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CNN International: Haley To Drop Out After Trump Wins Big On Super Tuesday; Biden Dominates Democratic Primaries, Sizes Up Competition; Key Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz Heads To U.K.; Hamas: "Will Continue Negotiations" To Reach Ceasefire In Gaza; Philippines Convoy Swarmed By Larger Chinese Ships; Police Stations Across Port-au-Prince Under Attack; American Detained In Russia Speaks To CNN. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired March 06, 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]

MICHAEL WALDMAN, FORMER CHIEF SPEECHWRITER FOR PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: -- where the challenges are, but not be afraid to claim credit when things are going well.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Very quickly, you brought up the age issue. How do you address that? Do you do it explicitly or some other way?

WALDMAN: You know, I think the performance will be the main answer. He may want to try something with some humor. You know, of course, it's not an entirely sympathetic audience, so I'm sure he has to be careful. But other presidents, Ronald Reagan and others have done it with a light touch.

He cannot, however, be defensive in any way --

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Erica Hill. This is CNN Newsroom.

Just ahead, the race for the White House taking shape. Sources telling CNN Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley will drop out of the race today. We have full coverage.

Plus, growing unrest in Haiti. Police stations in the capital under attack, as we learn the Prime Minister is in Puerto Rico.

And face off on the high seas. CNN is front and center for a standoff between the Chinese Coast Guard and a Philippine ship. A live report is just ahead.

Donald Trump all but certain to be the Republican presidential nominee. This is sources tell CNN Nikki Haley, Trump's last remaining challenger for the GOP nomination, will announce today she is dropping out of the race. She is set to deliver remarks just about two hours from now.

Notably, Haley is not expected to endorse Donald Trump today. The decision to drop out comes after Trump not resounding victories in 14 out of 15 states on Super Tuesday. And in many of those states, Trump captured more than 75 percent of votes cast. The political world's attention now shifting to what had frankly been expected all along, a rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Before she leaves the stage, though, Nikki Haley will have one final message for Donald Trump, telling him he needs to do more to win the support of her voters.

With more on that, here's CNN's Kylie Atwood reporting earlier.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What she's going to say is that there needs to be a conversation. She is going to say that Trump needs to earn the support of her voters. And that's not altogether surprising because we have heard from Nikki Haley over the course of the last few months saying that Trump cannot win a general election if he is losing the faction of the party that is voting for her.

So she is now daring him to engage in a conversation with those voters. She has said that those voters don't want to be ignored, that they see a different vision for the future of the country. The question is, how does Trump engage with them? How does he engage with her? We'll have to watch and see how that plays out.

Now, one interesting thing on this conversation topic of endorsing the nominee of the Republican Party, Nikki Haley did commit to endorsing that nominee back last summer that she had to do that in order to get on the debate stage. But she has given indications in the last week or so that she was leaning in this direction because she laid out a few reasons for why she no longer felt bound to endorse the eventual nominee, saying that the Republican Party is different now than it was when she made that commitment.

Also noting that former President Trump never made that commitment. So why does she have to uphold that commitment? She is bowing out today, but she is putting herself into a position of power. It is a very deft political move for Nikki Haley.

And we should note that even though she didn't get enough support to keep her campaign alive, there were some states where she had a significant faction of the voters voting for her. And so her campaign is trying to use that to their advantage today as she continues to engage in this conversation surrounding the future of the Republican Party.

HILL: Kylie Atwood reporting there in South Carolina.

Alayna Treene is tracking reaction from Donald Trump's camp. I would imagine, Alayna, that reaction is, they're pretty happy to see Nikki Haley drop out.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's exactly right, Erica. And this is really their goal with Super Tuesday. They wanted to have Donald Trump have such a definitive and decisive win across the board on Super Tuesday that it would ultimately force her to drop out of the race. And that's what we're seeing play out today, and she'll have her remarks at 10 a.m. announcing that.

But I think to get to Kylie's point, what I find really interesting is how Nikki Haley is reacting to this. And I can tell you from my conversations with Donald Trump's campaign and with his senior advisers, that one, they do recognize that Donald Trump has a problem with more moderate and independent voters.

They did see on Super Tuesday that it was very clear that Nikki Haley did better with suburban voters, something that Donald Trump's camp understands they need to work on. And if you -- as they now look ahead in more earnest to a general election rematch with Joe Biden, that's going to be a key goal for them.

[08:05:07]

They're going to really need to hone their strategies, particularly in the battleground states, places like Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia. That is their goal, to target those suburban voters and the type of voters that Nikki Haley is talking about.

However, I can also tell you that I'm certain they do not appreciate Nikki Haley trying to offer his campaign advice. And I think as we look at some of other Kylie's reporting that she is not expecting to endorse Donald Trump, at least not today. And those remarks, I don't think that will go a long way with Donald Trump and his team either.

