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Co-Authors Of House TikTok Bill Sound Alarm Over National Security Risk As Election Approaches; Trump Warns Of "Bloodbath" For Auto Industry, Country If He Loses Presidential Election; Studies: No Brain Injuries Found In "Havana Syndrome" Victims. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired March 18, 2024 - 11:30   ET

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

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[11:34:05]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: The co-authors of the TikTok bill that passed the House of Representatives last week have issued another warning about the national security concerns they say it poses to the November election here in the United States. The bill could force TikTok's Chinese parent company to sell the app. Otherwise, it could be banned in the United States.

The bill has bipartisan support, but not from everyone, including from my next guest. Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California is joining us right now. He serves on the House Select Committee on China.

Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. This weekend, you called for a ban on any foreign interference in a social media app. But you voted against the proposed ban of the Chinese-owned TikTok. Why?

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Wolf, what is the problem we're trying to solve? We don't want American data to get into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. And we don't want the Chinese Communist Party to interfere in algorithms or social media apps.

[11:35:02]

So, past those two laws, hold Oracle and TikTok liable civilly or criminally if any of our data gets into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, and also, by the whole way, holds data brokers responsible. And make it illegal for any social media app to have any election interference or algorithmic interference from a foreign national. And I think those laws would actually address the problem.

BLITZER: The current plan to force TikTok to sell to an American buyer, Congressman, or to cease operations here in the United States has bipartisan support in the House and in the Senate, for that matter. Do you see enough support for any alternative right now?

KHANNA: I do. I wish we could actually pass a data privacy law preventing the sale of data to -- or transfer data to a foreign country. That should pass. That is bipartisan support among the American public. And it's been sitting in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and that would address the problem.

And I know, Wolf, most people say, well, it had bipartisan support. Isn't that thinking a good bill? But the Iraq war had bipartisan support. The Congress has done a lot of things that haven't proved to be right in -- when you look at it with the lens of history.

BLITZER: While I have you, Congressman, I want to turn to the critical government funding deadline once again, coming up on Friday. This is the fifth time since September that lawmakers have run up against a funding deadline to keep the government going. Are you confident, Congressman, that the U.S. Congress will avert a shutdown this coming Friday?

KHANNA: I'm hopeful so far. Speaker Johnson has been willing to sit down with President Biden and leader Jeffries and fund the government. As you know, we've funded part of the government. And I'm hopeful we will be able to get a deal so we avert a shutdown.

BLITZER: Yes, that would be really good if you could. Congressman Ro Khanna, thank you very much for joining us.

KHANNA: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: New research into the mysterious illness known as Havana Syndrome that has affected U.S. government personnel around the world is just coming in right now. Stay with us. We'll share it with you. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[11:41:24]

BLITZER: This morning, the fallout from Donald Trump's rally in Ohio this weekend after the former president warned of a "bloodbath" if he loses to Joe Biden. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to put a one hundred 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)

BLITZER: The Biden campaign says that's a sign Trump wants another January 6 insurrection. But the former president maintains that his comments were in reference solely to the auto industry here in the United States. Let's discuss this and more with CNN political commentator and former communications director for the Biden White House Kate Bedingfield, and CNN political commentator and former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings.

Scott, I want to ask you about these comments in a moment. But first, I want to get to that breaking news we reported this morning. Lawyers for Donald Trump now say they cannot secure a bond to pay for the $464 million judgment in a civil fraud case. How significant is this?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's huge as I understand it. He may not be able to appeal the case if he can't get the bond. And so, you know, for Republicans, they thought the case was sort of crazy to begin with. And the amount of money in the judgment was, you know, mindboggling, but now it looks like -- you know, to a Republican, that was the point.

If he can't get a bond to cover this amount, then he can't appeal, then he would be out of options, and he would be stuck with it. So, I think it's significant, obviously, for him personally. And I think the way he and the Republican Party will portray it as an attempt to use the legal system to personally cripple him while he seeks the presidency.

BLITZER: All right, let me get back to Kate now. Kate, I want to get to the Trump's comments -- very controversial comments over the weekend. Do you buy his claim, first of all, that the bloodshed remark he made was exclusively referencing the auto industry here in the United States?

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I don't because listen to what he said. I mean, he says that is the least of it. He says repeatedly, twice, I believe that'd be the least of it. And then he says it would be a bloodbath for the country.

But also importantly, remember, he started the rally with a tribute to the people who committed the insurrection on January 6. He does a whole kind of presentation where they do the national anthem, and he calls them the January 6 hostages. I mean, that's how he set the stage for the entire rally, which I think is important context.

So, you know, I see Republicans across the board trying to kind of shove these comments into a box to say that they were only -- he was only talking about the economy. I think, given everything we've seen from Donald Trump, that's a very dangerous thing to do. He -- you know, we know that he stoked and encouraged and has used dog whistle language to encourage political violence throughout his presidency -- throughout this campaign.

And so, when he says something like that, his followers take it seriously. His supporters take it seriously. And everyone should take it seriously. It is a threat.

BLITZER: You take it seriously, Scott?

JENNINGS: I think this is being totally overplayed, overblown, taken out of context, whatever you want to call it by Democrats in this particular case. If you watch the clip, it's quite obvious he was talking about this issue with automobile tariffs. And you can agree or disagree with him about the tariff policy and all that, but it's quite apparent what he was talking about.

And I think when his political opponents take these kinds of matters out of context, it then dilutes it when he actually does say something that's worthy of criticism, which is not uncommon. He does it all the time. But when you cry, Wolf, on one like this, it hurts your ability to take -- get people to take you seriously on the next one.

