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Nikki Haley Calls For Competency Test; Special Counsel Subpoenas Former Trump Chief Of Staff; Haley Becomes First Major Challenger To Donald Trump. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired February 16, 2023 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:31]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.

Republican Nikki Haley begins her run for the White House calling for competency tests for politicians over 75 years old. Could she be targeting President Biden or Donald Trump? Our political analyst weighs in.

Plus, anger in eastern Ohio as residents wonder if this whole town is safe after a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed.

And later, survivors still being found under the rubble more than a week after a powerful earthquake left parts of Turkey and Syria devastated.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: But first, we begin with new developments in the investigation into former President Donald Trump's role in seeking to overturn the 2020 election. CNN has now learned the special counsel has subpoenaed Trump's former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows who was witness to Trump's actions during the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. CNN's Evan Perez has more details now from Washington.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Donald Trump's former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has been subpoenaed by Special Counsel Jack Smith who's overseeing two investigations of the former president. The subpoena is seeking documents and testimony related to January 6 and Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. And the move to subpoena one of the Trump's most senior aides in addition to the recent subpoena of former Vice President Mike Pence, marks the latest significant step in this sprawling investigation. Smith is investigating Trump's handling of classified documents after he left office. And while the subpoena is related to January 6, Meadows also may be of interest in the document's investigation. He played a role in the months and months of discussions going on between the National Archives and Trump's representatives over returning government records that were in his possession. Special Counsel subpoena could also set up a clash with the Justice Department and meadows and Trump over executive privilege.

Now he was a witness to Trump's efforts to pressure officials in the States and in Congress to help him remain in power despite losing the election.

Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

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CHURCH: A former Special Counsel at the U.S. defense department weighed in on whether citing executive privilege could keep Mark Meadows from testifying in this investigation.

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RYAN GOODMAN, FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: If Jack Smith wants Mark Meadows' testimony, Jack Smith will get Mark Meadows' testimony. I think if he does executive privilege, it's a loser. There's a unanimous, unambiguous Supreme Court case with a sitting president let alone a former chief of staff that United States v. Nixon, the judge in this case, CNN has reported has already decided against executive privilege with the White House Counsel, Deputy White House Counsel. That's done.

The Supreme Court had an opportunity to grant executive privilege on the documents that the January 6 committee wanted, and they did not. And those are the same kinds of arguments. Executive privilege for documents that included Mark Meadows' correspondence. It's just -- that's a dead -- there's no way that they will not -- that Jack Smith will not succeed on that one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The Republican field or presidential hopefuls could be expanding soon. So far, only Donald Trump and Nikki Haley have declared their candidacy. But more than a dozen others are reportedly weighing runs for the White House. Some are already visiting the early voting state of Iowa, including former Vice President Mike Pence who had this to say about Haley.

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MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I wish her well. Ambassador Nikki Haley did a great job in our administration. She may have more company soon. In the race for president, I promise folks here in Iowa and all of you, I'll keep you posted.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Haley announced her candidacy by video message on Tuesday and one day later she hit the campaign trail in her home state of South Carolina. CNN's Kylie Atwood is there.

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NIKKI HALEY, UNITED STATES REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For a strong America, for a proud America, I am running for president of the United States of America.

[02:05:05]

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Nikki Haley throwing her hat into the ring for the 2024 presidential race.

HALEY: We're ready. Ready to move past the stale ideas and faded names of the past.

ATWOOD: The proud daughter of Indian immigrants calling for a generational change in American politics.

HALEY: America is not past our prime. It's just that our politicians are passed theirs.

ATWOOD: The twice-elected governor of South Carolina turned 51 last month, even calling for competency tests for older politicians which would include President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump now her rival for the GOP nomination.

HALEY: And mandatory mental competency test for politicians over 75 years old.

ATWOOD: She detailed her vision for America's future and for the direction of the Republican Party.

HALEY: We've lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections. Our cause is right, but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans. Well, that ends today.

ATWOOD: As the former ambassador to the United Nation, she focused in on the threat from China too.

HALEY: It is on thinkable that Americans would look at the sky and see a Chinese spy balloon looking back at us.

ATWOOD: Highlighting her identity as a woman of color, she waded into the culture wars animating her party for claiming that America is not a racist country.

HALEY: This self-loathing is a virus more dangerous than any pandemic. It's a system of a lack of pride in our country and a lack of trust in our leaders.

