Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
CNN International: Trump Could All But Clinch GOP Nomination On Super Tuesday; U.N.: "Clear And Convincing" Information Hostages Were Sexually Abused; Key Israeli War Cabinet Member In Washington For Talks; CNN On Ukrainian Frontline With Kyiv's Forces; China's National People's Congress Holds Annual Meeting; Malaysia Willing To Renew Search For Missing Jetliner; Millions Head To Polls Across U.S. On Super Tuesday; Biden To Deliver State Of The Union Address On Tuesday; Former Twitter Execs Sue Elon Musk Over Unpaid Severance; Moscow: China And Russia Discuss Potential Military AI Use; "MethaneSAT" Launches, Aims To Hold Emitters Accountable. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired March 05, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN HOST: Morning, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon, and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
Just ahead, polls are open in a Super Tuesday like no other as Nikki Haley hopes to gain some traction against Donald Trump. We're going to have full coverage ahead this hour.
Plus, China's leaders gather for their annual congress and said a bold growth target. We'll have a fresh report from Beijing.
And tracking methane gas from the skies. How a new satellite could provide a key to fighting climate change.
But we want to begin with this being the most consequential day of the U.S. primary season. It is Super Tuesday with voters heading to the polls in 15 states in one territory. Now, by the end of the day, we will know a lot more about the race for president.
For Joe Biden, there is little meaningful opposition. But we will be on the lookout for signs of protest votes or weakness in the wake of last week's large uncommitted vote in Michigan's Democratic primary. But all eyes today are really going to be on the Republican field, where Donald Trump is looking to sweep today's contest and potentially knock Nikki Haley out of the race.
But Haley, meantime, continues to press her case, and she says that Republicans need someone different as the party's nominee. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We lost in 2018, we lost in 2020, we lost in 2022, but look two weeks ago. Republicans lost the vote on Mayorkas, they lost the vote on Israel, the RNC chair lost her job, and Donald Trump's fingerprints were on all of it. How much more losing do we have to do before we realize maybe Donald Trump is the problem?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: All right, let's start our coverage off this morning with CNN's National Political Correspondent Eva McKend. She is live for us in Washington. So Eva, talk to us a little bit more about the closing message that Nikki Haley had for her supporters ahead of Super Tuesday.
EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: You know, Rahel, Super Tuesday really serves as the ultimate test of her message. She's a very disciplined campaigner, and her core argument has been centered on electability. She maintains that the former president is just too much of a liability in November, that she would be the best person to confront President Biden in the fall and that the polling thus far has reflected as such.
But she hasn't said what she's going to do past Super Tuesday. The big question tonight is, can she decisively pick up any states? She's been in 10 states in the past week, crisscrossing the country, but she maintains vague about concrete expectations, only saying, she'll continue to stay the course if she remains competitive. We're not quite sure what that means.
Now, I was with her during her New England swing in Vermont, and I have to tell you, Democrats were showing up to her rallies. Independents, anti-Trump Republicans who said that they would rather vote for Biden in the fall than they would Trump, that's a real warning sign for the Republican Party.
But even as she has more aggressively confronted Trump, she thought that that Supreme Court decision to keep him on the ballot in Colorado was the right choice. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HALEY: The Supreme Court ruled today that Donald Trump could stay on the ballot. No, I think, I think that was important. We don't ever want some elected official in a state or anybody else saying who can and can't be on a ballot. This is America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: So the hard truth facing Haley, Rahel, is that with each passing contest dominated by Trump, her odds of amassing a sizable number of delegates, they shrink a little more than a third of Republican delegates up for grabs.
And some of these states are winner take all, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, if she doesn't get above 50 percent, that means all of the delegates in those states will go to Trump. Haley's team says she's not going to address supporters tonight because the polls in some states, they close at a very late hour, but we do know that she's going to be watching these results come in from South Carolina.
SOLOMON: Very interesting. OK. Well, we will watch to see when she does, in fact, speak how she perceives and processes the results. We'll see.
Eva McKend live force in Washington. Eva, thank you.
[08:05:08]
Now, let's take a look at what President Biden will be watching the Super Tuesday results. Let's bring in White House Correspondent Arlette Saenz. Arlette, do we expect to see the president today? And what do we think his advisers, his campaign advisers are going to be looking for in these results tonight?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, President Biden is expected to handily win the Democratic contest that are occurring today in Super Tuesday. But there are elements of today's vote that his team will be watching quite closely to try to gain some insight into the type of voters that will be heading to the polls in November.
Of course, turnout in the Super Tuesday contest will be key. The Biden campaign can look to see what kinds of voters, Democratic voters are coming out to support the president in these primaries. And then there is also that uncommitted campaign that is being waged in at least one of the states.
