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Trump Praises Jan. 6 Criminals as Unbelievable Patriots; C.J. Rice is Freed After More Than a Dozen Years in Prison; Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to Speak Today as Rift Deepens. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired March 18, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. You are live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

This morning, fallout from former President Donald Trump's unhinged rally in Ohio. For an hour-and-a-half, he delivered bizarre, rambling remarks, parroting language used by Adolf Hitler, calling some migrants animals and warning of a, quote, bloodbath if he loses to Joe Biden.

Trump spread more lies about the 2020 election, saluting those convicted of crimes on January 6th for their attempt to subvert democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the horribly and unfairly treated January 6th hostages.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You see the spirit from the hostages, and that's what they are is hostages, they've been treated terribly.

Unbelievable patriots, and they were unbelievable patriots and are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: That was met with fierce backlash from a handful of Republicans, including Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, who has now refused to endorse his former boss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think it's very unfortunate at a time that there are American hostages being held in Gaza, that the president or any other leaders would refer to people that are moving through our justice system as hostages, and it's just unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: All right. Let's discuss with CNN Political Commentator, Democratic Strategist Maria Cardona and CNN Political Commentator and Republican Strategist Alice steward.

Alice, I mean, let's jump right into this. I mean, do most Republicans think that people can convicted of committing crimes on January 6th are, quote, hostages and patriots?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You have to think many Republicans in Trump's base, going back to the very beginning, they believed Donald Trump when he says that there were widespread election fraud. They believed Donald Trump when he says, Joe Biden did not win, I am the duly elected president. And they believed Donald Trump when he sought to stop the certification of the election results.

So, those that went to the Capitol that day, as we're seeing here, to, quote, peacefully protest and then others that went into the Capitol, they're listening to Donald Trump saying, these people are just doing the will of Donald Trump in order to protect a democracy.

ACOSTA: They're not patriots. They're not hostages.

STEWART: No.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No.

ACOSTA: And that's --

CARDONA: They're insurrectionists. They're terrorists. They caused the death of five police officers. They defiled, what was it --

ACOSTA: In many cases, they're criminals.

CARDONA: Exactly.

ACOSTA: They're in jail for being criminals.

CARDONA: That's exactly right.

And I think what is so dangerous about this rhetoric, and I know my friend, Alice, is explaining to us why he's doing it and why Republicans refuse to excuse it and are turning themselves around in circles, trying to figure out how to respond to this publicly, but here's why it's so dangerous. Donald Trump, leading up to January 6th, was not even as explicit as he was talking about now. He talked about come to the Capitol. It's going to be wild. And look what happened. He caused an insurrection, which is why a lot of these, quote/unquote, patriots are in jail now.

ACOSTA: And he hasn't really paid a price for what took place on January 6th. I mean, look at what he said about the auto industry and what will happen to this country if he loses to Joe Biden. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: We're going to put a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you're not going to be able to sell those cars, if I get elected. Now, if I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole -- that's going to be the least of it. It's going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it. But they're not going to sell those cars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, Maria, the Trump -- and Alice, the Trump campaign was very -- this is what the Biden campaign said in response to all of this. They said he wants another January 6th. The Trump campaign refuted that, said he was just talking about the auto industry and so on. They're crying foul over how this has been covered.

But if you look at -- Alice, if you look at the way he said this, it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole, then he stops, that's going to be the least of it. That's going to be the least of it. It's going to be a bloodbath for the country.

STEWART: And if you look at it in context, also where it says, talking about the auto industry and 100 percent tariff on every car that's brought into this country, he's talking about the auto industry and the impact the Biden policies have on the auto industry.

ACOSTA: He doesn't think he just meant the auto industry.

STEWART: I believe when he uses the term bloodbath, he is talking about this in an economic sense.

[10:05:01]

And you look at the word, bloodbath, when a bloodbath --

ACOSTA: But he says, that's going to be the least of it. It's going to be a bloodbath for the country.