And I think a difference that we see with Nikki Haley and from what I've seen through my reporting with people in Trump world is that Nikki Haley, they view is different. They think that she has gone too far in her campaign, both in her attacks of Donald Trump, especially in the last several weeks and several months, but also in her policies.

I know that Donald Trump has privately complained that she flip flops too much that her criticism is unwarranted, that she is not loyal because she decided to run for president against him. And these are all things that I think they will factor in, in how they figure out how we're going to move forward with Nikki Haley.

If she does ultimately endorse, as we saw, many other of Donald Trump's former presidential primary rivals do, it's unclear if he and Donald Trump's campaign would embrace her in the same way. So that's something that I'll definitely be tracking as this news comes out. Erica?

HILL: Interesting to see how they weigh that too as they perhaps try to get some of those Haley voters. Alayna, appreciate the reporting. Thank you.

For more reaction to what is frankly a monumental week in U.S. politics, joining me now is Thomas Gift, he's the director of the Center on U.S. Politics at the University College London. Nice to see you this morning, Thomas.

So if we pick up sort of where we just left off there with both Kylie and Alayna, there is this sense, and we are expected to hear this from Nikki Haley in just a couple of hours from now. There's a large swath of voters out there that it can be seen as either a challenge or an opportunity depending on which direction you're coming from for both Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Who has the upper hand this morning?

THOMAS GIFT, DIRECTOR, CENTER OF U.S. POLITICS, UCL: Well, it's great to be with you, Erica. Thanks so much for having me. You know, there is this huge block of voters who are very dissatisfied with both of their choices. And it's one reason why 70 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the Trump versus Biden matchup.

I think right now, you have to say that Biden has a slightly upper edge just because he's less alienating. If you just look at sort of disapprovals between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, Joe Biden's disapprovals are less than Trump.

So that suggests to me that there is a larger fraction of upscale suburban voters, sort of educated voters who lean more moderate who are still probably more inclined to vote for Joe Biden than Donald Trump. But, you know, I think Nikki Haley could go a long way and maybe helping to Donald Trump swing some of those voters who came out to the polls for her or who just failed to show up to the primaries altogether. You know, her words could mean something.

HILL: What do you expect those words to be? And how much of that message do you believe will be tailored not just to her supporters, but also to Donald Trump and to his campaign?

GIFT: Well, I think the real question for Haley is how willing she is to be a pariah within the Republican Party and particularly one so thoroughly dominated by Trump. Already, I think it's probably fair to say that she'd be a persona non grata in a Trump administration.

But it's also important to remember that it's not like Haley has been out there sounding the alarm on Trump for months. He did take a much more critical tone of Trump once the primary turned into a one-on-one race. But Haley spent much of the early going tiptoeing around any issues that could alienate the Trump base.

She said that if she were elected president, she pardoned Trump if he were criminally convicted. When asked about how she differentiated herself on policies, she basically never gave a lucid answer. So this is not someone who spent her time going full on Chris Christie.

And there's a big question, I think, within the Haley campaign about whether she should be a team player. I think some think that she should be, that she's a loyal Republican. She took this pledge to support the nominee, or whether she could be the face of a broader movement of Republicans who speak with moral clarity against Trump. So there's this question about whether she endorses or not, and then what she actually says, and it's hard to predict at this point.

HILL: And that actually feeds into the question of, you know, what or who is the Republican Party today. Clearly, it's -- we've seen this for some time, right? The power that Donald Trump has over the Republican Party as he shifts the party to this more MAGA party itself. But moving forward, there's also a question of whether there's a place for her in that party.

GIFT: I think that the answer is that there's largely not. I mean, Trump framed himself as the inevitable nominee from the beginning. And last night he proved that he was. You know, the fact is, Trump has completely remade the Republican Party in his image.

[08:10:11]

And what little Trump resistance had existed within the GOP has been so thoroughly defeated that it basically doesn't exist anymore. You know, for the last several months, the punditocracy, it's been a wash about how Trump's rivals could upset him. Thinking through strategy.

In the end, I think it didn't matter. You know, the main theory inspiring the candidacies of Haley and others was that there was a silent conservative majority that craved a calorie condensed version of Trumpism.

I think the reality is that Republican voters wanted Trump all along. You know, they wanted Trump ultra. They didn't want Trumpism without Trump. They wanted Trump. And so it is very difficult to see how a figure like Nikki Haley, who may have fit within the Republican Party 10 years ago, 20 years ago, and would have been sort of emblematic of it now almost has no place. She's in the political wilderness.

