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GOP Defends Trump Ahead Of Potential Indictment; DeSantis Silent Over Trump; U.N. Warns Of Critical Warming; "Ted Lasso" Cast Visits White House; March Madness Update. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired March 20, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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


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[09:33:35]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, with speculation squirreling that Donald Trump could face criminal charges here in New York as soon as this week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is signaling that Republicans will investigate the Manhattan district attorney behind the looming charges.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: This news broke as House Republicans gathered in Orlando for their annual retreat.

That is where we find CNN's Melanie Zanona this morning.

So, we are hearing a fair amount of reaction, especially from House Republicans, not so much from senators, ahead of tomorrow after the former president claimed that this was going to happen tomorrow.

What more are we hearing?

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Yes, you're absolutely right, Republicans are lining up to defend former President Donald Trump. They have been attacking the Manhattan District Attorney's Office as radical. They've been calling a potential indictment an outrageous abuse of power. And Speaker Kevin McCarthy has already promised to investigate whether federal funds were used by the Manhattan DA to investigate Trump over this alleged hush money payment that he made right before the 2016 election. In fact, McCarthy said we could see action on that front as soon as today as Republicans gather here in Florida for their annual policy retreat.

But, so far, Kevin McCarthy has really dodged questions about the merits of this case and whether there's any evidence that he could see that would make him feel like an indictment is warranted. And he also admitted he has no knowledge whether federal funds were actually used to investigate Trump, but he says that is why he wants to investigate.

[09:35:03]

Here's a little bit more about how Republicans are responding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): After lawyer after lawyer after lawyer will tell you this is the weakest case out there.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): This is selective prosecution. If I were President Trump, I'd take this all the way to the damn Supreme Court.

GOV. CHRIS SUNUNU (R-NH): A lot of the Democrats have misplayed this in terms of building sympathy for the former president, and it does drastically change the paradigm as we go into the '24 election.

MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: The fact that the Manhattan DA thinks that indicting President Trump is his top priority, I think, is -- just tells you everything you need to know about the radical left in this country. It just feels like a politically charged prosecution here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZANONA: Of course, this is not what Republicans wanted to be talking about at their annual policy retreat. They want to be talking about their legislative agenda, how they're going to maintain the House in 2024. But Trump is dominating the political conversation once again. And there is one area where Republicans have broke with Trump, and that is over Trump's calls for protests. Kevin McCarthy said yesterday he does not want to see people protesting. He urged people to remain calm and to remain nonviolent. But he also said, Trump's rhetoric was not meant to be harmful and that he was not actually calling for protests, even though that is indeed what Trump was calling for over the weekend.

John and Erica.

BERMAN: Melanie Zanona, in Orlando, thank you so much.

With us now is NPR's senior political editor and correspondent, Domenico Montanaro.

Great to see you.

I'm fascinated by where Melanie is standing right now, in Orlando, because the Florida of this all really is pretty dynamic here. The Trump people, we've been reading, have been pressuring publicly and behind the scenes Ron DeSantis to come out and say something in support of Donald Trump. And I don't think, up until now, he's said very much at all.

So, how much pressure does this put on other Republicans, particularly DeSantis, to come to Trump's defense?

DOMENICO MONTANARO, SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT, NPR: I was going to say, I mean, I think that a big piece of what Trump is doing here, and we're talking about this because of one message that he sends out on his own platform on a Saturday, and basically essentially activates the inside and outside game within the GOP.

You know, Ron DeSantis, who clearly is eyeing a run for president, is put in a box, as was Mike Pence, as are all these other candidates who then have to be able to, you know, back Trump, or at least not come out very strongly against him because that would irritate the base. You know, playing this inside game with having Kevin McCarthy and others on The Hill saying that they're going to be looking into whether or not public funds are used in this kind of an investigation, and then spurring that outside game, raising money, calling for protests, weekend meetings from law enforcement to have to move to see whether or not they're going to have to activate their own, you know, law enforcement to, you know, stem any kind of protests and keep peace. So, this is exactly what Trump wanted and it's exactly how it's plays out.

HILL: It's really a fascinating look at the hold that Donald Trump still has on this party. He has presented now a new litmus test, right? You have to say you're with me or then you're clearly against me. And, oh, by the way, I want to dominate the conversation. I want the money to flow to me. It's in a fundraising email. I mean it's a well-worn playbook and yet it's interesting how sometimes it feels like people get surprised by it.

