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Trump to Speak at Conservative Political Action Conference; Trump's Rising Poll Numbers; NTSB Head: A Similar Disaster Could Absolutely Happen Again; Interview with Senator Bob Casey (D-PA). Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 04, 2023 - 17:00   ET

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

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[17:00:39]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

Just minutes from now former President Donald Trump will be less than ten miles from the U.S. Capitol, addressing a crowd of his adoring supporters as, for all intents and purposes, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination.

Despite his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Trump has been leading in several polls of Republican voters as he delivers the keynote address at the annual CPAC gathering later on this afternoon.

Even though other GOP contenders are warning the party to move on from Trump his MAGA faithful have come to dominate the Republicans' long- time marquee event.

At any moment CPAC will announce the results of its new presidential straw poll. We understand that coming in right now, Trump has won the last two with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis coming in second. Both times DeSantis has not formally announced for 2024 and he's skipping this year's gathering.

But let's talk to CNN's Kristen Holmes. She joins us now from CPAC where they're gathering in Maryland just outside the nation's capital.

Kristen, I understand the results of this non-scientific -- we need to emphasize -- it's a non-scientific straw poll, that those results have come in. What are the results?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are. And again yes, as you said this is unofficial, this is nonscientific, it is just based on who is here at CPAC.

And unsurprisingly Trump did win that straw poll 62 percent over DeSantis who is at 20 percent. Everyone else's numbers are much less significant.

Now, it would have been a huge blow to former President Trump had he not won that his straw poll. This conference, which used to be a beacon for all potential Republican hopefuls for president, has really become a complete Trump-fest.

People are here to see him. And almost all of the speakers support a Trump 2024 presidential run. They want him to be in office again. We heard from a number of people.

Now Jim, I do want to note that we did get some exclusive reporting on what Trump is going to say when he takes the stage. And it is -- there's a lot here.

He's going to double down on isolationism, something that we know that has been dividing the Republican Party. He's going to say that the Republican Party will never go down -- go back to a party that gives -- citing endless words like giving enormous amounts of money while they cut benefits at home.

He also says that they're going to never go back to a country that supports political dynasties in either party.

And then he also talks about with a little bit of a fatalist kind of attitude here. He says this is the final battle -- they know it, I know it, you know it, everybody knows it. This is Trump-speak. This is something that we have heard time and time again and something that he does when he is particularly in front of these kinds of crowds who like the Trump-speak.

And I think that this will go over well with this crowd because many of these people are just here to see him.

The other thing I want to say here is that he goes after the deep state again. One of the things that he said when he was running in 2016. A lot of this sounds a lot like the rhetoric we heard back in 2016 when he was running. It's very different than what we heard in 2020 when he said I will totally obliterate the deep state. I will fire the unelected bureaucrats and shadow forces who have weaponized our justice system.

I think we know what he's referring to there. Of course, one of the things that he has done in reaction to the many subpoenas and many investigations from the Department of Justice is that they're politicized and weaponized and clearly going after that in his speech today again, Jim.

ACOSTA: It sounds like it's going to be a fire hose of falsehoods. All right. Kristen Holmes, thank you very much.

There are only three officially declared Republican candidates in the 2024 race and Donald Trump right now appears to be the one to beat.

CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten joins us now to run the numbers. Harry, we just got some numbers a few moments ago. The CNN -- or the CPAC straw poll I should say coming in, showing that Donald Trump is way out in front of Ron DeSantis.

Of course it's a nonscientific, unofficial poll, but it falls in line with the numbers that you're looking at. And Harry, it's extraordinary. I mean this is somebody who riled up a crowd that attacked the capitol on January 6th, attempted through various ways to overturn the 2020 election results, and here he is by far the favorite at CPAC.

[17:04:56]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes. You know look, as you pointed out, Jim, that's an unscientific poll. But let me give you some scientific numbers that we've sort of seen over the last few months dating back to last year and the trend lines that we've seen.