ATWOOD: If her bid is successful, Haley would be the first woman and the first Asian-American nominated by the Republican Party for president. HALEY: This is not the America that call to my parents. And make no mistake, this is not the America I will leave to my children.

ATWOOD: With her announcement, Haley is the first major Republican challenger to Trump, who's criticized her decision to enter the 2024 fray despite saying he encouraged her to run.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I said look, you know, go by your heart if you want to run.

ATWOOD: For her part, Haley only mentioned Trump once in her speech today with the two likely to be doing soon by other Republican hopefuls in the coming months.

HALEY: As I set out on this new journey, I will simply say this, may the best woman win.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ATWOOD: Nikki Haley really had a little piece of something in this speech for everyone. Clearly trying to appeal to a wide swath of Republican voters but even though it's only officially her and the former President Trump who have entered the race, there are other expected contenders who are already out on the campaign trail. Tim Scott, Asa Hutchinson and the former Vice President Mike Pence, all in South Carolina, Iowa this week.

Kylie Atwood, CNN, Charleston, South Carolina.

CHURCH: CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein joins me now from Los Angeles. He's also a senior editor at The Atlantic. Always a pleasure to have you with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks for having me, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, Nikki Haley is the first GOP candidate to challenge Donald Trump for the Republican nomination calling for a new generation of leadership and trying to distance herself from her old boss. But the reality is, her support falls far behind that of Trump or even Ron DeSantis who's yet to officially declare he's running. So, is Haley in this race to be President or Vice President?

BROWNSTEIN: That's a really good question. I mean, look, her chances -- she has a difficult road in the Republican primary. She is a candidate who I think is probably going to appeal mostly to college educated Republicans. The half of the party that is college educated as opposed to the half of the party that is non college. And that could be a very crowded lane. I mean, many of the candidates who are looking at the race, Glenn Youngkin, Larry Hogan, governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu, Mike Pompeo.

Many of them would have more appeal on that side of the ledger. And of course, if you look back at 2016, Donald Trump won the nomination by dominating among the non-college, half of the party and he was -- he faced pretty significant resistance all the way through among those college educated Republicans.

CHURCH: Haley held her presidential campaign kickoff rally in her home state of South Carolina Wednesday. We saw the pictures there as you were speaking to us. What did she say that would resonate with voters and what sets her apart and differentiates her from other GOP competitors like Trump, DeSantis, Mike Pence who just signaled he expects to join the presidential race soon?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, the core of our argument, as you noted, was that she represents a general -- generational change in the Republican Party. And I do think there is an audience in each party for the idea of generational change.

[02:10:01]

She's got two big challenges, though, I think in pressing that argument. One is that the Republican primary electorate is not only very white, Rosemary, it's also very grey. In almost every state, at least two thirds of the voters. And often three quarters of the voters are voters aged 45 or older. Which means that she's going to have to convince older voters that they need ultimately, a younger candidate. The other problem I think she has is that we have seen a generational change argument work in the past.

And I think of candidates like Democrats, Gary Hart in 1984, or Bill Clinton in 1992, or George W. Bush in 2000. It hasn't been just waiting to turn the page in terms of age. It's been tied to a critique of the party agenda and a call for an ideological change in direction. There was really none of that today in her announcement. There was no sense that she was offering a different direction for Republicans. She was just saying I represent a different direct -- a different generation.

She's going to need to flesh that out, I think with more of a sense that she is pointing the party on a new path.

CHURCH: Right. And of course, if this ends up being a race involving Trump, DeSantis, Pence, Haley and others, who will likely get the Republican presidential nomination and who ends up being the running mate?

BROWNSTEIN: Trump tends to divide voters along lines of education. As I said, about half of Republican voters in 2016 had a college degree, about half did not. Trump dominated among those who did not. He won almost half of the total votes among non-college Republicans, even in a very crowded field with many alternatives. But he only won about one-third of the college-educated Republicans. Now he was able to make that work, because as I said, the two-thirds of college Republicans who weren't that keen on Trump never coalesce behind a single candidate.

I think once again, those college-educated Republicans will have to be the basis for any candidate who wants to seriously challenge Trump. And the question is whether anybody can consolidate them better than the group like Jeb Bush and John Kasich and Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz did in 2016. On paper, you would say that Ron DeSantis is better positioned to do that, and also better positioned than any of them to cut into Trump's blue-collar strength by strengthening -- stressing some of the same cultural issues, but you've got to get on the field and actually run against Donald Trump.