STEWART: We're talking about -- the other definition of bloodbath is a severe loss and reversal and this is used all the time when we're talking about the stock market in the economy.

And he's talking -- look, I think this is a tremendous disservice to --

ACOSTA: I love you Alice, but I'm --

STEWART: And I love you to, Jim. I think --

ACOSTA: Let me tell you, I really think, because, you know, was it out of context when he said very fine people on both sides? Was it out of context when he said, we got a fight like hell, you won't have a country? Was he out of context when he said, stand back and stand by.

STEWART: If I can finish what I'm saying.

ACOSTA: Sure. STEWART: This is taken out of context. He's talking about the auto industry. He's talking about the electric vehicle mandates that the Biden administration is supporting and how that is going to devastate the auto industry. And he's basically sending the message to people across Middle America, the United Auto Workers, the actual workers, not the head, but the workers realize the devastating --

ACOSTA: Let's play this. What about when he called migrants animals? Let's watch that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If I had prisons that were teeming with MS-13 and all sorts of people that they've got to take care of for the next 50 years, right, young people that are in jail for years, if you call them people. I don't know if you call them people. In some cases, they're not people, in my opinion.

These are bad -- these are animals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Maria, I mean, I hear what Alice is saying and, you know, we have fiery discussions sometimes, we all respect each other at the end of the day. But, to me, it's really a stretch to say, well, these things are out of context or, you know, it's just rhetoric.

And so this is just -- it's so dangerous.

CARDONA: It is.

ACOSTA: And it seems to be encouraging violence and when you dehumanize migrants, calling them animals.

CARDONA: That's exactly right, Jim.

ACOSTA: It's dangerous.

CARDONA: And maybe it would be more believable what Alice was saying if we were talking about a normal person. We're not talking about a normal person. We're talking about Donald Trump. And he has a history of talking about violent rhetoric, violent actions.

He knows that his MAGA cult followers, that his supporters hear a dog whistle and they're saying, oh, here is what Donald Trump is telling us to do. That's why January 6th happened.

So, when he talks about a bloodbath, this is not the first time that he talks in these terms. It's CPAC. His supporters were talking about a civil war if Donald Trump lost the election. This leads to a bloodbath. This leads to deaths.

ACOSTA: Blood was spilled on January 6th.

CARDONA: This leads to shootings. The whole issue about dehumanizing migrants, he talks about how your family and mine poison the blood of this country, Jim, and that is not innocent talk. That led to a shooting in El Paso. That led to the shooting in Uvalde. These things do not happen without consequence.

ACOSTA: Whether it's on cars or not, bloodbath, why even use that language? I know you wouldn't advise a candidate --

STEWART: Again, the term is used all the time. We're talking about stock market, the economy and a tremendous loss. And that's what he's talking about here.

In response to the animal comment, he specifically again -- I understand Democrats want to take everything out of context, but in this case he's talking about MS-13 gang members, killers, gang members are animals. Aside from that, and I'm hardly a Trump apologist, but I'm saying in that instance he's talking about MS-13.

And I will go on to say I agree with Maria talking about poisoning the blood of this country and other references to those coming into this country are unnecessary.

ACOSTA: Right over the weekend, he said he didn't know that Hitler used that kind of language to describe the Jewish people. But this has been pointed out in the news coverage time and again that this is rhetoric used by Adolf Hitler, and he watches the news all the time. So, he knows. He's seen the coverage. So, over the weekend when he says, oh, I didn't realize that, he's lying.

I mean, why give him that benefit of the doubt?

STEWART: Look, you guys know me, I am hardly a Trump apologist. And if he does wrong, I will point it out. But I think in these two instances right here that are making headlines across every newspaper you see, they are being taken out of context.

ACOSTA: Because he does it over and over again.

STEWART: But to his point, he can make the case that Biden's border policies are disastrous to this country. He can make the case that his economic policies are disastrous to the auto industry. But he can do so with much less divisive language.

