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Tonight: Biden Delivers High-Stakes Address; Trial Begins For Father Of Michigan School Shooter; Last Month Was Hottest February On Record. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired March 07, 2024 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: 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. I think his bigger challenge is to convince people that a second Biden term would mean improvements in their lives.

I mean, you know, he is looking at an approval rating right now that is in the level of presidents who were defeated for reelection. Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Donald Trump himself. There are a lot of voters who will say they're disappointed in Biden, but they're still going to vote for him because Trump is unacceptable.

But there is not an infinite pool of such voters, Wolf. And what Biden I think needs to do, above all, is to begin improving his own standing with the public by convincing them he has the vitality and the agenda to make their lives better if they send him back to the Oval Office.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Let me get Howard Dean into this conversation. As you know, Governor, the president, as we just heard from Ron as well is facing pretty low approval numbers right now -- approval ratings. Widespread pessimism about the economy, even though the numbers are pretty good out there on the economic indicators. And major concerns about his age. What does he need to do tonight to help overcome those concerns?

HOWARD DEAN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I had forgotten how great his address was the last time because he went off the -- off the camera -- I mean, off the record and went after the Republicans right in front of them on social security. I expect him to do that tonight on immigration. I agree with Ron. He's got to show fight.

I happen to know because I obviously know people in the administration in senior positions that, in fact, is totally intact and completely in charge. Now, he's just simply got to give that impression to the public. And I think tonight is a great opportunity to do that.

A lot of this stuff is packed journalism. And we all know that exists. And that's a big problem. But you can turn that around with a big performance tonight. And that's what I'm looking for.

BLITZER: On some of the issues out there, Ron, the president is expected to specifically address the Israel-Hamas war head-on tonight. Now, apparently, without any progress to point to on a temporary ceasefire and a hostage deal. What should his message on this very sensitive issue be when he's facing serious backlash from Arab and Muslim-Americans and progressives for that matter over his handling of this war?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. And he's also facing the reality, you know, that backlash is real and it's a challenge for him. But it's obviously not the whole political story because polls show that most Americans are still more sympathetic to Israel, even as concerns about their behavior have increased.

I think Biden is going to look for ways to declare more of his independence from Benjamin Netanyahu and the -- and the Israeli government. I -- you know, he has bound himself to a partner who probably doesn't have his best political interests in mind. I think there's no question that Netanyahu would rather have Trump in the White House than Biden and the Israel -- and his government has, I think, consistently frustrated what -- how Biden has tried to steer this conflict, and particularly the post-conflict period.

So, I look at that as one of many issues where Biden is going to have to kind of assert more mastery over events. I mean, the concern about age really is a concern about whether he is driving events or events are driving him. And you can see that on a lot of fronts, whether it's immigration or inflation, or Hamas. The overarching goal in this speech has to show again, that he has the vitality and the agenda to kind of bring this very chaotic world under at least a little better sense of cohesion and control.

BLITZER: Yes, good points. Howard Dean, do you expect President Biden to take on Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans directly tonight?

DEAN: I do. And I also to -- in response to what Ron just said, I think Biden is in charge of events. And his record, frankly, is the most extraordinary domestic policy record since Lyndon Johnson when you consider what he's actually done. The irony of is that Trump supporters concentrated in rural areas, and they have benefited enormously from Biden's presidency, whoever heard of putting all those CHIP plants and COVID money into rural places where you're going to now have great jobs and you've helped the auto industry enormously.

So, Biden is in charge. He is focusing well. All I think he's got to do tonight -- and I do agree that he -- if I were Biden, I would probably call for a -- an immediate ceasefire and a permanent ceasefire.

Why? Because the policy -- Netanyahu has been -- essentially, Netanyahu picked a fight with Obama, and he began the process of writing off the Democratic Party. Well, that now is going to come home to roost. And I think Biden just needs to get out there.

Nobody wants to get involved in foreign wars with the polls have shown that. There's even Ukraine fatigue, which I think is extraordinarily stupid because I think if we fail in Ukraine, that we will embolden Putin and threaten our own interests. I think he's got to be out there. He's got to be tough. And he's got to make policy here.

