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Trump And Biden Hold Dueling Rallies In Battleground Georgia; Biden Regrets Calling Laken Riley's Alleged Killer An "Illegal"; Trump Reacts To Biden's State Of The Union; Sen. Britt Facing Backlash For State Of The Union Response; Anecdote From Sen. Katie Britt's Criticism Of Biden's Border Policies Appears To Be From Before He Was President; Biden: Ceasefire Still Possible; Eight People And Two Children Killed In An Israeli Airstrike In Central Gaza; The Dire Situation On The Ground In Gaza; Trump's Ballooning Legal Bills; Biden: Ramadan Could Be Very, Very Dangerous; Time Running Out For Ceasefire Deal Before Ramadan Tomorrow; Trump References E. Jean Carroll During Georgia Rally One Day after Posting $91 Million Bond; New Report: US Military Finds No Evidence of Alien Life. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 09, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:00]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN HOST: You are in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Alex Marquardt in Washington. Thank you so much for joining us.

Tonight, it is a split screen face off down in Georgia where both President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump are trying to motivate their supporters.

For his part, President Biden stuck to the themes of his fiery and political State of the Union address two nights ago, touching on democracy, the economy and health care, although he did make one big change, calling out Trump by name, which he did not do on Thursday night. And the former president leveled his own fair share of criticism at Joe Biden with a big focus on the southern border and the broken immigration system.

I want to get straight to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, who's been traveling today with the president. Priscilla, the Georgia audience heard a lot of overlap at the rally tonight between the State of the Union and his message there in Atlanta. But the president also apologized for something that he said to the country on Thursday night. What did he say?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Alex. And it was a bit of a pivot. He was referred -- he was asked, I should say, about his comments during the State of the Union when referencing the alleged suspect in the Laken Riley killing here in Georgia.

In the moment, he called that person an illegal. That's a term that has long been decried by immigrant advocates. But when interviewed on MSNBC today, the president said that he should have said the word undocumented.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: An undocumented person. And I shouldn't have used illegal, I should have used undocumented. And look, when I spoke about the difference between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about on the border was that his way he talks about vermin, the way he talks about these people polluting the blood. I talked about what I'm not going to do, what I won't do. I'm not going to treat any of these people with disrespect.

Look, they built the country. The reason our economy is growing. We have to control border and more orderly flow, but I don't share his view at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you regret using that word?

BIDEN: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Of course, the president's comments there coming after criticism from Democratic lawmakers and immigrant advocates. Earlier in the week, the president said that he had not regretted using the term, clearly a change here.

But look, this here in Atlanta was a fiery speech from President Biden where he took through his domestic accomplishments and also laid out the vision for the next four years if he were to be reelected, on reproductive rights, on lowering health care costs, student loan debt relief, among a host of other policies that this administration has touted.

But in the course of that, he was also interrupted by a protester who called him Genocide Joe. And that was a moment that, again, was a reminder of the fractures that are within the president's coalition that he is still trying to mend and that has been difficult for his campaign.

But all the same, what was clear here was that he needed to shore up support among a key constituency ahead of what's going to be a heated election cycle in a crucial state he only narrowly won in 2020. Alex.

MARQUARDT: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, covering the president in Atlanta today. Thank you very much.

Let's get straight to CNN's Steve Contorno in Rome, Georgia. He's been at the rally that Donald Trump is undertaking in that part of Georgia.

So, Steve, Donald Trump reacting to Biden's State of the Union, and he mocked the delivery. What did he say?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yes, exactly. Right now, Donald Trump is speaking, and he is giving an extended criticism of the various legal troubles that he is facing, including here in Georgia. But he started his speech with a rebuttal of sorts to the president's State of the Union address. And yes, he did attack the delivery. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To go, we all heard Crooked Joe's angry, dark, hate-filled rant of a State of the Union address. Wasn't it -- didn't it bring us together? Remember, he said, I want to bring the country together.