Look at this. I think there are two things to take from this graphic. Number one is that Donald Trump's poll numbers fell from June to October of 2022 when he was at 52 percent to 41 percent immediately following the election, right?

That's not a big surprise. A lot of Trump-backed Republican candidates did poorly in the midterm elections and I think Republicans turned against him while DeSantis rose from 23 percent to 31 percent.

But look what's happened in the first two months of this year. What have we seen? We've seen Donald Trump kind of rise again from that 41 percent then he's at 43 percent in January then to 44 percent in February and his advantage over Ron DeSantis which was ten points at the end of last year has now risen back up to 15 points.

It's not the same level that it was in the middle of last year when it was about 30 points but still 15 points is higher than 10 points. And Jim, there's nobody else who's anywhere close.

Everybody else is in the mid to maybe high single digits. So at this particular point Donald Trump is the favorite for the Republican nomination in 2024. That's just what the numbers say, Jim.

ACOSTA: And there doesn't seem to be anybody at this point, maybe Ron DeSantis, who is anywhere near front-runner status at this point.

And Harry, correct me if I'm wrong, you know, how often do candidates polling like Trump right now win the primary? I mean he did this back in 2016 where he was pretty far out in front for much of that process and ended up being the nominee.

So for folks who were saying, oh, it's early, and that's true; or you know, somebody else might knock him off that pedestal, I mean that might not happen. I mean Trump may run the table this entire process.

ENTEN: Yes. You know, Jim, I'll point out that Trump is actually in a stronger position than he was during this point in 2024 -- excuse me, in the 2016 season. But more than that, more than that, here's what I'll point out. I will point out that people in Trump's position have won about 75 percent of the time in competitive primaries since 1972.

Now, when you have someone in Ron DeSantis' position and someone in Trump's position, people in Trump's position have won about two-thirds of the time, a little bit less. But still two-thirds of the time to 75 percent of the time is pretty gosh darn good. So at this particular point, look, is Trump heavy favorite? No. But he

is the clear favorite and that's what I think I would take away from the numbers we were just looking at, Jim.

ACOSTA: And Trump won -- I mean I covered the Trump campaign in 2016. He won that nomination crowding out his opponents for press coverage. How is that looking now?

I mean if you look at the way that CPAC has been covered. We're looking at video right now, people walking around in Trump 45 T- shirts. We were showing hats earlier that said that he won, which of course, is not the case.

It just seems to be all Trump all the time almost in the Republican Party right now when you look at the coverage.

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ENTEN: It is. Yes, I mean look. Look at the Fox News mentions over the last few months. What do we see? We see that Donald Trump is far and away getting the most mentions on Fox News. Look at that, over 2,000 to Ron DeSantis' just 721 from January to February of 2023. And more than that, Trump is picking up an increasing share of the mentions.

So it's not just that he's well ahead but he's actually gaining. And to me this is the exact normal that Trump wants to sort of crowd out the competition and maintain the poll number leads that he currently has.

ACOSTA: All right. Harry Enten, great stuff as always. Thanks so much. We appreciate it.

ENTEN: Thank you.

ACOSTA: And sources tell CNN Donald Trump is asking a federal court to block his former vice president, Mike Pence, from testifying before a grand jury about January 6th and the efforts to overturn the former president's 2020 election loss. That request is part of a new filing submitted secretly in a sealed proceeding.

Let's talk about this with CNN's Jeremy Herb. What can you tell us?

JEREMY HERB, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes. That's right, Jim. And this filing is -- basically it's going to make it more difficult for special counsel, Jack Smith, to obtain testimony from Vice President Mike Pence.

And of course this investigation is playing out as we see in the course of this 2024 presidential race. Now, the filing as you said, it was filed under seal and so we don't know details about the specific argument that the Trump legal team is making. What we're told is from sources that they are basically trying to prevent Pence from testifying about certain elements of the January 6th investigation.

And this isn't the only roadblock that the special counsel is facing, because Pence himself has said that he plans to fight the subpoena for a different reason. Pence has argued that he is protected by the Constitution's speech and debate clause which shields the legislative branch from certain law enforcement action.