[11:35:08]

And the -- I think he will. I was stunned when Kamala Harris the other day said we need an immediate ceasefire. That was a move and he's going to move further. And I think he needs to keep our coalition together and the hell with the Republicans.

BLITZER: We'll see how he does that tonight on that very, very sensitive issue. Howard Dean and Ron Brownstein, to both of you, thank you very much.

Still to come. The Michigan high school shooter's father on trial over his son's crimes. That trial is now underway. We have details from day one in the courtroom just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:40:14]

BLITZER: Happening now. In Michigan, the father of the Oxford High School shooter is on trial right now over his son's crimes. The jury is hearing the first round of testimony in the case against James Crumbley. He faces four involuntary manslaughter charges. That's one for each student his teen son Ethan shot and killed back in 2021.

CNN Correspondent Jean Casarez is joining us right now. Jean, you've been covering this for I think from the beginning. A jury found James's wife, Ethan's mother, guilty just last month. Based on what you've seen, at least so far today, what stands out to you?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I see a little bit of refinement in the openings from both sides. And you know, since Jennifer Crumbley was convicted, a lot of people around the country are saying, wow, are parents -- should parents be concerned? Am I next?

And the prosecutor in the opening statement said this is a very rare set of circumstances. I think trying to calm the jury down that conceivably our parents. Also, there are a lot of gun owners on this jury, and they talked about during jury selection, how they stored their guns.

And he says this is not about guns. This trial is not about how you store guns. This is -- the trial is about this gun. But the focus was really in the prosecution's opening foreseeability, that James Crumbley was the one who could have prevented this mass shooting because he knew what his son could do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC KEAST, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: You will learn throughout this trial that he was the adult out of anyone in the world in the best position to prevent these kids' deaths. You're going to learn that those kids would still be alive today that James Crumbley sees any one of the tragically small and easy opportunities given to him to prevent his son from committing murder.

MARIELL LEHMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: James Crumbley did not know what his son was going to do. He did not know that his son could potentially harm other people. He did not know what his son was planning. He did not purchase that gun with the knowledge that his son may use it against other people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: So once again, you see this foreseeability because that's such an important evidence of all of this, and it's an element of the crime. Also, Mariell Lehman said that James Crumbley, you will learn, had no idea that his son knew where he had hidden the gun. And so, that is going to be a focal point too.

And also, the defense said, you're going to hear from witnesses who saw the interactions between James and his son, Ethan. You're going to see what they saw and how they assessed it. And also, people that have training in this are going to testify looking at the Math Worksheet, what those drawings could exemplify.

And so, I think we're going to see a different trial, Wolf, than we did before. Obviously, it's a different defendant. There are some similarities, but we're going to see some stark differences.

BLITZER: We will watch it together with you. Jean Casarez, thank you very, very much. Other important news we're following. Hundreds of National Guard troops will be in the New York City subways. That's after a series of violent incidents that led the Governor, Kathy Hochul, to announce a new five-point safety plan.

Let's bring in our CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller. John also served as a former Deputy Police Commissioner from -- for the NYPD. How exactly, John, will this work? Are we talking strictly about the presence of the soldiers as a deterrent, or will they actually be authorized to engage in law enforcement?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT & INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So, yes and no. Their job is going to be to do bag checks, to inspect bags to make sure that there's no weapons, explosives, and so on, knives, guns going into the subway. But they're also a high visibility deployment.

You know, you're going to be seeing soldiers. They're going to have weapons. They're going to be in uniform.

But no, they don't have the authority to make arrests. And that's where, after these 750 National Guard members, you'll see about 250 state police officers from the state police and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority also.

BLITZER: Are they going to be all over New York City, in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island or just in Manhattan and some of the big subway stations?

MILLER: I think the latter. You're going to see these deployments are going to be mainly at major transit hubs because that's where you get the most people. But that's also where they be seen by people.

Wolf, we're having a clash here in this story about perception versus reality. Right now, subway crime is down. It's down about 14 -- 15 percent so far this year. But you have upticks in felony assaults, upticks in larceny, and you have these stories that become front page news, the slashing of a conductor, the assault on a passenger.

