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Biden Looks To Reassure Donors At New York And New Jersey Fundraisers Amid Calls For Him To Drop Out; Allies, Adversaries React To Biden Debate Performance; Trump Makes Wild Foreign Policy Claims During Debate; Steve Bannon Must Report To Prison Monday; Beryl Strengthening Into Hurricane, Expected To Intensify; Grand Bahama Farm Grows Coral On Land. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired June 29, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:01]
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS: 41 years young, so inspiring.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I love that message.
SNELL: Yes.
WHITFIELD: And she even reminds there, you know, she didn't make her first -- you know, didn't make the team after her first trials, you know, was devastated like many aspiring Olympian would be.
SNELL: Coming back strong.
WHITFIELD: But I think her message right there is wonderful that she's trying to, you know, share with them that don't give up.
SNELL: No. I'm sure youngster hearing that.
WHITFIELD: Ever.
SNELL: You have to be inspired, right?
WHITFIELD: Yes. Yes.
SNELL: Incredible. Wishing her well. Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: 41, 41 and still going. We'll be looking for her in the semis this evening. I can't wait. I'll be watching.
SNELL: All to play for them.
WHITFIELD: I know, I'm like going back and forth. Track and field, gymnastics, track and field, gymnastics.
All right, Patrick Snell, great to see you. Thank you so much.
SNELL: Thank you so much.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much for being with me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues with Alisyn Camerota, there I am, and there you are.
Alisyn, see you soon.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hello, everyone. I'm Alisyn Camerota in New York.
President Biden is fundraising in New York and New Jersey tonight, trying to reassure some of the many major donors who were reportedly rattled by his shaky debate performance. The president is hitting some very wealthy zip codes with two events in the Hamptons and another in New Jersey hosted by the governor there, Phil Murphy.
The question that many Democrats are wrestling with today is, should he continue to run? And can he still win in November?
CNN White House correspondent Arlette Saenz joins us now.
Arlette, what is the president saying behind closed doors to reassure his donors?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, it's clear President Biden is looking for a bit of a course correction. You saw that in his fiery and impassioned speech yesterday on the campaign trail in Raleigh, North Carolina. And tonight, he is trying to assure donors that he is up for a second term.
The president is currently in the Hamptons. He stopped at a smaller high-dollar donor a little bit earlier in the afternoon, and he is about to speak any moment now at another fundraiser that I'm told is expected to have around 200 people. It comes at a time that the Biden campaign is trying to tout the fact that they raised $27 million between Thursday and Friday.
But at the same time there is significant angst and concern among some in the Democratic donor class who are concerned about what the path forward could look like for President Biden if he were to remain in the race. Of course, the president privately there have been calls from some Democrats urging the president to reconsider that he potentially stepped down from the ticket.
So far the Biden campaign really has been adamant that he is remaining in the race, that he plans to debate Donald Trump again in September if that debate actually takes place. But there is significant pressure within the Democratic Party, from lawmakers, from donors, and also just from some voters. The reporters who were traveling with President Biden in the motorcade said that as they passed or wound their way through the Hamptons a little while ago, there were some signs that people said, please drop out for U.S. Others have said, we love you, but it's time.
It's unclear if the president saw those signs, but it kind of paints the picture of the scene around the president at this moment as there are many in his party still concerned about the state of the race if he were to remain at the top of the ticket. This afternoon, the DNC leadership held a call with some of its members to try to offer assurances to their members following that debates. But there are questions going forward for President Biden of how he will chart out his campaign if he has to stay in the race following that debate performance.
CAMEROTA: Arlette, what about the polls? We understand that Democrats are spending this weekend conducting some poles to determine the level of damage that was done. What do we know?
SAENZ: Yes, Democrats are really eager to see what the long-term impact of President Biden's debate performance will be. They're conducting polling as well as research to try to see how damaging that could be, not just to President Biden being at the top of the ticket, but also others within the Democratic Party. If you think about the Senate trying to or Democrats trying to maintain their control in the Senate. The House wants to win or Democrats want to win back the House.