MONTANARO: I mean it's really not shocking whatsoever, right? I mean this was based on almost nothing, right? It said illegal leaks, you know, that are - that he's hearing. It's not even saying my lawyer told me I'm going to be arrested, that, you know, anything that could be independently verified. So far we haven't heard from any of our colleagues being able to verify within law enforcement to say that this is going to be an impending arrest that happens on Tuesday, as he's calling for.

And, you know, so this is really -- I mean, you guys probably had in your own inboxes half a dozen or more fundraising requests, you know, Trump is able to put out his -- this idea that he could potentially be arrested, then he gets the headlines he wants, then takes the headlines, puts those into a new email and says, hey, contribute so that we can fight off the radical left as they're going to try to indict your favorite president.

HILL: Yes. Well, buckle up, because here we go.

Domenico Montanaro, really nice to have you with us this morning. Thank you.

MONTANARO: Thank you for having me.

HILL: The top scientist in the world issuing the most dire warning yet on the climate crisis. What they say must be done by world leaders, and just how quickly they say it needs to happen. That's next.

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[09:43:57]

SCIUTTO: Just into CNN, a dire warning about the state of the planet. The new U.N. report warns the climate time bomb is ticking and the world is running out of time to avoid catastrophe. HILL: So that assessment comes from the world's most authoritative

body on climate change, which says the earth is going to pass this critical warning threshold now much earlier than expected. I mean we're staring it down. They're talking about the early 2030s.

CNN chief climate correspondent Bill Weir is here.

So, please tell me we can stop this, Bill.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Oh, I'd love to tell you that. We have to believe that.

HILL: Yes.

WEIR: And we can. And that's really the takeaway is that the tools are in our hands. There are no miracles needed when it comes to technology. It's all right here. It's all about political will.

But let me explain the context here. Every year thousands of peer reviewed papers around the world look at the ice or the clouds or the penguins or every little aspect of our changing planet. The IPCC, these are scientist from 195 countries, have to synthesize all that information. Their governments have to approve the language and then they put this report together and give it to lawmakers in time for this next cop that's coming up in the United Arab Emirates.

[09:45:01]

And it is the most unequivocal. There's no such thing as climate alarmism anymore. The time bomb is ticking, but we have the guide on how to diffuse the bomb right in our hands right here. But it's interesting to look at, you know, those who love fuels that burn and the politicians who support them use that term climate alarmism a lot. If you look at the history of this, the first report in 1990 was noncommittal about whether it was even happening. Boy, would we love that decade back.

Now, in hindsight, it proved again and again they have been understating the evidence right now and now it is -- we've pretty much run out of time in order to keep it at 1.5. That's when the tipping points might start there. But between the first and this is the sixth synthesis report like this, humanity has emitted a trillion tons of carbon into the (INAUDIBLE) sky. That's like 40 percent of all the planet cooking pollution since the industrial revolution in the early 1800s. So, that's more carbon than has been up there in the last 2 million years. As a result of that, temperatures are rising faster than they have in the last 2,000 years. And it's all right in front of our faces now.

Whether this will do anything when it comes to real politics, Putin and Xi are meeting right now. China has just approved new coal projects in 82 different regions. Vladimir Putin is not exactly interested in decarbonizing anytime fast. Joe Biden just approved the Willow Project in Alaska. Oil companies are still the richest companies in the world. And as long as that happens, it feels like we're ignoring what is being told to us by our scientists. BERMAN: Yes, the fate of the world, you would think, should be a

priority. No sign it is just yet.

WEIR: Not yet.

BERMAN: Bill Weir, thank you for your reporting on this.

WEIR: You bet.

HILL: Thanks, Bill.

BERMAN: So, a presidential goldfish. The White House preparing to team up with none other than coach Ted Lasso today to talk about mental health.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is something worse out there than being sad, and that is being alone and being sad. Ain't nobody in this room alone.

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BERMAN: What we are expecting as the cast meets with President Biden today.

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[09:51:01]

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ted. Ted. It's OK. It's OK. Try to breathe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't. I can't. I don't know what's going on. I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's OK, you're having a panic attack. Just breathe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going crazy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No more than anyone else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: It was that moment that struck a chord for so many people. The normally folksy, pep-talk filled soccer coach struggling with panic attacks.

