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CNN International: EU Foreign Minister Meeting in Kyiv; Rep. Gaetz Says He Will Try to Oust U.S. House Speaker; Trump's New York Trial Begins Amid Campaign Push in Iowa; Pro-Russian Robert Fico wins Slovakian Parliamentary Election; Biden Urges Lawmakers to Avoid Last- Minute Budget Deals. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 02, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us on this Monday in the United States and all around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster joining you live from London, just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm sick and tired of the brinksmanship. And so are the American people. There's no excuse for another crisis. Consequently, I strongly urge my Republican friends in Congress not to wait.

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have such great cases. It's a political witch hunt, the likes of which nobody's Ever seen before.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are leaving no stone, no branch, no table, no cabin unturned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: Those top stories in just a moment, but first we're going to give you word of an historic gathering taking place in Kyiv right now. It comes at a time when support for Ukraine's largest military backer is in question. Nada is here. So foreign Ministers meeting in Kyiv, which isn't even an EU member, so an EU foreign ministers we're talking about.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, I mean this has already been described by the High Representative list of Borrell and the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, as a historic event, Kuleba spoke about this just a little over an hour ago. Speaking about this -- not taking place necessarily in EU borders right now, but in his words, in future EU borders. So this is being seen as a symbolic move by the European Union to show

their commitment, their support for Ukraine's ambitions to hopefully one day join the European Union. That was certainly the message from Kuleba saying this is a message in itself of that support from the European Union. Josep Borrell talking about what they're all set to focus on today.

They are looking at the peace plan put forward by President Zelenskyy. But he was careful in highlighting that this isn't in technical terms, an official or formal meeting because it isn't taking place in EU premises, but rather this is an opportunity for European Union foreign ministers or at least some of them, to meet with counterparts in Ukraine to discuss those peace proposals ahead of a future European Foreign Affairs Council Summit.

But of course this does come off the back of controversial decisions in the U.S. Congress. Of course, we saw that emergency budget passed by Congress, but without any provisions for additional funding for military support for Ukraine. That has certainly sparked concern in Ukraine, but also in the European Union.

We heard yesterday from Josep Borrell speaking in Ukraine. He said that this was a concern that the European Union would be stepping up its support in response to this. But we've also heard from Dmytro Kuleba, speaking today. In his eyes, he feels that the U.S. support for Ukraine hasn't been shattered and they are still working on this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We don't feel that the U.S. support has been shattered. And we because -- the United States understands that what is at stake in Ukraine is much bigger than just Ukraine. It's about the stability and predictability of the world. And therefore I believe that we will be able to find necessary solutions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: So clearly, of course, this is a controversial decision. The Ukrainian officials in government focusing really on the potential for a next budget and what that will look like for Ukraine.

FOSTER: He has to say it's OK the U.S. funding, because if they don't get U.S. funding, they can't carry on with the war effectively. But they've put Ukraine funding on hold. There's no sort of future funding in place right now.

BASHIR: Well, look, there are already provisions in place in the current U.S. budgets and 1.6 billion U.S. dollars have been cornered off for defense support and $1.2 billion in direct funding to Ukraine. That is in the initial budget. But of course there is concern there are about 45 days now for Congress to consider a next budget. This was an emergency stopgap measure, a temporary measure.

But we've heard from Kuleba, from other Ukrainian officials saying they are in contact with counterparts in the U.S. Those talks are still ongoing. Kuleba is saying, of course, that he is in touch, not only with the Democrats but also members of the Republican Party in Congress. And that is really where the concern lies because we have seen this reluctance, this waning of support from the Republican Party for adding that additional funding.

[04:05:00]

But according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, what they are focusing now is on ensuring that this next budget will include provisions for additional funding that we won't see a waning of support from the U.S. And that has certainly been the message that we've been hearing from President Biden. We saw Zelensky meeting with Biden in DC last month on the sidelines of the UNGA and we saw that reiteration of support from the White House. And President Biden has spoken in response to this latest controversy. He has said that Washington won't turn its back on Kyiv.

FOSTER: OK, Nada, thank you very much indeed.

The hardline Republican says he'll soon try to oust U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after he worked with Democrats to pass a short-term spending bill, which didn't include that funding for Ukraine of course.

NOBILO: Matt Gaetz, who opposed the measure, told CNN that he will file a so-called motion to vacate, saying the Republican leader can no longer be trusted. McCarthy, however, says he's not worried about that threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: Yes, I'll survive. You know, this is personal with Matt. Matt voted against the most conservative ability to protect our border, secure our border. He's more interested in securing TV interviews than doing something. He wanted to push us into a shutdown, even threatening his own district with all the military people there who would not be paid. Only because he wants to take this motion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: CNN's Melanie Zanona has more now on the challenges facing McCarthy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, Speaker Kevin McCarthy may have avoided a government shutdown, but now he is facing a showdown with his critics. And that is because he opted to put a stopgap bill on the floor at the 11th hour that did not include many of the demands that his conservative hardliners were seeking.

