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Ron DeSantis Drops Out Of Presidential Race, Endorses Former President Trump; Trump Delivers Remarks On DeSantis' Endorsement; DA In Trump's Georgia Election Trial Facing Misconduct Claims; DNC: DeSantis Is Latest Republican To Fall In Line Behind Trump; Israeli Military Desecrating Gaza Cemeteries. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired January 21, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:07]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Good evening.

Tonight the race for the Republican nomination for president is down to just two candidates after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspended his presidential campaign just two days before the New Hampshire primary. This comes after a distant second place finish in Iowa and polls showing he's expected to finish a distant third in New Hampshire.

On his way out the door, he took one more shot at Nikki Haley, endorsing former President Trump despite questioning his electability time and again out on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, it's clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance. He has my endorsement because we can't go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents. The days of putting Americans last, of kowtowing to large corporations, of caving to woke ideology are over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now that is a far cry from how the Florida governor characterized the Republican frontrunner less than two weeks earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESANTIS: And so for Donald Trump, he's running a candidate -- he's running a campaign about putting himself and his issues first. That's what he cares about. You can be the most worthless Republican in America, but if you kiss the ring, he'll say you're wonderful. You can be the strongest, most dynamic, successful Republican and conservative in America, but if you don't kiss that ring, then he'll try to trash you. You know what? You deserve a nominee that's going to put you first, not himself first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Trump is offering his own comments on DeSantis dropping out of the race, saying he is, quote, "very honored" by the Florida governor's endorsement.

We are expecting to hear from Trump later on tonight. We'll bring you any further reaction he has to DeSantis dropping out of the race. Let's go first to CNN chief national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny.

How does this shake up the race?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, it just simply accelerates the momentum for former president Donald Trump. Really in the span of just a couple days' time, he has collected the endorsement and support of several of his former rivals who were in this race. Obviously DeSantis being the latest one. But Tim Scott, of course, Vivek Ramaswamy. So there does just seem to be this growing groundswell of people surrounding the former president.

But, look, there is still a race here. Voters are still making up their minds here in New Hampshire. There's only been one contest. Iowa is the only state that's voted. And Donald Trump received about 50,000 votes. So, look, the Nikki Haley campaign is aggressively campaigning across the state of New Hampshire, also holding a rally at this hour here to try and sort of slow this march to the nomination.

But, Jim, it just gets the sense -- you just have the feeling here that this is moving very quickly. And by the end of the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, we could be off to the races here in terms of a rematch between Trump and Joe Biden. But let's see what the voters have to say. History shows that New Hampshire has many times delivered surprises here and had an echo to the Iowa result.

We'll see if that is the case this time, Jim. But it certainly feels like this is a pretty dramatic change and DeSantis had planned to stay in the race. They had events scheduled this evening. Some of his supporters had gathered. Of course he had flown back to Florida and delivered that announcement. So some disappointed DeSantis supporters, no doubt about it. But this race is just beginning. But it also could be ending as well -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. And Nikki Haley has to hope for some of that New Hampshire magic, you're absolutely right, Jeff. And how surprising was it to see Ron DeSantis endorsing Trump as he exit? He didn't have to do that.

ZELENY: He didn't have to do it. And certainly in the last few days, certainly in the final days of the Iowa campaign, he was aggressively going after the former president. He was raising deep questions about his electability. He basically said, he is going to lose the House and the Senate and the White House if he becomes the nominee. But it's not surprising that he got behind him because he did sign the pledge.

And the pledge is, if you were going to be in this race, you had to pledge to support the nominee. Of course everyone signed that pledged except Donald Trump himself. But look, he and Nikki Haley have had this bitter feud going back and forth with one another. So I certainly didn't expect him to endorse him. But the best way to get sort of on the right side of Donald Trump is to join the Trump bandwagon.

And that's exactly what DeSantis did. He didn't have do it tonight, but you might as well -- his advisers basically said you might as well do it quickly and not have that question hanging over, is he going to support him, is he going to endorse him?

[19:05:01]

So, look, he has a -- he's 43 years old. He has a long future should he want one potentially, so I think that's why he decided to endorse tonight. There's no upside in not, at least politically speaking. Never mind the hypocrisy of what he just said about the former president.

ACOSTA: Yes. No question about it. All right, he's certainly eating those words tonight.

Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much.

