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U.N. Issues Report on Sexual Violence in October 7 Attack; Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire Efforts Continue; Super Tuesday Arrives. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired March 05, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:40]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Super Tuesday is finally here; 16 states and American Samoa are casting ballots in their primary contests right now, as Donald Trump hopes to push Nikki Haley out of the race and officially start his rematch with President Biden.

And Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a high-stakes meeting with the Qatari prime minister, in hopes of making headway on a cease-fire in Gaza.

Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Happening now across the country: Americans are heading to the polls and making their voices heard. At this hour, voting is under way in all 16 Super Tuesday states in what effectively could be the beginning of the end of the 2024 presidential primaries.

Tonight, barring a major upset, the country will be one step closer to the contentious rematch that many Americans do not necessarily want. For Democrats, President -- excuse me. For many Americans, for Democrats in particular, President Biden's path to the nomination remains virtually unchallenged.

But questions remain about whether voters disillusioned by his support for Israel will stay home. And on the Republican side, with more than one-third of the total delegates at stake, tonight could be Nikki Haley's last stand.

As Trump inches closer to clinching the nomination, he's on track to win more primaries and caucuses than any nonincumbent Republican candidate in history.

CNN has crews coast to coast staying on top of all these races.

Let's start with CNN's Dianne Gallagher. She's just outside Charlotte, North Carolina.

Update our viewers where you are, Dianne.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, I am in beautiful Cornelius, North Carolina, where voters have been coming in steady here at the town hall precinct casting their ballots, not just for the top of the ticket, but also for a very healthy down-ballot, many races that they are choosing from governor to local offices.

And we have been talking to very energized voters here in North Carolina who list issues like the border, education, abortion, and democracy as their top -- their top issues when they are pulling those ballots.

Now, in North Carolina, you have to vote for what you are registered with, but there is a large number of unaffiliated registered voters and they can choose whichever ballot they want when they go into the polling place. And many of those individuals have told us they are choosing the Republican ballot today.

I have talked to down several people who say that they are using it as a form of protest vote against former President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I chose to vote Republican, but I'm an independent.

GALLAGHER: Who did you vote for? Do you mind me asking?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nikki Haley.

GALLAGHER: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A vote against Trump.

GALLAGHER: Do you feel that, if Nikki Haley were the Republican nominee, she's someone you could vote for in a general election?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No, I would not vote for her either. I would vote Democrat.

GALLAGHER: This is a protest vote?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Now, I have also talked to Trump voters here who chose the Republican ticket who tell me that they want to restore where they were four years ago, Wolf.

Again, there are very important down-ballot races here as well. And many of those voters tell me that education and the future of the state of North Carolina are what is on their mind when they go in and pull that ballot for them.

BLITZER: All right, Dianne Gallagher in North Carolina for us, thank you very much.

Let's move out West right now. CNN's Brian Todd is joining us live from Utah and right near Salt Lake City.

Brian, it's primary day. Democrats are headed to the polls, but Republicans there are doing something else. Tell us about that.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. Here in Utah today, it's a caucus format, not a primary format. They switched to a caucus format in 2016. And so the voters are not going to be getting here until later on this evening.

The voters will arrive here at about 6:00 p.m. local time tonight. That's 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. First, let's set the scene for you. This is where the caucus site is. We're at the foot of the beautiful Wasatch Mountains. Take a look at that view here in Sandy, Utah.

We are at Alta Vista High School at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains in Sandy, just south of Salt Lake City. This is the caucus site, Alta High School, a massive high school out here. The voters will be walking in the front entrance over here later on tonight.

[11:05:08]

Again, they arrive here at 6:00 p.m. Local time. That's 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. They register. They check in. They listen to some speeches. We are told that presidential surrogates will not be here speaking, but there will be circuits for down-ballot candidates like governor and senator speaking.

So you will -- they will be hearing some speeches, but the vote in earnest will start at 7:00 p.m. local time here. That's 9:00 p.m. Eastern time. The count will be about an hour later. So the votes will be coming in later on tonight from here in Utah. And it's a pretty simple format. Here's a ballot.

Take a look. You have got Ryan Binkley as one candidate, but then you have Nikki Haley and Donald Trump. It's a pretty easy ballot to fill in. They fill that in, then put it into a basket or some kind of a container and they count them all up. That count will be taking place at about 8:00 p.m. local time, 10:00 p.m. Eastern time; 32 precincts are in here.

So there's going to be a lot of voters, hundreds of voters coming in to take part in this caucus. They're going to be in 32 different rooms. Then they're going to be counting it in a separate room. We will hopefully be able to bring that to you live and show it to our voters as it's happening.

That's what makes the caucus format kind of so interesting and fun to cover because it's so dynamic. And they will give us access in here later on tonight to show all of it to our viewers, Wolf.

BLITZER: We will be watching together with you. Brian Todd, thank you very much.

