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Voters Hit The Polls In South Carolina's Primary; Trump Headlines Last Day Of CPAC As South Carolina Voting Underway; RNC Circulating Resolutions To Slow Down Trump's Takeover; Ukrainian Fighter On Surviving Every Major Battle In Russia's War; President Zelenskyy Marks Second Anniversary Of War; Nikki Haley Vows To Stay In Race Through Super Tuesday; Anti-Government Protesters March Through Tel Aviv; Trump Legal Team Busy Filing Requests For Delays, Dismissals. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired February 24, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:08]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and we're watching two major stories unfolding at this hour.

A solemn moment for Ukraine, which today marks two years since the start of Russia's brutal invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting with other world leaders today in Kyiv, and in an emotional message to his countrymen, Zelenskyy urged hope in the face of Russia's relentless aggression. Ukraine is in desperate need of artillery, ammunition, and supplies to keep up its fight. The recent retreat from Avdiivka shining new light on the country's urgent need for international help.

We're also watching a pivotal moment in this country on the presidential campaign trail. Republican voters in South Carolina are voting today in a critical primary election. Former President Trump speaking right now at CPAC in Maryland. He's heading to the Palmetto State where he will watch the results come in later on. His sole remaining primary challenger, Nikki Haley, casts her ballot in the state. She once led as governor, and now she's hoping voters there provide a boost to her presidential aspirations.

We've got team coverage of the GOP primary in South Carolina. Several CNN correspondents are scattered around the Palmetto State on this key election day.

Let's begin our coverage with Boris Sanchez in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Boris, the polls will be open for about, what, four more hours or so? What has the turnout been like?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Fred, it's been steady for a Saturday. Obviously, they've had two weeks of early voting, so it's mostly last- minute voters coming in right now. This primary today is going to be a big test for former governor Nikki Haley. She has actually done well in this area historically in her two gubernatorial races in this Rock Hill area. Compare that to how Donald Trump has done here, though, every race that Donald Trump has run in his political life in South Carolina, he has won pretty handily and by large numbers in this county, in York County.

I'm going to step aside to give you a view of what is happening right now and how this process works. You have voters come in. They hand over their IDs. They register to vote. They get their ballots then they walk over to the voting booths. I had an election worker describe them as very, very expensive and large pencils because the votes aren't actually tabulated or taken inside of there. They just mark the ballot as you just see that young lady holding there.

As soon as the ballots are cast, they walk over to the tabulation machine over to our right. They insert them there. That's where all the counting happens. By the time that the precinct, that the polling location closes at 7:00 p.m. tonight, information from that machine is gathered, it gets sent to a central office. That's where all the votes are tabulated. And that is where we find out the final numbers.

So far, as you've noted, Fred, Donald Trump has maintained a sizable lead in polling, roughly 30 points or so. I've spoken to sources close to the Trump campaign who are very confident going into tonight, and not just about South Carolina but about the race wholly. I spoke to one source earlier who said that for Nikki Haley, there's not very many states that she can point to and say that she has a great chance of winning.

So this will be a big test for her moving forward, even though she says she's going to stay in the race until every vote is tabulated -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Boris Sanchez, there in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Let's go to Mauldin, South Carolina, now where we find Omar Jimenez.

How's it looking there, Omar?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE) And I just want to give you a quick view of what our polling center is looking like. Kind of like Boris, we've had a steady course of the day. Depending on what time of the day, it either is crowded, it's a little bit more muted like it is now, but you can see some of these voters now doing that familiar scene at those privacy booths before they come on over and get one of those patented classic "I Voted" stickers.

As you see this woman going over to do this process, what they do is they slide it in there. It officially gets, you know, counted numbers wise. We've seen over 400 people over the course of today do exactly what she's doing, but we've also been talking to voters over the course of today as well. And obviously, look, the choices now are Nikki Haley and Donald Trump. And we've seen sort of a mix, really a little bit of a mixed bag for people who have been supporting candidates.

One person we spoke to actually, and this is a dynamic we are keeping an eye on, said that she was actually a Democrat and she voted for Nikki Haley. And when we asked her, why don't you vote in the Democratic primary, which was again earlier in this month, she said she was holding her vote just so she could vote against Donald Trump. Now, that hasn't been the majority of what we've seen. But in this open primary as it's known, you can vote for whoever you want. It's just you can't vote twice.