HILL: It is a long road to November. Do you see, though, the potential for a real shift in the conversation, and I would say more from the Trump camp, away from this campaign of grievances and revenge, and more focused on policy and issues?

GIFT: Well, that's the big question. I think that the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. And if you look at what Donald Trump did in 2016 and 2020, he basically doubled down and said, I just want to motivate the base and that has been limiting in the sense that it hasn't allowed him to extend his circle of support.

It's very difficult, I think, for him to make that pivot now. I mean, everyone's trying to court this elusive median voter, swing voter, but he would spent months and months on the politics of grievance and sort of on this very right-wing agenda. I think it's difficult to kind of make that shift.

And it's very possible that the Trump campaign is just going to write off a lot of voters and say, look, as long as we get our core supporters to come out to the polls, Joe Biden's enthusiasm tends to be so limited at this point that maybe we can win a match up like that. It's hard to know.

HILL: Thomas Gift joining us from the Center on U.S. Politics at UCL. Great to have your insight this morning. Thank you.

GIFT: Thank you.

HILL: Well, there is, of course, one more player in this political race, Joe Biden. The U.S. president was already laser focused on Donald Trump, even before Haley's decision to withdraw from the race. In the wake of Trump's big Super Tuesday wins now, though, Biden also had a message for American voters, writing, "Four years ago, I ran because of the existential threat Donald Trump posed to the America we all believe in. If Donald Trump returns to the White House, all of this progress is at risk."

Going on to say, "Trump is driven by grievance and grift, focused on his own revenge and retribution, not the American people."

For more, Arlette Saenz is joining us now live this morning from the White House. So we know what the focus is here, Biden camp this morning. Is there more of a focus, Arlette, on the developments from Super Tuesday, and even the one that we're waiting on from Nikki Haley, just a short time from now? Or has that focus shifted to tomorrow night's State of the Union?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's all in play today, Erica, as this is really a pivotal three-day stretch from Super Tuesday to State of the Union, as now the Biden campaign has long argued that Super Tuesday would be the moment that this race crystallizes in the minds of voters as being directly between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

The latest proof point in that argument came this morning when the news broke that Nikki Haley is expected to drop out of the presidential race a bit later this morning. And one task that the Biden campaign is facing for the months ahead is trying to peel off those Haley voters who have been turned off by Donald Trump.

It's not just voters they're going after, but also those high dollar donors. I've been told that they believe there's a universe of Haley donors that they could win over heading into November. And senior campaign officials spoke to this in a memo that was released last evening offer -- or this morning, offering their assessments on Super Tuesday, arguing that Donald Trump is a damaged and an unpopular candidate.

The two women leading the campaign, Jen O'Malley Dillon and Julie Chavez Rodriguez wrote in this memo, quote, "A significant share of moderate and Haley voters across the country are saying that Trump cannot count on their votes in a general election."

And that will be key for President Biden going forward, trying to see whether they can tap into the Haley supporter network, trying to see if they can win over more moderate voters, suburban voters, especially suburban women.

One of the issues the Biden campaign really believes is working in their favor is reproductive rights. They think that that is a huge liability for the former president and something that will play significantly well with moderate voters. The Biden campaign also believes that they have a significant cash advantage on their side.

[08:15:00]

They have about $130 million between the Biden campaign and Democrats compared to roughly $30 million from Trump and close to $9 million from the RNC. That can certainly narrow as this contest proceeds. But for the time being, the Biden campaign argues they have a lot of resources to try to push their messages.

But one of the biggest platforms for the president to make his re- election case will be tomorrow's State of the Union address. He has been working behind the scenes for days with his senior advisers, putting the finishing touches on this speech that will really tout his accomplishments, but also lay out his vision for a second term.

We're told that this is exposed -- expected to focus heavily on an economic populist message, talking about raising taxes for the wealthy and corporations, also trying to lower costs on everything from groceries to prescription drugs. And it comes at a time when the president does face some challenges with voters.

He has to keep that coalition that elected him in 2020, which there are some signs of fraying with key vote voters in that group, including black men. There is also discontent within the Democratic Party over his handling of the conflict in Gaza. And then there are the lasting questions about the president's age and ability to serve in a second term.

So really, tomorrow's address will be the largest audience the president will have so far in this campaign, and he's hoping to use it as a case to make his case for why he should be elected to a second term and trying to draw a contrast with Trump, even if he's not mentioning him by name, but trying to draw those contrasts with Trump and the GOP.

HILL: Arlette Saenz live this morning at the White House, live today. Thank you.

Still to come here, it is game on for Joe Biden and Donald Trump. As we've been talking about, Nikki Haley is set to make an announcement a short time from now that will officially kick the election into high gear for that rematch.