Brian's in Utah.

Let's discuss all of this with CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Paul Begala, Republican strategist the former RNC communications director Doug Heye, Republican strategist Sarah Longwell, and former communications director for vice president Kamala Harris Ashley Etienne.

Paul, the voters, they will have their say today. What are you going to be watching for specifically?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I want to see how strong Trump is. He has shown weakness in these primaries that I did not suspect.

I, from the beginning -- I still do think Trump's going to be the Republican nominee, but I had viewed him as this colossus within his party. Even in Iowa, which is probably the most conservative electorate we have had, 10 percent of all the Iowa Republican caucus attendees said they would vote for Biden over Trump.

Biden -- Trump only lost 6 percent of Republicans in the last election. And he still lost. He's losing 10, 20, 30, 40 in some of these primaries. He's not going to lose all of them to Joe Biden in the fall, believe me. But he's really showing some weakness that I'm surprised to see.

BLITZER: Doug, what are you going to be looking for?

DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That same thing, but especially with suburban voters.

So, Cornelius, North Carolina, where Dianne is, about 20 miles north of Charlotte, outside of Lake Norman, a lot of suburban people who live there and work in Raleigh, especially suburban women -- Wolf, I was in North Carolina this weekend and went to a Nikki Haley rally in Raleigh, and they had to move the venue to larger venues twice to accommodate crowd size.

There's something happening within the Republican Party. Same thing's true with Democrats, as we saw in Michigan, but very clearly voters are saying, we don't want to see this movie again, and there's weakness with both candidates. This is the movable object against the resistible force, and all polling says from voters, don't do this.

BLITZER: It's interesting, because Trump's base, Sarah, is pretty solid, set in stone, but what about with suburban women, with more moderate Republicans out there?

How's he likely to do?

SARAH LONGWELL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, look, the number that I think about all the time now is 30 percent. It looks like about 70 percent of the Republican Party are just with Trump all the time. That's big. That's a big number.

However, that 30 percent, where do you see it? You see 30 percent roughly who say, if Trump is convicted of a crime, that they won't vote for him; 28 percent voted for Nikki Haley, of self-I.D.ed Republicans, voted for Nikki Haley in Michigan, voted for her in South Carolina, and that 30 percent number is also the number of Republicans who do not think the election was stolen.

And so that is the persuadable group that Donald Trump is really soft with. They want to move on from Trump. They don't like Trump. That's the part of the party we're really going for, and so I agree he's weaker with that group, and that group includes a lot of suburban women, a lot of college-educated voters.

That is who Trump has historically done really poorly with, and they're more out on him now than ever.

ASHLEY ETIENNE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes.

BLITZER: I'm anxious to get your thoughts, Ashley.

ETIENNE: No, and I was going to say and a sizable percentage of -- sizable percentage of that 30 percent is saying that they wouldn't vote for Donald Trump under any set of circumstances, and that's a problem.

That number was upwards of 250,000 people in Michigan. That really sways an election. So I think one thing that's not, to Paul's point, is being put a spotlight on is Donald Trump's current vulnerabilities. Not only is there a lack of enthusiasm beyond his base, but he's underwater in terms of his fund-raising.

He's got -- there's questions about whether or not he can bring in Nikki Haley's voters. If she runs the course, she continues to put a spotlight on these vulnerabilities for him, and really sort of make the case that Republicans really have no other choice other than stay home or go Joe Biden.

BLITZER: Let me get Doug to weigh in on that specific point.

How vulnerable is Trump in a rematch with Biden right now?

HEYE: Well, they're both vulnerable. That's the reality, and it's why voters are saying, we don't want any of this.

[11:10:00]

Democrats I talk to, e-mails I had this morning about the "New Yorker" article with Biden, very scared that Biden can't win. I talk to a lot of Republicans who aren't pure Trump Republicans that the glorious leader is always right, who are saying we have got real problems here as well.

And it's why this electorate I think is so nervous moving forward. And it's why tonight's interesting, because of the two states -- of all the states that are in there, North Carolina and Virginia are sort of the only two that are swing states. Watching those results -- North Carolina's going to come in pretty late, by the way -- those are going to be interesting for November.

BLITZER: Because Nikki -- I ask the question because Nikki Haley spent a lot of time at a public event arguing against Trump's electability. I want you and our viewers to listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: At some point, maybe we should say the reason that America keeps losing is because of Donald Trump. In order to change it, it's going to take a lot of courage, courage from everybody here, courage for me to run and courage for every one of you to know,don't complain about what happens in a general election if you don't vote in this primary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEYE: So that's exactly what I heard her say in Raleigh on Saturday.

And she also makes the point that it's not just about her. If she's going to win, if -- Donald Trump could win, he could lose. It's pretty close. All the polls seem to be in the margin. Nikki Haley wins with big margins. And that means governors, senators, school boards, members of Congress.