Let's discuss more now with the former chief strategist for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, Stuart Stephens. He's also the author of the book "The Conspiracy to End America: Five Ways My Old Party is Driving Our Democracy to Autocracy."

Stuart, a lot of ground to cover. Some of it might pertain to your book there. But let me ask you to comment on the news first. DeSantis' exit from the race. Does it come as a shock to you? And what do you think it means?

STUART STEPHENS: It's not a shock. This race has been set in stone since really the Republicans decided that when Trump was indicted, that they were going to rally around him. That's when this race ended. It could have gone the other way. Republicans could have made the very rational decision that, well, gee, maybe it's not a great idea to have a nominee who has 91 counts against him. But they rallied around Trump.

And this is what the party has done every time that they've had an opportunity to get away from Trump, they don't do it. They don't make the move. They could have done it after January 6th. No. Mitch McConnell wouldn't let other senators vote to convict him, impeach him. And then McConnell went out and gave a speech saying, well, he should have been impeached. It is a moral collapse of the party. Unlike anything I think we've seen probably in American history, but certainly in modern American history.

ACOSTA: Yes. And Stuart, I mean, Jeff Zeleny was saying a few moments ago, well, Ron DeSantis is a relatively young man. He has 2028, I suppose, in his sights down the road. There are a lot of other Republican contenders potentially who -- they might be thinking the same thing.

But, you know, Donald Trump was holding a rally in New Hampshire last night where he was saying, wouldn't it essentially be nice to have a strong man here in America like they have over in Hungary with Viktor Orban. So maybe Donald Trump doesn't necessarily see himself not running in 2028 if he becomes president again.

STUART STEVENS, FORMER GOP STRATEGIST: He said that actually. He's talked about two-terms.

ACOSTA: Yes.

STEVENS: Look, you know, it's a hard thing to sort of admit and say out loud, but this party that I worked in for almost 30 years isn't a traditional American political party anymore. It's become an autocratic movement. That's what it is. And there's really only one pro-democracy party in America. And that's the Democratic Party. And nothing else matters. All this stuff we used to fight about like what's should the capital gains tax be, any of this stuff, it's just meaningless now.

This election really is going to be the most important election, certainly of our lifetime and probably since 1860. Donald Trump is winning and running away with this because he is what the Republican Party wants to be. He is giving them the most unfiltered, distilled form of what they want. And they want a strong man. And Trump is saying it.

And you read and listen to people who have studied strong men, they always say, one of the aspects is, they tell you what they're going to do. It's not a surprise. And that's what Trump is doing. And it's really a character test for the American electorate.

ACOSTA: And Stuart, I know that you basically said this doesn't matter, but I'm going to try to ask this question anyway about tactics and strategy because you helped run Mitt Romney's campaign back in 2012. And there were moments during that campaign where Mitt Romney was on the verge of beating Barack Obama.

But putting that to the side, when Nikki Haley, at the 11th hour, at the very last moment starts to question Trump's mental fitness, and for good reason when Trump the other night was mixing up Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi, is there a party that said, why didn't we hear some of this sooner? Ron DeSantis does the same thing going after Donald Trump. Do you ask why did he not do this sooner? Or have you resigned yourself to the fact that none of that would have mattered anyway?

STEVENS: Look, I think when you run against somebody, you have to run against them. And just think about how absurd it is that you're running against a candidate who is facing 91 counts, it was never brought up in a debate. What greater gift could you be given as an opposition candidate? You have some that a jury in his hometown found him liable for sexual assault that the judge clarified as rape.

So that's just going to be the Republican nominee. And, you know, I think if you were going to run against Donald Trump, you have to take the attitude in these debates, one of us is going to walk off the stage alive.

[19:10:02]

It's the only way to do it. You can't get up there with, I'm going to present as sort of like as diet Trump. And that's what they've all done except for Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson.

ACOSTA: Yes.

STEVENS: And they did it I think because when they looked at the polls, they said, well, I need to do this. But they weren't going to win. They weren't ever going to win. In many ways, this whole thing was just sort of a kabuki play to see positioning for four years from now.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, that's why, you know, I'm kind of scratching my head and wondering -- because I have covered some campaigns myself, and to see candidates like Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis going at one another, as a matter of fact, DeSantis goes after Nikki Haley in his exit announcement earlier today while he's endorsing Trump. Why go after somebody who you're sort of vying for second place? The race for second place never made any sense.