Plus, dangerous confrontations between China and the Philippines in the South Sea. CNN is there as it happens. We are live with the details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: As a negotiator scramble to reach Gaza ceasefire deal before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which begins of course in less than a week, Hamas says it will continue with negotiations. Earlier, a senior Hamas official said any prisoner exchange will not be completed until there is a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory.

Meantime, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz is heading to the U.K. after meeting top U.S. officials who pushed Israel to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza. U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron told lawmakers he would also warn Gantz about the urgent need for aid to Gaza. CNN's Paula Hancocks joining us now from Abu Dhabi with the very latest. Can we begin first, Paula with these hostage talks, where do they stand? What more is Hamas say?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, at this point, we know that Hamas is still in Cairo. They said they'll continue negotiations, talking to their mediators, Qatar and Egypt. They have said that they are showing flexibility criticizing Israel for not doing its part.

[08:20:07]

Now, Israel doesn't have a representative there at this point. So we've heard from Israel saying that they have asked for a list of hostages and also specifying which are alive and which are not, which they haven't had from Hamas at this point. Hamas countering with how difficult it is to get that list before there is a complete ceasefire.

So some of the things that Hamas is that is calling for still are things that Israel does not appear willing to give. They want to see a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. We've heard Israel say they don't want that to happen. And the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that even if there is a temporary ceasefire, he still wants to, as he would put it, finish the job and make sure that they go into Rafah and Qantri (ph) and get rid of the last bastions of Hamas, is what he said in the past.

Also, Hamas saying that they want a permanent ceasefire. This is something again, Israel would not want. They are looking at potentially six weeks. That's what the Biden administration says they have basically agreed to. Erica?

HILL: Meantime, if we get now in the U.K., the second leg of what has been I think it is safe to say a fairly controversial trip. What more are we expecting out of these meetings?

HANCOCKS: Well, we know what happened in the U.S. was there were very strong words said about the lack of humanitarian aid in Gaza. So this is really the main message that is being given to Benny Gantz in the hope that he will take it back to Israel.

Now, according to an Israeli official, he was taken by surprise by the focus on this angle and also was quite surprised by the seemingly bad Israeli-U.S. relations at this point. So certainly he's going back with a message of his own. But we are seeing once again, the U.S., the U.K., many other countries calling for more aid to be allowed in.

It is not being heeded by Israel at this point. The U.K. and the U.S. have said that they want to see more crossings open. There are two near the northern part of Gaza on that border with Israel that could potentially be fixed, could be opened and then you can get humanitarian aid straight to those who need it in the northern part, which is the most devastated part at this point.

But those calls don't appear to be heeded by Israel at this point. And just pointing out that the U.S. has had to resort to airdrops in order to get aid into those who need it within Gaza, because even though it is the closest ally of Israel, it is not able to influence them in such a way that they will allow more humanitarian aid trucks through.

In fact, we just heard from WFP, the World Food Programme, that they were actually turned back by Israeli military as they were trying to get 14 trucks to the northern part of Gaza. They said they had to sit at a checkpoint for three hours. They were then turned back.

And on the way back, the-- there were other groups that then took that aid so there was no sense of a good distribution, a distribution to make sure it really got to those who needed it. Erica?

HILL: Paula Hancocks, appreciate the reporting. Thank you.

Well, the Ukrainian Air Force says it downed 38 of 42 drones that Russia launched in an overnight attack. Ukrainian officials say the Iranian made Shahed drones, like the ones that you're seeing here, were launched from four different locations.

Separately, a Ukrainian drone hit a fuel depot across the border in Russia. That's according to the governor of the Kursk region. No casualties were reported in either attack.

Coast Guard vessels from China and the Philippines collided in the disputed waters of the South China Sea on Tuesday. The Philippines has accused China of executing dangerous maneuvers. China, for its part, claims its ship took what it calls control measures against the Philippine vessel.

Ivan Watson went aboard a Philippine Coast Guard ship and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is just after sunrise, and as you may see, there is a large Chinese Coast Guard ship directly in front of this Philippines Coast Guard vessel. And we've been watching this over the course of the last hour.

These are supposed to be international waterways with free passage. I'm aboard this Philippines Coast Guard ship that was part of a convoy of four vessels that were headed towards a place called the Second Thomas Shoal. And before dawn, all of a sudden, these Philippines ships were swarmed by much larger and many more Chinese ships that are more off to our port bow.

These are not marked like the Chinese Coast Guard ships, but they're clearly operating with them and operating in very close proximity to this Philippines Coast Guard ship.