He says because he was the president of the senate on January 6 when he was certifying the votes that he is protected under this clause.

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HERB: Now, what the key here is going to be, how much time is the special counsel going to take to try to fight these battles or is the special counsel going to decide that he has enough evidence to try to wrap up this investigation, potentially before these executive privilege and other matters are resolved, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Jeremy Herb, very important development, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

And more now with CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. His new book is "Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away With It". I always feel like when I read that title, it's the perfect segue to what we then talk about, Elie.

Let's talk about this what Trump is now doing with executive privilege. I mean put aside the fact that he's now on the same page, pretty much, as Mike Pence, his former vice president, that they both don't want him to testify, or at least that's the way Pence is putting that out there publicly. Could this work? He's not president anymore.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well Jim, you're right. It is unusual to see Trump and Pence reunited, I suppose. I think it's very much of a long shot. I think Donald Trump has a steep, rocky, uphill climb legally.

He's invoking executive privilege, meaning I had conversations when I was president with one of my key advisers, my vice president, that needs to remain secret.

But he's got two big problems. One, Donald Trump is now a former president. While it's not impossible for a former president to invoke executive privilege, the courts have said that it's much more difficult for a former president to invoke executive privilege than a sitting president. So that's number one.

The other problem Donald Trump has is this is a criminal grand jury subpoena. And usually courts are going to honor criminal grand jury subpoenas and typically, with some exceptions, but typically executive privilege does not prevail over a grand jury subpoena.

So it's a shot in the dark here. I think it's got a chance of succeeding but only a very long shot chance here.

ACOSTA: And Elie, Pence is already trying to avoid testifying by claiming it would be unconstitutional under the speech or debate clause of the constitution. Is he right about that? What are the odds of that being successful? I've been wondering about this one. HONIG: He's got a little bit of a better argument here and I think he

could succeed in some part. His argument is that in my role as vice president, I was also president of the Senate and the constitution says that members of Congress cannot be forced to answer questions outside of Congress itself.

I do think the court will say, it can apply to the vice president. The problem is you have to go sort of question by question and decide is this within his legislative duties -- his proper legislative duties?

This is what happened with Representative Perry. This is what happened with Lindsey Graham. And both times, the court went through and said only a very narrow subsection of your testimony is protected, that which applies to actual legitimate congressional duties. All the other stuff though is in play and I think we'll get a similar response here with Mike Pence.

ACOSTA: And I mean obviously these are delay tactics on the part of the former president. You and I have talked about this a gazillion times that this is what he does. Doesn't this complicate matters, though, for the special counsel Jack Smith, if Trump and Pence can continue to just lay out one delay tactic after another to the point.

And Elie, this is the big question I have in my mind and that is, I mean might you have a possibility, a scenario in which the former president is indicted while we're in the thick of a re-election campaign where you have Joe Biden announcing he's running for re- election and we're just into the campaign season, because it's taken this long it does have that sort of I don't want to say cloud over it, but it becomes more complicated.

HONIG: I think you're absolutely right, Jim. As you say we talk about this a lot. We are two years and two months out from January 6th at this point. And the problem that Jack Smith has inherited now, all that time wasted is gone. And if he's going to fight this fight over this subpoena to Mike Pence, he's got to beat both arguments -- Trump's argument and Pence's argument.

We've got to go through the district court where we are now. We've got through the court of appeals and whoever loses there is going to try to get it to the Supreme Court. You are talking about months of delay. Supreme Court

Does Jack Smith have that luxury to wait that long? Could we see Donald Trump indicted and it lands -- try to land in the middle of the electoral campaign? Absolutely.

That could come out of Fulton County. That's a different investigation. But look, Jack Smith is operating from a disadvantaged position here because Merrick Garland wasted about two years before Jack Smith ever came aboard. So now he's got to do this cost benefit analysis, is it worth taking this long to fight to get Mike Pence's testimony.