STEVENS: No. Look, I just think it just shows the terrible position the party is in. It is a Trump party. And whether or not Donald Trump wins or loses in November -- I think he's going to lose, I think he's going to lose decisively. But whether or not he does, the die is cast for the foreseeable future. The party is a Trump party with all that it means. This is the party that Putin is hoping will win the election.

This is the party that could accelerate the democracy losing the largest ground war since World War II in Europe. It is just unimaginable that the party that once was defined by Ronald Reagan standing in front of the Berlin Wall saying, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall, is now a party that Donald Trump was elected with the help of the Russians and are supporting the Russians. And that's what the party is.

And no one out there had the ability to try to break Donald Trump. And really, the party could have done this, you know. Going back to when he won the nomination. You remember, Mitt Romney gave that speech in spring of '16. Others could have followed him. None of them have. Now you have Tim Scott, which is one of the saddest little spectacles in American politics. Tim Scott endorsing Donald Trump.

ACOSTA: Yes.

STEVENS: I mean, it tells you everything you need to know.

ACOSTA: Well, and Steve Danes, who is the head of the National Republican Senate Campaign Committee, is also saying that the race is essentially over, that Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee and that the rest of the party should get behind him. And we haven't even gotten to the New Hampshire primary. Have you ever seen a race like this before for the Republican nomination?

STEVENS: Look, Donald Trump has been doing for some time in these polls is performing like an incumbent president would perform. It would be like if Joe Biden had been primaried in a serious contest. You know, a lot of these races in Iowa, you don't win with north of 50 percent, unless you're an incumbent president. And that's how -- that's his position in the party. I mean, a lot of these people think that he probably still is president.

And we know that the majority of them think that Joe Biden isn't a legally elected president. So this election in November is not going to be between two parties with different ideologies, different views of the role of government in our lives. It's going to be about one party that believes it is facing an illegal occupier of the Oval Office. And I don't think that we understand what that means because we've never seen it. And it's going to continue to play out in ways that I think are going to shock all of us.

ACOSTA: And how does this end for the GOP coming out of this cycle? I mean, if you're right and Trump loses, what becomes of the party at that point? I can't imagine Trump runs again in 2028.

STEVENS: No. But someone like Ron DeSantis will run and say everything that Trumpism was about was right, it's just he was the wrong messenger in the end. He wasn't the best candidate. That's the only criticism they make of Donald Trump, if you listen to them, that he's really not going to be a great candidate, which is a pretty extraordinary thing considering he tried to overthrow the government of the United States and they won't say that.

I think pain is the only teacher in politics. And what we're going to have to do is we're going to have to defeat this Republican Party again and again and again. And eventually it will change because if it doesn't change, it will not survive. The majority of Americans who are 16 and under are (INAUDIBLE) in this country. We're headed to become a minority-majority country.

And this party is not responding to that in a way that will make them a national party. Trump's coalition was 85 percent white in a country that's 59 percent white. And that's really all you need to know. Biden's best group was under 25 voters. He won those by 11 points.

[19:15:02]

So this is -- the party on some level understands this, which is why they're constantly trying to change the rules of how you vote. They are trying to basically curate an election that is more favorable to them. And you just got to beat this. And that's our work in the Lincoln Project. There's nothing magical out there, there's no silver bullet. You just have to do the work to defeat Donald Trump and defeat Trumpism.

And it's going to continue, I think, probably until '32. I think that's when the best hope the Republican Party can have to emerge with a sane governing party again.

ACOSTA: All right, Stuart Stevens, always appreciate your insight. It's great to have you on again. Please come back again soon. Thanks a lot. STEVENS: Good to see you.

ACOSTA: Good to see you.

All right. We started with more than a dozen, and now just two candidates remain on the Republican side. We have new reaction from both campaigns to Ron DeSantis dropping out. That's next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:20:14]

ACOSTA: We're following the major shakeup in the race for the Republican nomination for president. Ron DeSantis ending his campaign just two days before the New Hampshire primary.

CNN's Kylie Atwood is with the Nikki Haley campaign.

Kylie, I'm sure Nikki Haley would like to have a whole boatload of those Ron DeSantis supporters on her side of things. How is that looking?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, listen, Jim. I think it's, you know, an interesting picture to paint for our viewers here. This news broke while Nikki Haley was at one of her many campaign stops today at a clam shop, a lobster shack here in New Hampshire. She came out and she said to -- about Ron DeSantis that he has run a good campaign, he's been a good governor, but now it is a two-person race between her and former President Trump.