[08:25:09]

In fact, I've seen them in the past cutting this off. And what they've succeeded in doing is not only pretty much stopping our ship in its tracks, but it has separated this ship from the other boats in the Philippines convoy, which included two small resupply vessels that we're trying to get to the Second Thomas Shoal. Now, part of what is at play here is a territorial dispute. That shoal, the Philippines claims is part of its economic exclusion zone. China, though it is much further geographically from this area, claims it for itself and clearly tries to stop Philippine ships from getting to it.

We're completely encircled by a fleet of Chinese ships, at least 14 that have counted. And moments ago, the Chinese Coast Guard ships were blasting a Philippines resupply vessel with water cannons. It is clearly by swarming this ship a show of force and a show of intimidation. And it is physically stopping vessels from another country from being able to move forward through this international waterway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: And Ivan is with us now back on dry land. Just remarkable reporting there and to see it as you're counting the boats, we're seeing the water cannons. Just how tense, if that is how it felt, how tense did it feel in those moments?

WATSON: I think very tense. You have to recall, it doesn't always come across on camera but these are giant vessels and they're essentially playing chicken with each other, Erica. Or rather from what I saw, the Chinese vessels were hemming in this large Philippine Coast Guard ship and kind of playing chicken with it and harassing it.

And they don't stop on a dime. You know, they drift. So, a second Philippine Coast Guard vessel actually was hit. There was a mild collision with a much larger China Coast Guard vessel. Fortunately, nobody was hurt there.

This is not the first time that these kind of confrontations have taken place at sea. But the Philippine government says a difference here is that some of its service members were actually hurt this time and some of their ships were actually damaged.

Again, the several of the windscreens, the windshields of this small resupply ship were broken in by the force of the Chinese water cannon. It is remarkable that there haven't been worse accidents thus far. And this does have potential much bigger implications because the Philippines is a mutual defense treaty partner of the U.S.

So theoretically, if there is an active war, if this escalates, the U.S. will be obliged to come to the Philippines defense, and that would become a much bigger potential scary scenario. China commands the world's largest Navy.

Despite these threats, the Philippines has said since this took place, it will not back down. It is going to continue asserting its rights. So I'm not sure where this is going to go from there. China keeps accusing this much smaller poorer weaker country of operating illegally in what is essentially the open sea. Every ship should have a right to move through this territory that China is claiming for itself.

HILL: Really appreciate the reporting. It's good to have you there, Ivan. Thank you.

Still to come here, the bitter clash most Americans did not want to happen. Well, it's on. Joe Biden versus Donald Trump, the rematch in November. Details on their Super Tuesday victories. And what's ahead when we return.

Plus, violence spiraling out of control in Haiti. Armed gangs taking over police stations in the capital. We're live in the region.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:43]

HILL: It is all but official. The rematch so many Americans did not want to happen? It's odd. Set to take place in November. President Joe Biden and Donald Trump dominating Super Tuesday races across the country yesterday, moving closer to clinching their party's nominations.

Sources telling CNN Nikki Haley will suspend her campaign just a short time from now. An announcement is expected in about 90 minutes. The former South Carolina governor, though, is not expected to endorse Trump. At least not today.

Trump for his part celebrated his Super Tuesday wins with a familiar message to supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A lot of people say, a lot of experts have said the stock market's the only thing that's doing well and that's doing well because our poll numbers are so much higher than Joe Biden's.

(APPLAUSE)

He's the worst president in the history of our country. They want open borders and open borders are going to destroy our country. We need borders and we need free and fair elections, and we don't have a country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So what are the takeaways from these Super Tuesday results? CNN's Eva McKend joining me now live from Washington. Eva, good to see you as always. Walk us through sort of where we stand the day after, as we are now basically, officially, moving into the general here. How much could Nikki Haley's departure change the calculus for both campaigns this morning?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: You know, Erica, that is the key question. This morning, the race is really on for both Biden and Trump to try to capture Haley's voters. We know in her remarks in just about an hour and a half that she's expected to lean on Trump to earn the support of her independent and Republican supporters. She's been telegraphing this a little bit at her recent rallies. I've been on the campaign trail with her, arguing that Trump is not doing enough to unify the party. He very notably, a few weeks ago, said that people who donated to her campaign would be barred permanently from the MAGA movement. Not exactly sure how that logistically would work.

And her campaign was selling shirts that said, barred permanently to sort of lean into that insult. All kidding aside, though, some conservative observers, they say when the rubber meets the road, Republicans will all get behind Trump. But that isn't necessarily a given.

If you listen to her supporters, for instance, even in ruby red states like South Carolina, they would show up to her events. These were registered Republicans who may have voted for Trump in 2016, but then switched to Biden in 2020 and said that they had no appetite to vote for Trump again.

So all eyes really in the weeks ahead on where the Haley voters are going, Erica.

HILL: Yes, two men will be likely trying to get them into their camps. Eva, appreciate it. Thank you.

