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Defense Department Investigates Balloon Found Near Alaska; Hope Fades For Gaza Cease-Fire Deal; President Biden Set to Deliver State of the Union Address. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired March 07, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:03]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: And this was the scene earlier this morning in the Spanish port city of Coruna. When she finished her trip -- looks like quite a party -- she made sure to celebrate in style, popping and spraying a massive bottle of champagne.

Congratulations to Cole. Just an amazing journey there.

And thank you very much for joining us this morning. I'm Jim Acosta.

Our next hour of NEWSROOM with Wolf Blitzer starts right now. Have a great day, everybody.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

Tonight, President Biden will deliver his State of the Union address, making his case for a second term. It could be the most consequential speech of his presidency. The president is expected to draw a stark contrast between his vision for the country and Donald Trump's message of revenge and retribution.

But the speech comes as President Biden trails his GOP rival in nearly every recent poll, with many pointing to concerns over his age and mental fitness. And that has top Democrats speculating that the American people might be less concerned with what he says than how he says it.

And they're urging President Biden to show the nation the fiery president they say they see behind closed doors.

CNN's White House correspondent, Arlette Saenz, is joining us right now. She's out there on the North Lawn of the White House.

Arlette, how does the president plan to get his message across to voters and tens of millions of people who will be watching this evening?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, President Biden is spending the day putting the finishing touches on this State of the Union address, an opportunity for him to lay out a vision for a second term in office. His team has been working for months now trying to identify the issues

to prioritize in the speech, but also working to craft a message that will convince voters he is prepared for a second term. Now, a big part of this speech is expected to focus on economic issues.

The president's trying to move the needle with voters who feel pessimistic in their personal outlook when it comes to the economy. The president will talk about the need to raise corporate tax rates to 28 percent, also raising the corporate minimum tax rate from 15 percent to 21 percent.

The president will also talk about trying to address cost issues facing everyday Americans, especially on the issues of prescription drugs and health care costs. The president also will really lean into the democracy and freedom arguments he's been making in this 2024 campaign.

One of those key freedoms the president often talks about protecting is reproductive rights, an issue that Democrats believe will really mobilize voters heading into November's election. He's also expected to talk about Ukraine, Israel, border security and also his unity agenda.

But, really, this speech later tonight sets up a high-stakes moment for the president, as he is facing a challenging time in his reelection bid. Polling has shown that there's no clear leader in these hypothetical head-to-head matchups with former President Donald Trump.

There is also frustration within the Democratic Party towards the president over his handling of the conflict in Gaza and questions about his age and mental fitness, questions many voters have about his ability to serve a second term.

So, this speech really will give the president an opportunity to make his case to voters, present a contrast with former President Donald Trump and Republicans and, most importantly, show that he's up for another four years in the job.

BLITZER: Arlette, aside from the lawmakers, members of the House and the Senate, who will be there in the chamber, who is on the guest list, the president's guest list for tonight's address?

SAENZ: Yes, the guest list is always interesting, because they try to craft a group that speaks to the priorities the president wants to address in this speech.

So the first lady has invited about 20 people to sit in her box in the House chamber. That will include the Swedish prime minister, who, today, Sweden, is actually set to become a NATO ally. That is something that the president had pushed for, expanding the NATO alliance after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Of course, that presents a contrast with Trump, who recently has suggested that Vladimir Putin should do whatever the hell he wants to countries that are not meeting their NATO obligations. There will also be Shawn Fain of the United Auto Workers union, a key union that endorsed Biden in recent months.

There will also be some people related to reproductive rights, Kate Cox -- that's that Texas woman who had to travel out of state to terminate her pregnancy after she was facing life-threatening conditions -- also a woman from Alabama who was trying to go through IVF procedures, but had that procedure canceled due to the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision relating to IVF.

There's also Maria Shriver, who has worked with the first lady on women's health, but also notably is the cousin of Robert F. Kennedy, who is running this third-party bid for the White House. So that just gives you an idea of the people who will be at the State of the Union address as the president is trying to use each of these guests for one quick moment to highlight some of the priorities that he sees in this term and also a second term if he were to be reelected.

[11:05:02]

BLITZER: Yes, lots of guests will be up in the Gallery there and will be watching it.

Arlette Saenz at the White House, thank you very much.

When President Biden begins his speech tonight, we will have at least one heckler who's hundreds of miles away. We're talking about Donald Trump, who says he will deliver a live rebuttal as his likely November opponent is speaking.