CARDONA: And that's the problem. And that's why it makes it dangerous, and it makes it unacceptable, and that's why people like Mike Pence, Bill Barr, John Kelly, people who have worked for him side by side have now said he is not fit to run the country, and they're right.

ACOSTA: All right. Guys, thanks a lot. I know we're going to have this spirited discussion time and again. I really appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

All right, right now we have a big development for a Pennsylvania man who was exonerated in November more than 12 years ago. C.J. Rice was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison for attempted murder in a 2011 shooting. But last year, a judge found that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance and had said that Pennsylvania had 180 days to decide whether to retry him or free him.

[10:10:09]

CNN's Jake Tapper has been bringing awareness to this story. He joins me now from Philadelphia with this very big development. Jake, what can you tell us?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Jim. So, I'm outside the Criminal Justice Center in downtown Philadelphia. I just got out of room 805. That's the courtroom where Judge James Eisenhower granted the motion offered by the district attorney, Larry Krasner, to drop all charges against C.J. Rice.

C.J. Rice is now a free man. C.J. Rice has been completely exonerated. People watching might recall we've been covering this story for several years. C.J. Rice was the patient of my pediatrician father and my dad testified that in 2011, there's no way C.J. could have committed the crime. This shooting three or four people were wounded, nobody seriously. But C.J. in 2013 was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison, as you noted, largely because he had a completely incompetent attorney.

That was the cover story. I wrote a cover story for the Atlantic Magazine in 2022 called, this is not just justice, a Philadelphia teenager in the empty promise of the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees people a right to fair, adequate counsel. And an attorney, Carl Schwartz, working with a number of other attorneys filed a habeas petition not long after that. And the district attorney has now granted that habeas petition. And the court has said C.J. Rice did not get a fair trial, did not have adequate representation.

The district attorney has concluded that the case was weak to begin with. The only reason he went to prison was because he had a bad attorney. And for the first time in the whole sorry history of this case of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania versus C.J. Rice, finally, justice has been served. Jim?

ACOSTA: And, Jake, what led the district attorney to this decision?

TAPPER: Well, obviously the efforts of the lawyers, CJ's lawyers, Emilia Maxfield with the Innocence Project and now the Exoneration Project, Carl Schwartz, there were others that helped, Don Verrilli, the former Obama Solicitor General, people got involved.

But what happened is the district attorney investigated the case for themselves and found that a lot of -- first of all, that he had inadequate counsel and that Sandjai Weaver, his attorney who has since passed away, should never have granted any number of things that she did in court, for example, a theory of the case that this was a retaliation. There was no evidence that this was retaliation, but she granted that.

But they also did their own investigation. They listened to jailhouse recordings of conversations C.J. had with his mom in which he was pleading to have his mom ask his attorney, Sandjai Weaver, to please get the phone records because the cell phone records would prove that he was in West Philadelphia at the time of the shooting, not in South Philadelphia, something that Sandjai Weaver never did, something that the Philadelphia Police apparently never did when they were investigating this case. So, that was a big part of it.

They also looked into other things that were very suspicious about the only person who said that C.J. did this as one eyewitness who knew him, didn't say, didn't identify him the night of the shooting, didn't identify him to hospital personnel. But then after police said they got an anonymous tip that C.J. did it, suddenly she identified him. They found her testimony not particularly reliable.

So, they did their own investigation and they concluded that this needed to be done, that he needed to be exonerated.

ACOSTA: And this goes to the issue of defendants not having effective representation?

TAPPER: It does. And, in fact, I talked to C.J. Rice for a documentary we're doing about this case. It's going to air on Sunday on The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper. And if we have time, I'd love to run just a little clip of that interview that I did with C.J. Rice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: It's good to see you.

C.J. RICE, EXONERATED AFTER 12 YEARS IN PRISON: Good to see you, Jake.

TAPPER: You've spent almost 13 years in prison. How does it feel to be out?

RICE: It feels amazing.

TAPPER: You said that air tastes sweeter.