CHURCH: And so, how likely is it that Haley or Pence can successfully dump their political association with Trump and offer a fresh start up against the likes of DeSantis who is the guy that Trump really feels threatened by?

BROWNSTEIN: Haley or Pence, inevitably. If they want to emerge as candidates, they are going to have to give a reason why the, you know, the big gorilla in the room should not be the nominee. I mean, it's hard to display someone with as much name I.D. as Trump, particularly when you have a challenger with that -- with the scale of Ron DeSantis unless you make an explicit reason why voters should not do the kind of the easy thing and default to him.

And I think so long as people like Pence and Haley tried to have it both ways, implying that the party should moving on Trump but not really making an argument against them, I think they are headed for a relatively peripheral role in the race ride.

CHURCH: All right. Ron Brownstein, thank you so much. Always a pleasure to get your analysis.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to visit East Palestine, Ohio in the coming hours where a train carrying hazardous materials derailed early this month. Now, nearly two weeks since that disaster, residents are growing impatient as they wait for answers from officials and the rail company on whether their community is safe. CNN's Jason Carroll reports.

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JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Frustration, anger and unanswered questions in East Palestina, Ohio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here for (INAUDIBLE) railroad get us wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My kids safe, the people is safe, is the future of this community safe.

CARROLL: Not present at this community meeting, a representative that many wanted to hear from.

In the 11th hour, Norfolk Southern Railroad, that company responsible for the toxic train derailment sent a statement saying in part, we know that many are rightfully angry and frustrated right now. Unfortunately, after consulting with community leaders, we have become increasingly concerned about their growing physical threat to our employees. With that in mind, Norfolk Southern will not be in attendance this evening.

Cleanup efforts are underway. The governor telling residents Wednesday, the municipal water is safe to drink. His statement comes after a new test result from the state environmental protection agency found no detection of contaminants.

Officials say the toxic spill was largely contained the day after the derailment and that tests have shown the air quality is safe.

[02:15:07]

And while state official will save admissible water is sick spill was largely contained the day after the derailment and that tests have shown the air quality is safe. And while state officials save admissible water is safe to drink, they are still suggesting those with private wells get their water tested.

CARROLL (on camera): In the back of your property back here they found dead --

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, they saw dead wish.

CARROLL (voice over): Cathy Reese says she has been drinking bottled water instead of well water ever since she started spotting dead fish in the creek following the derailment. She said she's still waiting for the state to come and test her well water.

CATHY REESE, NEGLEY, OHIO RESIDENT: Air wise. I feel OK. Water wise, no. I -- no. There's just too many chemicals and stuff that were spilled that they still don't want to identify completely.

CARROLL: And Ohio Department of Natural Resources official estimate some 3500 fish in the state have died following the train derailment.

These people saw the flames from their homes and worry their neighborhood still may not be safe.

JIM STEWART, EAST PALESTINE, OHIO RESIDENT: I don't recommend you put anything in the ground vegetables or tomatoes or anything this year because we don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think they're going to do enough.

CARROLL: And some residents say they have been frustrated by what they describe as a lack of communication with officials on the ground.

TANGIE MOHRBACHER, EAST PALESTINE, OHIO RESIDENT: We pass all of the creeks and there's crew after crew with white hoses and black codes is all through the creeks. They're not telling us why and this is -- this is daily. I'm driving my children to school past all of this and they're asking me questions that I don't have answers to.

CARROLL: We found getting information just as challenging.

CARROLL (on camera): I'm just trying to get a sense of what those pumps are, can just someone just --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Norfolk Southern can tell you everything. That's the hotline. They can tell you everything.

CARROLL: You realize people are calling this number and no one is getting back to them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just told to direct people that number.

CARROLL (voice over): The governor asked by reporters Tuesday, if he would feel comfortable living in East Palestine.

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): I think that I would be drinking the bottle water. And I would be continuing to find out what the tests were showing as far as the air. I would be alert and concerned but I think I would probably be back in my house.

CARROLL: But residents like Cathy Reese say they are left with few choices.

REESE: Just pray and keep drinking bottled water until we know for sure what's going on.

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CARROLL: And she is still drinking that bottled water. In terms of what happened here at East Palestine High School after that townhall, still a lot of unanswered questions. Some of those that we spoke to still questions about testing of well water and questions about how long the EPA will be here on the ground doing its testing. Well, the head of the EPA, the EPA Administrator Michael Regan heading in for Washington, D.C. He will be on the ground on Thursday to assess the situation.