ACOSTA: And I guess, which leads me to the question, Elie, is there a point on the calendar that you think, ok, it just becomes difficult to pursue the case anymore and Trump has succeeded in running out the clock and the Justice Department will have to face that criticism from a lot of Americans that they just dillydallied too long -- it took too long?

HONIG: So as a technical legal matter they're still within their rights to bring this case. But I do think there does come a point, we may already be past it. The fact of the matter, like I said Jim -- two years, two months out from January 6. Not a single person, forget about Donald Trump, not a single person in any position of official power has been charged with anything and everyone is so focused on indictment Jim, but you have to be realistic.

[17:15:00]

HONIG: Look, I was a prosecutor. You have to think about trial. When are we going to try this case? We're just getting a preview of all the appeals and motions.

ACOSTA: Right.

HONIG: They're not going to get to trial for this thing until best case scenario 2024. We're going to be in the midst of primaries by that point maybe later. It's going to be that much harder for a prosecutor to get a jury, unanimously all 12, beyond a reasonable doubt to convict anybody who's involved in the race at that point.

ACOSTA: All right. Elie Honig, thanks so much. We appreciate it.

HONIG: All right, Jim. Thanks.

Norfolk Southern is ordered to run more tests at the site of that toxic train derailment in Ohio. Meanwhile there's a new push for laws that increase rail safety. The co-sponsor of one new bill Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat from the commonwealth joins me next. We appreciate that.

And later, a state of emergency as people in 13 counties in southern California are snowed in. We'll take you there live, next.

Plus the new rule that's already created a massive change in baseball. Have you heard about this yet? This is going to be pretty ground breaking. Will it bring in new fans or turn away those who have followed the national pastime for years? We'll talk about that coming up.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:16:10]

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ACOSTA: The head of the National Transportation Safety Board says a train derailment like the one that happened in East Palestine, Ohio can absolutely happen again. Now, a group of bipartisan lawmakers on Capitol Hill is pushing to prevent a similar disaster. They are proposing a rail safety bill they say will make the industry much safer.

Pennsylvania Democratic Senator Bob Casey is a co-sponsor of the bill. Senator, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.

You know, how would you pitch this to the folks there in East Palestine and on the other side of the border with Pennsylvania. Because I know a lot of folks in your state who border East Palestine, are very concerned about what's going on and are very concerned that their health might be threatened.

SEN. BOB CASEY (D-PA): Jim, absolutely. I don't want people in Darlington, Pennsylvania or on East Palestine, Ohio to think that this bill would somehow supplant what we should all do -- federal, state and local right now to help the people and to hold Norfolk Southern accountable. Norfolk Southern

But going forward we have to have much tougher safety requirements for any train carrying hazardous materials. That's one of the problems here, not enough safety requirements for that kind of hazardous material being transported.

Also more inspections, better and tougher inspections of these rail companies and really tough fines. Right now under federal law, you could only impose fines on a company like Norfolk Southern in the tens of thousands. They should be hit with, if they're culpable, they should be hit with multimillion dollar fines at a minimum and that's what this bill would provide.

So tougher safety, more inspections, audits of federal programs that do this kind of monitoring and also much tougher fines.

ACOSTA: And one of the problems, I'm sure you know this is that the railroad industry has been very successful lobbying against safety regulations or they'll lobby in favor of reducing regulations and safety rules at the Department of Transportation. What's stopping that from happening this time around and torpedoing the legislation that you're proposing?

CASEY: Jim, we're going to have a tough fight. The rail lobby is very powerful. And as you made reference to, they have been getting their way for a long time. We have to beat the rail lobby to get this bill passed.

Now, it is good news that at the outset you have the two senators from Ohio -- Senator Brown and Senator Vance, as well as Senator Fetterman and I from Pennsylvania, in addition to a few others introducing a bipartisan bill. That hasn't happened in my memory.

For a bill that is as comprehensive as this, speaking to the safety issues, making sure that we're upping substantially the fines that can be imposed to hold companies accountable.