And so these are all things that Democrats are quite anxious about to see what the longer-term impacts could be. Now, one long-term Democratic adviser told CNN that they believes that the only way Biden likely would step down from this race is if he were presented with data showing that that debate performance and having him at the top of the ticket would significantly impact others, including in those House and Senate races.
So this is something that many Democrats are eager to see pan out over the course of the coming weeks to try to engage what that impact is for President Biden and other Democrats after that debate.
CAMEROTA: Arlette Saenz, thank you very much for all of that.
Joining me now to discuss this are two Republicans both of whom are backing Joe Biden for president.
[16:05:01]
We have Bill Kristol, director of Defending Democracy Together and editor-at-large of "The Bulwark," and Stuart Stevens, senior adviser to "The Lincoln Project." He also wrote the book "The Conspiracy to End America."
Gentlemen, great to have you here.
Stuart, I read your piece in "The New York Times" today. You said that you're baffled by why Democrats are panicking about President Biden after that debate. Really?
STUART STEVENS, SENIOR ADVISER TO THE LINCOLN PROJECT: Yes, look, I mean, this is kind of crazy to me. The question is, is Joe Biden up to being president? Don't we have a big test? He has been president. He is president. He's been one of the most successful presidents of the modern era. It just seems sort of ridiculous. One guy has a bad night one night and you go, OK, we're going to wipe away all this evidence that we have in the past years.
Didn't I just make a point that the big complaint that a lot of us have, the overarching complaint is that Donald Trump is an authoritarian who doesn't respect to will of the voters? OK. I think that's true. What does it say that millions and millions and millions of voters voted to nominate Joe Biden and now a group is just going to say, OK, forget those voters, we're going to decide who should be the next nominee? I mean, isn't that exactly the definition of authoritarianism?
CAMEROTA: Unless you think that you have new information that you didn't have during the nominating process. And unless the debate revealed some new information, but, Bill, where are you on all of this?
BILL KRISTOL, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, THE BULWARK: Yes, that's I think -- Joe Biden has been a good president. We owe him a debt for having defeated Donald Trump and for being quite a good president. That doesn't mean he's owed another term. The problem isn't what he's done over the last years or even recent months. It's that what we saw Thursday night. We can't unsee it. It wasn't just a bad debate. He didn't just, you know, have a subpar debate like Obama did against Mitt Romney, which Stuart remembers very well in 2012.
Of course, Obama bounced back from that because people thought, you know, as Romney would have bounced back from a subpar performance, they were both up to the job. Can we look people in the eye and say that Joe Biden is up to the job of being president for the next four years? I'm for him. I'll vote for him against Trump because he's not an authoritarian and the people around him will maintain the rule of law and so forth.
But we can do better, and it's not authoritarian for Biden to choose, to choose to release his delegates and let them choose a perfectly competent vice president or governor or senator to replace him.
CAMEROTA: Stuart, President Biden reportedly reads "The New York Times." Here's what he's reading this morning from their editorial board because they think it's better -- I mean, bigger, I should say than one bad debate performance. They say, quote, "To serve his country, President Biden should leave the race. He struggled to explain what he would accomplish in a second term. He struggled to respond to Mr. Trump's provocations. He struggled to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his lies, his failures, and his chilling plans. More than once, he struggled to make it to the end of a sentence."
What do you say?
STEVENS: You know, this reminds me of -- you know, professional sports and say, you know, Bill Belichick lost a game. Do you really think that he'd be calling up Mad Dog and asking for advice from sports fans what he should do? This just isn't how politics works. The guy had a bad night. I have been in a lot of debate preps. I have seen people have terrible debate prep. I've seen bad debates.
It doesn't mean a thing if the person is out there on the stump, if he's out there campaigning, and he's dealing with all these world leaders. So let me get this straight. So he's put together, I think we all would agree, an extraordinary coalition to basically help save the world and Ukraine, and these leaders are dealing with him, and could you put together that coalition if you were not up to being president? No. You couldn't. So, look, I don't understand this sort of panic. I think it's up to the Biden campaign.
They're going to do I think the right thing, which is just put their heads down and keep going. You can't talk yourself out of something like this. Talk your way out of something like this. You just have to keep going. And, you know, this is a presidential race. It was decided in June. It would be the first time in American history.