Jason Carroll, CNN, East Palestine, Ohio.

CHURCH: We are getting reports of Russian missile strikes targeting critical infrastructure physical facilities across Ukraine overnight. The latest on these attacks in just a moment.

And then later, students of Michigan State University hold an emotional vigil for their three classmates killed in that mass shooting Monday.

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CHURCH: It is just after 9:00 a.m. in Ukraine where the country's military is reporting a barrage of Russian cruise missiles struck critical infrastructure overnight, including some strikes in western Ukraine.

Meantime, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the most difficult fighting right now is for the small but strategic city of Bakhmut. Not far from that embattled city. At least three people were reported killed on Wednesday by a Russian strike on apartment buildings. Nearly a dozen others were wounded.

President Zelenskyy says Bakhmut has come to symbolize Ukraine's diehard resistance to Moscow's aggression. Take a listen.

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VOLODYMR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: It is not easy for soldiers in the east but you understand they say fortress Bakhmut for a reason. There is such a phrase in our society. Our fortress is alive, by which I mean living people such a living wall.

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CHURCH: And CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us now live from London with the latest on all of this. Clare, what more are you learning about these Russian missile strikes on critical infrastructure in Ukraine?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It seems to me there was a pretty big assault across the country. The Ukrainian Air Force is saying that 30 -- 32 land and sea-based cruise missiles were launched at Ukraine overnight. They said that at least 16 of those were shut down but these bearers did according to the Air Force include the types of missiles that Ukraine currently does not have the capability to shoot down.

The KH-22 anti-ship missiles that we've seen deployed by Russia against land-based targets before were among the missiles fired. They said that unfortunately, some of those missiles did hit their targets. We're also hearing from the chief of staff of the president who said that the attack included unmanned aerial vehicles, drones, essentially as well, and that targets were hit in the north and west of the country. The Governor of the Lviv region saying that a critical infrastructure facility was hit overnight.

There are no casualties of fire broke out, but it has now been extinguished. So, this clearly has been a hallmark of Russia's strategy, particularly over the last four months attacking Ukraine's critical infrastructure, in particular, the power grid. We are not there as me at this stage hearing of any effect on the electricity grid.

CHURCH: And Clare, in the midst of this fierce fighting NATO defense ministers are stepping up support for Ukraine and further strengthening deterrence and defense. What more are you learning about what came out of the meeting in Brussels?

SEBASTIAN: Yes. So, we're hearing and seeing, frankly, a major show of force and show of support from Ukraine's Western allies, particularly coming up to the anniversary of this war next week. The NATO Secretary General saying there is really no sign that Putin is preparing for peace. I think the attacks overnight are evidence of that as well. But that Putin should not be allowed to win. And we're seeing more pledges of support coming from the likes of the Swedish Prime Minister who was in Kyiv on Wednesday saying that nothing is off the table.

The U.S. ambassador to NATO saying that they could -- they're not going to take their foot off the gas, essentially, in terms of providing support.

[02:25:07]

But the NATO secretary general saying, look, you know, it's all well and good having these pledges, but the time is now, there's a critical window of opportunity for Ukraine to try to tip the balance in this war. And we're also hearing of course, Rosemary, about limitations in that he called this a battle of logistics that Ukraine is burning through, for example, ammunition much faster than NATO countries can produce it. So, a show of support, but also hearing about those limitations in terms of providing it.

CHURCH: All right. Clare Sebastian, many thanks for that live report.

Well, a few more survivors are being freed from the rubble following that devastating earthquake and new shipments of aid are reaching parts of Syria struggling with wreckage and war.

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CHURCH: A week and a half after the devastating earthquake, more lifesaving supplies are reaching northwest Syria.

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The trucks have been making their way to hard-hit areas controlled mainly by rebels, where millions of people depended on humanitarian aid even before the quake. Remarkably, people were still being found alive in the rubble on Wednesday. A woman and two children were saved in Turkey's Hatay province, 228 hours after that quake hit. According to state media, the first question she asked rescuers was, what day is it?

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(on camera) Well, for many, it is difficult to comprehend the scope of the damage and the staggering amount of work that remains CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, shows us the destruction in Antakya in Turkey.