This follows last week's Michigan primary, where over 100,000 people voted uncommitted for Biden in the state of Michigan in the Democratic primary. That was a protest vote due to frustrations about the president's handling of the conflict in Gaza.
In Minnesota today, they have also launched an uncommitted campaign. Now, this campaign was organized much -- with much shorter time frame, so it's unclear what kind of momentum they will pick up. But it does come as the campaign has been grappling with parts of the Democratic Party who are frustrated and threatening to sit out in the election in November.
The campaign, of course, is also watching this and what it will mean for the Republican primary contest is Biden advisers fully believe that Super Tuesday will be the moment that really the Republican nomination is cemented around former President Donald Trump, who they fully expect to be their opponent in November.
And to that point about the former president, we're really seeing President Biden this week trying to ramp up his preparations towards that major State of the Union address that's occurring on Thursday. That will really give him an opportunity. Even if he doesn't go by after Trump by name, it'll give him a chance to offer a contrast with Republicans and the former president.
One thing that we will see President Biden on today, he returns from Camp David and then he's hosting a meeting with his competition council here at the White House where he's expected to announce a few initiatives when it comes to trying to lower costs for American families.
One of those is taking aim at credit card late fees that Americans are facing. There is a new rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that will slash credit card late fees from the current average of $32 a month to $8 a month. This is something that could bring savings of up to $220 annually to more than 45 million Americans who are paying late credit card fees at this time.
This is one of the administration's efforts to really tackle junk fees, a way to try to lower costs for consumers, and it's something that will feature prominently in his speech in the State of the Union, which is expected to really focus heavily on an economic populist type of messaging as he's trying to present that contrast to the former president.
Now -- so while today's Super Tuesday contest will be revelatory when it comes to the GOP contest, the White House right now also has their eyes on that State of the Union as really one of the President's biggest platforms to offer his vision for a second term and trying to remind voters of what he has accomplished in the first one.
SOLOMON: Yes, his biggest platform and perhaps his largest audience before voters head to the polls in November, especially if we don't see a debate between Biden and whomever the Republican nominee is, although right now it's looking like it'll be Trump. We'll see.
Arlette Saenz, live at the White House. Arlette, thank you.
We're going to have much more on Super Tuesday later this hour, but for now, we want to go to Gaza because despite growing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, Egypt's foreign minister says that negotiations have not yet reached a point where a ceasefire could be achieved. International mediators are racing to broker a hostage deal and truce ahead of Ramadan.
On the ground in Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Health says that at least 97 people were killed in just the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, a new United Nations report says that there is, quote, "clear and convincing" information that hostages held in Gaza were sexually abused.
The report also found that sexual violence, including gang rape, occurred during Hamas's October 7th terror attacks in Israel.
Let's go to journalist Elliott Gotkine, who joins us live from London now with the latest. Elliot, obviously really disturbing and awful findings in that report. Talk to us about the reaction and what that's been like since this report came out.
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Rahel, has expected Hamas, which of course led the October the 7th terrorist attacks, has strongly rejected this report. Israel, for its part, I suppose, feels vindicated, certainly in the face of what it saw initially for weeks on end as deafening silence from the United Nations and in the international community.
Indeed, President Isaac Herzog putting out a statement this morning saying that this report was of immense importance in his words, saying that it substantiates with moral clarity and integrity, the systematic, premeditated and ongoing sexual crimes committed by Hamas terrorists against Israeli women.
[08:10:16]
And a couple of elements that stood out for me, at least, when it described evidence as there -- for there being evidence reasonable grounds to believe that victims, as you say, were subjected to rape and or gang rape and then killed or killed while being raped.
Another part of the report saying that there are credible sources described finding murdered individuals, mostly women whose bodies were naked from their waist down and some totally naked, tied with their hands behind their backs, many of whom were shot in the head.
As far as the hostages are concerned, and there are around 250 people kidnapped on October the 7th, around 100 still believed to be alive in captivity in the Gaza Strip, among them women. The report saying that with respect to the hostages, the mission team found clear and convincing information that some have been subjected to various forms of conflict-related sexual violence, including rape and sexualized torture and sexualized, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and also has reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing.
Now, it's worth noting that this report in it, and it makes this clear in the report it was hampered somewhat because, first of all, a lot of the victims of rape or gang rape were killed. And those that survived are in the words of this report, they are receiving very specialized trauma treatments. And so weren't in a fit state to be spoken with.
Others who were either sexually abused or witnessed these acts firsthand didn't want to come forward because they don't trust the United Nations or other international bodies and also didn't want to be outed in the international media and have their trauma compounded.
The other element here is that some of the first responders especially were not set up, were not trained to deal with sexual violence and certainly weren't on the lookout for it. In the chaos and carnage of October the 7th, their primary concerns were identifying the dead, gathering all the body parts and then burying them in accordance with Jewish law.