RICE: The air tastes sweeter, the sun shines different, it's a different warmth. The feel of the sun as a free man, that's -- I can't put it in the words.

TAPPER: So, these letters from my dad, did you look forward to getting them?

RICE: I did.

TAPPER: Yes?

RICE: I did like a lot.

TAPPER: Really?

RICE: Yes, because it's a constant. So, you get used to constants in jail, but most of them are demeaning or not so personal, but a letter with ink on it from somebody on the other side of the wall, that's personal. That makes you feel human. The current concern that your father had for me was genuine. TAPPER: My dad always says that we don't have a justice system, we have a legal system, but there's no justice necessary.

[10:15:01]

RICE: I can attest to that. I can attest to that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: So, there's C.J. Rice, who's now 30 years old. He went into prison when he was 17 years old, when he turned himself in. He's now 30. He is a free man. His second chapter of his life begins today. And this really happened because of C.J. Rice and because of my father, who never stopped advocating for him during these 12-plus years he was in prison.

We're going to have a lot more about this on The Lead today at 4:00 P.M. Eastern, but also on The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper. We have a whole documentary ready. It's called Justice Delayed, the Story of C.J. Rice. Finally, a good news story. Jim, back to you.

ACOSTA: And an extraordinary one as well. All right, Jake, thank you very much.

And we'll be right back.

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ACOSTA: Some breaking news into CNN, we are learning that President Biden will speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. This comes just one day after the prime minister blasted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's call for new Israeli elections in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash.

Let's go straight to CNN's Kevin Liptak over at the White House. Kevin, what more are you learning?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, this is the first phone call that these two men will have since February 15th. So, it's been more than a month.

And you can see in their cadence this deepening rift between the two men at the onset of this war. They were talking on a daily basis, weekly basis. Now, they are talking much less frequently and we do understand that at points in their past phone calls that they have become quite contentious.

And so you do see this rift emerging between Biden and Netanyahu fueled in no small part by that speech that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer delivered just last week, calling for new elections in Israel that would result in the ouster of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Now, President Biden neither endorsed nor condemned that call for new elections, but he did call it a good speech and said it reflected many concerns that Americans are feeling about this conflict in Gaza. But certainly it generated a lot of anger on the part of Netanyahu.

Listen to a little bit of what he told Dana Bash yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: It's inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there. That's something that the Israeli public does on its own, and we're not a banana republic. I think the only government that we should be working on to bring down now is the terrorist tyranny in Gaza, the Hamas tyranny.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So, that is the backdrop against which this phone conversation will take place later today.

Of course, there are a number of other important issues on the table. One is these hostage negotiations that will resume today in Doha. Certainly, President Biden very eager to get a deal that would secure the release of those hostages, but also result in a temporary ceasefire.

Obviously, President Biden also very eager to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza, and, of course, they will discuss this pending Israeli operation in Rafah. The White House says it hasn't seen a credible plan to protect the civilians there.

So, certainly, a lot on the plate for President Biden as this call is set to occur this morning, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Kevin, thank you very much.

In the meantime, in Russia, Vladimir Putin will maintain his grip on power after what the Kremlin is describing as a landslide re-election victory. But in a surprising move during this post-election address, Putin mentioned the unmentionable, that is the name of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: As for Mr. Navalny, yes, he passed away. It is always a sad event.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: CNN's Matthew Chance joins me now for Moscow. Matthew, what else did Putin have to say?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Jim. Well, that's right. You know, he did mention Alexei Navalny for the first time in -- well, for the first time he's ever done it in public.

And he also sort of confirmed the reports that we've been sort of talking about for some time now, which is that Putin -- the Kremlin had agreed to swap Alexei Navalny or agreed to talk about swapping Alexei Navalny in the days before his death as part of a prisoner exchange. Sort of interesting that that would come from Vladimir Putin.

Now, he made some joke about it, sort of off-color joke about saying something like the only condition he had is that Alexei Navalny never came back.

