waiting -- wanting a nation, a nation that is safe. Well, let's look at what Republicans have done to make it safe. They voted against virtually everything we have done to reduce crime and keep communities safe.
The American Rescue Plan was that -- when we first got in office, we passed it. And it was designed to do -- an awful lot of mayors and governors and county executives, they don't have -- they didn't have the tax base, because I was left with an economy that was in distress.
So we said, here you go. We are going to give you this money, so you can make sure you can keep your schools open. You can make sure you keep police departments open. Make sure you keep your hospitals open, make sure you keep the fire departments open.
And guess what? Every single Republican in the Congress voted against that. Every single Republican voted against it. Now, look, we're in a situation where now the MAGA Republicans are calling for defunding. They're defunding, defunding the FBI.
Now, let me tell you something. I don't think -- and I know some of you weren't happy with me. I didn't think we should defund the police. I never believed that and said so at the time. But I sure in hell don't think we should be defunding the FBI either.
And then there is the day we will never forget on January 6. What happened on the 6th? Law enforcement was attacked, assaulted, brutalized and stomped on, and, later, several died. Some lost their lives because of that day. The MAGA Republicans didn't side with law enforcement. They sided with the insurrectionists. And they still do.
Don't tell me you support law enforcement if you can't condemn what happened on January the 6th. Don't tell me that.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: You can't be pro-law enforcement and pro-insurrection. You can't claim to be a party of law and order and call the people who attacked the police on January 6 patriots. That's what they're called.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And you can't claim to be for a safe America if you take orders from the NRA.
Look, we just passed the most meaningful gun safety law in 30 years in this country, but most Republicans voted against it. Some, thank God, joined us and we passed it and sided -- but most sided with the NRA.
After Buffalo, Uvalde, Newtown, El Paso, Parkland, Charleston, Las Vegas, Orlando, I went to every one of those places. I spent hours and hours and hours with those families. Not a joke. Not a joke. Hours with them. I know what it's like under different circumstances to lose children, but lose children like they lost their children?
[13:20:07]
Enough. We have had enough.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: It's time to pass the assault weapons ban.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Look, I support Second Amendment. I have two shotguns.
I -- the only thing I really do is really target practice. I haven't done that in a long time.
(LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: But here's the thing. There is no justification for a weapon of war, none.
The speed of that bullet is five times that that comes out of the muzzle of most weapons. It can penetrate your vest. And, by the way, as I pointed out when I was -- got a pass the first time as a senator, in Delaware, we're a big gun owner state, a lot of duck hunters, a lot of hunters.
And I would be going -- and I literally went up and down the streams campaigning and going to the people who were part -- who belonged to the NRA and others. And I would say, how many deer out here are wearing Kevlar vests?
(LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: No, but I'm -- seriously. Think about it. What in God's name do you need an assault weapon for? It's an assault weapon designed to kill people, to defend America, to defend people.
But, folks, look, it's just -- we're just -- it's way out of hand. I have taken on the NRA and I have beat them before. And I plan on doing it again.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And, folks, we can do it again.
Our children, our children should be in a situation of learning how, as I said, to read and write, not duck and cover.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: So, in 46 days, if you want a safer America, America faces a choice.
The Republicans will once again side with the NRA and put American families and children at risk. Now, there will be some Democrats and there are some Republicans who support us. It's not down the line, but it's the part of their platform.
Democrats will ban assault weapons once and for all, God willing.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And Kevin -- Kevin McCarthy also talks about their being for a strong economy.
But look at what the Republicans have done. When I came into office, the economy was flat on its back, millions out of work, food lines that stretched for miles. Remember seeing all those food lines, people in nice looking automobiles waiting for an hour, hour-and-a-half just to have a bucket of -- a box of food put in their trunk in the United States of America?
In the United States of America, that was happening, all across America, the most anemic job performance since Herbert Hoover was in place. That is not hyperbole. That's a fact. So, we acted quickly. We passed the American Rescue Plan, which lifted this nation from economic crisis to economy recovery.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And every single Republican voted for it. Nearly 10 million more jobs have been created since I have been president, the highest number of jobs in that period of time of ever president of the United States of America.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: We have a 3.7 percent unemployment rate, the lowest in 50 -- more than 50 years, a record number of new -- record number of new small businesses created, and over 668,000 new manufacturing jobs in America.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: The American Rescue Plan helped keep teachers, police officers, firefighters, first responders on the job. It provided them money needed to get schools open, and it was a big reason we have been able to vaccinate over 220 million Americans.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: More to do.