Our national correspondent, Kristen Holmes, is in West Palm Beach, not far away from Mar-a-Lago right now.

Kristen, how is this going to work?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, first of all, it is not going to be a video rebuttal. This is just going to be on social media, TRUTH Social, which is a relief to some of his allies, who thought that Trump trying to respond in real time on video would be diminishing to the former president.

Now, he will be, again, going after Biden, going after what he is saying during the State of the Union on TRUTH Social in a series of live posts. However, since he has done this before, we have a little bit of a taste of what this is going to look like.

Now, I do want to note that Speaker Johnson has already asked members, encourage them to be respectful of Biden, to show decorum. Obviously, Donald Trump won't be there. And he likely also won't be showing decorum, because that is what we have seen in the past from the former president.

So, expect a lot of attacks on social media. I'm also told that the campaign will be putting out videos, both Trump-on-camera videos, as well as short digital videos, rebutting some of the stuff that Biden is saying in real time. Look for a focus on immigration, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, among other issues. The other thing I want to point out to is what we have seen today

already before the State of the Union speech. And that is from the super PAC that is aligned with Donald Trump, MAGA Inc. They made a national ad buy this week that started this morning on cable that essentially challenges Biden's mental health, his mental acuity, his age.

It even asks at one point if he would be able to survive another presidency, another four years, so going for the jugular there, and that, of course, is the title of the ad, unsurprisingly. But you can see that this age and the mental acuity, the mental fitness, as Arlette said, is going to be a very big issue heading into November.

BLITZER: We will see what happens.

All right, Kristen, thank you very much.

Kristen Holmes down in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Let's discuss all of this and more with CNN contributor the staff writer at "The New Yorker" magazine, Evan Osnos. He's also the author of the very important biography entitled "Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now."

Evan, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for all the important work that you do.

You know President Biden. You recently had a chance to do a very lengthy interview with him in the Oval Office, and I know you have written about that in "The New Yorker."

First of all, could you -- could this be, from your perspective, Evan, the most consequential speech of Biden's presidency, at least so far?

EVAN OSNOS, "THE NEW YORKER": I think that's a fair reading, Wolf.

I mean, the reality is, for a lot of Americans, this is the moment when they're tuning back into politics. They have been checked out for the last few years. They wanted a break from it.

There are a lot of people who are tuning in tonight, and for the first time, I think, coming to terms with the reality that this is a choice between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. So he's been in politics 51 years, of course, in Washington, but I think you would be hard-pressed to describe a speech with higher stakes, with more on the line.

And, frankly, it's one he's kind of been dying to give. My impression from being with him recently is, he's kind of pawing the ground to get into this general election against Trump.

BLITZER: Yes, I suspect you're right.

What does President Biden have a need to do tonight to sell the American people on a second term in the White House?

OSNOS: I think there's a couple of things that are most important. I mean, number one is, people often, in many ways, they want to --

it's not what you say in the speech as much as it is how it makes you feel. Do people come away from a speech feeling like fundamentally this is somebody who has my interests at heart? Are they thinking about me? Are they on my side?

You're going to hear a lot about the economy. When I talked to him recently, Biden takes some kind of a little bristly pride, poking at the press, saying, how many times did you and your colleagues say there was going to be a recession that didn't happen?

But also, more importantly, you're going to have to hear him lay out very specifically what is he doing to try to cut drug prices, get down the price of groceries, things that really matter in concrete ways in people's lives. You're going to hear a big focus on that.

And also, Wolf, let's be blunt. People are going to be looking to see, does he look up to the job? Does he have the energy, the vitality? Can he punch back in the room if he needs to? So, performance is a part of this.

BLITZER: On that last point, President Biden's White House chief of staff, Jeff Zients, tells Politico that we're going to -- quote -- "see a very energized president tonight."

How far do you suspect, Evan, he will go in attacking House Republicans for attacking the bipartisan border security bill and logjamming aid, critically important aid, to Ukraine?

OSNOS: Yes, that's a key piece of it.

In some ways, the argument is action versus paralysis. Look, Republicans were the ones who came up. They helped draft this bill. And then, when Donald Trump said, we don't want it, they killed it.

[11:10:04]

I got the sense from talking to Biden he finds that offensive, because, after all, he spent his career in the Senate. He thinks of the Congress as something that can and should act. He doesn't want to see people sitting around on taxpayers' dime, not actually solving problems that they believe are problems. You're going to hear from him on that.

BLITZER: I'm sure we will.

Do you expect the president to directly call out Donald Trump by name tonight, especially when speaking about the threat to democracy here in the United States?