[15:05:06]

Now, we also, though, talk to many Trump voters who feel like he is going to run away with not just this primary, with the general election as well. Few more hours until the polls close here in South Carolina -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Omar, thank you so much there in Mauldin, South Carolina.

All right. Let's take a trip now to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Alayna Treene is there and you've been talking to voters there. What are they saying?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I have, and as you can see, Fred, a huge line still behind me. This has been a very active polling location with tons of people who have been lining up all day and waiting to cast their vote. But, look, this is a big day for the former Trump campaign as well as Nikki Haley.

And it's really the state where Donald Trump believes that he will be able to deliver the final blow to Nikki Haley's campaign, even though she has insisted that she plans to stay in the race through Super Tuesday. And he is continuing to lead her by 30 points in the polls. Adding to that confidence that Boris mentioned, they're very confident about his performance here.

Now I do just want to give you some insight into Mount Pleasant. This is a county where they actually did not vote for Donald Trump. Donald Trump had won South Carolina in the past two general elections, but this is one of the counties in the state that did not favor him. And so because of that, we actually heard a lot of voters saying that they voted for Nikki Haley. Some were registered Republicans who said that they really voted for her as a vote against Donald Trump.

But we did also hear from a lot of Republicans who did have a lot of support for Donald Trump, including one voter. His name was David Alfred and he said the reason he so strongly wanted to come out here today and make sure he voted for Trump was because he wants to go with someone that works. He wanted to vote for a businessman and not a politician. And so we've really had a variety of opinions at this polling location. And we'll see how that plays out later today when polls close at 7:00 p.m. -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, we will indeed. Thank you so much, Alayna Treene, Omar Jimenez, and Boris Sanchez. Thanks to all of you.

All right, and join CNN for live results and analysis of the South Carolina Republican presidential primary. Coverage begins tonight at 6:00 p.m. right here on CNN. So as voters in South Carolina head to the polls today in that state's

Republican primary, President Trump is in Maryland, where he is speaking at the CPAC conference. The annual gathering of influential conservatives has become a pro-Trump festival of sorts in recent years.

CNN's Steve Contorno is covering this for us.

What's happening?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, a year ago governor -- excuse me, former president Trump spoke at CPAC where he said, I am your justice, I am your retribution. And that kicked off this year of retaliation campaign from the former president. Now he is telling his audience, quote, "Success will be our revenge." Take a listen to what he said earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to bring our country back. For hardworking Americans November 5th will be our new liberation day. But for the liars and cheaters, and fraudsters and sensors and impostors, who have commandeered our government, it will be their judgment day. Their judgment day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Trump also called himself a, quote, "proud political dissident," which is a striking choice of words given what just transpired in Russia with the death of Alexei Navalny there. And Trump's remarks on Navalny have been wrongly criticized by former governor Nikki Haley, who has said he has not stood up to Vladimir Putin enough.

Trump for his part is sort of ignoring Nikki Haley. I've been listening to his speech that he's been giving behind me over the last hour. I don't think he's mentioned Nikki Haley once during his remarks and now he is looking ahead to this general election that he is hoping he is going to have against President Joe Biden, clearly gearing his remarks towards Biden.

WHITFIELD: All right. Steve Contorno, thank you so much.

All right. And this just in to CNN. The RNC, the Republican National Committee, is circulating two resolutions that could potentially slow down former president Donald Trump's efforts to reshape the party and take over the committee.

CNN's Kristen Holmes joining me now with more on this.

Kristen, this is quite baffling.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is but also it goes to show you that not all of the RNC members are 100 percent pro-Trump backing him until the election. So here's what we know. We know that last week Donald Trump endorsed Michael Whatley, who is a member from North Carolina, to be the head of the RNC because the chair has said she would step down after South Carolina or after he becomes the nominee. He also said that he wanted to put someone from his campaign, who was a senior adviser, Chris Lacivita, into the role of chief operating officer in the RNC.