And that's something that also hampered this report. It kind of concludes by saying that we may never truly know the extent of the sexual crimes committed by Hamas on the October 7th attacks. Rahel?
SOLOMON: And yet the details that are laid out in this report are disturbing nonetheless. Elliott, let me ask the report, of course, comes as the Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz continues his trip in Washington. Talk to us about what we can expect or might expect to see from him upon this trip.
GOTKINE: So I don't think we're going to get anything particularly concrete coming out of these meetings. He's already met with Vice President Kamala Harris. He's meeting with Secretary of State Tony Blinken today. They'll, of course, be discussing the potential for an Israeli ground operation in Rafah, where a million and a half Palestinians have sought refuge and where the U.S. is adamant that Israel mustn't go in on the ground until such time as there's a concrete plan to ensure their safety.
They'll also discuss other elements like the potential for normalization with Saudi Arabia the day after this war, or as part of an agreement to bring this war to an end. They'll also be talking about tensions on the northern border between Iran's proxy Hezbollah and Israel, where tensions have been simmering and the U.S. is adamant that that must not escalate into full blown war.
But, of course, there is a subplot here, certainly in Israel, where Prime Minister Netanyahu is incredibly angry that Benny Gantz, who, although in the war cabinet in a show of unity following the October 7th terrorist attacks and the war with Hamas, hasn't -- didn't get signed off, didn't get this trip signed off by the prime minister.
The prime minister, even going so far as to tell his ambassador in the United States not to cooperate with this trip. And so although Benny Gantz, as I say, is part of this war cabinet, one of the key decision makers when it comes to Israel's war with Hamas, he's also the chief rival for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Indeed, opinion poll after opinion poll has shown that we're an election held tomorrow, not only would Benny Gantz beat Prime Minister Netanyahu, but his party would trounce him. Rahel?
SOLOMON: Yes, that's something that we've also heard from Senator Chuck Schumer here in the U.S. Really fascinating internal dynamics there at play.
Elliott Gotkine, live for us in London. Elliott, thank you.
Well, Ukraine's military is claiming another successful attack on a Russian warship. It's the latest in what Ukraine calls a string of defeats for Moscow's Black Sea Fleet. Now, at the same time, a more challenging picture is emerging on land.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has been to the front lines where Kyiv's forces are under fire and short of ammunition.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a lonely path ahead. The Russians have never been louder or closer.
Occupied Bakhmut is just up the road. But now, some Ukrainian tank guns are silent just when they're needed most. Here, they don't have enough shell.
PATON WALSH: Sometimes they just won't far at all. For a whole day, other days, they'll be shooting constantly. And it is loud on the other side of that hill and it's sort of surreal to hear that sort of noise over there and see this tank unit having to ration their armor.
[08:15:17] YAROSLAV, UKRAINE'S 42ND MECHANIZED BRIGADE (through translator): We have people, but without weapons. This is not a war you can win with a sword.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): We learned they didn't fire at all that day, all the day before or the next day. The silence here is what losing sounds like. So too is what these soldiers had to say.
PATON WALSH: If the Americans don't give money, what's going to happen?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I think we're all going to die. Everybody who is here. We will be no more.
PATON WALSH: Is this the worst you've seen it?
GARRISON FOSTER, U.S. VOLUNTEER FIGHTER: Yes. Yes, definitely. I think this year is going to be the worse year in the war. I do know that there's certain units that they're running out of tanks.
PATON WALSH: How angry does it make you?
FOSTER: Yes, I'm pissed. I'm absolutely pissed off. There's no point in trying to paint this in any sort of light where it's good for us that Russia takes Ukraine. That's going to be very, very, very bad for us geopolitically.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): It's here Chasiv Yar that already looks like defeat. Those left sounding like they'd be just about OK when Russia comes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I want to see my granddaughter. She's in Moscow. My sister is in Kaliningrad. Half of Russia are my relatives. But I'm here alone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Now water, no gas, no power, nothing. They, Ukrainian soldiers, drive straight to the house where people live. And they fire right from the house. They hide behind the civilians backs.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Further south near Avdiivka, homes that dealt with about 10 years of war just up the road are finally emptying out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): You know, the house shook four times already. It's made of clay and straw. They shell so hard that every time I think that's it. We are done. The most scary would be if that horde, the Russians, come here. There can be no trusting people whose hands are covered in blood.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): The skyline is bleak enough as it is but now rumbles with Russia advancing. Ukraine said it would hold steady at three villages near here after it left Avdiivka. That hasn't happened. All three are now heavily contested at best. And the noise of the Russian approach is louder. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Donbas was Ukraine, we were living a normal life. We had jobs. I will turn 70 soon. I've been married for 52 years. We will be buried together. Right here. Right in that ditch there.