Well, before those final numbers came in, CNN spoke to voters across the country about who they cast their ballot for in the presidential primary and why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: To any of the issues surrounding January 6th, the court cases, how much do they weigh in to your vote?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot because they're trying to take away freedom from being able to vote, being able to elect and making it a federal issue or the Supreme Court issue to take that away from us and that's not OK.

[08:35:08]

BERMAN: So you -- these cases make you more likely to vote for Trump, not less likely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it ends up being a Trump versus Biden rematch, do you know who you'd vote for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I'll hold my nose and vote for Biden again. I just think I have moral objections to, and moral and political objections (INAUDIBLE) Donald Trump ran his campaign and, you know, served in office. And, you know, some of the choices he's made are, I think, just wrong for our country.

BERMAN: What's the most important issue to you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Immigration.

BERMAN: Immigration?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BERMAN: How so?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that we need to secure the borders and make sure that everything is handled appropriately. The people that come in the country, we help them, but then it's also done in the right way.

BERMAN: Who's the best candidate to handle that, do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I pick Trump.

BERMAN: And who'd you pick?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I voted for Trump.

BERMAN: So you voted in the Democratic primary?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today.

BERMAN: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's all about democracy this year.

BERMAN: And who'd you vote for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Biden.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you feel like he's doing what you'd like to see the country continue doing in the next four years?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Personally, no. I'm not satisfied with President Biden. I mean much rather --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you vote for him before?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're pretty upset with how this has turned out from your past vote?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct. Yes. It is not -- my situation is not improved like I thought it would under Biden. What I wish that I could have seen from him was a little bit more confident cabinet leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Well, it was expected withdrawal from the race is a short time and now from now will clear the path for Donald Trump to become the Republican nominee. So after that, what is her next move? CNN Political Commentator S.E. Cupp joining me now live in New York. S.E., always good to see you, my friend. I know you've been in contact with the Haley campaign this morning. What is the thinking about where she goes from here?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, they tell me that they want to encourage Donald Trump to earn her voters. They say, you know, it's not a given that he'll get them but they do want to encourage that. So there's a unity message that might be unexpected for some Haley supporters.

And when I asked, listen, could she envision a world in which she endorses Donald Trump someone who's been calling her Birdbrain, someone who's been bragging about ridding the party of everyone not MAGA, someone who's said he will ban permanently, people who voted for her and donated to her, the campaign said, yes, there was.

There was a world in which they could envision her endorsing him. So I would imagine they're telegraphing that because that's what they plan to do.

HILL: Also because it would provide a softer landing, right, especially for her political future, given that he controls the party.

CUPP: Listen, you can't survive -- yes, you cannot survive in today's Republican Party outside of Trump's orbit. And listen, as disappointing as it might be that she would ultimately end up endorsing him, a guy that she has rightly been so critical of, it's politically the smart thing for her to do.

HILL: It's also fascinating -- so we had some reporting from our colleague Alayna Treene just a short time ago in speaking with the Trump campaign, acknowledging that they need to reach out to a lot of those Haley voters, moderates, suburban women, but also making this point, right, that there is still a lot of unhappiness within the Trump campaign.

So while Nikki Haley perhaps is trying to signal that she's ready to at some point endorse Donald Trump, there's also a question of whether Donald Trump will accept that and how that will go down.

CUPP: Yes, listen, the Republican Party of Donald Trump has not been all that interested in winning. They talk about it a lot, but all evidence to the contrary, they're shrinking the base intentionally, right? Kicking out not just good conservatives from Congress, but actively asking voters to leave the party.

So you wouldn't bet on his political wisdom, but it would certainly be a smart strategy to ask for the votes of 40 percent of your own party that you've lost. You've lost in states like Iowa and South Carolina, New Hampshire, you lost 40 percent of voters there. And a lot of those were independents and moderates, but some of them were also Republicans.

So he's got to work to earn those voters. He can't win just with his base. CUPP: So it's interesting, too, when we speak about the base versus the other voters. I was struck by some of the CNN exit polling, specifically Virginia, North Carolina, and California.

CUPP: Yes.

HILL: 70 percent or more of Trump supporters in those states say they would vote for the Republican nominee, right? A quarter or less of Haley supporters said that.

CUPP: Yes.

HILL: I think that also just sets up how much, use the words challenge or opportunity, depending I guess who you're -- where you're coming at this from, whether you're Joe Biden or Donald Trump, but how much there is potentially there in terms of voters.

CUPP: A lot of voters.

HILL: And how much work to do.

[08:40:13]

CUPP: You have to remember, you know, in contrast to the Democratic primaries, where turnout's been low, turnout in the Republican primaries and caucuses has been very, very high. So there is high motivation among Republicans and Republican voters, and potentially those moderates and independents voting in Republican primaries, to go out and vote.

