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Fox Chairman Admits Endorsed Election Lies; Key GOP Figures Skip CPAC; Secretary of State Antony Blinken Speaks at G-20; Blinken Speaks to Russian Foreign Minister; Radi Nabulsi is Interviewed about Jalen Carter's Arrest. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired March 02, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: When it came down to it, had to resign. In that scandal, he was able to fire or he did fire Roger Ailes, when he was accused of sexual misconduct. He got rid of Bill O'Reilly when he became embroiled in scandals. So, he is willing to, if push comes to shove, make tough decisions to get rid of high level personnel, whether they're stars or executives.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: But you're not hearing in this case that the stars themselves would face consequences given they were the ones actually publicly sharing the lies?

DARCY: It's really hard to fathom that someone like Sean Hannity is going to face consequences. They are the engine of this profit making machine. And so it's easy to, you know, throw someone like Suzanne Scott over the bus but someone like Sean Hannity, that's going to be much, much more difficult.

SCIUTTO: Oliver Darcy, thanks so much.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, in just a matter of hours, President Biden set to meet behind closed doors with Senate Democrats as he tries to unite the party ahead of this looming debt ceiling fight. The president is expected to release a budget proposal next week and is asking his party to stick together for what is expected to be a contentious battle with congressional Republicans.

SCIUTTO: Also today, an annual gathering of conservatives at what was once a showcase of the best and brightest in the GOP. It has been abandoned now by some of the party's own top officials and leaders. There's a list there of some of them who are skipping CPAC. Some of those faces, it won't include former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

HILL: Joining us now to discuss, "Politico's" Heidi Przybyla and Daniel Strauss from "The New Republic."

Good to see both of you this morning.

I think the question on a number of people's minds this morning, Heidi, is CPAC still relevant. HEIDI PRZYBYLA, NATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, "POLITICO": For a long time CPAC was the proving ground for the grass roots, right? And this is slowly evolved to, however, a stage really for the MAGA movement. You've put up some of the names of the big stars of the Republican Party right now who might be in contention, and they are not coming. They're going to be down at a fundraising donor network event at Palm Beach. Really it's Trump and I believe Nikki Haley who's coming. This is really just a sign of how CPAC has become more of a stage for Trump to get those visuals of him and his adoring MAGA crowds. But there's a lot here going on, including that many of the sponsors who used to come to this, used to really be kind of front a center, like Fox News, the RNC even, are not even sponsoring this event anymore.

You've got the chairman, who's under a cloud of sexual assault allegations. And so, to answer your questions, Erica, no, it's really not what it used to be, which was the major first straw poll proving event for the party's most, you know, brightest talent of the future.

SCIUTTO: Now, Daniel, as we showed that list there of folks who are going, you have one announced GOP 2024 candidate in Nikki Haley. Well, two, I should say, Trump as well, but also one expected in Mike Pompeo. You wrote about how similar this moment is to 2016 when you have a lot of Republicans privately saying, they don't want Trump to be the nominee. Of course, in 2016, he ended up being the nominee and then became the president.

What evidence is there that there's a fundamental change here, right, because there are a lot of commonalities. You know, the private hesitation, et cetera, but a lot of folks not willing to go public with those criticisms. Could we end up in the same place?

DANIEL STRAUSS, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "THE NEW REPUBLIC": I mean the most glaring one is simply that Trump now has a governing record. We know what he would be like as president. But beyond that, there is sort of an interest in other candidates that there wasn't in 2016 -- or there wasn't in 2016.

Look at Ron DeSantis. There's a lot of overlap. And there's shifting among public officials who previously liked or supported Trump and are now supporting DeSantis. So it's not in some ways a carbon copy, but at the same time we're looking at what's most likely to be a very large Republican primary field. And that will probably benefit Trump in the end.

HILL: There's so much to talk about that, Heidi, about how that large field could end up benefitting Donald Trump because he could still walk away with the biggest piece of the pie. How much is that private discussion influencing who will throw their hat in the ring?

