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China's New FM Warns Of "Conflict & Confrontation" With U.S., Defends Russia Ties; Gov. DeSantis Delivers Florida's State Of The State Address; Tucker Carlson Tries To Downplay Jan 6 Riots With New Footage. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired March 07, 2023 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:33:12]
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: A very sharp warning to the U.S. coming today from China's new foreign minister, striking a combative tone in his first news conference since taking the job, and firing off this warning to Washington.
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QIN GANG, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER: (through translation): If the United States does not hit the brake, but continue to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing, and there will surely be conflict and confrontation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: It's coming at a moment that relations between the two countries are at their lowest point in decades.
Just last month, those tensions flared even further when the U.S. shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had been flying across the continental U.S.
Let's bring in Ian Bremmer. He's a political scientist and head of the Eurasia Group.
Ian, good to have you here.
This new foreign minister was previously the ambassador the U.S. He was viewed as someone I believe to be kind of even-tempered in a certain way.
Were you surprised to hear this kind of rhetoric coming from him today?
IAN BREMMER, POLITICAL SCIENTIST & PRESIDENT & FOUNDER, EURASIA GROUP: Look. I knew him and met with him frequently as ambassador to the United States. And he's very smart. He's very sharp. He's also more than willing to lecture you if he thinks that you're going down the wrong path. So I wasn't stunned by today's commentary. I was a little more surprised by President Xi Jinping on Monday
directly call out the United States as being responsible for an effort to contain China.
Not that he's necessarily wrong, but rather that the Chinese president really doesn't make statements like that directly about the United States. He usually leaves it to the so-called Wolf Warriors, to members of the Chinese state media, that sort of thing.
[13:35:01]
The fact that the Chinese president has come out directly with this statement, and on the back of it, the words you just quoted from the Chinese new foreign minister really does imply that this relationship is going to get harder to manage.
And it's a warning, not just - not so much to Biden, who actually has a pretty good relationship one-on-one with Xi, but rather to the administration more broadly, to Congress.
To those that are really in bipartisan agreement that there needs to be a much tougher line in U.S. foreign policy on China.
I think the Chinese government is saying that doesn't come without a cost.
PHILLIP: Yes. When you hear the language, "conflict and confrontation" - and there's some translation happening here - do you hear that as a warning about a physical confrontation that could be in the future or just escalating tensions from a diplomatic perspective?
BREMMER: Well, certainly there's a possibility of direct military confrontation. The United States and China are facing each other down in the South China Sea over Taiwan, in the East China Sea.
There are such military confrontations. They would come from an accident. They would come from escalation that went wrong and was meant to deter or bluster.
The United States is vastly more powerful than China is militarily.
But I think the real point here is, can we see any areas of cooperation? Which are very important between the two countries.
Remember that the United States and China, right now, have record levels of mutual trade. There are a lot of American citizens that depend on Chinese goods. There are a lot of American companies that depend on access to the Chinese market.
And the Chinese, and the Chinese economy and their growth depends on that interaction as well.
The Chinese government is increasingly saying that we're not going to be able to maintain that level of engagement with this kind of mistrust and confrontation with the Americans in areas that are important to China trying to contain the Chinese. PHILLIP: Well, what can be done then to cool things off? I mean, it
seems like things are heading in the exact opposite direction.
The United States is warning China, don't get involved with Ukraine, warning of really severe consequences. Those are their characterizations.
What can we do at this point to bring the temperature down?
BREMER: Well, first, the easiest thing is a lot more direct engagement between high-level official on both sides.
Part of the reason that the relationship is where it is right now is because, for three years, with Covid and with China's Zero Covid Policies, they just weren't traveling.
I had any first meeting with a high-level Chinese delegation that isn't the Chinese ambassador to Washington just a few weeks ago in Munich at the security conference. They - I wasn't going to China. They weren't coming to the U.S.
And so that problem is endemic among senior Chinese officials. Because when you spend that little time talking to each other, you start to stereotype. You start to believe what your own colleagues are saying 100 percent of the time. You start believing your own media.