And instead ended up getting the support of nearly every single House Democrat. So now Republican Matt Gaetz is promising to make good on his threat to try to oust Kevin McCarthy as Speaker as soon as this week. But Kevin McCarthy says he's not scared of the fight. Let's take a listen.

REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): I do intend to file a motion to vacate against Speaker McCarthy this week. I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid. I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy.

MCCARTHY: So be it. Bring it on. Let's get over with it and let's start governing. If he's upset because he tried to push him in a shutdown and I made sure government didn't shut down, then let's have that fight.

ZANONA: Now, in order for Gaetz to succeed, he is going to need the majority of the House Chamber. That means he's likely going to need most if not all, Democrats behind him in order for this to work. But it's just unclear at this point what Democrats are going to do. Most of the Democrats that I talked to say they are reluctant to bail out McCarthy. They feel like they can't trust him. They don't like that he just launched an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden without sufficient evidence.

But there are some moderate Democrats who are really worried about throwing the House into chaos. So at this point, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader, is counseling members to keep their power dry. And Democratic leadership put out a letter on Sunday saying they're going to talk about the issue as a caucus this week.

Melanie Zanona, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Donald Trump isn't wading into the Republican division in that House. While campaigning in Iowa, he said he doesn't want to comment on whether Kevin McCarthy will remain Speaker.

NOBILO: Trump added that he's always had a great relationship with McCarthy, as well as Representative Matt Gaetz, who's leading the charge to oust the Speaker. Still, Trump claimed on Sunday he wasn't aware of those plans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you support Matt Gaetz's efforts to remove McCarthy as Speaker?

TRUMP: I don't know anything about those efforts. But I like both of them very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: In the hours ahead, Trump will appear in person for the start of his civil fraud trial in New York. The former president, who arrived in the city a few hours ago, made that announcement on social media. New York Attorney General Letitia James brought the lawsuit alleging the former president, his eldest sons, and his company, engaged in fraud. Trump had this to say about his legal troubles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: We have such great cases. It's a political witch hunt the likes of which nobody's ever seen before. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Trump's civil case in New York starts just as he's making a big push to Iowa voters. Here's CNN's Alayna Treene with the latest on that for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, we have some new reporting and that's that, former President Donald Trump is expected to appear in person in New York City on Monday for his civil fraud trial. Now I am told that law enforcement and Secret Service have been making preparations for Donald Trump to appear at the courthouse in lower Manhattan on Monday, as well as to stay overnight at Trump Tower both Sunday and into early this week.

Now there's a lot of cases that Donald Trump is facing. There are many indictments that have been brought against him. But this case specifically was brought last September by New York Attorney General Letitia James. And the lawsuit names Donald Trump as well as his eldest sons, their companies and several executives.

[04:10:00]

And I think it's important to point out the timing of this trial. Donald Trump is in the middle of a very busy campaign push. He was in Iowa on Sunday in Ottumwa speaking to voters and farmers. And he'll be back in the state the following weekend in Cedar Rapids.

Now, this is noteworthy. I've spoken to many of Donald Trump's advisers and they tell me that even though the former president is polling really well and doing better than his Republican challengers, they also recognize that they cannot get complacent at this stage. They recognize that they still need to win in these early states like Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and their goal really is to win big. They want to carry that momentum from the primaries and into the general. So the timing of this trial in the middle of this could be very tricky for Donald Trump's campaign.

Alayna Treene, CNN, Ottumwa, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: California Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed Laphonza Butler to complete the Senate term of the late Dianne Feinstein. Now Butler is currently the president of Emily's List, a group that works to elect Democratic women who support abortion rights.

NOBILO: She is a longtime adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris and will be the first openly LGBTQ person to represent California in the Senate. Butler will also be the only Black female Senator serving in Congress, and just the third in U.S. history. FOSTER: Feinstein will lie in state at San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday. Her funeral will be held the following day and will be closed to the public.

NOBILO: The Senators burial will also be private, with only family attending. Feinstein passed away last week, at the age of 90 and she was the longest serving female Senator in U.S. history.

FOSTER: Still to come, Slovakia's former Prime Minister Robert Fico reiterates his stand on Ukraine as his party wins the parliamentary election. We'll have the details just ahead.

NOBILO: And later on, Taylor Swift attends another football game to cheer on her rumored new love and the Kansas City Chiefs. And this time she brought some famous friends with her, didn't she?