[15:10:04]

So here we have somebody, a member, Henry Barber, who is from Mississippi putting forward these two resolutions that would kind of combat what we saw from the former president. The first one says that they would not support or they would remain neutral until somebody got all of the delegate votes necessary to be the actual Republican nominee. And that would include not taking anyone from certain presidential person's -- presidential candidate's campaign. So that should give you some indication of what they're talking about there.

The other one said that the RNC would not pay a single legal bill for either Donald Trump or Nikki Haley that was not related to 2024 or the presidential election. So clearly both of those are very pointed. It seems unlikely they're going to pass with the majority of members who support Donald Trump. But it is interesting. There are still some people who were rebelling against him.

WHITFIELD: Very interesting. All right, Kristen Holmes, thanks so much.

Straight ahead, Ukraine is marking a grim milestone today. It has now been two years since Russian president Putin ordered the full-scale invasion. What's at stake on the battlefield, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:27]

WHITFIELD: As the world marks two years since Russia's invasion into Ukraine, Ukrainian officials say they have new reassurances of aid from European leaders. The E.U. has fallen short on previous commitments to boosting ammunition production and recently agreed to a funding deal worth more than $50 billion. The deal comes as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to Ukrainians today insisting their defiant nation will succeed.

CNN chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is in Ukraine, joining us now.

You spoke with a Ukrainian fighter who has a remarkable story.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, it's important to remember on a day you have many Ukrainians are actually able to conjure up two years ago when they didn't have a life entirely punctuated and swamped in this conflict. Exactly what this war has done to ordinary families here, torn apart, caused many women and children to flee as refugees to Europe, and dominating daily life, sirens, explosions in a large city this. Something that haunts people that two years ago was just unimaginable. We spoke to one Ukrainian Marine who seems through his extraordinary

last two years, who have been around some of the key events of this war, some of the key turning points. Here is his remarkable story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (voice-over): If one man's story span all two years of Ukraine's war, you might expect it had ended abruptly by now. But Oleksandre is alive. A glass eye from the siege of Azovstal, gratitude from surviving Russian prisons, courage from battling in the summer counteroffensive, and now exhaustion from fighting in Kherson in a daring advance across the river the Russia claimed it ended this week.

Two years ago, he remembered shock at Russia's brutal attack but also Ukraine's bold defense.

OLEKSANDRE, 36TH MARINE BRIGADE (through text translation): I personally didn't believe it but I imagined something could happen. But we underestimated our strength as if someone was deliberately putting a stick in our wheels. But our guys were ready. Those were some of the strongest men I know and have known.

WALSH: Serving already four years around Mariupol, he had a friend move his family to Denmark, and slowly his unit fell back to the Azovstal plant unaware of the iconic battle it would become.

What was the worst part of Azovstal?

OLEKSANDRE (through text translation): When you look at your friends, your boys who are wounded, you want to help them but you can't. This is the worst. We had no medicine. The boys were just rotting.

WALSH: Is there a flashback that is most vivid to you?

OLEKSANDRE (through text translation): There are many flashbacks, but mostly, I think, only about my guys. Those that I lost and those that are alive but now in captivity.

WALSH (voice-over): Four hundred colleagues died, 45 taken prisoner, he said, surrender the worst feeling.

OLEKSANDRE (through text translation): Panic. I mean it wasn't really panic. It was a bad feeling, a feeling of powerlessness especially when they take away your weapon. It's like you're standing naked. It was like Russian roulette. No one there was sure of anything.

WALSH: Six months in prison, the Russian anthem daily, porridge, boiled cabbage, friends dying and threats of being hung or shot. They ended abruptly.

OLEKSANDRE (through text translation): We didn't know that we were being released. They put us on buses and took us somewhere else. Our eyes were duct taped. No one saw anything. They just took us out, and that's it, you are in Ukraine.

WALSH: He rested and returned to fight in the bitter and bloody southern counteroffensive near Urozhaine. He said he was grateful to feel fear again.

Have your experience left you feeling more courageous or more fearful on the front line?

OLEKSANDRE (through text translation): I'm not an iron man, I get scared, too. It's good to have fear in you. You just need to master your fear. If you don't control it, it will swallow you up. You won't be human anymore. I don't pity the recruits. Pity is a bad quality. You just have to do your job.