But I also should say that Norfolk Southern right now, bill or no bill, has to remain committed not just over days and weeks or months but years. And they owe the people of Ohio and Pennsylvania a lot. And I haven't heard nearly enough from Norfolk Southern about actions they are going to take.

I've heard a lot of rhetoric. But they need to do a lot more right now for the people on the ground.

ACOSTA: And this evening we're going to see former President Donald Trump address the crowd at CPAC. It's early. The polls show he's leading the GOP field though. He just won the straw poll at CPAC which is unscientific of course. But it does indicate he's still very much a dominant presence in the Republican Party.

Are you concerned about him becoming president again?

CASEY: I'd be very concerned. But I think what it indicates is that the national Republican Party is badly split.

And Jim, if I can wish anything on the Republican presidential nominating process, I hope that they have continued rancor, discord and the kind of invective they're heaping on each other so that they're divided.

But our party is united and I think President Biden's chances are really good to be reelected. But there's no question that the Republican Party doesn't have enough elected officials and leaders who have the strength of character and the courage to separate from the horror of what you saw in the Trump presidency.

But so far they're genuflecting to him and not willing to have a complete break. I think that's not only bad for their party, it's really bad for the country.

ACOSTA: And I know that you are siding with House Republicans on this bill that would block the Washington, D.C. government from updating its crime laws. President Biden has said he will not veto that bill.

[17:24:55]

ACOSTA: And I'm just curious, you know, what are your thoughts on this? Shouldn't residents in Washington, D.C., be able to run their own affairs?

As you know, you're very familiar with Washington. They have license plates here that say taxation without representation. It is something that gets under the skin of a lot of D.C. residents that they can't run their own affairs.

And here now we have the congress and the president saying you can't even update your own crime legislation or ordinances here in the city.

CASEY: Yes, look, I understand that concern. But what you have in front of us is a piece of legislation that you either are endorsing the changes made to their criminal law, including lowering the penalty for carjacking, or you vote against it. So under current law, we have to cast a vote and that's the vote that I'll be casting because I have real concerns about what they're doing with regard to public safety.

Having said that, Jim, the only reason we're talking about this Republicans in the Senate and the House are once again playing games, pretending they're tough on crime.

They all voted -- 87 percent of them just voted in December against an appropriations committee that would provide zero dollars according to their vote, zero dollars for the COPS program, $555 million, 87 percent of their party voted against.

They voted against all the federal crime fighting programs. And now they run around pretending that they're a bunch of tough guys. The Republican Party at the congressional level is weak on public safety, is weak on crime, and the vote proved that.

ACOSTA: Wouldn't you be giving them a win on the House side with this crime bill?

CASEY: Well, look, this is one of those instances where you have to cast a vote. And I have real concerns about what the district did. Now, the district can go back to the drawing board and make changes. Even Mayor Bowser said when she vetoed this bill, the mayor vetoed and the veto was overridden. Even when she vetoed it she said that she agreed with a lot of it but couldn't support the whole bill.

So I think -- I hope they would go back to the drawing board and make these criminal penalties tougher, at least not reduce some of the penalties they have been reducing.

ACOSTA: All right. And crime has been going up in the district. It is a problem that residents here deal with every day.

All right. Senator Bob Casey, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

CASEY: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. A massive snowstorm has some people in southern California snowed in.

Next, how they're getting help as they start to run out of food.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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ACOSTA: In California, officials are promising to dig out residents trapped by tons of snow in the San Bernardino mountains. In Crestline, one man wrote a clear message in the snow, you can see it right there, "help us."

The roof of the town's grocery store collapsed under the weight of the snow earlier this week.

CNN's Camila Bernal joins us now.

Camila, I mean, my goodness, there isn't a lot of snow behind you, but the totals, the snow totals are just unbelievable in certain parts of the area where you are.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and you're not seeing the snow because they have cleared the snow in this area. This is essentially the cutoff. They're not letting anyone past this point, none of the residents.