FOSTER: It's a Monday update.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: To Slovakia, where voters are waiting to see who will lead the next government, the party of former Prime Minister Robert Fico got the highest percentage of votes in parliamentary elections over the weekend.

NOBILO: Fico says as Prime Minister he would do everything he could to kick start peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT FICO, FORMER SLOVAK PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We think Ukraine is a huge tragedy for all, and if smear formed the cabinet, whether it has the Prime Minister or not, we will do our best, even in the EU, to get peace talks under way as soon as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Joining us now to discuss is CNN's Scott McLean. Scott, obviously the government isn't informed yet. These coalition discussions are still ongoing. But nevertheless, this election result potentially marks a really big shift in terms of unity on the issue of Ukraine. I was listening to a member of Fico's party yesterday who would not acknowledge the fact that Russia needs to withdraw from Ukrainian territory. So this is a huge narrative shift.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, huge. I mean, this is a man who said that it was Ukrainian Nazis and fascists that provoke Russia -- that provoked Russia into war. I mean, this is their line. He also believes on a more basic level that look, you can throw all the weapons, all of the ammunition, all the money at this war that that you have and at the end of the day, Ukraine can't win because Russia will never concede that they've lost this war. They will never, you know, agree to peacefully withdraw from any territories or withdraw at all. So he sees this as something that will go on for years and years.

And he's trying to frame his argument as sort of a peace offering -- as you saw there in that clip. But it is entirely possible that we go through all of these negotiations and at the end of them, Robert Fico is actually not the Prime Minister of Slovakia. That's because there's seven parties that actually reached the five percent threshold to get seats in Parliament.

He had not ruled out earlier -- and if we can bring up the results -- working with a far-right party called Republic -- you see them there at the bottom. They didn't reach the five percent threshold. They share his view on Russia and Ukraine. And so now he's got to find some others and chances are he needs more than one.

The Hlas Party is actually an offshoot of his own party, so you know, see --

NOBILO: The natural partner.

MCLEAN: The natural partner in any kind of coalition government, but he's going to have to find some others. And at least on his view on Russia and Ukraine, he was asked about it yesterday. And again, he's sticking to his guns. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FICO (through translator): Slovakia and the people in Slovakia have bigger problems than Ukraine. We do not change anything about the fact that we are ready to help Ukraine humanitarianly. We are ready to help in the restoration of the state. But our opinion on arming Ukraine does not change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: Yes, so the Hlas Party is a natural partner likely to be in this coalition if he does become Prime Minister. They have more vague stance on Ukraine. They say that, look, Slovakia has given all that they can afford to give. They also think that they should continue to send ammunition because they manufacture ammunition in Slovakia. So it's as simple as that.

So his opinion may not have changed. Robert Fico's opinion may not have changed, but the reality is that obviously, in order to govern, it will probably have to soften his stance. You also have the progressive Slovakia party, the party that had the second highest number of votes. They are dead set against Robert Fico. They say the leader of that party, whose name is Michal Simecka, says that he will do whatever he can to make sure that he is not in government. He says he's already going to start talking to the other party leaders to try to prevent something.

So again, it's possible that we go through all this. Robert Fico can't find enough partners and you actually have a government that looks very, very different in Slovakia.

One other thing that I should also mention, we've got some reaction from Ukraine. Nothing ground breaking. But Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister, said that, look, we respect the choice of the Slovakian people, but they're going to withhold comment until after these negotiations until they know.

NOBILO: Scott McLean, thank you so much. And Scott's right to bring up the caveats there. We don't exactly know how the government's going to shake out. But what we're getting to next is the story about Poland and Ukraine's right to be concerned. Because there's obviously the issues with the stopgap spending bill in the states that don't provide more defense aid for Ukraine.

[04:20:00]

We've had the victory of a party in Slovakia, 23 percent of the vote I think that take an anti-war supportive stance for Ukraine.

And then also there have been these tensions with Poland. Where Poland said last week --

FOSTER: Over the grain.

NOBILO: Exactly, we won't continue to supply you with lethal aid either. So definitely a moment for those supportive optics from EU foreign ministers.

FOSTER: And it's becoming a more of a party-political issue, isn't it? In very many countries, Ukraine.

NOBILO: Cracks in the solidarity definitely starting to show more keenly.

So Poland is looking ahead to an election that gives voters two starkly different choices when it comes to governing the country. Massive crowds gathered in Poland's capital Sunday for a rally. The liberal opposition is hoping the Million Hearts March can build momentum before the October 15th vote.

FOSTER: They're framing the election as a national referendum on the conservative Law and Justice Party, which has controlled Poland since 2015. The opposition says the ruling party is looking to leave the European Union, the Law and Justice Party denies those claims.

NOBILO: The U.K. is deploying around 200 soldiers to Kosovo amid rising tensions in the country, and they'll be supporting a NATO peacekeeping mission that's been operating in Kosovo for more than 20 years.