Joe Biden gave the most divisive, partisan, radical, and extreme speech ever delivered by a president in that chamber. Not even close. Rather than trying to bring our country together, he tried to cling to power by tearing our country apart.

Joe Biden should not be shouting angrily at America. America should be shouting angrily at Joe Biden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now, he continued to speak about illegal immigration at length in this speech. In fact, he offered a response to the president earlier today saying that he shouldn't use that term illegal and instead saying he should use the term undocumented.

He said, "He was an illegal immigrant. He was an illegal alien. He was an illegal migrant. He shouldn't have been in our country.:" And that has been the theme of the speech and his appearance here so far. He has laid in to the president for his handling of the situation at the southern border. He has been passing out to his supporters here posters that feature Laken Riley.

[19:05:00]

She is the 22-year-old who was killed while running in Georgia by -- allegedly by an undocumented individual, and she has become a galvanizing figure in this race so far.

So, clearly, we are seeing a window into President Trump's strategy against Joe Biden. It's going to focus very much on illegal immigration in states like Georgia that he lost in 2020.

MARQUARDT: All right. Steve Contorno at the Trump rally in Rome, Georgia. Thanks very much.

Joining me now to discuss Republican strategist Alice Stewart, Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha, and former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh. Thank you all for joining me this evening.

Alice, I want to start with you, what we just heard from the former president, going after the current president about his delivery, highlighting his stutter, which the president has been very open about. But we've also seen offstage a very aggressive response to that ad in which Biden acknowledges his age. What do you make of this tone? ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Look, I think going after his age and his questions about whether or not he is suitable to run for reelection, that's an easy one, right? That is easy to point out.

But I listened to Trump's speech. He didn't talk about that too much. He did talk about it, but he spent much of his time talking about the importance of immigration and Laken Riley, and the fact that this Biden administration has really put their head in the sand and how this case has sent shockwaves through the people of Georgia.

I went to the University of Georgia. I ran many miles on that campus. I can tell you there are people in the Peach State that say, this could happen to me. And the fact that it took this president almost two weeks to even acknowledge her name and say that an innocent woman was killed by an illegal, which is factually accurate, that is really disturbing to a lot of people.

And that is why we're seeing people speak out against his immigration policies. That is why members of the House have come up. forward with the Laken Riley Act, which calls for a detention of migrants in this country who are committed -- accused of burglary or theft. They are taking action.

So, Biden can stick his head in the sand about the seriousness of the Laken Riley Act, but it is going to be at his peril because people are outraged.

MARQUARDT: Well, I mean, he did take that pin that Marjorie Taylor Greene gave him, saying, say her name, and he held it up at the State of the Union. Chuck, what do you make of Laken Riley's death becoming such a flashpoint in this, at the State of the Union, at the Trump rally today where her family was in attendance? And what do you make of the president's regret there in that interview for using the word illegal instead of undocumented?

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, PRESIDENT, SOLIDARITY STRATEGIES: I think that immigration is an important issue. It's been an important issue for a long time. Ever since 9/11, our system has literally been broke. There's been a bipartisan bill that was passed through the Senate with a Republican from Oklahoma.

Now, I'm on board (ph) from Texas. I'm going to tell you that folks from Oklahoma aren't raging liberals. So, he was a concern of trying to figure out a way to fix the border, fix the system, fix the asylum system that's broken, fix all of the above, because Republicans have two parts here.

One is, they have a system that is broken, but they also have to get voters out to vote. And they are losing Republican women by the droves because of the Dobbs decision, that's just a fact. And they're trying to use this issue and openly admit that it was a political decision to not pass the immigration reform bill so they could use it to do exactly what they're doing right now, is to use it for their political gain. MARQUARDT: And Joe Walsh, the DNC tried to head off some of these attacks. They put up billboards near the rally site where Trump was in Georgia today, blaming him for killing the bipartisan border deal. Do you think that voters are going to be holding Trump accountable for that?