And so those are important voters for either candidate. Again, they will both have to get independents and moderates to win because their bases have condensed and shrunk. So, again, Trump would be smart to go after them, but Biden would be smart to pitch to them as well. The pitch to voters like me who cannot vote for Donald Trump. We're hoping someone like Nikki Haley could come along and sort of rescue the right and rescue the country, but we're kind of left out here in the wind now.

HILL: Former Congressman Adam Kinzinger making a similar point, Republican congressman, this morning on CNN that this is a real opportunity for Joe Biden to win over voters.

CUPP: Yes.

HILL: He was making the case that the campaign should let Joe Biden be Joe Biden. That's one part of it. Could there also be more of a push by the Trump campaign for Donald Trump to lay out some specific policies as opposed to just the airing of grievances?

CUPP: Well, I mean, the Nikki Haley voters were here for the policy. That's for sure. I mean, they told us that. But they really also reject his personality. And Trump can't exist without that, right? I mean, he's not capable of tempering that, and all the lawsuits, the legal jeopardy, now the financial jeopardy, all of the chaos that Trump courts is something that turned off those voters too, and he's not capable of getting past that.

So, yes, Trump can speak more to policy, I don't think that's going to win these voters alone. The question will come down to ultimately, can I vote for Joe Biden or Donald Trump? Who is best to see this country through for the next four years? It's a very unpopular choice that we're left with.

HILL: Yes, unpopular and yet we all knew it was coming, didn't we?

CUPP: Yes.

HILL: We will have much to dig into in the next eight, nine months. S.E., always good to see you. Thank you.

CUPP: You too.

HILL: Still to come here, Alexei Navalny's widow thanking his supporters days after her husband was laid to rest and offering up a message for the Russia -- millions of Russians ahead of this month's presidential election.

Plus, an American in prison in Russia speaking to CNN about the death of Alexei Navalny. And what he fears it could mean for his own future. Stay with us for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: The security situation is deteriorating once again in Haiti. Criminal gangs have launched coordinated attacks on several police stations in the capital. The police academy in Port-au-Prince, where hundreds of cadets are stationed, has also been targeted. Doctors Without Borders reporting widespread injuries after a weekend of violence.

[08:45:07]

Meantime, Prime Minister Ariel Henry landed in Puerto Rico on Tuesday after days of speculation about his whereabouts. The U.N. says 15,000 people in the capital have now been forced to leave their homes.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann is tracking all of these developments, joining us this morning from Havana, Cuba. So, Patrick, bring us up to speed on not only these attacks on these police stations, but also what we know about the movements in -- of the prime minister.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning. And we're seeing a minute by minute deterioration of the situation in Haiti. The U.N. is supposed to have a meeting this afternoon about this to see what they can do to stabilize a very worrying situation, a situation that has been brewing really for months and years, but it seems to have hit critical mass as we are seeing with the prime minister of Haiti having been overseas, essentially the country plunging into chaos.

These well-armed, well-financed gangs, excuse me, taking on the police and beating back the police using police stations that have been abandoned, police that have essentially given up the fight or simply been outgunned jails where prisoners have been -- thousands of prisoners have been freed, and are now roaming the streets of Port-au- Prince.

So just a country that has fallen into chaos. Prime Minister Ariel Henry had gone to Kenya to sign a deal that would allow Kenyan troops to come, about 1,000 Kenyan troops come and try to fight the gangs themselves, fight the Haitian police have all but admitted they cannot win on their own.

While he was there doing that, the gang saw an opportunity to rise up, close down the airport to prevent Ariel Henry from returning. And so at this point, it's not clear when or how he will return. We are told that he is working on doing that. The U.S. government is trying to help him to do that apparently.

But getting back into his country under these circumstances is going to be so difficult and dangerous, and it's not clear yet if when he actually lands, if it will help to stabilize the country. This is a very unpopular prime minister. He was not elected. He became prime minister after the 2021 presidential assassination.

And it's still not clear yet when new elections will be held in Haiti because of course the security situation up until now has not allowed for it. But, you know, for the thousands of Haitians have had to flee their homes, they need to see action now because this security situation, this moment that Haiti is living through where the gangs have almost total control of the capital city is really putting this country on the brink of collapse.

HILL: Yes, it certainly is. And all eyes watching as we wait to see what is next and how that could unfold.

Patrick, really appreciate it. Thank you.