PATON WALSH (through translator): Did you expect the Russians to get so close?
EUHENE, OCHERETYNE RESIDENT (through translator): We didn't expect it. We thought it would somehow settle, calm down.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Some units had enough shells. They said these firing American rounds in a donated Paladin, but still less than before. We didn't see much in the way of heavy defenses around here. And the worry is, was and will be that Russia does not stop.
It may not be huge and sudden enough to make the West pay urgent attention, but that's exactly what Putin wants anyway.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: And Nick Paton Walsh joins us live now from eastern Ukraine. Nick, really, really strong piece there. I'm really struck by some of the conversations you had both with the civilians and that U.S. volunteer who told you this year is going to be the worst year of the war. Talk to us a little bit about what it's like reporting from the front lines there.
PATON WALSH (on-camera): Yes, look, you've got to bear in mind that for two years now, Ukraine, kind of a comparatively tiny nation, it was agricultural, IT-focused for years, has suddenly found itself able to hold back the third largest army, Russia. And that's entirely been really because of their own courage and application, but also really because of Western equipment and financial donations.
And now they are seeing at the most pivotal point of the war after a failed counteroffensive last year, that aid drying up entirely. And you saw their tank units not firing because they haven't got the rounds. You heard there to talk of one tank unit that doesn't have any tanks left.
And so, the sense of existential crisis here, you heard soldiers talking about we're just going to die if we don't get aid.
[08:20:07]
It's an exceptionally bleak moment and that's after people have seen their friends and family members potentially die or be injured over the past two years, so it's very stark. It's very clear that the Russians have momentum. It's very clear that they have a huge tolerance for pain.
I mean, some of the tactics we see on Ukrainian drone videos are absolutely crazy. They're sending soldiers on the top of armored personnel carriers, dropping them off. The armored personnel carrier, in one instance, was hit by two drones, and then the soldiers Russia had dropped off were killed by a Ukrainian Bradley, armored personnel carrier supplied by the United States.
But the Russians keep coming. And the news from the front line that Ukraine said it would hold, after it voluntarily withdrew from Avdiivka two weekends ago, after intense pressure from the Russians, and they lost the town, frankly, and decided to pull out. The line they said they'd hold is really in trouble.
Villages to its east, between the line and Avdiivka, well, they've fallen, Ukraine said, we meant to give those up anyway. But the places they said they'd hold are really challenged, and there's a real sense, I think, that there wasn't enough preparation by Ukraine to put rear defenses in. That's something we hear again and again and something we see, frankly, as well.
And a fear, too, that if this line, where they're throwing a lot of resources out at the moment, the Ukrainians, if that line doesn't hold, then there could be a knock on effect, more broadly, across the east here. It's the east that is so keenly being Russia's focus, they want to take what all of what they call the Donbas and occupy it.
They want all of Ukraine if they can. But after the southern counteroffensive failed and that strategic goal of Ukraine passed, it's now very much Russia that has the momentum, has the weaponry, has the finances saying they are very rich in Moscow at the moment. And they're continuing to pursue their goals with a complete disregard for the lives of their soldiers, it seems.
And that's matched with this extraordinary crisis Ukraine now has entirely made in the hands of a handful of Republicans in Congress, where they lack billions and are deeply struggling, frankly, to keep themselves alive as Russia moves forward, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Wow. You laid out so well there, just sort of all of the complicating factors here. Really stark warning.
Nick Paton Walsh live for us there in Ukraine. Nick, thank you.
All right, still to come for us, it is a super big day in U.S. politics, and it's one that could mark the beginning of the end of the 2024 presidential primary season. We'll explain.
Also, China's biggest political gathering kicked off earlier, coming up after the break. We'll talk to you about the ambitious economic goal announced there and whether China can reach it. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Thousands of delegates have gathered in Beijing for China's most important political event, the annual meeting of the National People's Congress. The economy is at the top of the agenda with China's leaders announcing an ambitious 5 percent growth target for this year.
Marc Stewart takes a look at the opening day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:25:05]
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcomed by a military band serenade while delegates clap in unison. Xi Jinping dominates the stage at China's most important political event of the year. As the annual National People's Congress convenes with some 3,000 legislators set to rubber stamp the agenda already set by the ruling Communist Party.
It's clear, Xi is the one man behind the vision for the world's second largest economy. An economy that hasn't been growing as fast as in the past.
Yet Premier Li Qiang, Xi's nominal number two leader, unveiled a 2024 growth target of around 5 percent in the state of the nation address, which is seen as ambitious by many analysts.
LI QIANG, PREMIER OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (through translator): Achieving this year's targets will not be easy. So we need to maintain policy focus, work harder and mobilize the concerted efforts of all sides.