PRZYBYLA: Right now it doesn't seem that it is because you already have his former vice president down there in Palm Beach talking to donors. Nikki Haley outwardly making statements such as, wink, wink, I think those individuals age 75 and older should have a mental test in running for president. That is a direct hit on Trump and Biden. And I think we'll -- we still have to see how it will play out because they have to balance the fact that right now he is the consensus candidate. He does have the biggest faction in every poll of the majority of Republican primary voters. He's got a very loyal base.

And, of course, even though Daniel said -- what Daniel says is true, that in 2016 he became the candidate just by virtue of there being a huge field.

[09:35:06]

Right now he's arguably even more powerful despite that governing record because he -- that is a guaranteed consolidated base. So, the more of them who get in there, if he's able to kind of sully them the way that he did with Marco Rubio, little Marco, or low-energy Jeb, Jeb Bush, who's now getting behind Ron DeSantis, that could be very effective if they can't get together and get in a room and say, we need one consolidated, more main stream candidate to take him on.

SCIUTTO: He's trying that now with Ron DeSantis, Ron desantimonious (ph) and all the other names he's sort of road testing.

I wonder, just for a moment, Daniel, before we go, if we could talk about the 2024 Senate because, of course, you'll have the presidential race but the Senate map for Democrats a bit -- more difficult this time around.

Michigan Representative Elissa Slotkin, she's throwing her hat in the ring to replace Debbie Stabenow. Is she a strong candidate for Democrats as they look at the map in 2024?

STRAUSS: I mean - well, first of all, we need to remember that we're just on the eve of these Senate elections. But, at the same time, we've seen that Slotkin has done a good job of clearing the field. Most of the other likely Democratic candidates, Garlin Gilchrist, for instance, or, you know, Abdul El-Sayed maybe are not running this time around. And that, I think, speaks to the ability of Slotkin to pose a sort of unifying message.

But she's going to have to put up a pugilistic front because there will be some kind of Republican nominee and Republicans know that Michigan is not a deep blue state. Republicans can win there.

At the same time though, Slotkin's record as a national security expert, as someone who was in the CIA, someone who, at times, bucks Democratic leadership but is reliable on things like prescription drug pricing makes her a formidable candidate.

SCIUTTO: Daniel Strauss, Heidi Przybyla, thanks so much to both of you.

HILL: Just ahead here, a University of Georgia football star, and someone expected to be one of the NFL's top prospects, now facing charges related to the tragic car accident that killed one of his teammates and a team staffer. The very latest, next.

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[09:41:37]

SCIUTTO: Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaking live now after meeting the Russian foreign minister at the G-20. That's the first time they've met since Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago. This taking place in New Delhi, India.

Let's listen in.

ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States didn't want this war. We worked hard to prevent it. Like most countries, we want to focus on the fundamental challenges affecting the daily lives of our people. So, even as we stand with Ukraine while it defends itself, as any nation would do in that position, we're also determined to keep working with other countries to deliver solutions to these shared challenges.

And that's exactly what we did today at the G-20. These challenges include the unprecedented food security crisis around the world. We've got to do two things at once, get food to the hungry now, but also help countries build up their agricultural productivity and resilience so that they're less vulnerable to future shots (ph).

The United States is leading on both fronts. In addition to funding more than half of the World Food Program's entire budget, we contributed $13.5 billion to fight hunger over the last year alone, and more than $11 billion over the next five years to boost country's resilience and nutrition.

African countries in particular have told us time and again that more than aid, what they want is help building the sustainable capacity to feed their own people. And we're teaming up to do just that. Now the unprecedented levels of food insecurity have been driven primarily by climate, by Covid, and by conflicts. But the crisis has been worsened intentionally by President Putin, whose weaponized the hunger of people across the globe. Thanks in large part to U.N. Secretary General Guterres and Turkia (ph).

The Black Sea Grain Initiative loosened Russia's stranglehold on Ukraine's ports, allowing more than 22 million metric tons of grain and other food, that's the equivalent of 8 billion loaves of bread to leave Ukraine's ports for global markets. And that's lowered the price of food for people everywhere.