FMR. REP. JOE WALSH (R-IL), DIRECTOR, MISSIONS DEMOCRACY AND HOST, WHITE FLAG PODCAST: Alex, I don't. But just give me a second. We can't brush by what you led with. Donald Trump mocked Joe Biden's stuttering. And we can't brush past the utter acts of cruelty that this guy puts out there. What a horrible human being he is. He mocked a disability of the current president. I mean, think about that. That's horrible.

Now, on immigration, no, I agree with Alice. This is too late. Joe Biden ignored and did not take seriously this issue for three years, and it got dramatically worse.

Yes, Republicans are just playing politics right now by ignoring that bill, but I think it's just too late in the game for Biden to all of a sudden get energized about immigration.

MARQUARDT: And this is -- you know, Joe, to your point, this is not the first time that the president has mocked people with disabilities.

WALSH: Yes.

MARQUARDT: I think he's talked about the president's stutter before, as well as, of course, mocking that reporter during his campaign back in 2016, very viciously.

WALSH: Exactly.

[19:10:00]

MARQUARDT: I want you all to stay with me because I want to get your thoughts on big story that is making waves today after the State of the Union. There are reports that a story that was told by Senator Katie Britt of Alabama in her response to the State of the Union on Thursday night is not exactly what it seems.

The junior senator from Alabama criticized President Joe Biden's border policies by telling the story of meeting a woman who was sex trafficked by the cartel, starting at just 12 years old, and using that anecdote to call the chaos at the southern border President Biden's border crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KATIE BRITT (R-AL): I traveled to the Del Rio sector of Texas. That's where I spoke to a woman who shared her story with me. She had been sex trafficked by the cartels, starting at the age of 12. She told me not just that she was raped every day, but how many times a day she was raped.

The cartels put her on a mattress in a shoebox of a room, and they sent men through that door over and over again for hours and hours on end. We wouldn't be OK with this happening in a third world country. This is the United States of America, and it is past time, in my opinion, that we start acting like it.

President Biden's border policies are a disgrace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: CNN has now confirmed details first reported by freelance journalist Jonathan Katz that the story Britt is describing from her 2023 trip actually happened in the mid-2000s when Joe Biden was neither the president nor the vice president. And it didn't happen in the United States, it happened in Mexico. Those details shared by Senator Britt line up with the story shared by Karla Jacinto Romero in 2015 when she testified in a public congressional hearing about human rights.

Through a translator, Romero said that for four years, starting when she was 12, she was "emotionally and sexually violated time and time again." She also explained how at age 16 she was able to escape and has since become an activist. Senator Britt met Karla Romero in that 2023 trip that she referenced in her speech. Photos and a press release from a fellow senator show them holding a roundtable with Romero down in Texas where they discussed the work being done to rescue victims of human trafficking.

In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for Britt's office neither confirmed nor denied that Britt was sharing Jacinto Romero's account, but said that the story, the senator told, was 100 percent correct. None of this is meant to downplay the real situation unfolding at the U S.-Mexico border but to provide context to what millions heard during Senator Britt's address on Thursday night.

I want to bring my panel back in to discuss this. Alice, you have spent years helping Republican officials craft their messages. What did you make of what Senator Britt said, how she said it, and the story that appears to have holes?

STEWART: Well, we can all agree that story is chilling. And it really, really tugs at your heart. And it's disgusting to hear. That being said, you can't blame this on Joe Biden. Look, playing loose with the truth on this takes away from the truth of Biden's border policies. And I think the fact that Britt has gotten into this situation takes away from the real issue of Biden's disastrous border policies.

And she did acknowledge the problem. And that is that when Joe Biden came into office on day one, issuing executive actions, taking away Donald Trump's remain in Mexico policy, stopping the border wall, and then waiting for three years as the surge at the border of migrants got bigger and bigger and bigger and did not take action until they were sent to Democratic cities, whether we're talking about New York and Chicago and Denver, then Democratic officials said, hey, this is a problem.