CAMEROTA: Bill, what do you think about that?
KRISTOL: Stuart and I are both sports fans and he may be more knowledgeable than I, wrote a whole book about Ole Miss football, but, you know, Sandy Koufax was the greatest pitcher in baseball from, what, '61 to '65, 1965, I was a fantastic fan of his as a little young kid. And he retired because he couldn't keep pitching at that level. There's nothing -- so it doesn't prove -- I mean, that I think is the right analogy.
CAMEROTA: I mean, Stuart, I think that what people saw was more than what people internalized watching that it didn't feel like an off night. It felt like someone who was more for infirmed than they had last seen.
[16:10:04]
And so I take your point that being a good debater is maybe not even relevant to being a good president. However, it -- what they saw that night was a lack of, or a weakening I guess, of leadership and command and some other things that require -- that a president requires. So, I mean, how do you explain what you saw that night on Thursday night?
STEVENS: OK. Look, isn't there something sort of off about the fact that we're talking about that Joe Biden get out of the race, and not Donald Trump? I mean, the way this debate was set up, Donald Trump had free reign to just constantly lie? And how could -- you know, if you and I were debating and I started out by saying I'm standing here today with a convicted criminal who has been guilty of plagiarism repeatedly in her career, and everybody knows that, and I'm the obvious choice, how would you respond?
You know, you can say, well, that's not true. I mean, that's crazy. And then next question I go, you know, I'm here with someone who was actually a Russian agent, and everyone knows that. And, you know, it is a technique of authoritarians just to spew these constant stream of lies. And it is very difficult to deal with that in any sort of cogent way because how do you say, well, that's crazy, that's not true?
Listen, I think that the president could have had a better night, could have dealt with it better. I expect he will next time. But a guy who is a convicted felon, who brags, who out on bail, who brags about overturning Roe v. Wade and has this crazy idea that that was a majority opinion of the country, who wants to cut taxes on billionaires, who says that America is a third world country? We're going to let that guy president of the United States?
CAMEROTA: Well, if you believe --
STEVENS: I don't think so.
CAMEROTA: I mean, Stuart, if you believe it's still a binary choice, as you know, many Democrats are saying that Joe Biden should bow out so that there is someone younger who takes his place. But hold that thought, gentlemen, because I also want to play something for you, Bill, that I think proves Stuart's point. So hold that thought. We'll be right back. See you on the other side of a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:17:06]
CAMEROTA: And we're back with Bill Kristol and Stuart Stevens.
OK, so, Bill, I want t play this clip for you that we put together that shows the stark difference between Joe Biden Thursday night at the debate versus Friday at a rally in North Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Making sure that we're able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I've been able to do with the -- with the COVID, excuse me, with -- dealing with everything we have to do with -- look, if -- we finally beat Medicare.
When you get knocked down, you get back up.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: I know what took -- to take our economy from the depths of the pandemic, where it is today, the strongest economy in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: OK, so that was Friday. So are you comforted, Bill, by that? I mean, I know that you said you're still going to vote for Joe Biden because you would not vote for Donald Trump. But would you prefer to see someone else step in, a different Democrat?
KRISTOL: Yes. Because Trump is not acceptable, he needs to be defeated. I think Biden -- it wasn't a performance. What we saw of Biden on Thursday night. It's going to put a cap on his ability to win over swing voters, the voters, (INAUDIBLE) tried to get Republican voters against Trump. His base will be loyal. I'm glad that President Biden was, you know, gave a good speech for the teleprompter to rally on Friday.
But what if, I mean, what if that's the truth? What if the truth is sometimes the way he was Thursday night and he's sometimes the way he was Friday, too? Is that good enough? Is that good enough for the next four years?
CAMEROTA: Is it, Stuart? STEVENS: Look, we're rushing this conclusion here that this actually
hurt Joe Biden. So far we've had one poll. That was the "Morning Console" poll that showed Joe Biden going up one. I don't know if any of these various focus groups which are pretty sketchy, I think, but none of them showed some sort of mass desertion from Joe Biden. In fact, some of them showed both going toward Joe Biden.