STEWART: But the economic confidence coming from here may be overstated. China is still dealing with a property crisis. Young people can't find jobs. The prices of many everyday items has been falling and the stock market has seen big losses.
STEWART (voice-over): While China's economic strength may be in question, it's still determined to grow its military might, increasing spending by 7.2 percent despite the financial strains. Even as China has surpassed the U.S. to boast the world's biggest naval fleet and continue to fast expand its nuclear arsenal. According to the Pentagon, all of this at a time when Beijing's relationship with Washington is still fraught, just as the U.S. presidential race heats up.
And geopolitical tensions remain high across the Taiwan Strait and in the South China Sea, as Beijing asserts sovereign claims in clash with neighbors. Amid the pageantry of this highly choreographed event, one unexpected plot twist. For the first time in 30 years, the premier's news conference has been canceled.
Li Qiang has lost his once a year opportunity to address the nation and the world. The latest reminder that in today's China, one man is calling all the shots and his is the only voice that matters.
Marc Stewart, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: Well, it has been 10 years since Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared. And with the fateful anniversary approaching, the Malaysian Prime Minister says that if there is compelling evidence, his government will reopen the case. The flight from Kuala Lumpur was carrying 239 people when it disappeared to become one of the world's greatest unsolved mysteries. Richard Quest reports.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS, EDITOR-AT-LARGE: The announcement by the Malaysian government that it is open to re-opening the search for MH370 will be very welcomed by the families of those that perished on board.
But Ocean Infinity is doing it on a no fines no fee basis, it's believed. In other words, if they don't find the missing plane off the Australian coast where everybody believes it is, then they don't get paid. There have been two previous attempts by Ocean Infinity to find MH370, and both failed.
The hope is that new search techniques, new equipment, and better understanding of what happened to the plane will make this search successful. Despite all that's happened over the last 10 years, the real truth is we are no closer to knowing exactly what caused the plane to go missing.
Yes, we know roughly where it is off the Australian coast. The various bits that have washed up in Africa have confirmed that. But whether it was the captain, whether it was mechanical, whether it was some mass act of mass murder, that we simply don't know.
Richard Quest, CNN, New York.
SOLOMON: All right, still to come, a political showdown is taking place across America today that will likely jumpstart the race for president.
Plus, remember, the first thing Elon Musk did when he took over Twitter was fire the top executives. Well, now they're back and they're demanding money. Find out why a little later in the show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:31:50]
SOLOMON: Welcome back. It is the biggest day of the U.S. presidential primary season with hundreds of delegates up for grabs. The polls are now open in several Super Tuesday states, with millions of Americans expected to cast their ballots in the coming hours.
And a lot is at stake. That is an understatement. The results will help decide the Republican nominee. And right now, it is looking like Donald Trump will earn that title. President Joe Biden, meantime, remains the frontrunner for the Democrats, and he does not face any serious challenges.
Let's get to Alayna Treene, who joins us live from a polling station in Richmond, Virginia. Alayna, good morning. So you have been in touch with the Trump campaign. What are you hearing from them?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Yes, well, they're very confident, Rahel, about their performance here today, both in Virginia, where I am, but also in the series of contests happening across the country. And as you mentioned, Donald Trump will be shy of the delegates that he needs to become the Republican nominee, regardless of how many states he wins. But it could move him closer to that ultimate goal.
Now, when I talked to Donald Trump's advisers, the real thing they're hoping for today and what they're really looking for is to see Nikki Haley drop out. They know that she had promised to stay in the race at least through Super Tuesday. But beyond today, it's very unclear what she's going to do and how she sees a path forward.
But I know that Donald Trump would love to get up on that stage tonight at Mar-a-Lago where he'll be giving remarks this evening and declare himself the Republican nominee, but it's very unclear if that will happen. And again, it'll be a couple weeks for him to be able to receive the necessary delegates he needs to cross that 1,215 threshold.
Now, I also just want to give you a sense of the importance of the state of Virginia where I am today. The Trump campaign very much sees it as a battleground, even though Donald Trump lost the state, both in 2016 and 2020.
But in my conversations with the campaign, they tell me that they think he has a real shot of picking up a lot more support here in a potential rematch with Joe Biden. And it's actually one of the two states that he visited in the lead up to Super Tuesday. He came here to Richmond on Saturday. He was also in North Carolina, and I think that just gives you a sense of how they view this state.
And I did talk with some voters who were exiting this polling location behind me earlier this morning. The polls opened here in Richmond at 6:00 a.m. And, so far, I think, you know, you're seeing a lot of different support for different candidates.
But the really interesting thing about Virginia, and this is not the case in most Super Tuesday states, is that it's an open primary. That means Republicans, Democrats Independents, anyone who is registered to vote can vote for whichever candidate they want, regardless of which party they are registered with.