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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The city of Antakya is one of the hardest hit by the massive earthquake. Here it's almost impossible to find a building that hasn't been impacted by the quake. Entire neighborhoods flattened, buildings, businesses homes, produced to piles and piles of rubble. The Turkish President says, the earthquake was as big as atomic bombs. People here say it is like a war zone, but no bombs went off here, and in seconds a historic city was wiped. Wherever you turn, there's something happening, it's the constant sound of diggers, heavy machinery on every street removing the rubble.

Police and emergency services are everywhere. You have ambulances screaming past, heavy military presence, and families searching for and retrieving the bodies of their loved ones. You see people sleeping on the streets, tents cities for the displace that are popping up everywhere. And with fires burning for people to keep warm, the smoke, break dust, and all kinds of fumes here make it so hard to breathe. One man telling us this is what the apocalypse would look like. Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Antakya, Turkey.

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CHURCH: And for information on how to help the earthquake victims, you can go to CNN.COM/Impact. There you will find a list of organizations working on rescue and relief efforts. And still to come with Moscow accused of holding thousands of Ukrainian children at camps inside Russia. CNN speaks with a Ukrainian woman on a desperate journey to reunite with her child. We're back with that in just a moment.

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CHURCH: A disturbing new report is detailing an expansive network of camps in Russia, where thousands of Ukrainian children have allegedly been held since the start of the war. It claims Russia has taken great efforts to not only relocate but also re-educate those children, and in some cases train them for military service. The report was produced by the conflict observatory at the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, with support from the U.S. State Department. It found more than 6,000 children from infants to teenagers, have been in Russian custody at some point during the war.

43 facilities were identified in the network, stretching across Russia and even into Russian-occupied Crimea. At least 32 of those facilities have apparently engaged in what the report calls systematic re- education efforts that expose children to Russia-Centric Academic and Cultural Education, and in two cases, military education. Russia is dismissing the report as absurd. We'll CNN's David McKenzie has the story of one Ukrainian woman willing to travel to Russian-occupied territory to be reunited with her daughter.

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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Weeks ago, we first met Tetyana Vlaiko in Kyiv, in a shelter for displaced families, all of the mothers here separated from their children by the trauma of war.

TETYANA VLAIKO, UKRAINIAN MOTHER, (through translator): Emotions overwhelmed me when Lilia (PH) left. When I realized what was happening, it terrified me. All I wanted for the best for my child at the time.

MCKENZIE (voiceover) Her 11-year-old daughter Lilia, stuck in a Russian camp in occupied Crimea, all the lessons are in Russian. At first glance, the retreats seem like any other summer camp, but the loyalty expected from Ukrainian children is crystal clear. Part of what a new Yale University study calls systematic education efforts. But Tetyana and Lilia's story begins a year ago, the hometown of cosigned fell quickly to advancing Russian troops. Within days the occupiers began a campaign to ratify the population. Often, coercing thousands of parents like Tetyana, to send their kids to the camps. But when Ukrainian forces took back her son in November, Tetyana's daughter was on the wrong side of the front line. MYKOLA KULEBA, SAVE UKRAINE: We provide rescue mission for children who were abducted, and now in Russia Federation, and in Crimea.

MCKENZIE (voiceover) Mykola Kuleba, the founder of Save Ukraine, declined to say exactly how they negotiate the entry into enemy territory, just that the mothers can't do it on their own.

KULEBA: It's impossible to communicate with any Russians because you can ask these mothers, they don't want to give children back.

MCKENZIE (voiceover) But Tetyana was ready to take the risk.

VLAIKO (through translator): I'm worried, of course, you cannot even imagine my emotions inside. It's fear and terror, it's emotional that I could see her soon. And this is a big deal for me.

[02:40:03]

MCKENZIE (voiceover) 11 mothers and one father, putting on a brave face, but there's a perilous route. From Ukraine by road to Poland, and to Russian ally Belarus, through the Russian Federation to occupied Crimea.

VLAIKO (through translator): We will count in every kilometer on approach. I could feel it with every cell in my body. I was very emotional when they were closer and closer.

MCKENZIE (voiceover) Save Ukraine, spent many months planning this moment. Reuniting families shattered by war, returning children who just wanted to go home to Ukraine.

VLAIKO (through translator): Once I enter, to me, it was an outburst of emotions. Once we embraced it was like a great weight lifted.

MCKENZIE (voiceover) In the end they gave up the children willingly. But Save Ukraine says that hundreds, perhaps thousands remain. How two countries are at war says Tetyana. But there are good people everywhere. David McKenzie, CNN Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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