[15:20:04]

WALSH (voice-over): We talk in Kherson and his break from assaulting Russian positions across the river, a risky advance Ukraine hoped would edge towards occupied Crimea. It hasn't. Many lives have been lost, and the city of Kherson, liberated now for 15 months, is also an exhausted ghost. And while Western support has slowed, Russia has not.

OLEKSANDRE (through text translation): This is a difficult freedom. I don't argue. But I don't want to lose it. They were well zombified, the Russians. They simply win in numbers. It will be difficult but we will try.

WALSH: No end is in sight. He says he does of course not want his son to fight in this war. He is 7.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: Now it's a difficult few months ahead for Ukraine. The Western aid, the $60 billion of U.S. financing urgent really in terms of what it does for munitions, for the frontline here. That is not arriving, and it's more in doubt. Still 10 days more until Congress even comes back to debate it. And multiple points along the Ukrainian frontline in peril.

Possibly it seems advances near Avdiivka again by Russian forces today and a sense I think that Putin has found his footing again. He's corrected some of the financing supply issues they had and we may be looking at more successes for Russia in the months ahead and Ukraine trying to hold on -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Still hard to believe entering year three. All right, Nick Paton Walsh in Ukraine, thank you.

For more on this war, let's turn now to CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedrick Leighton.

Colonel, good to see you. I mean, that is just astounding, isn't it? I mean you just saw there the resolve shown by so many Ukrainian soldiers, but realistically, you know, how long can Ukraine, you know, spurn Russia's advance, I mean, giving the shrinking supply of artillery, ammunition, even though Europeans are now committing more?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Fredricka. It really depends on how quickly the European aid can materialize in Ukraine and how quickly the U.S. can resume aid because we're going to have to do that. You know, the European aid by itself is not going to be sufficient. And that's I think the whole tragedy of this situation.

Not that the aid from the U.S. or from West could have stopped what happened to Oleksandre, the soldier in Nick Paton Walsh's piece in Mariupol, for example, but what it could do is it could prevent other troops in Ukraine from being captured or being killed or being wounded, and that's the key thing here.

Ukraine has basically become the buffer sticking between NATO Europe and Russia, and it is also protecting us here in the United States. And that of course makes a big, big difference, and the sooner that's recognized and the sooner that's dealt with, the better off we'll all be.

WHITFIELD: And Colonel, today, Russian forces claim that they captured some 200 Ukrainian troops from Avdiivka. I mean, that's both heartbreaking and demoralizing, right? So how does the loss of Avdiivka reshape Ukraine's battle plans at all?

LEIGHTON: Yes. Well, Avdiivka is kind of that junction between the southern and eastern fronts. And as we see on this map here, there is really that key element where it's kind of a picket point between those two areas. It is of course also fairly close to that land bridge that runs from Donetsk down toward Crimea. And that is really the critical thing because what the Ukrainians wanted to do was to cut that land bridge.

That's going to be a really hard thing to do right now and they're going to have to rethink how they're going to do something like this, or even if they're going to do something like that in the near term. So the goal of cutting the land bridge to kind of cut off Crimea from the rest of Russia or Russian occupied territory, that's going to be something that they're going to probably have to put into a basket of future events.

So that will mean that there's a more defensive posture for the Ukrainian forces, at least with the usual medium term and that of course means a different kind of warfare and that could mean a lot of attrition. And if they're not careful a lot more troops than are captured by the Russians like those 200 in Avdiivka.

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. All right. And today President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country is preparing for a new counteroffensive. How successful, you know, can the Ukrainian offensive be at this stage in the war, and given what we just said a lack of resources or dwindling resources?

LEIGHTON: Yes, that's going to be really, really tough to realize, unless it's something that is completely asymmetrical, such as the attacks that the Ukrainians have very successfully mounted against the Russian Black Sea fleet.

[15:25:13]

Those have been spots of major success in the Ukrainian war effort. And that is something that could potentially be part of the battle plan that President Zelenskyy is outlining here. Of course he normally would say these things in relation to a land war or to the land portion of this war, and that's the kind of thing that, you know, what can only be successful once the Ukrainians get on that aircraft like the F-16 and also long-range artillery pieces like the ATACAM system.