And now, we're entering into a presidential campaign. And Joe Biden says, OK, now it's time to address this issue. That is the real issue. And that is what people are frustrated with.

MARQUARDT: And Joe, you were shaking your head there. Do you agree with Alice that it undermines the Republican criticism of Biden?

WALSH: Look, I respect my friend, Alex. No, the issue here -- the issue is a United States senator out and out lied. Alex, you're right. She blamed Biden for this. It happened years before Joe Biden was president. She said it happened at our border in the in this country. It happened in Mexico. She lied.

I mean, we get into so much nuance around these sorts of things. Quit, quit with the nuance. She sat in front of the American people and she lied to us about a very serious problem. That's despicable.

[19:15:00]

MARQUARDT: Chuck, how much do you think the president needs to be talking about the border on the campaign trail?

ROCHA: The border is going to be an issue. I'm a Democrat. I'm going to tell you it's going to be an issue, but you can also do it the right way to Joe's point. What I started with is what I'm going to end with, is that you can't use this for political points. Let's use it to try to fix a problem that's a real problem that benefits all the American people.

MARQUARDT: All right. Alice Stewart, Chuck Rocha, Joe Walsh, thank you all very much.

Up next, we'll be hearing from someone living and working in Southern Gaza right now as the war continues about the desperate need for more aid and the difference that even a brief ceasefire could make for struggling families.

And the legal bills for Former President Donald Trump are quickly piling up as he fights a handful of court cases. Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[19:20:00]

MARQUARDT: Time is running out for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas because U.S. officials had hoped to broker it before Ramadan, which begins on Sunday. The deal would not only see a pause in the fighting, but a return of the hostages who are being held by Hamas and other groups in the Gaza Strip.

President Biden, however, is saying it is still possible by Ramadan. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: My CI director in that region right, this minute, still talking about it. I think it's always possible. I never give up on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Now, this comes as at least eight people, including two children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Central Gaza, that's according to Palestinian health officials. And we are seeing people die of starvation and malnutrition, with the United Nations warning that four out of five households don't have safe drinking water.

And now, the White House is saying that the United States is joining other countries to send humanitarian aid via a maritime corridor from the island of Cyprus to Gaza by boat. And the U.S. says it will be building a floating pier and a causeway on the coast of Gaza. But that could take up to two months, according to the Pentagon.

Earlier tonight, I spoke with Yousef Hammash, an advocacy officer for an aid group called the Norwegian Refugee Council. And I asked him about what he's seeing, what his family is experiencing on the ground in Southern Gaza and the City of Rafah. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Yes. And there are hundreds of thousands of people who, as you say, are in the northern part of the Gaza Strip who don't have access to what is already very, very limited aid that you may have access to in the south.

One of the solutions that the U.S. and other countries have come up with are air drops. Dropping aid from airplanes into Gaza. Do you know if those have made any difference? And when you hear about the United States planning to build that pier, that dock on the water on the coast of Gaza, how much do you think that would help?

YOUSEF HAMMASH, ADVOCACY OFFICER, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL AND GAZA RESIDENT: First of all, we started recently to hear that -- to hear a lot about the air droppings. First thing, any small help, even for one child, it's worth it. But I don't think that it was realistic to spend all that amount of effort on air dropping. And that's -- that -- we had a huge failure recently when one of the air drops that -- one of the items that have been dropped have killed some people in the north. And that was not a realistic option.

While we could-- the International Community and world leaders and U.S., especially, could spend more efforts coordinating with this -- with its closest ally which could use its influence to allow the truck, which is like half an hour away from Rafah Crossing or Kerem Shalom Crossing.