And I spoke with two registered Republicans who said they voted for Nikki Haley. And the main reason for that, Rahel, was because they said they were against Donald Trump. So I'm expecting to hear from more people today and see how they're feeling on this Super Tuesday.
SOLOMON: Yea, always interesting with the open primary sort of what it tells you about a candidate like Nikki Haley as a challenger to Donald Trump.
Alayna Treene live for us there in Virginia. Alayna, thank you.
And on Thursday, President Biden will deliver his State of the Union address and it comes as the possibility of a Trump-Biden rematch this fall is looking more and more likely. But what do the polls reveal about each candidate's chances come November? CNN's John King breaks down the numbers.
[08:35:11]
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, where are we? Assuming Trump and Biden continue their path to the nomination, where are we? This is our CNN poll of polls. Forgive me for turning my back, I just want to bring this up a little larger.
48 percent for Trump, 46 percent for Biden. That is no clear leader. If you look at some of the late individual polls that go into this average, Trump has been running a little bit stronger. But if you average them all together, which is the smart thing to do, don't overinvest in any one poll, no clear leader, but Trump has clearly been gaining a little bit of steam as we go forward.
Why is he gaining steam? Well, these are the numbers that are troubling for the president. Here's one from the New York Times/Siena College poll. Is President Biden too old to be an effective president? Among all voters, 73 percent say yes, 25 percent say no.
Here's the troubling part. Even in his own party, the president needs big Democratic turnout in the fall. More than half, 56 percent of Democrats say they think he's too old to be an effective president. 43 percent say no. So that is one challenge for the president as he runs out the primary season, as he gives that big speech Thursday night. Address that.
The problems are deeper for the president. Again, he is the incumbent president. 24 percent of Americans say the country's on the right track. Two-thirds, two-thirds say it is not. 65 percent say the country is on the wrong track as the president prepares to deliver his State of the Union address.
One more, incumbents are often judged by their approval rating. You start to get eight months out from an election that's a problem. That's a problem. That's the number the president has to change. 36 percent approve of his performance right now in office. 61 percent disapprove. That means a lot of Democrats. If 61 percent disapprove, that means Democrats as well.
SOLOMON: All right, our thanks to John King there.
Let's dig a little deeper into today's Super Tuesday races as well as President Biden's State of the Union address. With me now is CNN Presidential Historian Tim Naftali, who joins me live from New York. Tim, good to have you today.
TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: My pleasure.
SOLOMON: So let me just go over some of the details of this presidential election. So you have two presidents. Just years apart, where age appears to be a major liability for one, but not for the other, for the other, you have him facing 91 criminal charges, and yet coasting to the GOP nomination, and in some polls, as John King just pointed out, beating Biden. How would you, taking a step back, describe this Super Tuesday? It feels pretty unprecedented.
NAFTALI: Well, this Super Tuesday is unprecedented. There's not a lot of -- we're not expecting a big surprise in terms of who wins, but it doesn't mean today isn't significant because what we're looking for today are weaknesses in the two likely nominees coalitions.
In the case of Trump, we're looking at whether he can pick up college- aged Republicans. We're also looking to see how much he loses among Independents in these open primaries like Virginia. In terms of Biden, we're looking to see, first of all, how he does with young people. We're looking for the level of enthusiasm, and we're also looking to see if there will be some uncommitted voters.
This is what happened in Michigan, where not just Arab Americans, but others registered their unhappiness both with Biden's age and with his handling of the Gaza crisis. And they did so by voting uncommitted. There are seven Democratic primaries today that give you the option of voting as an uncommitted person, which means we're actually looking at the weakness of both Biden and Trump today, as much as we are looking at their strengths.
SOLOMON: Well, you know, Tim, that's such an interesting point because I think sometimes it can get lost when we're talking about Biden versus Trump, that both of them are pretty unpopular. I mean, if you look at sort of the polls, I mean, voters, it seems like would prefer a different person regardless, maybe not Nikki Haley, but a different person regardless.
And so I'm just curious if what we see in terms of weaknesses really gives blocs maybe wants to watch in November, whether it's Independents, whether it's young voters, whether it's college-educated Republicans.
NAFTALI: That's exactly it. In fact, in many ways, these are telltales for November. It would be -- and look, shocks, surprises happen in U.S. politics, but it would be a massive earthquake kind of shock, seismic shock, if you will, if Nikki Haley were to win a balance -- a number of -- you know, a majority of the primaries.
In fact, she's not expected to win any primaries today. What we're looking for is the percentage of the votes she gets. Does she get up to 40 percent anywhere? She has a chance in the open primary states, like Virginia, to get close to 40 percent.
If she does, that signals a deep weakness in November for Trump, because Trump will be the nominee. In Biden's case, we've got to look at how many people get out to vote for the Democratic Party to see what their machine is like and how strong his machine is.