BERMAN: Today, actor Jason Sudeikis and other members of the cast of "Ted Lasso" will visit the White House for a conversation on the importance of mental health and seeking help.

Now, in honor of the meeting, the president, he posed a picture of the "believe" sign hanging outside the Oval Office. CNN's M.J. Lee is at the White House.

Look, first of all, what a great show "Ted Lasso" is and what a great cause to have this type of discussion about mental health, M.J..

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. You know, John and Erica, we are about to have some Hollywood presence here at the White House this afternoon. As you said, Jason Sudeikis and other cast members of "Ted Lasso" will be here to meet with President Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, to talk about mental health-related issues. And, you know, Sudeikis plays this football coach on this show, this sort of affable character who is dealing with (INAUDIBLE) issues, you know, as (INAUDIBLE) saw in that clip that we just played, he is grappling with having panic attacks. And he seeks the help that he thinks he needs, including therapy.

And what's interesting is that the actor, Sudeikis, and other cast members have really talked about how important it has been to them to see the effect that these plot lines have had on the audience members. That they've had audience members come to them and reach out to show to say, look, to have a show that deals so directly with mental health issues can really play a role in helping to destigmatize some of the health that people can really seek if they feel like they are really struggling.

So, we expect this to be an interesting meeting obviously for this White House. Mental health issues is something that they have prioritized and tried to talk about a lot. And as with the number of other issues, we are seeing the president and this White House enlisting the help from celebrities to talk about a cause that is important to them.

HILL: Yes, so important. Look, and the more we talk about it, right, the more we remind people that it does happen every day and it's OK to talk about it and important to do it too.

LEE: Yes.

HILL: M.J., appreciate it. I hope you get in on that (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: I also hope like, Brett Goldstein, Roy Kent, swears, you know, once.

HILL: Apparently, he swears a lot in real life, too. So, I think there's maybe a good chance. I enjoy colorful language, but that's me.

BERMAN: All right.

HILL: Meantime, a lot of colorful language probably involving March Madness. Se what I did there. The championship for the -- woo, the brackets, I mean, just gone. There are no perfect brackets left. We know that now. But there are also a lot of broken hearts too this morning.

BERMAN: A lot of broken hearts.

Television pro and CNN sports anchor Coy Wire joins us to give us just the highlights of these bonkers games, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, colorful language that I have been using over my busted bracket.

Good to see you, Erica and John.

There was a 30 year span from 1980 to 2019 where there wasn't a Sweet Sixteen without Duke, North Carolina, Kansas or Kentucky. Now, for the second time in three years, none of those teams have made it. It's chaos.

Kansas State's Markquis Nowell kicking Kentucky out of the tournament last night. Just 5'8", he plays bigger than anyone on the court. Twenty-seven points, nine assists. He scored or assisted on 62 percent of his team's points this tournament.

Now, Nowell, he's from Harlem, but he hasn't been home in three years. Just wanted to work on his game and study. Well, now he's going to Madison Square Garden with his Kansas State Wildcats to play in the Sweet Sixteen.

[09:55:03]

Now, the shockwaves in the women's bracket. Stanford becoming the first one seed to fall. Stunned on their home court by Ole Miss and their swarming defense. The Rebels become the eighth team ever to beat a one seed before the Sweet Sixteen. They overcome the odds, just like their head coach, affectionately known as Coach Yo.

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YOLETT MCPHEE-MCCUIN, OLE MISS HEAD COACH: This is for the people with a dollar and a dream. I'm a little girl from the Bahamas that was given an opportunity. I wasn't Ole Miss' first choice, but I was the right one. And I was naive enough to think that I could do it. And that's what no ceilings means, that there's no limit.

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WIRE: What an incredible story for Coach Yo. And we have these Cinderellas.

There's one Cinderella left in the men's tournament, number 15 Princeton. They made their way into the Sweet Sixteen and they'll be playing on our sister network, TBS, against Creighton on Friday.

HILL: It's been a great tournament, right, for both the men and the women. Much more to come.

WIRE: You got it.

HILL: Coy, appreciate it. Thanks.

Our top story this morning, at least one more witness heading to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office today as a possible Trump indictment looms. So, what do we know this morning. We have a live update, next.

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