Now, they are talking about this kind of a seaboard. Unfortunately, spending all -- again, all of these efforts on building a seafood seaport to allow aid is kind of unrealistic to be honest. We are -- the Gazans or -- we're dreaming for years to have a small piece of land in as a seaport. But in the -- and the situation that -- the circumstances that we are going through in Gaza, it's going to be more efficient if we allow the aid and the International Community use their influence on Israel to allow aid to (INAUDIBLE) different areas all across Gaza and don't put that restrictions on aid. And we had different borders in the north and Gaza City, like Karmi Crossing Point in Gaza City and Erez Crossing Point in the north. And despite, we left all of that and we went to go to more kind of unrealistic options, unfortunately.

MARQUARDT: Yes, the U.S. has said that Israel will open up another border crossing in the next few weeks, which one, we don't know right now. But Yousef, as you know, Israel also accuses Hamas of stealing much of the aid that goes into Gaza. We've seen all kinds of widespread looting. But how big of an issue is it of Hamas taking some of that aid, as Israel alleges?

HAMMASH: And here, we are operating in Rafah, mainly, and we observe and we supervise all of the delivery of all of our items under a very technical, logistic procedures to reach the people in need. We didn't notice or see any of all of these allegations on the ground. And that's our own experience working in the field for more -- in more than 13 sites.

There were no evidence on all of these allegations so far. And we were all -- we are working in the -- on the ground in Rafah. And I'm talking about Rafah serving all these thousands of displaced families that we reach, and we didn't see anything on the ground related to all of these allegations.

[19:25:00]

MARQUARDT: Yousef, there is, obviously, these discussions about a ceasefire, that could mean a break in the fighting again, and this time for at least six weeks. What would that mean for your family?

HAMMASH: And to be honest, we are looking for a second to breathe. Even when our is in -- we're just looking for a breath. But based on our previous experience, we had two humanitarian boss (ph). They have different meanings, different names for everything for one week.

And after that week, we found ourselves in an endless nightmare. The bombardment have intensified. The machine, the killing tool have increased significantly. We don't want to find ourselves in that circle of violence again and again. We are looking for a permanent ceasefire, ensure the dignity and that basic human life for people who are suffering for years under the siege.

And now, we are in these 155 days of madness that we are going through with all of these circumstances surrounding us, bombardment, drones, lack of aid, lack of fuel, lack of drinking water, doesn't have the ability to provide for your own children. All of this, we are looking for an end for it, and we are hoping that this is not going to be a break.

We don't -- we want -- we are-- we don't need a break, we want to ensure our lives back. We need our life back as Palestinians who are trapped in Gaza under this situation.

MARQUARDT: Yes, so many Gazans, of course, hoping that it's not just a pause but a permanent ceasefire and an end to this war. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Yousef Hammash for speaking with us earlier. I want to speak now with Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. He's a CNN military analyst and a former U.S. army commanding general.

Mark, President Biden has warned that if there is no ceasefire in place by the beginning of Ramadan, which is supposed to start tomorrow night, that things could become very, very dangerous. He spoke about that danger rising in Israel, in Jerusalem, of course. Muslims -- many Muslims go to Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan. But wider than that, how worried are you about this period in Ramadan?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST AND RET. U.S. ARMY COMMANDING GENERAL: It's very difficult, Alex. And certainly Ramadan, the most holy month for Muslim religion, is going to have an effect on all of this. There was an attempt to have this ceasefire in place or this causation in the kinds of fighting we've seen over the last couple months.

But it's very difficult, because Hamas continues to say that they will not abide by any of the regulations of the ceasefire that's being offered. They've been offered the -- you know, hundreds, literally, of Palestinian prisoners being released for even just the naming of Israeli hostages that are still in place. They refuse to do that.

And we have to remember, and I just saw your interview with Mr. Hammash, and it's very interesting to hear him say some of the things that are contrary to what we know is the facts. The facts are that Hamas has used Palestinian citizens as shields. They have purposely done that as part of their strategy. For Mr. Hammash to say he has no indication of that ever happening is just ludicrous. And it goes against all facts that we know.