The widow of Russia's late opposition leader Alexei Navalny is calling for a mass protest on the final day of Russia's presidential election later this month. In a video posted to social media, Yulia Navalnaya also thanked the huge crowds that turned out last week for her husband's funeral and said they give her hope and strength.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YULIA NAVALNAYA, WIDOW OF ALEXEI NAVALNY (through translator): You are the best, the bravest, the most honest people of our country, the people who give me hope. It's you on Friday, March 1st, who stood in a queue for many hours to say goodbye to Alexei. But the next day, there are even more of you. The third day, Sunday, a kilometer long queue and a mountain of flowers for which the cross is not visible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Also important to note, the White House has invited Navalnaya to President Biden's State of the Union address on Thursday. We have been told, though, she is not able to attend. An American detained in Russia for more than five years now telling CNN Alexei Navalny's death has extremely worrying implications for his own situation. Paul Whelan, who is regarded by the U.S. as being wrongfully detained in Russia, was sentenced to 16 years in prison there for espionage by Russian court, charges he has vehemently denied.

And he now tells CNN he finds it extremely troubling that someone like Navalny would die under suspicious circumstances, raising concerns about what it could mean for himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL WHELAN, DETAINED IN RUSSIA: I can't say too much for obvious reasons, but one thing I will say is that if they can get to him, they can get to me. And what that means is, if they are willing to face the repercussions from the world for doing in somebody like Navalny, they are not going to think twice about doing in someone like me, and then blaming the United States for not bothering to get me back in five years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: For more on Paul Whelan's situation and the U.S. government's stance here, let's bring in CNN State Department Producer Jennifer Hansler, who spoke with Paul Whelan. And I believe it was actually on his birthday, Jennifer, when you just spoke with him.

[08:50:09]

That conversation, him being very clear he can't say too much, but expressing those very real concerns. What more did he share with you?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Well, Erica, as you said, it was his birthday and he said it was extremely odd to be spending yet another milestone birthday behind bars in Russian prison. At the same time, he said he was able to have a little bit of normalcy there. He said his prison mates gave him tea and cakes and there was a little bit of celebration, a sign that he was able to escape sort of the prison mindset for just a little while there.

Still, he did express serious, serious concerns about what Navalny's death in another Russian prison could mean for someone like him. He said it indicates that Russia would be prepared to do this to just about anybody. And he said he could see Russia taking advantage of the fact that he was still behind bars to do something and then blame the United States.

He said he did speak with Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month, though, and called that a very, very good call. He said he was reassured that the U. S. government is doing everything that they can to try to bring him home, but he again called for the government to work a little bit faster to pull out all of the stops in order to make that happen.

Erica? HILL: Jennifer Hansler, good to have you with us. Thank you.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: You imagine an arctic ocean that is nearly ice free. Scientists say it could happen and soon. This is about seasonal ice that melts in the summer, but then refreezes in the winter. Well, the amount of summertime ice has been in decline for years due to global warming.

A new study, though, finds the ocean could actually start seeing its first ice freeze days before 2030. So no one knows for sure what the consequences of these ice free days will be. Experts, though, say the ecological impact is expected to be considerable.

How about a little fishtail from off the coast of Florida to round out the hour? When a fisherman caught a red snapper, turns out he actually caught a lot more than he bargained for.

CNN's Jeanne Moos has the jaw-dropping story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go.

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just when this fisherman --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That might be a big snapper. Pull, pull, pull, pull, pull.

MOOS (voice-over): -- was about to reel in a red snapper, it got snapped up by a shark off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go, go, go! Oh!

MOOS (voice-over): Snapped up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh! Drop it down. Drop it down.

MOOS (voice-over): Bite by bite.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For them to just explode like that on the surface and just devour the fish.

MOOS (voice-over): The owner of fin and fly fishing charters was flying high.

MOOS: Are you always so excited in your play by play?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it's the coolest job in the world.

Dude, they're attacking each other.

MOOS (voice-over): But these weren't man eating sharks, these were motor eating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is insane. They keep attacking the trolling motor.

MOOS (voice-over): Why are they attacking the motor?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything that was moving and making vibration, and they just wanted to attack it because they were in a frenzy.

MOOS (voice-over): One of the sand sharks swam around, clutching a rope in its mouth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's kicking up the rope.

MOOS: I know why it was doing that. It was flossing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there you go.

[08:55:04]

MOOS (voice-over): Commenters made the same old joke. Going to need a bigger boat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to need a bigger boat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a bigger boat but that boat we were on that day was a 25 footer. You definitely did not want to fall in.

MOOS (voice-over): But this was a feeding frenzy with motor on the menu. Watch the headbutt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jeez.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: He is very expressive. Our thanks to Jeanne again.

Thanks to all of you for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Erica Hill.

Be sure to stay with CNN for all the day's political headlines from right here in the U.S., including that key speech from Nikki Haley. She's set to deliver those remarks in just about an hour.

For now, CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson is up next.

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