So those are the kinds of things that are going to be -- need to be part of the Ukrainian battle for there to be any kind of success of that type, and it's going to be in the long time coming before we see that kind of success.

WHITFIELD: Well, all right, Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Coming up, it's showdown in South Carolina. Donald Trump and Nikki Haley going head-to-head in the Republican presidential primary there. We'll have more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:24]

WHITFIELD: All right, today, Nikki Haley is in her home state where a high-stakes primary is underway between the former South Carolina governor and former president Donald Trump. Haley is in a fight against the odds for a win in the Palmetto State and vows to stay in the race regardless of today's primary outcome.

Jackie Kucinich, CNN political analyst, and Washington bureau chief with "The Boston Globe," joining us right now.

Jackie, great to see you. So today's results just might impact Haley's momentum and fundraising, right? I mean, how can she continue the fight if she doesn't get that win?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: So she's been really setting expectations low for South Carolina because based on polling, she's not going to win, she's going to lose by double-digits. The South Carolina Republican Party is very much united around former president Trump and Nikki Haley has all but acknowledged that. And she's also talking a lot about Super Tuesday, which is March 5th.

Her campaign announced they've made a seven-figure ad buy, national ad buy ahead because of the Super Tuesday states. So really she's looking forward and as long as donors are giving her money it sounds like she's going to keep running because, let's remember, candidates usually don't run out of ambition, they run on money, right?

WHITFIELD: Yes. And that's what I wonder if the results this evening will determine whether the donors will keep the money flowing because she has said she's in it. She's in it as long as, you know, she wants to be. But it really is kind of predicated on whether you have kind of, you know, fuel to keep it going money-wise.

KUCINICH: Very true. And so -- but I don't know that, again, that donors are looking particularly tonight, perhaps it will end up what the margins are, how much she loses by. But I don't think anyone has -- who's been paying attention expects her to pull out a win despite the fact that she was elected twice as governor in South Carolina. It's a very different state now, and her biggest challenge is to show that she can win among Republicans.

She has done well with independent. She has done well with the Republicans who are kind of over Trump. But those Republicans are the minority of the Republican Party right now. So she's really playing -- she's really playing for those, perhaps those Democrats that aren't really excited about Joe Biden, who may have voted for, you know, Trump in the past. These middle of the road voters. That she's making a play for, but it's hard to win the Republican primary only on those marginal voters.

WHITFIELD: OK. Now, what about her opponent, you know, Donald Trump, you know, saying things like, you know, it must be ego as to why she continues to stay, and, you know, he says she doesn't know how to get out of the race. I mean, it is still early on the primary season. You know, but why is it? It seems to be a distraction for him. He says, you know, with her still in the race, he can't really or his people say he can't really focus on, you know, Biden who he wants to focus on, except today during the CPAC, are own Steve Contorno said today he never mentioned Haley.

He only talked about, you know, taking on Joe Biden. So that Haley is still in the race, is it kind of getting under his skin in a way or has he gotten past that now?

KUCINICH: That is certainly what she is trying to do. She's trying to live rent-free in his head to break his focus, to make -- to get the massive slip a little bit that he -- and to turn him into a bully, and perhaps to turn off voters who might not be sure about him.

But listen, he stayed on script today. That is a rarity when it comes to the former president. Usually he is, you know, someone who veers and who'll go after Haley. But his team wants him to make -- to talk about the general election. And odds are that he's going to be the Republican nominee, but Haley is going to give it the college try she keeps on saying, so that -- we'll see what happens post Super Tuesday with those donors, but she's made it very clear. Michigan next Tuesday and Super Tuesday, she's going to be running through the tape.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, Haley and Trump don't like to professor to agree on much, but they do seem to agree on invitro fertilization or IVF.

KUCINICH: Right.

WHITFIELD: Both saying Alabama needs to revisit things after the state Supreme Court ruled embryos are extrauterine children, and that destroying or damaging them could lead to civil liability. Just take a listen to recent comments from each of them.

[15:35:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious little beautiful baby. I support it. The Republican party should always be on the side of the miracle of life and the side of mothers and fathers and beautiful little babies.