And the infrastructure law we passed, we did get some Republican help for that. That infrastructure law is the most significant investment in America since President Eisenhower's Interstate Highway System.
Now, Republicans -- some Republicans voted for it, and some were critical. But the truth is, there's a lot more Republicans are out there taking credit for the new bridges and those -- that are collapsing than actually voted for it. I love going by, and they're, yes, and this is a great thing. I voted against it, but this is a great thing. (LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: But, folks, in addition to inheriting a failed MAGA Republican economy, we also confronted a global pandemic and Putin's war in Ukraine.
And that's driven the global inflation we see today. That's why it is so important that we passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which I proposed from the beginning, but didn't get passed until this summer. This law will cut costs for families, help reduce inflation at the kitchen table.
The way we always measured inflation -- and my dad was a graceful, hardworking guy. He worked a lot his whole life. And my dad used to say, used to talk about whether inflation or the situation of a family to have breathing room is, at the end of the month, when you paid all your bills, did you have a little bit left, just a little bit left?
[13:25:01]
So there's more than one way, more than one way to deal with the inflation to a family, to lower the price of the things they have to deal with, because that is what folks at home think about. How much are their monthly bills? How much do they have to pay for the necessities?
This law is going to give them a little more breathing room, as my dad would say. We pay more for our prescription drugs than any nation in the world. Well, for years, so many of us for a long time, and many one of the unions in here, every one of the unions here, have been trying to fix this problem.
For years, big pharma has blocked us and Medicare from negotiating drug prices, but not this year.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: We beat big pharma. We finally beat them, first time. Big pharma lost.
And, folks, now Medicare will have the power to do what so many Democrats and many Republicans in the past talked about doing, lowering prescription drug prices.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: They pay billions of dollars. They can negotiate lower prices, like other countries do.
And the seniors, we passed a law saying, beginning in January, no senior, no matter the cost of their prescription drugs, cancer drugs, whatever drugs they have -- and some of them can be $60,000, $70,000, $80,000 a year -- no senior will have to pay, no matter what the cost of their drugs, more than $2,000 a year...
(APPLAUSE) BIDEN: ... beginning in January.
And if you are a -- if you're on Medicare and you have diabetes, the cost of insulin, instead of being 30 to 40 to 50 times more than the cost to make the insulin -- it costs 10 bucks to make that insulin, $10, and package it.
But now you cannot charge any senior -- and we should make it for everybody. They voted down the other piece. But every senior will not have to pay than $35 a month for the cost of insulin.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: We wanted to cut the cost of insulin for everyone, for everyone, including the hundreds of thousands of children who have type 1 diabetes.
But, look, folks, imagine being the parent of a child who had type 1 diabetes. You had no insurance and you had no coverage. You have to look at that child and know, and know that, if he or she does not have access to that insulin, it will fundamentally affect their lives in ways that are going to be damaging for the rest of their lives. Imagine the feeling.
My dad used to say, Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It is about your dignity. It's about respect. And he would always end by saying, it's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, honey, it's going to be OK.
Well, guess what? The Republicans blocked limiting that cost to 35 bucks for kids. As I said, it only cost 10 bucks for that prescription to be made and packaged. Drug companies are charging families more than 30 times as much for that drug on a monthly basis. And a lot of people just can't do it.
Imagine, I said, being that mom and dad, needing that insulin. It has to be -- I was down in Virginia yesterday at a function and met a mom who said they have to ration the insulin, be able -- I mean, it's wrong. It's not who we are.
We are going to fix that as well, I promise you.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Folks, the bottom line, this law is going to lower energy costs as well.
Gas prices -- I know I got criticized for going to the stockpile and the rest. Well, guess what? Gas prices are down $1.30 a gallon.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And in 41 states, plus the District of Columbia, the average gasoline price is less than $2.99.
Look, the law makes the biggest investment ever. We invest in climate crisis, $369 billion to deal with the climate crisis. And it makes the tax code fairer.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: In 2020, 55 of the biggest corporations in the country paid zero dollars in federal income taxes.
(BOOING)
BIDEN: And they made $40 billion. It's not right.
So we put a stop to it by enacting a corporate minimum tax, only 15, but 15 percent.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Today, the days of big profitable corporations paying nothing in federal income tax is over.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And guess what? Every single Republican voted against the Inflation Reduction Act.
When it actually comes to actually doing something about inflation, Republicans said no. And they said time and again that, the first chance they get, they are going to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act.
And here is what else Republicans are -- in terms of their fiscal recklessness.