Of course, the opposition, the family of Alexei Navalny accused Putin of killing Alexei Navalny, something that the Kremlin denies, killing him because Putin couldn't bear the possibility of him being released. And so it was interesting to hear Vladimir Putin's version of what happened in that post-election speech, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Matthew Chance, thank you very much.

And joining me now for more, Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts. Congressman, thank you very much for joining us.

Your reaction to what the Kremlin is saying? They're refuting the White House's statement that the Russian election was neither free nor fair. And we heard Vladimir Putin talking about U.S. elections, talking about Alexei Navalny. What was your response to all that?

REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): More lies from Vladimir Putin. Of course the election was rigged, and he did kill Navalny, but also bravery from the Russian people, not monolithically, not homogenously, but they did respond to the calls from the opposition to show up at their polling locations at noon local time to register discontent with the disastrous and self-defeating course that Vladimir Putin is putting Russia on right now.

[10:25:03]

Russia and America, Jim, both have autocrats on the ballot in 2024. The difference is Americans have a vote in a free and fair election. Let's hope that we use it.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, since you brought up Donald Trump, I mean, I did want to ask you, we had this very spirited discussion at the top of the program with Alice and Maria. Your response to what Trump was saying over the weekend and the Trump campaign's insistence since that he was simply talking about the auto industry when he using the term, bloodbath. I mean, we should note, in his remarks, I mean, you can hear, he talks about the auto industry, but he also says a blood bath for the country if he doesn't win in the fall.

What was your response to all that?

AUCHINCLOSS: I think engaging in semantics with Donald Trump on individual issues kind of misses the forest for trees. For the last decade, both in power and while campaigning, he has established a regime that is xenophobic and nativist, that is autocratic and authoritarian, and he has promised to not just continue that trend but double down on it in a second term.

He was the worst president in American history and his second term will be even more dangerous for our institutions and indeed for our Constitution.

ACOSTA: And what I mean, what do you think is going to happen with Ukraine funding getting back to Russia and Putin? The House speaker, Mike Johnson, told Republican senators last week that he was committed to finding a path for Ukraine funding. Do you see that path right now?

AUCHINCLOSS: If moderate Republicans have the courage of their convictions. They tell me privately, these Reagan Republicans, that they support Ukraine and want to find a way to get it passed, but they won't say it publicly, they listen to the same briefings that I listened to as a member of the China Select Committee, where experts, ambassadors even, tell us that in the Indo-Pacific, our allies there are looking to see what happens in Ukraine, to see whether we have staying power against China.

They run campaign ads quoting Ronald Reagan in their districts. And yet, when the time actually comes for them to support Ukraine against Russia, which Ronald Reagan would have been vociferous and steadfast about, they shirk. And the reason they shirk is because they're afraid of Donald Trump. There's no other way around it.

ACOSTA: And just a few moments ago, I'm sure you heard our Kevin Liptak over at the White House saying that the president is going to be speaking with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, today about the situation in Gaza. What do you hope comes out of that conversation and what do make of the prime minister's comments? He seems to be digging in his heels.

AUCHINCLOSS: I share the President's frustrations with Prime Minster Netanyahu's actions in the West Bank, which I think undermined the Abraham Accords. I share his resolve that before a Rafah operation, there needs to be credible plans to protect civilians in the south of Gaza.

I also agree, though, with Prime Minister Netanyahu that the focus of American ire when it comes to which government to topple should be Hamas, Hamas which has in its charter the destruction of the Jewish state, the Jewish people, Hamas that has promised to commit the atrocities of October 7th yet again, Hamas which has violated five ceasefires since it's been in power. Hamas needs to be dismantled before there can be enduring peace between Israel and the Palestinian people.

ACOSTA: All right. Congressman Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts, thanks very much for your time this morning. We appreciate it.

AUCHINCLOSS: It's good to be with you.

ACOSTA: All right, good be with you.

Coming up, protecting the police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. CNN gets a rare look at how they're relying on the community for help amid the unrest.

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