Today, Russia is again slow walking the export of food from Ukraine. And with the Black Sea Initiative set to expire on March 18th, Russia has refused to commit to renewing it.

The message that countries set at today's meeting is clear, extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative and strengthen it and do that without delay.

We also discussed ways to counter the proliferation and trafficking of illicit synthetic drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine. In the United States alone, fentanyl killed more than 70,000 people last year. It's the number one killer of Americans aged 18 to 49. No country can tackle this problem alone. Disrupting supply chains are precursors, preventing the diversion of legal chemicals to illegal uses, dismantling the transnational criminal groups that foster corruption and profit off of other's suffering. These are challenges that demand a coordinated global effort.

That's why it's important that for the first time -

HILL: Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaking there late at night at the G-20.

CNN national security correspondent Kylie Atwood joining us now with more.

So, a lot of interest in his remarks here, Kylie, Blinken met with Sergey Lavrov, foreign minister for Russia, for the first time in over a year. The last time they spoke was before the -- met was before the Russian invasion. They met on the sidelines here. What more do we know about that meeting and specifically who initiated it?

[09:45:05]

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, this is the highest level meeting between U.S. and Russian officials since the Russian invasion, the Ukraine war began. And the last time that the secretary of state was meeting with Lavrov was the month before the invasion where he warned the Russian foreign minister of the costs and consequences if Russia went ahead with the invasion. Obviously, Russia went ahead anyways.

And so it's really significant here that it was the secretary of state who actually initiated this conversation. We're told by a senior State Department official that it lasted only about ten minutes. It was pretty brief. And the secretary of state essentially had three points that he made in this conversation. First, he pressed that Russia should reverse its decision to get out of the New START Treaty, which is the single lasting arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia, which Russia announced that they are going to be departing earlier this month. And then he also pressed for an American, Paul Whelan, who's still wrongfully detained in Russia, to be released. And, of course, he reiterated U.S. support for Ukraine.

Now, Blinken and Lavrov have actually been in the same place at the same time a number of times over the course of the last year at other foreign ministers meeting, one in Bali at the United Nations meeting back in September, but they haven't actually had direct dialogue. And so that's why this is significant.

But I do think it's important to note that a senior State Department official, after this conversation, said there's no expectation of near term changes after this conversation. So, we're not looking at a conversation that represents a diplomatic breakthrough here. Rather what this was, was an opportunity for the secretary of state to in- person deliver some very clear messages from the United States that we have obviously heard publicly espoused by the secretary of state and President Biden, but that they haven't told the Russian foreign minister face-to-face over the course of the last year. SCIUTTO: Listen, talking is better than not talking, right? I mean the

lack of diplomatic contact has consequences. But, boy, it shows the gulf between those two countries right now.

HILL: It certainly does.

Kylie, appreciate it. Thank you.

Also want to get you some news just into us here at CNN from inside the Murdaugh trial. This morning, the judge removing a juror. Stay with us. We'll tell you why on the other side of this break.

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[09:51:18]

HILL: This morning, one of the NFL's top prospects is facing charges in connection with a car crash that left one of his UGA teammates and also a staffer dead. Former University of Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter left the NFL Combine in Indianapolis yesterday to turn himself into police in Athens, Georgia. Carter is charged with reckless driving and racing after that January crash which killed teammate Devin Willock and UGA staffer Chandler LeCroy. So police now say that LeCroy, who was driving with a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit, and Carter were racing at speeds as high as 104 miles per hour before that deadly crash. In a statement, Carter saying there is, quote, no question in my mind that when all of the facts are know, I will be fully exonerated.

Radi Nabulsi is a publisher for UGASports.com and joins us now.

You're there in Indianapolis actually for the Combine.

Good to have you with us this morning.

Before we get to some of what is happening with Jalen Carter today and the impact here, the families of Devin Willock and Chandler LeCroy, have you spoken with - or do you know if anybody on the team has had any contact with them since this all came out yesterday?