[11:45:10]

BLITZER: But, Scott, he called the -- some of those January 6 individuals who committed crimes and are now serving time in jail. He called them unbelievable patriots and hostages. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

TRUMP: You see the spirit from the hostages, and that's what they are as hostages. They've been treated terribly. Unbelievable patriots. And they were unbelievable patriots and are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, you think they're unbelievable patriots and hostages, those who stormed the U.S. Capitol, broke through windows, injured police officers that they are unbelievable patriots and hostages?

JENNINGS: Absolutely not. I mean that is exactly the kind of rhetoric, in my opinion, that is worthy of criticism and worthy of discussion. What I think dilutes a discussion of that is when you take the other comment out of context.

But no, his position on these people who broke the law went through a legal process, I mean, it's just wrong. And I think it's one of the things that will make you know, some Republicans who obviously don't like Biden and are wondering what to do now, the most uncomfortable with his candidacy.

BLITZER: Kate, the Biden campaign just set a fundraising record for any Democratic presidential candidate at this point in the election cycle. Does this advantage spell trouble for Trump in November, the huge amount of money that the Biden campaign is raising?

BEDINGFIELD: Well, it certainly gives the Biden campaign an advantage. No question. I think -- you know, remember, at the end of the day, presidential campaigns are about where you put your resources, how much -- you know, how much you can put behind an effort to persuade people to vote and then to turn them out to vote, to get them to actually come to the polls.

And there's no question that the campaign with more money has more options, has more pathways has more, you know, states where they're able to invest those resources. So, that is a -- that is a built-in advantage. And I think, you know, the fact that the Biden campaign is raising these historic numbers, you know, it shows -- first of all, I think it shows support and enthusiasm, of course, for Biden and his agenda and what he's done. But it also shows that people don't want to see Donald Trump have a second term. That they take -- they take what he's saying seriously.

They believe that January 6 and the threats that Donald Trump poses to our democracy are unAmerican, and they don't want to see him return to the Oval Office. And so, I think, you know, the ref -- the reflection that this money you know, shows that people don't want to return to that kind of leadership is important. And I think these comments from Trump, you know, this is the kind of thing we know he's going to continue to do on the campaign trail between now and November. And I think people are saying now that they're rejecting that out of hand.

BLITZER: Kate Bedingfield and Scott Jennings, thanks very much to both of you for joining us. We have more news, and we'll be right back.

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[11:52:14]

BLITZER: New this morning. The State Department confirming that the first flight of Americans fleeing Haiti has now arrived in Miami. One passenger described his relief to be out of the country and safe from the chaos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABSON LOUIS, EVACUATION FLIGHT PASSENGER: It's devastating over there. I think that a lot of people are waiting to have the same opportunity to be here, to get out of the chaos, and we're left the current administration is doing something about people get left behind -- American citizens, Haitians citizens that are left behind.

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BLITZER: More than 30 U.S. citizens arrived safely after escaping the violence that has exploded in Haiti as gangs have effectively taken control of the country. Earlier today, gangs attacked four power stations in the capital of Port-au-Prince, knocking them out of operation.

Other news we're following this morning. New research from the National Institutes of Health finds no evidence of brain injuries among victims of a mysterious ailment known as Havana Syndrome. The illness first surfaced when a cluster of U.S. government workers stationed in the Cuban Capitol began reporting symptoms including dizziness and extreme headaches. U.S. personnel stationed around the world then began to report similar symptoms.

CNN Reporter Katie Bo Lillis is joining me right now. Katie, what did these -- do studies actually find?

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: So, two studies here, Wolf, and both found no consistent differences -- no consistent clinical differences in between victims of Havana syndrome and the sort of healthy control cohort that the National Institutes of Health looked at here. So, of these two studies, one of them did brain scans finds no consistent evidence of brain injury, no significant difference in between the two groups. The second study did kind of a battery of tests. They looked at everything from hearing, balance, eyesight, blood biomarkers, also finding no significant clinical differences. Although, they found a few differences in self-reported symptoms like fatigue and depression.

But this is, Wolf, I think going to be a really frustrating result for victims of all of this bizarre constellation of symptoms that in some cases, has sickened former spies, diplomats, U.S. officials so severely that they've been forced to retire. So, take a listen to what one victim of Havana Syndrome, how he described the original onset of symptoms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PAUL ANDREWS, FORMER SENIOR MEDICAL OFFICER, CIA: The amount of ringing my ears was just astounding. And things were getting worse and worse and worse. And I started to hear the noise. And I'm really in disbelief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LILLIS: Just a really opaque and frustratingly opaque.

BLITZER: I remember when the story broke years ago, and it was so worrisome. And I spoke to some diplomats, CIA officials who were stationed in Havana, and they came back, and they were complaining about serious illness. So, has there already been some pushback to this initial result?

[11:55:06]

LILLIS: Well, I think one thing that was really interesting, Wolf, is that the lead researcher here wrote an editorial alongside the findings. And he said -- and I'm going to quote him directly here. He said, "it would be ill-advised to conclude that nothing or nothing serious had happened to these people."

So, he's calling for additional research here. And important to note, I think that past research has shown some evidence of traumatic brain injury in victims of Havana Syndrome. So, there is some sort of inconsistency in the scientific results here, which is not necessarily unusual in research into a really poorly understood phenomenon.

BLITZER: Yes. There were clearly impacts from this Havana Syndrome. We'll continue to watch the story unfold. Katie Bo, thank you very, very much.

LILLIS: Thank you so much.

BLITZER: Katie Bo Lillis 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." Right here tomorrow, once again at 11:00 a.m. Eastern as well.

Stay with CNN. "INSIDE POLITICS" with Dana Bash starts after a short break.

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