FOSTER: It comes just more than a week after an attack on police that left one officer dead and another injured. Three armed men were also killed in the attack. The UK's Defence Ministry says their troops will join a contingent of 400 others already in Kosovo.

NOBILO: A week of festivities continues in China as the country marks the 74th anniversary of the People's Republic as well as the mid- autumn festival. FOSTER: Hong Kong held its first National Day fireworks show in five years, with police estimating more than 400,000 locals and tourists attended. Officials say they expect nearly 900 million trips will be taken throughout the country during the eight-day holiday period. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me with more from Hong Kong. I've seen some extraordinary images from commuters on social media over the weekend. I mean, it's a huge movement of people, isn't it?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely huge movement. This is a holiday at scale across China. The mid-Autumn Golden Week holiday season is underway. Day three is today. And this is one of the first holiday periods since the end of the pandemic and the end of those tough zero-COVID travel restrictions.

Nearly 900 million trips are expected during this time, according to China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism. It says that 896 million domestic trips will take place. That's an increase of 86 percent from the year before. Revenue from domestic tourism is also set to reach some $107 billion.

And as you can see on your screen there, various scenes from across China, the railway system is busier than ever. In train stations across China, there are scenes of the surge in domestic train travel. In fact, according to China Railway, some 190 million railway trips will be made during this holiday season and around 20 million passenger trips were made on the first day alone. The first day of the holiday that kicked off just two days ago.

Now despite the surge that we've seen in domestic travel, China's overall outbound international travel market that is still low when you compare it to pre pandemic levels. China's outbound international flight capacity is down around 50 percent. That is still much lower compared to other countries. And international flight fares are still really expensive. They're much higher compared to pre-pandemic levels -- compared to 2019.

Look, China's economy is struggling. It is struggling still to recover after the pandemic after zero-COVID. So many people across China are reluctant to splurge on these splashy, expensive holidays overseas. And so the Chinese who are going abroad, they're choosing cheaper destinations. Cheaper destinations in the region like Thailand, which has become the top choice. In fact, it became a top choice for Chinese travelers after introduced recently a visa free policy. According to the bookings platform based in China, trip.com, hotel bookings to Thailand surged over 6,000 percent compared to the same period a year ago after that policy was announced -- back to you.

FOSTER: Kristie in Hong Kong, thank you for bringing us that.

Now the U.S. narrowly avoided a government shutdown, but President Biden says there's more work to do. We'll tell you about his challenges -- to his challenge, really to Congressional leaders.

Plus, New York State police are searching for a missing nine-year-old girl. How a simple bike ride turned into a parent's worst nightmare -- when we come back. [04:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with the top stories.

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's Speakership could be in danger. Fellow Republican Representative Matt Gaetz says he'll try to oust McCarthy from his position. That comes after McCarthy reached across the aisle to Democrats to keep the U.S. government from shutting down.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump says he'll appear in a New York courtroom later this morning. It's the beginning of a civil fraud trial against Trump, members of his family and their companies. Law enforcement and court officials had already been preparing for the possibility of Trump's appearance.

NOBILO: U.S. President Joe Biden has urged lawmakers to pass a year long budget deal and authorize more aid for Ukraine. He says Congress should not wait until the last minute, like they did with the stopgap spending bill. CNN's Arlette Saenz reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden said it's good news a government shutdown was averted, but he's urging lawmakers to get to work as the next government funding deadline is about 45 days away. The President is pushing Congress and lawmakers to avoid these last minute down to the wire negotiations as played out over the weekend.

And what the president wants to see, is House Republicans stick to that budget agreement that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had arranged with the White House last spring during the debt ceiling fight. The president also lamented the brinksmanship that is occurring up on Capitol Hill and said that this down to the wire talks was a, quote, manufactured crisis by Republicans. Take a listen.

BIDEN: I'm sick and tired of the brinksmanship, and so are the American people. There's no excuse for another crisis.

[04:30:00]

Consequently, I strongly urge my Republican friends in Congress not to wait. Don't waste time, as you did all summer. Pass the year long budget agreement, honor the deal we made a few months ago.

SAENZ: One big question for President Biden is whether he'll be able to secure additional aid for Ukraine. The president asked for about $24 billion in funding for the war-torn country. But that was dropped from this deal that was struck over the weekend as there was opposition amongst some hardline Republicans in the House. The president is urging lawmakers to stop playing games and get this

aid passed. The president and House Democratic leadership have suggested that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will be putting forward a separate vote on Ukraine aid in the coming weeks. But so far McCarthy's office has not detailed any plan for when or how to do that. Leaving many questions and the fate of that Ukraine aid up in the air.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)