RADI NABULSI, PUBLISHER, UGASPORTS.COM: Yes, the team, the coaches, the support staff, it's a very tight-knit bunch over there because you spend so much time with your - you know, your teammates and the support staff. Chandler LeCroy was a recruiting coordinator. She knew most of these guys when they were 16, 17, 18 years old. You know, they all knew her. So they've reached out to the families. They've reached out to the Devin Willock family. Especially Willock is one of the most beloved players on the team. So, his passing hit very hard. And they've definitely reached out.

Of course, they're not making that public. They're not saying, hey, here's what we told the families. But they have reached out.

HILL: Keeping it - keeping it close to the vest.

Georgia Coach Kirby Smart calling these developments concerning. How is the team handling this?

NABULSI: Well, the team has - you know, they were -- it was the highest of the highs to the lowest of the lows. They had just celebrated their second national championship after 41 years. And the they had a huge parade. The entire town turned out for them. Just - it's the epitome of that - all that hard work pays off. And then you find out that a beloved teammate and a beloved staffer had passed away, another one was injured, and it just dropped them.

So, even when they talk about the - the national championships, there - there's still that dark cloud over it. So, they're handling it as well as can be - you know, as well as it can, but it's not - it's not a good situation.

HILL: Yes, no, it's - I mean, it was. And I think you phrased it perfectly, the highs of highs, the lowest of lows.

You know, the "AJC" is reporting that Carter's story actually changed when speaking with police. That first he said he wasn't at the crash site. Then he said he was alongside the car as it crashed. The paper also saying he had left the scene before returning two hours later. It raises a number of questions, obviously. And it's impossible to ignore I think the question in a lot of people's minds, which is, how does the NFL handle this? And to that - to that end I was really struck by - by this observation of Charles McDonald of Yahoo! Sports writing, this is the slimier part of the NFL business that viewers should be acutely aware of by now. If a player is talented enough at what they do, sins of the past can be forgotten. Is this how this plays out?

NABULSI: Absolutely. And that's not to say that he should - you know, Jalen Carter should be branded for this for life. I mean he did not cause the accident. He was doing something very stupid. He was racing and someone died for it. Chandler LeCroy and Devin Willock paid the price.

HILL: Yes.

NABULSI: So, everyone wants to expect, you get a pound of flesh. But how - how should this affect Jalen Carter? Should he not go to the NFL? Should he suffer for it for the rest of his life? He's being charged. And, here's the thing, if the police could charge him with something stronger than a pair of misdemeanors, they would. So to the NFL, this guy is an absolute difference-maker.

[09:55:03]

They - they will take him.

HILL: Yes.

NABULSI: People say, well, maybe he dropped a lot. I don't think he will. This is - I think he's going to be a top pick because the NFL is going to look at him and say, hey, it's a pair of misdemeanor, we need this difference-maker. He's a multimillion athlete for a reason. So, they, you know, the gentlemen's right, the NFL will look past this.

HILL: Yes.

NABULSI: But, at the same time, they're not going to hand him out to dry for years.

HILL: Right. Has anything changed in what NFL teams are looking at in terms of prospect? Beyond being a difference-maker on the field, is there more that comes into play, especially in light of what we've seen and the challenges, which I think is putting it extra kindly, that the NFL has dealt with, or perhaps not dealt with, depending on how you look at it?

NABULSI: Well, yes, absolutely. When you look at some of the stuff that they've let pass, you know, some of the top players who have had some very nasty allegations, and those guys keep playing, this is a situation where a guy has a couple minor charges, but he has a history of small, minor charges. There are some other traffic violations and some tickets that he received. And basically he's - he's kind of a superstar there. So, I could see the NFL saying, it's not big enough for us to pass on him.

HILL: Radi Nabulsi, great to have you there for us this morning, helping us walk through this. Appreciate it.

NABULSI: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Come up next, alarming new details this morning about an alleged plot to kill the Michigan attorney general and other Jewish elected officials in that state. What investigators are now revealing about the suspect.

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