[08:40:06]
SOLOMON: Tim, talk to me a little bit about, of course, Thursday's State of the Union. Of course, all eyes are going to be on Biden. Talk to me a bit about your piece for the Atlantic, your opinion piece got my attention.
Other presidents have retired in March of their re-election year. Talk to me a bit about the push pull you think, the conversation that maybe his advisers are having with him. Because on the one hand, Biden has been pretty consistent that he is the only person who has and can beat Trump. But if he loses, that becomes an asterisk to his legacy.
NAFTALI: Oh, absolutely. And indeed, in many ways, his mandate in 2020 was to return us to some kind of sense of constitutional normal, normalness, if you will, normality. And if the chief instigator of January 6th is the replacement, is Biden's replacement in 2025, it would really damage Biden's role as the restorer of the United States.
So he's in a peculiar bind because for his legacy and for what he views the country needs, Trump has to be defeated in November. Up to last year, he could convince himself that he was the only person who could beat Trump. The problem this year is the age factor is starting to take a toll.
I'm not suggesting it's taking a toll on how he governs the country, but the perception of how he governs the country has been affected by the fact that he seems to be -- how should I put this -- aging a little more rapidly. And that is the problem for him, which is he sees himself as the only person to pull together a coalition to beat Trump, but he is also, personally, weakening his own candidacy because of father time.
SOLOMON: But isn't that the fascinating thing about politics that it's not always reality, it's perception, it's so much perception.
Tim, fascinating conversation. We'll have to leave it here, but thank you so much for the time today.
NAFTALI: Thank you, Rahel. My pleasure.
SOLOMON: And stay with CNN for all the Super Tuesday results as they come in. Our special coverage begins today at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. That is 9:00 p.m. if you're in London or 10:00 p.m. if you are in Berlin.
All right, a group of former executives of Twitter is suing Elon Musk, saying that he has failed to pay them more than $128 million in severance. The group claims that Musk has not paid them what they were owed after he fired them just hours after taking control of the company, which, of course, he rebranded as X.
They're saying that the refusal to pay up was his revenge after he was forced to go through with a $44 billion purchase that he had tried to get out of. X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But let's bring in CNN's Brian Fung, who joins me live from D.C. Brian, so walk us through who exactly is suing Musk and what more do we know about what they want?
BRIAN FUNG, CNN TECHNOLOGY REPORTER: Yes, Rahel, this is the latest accusation that Musk just doesn't pay the bills that he owes. And in this case, it's some of the most senior people at the company, at Twitter before the acquisition went through. It includes the former CEO, the former CFO, the former chief legal officer, and the former general counsel of Twitter, all of whom were fired, as you said, just hours after Elon Musk closed the deal in October of 2022.
And what they're saying is that Elon Musk owes him -- owes them a combined total of $128 million in severance payments because he hatched a plan, allegedly, to deny those payments to them.
And now, this isn't the only allegation against Musk for, you know, non-payment of severance benefits or other benefits by former employees. There's a separate lawsuit by a former HR executive at Twitter who's trying to represent a proposed class claiming that Musk owes them $500 million in unpaid severance payments.
And Musk -- and X have also been sued by vendors and by landlords who say, you know, X hasn't paid its rent or its service bills. So these allegations that Musk has not been paying what he owes to various people, those claims are just mounting up, and it seems to be a growing headache for his company as he tries to put it back on its feet. Rahel?
SOLOMON: Yes, that's the thing about bills. They just keep on coming unclear to what's happening on the advertising side of things. But Brian Fung, we'll leave it here. So good to have you. Thank you.
That's our Brian Fung live in Washington.
Well, jury selection is set to begin as the father of school shooter Ethan Crumbley goes on trial. The teenager opened fire at his high school in Oxford, Michigan in 2021, killing four students.
[08:45:02]
His father, James Crumbley, faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Ethan's mother, Jennifer, was convicted on the same charges just weeks ago. The key piece of evidence in the case is the gun used in the mass shooting, which had been bought for Ethan by his father.
All right, still to come for us, Russia says it is talking to China about exploiting AI for military purposes. We're going to have a report on how that could play out on the global sea. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Welcome back. The Philippines has accused Chinese vessels of carrying out dangerous maneuvers after two ships collided in the contested South China Sea on Tuesday. A video released by Philippine officials appears to show Chinese vessels turning their water cannons on the Philippine craft.
Now, the Philippines says that at least four people suffered minor injuries. China's Coast Guard says that it was acting against ships that it claimed had intruded illegally into the disputed waters. And staying in the region now, there is growing concern over how China and Russia plan to turn artificial intelligence to military uses. CNN's Will Ripley has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two nuclear superpowers forging what some call a dangerous alliance that could reshape modern warfare. China and Russia, long time U.S. rivals, meeting in Beijing, strategizing a new battleground -- the military use of artificial intelligence.