I think that if you look at the history of here, I think Bush went down. I was working for him in 2004. I think we went down five points after the first Kerry debate. I think President Obama went down five points total after the first debate. So let's see what happens. So for this to be disaster for the Biden campaign, they have to certainly do more than, what, seven, eight, nine points. Do we really think that's going to happen? I don't think so.
Look, I -- it's perfectly natural to want something new. We never sell cars by saying, look, just as good as last year. We haven't changed a thing. We're Americans, we're addicted to new. We love it. That's why the Cheesecake Factory has like, you know, 40-page menu.
[16:20:01]
We want options. I understand that. But this isn't some sort of Fantasy Football exercise that you can just draft somebody else. We have a process. He was nominated.
CAMEROTA: Yes. Yes, I hear you. But, I mean, we also have a process if somebody needs to be replaced, it's a messy process. It's certainly not one that anybody I think, any Democrat really wants to but they have a strong bench. But you're saying that that's just -- for you, Stuart, that's out of the question.
STEVENS: No, I think it's ridiculous and also, you know, if Joe Biden was incapable of being president, you would hear all of this from other world leaders as you heard them gossiping about Donald Trump and what a moron and embarrassment he was. You would hear it from other senators, that say I met with this guy, you know, he didn't know what he was doing and -- we never have heard that. Never.
So we're basing this on 90 minutes where he had a really not good debate performance. OK. I get that. Point taken. But to rush and say, let's throw out these millions of votes. Let's change this whole Democratic process and we're going to go back to some sort of smoke- filled room where you pick the Al Smith? I don't know. I think it's just kind of nutty.
CAMEROTA: Bill, one of the problems is that 50 million people tuned in to that bad debate performance. And so when the president seems more vital at rallies, he's not speaking to 50 million people. Do you think that he can turn this around?
KRISTOL: I think he could still win. I think he -- it's an uphill, it was already a little bit uphill, now it's much more appeal. I think this puts a huge cap on him. I don't disagree with Stuart. I'd be surprised to see huge movement right away in the debate. These things to end the polls, this takes time to sink in, but I mean, those clips are there forever. And I think they'll put a real cap on his ability to win.
And again, I mean, Vice President Harris is the vice president of the United States. She takes over right now if something happens to Joe Biden. Is it that terrible to have an open convention which she'd be the favorite to be nominated, or like the Governor Whitmer or might be Governor Shapiro? Those people would have a better shot at defeating Donald Trump in my view.
Stuart can say, well, Americans, you know, they like new things. Fair enough. But it's not like a used car. I mean, we're being asked to do something, select sort for the next four years based on its current state. Here's one thing I'll just say, people should go back and look at the Biden-Trump debates since 2020. We have a comparison, right? The same guy was there, Trump is horrible. He's lying. He's a demagogue. He is a bully. Look at Joe Biden handling him in 2020. Look at Thursday night.
CAMEROTA: Stuart?
STEVENS: I mean, I'll just go back to it. The proof of, can someone be president is are they being president at a high level, and the answer is yes.
Look, you know, I just want to make one point here. I have never seen a poll where any of these, you know, alternative candidates are defeating Donald Trump. I have seen polls where Joe Biden is. So this idea that we're going to take somebody off the bench and put them in all of a sudden that's going to be better? What does that base on? It seems to me to be just sort of a fantasy. I mean, we're into the Eagles and McGovern thing. We're going to dump somebody off a ticket? How did that work out?
Look, I love broker conventions. The "Best Man" is one of my favorite films. I think it's fascinating, but it's just not how the world works now, and I think we have to just go about the business of making the case of why Donald Trump is just unqualified to be president and why Joe Biden has proven that he has been a successful president and he can be a successful president.
And that's what -- there's no easy solution here. This is supposed to be hard. I mean, my message to Democrats would be just suck it up and go out there and fight harder.
CAMEROTA: All right, gentlemen. Really interesting to get both of your perspectives today.
Bill Kristol, Stuart Stevens, thank you.
STEVENS: Thank you.
KRISTOL: Thanks.