If Republicans want to have a big night, she's making the case she's that person for the big night come November.

BLITZER: What do you think, Sarah?

LONGWELL: Yes, look, I think that what Nikki Haley does next is actually the most interesting question, because her rhetoric against Trump right now, she's really turned it up.

And I think Nikki Haley has got to burn the boats. This Republican Party has moved away from candidates like Nikki Haley. I think she's right. I think she would -- in a general election, she would win by huge margins. But she's not going to win this Republican primary. She's just not because the Republican Party...

BLITZER: Do you think she will drop out after tonight?

ASHLEY I do think she's going to probably drop out after this. And I think -- my wholehearted hope is that she does not endorse Donald Trump, because that would build a permission structure for all of the Republicans that she has been talking to who really like her, where she's been making the case about how unfit he is.

It gives them permission to say, well, I don't want to vote for Joe Biden. So I will go ahead and vote for Donald Trump. If she withholds her endorsement, her criticisms against Trump stand and they do real damage to him.

BLITZER: On the Democratic side, Ashley, what stands out to you, the dynamics going into tonight?

ETIENNE: I think there's a couple of questions for the president. One is, where is this uncommitted vote going to land?

I mean, the protesters coming out of Michigan said that they were going to take it to the other states and all the way to the convention.

BLITZER: Are they doing that?

ETIENNE: That's the real question, whether or not they...

BLITZER: Because I don't see a lot of organized opposition to Biden in these other states where they can vote uncommitted like they did in Michigan.

ETIENNE: Yes. And I think that is the question, whether or not -- but, beyond that, I think he's in a strong position. We're not giving him enough credit. Again, he's outraising the RNC, outraising Donald Trump. He's got an incredible record.

You compare that to the Republican side. They're wrong on the issues that are going to drive out voters, from abortion to guns and crime, those other issues. But I think the president is in a strong position going into tonight. Again, turnout is up so far. That's a good sign for him.

But, otherwise, I think he's in a good position.

BLITZER: Very quickly, Paul, button this up.

BEGALA: He's got to -- Joe Biden has got to boost enthusiasm with young people and people of color. That's the heart and soul of the Democratic Party, particularly -- actually, for him, his problems with black men and Hispanic men far more than women.

But he's got to boost that enthusiasm. And he's got to -- he's got to do it. He will do it in the campaign trail, but Thursday night's State of the Union. I'm watching to see how he speaks to those folks.

BLITZER: We will see how he does.

All right, guys, thank you to all of you very, very much.

Stay with CNN as we follow all the races on this Super Tuesday. I will be back 4:00 p.m. Eastern, alongside Kate Bolduan, for our special coverage.

Still ahead this hour: The race to replace the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, is heating up big time right now. But with the Republican Party's identity in major transition, where should the next leader stand? We will go live to Capitol Hill.

Plus, Secretary of State Antony Blinken just met with the prime minister of Qatar and said there is an opportunity for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. In minutes, he's going to be talking to an Israeli war cabinet official and a major rival to Prime Minister Netanyahu, who might be able to actually move that forward.

And when Elon Musk took over Twitter, he immediately fired several top executives. Today, they're asking a judge to get them their severance pay.

Stay with us. You're live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:19:22]

BLITZER: Right now here in Washington, there are very high-level talks to try to forge a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas nearly five months into the war.

The Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz just wrapped up a meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Gantz is a political rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel is making it clear that Gantz is not representing the Israeli government during his trip to the United States. Gantz is also set to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

And just a short time ago, Blinken met with his Qatari counterpart to talk about a possible cease-fire. Lots of meetings with a lot at stake today.

[11:20:00]

CNN's chief national security correspondent, Alex Marquardt, is here with me.

Alex, there are so many parts. What do you expect to emerge from all these meetings?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a series of really important high-level meetings today, Wolf.

First, with the Qataris, this was supposed to be a conversation about what they call the strategic dialogue, but it is clear from listening to what the two gentlemen said before that meeting that the focus really is on getting to a cease-fire and getting more aid into Gaza.

It is certainly there's an emphasis on getting the cease-fire done, which Qatar has been helping with, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken making clear that, even if that doesn't happen, more aid needs to be allowed into Gaza, that Israel has to open up more crossings.

Israel so far has refused to do that. That's why we have seen these airdrops taking place over the last few days by the U.S. and Jordan. And that is something that Benny Gantz will have been hearing throughout his meetings, the importance of getting more aid into Gaza.

As you noted, he had meetings today with both the secretaries of defense and the secretary of state, the Biden administration essentially rolling out the red carpet for one of Benjamin Netanyahu's biggest rivals. That is certain to anger Prime Minister Netanyahu, but the U.S. administration now putting a lot of pressure on Israel to get more aid into Gaza, to get it where it needs to be, as the humanitarian situation gets even worse by the day.