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I personally believe an embryo was a baby, not everybody is going to agree that an embryo was a baby, but that's why parents need to be able to have the decision on how they're going to handle those embryos and they need to know that they're going to be protected, that they're not just going to be discarded by accident or that someone is not properly taking care of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So Alabama's attorney general says he has no intention of putting doctors or, you know, families in jail, but this does highlight a big problem within the GOP, right? Where is it on protecting women's reproductive rights?

KUCINICH: This issue, I mean, you have the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is dedicated to reelecting Republicans in the Senate, put out talking points to say, you should come out against this ruling and for IVF. This was a huge -- going to be a huge problem for Republicans who already are having trouble talking about abortion in the wake of Dobbs. I mean, let's look, every time abortion has been on the ballot, no matter what the state, that -- the initiative has passed.

They have a perfect record right now and you're good to see it potentially on the ballot in other states in 2024. There are several initiatives where they're working through the process right now. They know this is a problem. This is why the former president has kind of tried to avoid really getting foot nailed down on the issue. He talks a lot about the Supreme Court that he put into place in order to have Dobbs -- to have Roe v. Wade taken away.

But he hasn't really taken a hardline stance and maybe some of his -- some other Republicans have on the issue because he knows that politically this is a tough issue for Republicans and it's not going to get any easier.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jackie Kucinich, great to see you. We'll leave it there for now.

KUCINICH: Thanks so much.

WHITFIELD: Our special coverage on the South Carolina primary starts at the top of the hour, 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time right here on CNN.

All right. Coming up, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he sent a delegation to Paris to negotiate the next steps for the potential release of hostages. We're live in Tel Aviv with the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:41:45]

WHITFIELD: In Israel today, large anti-government protests in the streets of Tel Aviv.

Thousands took to the streets as the war in Gaza drags on and Israeli hostages remain captive in Gaza. Israeli negotiators have now returned from Paris where they are trying to make progress on a deal with Hamas. A short time ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government is working to get another outline for a deal.

CNN's Nic Robertson is joining us right now from Tel Aviv.

Nic, what are you learning?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, these protests 10,000 or more, according to the organizers. And for the first time we're seeing these weekly every Saturday protests to bring down the government, to call -- people on the street there saying that he's the head, he's responsible, he has to go, talking about Prime Minister Netanyahu.

This is the first time we've seen the police have to use water cannon and horses that police say that the protesters were getting on some of the main thoroughfares in the center of Tel Aviv. And the protest was essentially blocking the streets, blocking the normal operation of the city. And that's why they had to use these methods to clear off the streets. So police say, look, we respect the right of the protesters to come out and protest, but not to break the law and block the roads.

The protests were centered around the main security headquarters in the center of Tel Aviv. They've been gathering there over recent weeks. But it does appear as if the numbers are growing, but it also appears as if the police are now taking a firmer line to control those protests and make sure that they don't spill over into other areas of the city, it appears.

WHITFIELD: And then Prime Minister Netanyahu said they're working on another outline for a deal? You know, how much of -- how much detail are we getting on that?

ROBERTSON: Yes, we don't know so much yet. I think we may learn a little more in the coming days. Tzachi Hanegbi, who's the head of national security here, indicated that there was some room to believe that there could be progress and that sort of echoed a little bit by what we heard from the prime minister. Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter that the War Cabinet would be meeting this evening to discuss what his negotiators had discussed along with the Qataris, the Egyptians in Paris, at the talks there.

The United States, of course, present there. Bill Burns, the head of CIA, was there. The War Cabinet will meet to talk about that. But the prime minister also went on to say and early this week, the whole cabinet will meet to discuss the military plans for the operations in Rafah, which he said will include an evacuation of the civilians, but it's clearly trying the negotiations together with the possibility of military operations which the government has been indicating for some time but are potentially going ahead in Rafah.

[15:45:02]

And Prime Minister Netanyahu says, this is the only way we can negotiate. It's through the tough military pressure and tough negotiations. So this seems to be the path that he's going down. How much progress was made in Paris and what scope for movement, not clear yet.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nic Robertson in Tel Aviv. Thank you.