So we need to get that engagement going again across all levels of the U.S. and the Chinese government because these are two of the most powerful countries in the world.
There also has to be - and I think it's useful that, after the balloon was shot down - it was very unfortunate that when the secretary of defense tried to call China, they didn't pick up the phone, the minister of defense.
But the conversation that happened between the secretary of state in the U.S. and his counterpart in China did have the Chinese admitting that the foreign ministry didn't know that the balloon was off course, should have called the Americans.
The Americans were saying, yes, it was knocked off course by the wind. You didn't intend to do that. That was useful.
McCarthy - Kevin McCarthy saying that he's not going to make a trip to Taiwan, which would be an unnecessary provocation of the Chinese, and the Taiwanese don't want him to go, they don't want that problem, that's useful.
I think the most important point is that the provocations in this relationship should be necessary provocations, that they should be in places where the national security of both countries is actually at stake.
They shouldn't be just to put points on the board politically.
PHILLIPS: Yes. BREMMER: And there's been too much of that, frankly, especially from the American side over the past six months, one year.
I think if tempers can calm around that, we'd be in a much better place.
PHILLIP: And there is now a joint, bipartisan committee on China happening in - on Capitol Hill. They're working together. But it's unclear whether that will be helpful or harmful to the relationship going forward.
Ian Bremmer, always great to have you and all of your insights.
BREMMER: Sure
PHILLIP: Thanks for joining us.
[13:39:51]
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is laying out his priorities for a second term and potentially for a presidential run. We'll tell you what he said at the State of the State address, next.
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PHILLIP: Last hour, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivered his State of the State address with a Republican supermajority kicking off a new legislative session.
Now the potential GOP presidential candidate made it clear that he wants to be Florida's and maybe the country's top cultural warrior.
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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Now's not the time to rest on our laurels. We have the opportunity and, indeed, the responsibility to swing for the fences so that we can ensure Florida remains number one.
Don't worry about the chattering class. Ignore all the background noise. Keep the compass set to true north.
[13:45:04]
We will stand strong. We will hold the line. We won't back down. And I can promise you this. You ain't seen nothing yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Joining me now to discuss all of this, Scott Jennings, former special assistant to President George W. Bush, and Democratic strategist, Maria Cardona.
Always good to see both of you.
Scott, I'll start with you.
This was very popular in Florida for DeSantis at least when he was running for re-election the last time around.
But just to give the audience a taste of the culture war issues we're talking about, he was talking about a, quote, "biomedical security state," banning drag shows, banning treatment for trans kids, even banning certain majors, like what you can study at public universities.
I mean, my curiosity is, is this a platform that can win where Republicans need to win in the suburbs and in a general election population in this country?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't know. Ask the voters of Florida who just re-elected Ron DeSantis with a 20-plus point margin. He took counties and areas that had never voted Republican and turned them red.
Whatever he's doing down there and the way he's presenting it is popular with the voters of Florida. Whether they're rural, suburban, urban, Independent, Republican, he's got a wide-governing coalition.
And that's not me talking. That's the voting results from the last election.
The things he's talking about today, I think it's actually going to be pretty popular in a Republican primary.
And I think the real dividing line between him and Trump or anyone else is anyone can complain about the stuff you're worried about, but I'm the one who finishes it. I think that's where you'll see his campaign messaging go.
PHILLIP: That's exactly my point. It's popular in a Republican primary, but I think it remains to be seen.
And by the way, I think Florida is more - you would probably agree with me, a red state than a purple state at this moment.
Maria, I mean that question to you.
I mean, are Democrats concerned, just given how widespread these culture war platforms are? It's not just DeSantis, but it's a lot of the other candidates, too.
Are Democrats concerned this could resonate with enough voters that it would give Republicans an edge in the next presidential?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. Democrats have to be concerned because it's the only way that we're going to be fighting against what I believe is an incredibly destructive agenda that Ron DeSantis is putting out there.