Certainly, the humanitarian crisis is horrific in Gaza right now. And we need to continue to work for a cessation of it. But I saw not only that commentary saying that nothing is going on, that the Hamas is not getting of the aid. It seems to be ludicrous because there's proof to the opposite that that is actually happened. The Hamas is co-opting a lot of the aid. And the fact that the airdrops that we've seen over the last couple of days have delivered literally hundreds of thousands of meals.

MARQUARDT: Right.

HERTLING: For Mr. Hammash to cite the one example where a Palestinian citizen ran underneath a pallet that was being dropped and was killed is just ludicrous because literally hundreds of thousands of Palestinian citizens have been given this aid.

And as the president has attempted to do this new approach to delivering aid, it's something I'll introduce you to a term called JLOTS, Joint Logistics Over the Shore. Establishing those peers in those corridors will provide much more aid. It will take some time to get it in place. I counter the fact that it will take months, it will likely take weeks, but it still will get humanitarian aid to the Palestinians who are not fighting against the Israelis.

Yes, Hammash also told us that, you know, every piece of aid, every meal, every pallet that comes down is -- helps. There are tens of thousands of meals on board there.

[19:30:00]

But at the same time, General, what do you make of the fact that the US is now having to do these dangerous, expensive airdrops, having to build this pier, this seaport that's going to take according to Pentagon a thousand troops to do it. They're going to hire a company to ship aid in, when most experts will tell you and the US officials will tell you that it is -- even -- it would just be easier for Israel to open up those border crossings and have trucks go in by land.

HERTLING: Yes, it would Alex, except for the fact that they know that the majority of those trucks not only hold aid, but they also hold weapons, that has been proven as well throughout this campaign.

So Israel is very hesitant to do that for fear that some of this aid would get to the Hamas fighters.

MARQUARDT: Sorry, General, I have to push back. It has not been proven that there are a lot of -- those trucks are -- sorry -- are you saying that those trucks that have been going into Gaza for the past few months are holding weapons for Hamas because that is not something that has been proven.

HERTLING: It has been proven, actually. There had been weapons found in some of those trucks, not all of them, certainly. And it is easy to hide that kind of equipment in those trucks.

We are talking about literally hundreds of trucks going through that you can't' x-ray all of them. You can't inspect all of them to ensure that some of these are not getting to the Hamas fighters and even the aid that consists of food and water that's going in will certainly get to some of those fighters because they integrate themselves among the people, Alex.

Truthfully, I've had the same the kind of experience in combat where you want to get the humanitarian aid to the people that deserve it.

MARQUARDT: Right.

HERTLING: But the terrorists and the insurgents actually intercept that aid and use it for their own purposes, and that is what Israel is concerned about.

MARQUARDT: Right. But that doesn't mean that you stop sending the aid in. On the contrary, as US officials have said, you flood the zone so that more aid can get in. And in fact, Israel is inspecting every single truck that goes in into the Gaza Strip right now to make sure that there are no weapons going in and they have been accused of going too far in removing things that are seen by Israel as these dual use items and essentially going too far.

But what is clear is not enough aid is getting into the Gaza Strip --

HERTLING: They are doing that now. They are inspecting -- they are inspecting the trucks now, but that wasn't occurring in the beginning and some of the weapons and some of the meals got to the Hamas fighters.

It was a supply chain for the insurgents and the terrorists, and that's truthfully what you have to be careful of whenever you're fighting these kinds of organizations, and what I would counter you by saying they are flooding the zone, that's why the airdrops have occurred. That's why these piers are being dropped. That's why those are all supplementing the ground convoys that are going in and being intercepted and showing the kinds of things we saw over a week ago where many people basically gang rushed those trucks and got as much stuff out of them as they could before they there were being distributed.

MARQUARDT: The US and others trying to flood the zone, but clearly everyone agrees there is not enough aid going in there right now.

Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, we have to leave it there. Thank you so much for your time tonight.

We'll be right back.

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[19:37:43]

MARQUARDT: When it comes to campaign cash, former President Trump is lagging well behind President Biden and part of the problem for Trump is his mounting legal bills.