Coming up, back in this country, Donald Trump is lashing out after the judge in his New York civil fraud trial deny the former president's request to delay the judgment. What he's saying, still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Former president Donald Trump has just one month now before he has to pay $454 million, including interest, in the New York civil fraud case.

[15:50:05]

This after the judge denied Trump's request to delay payment. And at the same time, Trump's legal team is asking a Manhattan federal judge in the E. Jean Carroll Case, well, that is the case, to try and delay payments.

So here to help us sort through all of this, former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti.

All right, Renato. There are a lot of cases. Let's not confuse them all, but anyway, he has to pay up very soon on a very sizable chunk. But at the same time, his team continues to file delays in others. I mean, how does anyone navigate through all this?

RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, very carefully, and you know, candidly I think it's apparent that at this point Trump and his team are trying to put off a payment here as long as they possibly can. I imagine they're trying to get things in order here. This is literally close to half a billion dollars that is owed amongst these two judgments. A very substantial amount of money by anybody's imagine, no matter how rich you are.

You know, regarding the fraud case, the attorney general's case that was brought, essentially what Trump and his team were doing is suggesting there is some issue with the judge, you know, that was, you know, handed down by the judge, that there were some concerns they had with it. There was one small issue that there was an agreement ultimately with the attorney general to correct.

But otherwise Trump's team is given an opportunity to identify any issues or problems with the judgement by the judge. They were not able to do so, and so they're going to have to go forward and appeal. And in the meantime, they are going to have to try to post a bond if they don't want interest to continue to accrue to the tune of $100,000 plus per day.

WHITFIELD: And how does that work? I mean, you know, it had already been reported that he has something like, you know, $600 million in case assets. If that's the case, then why are we hearing from the attorney general that she's ready to start liquidating, you know, some of his real estate in order to get payment on this sizeable judgment?

MARIOTTI: Well, I think obviously the attorney is trying to put pressure and generate some leverage over, you know, former president Trump. On his end, on Trump's end, I imagine he doesn't, you know, he said he actually has that level of liquidity, in other words half a billion dollars in cash sitting around. Yes, he could potentially just put that up but most likely what he's going to be trying to do is either, you know, I would imagine he's going to try to get a bond which would be a fairly common thing to do under the circumstance.

But that would require an underwriter to come in, look at his properties, assess the value of those properties, which by the way was the central issue on that fraud trial because there was allegations that he, you know, inflated, falsely inflated the value of properties, there need to be a determination of what incumbrances are on those properties, and what his ownership share is. You know, and obviously because he's under a lot of pressure, you know, Trump is going to have to pay a substantial fee in order to get that liquidity now. In other words, to get that money out of the properties that he has.

WHITFIELD: And all this, while we still await the Supreme Court to weigh in on two matters, 14th Amendment issue with the Colorado case, the Supreme Court, you know, wanting to keep him off the ballot. And there's the immunity argument after the appellate court already said no one is above the law.

So how does the Supreme Court trying to prioritize things perhaps over the next week? Because the calendar is, you know, a critical one that you can't overlook?

MARIOTTI: Yes, for sure. I mean it looks to me like the Supreme Court is going to rule Trump's way in terms of keeping him on the ballot. You look at the oral argument, it went in Trump's favor. He may even get some votes from the Democratic appointed justices on that case. I think it doesn't look nearly as positive for him on the immunity front.

I would not be surprised if that ruling comes out first because in the ballot case, you have to have a kind of full judicial opinion there. You know, there's really a consideration of whether or not a stay should be granted. And then ultimately there may be some briefing on both sides, on Trump's side and the prosecution, the special counsel's office, regarding whether the Supreme Court should even take that case.

The Supreme Court could just decide without issuing an opinion not to take that case up which would obviously get things moving on the January 6th matter.

[15:55:00] WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks for sorting it all out. Renato Mariotti, good to see you. Thank you.

MARIOTTI: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A New York grand jury has reached a verdict in the NRA's a civil corruption trial. The NRA and its leaders were found liable for misusing charitable funds for their own benefit. A judge has ordered that longtime leader of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, pay back $4.3 million in damages, and the former CFO to return $2 million. New York Attorney General Letitia James called the decision a major victory in fighting corruption and greed within the NRA.

The Golden State Warriors are breaking new records at the sidelines.