OSNOS: I think he's going to talk about the threat that MAGA Republican -- MAGA Republican movement represents to democracy, but this is not Donald Trump's night.

From his perspective, this is Joe Biden's chance to make a case for himself and to draw a contrast between somebody -- as he said in his speech not too long ago, we all know who Donald Trump is by now. As Biden puts it, the question is, who are we? I think that's the message you're going to hear more of.

BLITZER: House Speaker Johnson is urging House Republicans tonight to show respect. Last year, as we all remember, the president clashed with some Republicans on a few occasions during the course of his speech last year.

Listen and watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset. I'm not saying it's the majority.

(SHOUTING)

BIDEN: Contact my office. I will give you a copy.

Fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 Americans a year.

(BOOING)

BIDEN: You got it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: You expect we're going to see more of that off-the-cuff yelling toward him tonight?

OSNOS: Yes, I think we will. Republicans are already saying that they're going to do it. Brian Mast of Florida is already saying about speaking up tonight.

And I think Joe Biden, in a sense, is going to use that as a moment, I think, having talked to his advisers about it, to showcase, this is your options, folks. American public, you can either have a kind of performance art on the side of folks in their room who want to draw attention to themselves, or you can have somebody lay out what it is that they're trying to do to solve problems in your life.

From his perspective, the border talks were an obvious example of when Republicans said, solve this issue, solve this issue, but when Donald Trump says, I don't want it solved because that's how I'm running for reelection, that they abandoned it. That's pretty eloquent evidence, from Biden's perspective.

BLITZER: Evan Osnos, thanks so much for joining us.

I highly recommend your most recent article in "The New Yorker" and I highly recommend your biography of President Biden as well, both really important reads.

Evan, thank you very, very much. Still to come: Hamas walking away from negotiations without a

breakthrough, as hopes clearly dim right now for a hostage release and a cease-fire by Ramadan in the coming days.

Also ahead: Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with the visiting Swedish private minister as that nation becomes NATO's 32nd member.

And later: February was the hottest month in recorded history, shattering records for the ninth month in a row. We're going to explain how that is impacting our planet.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:17:50]

BLITZER: Right now, hope for a Gaza cease-fire deal by Ramadan is fading big time.

The Islamic holy month begins next week, and talks between negotiators in Egypt seem to be right now at a standstill. The team from Hamas has left the talks to consult with the militant groups' leadership.

An Israeli official accuses Hamas of -- quote -- "playing a game" when it says it doesn't know how many hostages are still alive. Hamas claims an accurate count isn't possible until a cease-fire is in play -- in place.

CNN's chief national security correspondent, Alex Marquardt, is following the story for us. He's here with me.

Alex, Israel warned that it will launch a military operation offensive into Gaza, the southern part of -- into Rafah, the southern part of Gaza, if the hostages aren't released, and released quickly. What's the latest status of the effort to free the hostages and get a -- more of a pause or a cease-fire in place?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the Biden administration has said for weeks that it is imperative that the cease-fire be in place by the beginning of Ramadan, which is believed to be early next week.

The president earlier this week said that it would be very, very dangerous for the region if that cease-fire were not in place by the beginning of Ramadan. And despite fervent efforts by the mediators to work on this deal, it looks like that is not going to happen.

One U.S. official told me that hope is fading. There have been talks in Cairo this week. Israel did not attend. And one of the diplomats who is involved in these discussions said that these conversations for the past few days have been very hectic and that Hamas came forward with proposals that, in the words of this diplomat, no one is happy about. Now, Israel refused to send a delegation because they have this demand

that they want a full list of all the hostages who are dead and alive, so they can get a sense of who would be released in this hostage deal. For the most part, the U.S. says Israel has already agreed to this cease-fire.

Hamas now is making more demands, according to sources, following that -- the deaths of more than 100 Palestinians around that aid convoy last week, when Israeli troops opened fire. So this deal is not dead, but it looks like this is not going to happen by the beginning of Ramadan. The conversations continue.

[11:20:00]

And the mediators are trying to get Israel and Hamas to agree to this cease-fire, which would be expected, at least in the initial phase, to last six weeks.

BLITZER: On a separate issue, but it's a significant issue, Sweden, as you know, is the newest member of NATO.

The Swedish prime minister is now here in Washington. He's meeting with the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, as we speak right now. This is a significant moment.

MARQUARDT: It really is.