BLITZER: And Qatar plays such a significant role because it does have good connections, good relations with Hamas. MARQUARDT: They host Hamas.

And so they have been at the middle of these negotiations about how to get to a cease-fire. And it is clear that the negotiators are still trying to work to get this deal across the line, essentially to get Israel and Hamas on the same page.

Where it stands now, Wolf, is the Biden administration is saying that Israel has essentially already agreed to the framework and the ball is in Hamas' court. Israel has been demanding a list of the hostages who are alive and those who are dead, so they know who they will be able to get out in a hostage exchange.

So far, Hamas has not given that list. And there have been conversations in Cairo over the past few days to get this cease-fire done. Israel did not attend those meetings. And just yesterday, we heard from the foreign minister of Egypt, who says that there's still work to be done. The administration wants to get this done by Ramadan, which starts early next week.

BLITZER: Yes, let's hope that happens. It would be important, especially if those hostages can go home.

All right, thanks very much, Alex, for that.

The cease-fire talks continue on the heels of a new and very disturbing report from the United Nations. It says hostages held in Gaza have been sexually abused.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRAMILA PATTEN, U.N. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT: We found clear and convincing information that sexual violence, including rape, sexualized torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, has been committed against captives.

And we also have reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may still be ongoing against those still held in captivity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The U.N. report comes after a U.N. team actually visited Israel to analyze and verify information on conflict-related sexual violence during and after the October 7 Hamas attacks.

CNN's Bianna Golodryga has been following the story very closely. She's joining us right now.

Bianna, what was the big takeaway from this U.N. report?

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: There are quite a few takeaways, Wolf.

Look, this was an important report because it finally should shut the door to anyone who's questioning the reports of sexual violence committed on that day and after. Now, Pramila Patten, who's a U.N. special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, had spent two-and-a-half weeks on a fact-finding mission in Israel and speaking with over 30 people, independent organizations, government organizations, going through 5,000 photographs, and also came to this conclusion.

"There are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred during the October 7 attacks in multiple locations across Gaza periphery, including rape and gang rape, in at least three locations."

In addition to that Wolf, as we played already, what's really important to highlight is, there's ongoing concern that the hostages that remain in Gaza, especially the women, are vulnerable to ongoing sexual assault and violence, given the conclusions that she's reached, which is why the U.N. is calling for a cease-fire to allow the release of these hostages as soon as possible, because that is a big concern, given the mounting evidence that they have accumulated independently now, in addition to Israeli investigations and what we have heard from witnesses and from other hostages that have been released.

There's a lot of concern right now, Wolf, about what is happening in Gaza to those hostages, especially the females that remain in captivity.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting because the U.N. team also, Bianna, looked into allegations that Palestinians being held in detention in the West Bank are also being subjected to various forms of sexual violence.

[11:25:04]

What more can you tell us about that?

GOLODRYGA: So this part of the report actually came later. This was not part of the initial fact-finding mission, because the dates that were secured and the allegations that were already in place prior to Pramila Patten's visit did not include these allegations.

So here's what she said, because she did visit the occupied West Bank during this trip. And she said in her report -- quote -- "Some forms of sexual violence against Palestinian men and women in detention settings during house raids at checkpoints were reported. Though the mission team did not visit Gaza, the office will continue to monitor the situation."

So this is something that they included in the report, but something that Pramila Patten said needs to be further investigated. Israeli authorities are already saying that this is part of their internal investigation as well. So, obviously, we will continue to follow this story.

But, Wolf, if I could just end on this. Though they did note that there were multiple locations where there was rape, there was gang rape, horrific events that they say there's enough evidence to suggest that they indeed happened, what is really upsetting and tragic in a lot of rape situations, especially in a wartime setting, is that they may never get to the complete conclusion and bottom of just how prevalent this was and how widespread this was.

They were hoping that witnesses could come forward. They did speak to witnesses, though they did note that they were not able to speak to any survivors of sexual assault. Sadly, we know that most of them had been killed, but even those that had survived did not feel comfortable enough to come forward.

That is not unusual, given the circumstances. But I'd like to play sound from Pramila about what she said about the importance to continue this investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATTEN: The true prevalence of sexual violence during the 7th of October attacks and their aftermath may take months or years to emerge and may never be fully known, given that sexual violence remains a chronically underreported crime in every conflict-affected setting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: So, Wolf, the investigation continues.

Again, to reiterate, what's really important here is that you have an independent body, a third party that has spent in Israel for about two-and-a-half weeks investigating all of these claims. And once and for all that should shut the door to anyone, any serious person really doubting these horrific, horrific allegations and crimes.

BLITZER: They are certainly horrific.

Bianna Golodryga, thanks for all your excellent reporting on this very important issue. We appreciate it very, very much.

And we will be right back with a lot more news.

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