He just posted a $91 million bond against what he owes the writer, E. Jean Carroll for defaming her. On top of that, he still owe some $450 million after the judge ordered him to pay in that civil fraud verdict in New York, and just for good measure, a court in London has ordered that he must pay six figures in legal fees to a company that he sued in the UK.

Let's bring in former federal prosecutor, Shan Wu for all of these legal threads. So Shan, Trump just talked about this $91 million that he has got to pay. He didn't mention E. Jean Carroll's name, but this is what he said. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I just posted a $91 million bond, $91 million on a fake story, totally made up story. Think of it. $91 million? I could say things about what it would cost, normally, $91 million, based on false accusations made about me by a woman that I knew nothing about, didn't know, never heard of. I know nothing about her.

She wrote a book, she said things and when I denied it, I said it is so crazy, it is false I get sued for defamation. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: But Shan calling it a fake made-up story, that he knew nothing about this woman, he calls it so crazy. Does this open him up to more legal issues?

SHAN WU, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yes, he is the gift that keeps on giving to E. Jean Carroll and her attorneys. I mean, that is basically the whole kit and caboodle all over again.

He continues to say its false. He says it is made up and that certainly opens him up to that. I mean, its illegal strategic decision if they want to do another defamation suit, but on the face of it, even though he doesn't name her, it is obvious. I mean, incredibly obvious. That is the amount of money and those are the allegations. So it seems clear, he is continuing to claim that it is false.

MARQUARDT: So, he was already found liable. He has already been told to pay more than $90 million. He has posted that bond, so you're saying that Carroll and her legal team could bring a new case based on what he has just said?

WU: Oh, I think so. Yes. I mean, that is up to them. They are experts on it, but based just on listening to what he is saying, he is again, saying that her allegations are crazy, that they're false, and he doesn't even know her.

MARQUARDT: So is there a chance now that he has posted this bond that she will indeed see that money? I mean, he is appealing.

[19:40:10]

WU: The bond is meant to ensure that if as soon as he loses the appeal, which I think you will, that that money is right away made available. So that certainly is a big step towards that. Otherwise, he would have to put up himself and that's obviously impossible for him at the moment with these financial crunches he is undergoing.

MARQUARDT: All right, remarkable that he would risk doing that so soon after this case.

Shan Wu, thanks very much. Appreciate it.

And coming up, the truth is out there. If you're someone who wants to find a UFO, you're not alone. Ahead, the Pentagon wants to join in that search. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:45:22]

MARQUARDT: In a new report, the Pentagon says that the US military has not found any proof of alien life or technology, but now the US military is developing a portable UFO detection kits to better collect data.

CNN's Kristin Fisher has more from Washington.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this portable UFO or UAP detection kit is called Gremlin. It is being developed by the US military in an effort to respond faster to reported UFO sightings and to collect better data once they get there.

Timothy Phillips, who is the acting director of the Pentagon's All- Domain Anomaly Office, the Pentagon's office that investigates UAP sightings explained these Gremlin sensor kits like this: "What we're doing is developing a deployable configurable sensor suite that we can put in pelican cases. Since the UAP target, the signature is not clearly defined, we really have to do hyperspectral surveillance to really try to capture these incidents."

Now, hyperspectral means across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. So they're trying to collect everything from x-rays and ultraviolet rays to microwave and radio waves, things really outside the normal signatures of flying objects.

Most flying objects, things like jets produce a big heat signature from their hot engines, some of these UAPs do not. So that's one thing that these Gremlin sensors are going to help try to do, collect better data and they're currently being tested at a big range out in Texas, and the Pentagon is especially interested in deploying them at sensitive national security sites, places like US military bases, Navy ships, places where a lot of these UAP sightings have been concentrated.