This is a big deal, Sweden now the 32nd member of NATO. They have -- they are now joining quickly on the heels of Finland. These are two countries that had, for a long time, resisted joining NATO. What changed? Well, Russia decided to invade Ukraine, and that really provided the impetus for these two new members to apply for membership.

Now, these -- their accession was held up by Turkey and Hungary, but now they are joining. U.S. officials, NATO officials like to remind Vladimir Putin that he invaded Ukraine to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, but now they are -- now NATO is actually tighter, more cohesive and enlarged.

And so now you essentially have NATO countries running all the way from the Baltic Sea down to the Black and Mediterranean Sea. So, it is a big deal that Sweden is joining, and the Swedish prime minister will be at the State of the Union tonight.

BLITZER: Very interesting, indeed. Very significant. To be a member of NATO, you need the unanimous consent of all the NATO allies. Turkey and Hungary, of course, are members of NATO, and they eventually...

MARQUARDT: They got there.

BLITZER: ... came around and supported Sweden's entry into NATO, very significant event.

Alex Marquardt, I appreciate it very, very much. Let's get the latest right now on the investigation of another

possible spy balloon. It was found last week in the waters off the coast of Alaska. The Defense Department tells CNN it's trying to figure out who made the balloon and where it came from.

CNN reporter Katie Bo Lillis is following the story for us.

Katie, this is the first time the government is now acknowledging that the debris that was found by a fisherman off the waters of Alaska was in fact a spy balloon.

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: Well, so this is the big news today, Wolf, is that the federal government is acknowledging that what they have now taken custody of is a balloon.

They're not entirely sure yet whether or not it can be termed a surveillance balloon at this point. This all started last week, when these commercial fishermen off the coast of Alaska found some interesting sea trash, shall we say, that they took some photos of and reached out to law enforcement about.

The FBI takes a look at these images and says, hmm, this is suspiciously similar to the kind of Chinese surveillance balloon that blew off course last February, transited the entire United States, and was ultimately shot down by the U.S. military off of the off of the East Coast.

They wanted to take a look at it and see exactly what it was. So the FBI meets the ship when it comes into port. The Defense Department has now taken custody of this object. It's at a military base in Alaska. And the DOD and other federal agencies are going to do a forensic analysis of this thing to try to determine its purpose and its origin, right?

They want to understand, is this a hobbyist balloon, a weather balloon? Is this a surveillance balloon that was potentially operated by a foreign government? And how did it wind up in the waters off of the coast of Alaska?

BLITZER: It shouldn't take very long to determine if it was a spy balloon. You could go inside. A normal balloon would have air inside. A spy balloon would have some sort of equipment.

LILLIS: Well, so what we have learned, I think, Wolf, since last year, when the sort of concept of surveillance balloons really sort of burst into the American consciousness, is exactly how many balloons there really are floating around up there.

One thing that the U.S. government did was, they essentially widened the aperture of their radar systems after last February, so that they could see more, right? They wanted to close essentially a visibility gap that some officials believed had allowed this, the Chinese balloon, to get a little bit closer than the U.S. maybe wanted.

As a result, we saw lots and lots and lots of other balloons floating around up there, everything from hobbyist balloons, like one that was -- that fighter jets scrambled to take a look at just a few weeks ago that turned out to just be a hobbyist balloon.

So there's a lot of possibilities of what this could be.

BLITZER: Yes. That's -- and the -- when you find out, let us know.

LILLIS: We will.

BLITZER: Our viewers will be interested, I'm sure.

Katie Bo, thank you very, very much.

Still to come: the new plan to crack down on subway crime in New York City by sending -- get this -- sending in the National Guard.

Stay with us. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:28:55]

BLITZER: Tonight, President Biden is set to deliver a very high- stakes State of the Union address fresh off a Super Tuesday that all but guarantees a November rematch with his predecessor, Donald Trump.

And we're also learning that some Democrats have a message for President Biden just ahead of tonight's speech. That message? Fight harder. They want the president to bring some of the fire he's displayed behind closed doors to tonight's event as he makes his case for another four years.

Joining us now, CNN senior political analyst and senior editor at "The Atlantic" magazine Ron Brownstein and former Vermont Governor of the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean.

To both of you, thanks so much for joining us on this important day.

Ron, is this possibly the most important speech of President Biden's presidency?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think the convention speech will be, but this is right up there, Wolf.

And I think that the challenge for him and the task for him is very clear. We saw in 2018, 2020 and '22 there is a big audience for arguments against Donald Trump. And Biden is not going to have to reach far to find pressure points that are going to concern people about what a second Trump presidency would mean.