What we have been seeing is heavy equipment, sheriff deputies, a lot of firefighters. And we know there are members of the National Guard as well. Anyone that's able to go up to help clean the roads, that's what they're trying to do first. That is their priority.

What officials are saying is, it is going to take a long time. About five days or so before they get to all of the impacted communities.

And a lot of the residents that are stuck there, have been stuck there for days are extremely frustrated. They're scared. It's been eight days for some people.

I've been talking to one man who told me today was the first time he saw some movement in his area, a little cleanup beginning.

So there is progress but there is still that concern that there were a lot of people up there who were not prepared. They did not have enough food. They're worried about medicine and medical emergencies because the pharmacy, the grocery store, all of it is closed.

They're being told they're going to have to be in their homes for a couple of more days. That's where the frustration and the fear comes from.

I talked to one woman, who came down to get supplies and now is not able to get back up.

It's a lot of similar stories. A lot of people are telling me they really wanting more help and officials saying they just need to wait a little bit longer - Jim?

ACOSTA: All right, Camila Bernal, stay safe out there. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Police say 150,000 people hit the streets today in one city in Israel protesting the country's prime minister there, Benjamin Netanyahu. A closer look at why they're angry, next.

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You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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ACOSTA: In Israel again today, huge crowds taking to the streets in protest. Crowds, tens of thousands strong, demonstrating against the right-wing government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his plans to weaken the independence of Israel's courts through reforms that critics see as threatening democracy. Earlier this week, Israeli police used stun grenades and water cannons

on some demonstrators, prompting a top opposition leader to urge police to, quote, "remember protesters aren't terrorists," end quote.

Aaron David Miller is a former negotiator with the State Department.

Aaron, very good to see you.

These are very tense times in Israel right now. These protests have been going on for nine straight weeks.

Are we used to seeing these kinds of heavy-handed tactics used on demonstrators like this in Israel? What are we seeing? How do you see it right now?

DAVID AARON MILLER, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE & FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: First of all, Jim, thanks for having me.

The protests are unprecedented, in size and scope and intensity and in duration. So that's new.

Israel has never had a government like this. Two of its ministers are proudly and openly homophobic, racist, anti-democrats.

And you have a prime minister who wants to use the judicial system to underpower the Supreme Court in favor of the legislature in order to figure out a way to beat his ongoing trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

There are other motives as well. Some want to use judicial override in order to pass legislation that would find a way to permanently bind the West Bank to Israel proper. So there's a lot at stake here.

And the fact that you have one of the ministers, the minister of national security, with broad authority over the police, also means that you have new and unprecedented tactics on the part of the police to quell these demonstrations.

[17:40:08]

So it's combustible. And I suspect it's not going to ending unless a compromise can be found.

ACOSTA: Aaron, in a new article for "Foreign Policy," which is entitled, "Netanyahu Faces his Own Israeli Spring," you write, "Protesters in Israel are rallying to oppose extremist and fundamentalist government that is trying to change the status quo and reshape the country's character."

Help us understand that. And what he is trying to do with the courts that has so fired up these protests?

MILLER: Well, first of all, Jim, unlike our system where we have three branches of government we share in separated powers, in Israel, you actually only have two, the legislature and the executive are one. That means the prime minister and the government that he has with 64

seats is one branch of government and the Supreme Court is the other. So the court is really the only check on governmental authority and power.

And I think what you're witnessing, frankly, it's more than just on the narrow issue of judicial reform. The Israeli judicial system could probably use reform.

I think people are out in the streets, because this is a struggle, to quote President Biden with respect to the United States, for the soul of America, for the soul of Israel.

The Israelis have an image of themselves, their own democracy as liberal, humanistic, holistic, apart from the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Israel proper.

And I think that there's the perception in large numbers of Israelis this government is determined on the occasion, as we move, Jim, to the 75th anniversary of independence from the state Israel, the boundaries of this state and the identity of this state are very much open and very little unsettled.

So there's a lot at stake here and it's evident by the numbers of Israelis in the streets.