Detailed discussions the Russian foreign ministry says, potentially delving into A.I. powered weapons systems. A top military priority of Russia, China, and the U.S., autonomous submarines and warships, fighter jets, and ground combat vehicles, even testing swarms of A.I. powered drones, as shown in this Chinese state media video, weapons that could deliver increased firepower.
Experts say A.I. could even influence military decision making. Analyzing vast amounts of satellite, radar and online data, giving commanders better and faster asked her understanding of the battlefield.
President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, agreeing to hold talks on A.I. in the spring, at their San Francisco summit last year.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to get our experts together to discuss risk and safety issues associated with artificial intelligence.
RIPLEY (voice-over): The world's major military powers, all investing heavily in A.I. The U.S. State Department warns there are risks and military A.I. use has to be done responsibly. A warning in the West and the Far East.
SENIOR COL. WU QIAN, CHINESE DEFENSE MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): China is opposed to using A.I. advantages undermine the sovereignty of other countries.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Chinese state media picking up reports on OpenAI's policy change, potentially allowing cooperation with the U.S. military. The report says, "Beware of the U.S. military's collusion with tech giants."
[08:50:12]
Moscow and Beijing conspicuously absent from a U.S.-led coalition promoting responsible military use of A.I. and autonomy, raising questions about their intentions at a critical time. Military experts warn the risk of a major global conflict no longer a distant threat, but a looming crisis. Ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine threatening to spill over highly sensitive technology moving at lightning speed.
QIAN (through translator): China pays close attention to security risks posed by military applications of A.I. technologies.
RIPLEY (voice-over): China's military capabilities, expanding at an unprecedented pace, simmering tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea, setting the stage for a catastrophic showdown as the world teeters on the brink of a new era of warfare, machines making life and death decisions on the battlefield.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: All right, Will, thanks so much.
And still to come, the satellite that circles the Earth tracking methane gas from orbit. Could this be a new way to fight climate change? That's when we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Welcome back. The Environmental Defense Fund is putting oil and gas companies on notice with the launch of a new satellite. It locates leaks of methane, a greenhouse gas, 80 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.
CNN Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one ignition. And liftoff, Falcon 9.
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Paid for by the likes of billionaire Jeff Bezos and other donors. The non-profit Environmental Defense Fund just launched a new kind of eye in the sky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you hold the system downrange?
WEIR (voice-over): MethaneSAT is designed to circle the Earth every 95 minutes or so, and with cutting edge detail, spot plumes and leaks of planet cooking pollution long associated with the production of natural gas.
If carbon dioxide is a blanket of average thickness overheating the Earth for centuries, methane is like a blanket 7 feet thick, with over 80 times the heat trapping power of CO2 for about two decades after its release. Sometimes it leaks from old equipment or orphan wells. And sometimes when there's no one to buy it, companies just burn it in a practice known as flaring.
KELSEY ROBINSON, PROGRAM MANAGER, ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND: What we found here in the Permian Basin is that operators are wasting enough gas to heat about 2 million homes a year.
WEIR (voice-over): In 2021, EDF took us up over the oil and gas fields of Texas to sniff out methane leakers with a specially equipped airplane.
WEIR: So this is carbon dioxide down here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WEIR: And this is methane.
WEIR (voice-over): But now they can fly over every oil and gas basin in the world, where 80 percent of global supplies are fracked and pumped.
STEVEN HAMBURG, CHIEF SCIENTIST, ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND: We can basically create a movie of what's going on with respect to methane emissions. Before, we could just take snapshots when we had a plane in the air and we can get permission to fly. This is a whole new game. It really creates an enormous leap forward in our ability to really understand greenhouse gas emissions.
[08:55:07]
WEIR (voice-over): While other satellites can spot methane, what they find is often kept private. But EDF says that in about 18 months, their data will be open and free on Google Earth engine for anyone to see.
HAMBURG: You just have a real clarity now, a clarity we've never had before. And I think people realize you don't have to accept what somebody says, whether that's a government or a company. You can actually directly look at it, see what it is, and that is completely different than anything we've ever had for greenhouse gases. What I refer to is we're going to have radical transparency.
WEIR: And what has been the response from big oil and gas companies that you're doing this?
HAMBURG: Well, I think many of the companies see this as a real opportunity because they really do believe, and I suspect they're right, that they're doing a good job, but many of them aren't. It gives countries and companies the tools to select who they buy gas from and where that gas comes from.
So the first time they'll have the ability to make really informed decisions, and those informed decisions will have an enormous positive impact on the climate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: And our thanks to CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir reporting there.
And thank you for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. "CONNECT THE WORLD" with Becky Anderson is coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