CAMEROTA: And later tonight, if you missed the CNN presidential debate that we're talking so much about, you can catch a repeat performance of all the high and low lights. That's at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN. All right. President Biden's debate performance did not just rattle
American viewers. We'll tell you what world leaders are saying today. And we could soon see the first hurricane of the season. We'll show you where it is right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:29:10]
CAMEROTA: Shock and dismay over President Biden's debate performance this week reverberating around the world. Several foreign diplomats tells CNN the debate was, quote, "hard to watch" and that Trump, quote, "are Biden alive."
Here's CNN's Nic Robertson with a closer look at how U.S. allies and adversaries are responding to Thursday's debate.
I will get back to that in a moment. But first let's bring in CNN global affairs analyst and former defense secretary under President Trump, Mark Esper.
Secretary Esper, thanks so much for being here. I know that in the past, you have said that you would not vote for Donald Trump in November because you're worried about his rash foreign policy ideas. Did Biden's performance or anything Thursday night changed your mind?
[16:30:04]
No, not at all. You know, Trump prevaricated throughout the debate, as we all know. But the bigger issue coming out of this, of course, was Biden's performance. And it was really tough to see, troubling to see.
And I know you're going to go to Nic and CNN has had strong reporting on this issue, but we see foreign diplomats from across the world, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, expressing their concerns as well.
And I might add, it was there before the debate, also as I travel around the world and speak to foreign leaders, a lot of concern about the Trump presidency coming back, and a lot of concern about President Biden's ability to beat him.
And it's important to note, Alisyn, as you know, President Biden was down in the polls in the battleground states before the debate. And so I think one of the big -- one of the big things coming out of this upcoming week, will be where the polls stand now. And I think everybody is going to be looking very closely at those numbers.
CAMEROTA: Its interesting, Secretary, that you say that when you talk to foreign leaders that they're more concerned about a repeat Donald Trump performance than about President Biden's stamina.
We do have that Nic Robertson package right now. So let's listen to it and I'll talk to you right afterwards.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): In Moscow, state media lampooned President Joe Biden's debate performance.
UNIDENTIFIED RUSSIAN STATE MEDIA ANCHOR: (SFL)
ROBERTSON: Congratulating him for not falling over. Criticizing him for what they called a 22nd freeze up, saying he had trouble remembering who and where he was.
If Russia was gleeful, Europe was shocked. Newspapers agreeing, "Democrats Panic." British tabloids, "Biden Bombed." Even this cake from the popular "Sun," "Joe-matosed."
In France, Italy, Germany, headlines much the same. Greek and Middle East newspapers, suggesting Biden step aside.
Leaders were silent. Several met him two weeks ago at the G-7 in Italy where he also seemed slow and kept them waiting.
The growing reality for them now, a Donald Trump redux and more dangerous times.
Many of them will remember those bruising days, not just physically, but verbally, too. His tone and topics on NATO unchanged, suggesting Putin is Europe's problem.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I got them to put up hundreds of billions of dollars. That has a bigger impact on them because of location, because we have an ocean in between.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've never heard so much foolishness. This is the guy who wants to get out of NATO.
ROBERTSON: According to the Kremlin, President Putin didn't stay up to watch the actual debate because:
DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESMAN (through translation): I don't think you expect that the Russian president could have set an alarm clock, woken up in the early morning hours.
ROBERTSON: He will likely now be up to speed, if only through the unfriendly filter have his own media. And likely pleased, too.
Trump, who also hinted at cutting funding for Ukraine, potentially shortened his odds of winning the election.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will also likely feel relieved. A Trump reelection, good for him, given what Trump is saying about Israel.
TRUMP: You should let them go and let them finish the job.
ROBERTSON: And falsely accusing Biden of tying Israel's hands in its fight against Hamas.
TRUMP: He doesn't want to do it. He's become like a Palestinian.
ROBERTSON: But like America, substance, not the big takeaway overseas. Everyone judging performance. Policy a worry for another day.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: OK, so, Secretary Esper, we'll get to former President Trump's claims that many leaders felt were dangerous in a moment.
But about that, about the performance, about the stylistic points, about the leaders being concerned about President Biden looking in front. What about that? How -- how concerning is that to you?