That's what her campaign has been saying it is here in New Hampshire for a while now, just because of how DeSantis was polling so low and not really competing in the state. But now of course that's a reality. And so here was her pitch to DeSantis voters who could potentially choose her when she spoke with Dana Bash earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that they love America. And I think they want a new generational leader. And so I am telling them that I am that new generational leader. And I'm the conservative that can get it done. Look at the fact that we could actually win. And I think that's what Ron DeSantis' supporters want. They don't want to lose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ATWOOD: Now she also told folks in that room that she's going to continue campaigning. She wants to do well here in New Hampshire. Her campaign is saying that they think that DeSantis support is going to be split between Haley and Trump. They think it will essentially cancel one another out. But if it does go to Trump, that could deliver him with a margin of victory here in New Hampshire which would be pretty substantial. We know that Trump is aiming for that because he thinks that that

could effectively mean that he is the de facto nominee. But Haley's team is still battling it out. They are doubting polls that show her below, say that there are also polls that show her neck-and-neck with the former president. So really campaigning as hard as they can here in New Hampshire where the stakes really just couldn't be higher.

ACOSTA: Yes. And New Hampshire can be full of surprises. All right, Kylie Atwood, thank you very much.

And CNN's Alayna Treene is with the Trump campaign in Rochester, New Hampshire.

Alayna, what do we expect there?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, Jim, Donald Trump just took the stage moments ago and of course this rally comes shortly after Ron DeSantis suspended his presidential campaign.

I can tell you, Jim, that from my conversations with the Trump campaign, they had been planning for that over the last 24 hours. They had expected that DeSantis may drop out. And so they prepared a series of statements and campaign stops for the president to address. And again I am told he is going to address DeSantis dropping out and endorsing the former president tonight on stage.

Now I just want to read to you what Trump told FOX News earlier today in a FOX News Digital article. Excuse me. He said that he was very honored by DeSantis' endorsement. He said, quote, "I look forward to working together with him to beat Joe Biden, who is the worst and most corrupt president in the history of our country."

Now, Jim, a few things I want to point out here. We know that Donald Trump for many months, I mean, really all throughout 2024, viciously attacked Ron DeSantis. Part of that was because the campaign was concerned about DeSantis' candidacy. But the other part was because Donald Trump had been very angry when the governor had run for president. Trump found it disloyal. And I know that a lot of his advisers felt that way as well. And so I think now --

ACOSTA: Donald Trump is now addressing Ron DeSantis endorsing him and dropping out of the race. Let's go to that now for just a moment.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not easy. They think it's easy doing this stuff, right? It's not easy. But as you know, he left the campaign trail today at 3:00 p.m. and in so doing, he was very gracious and he endorsed me. So I appreciate it.

(CHEERS)

TRUMP: I appreciate that. And I also look forward to working with Ron and everybody else to defeat crooked Joe Biden. We have to get him out. We have to get him out. He's put our country at great peril. At great peril. So I just want to thank Ron and congrats --

ACOSTA: That was Donald Trump there accepting Ron DeSantis' endorsement. Let's bring in Jeff Zeleny. We just wanted to dip in, Jeff, for just a moment there to hear Trump accepting that endorsement from Ron DeSantis. Obviously, Trump is delighted by this. He is expecting the rest of the field to do this in short order.

[19:25:02]

ZELENY: He is and really he was gracious in his remarks there, the former president. Really striking a tone that he did on the night of the Iowa caucuses when he won. He really extended a bit of an olive branch to that point to Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, but now at this point really accepting his endorsement and acknowledging how difficult it is to run for president. So really some of the kindest words we've heard from Donald Trump about Ron DeSantis.

One thing has been extraordinary over the last year. Donald Trump defeated Ron DeSantis not just in Iowa but month by month by month in tens of thousands of -- and millions of dollars in a television advertising, really just driving up DeSantis' negatives. And, Jim, there's been so much overlap between the two campaigns as you know. Many of the people inside the inner circle of the Trump campaign helped elect DeSantis in Florida.