ACOSTA: And when you talk about the soul of Israel, one thing you have to point out is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is back in power.

You know, he goes out of power, he comes back in power. Obviously, he is by far seen by a lot of Israelis as the person they want in that position.

So how do Israelis find their way out of this? Obviously, it seems both sides have gotten it to a point where things are very emotional and people are very invested in two very diametrically opposed opinions as to where the country should go next?

MILLER: Unless they can find a compromise formula on judicial reform - and the president of Israel, Herzog, has been working intensely consulting with experts, judicial experts, constitutional lawyers.

To try to figure out whether or not there is a balance to be struck to legitimate reform of the judicial system without so emasculating and undermining the Supreme Court that you actually have governance by the legislature.

Whether that can be found, Jim, I don't know. But if this judicial reform passes its three readings of the Israeli parliament, which has passed its first reading, the Supreme Court, I suspect, will declare it "unconstitutional," quote, unquote.

Even though Israel doesn't have a formal constitution, and you're going to have a truly constitutional crisis. You've had calls - former Mossad director of the Israeli CIA, the

Mossad, basically said that Israeli intelligence, security officials, are not obligated to obey the directors of a legitimate government. That's where this is heading.

And I think the consequences could be very dire, even for a system like Israel that has avoided, by and large, over the decades, violent protests.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

All right, Aaron David, we'll be watching. We'll have you back to discuss and hope things settle down over there.

Appreciate your time very much. Aaron David Miller, thanks very much.

In the meantime, have you seen this in the national pastime over spring training? Baseball players and fans are trying to get used to a massive change to the game.

It's creating massive confusion on the field and in the stands. But is it good for the game? We'll talk about that next.

[17:44:21]

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: All right. Confusion and bewildered looks on the baseball diamond these days after a new major league pitch clock rule was officially implemented during spring training and it's resulting in some confusion.

Take a look at this. In a game between the New York Mets and Washington Nationals, the umpire called a ball after Mac Scherzer, from the Nationals, sent a pitch at the moment the new pitch clock reset.

I'm hoping folks can sort this out with us right now.

CNN sports analyst and "USA Today" writer, Christine Brennan, joins us now.

Christine, please, help us out. How does this new pitch clock -- I'm a huge baseball fan and I have no idea whether or not this is going to work. I'm going to have to say I'm cautiously pessimistic right now.

But it is going to speed the game up, we hope.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: It is, Jim. And baseball needs this desperately to attract young fans. So people with the attention span of everyone now has changed from when we were kids loving baseball.

So a pitcher has to pitch within 15 seconds once he gets the ball back. If there's a runner on base or runners on base, 20 seconds.

And also, there are other little time periods involved here, too. The batter needs to be ready eight seconds before the pitch. And the catcher needs to be ready before nine seconds.

[17:50:07]

And what this means is that all the things we watch, all the little ticks, where the batter leaves the batter box, the third baseman fiddles with his gloves, fiddles with the wrist bands, where the pitcher's taking laps around the mound, that's done now.

I think this is great. It is going to be confusing, but I think baseball desperately needs this. And I'm glad to see it.

ACOSTA: And I mean, so far, how is it working during pre-season do you think?

BRENNAN: Well, as we know, last week there was this controversy where because the batter wasn't ready, in the Red Sox-Braves game, he was called out, third strike. That was the end of the game. That's strange, Jim. That's really weird.

Obviously, that -- if that were to happen in a World Series game, we would be talking about it for 10 years, you know, after that. But my guess is that won't happen.

And that batter and those teams, in that case the Red Sox and the Braves, they learn that lesson immediately. And you know, the rules are the rules.

And I think if baseball doesn't do this, these interminable in games that the purest love, but if you want the game to grow or to be around in 50, 60, 70 years, you've got to reach kids.

Those kids, of course, will be your fan base. Now baseball has to do something like this.

ACOSTA: I see kids when you go to the ballpark, they're looking at their phones and that sort of thing because they're just -- their attention span is not what ours once was, if I may sound like an old fogey.