Now, the Pentagon initially shared this news about the Gremlin sensor kits at a briefing with a select group of reporters, CNN's Oren Liebermann was one of them, and at this briefing, the whole point of it was to preview a report that dropped on Friday, and this was a report that at the Pentagon put together and it was mandated by Congress, and what this report concluded is that: "The AARO found no evidence that any US government investigation, academic sponsored research, or official review panel has confirmed that any sighting of a UAP represented extraterrestrial technology."

So, the report concluded that most sightings were ordinary objects and phenomena, and the result of misidentification. But the reports still does not explain the UAPs that were caught on camera by US military pilots who testified under oath on Capitol Hill the UAPs that they saw were behaving in ways that defied the laws of physics.

So still a lot of questions here, but the Pentagon is hoping that these Gremlin kits, these portable UFO/UAP detection kits will help them collect better data, which can then help them get some better answers.

Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.

MARQUARDT: Thanks, Kristin Fisher for that report.

And up next, before he hits the stage to host the Oscars, comedian, Jimmy Kimmel took time to sit down with CNN. The admission he is making about the upcoming presidential race. That's ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:53:24]

MARQUARDT: Jimmy Kimmel is hosting the 96th Oscars ceremony. That's tomorrow night, and he will have plenty of material for his opening monologue from the Barbenheimer phenomenon to the Hollywood strikes.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister sat down with Kimmel for this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Jimmy, this is your fourth time --

JIMMY KIMMEL, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE" HOST: It is?

WAGMEISTER: -- hosting the Oscars.

KIMMEL: Why would I do this four times? It makes no sense. It's not even a good round number.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): Jimmy Kimmel is back ready to roast the stars.

KIMMEL: I saw your movies. Now it's my turn to make you sit in the theater for three-and-a-half hours.

God help you if I know you. Like if you're -- if you've been to my house, you're trouble on Oscar night.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): We caught up with Kimmel days before the show to hear his plans and see if anything is off-limits.

WAGMEISTER (on camera): George Santos?

KIMMEL: Yes. Safe, but I think he would -- I think it will make him so happy if he was mentioned at the Oscars and I'm not interested in making him happy.

WAGMEISTER: The Hollywood strikes?

KIMMEL: The strikes, yes, it's something I will talk about. Sure.

WAGMEISTER: Ken being nominated, but not Barbie?

KIMMEL: There'll be some version of that. Yes.

WAGMEISTER: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce?

KIMMEL: Not off limits, but probably played out.

WAGMEISTER: Now, your wife is an executive producer. Does she put up some guardrails like, honey, maybe don't go there, don't say that?

KIMMEL: Yes. My wife on occasion, will say like, is it worth it? And that's the best question you can ask me because sometimes the answer is yes, it is worth it.

The first time Trump ever tries to stop someone from talking about them on television, and it's me.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): Frequent Kimmel target Donald Trump, not only is fair game for the Oscars, Kimmel told us he welcomed Trump on his talk show.

[19:55:02]

KIMMEL: There are a lot of questions I would like to ask him and I would like to get actual answers. I think most of the interviews that he does don't require those.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): If Trump does get on Kimmel, he do what for years Matt Damon could not.

KIMMEL: I want to apologize to Matt Damon. We ran out of time for him.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): That comedic feud between Damon and Kimmel also could be fodder for Sunday night.

KIMMEL: He was in "Oppenheimer." Everyone else was nominated except for him.

WAGMEISTER (on camera): Is he scared of the wrath of Jimmy Kimmel?

KIMMEL: It's one of the saddest things I've ever heard. He was -- he asked if he could come and they told him, sorry, nominees only.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): If Damon is like the rest of us, watching from home, he'll have to tune in an hour earlier at 7:00 PM Eastern, a new start time for a notoriously long show.

WAGMEISTER (on camera): Does that mean were still going to try to keep it within three hours?

KIMMEL: This show will be starting an hour early and ending just as late as ever.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Elizabeth Wagmeister, and thank you for joining me this evening.

I'm Alex Marquardt. Have a good night.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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