They were central to his rise there. And then they went to work for the former president. So there's been so much overlap between the two. But clearly now, DeSantis loses, he goes back to become the governor of Florida. And we will see how this relationship continues. But for now at least, Donald Trump, very gracious in accepting the endorsement and offering at least a little bit of praise to the Florida governor, his governor, since Trump is also of course a Florida resident now as well -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. We'll see how that bromance lasts. Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:30:35]

ACOSTA: Now to the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and allegations that Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis had an improper relationship with lead prosecutor, Nathan Wade, who Willis hired for the case.

New documents have now surfaced showing that Wade purchased airline tickets for Willis to accompany him on multiple out-of-state trips.

I'm joined now by Norm Eisen, who is special counsel to the House during its first impeachment of Donald Trump and a White House Ethics czar during the Obama administration.

And Norm, you've been calling on Wade to step down over this controversy. Walk us through this. Why do you think he should do that?

NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Jim, he's not legally required to step down. Georgia law establishes grounds for qualification and a relationship between two prosecutors is not a grounds for disqualification under Georgia law. So it's clear that there is no legal obligation on the part of him or the DA to step down.

But we have to be candid that instead of focus on one of the most serious alleged criminal conspiracies in American history, the effort to overturn the 2020 election, our attention has been distracted by questions about the alleged relationship between DA Willis and Mr. Wade.

I mean, Jim, we all heard the tape of former President Trump pressuring Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. That's where the focus needs to be.

ACOSTA: Right.

EISEN: It needs to be on getting this case to the jury so we can know one way or the other, whether guilty or innocent, did Trump criminally abused his powers to attempt to overturn an election while he is seeking to regain them? That's where the focus should be and that is why Mr. Wade should voluntarily step aside.

ACOSTA: But is that going to satisfy the critics of Fani Willis, if it is just Nathan Wade who steps down? What about Fani Willis?

EISEN: I think what's going to happen here, I hope Mr. Wade, who has had a very successful run on this case, I mean, they've won almost everything. He's defeated some of the most distinguished lawyers in the country in leading this team.

The combination of Mr. Wade voluntarily considering stepping aside, DA Willis is going to file a motion. Georgia law does not make a relationship among consenting adults improper, and I think the judge is going to rule, hey, it's not required that anyone leave under Georgia law. But the public will be reassured by that. I think it's necessary in order to move forward and return the focus to the alleged criminality and speed things up. We've got to get that to trial.

ACOSTA: And the judge presiding over the case will set a hearing for February 15th to deal with these allegations. What are you watching for there? Should Nathan Wade wait until this hearing to come forward?

I mean, aren't there some risks in having this hearing aired in front of the public?

EISEN: In the fullness of time, when Mr. Wade makes the decision to step away is really up to him. He needs to ask what's in the best interests of justice here? I'll be watching for that February 15th hearing, but the stepping stones along the way, Jim.

Miss Willis has been subpoenaed to a deposition in Mr. Wade's divorce case, what will happen? Will that subpoena be quashed? There's a motion to unseal the records in the divorce case. Will they be unsealed or not? What will we learn there?

Probably the most important stepping stone February 2nd, Miss Willis will file her formal answer with the court explaining the situation here. I anticipate she'll say, I read all the cases in Georgia. She'll say, look, this is not a disqualifying event here, but we'll see how she addresses it.

There's a lot we don't know yet, but I think Mr. Wade should continue his service to the interests of justice, which has been so outstanding by considering whether or not the time has come to step away.

[19:35:05]

ACOSTA: And Norm, tomorrow, Trump is expected back in court or at least we think he'll be back in court as a jury hears arguments on how much money he's going to have to pay E. Jean Carroll in that defamation case. What are you watching for there? Could we see an eye- popping dollar amount here that might convince the former president to leave E. Jean Carroll alone once and for all. Is that possible?

EISEN: Three things we'll be watching for. On the way to what I do think will be a large sum, much larger than the first trial. Number one, will Donald Trump testify tomorrow? If that happens, it will likely will be in the afternoon. It could roll forward to Tuesday morning. Also the New Hampshire primary, so he'll have some timing decisions to make. That's the first thing that everyone will be watching.

The second question is going to be there's a series of evidentiary and legal issues about damages, jury instructions. Those are technical, but they'll shape how large that number will be.

And then I'll be watching for compensatory damages. But above all, for punitive damages, when you have a defendant who has engaged in intentional wrongdoing, the law allows a large multiplier of the compensatory damages and I think there's been a lot of unrebutted evidence of wrongdoing and I think the jury saw Mr. Trump's shenanigans, his rude behavior in court, shaking his head.