Christine, I know you and I follow Washington sports pretty religiously. There are stories swirling about whether or not the Washington Commanders football team will be sold to another owner.

Lots of legal questions, ethical questions swirling around the owner, Daniel Snyder.

Might the nation's capital finally see the end of the Dan Snyder era in Washington, D.C.? I'm going to cross my fingers, if I'm allowed to do that as a news anchor.

BRENNAN: Well, absolutely, Jim. They need to. ACOSTA: Yes.

BRENNAN: The Commanders need a new owner. Snyder has been nothing but trouble, obviously, on the field.

You remember the glory days when Washington actually won games and won Super Bowls. That's 30 years ago now. This whole generation of kids don't even remember any real winning in Washington. That's on the field of play.

Off the field, it's a complete mess with the allegations and reporting of sexual harassment over and over again, more than a dozen women -- that was almost three years ago now by "The Washington Post."

Why he was allowed to stay on then, obviously, his wife then was put in charge, but he's still around. Now there, of course, are financial impropriators, federal investigation into that.

He's got to go. But it's really hard to get rid of an owner. And it's never happened before that the owners, the NFL owners have gotten rid of one of their own. We'll see if they do it this time.

ACOSTA: All right, Christine Brennan.

As a kid, I used to see the Washington Football Team in their Super Bowl parades during that era. I do remember those victories. Would be glad to see it.

Christine, great to see you. Thank you so much.

BRENNAN: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: And when the mobile live game show app, HQ Trivia, debuted in 2017, it was viral but that success was short lived. The new CNN film, "GLITCH: THE RISE AND FALL OF HQ TRIVIA," tells the story.

And Rahel Solomon has a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over) Before Wordle or Spelling Bee, everyone with a mobile device was playing "HQ Trivia."

SCOTT ROGOWSKY, FORMER HOST, "HQ TRIVIA LIVE": It is that time once again. The quizzing hour is upon us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People played it on the subway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At home, at work, in the bar.

SOLOMON: The game show on your phone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I really enjoyed about "HQ Trivia" was being able to interact with the app, be a part of the show.

SOLOMON: Originally hosted by Scott Ragowsky.

ROGOWSKY: Aka, the quiz daddy --

SOLOMON: "HQ Trivia" went live twice a day, asked 12 questions, and delivered cash prizes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First time I won, it was eight cents. I was so excited. I was bragging about it to everybody I knew.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I won it a few times. I would imagine my collective winnings as probably somewhere around $6.00.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I played twice a day, "HQ Trivia." Total winnings, $10,000.

SOLOMON: The number of live players skyrocketed from a few hundred to one million to more than two million a day in just a matter of months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For a moment, it was pure nirvana.

SOLOMON: But as quickly as the phenomenon exploded -

ROGOWSKY: You're our big winner tonight, baby!

SOLOMON: - it all came crashing down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The timeline of "HQ" see very short lived. I remember thinking this was going to be the future of gaming, the future of companies making money. It was the perfect way to get people to connect and engage with something.

[17:55:04]

SOLOMON: The new CNN film, "GLITCH," reveals the behind-the-scenes drama and tragedy -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 34-year-old Colin Krull was pronounced dead --

SOLOMON: - that led to the app's downfall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It got so popular. That might be part of the reason why the game was always crashing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way technology firms approach operations is: ready, fire, aim. And if there's a little collateral damage, you know, so be it.

SOLOMON: A number of "HQ Trivia" imitators popped up in its wake.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Confetti.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to the "HQ Live" trivia game network.

SOLOMON: But none achieved the popularity and power of the original.

(SCREAMING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm probably a little nostalgic for "HQ Trivia." It definitely reminds me of a certain time and a certain place and a certain way of life that's different from now.

SOLOMON: Rahel Solomon, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: The all-new film, "GLITCH: THE RISE AND FALL OF HQ TRIVIA," premieres tomorrow at 9:00 right here on CNN.

We'll be right back.

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