And look, you know, Scott's right. He won in Florida. But to your point, I don't believe Florida's representative of the mainstream America anymore.
And frankly, Democrats did not really compete in the governor's race in Florida, you know, if we're going to be truthful about it.
What I believe is going to be Ron DeSantis' big challenge is that, yes, this is working in the Republican primary. This is working with the MAGA extremist wing of the Republican Party.
But he is so obsessed with fighting "woke," that he's asleep at the switch about the other issues that mainstream, common-sense Americans, even other Republicans, know are going to be the issues that will decide a general election.
That is not book-banning. That is not focusing on going against and attacking the LBGTQ community. That is not whitewashing American history so that white people can feel better about something that we absolutely need to learn about, and our kids absolutely need to learn about.
And I think all of those issues are going to be front and center in a general election. And it still remains to be seen whether Ron DeSantis can even make it out of Florida in a Republican primary.
And I know that's something that Scott and other Republicans who are scared about Donald Trump becoming their nominee, as they should be, think that he will.
But he is still not a - not someone who has proven that he can be appealing outside of Florida.
PHILLIP: Well, let's ask about that.
Scott, I wonder. I mean, Trump's stronghold in the Republican Party is these non-college-educated white voters, right? Ron DeSantis does very well with donors and college-educated voters perhaps.
Do you see him making inroads with the kind of Trump wing of the party that might be necessary? Maybe it's not necessary even to get through the primary, but to win a general election?
JENNINGS: Yes. Great question. And I think you're looking at the Republican primary the exact right way. Trump's good with the non- college. DeSantis is right now dominating with the college.
I can see DeSantis cutting into the Trump non-college, but I can't see Trump cutting into the college-educated voters that DeSantis currently dominates. I see upside for DeSantis here.
Look at their national net fav. DeSantis has never proven himself outside of Florida, that's true, because he's never run for president before. Donald Trump has run three times now. He's in the middle of his third campaign. And we know what the results of that were.
[13:50:07]
Look at the net favs on Ron DeSantis versus Donald Trump. I think, nationally, Ron DeSantis looks pretty good.
And for a lot of Republicans, no matter how you want to describe them, whatever their stripes are, Florida has become sort of the model governing protocol for what Republicans think is the way you ought to do it.
And so I think that's why DeSantis is being so strident in his State of the State today and his policy initiatives, because he knows that Florida - the way they're governing in Florida, not only works there but is pleasing to Republican ears of all stripes around.
The last thing I'll say, regardless of who you support now in a Republican primary, and regardless of who you voted for in the past, all Republicans want to beat Joe Biden. I think DeSantis will have a strong case that he can do it and Trump cannot.
PHILLIP: Well, we have to leave it there. We'll be talking about this, I promise you, for the next many, many months.
Scott Jennings, Maria Cardona, both of you, thanks so much.
CARDONA: Thanks, Abby.
PHILLIP: We'll be right back.
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PHILLIP: FOX News host, Tucker Carlson, has aired newly released footage of the January 6th insurrection and he tried to downplay the violence and the chaos at the capitol that day.
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[13:54:57]
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST, "TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT": The crowd was enormous. A small percentage of them were hooligans. They committed vandalism. You've seen their pictures again and again.
But the overwhelming majority weren't. They were peaceful. They were orderly and meek. These were not insurrectionists. They were sightseers.
Footage from inside the capitol overturns the story you've heard about January 6th. Protesters queue up in neat little lines. They give each other tours outside the speaker's office. They take cheerful selfies and they smile.
They are not destroying the capitol. They obviously revere the capitol.
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PHILLIP: He called them sightseers.
Just moments ago, Republicans reacted to that on the Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R-NC): I think that breaking through glass windows
and doors to get into the United States capitol against the orders of police is a crime.
I think, particularly when you come into the chambers, when you start opening members' desks, when you stand up in their balcony, to somehow put that in the same category as a permitted peaceful protest is just a lie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: All right. Well, that does it for me.
But don't go anywhere just yet. There is much more news ahead right here on CNN. Stay tuned.
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