ACOSTA: This is a different judge in this one. Yes.

EISEN: Con job.

ACOSTA: Right.

EISEN: That just happened last week in this case. The jury saw that and that is itself evidence of the legal term "malice," so I think we're going to get a big number, particularly on the punitive damages for wrongdoing.

ACOSTA: All right, Norm Eisen, thank you very much for all of that. We appreciate it, as always.

Back to the breaking political news tonight, a look at how President Biden's campaign is responding to Ron DeSantis dropping out of the race. More on that in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:41:22]

ACOSTA: We are getting new reaction from the Democrats tonight following today's bombshell news of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is out of the presidential race, of endorsing Donald Trump.

The Democratic National Committee releasing this statement, saying "DeSantis pinned his entire campaign on the same extreme MAGA agenda that both Trump and Nikki Haley are still running on," and calling DeSantis "the latest Republican to fall in line behind Trump."

We're still waiting to hear from President Biden who just arrived back home in Delaware.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is traveling with the president, he joins us now.

Kevin, the Biden campaign says they had long looked past DeSantis in strategizing for the 2024 race. It sounds like they've been expecting Donald Trump all along to be the Republican nominee.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, they have.

You know, they always prepare their research in all the candidates that are running and of course, they always say that they're prepared for whatever Republican emerges as the nominee, but in reality, they have long looked past DeSantis and looks toward former President Trump as the most likely nominee, of course, polling bears that out as well.

And even in that statement from the Democrats that you read tonight, it focuses much less on DeSantis and more on former President Trump and lumping in DeSantis with President Trump's ideologies and policies. And so certainly, the Democrats and President Biden's campaign very eager for this to turn into a one-on-one contest, President Biden versus President Trump.

And I think, you know, in their own internal research, there are numbers that indicate that many undecided voters just don't believe that former President Trump will become the Republican nominee, and until that happens, it's very hard for them to make this choice argument, this contrast argument with former President Trump.

Right now, it's President Biden versus a Republican in the abstract. Once President Trump is in that position and is the nominee, they do think it will be much easier for them to run against him and you will start to see them doing that in the coming days and they will start to focus really squarely on this issue of reproductive rights and abortion and really making the argument that it is former President Trump who is the most responsible through his three Supreme Court nominees for the overturning of Roe versus Wade, and you will see President Biden and Vice President Harris at a joint campaign rally on Tuesday making that argument in Northern Virginia -- Jim.

ACOSTA: And Kevin were also getting some very sad news from the Pentagon about those two Navy SEALs who were missing off the coast of Somalia. What are you learning there?

LIPTAK: Yes, and this is tragic news from US Central Command. This was an incident that began about a week ago. The Navy SEALs were interdicting a small craft off the coast of Somalia that was carrying Iranian arms to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. They were conducting this exercise in very rough seas. One of the SEALs fell into the water, another of the SEALs went in after him and there has been this attempt to find them over the last 10 days, 21,000 square feet were searched, American resources, Japanese resources and Spanish resources all used to try and find them.

But today, US Central Command saying that they now believe that these SEALs are deceased. And so I do think it underscores that even though there are no American boots on the ground there, that there are risks that remain for the American servicemen and women who have been sent to the region to beef up security in the Red Sea and the surrounding areas as they try and deter these Houthi attacks on commercial and merchant vessels, so certainly very sad news coming out from US Central Command tonight -- Jim.

[19:45:06]

ACOSTA: All right, Kevin Liptak with the president in Rehoboth Beach, thank you very much.

Much more on the race to the White House in tonight's breaking news, Ron DeSantis dropping out of the presidential race.

More on all of this, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: A new CNN investigation has found that the Israeli military disturbed at least 16 cemeteries in its ground offensive in Gaza leaving gravestones ruined, soil upturned and in some cases, bodies unearthed.

[19:50:01]

Just this week, the IDF destroyed a cemetery in Khan Yunis claiming they were searching for the remains of Israeli hostages. Just a warning, these pictures you're about to see may be disturbing for some viewers. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the story.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, as part of our investigation, we looked at videos filmed on the ground, as well as satellite imagery looking at cemeteries in particular, in areas where the Israeli military has been operating inside of Gaza, and here is what we found, a total of 16 cemeteries damaged or destroyed by the Israeli military.