[11:45:11]

And the thing about the subways that most New Yorkers will say, makes them not feel safe, isn't that they saw a crime. It's that they see disorder, unhinged people, people with mental illness, homeless people, people smoking marijuana on the train car in violation of the rules. And the core of that is between the changes of the laws in New York State and the policies of the district attorney, which is to decline prosecution on most of these minor crimes. You're seeing disorder without consequence.

BLITZER: Yes. We're always grateful to you, John Miller, for your expertise. Thank you very, very much.

Other important news we're following. February was the hottest month ever recorded not just in the United States, but on the entire planet. The global impact of this extreme heat. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Climate change is sending the planet into uncharted territory. Last month was the hottest February on record and the ninth month in a row that has shattered heat records. This is all according to new data from Copernicus, the EU's climate monitoring service.

[11:50:09]

CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir is joining us right now. Bill, put these milestones into context for us. How significant are these record heat temperatures?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, they just continue to drop the jaws of climate scientists around the world. Brian McNulty down in Miami -- University of Miami says that some of this heat is statistically impossible as we look at a 1.77 degree above pre-industrial levels for February, the hottest February ever recorded. Now, it's nine months in a row that these records have been beaten again and again.

Now, we're about over 1.56 degrees of warming over the last 12 months. So, the last 12 months, the hottest, at least for 120,000 years scientists say. This, of course, some of this is fueled by the natural warming patterns of El Nino in the Pacific. But that is ending now.

And we're heading into a hurricane season in which water -- warm water is the engine for these big storms. So, massive concerns about that, about coral reef die-offs, and that's the -- that's the trend line, as you can see on the screen going back to the 1940s there, just hotter and hotter and hotter. And this also is hugely problematic in the North Atlantic Sea surface. These are all average air temperatures. But if you look at sea surface temperatures back of March of a year ago, in 2023, we set a new record then, and then every day since then, has broken that record. So, sea surface temperatures are off the charts in just amazingly gobsmacking ways, Wolf.

BLITZER: As a lot of us remember, Bill, the 2015 Paris Agreement saw almost all of the world's countries agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Is that working?

WEIR: Not really. Unfortunately, we hit peak emissions again. Another record recently. And what's interesting about that, it's the result of hydropower, which is a sustainable renewable resource. Hydropower dams are getting weaker because a hotter planet, there's less water, rivers aren't as strong running through those turbines as well. So, we're losing hydropower as the earth heats up as well.

The United States emissions have been coming down steadily with the shift away from coal towards better. But still not great natural gas. China's emissions are still on a rocket ride as they try to, you know, meet the needs of over a billion people. They're also adding record amounts of solar and wind capacity as well. But the energy, you know, appetites of humanity don't seem to be slacking in light of all these warnings from science.

BLITZER: It's a really disturbing development indeed. Bill Weir, as usual, thanks for your expertise. Thanks very much for joining us, Bill Weir, reporting.

And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining me here in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. I'll be back later tonight, 6:00 p.m. Eastern in the "SITUATION ROOM," and of course right back here tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern.

Stay with CNN. "INSIDE POLITICS" with Dana Bash starts after a very short break. But before we go, 47 seconds. That's how short research from the University of California Irvine pins our attention span, get this, just 47 seconds. In today's "CHASING LIFE," our Dr. Sanjay Gupta shares some small steps you can take to avoid distractions and maximize your attention span.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta host of CNN's "CHASING LIFE" podcast. Distractions. There are more of them today than ever.

We typically take longer to do things. We have higher stress. We make more mistakes when we are distracted. Our brains need gas in the tank to concentrate. Sleeping enough, taking breaks, taking time in nature. Think of them as fuels for our attention.

There's actually other ways that we can improve our attention spans as well. Designing your day around your focus rhythm. That means doing your hardest work at the time of day when your focus flows best. Also, become aware of unconscious distractions and make them intentional.

For example, instead of reaching for your phone when you hear a ping, say I'll answer that text in 30 minutes after I finish this step. Finally, distractions can also come from ourselves. Write down any thoughts that aren't related to your current task in a separate place, jotting those other to-do list items down can actually help offload them from our brains and keep you focused.

And you can hear more about how to optimize your health and chase life wherever you get your podcasts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:55:00]

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DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Today in INSIDE POLITICS. The performance of a lifetime.