In at least one case, the military says that they were looking for the bodies of hostages, but in other cases, they simply could not account for the reasons for the destruction seen at some of those cemeteries.

I do want to warn our viewers that they may find some of these images disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND (voice over): In Gaza, even the dead cannot escape the indignities of war. More than a dozen cemeteries like this one in Jabalia desecrated by the Israeli military. Gravestones destroyed, soil upturned, tread marks leaving little left for the living to honor their dead.

This is that same graveyard before the war. One month later, a series of tread marks can be seen on the northwestern edge. It is no exception.

A CNN analysis of videos and satellite imagery found that 16 cemeteries have been damaged or destroyed by the Israeli military since it launched its ground offensive.

As Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza, they crushed the graves of thousands of Palestinians between November and January.

Janina Dill, co-director of Oxford University's Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, says destroying graveyards violates international law, except under very limited circumstances.

JANINA DILL, CO-DIRECTOR, OXFORD UNIVERSITY'S INSTITUTE FOR ETHICS: Cemeteries are not military objectives. They are in fact what international law would consider an object that is normally dedicated to civilian purposes, like places of worship generally. So this is protected from intentional attack. It can only be intentionally attacked or destroyed if it becomes a military objective.

DIAMOND (voice over): In some cases, like this cemetery in the Shajaiye Refugee Camp, Israeli bulldozers turned cemeteries into military outposts, parking armored vehicles behind freshly raised berms.

The damage is often deliberate and progressive. Over two weeks in December, the military bulldozed more and more of this cemetery east of Khan Yunis, building defensive fortifications.

CNN witnessed firsthand the results of Israel's bulldozing of graveyards while embedded with Israeli forces last week. The armored personnel carrier CNN was traveling in drove right through this cemetery in Al-Bureij on a freshly bulldozed dirt road.

And then there's this. Tombs opened at a cemetery in Khan Yunis this week, bodies removed from their graves. In a statement, the Israeli military acknowledged exhuming bodies from the cemetery as part of its search for the bodies of Israeli hostages.

An IDF spokesman could not account for the damage to the 16 cemeteries identified by CNN, but said that in some cases, there is no other choice, providing this photo of what it says is a Hamas rocket launcher at a cemetery in Gaza. CNN could not independently verify where it was taken.

The spokesman could not account for the military posts over graveyards, but said, "We have a serious obligation to the respect of the dead, and there is no policy to create military posts out of graveyards."

In at least one case, the Israeli military appears to have taken pains to maneuver around a graveyard. The Deir El Belah War Cemetery, which holds the remains of many Christian and Jewish soldiers from World War I, left intact despite devastation all around.

At the El Toufah Cemetery, a very different picture. Residents say bodies were uprooted by Israeli bulldozers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We're currently retrieving the corpses of the martyrs that are present in the cemetery. The occupation forces have run over most of them with their bulldozers, and we've only identified a small number of corpses and masses. As for the rest, their identities remain unknown.

DIAMOND (voice over): South Africa cited Israel's destruction of cemeteries as part of its case, arguing Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Israel denies the allegation, but experts say cemetery destruction could be evidence of Israel's intent.

DILL: There is huge symbolic meaning to the notion that not even the dead are left in peace. It suggests that disrespect towards the kind of spiritual life of your enemy, their cultural property and heritage. It is an evidence of an animus against your enemy that is unhelpful in this context.

[19:55:06]

DIAMOND (voice over): The Israeli military is still desecrating graves in Gaza.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): They dug up the graves, these are the graves.

DIAMOND (voice over): At the Khan Yunis Cemetery where the military dug up bodies this week, the damage is extensive and all too familiar. Tombs destroyed, shrouded bodies sticking out of the soil, the dead roused from their final rest.

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DIAMOND (on camera): Now, Jim, the Israeli military pointed to Hamas using some of these cemeteries for their military purposes, but we're not just talking about targeted attacks on some of these cemeteries.

In some cases, you saw entire cemeteries razed to the ground, bulldozed, in order to create military outposts, military vehicles visible there. In other cases, roads built right through cemeteries, and all in all taking little care to preserve the dignity of the dead. And all of this really speaks to something far more than isolated incidents, it speaks to something far more systemic than the military is acknowledging -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Jeremy Diamond, thank you very much.

When we come back, more on tonight's breaking news from the campaign trail. Ron DeSantis dropping out of the race for president.

We'll be right back.

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