ESPER: It's very, very serious. I mean, if you're -- if you're a foreigner, an ally, a partner, you're looking at this and you start questioning, is -- does he have the stamina to go another four years?
And you can't help but answer and say no. We know what he's wrestling with. We -- we see it, unfortunately, in our parents or grandparents. And every day, every week, he's going to get a little bit worse.
And the question is, at a time when the world needs Americas leadership in an era of great-power competition where the autocracies of Russia and China and Iran and North Korea are lining up against the Western democracies, American leadership matters.
And who's in charge. The commander-in-chief of the United States is also important.
[16:35:59]
Conversely, our adversaries, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, as Nic mentioned, and others, are also looking at this. And you have to ask yourself, do they see weakness? Do they see a president who is not in charge?
And so to me, there's two sides of this coin. One is, can this president - is President Biden up to the task for another four years, whether or not he's going against President Trump.
And then the other question, the more immediate one is, where does this put him in the polls against Trump? Because of the various concerns about a return of Trump II.
CAMEROTA: So what's the solution?
ESPER: Well, look, again, it's very, very unfortunate what we're seeing, but we can't deny our eyes what's going on. And it's only going to get worse, regrettably.
I think the Democratic Party has an opportunity here to move quickly to develop a process. I think it would be the best thing for the country for President Biden to step aside and hand off the torch to a new generation of leaders. Democrats have a number of candidates, whether they're governors,
outside the current administration. He has people within the administration who are interested in running, beginning with Kamala Harris, but also Commerce Secretary Raimondo, Transportation Secretary Buttigieg. I think they could put together a very robust field.
And I've been saying for some time now, the party that puts -- puts out first a next-generation candidate will win this. Because polling after polling shows 60 percent to 70 percent of the American people want a new generation of leaders. And I think they deserve that.
And I think this is an opportunity for the Democrats. And really another opportunity for President Biden to leave by allowing this transition to happen quickly and gracefully and deliberately.
CAMEROTA: Do you have a sense of who would make Donald Trump's team most nervous?
ESPER: Look, I don't know if that would help or hurt any of the candidates. But my sense would be what the American people are looking for is somebody who is more moderate, far less progressive.
And so I would look to some of the battleground state governors who are -- who are out there, who are performing well in their states, who maybe poll well.
But again, I think that's for the Democratic Party to determine. They need a process, which -- which would vet these individuals and come up with the conclusion that the delegates would vote for, presumably.
And again, Kamala Harris would have to be on that list, given her role as vice president. But I think it's a process. It has, at this point, six to seven weeks to play out --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
ESPER: -- and to find that person.
And again, I think not just a Democratic Party. But there are a lot of Independents and some Republicans who would welcome a next-generation, new-generation candidate from the Democratic side.
CAMEROTA: And very quickly, Secretary, while I have you, there were many claims former President Trump made on Thursday night.
He says that Russia would have never ever invaded Ukraine. He says Israel would never have been invaded in a million years by Hamas, I mean, et cetera, et cetera.
Was -- or what was most concerning to you of what he said?
ESPER: Well, individually, they are concerning. But the accumulation of it all is very concerning. It, of course, paints us in a more isolationist direction at a time where, as I said earlier, Alisyn, we need American leadership on the world stage.
And so -- and so that's what really struck me, when he -- when he spoke. He was prevaricating on many issues that we counted there.
And I think we're only scratching the surface of an American foreign policy that will not just be isolationists with regard to its partners and allies.
But President Trump talks about across-the-board tariffs that would affect the United States economy and other things that would cause all of us quite some concern going forward.
CAMEROTA: Secretary Esper, great to get your insight. Thank you very much.
ESPER: Thank you, Alisyn.
[16:38:40]
CAMEROTA: One of President Trump's most aggressive defenders is going to prison on Monday. We'll tell you what's in store for Steve Bannon behind bars.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:43:32]
CAMEROTA: Top Trump ally, Steve Bannon, must report to prison by Monday. The Supreme Court on Friday denied Bannon's requests to stay out of jail while he appeals his Contempt of Congress conviction.
Bannon is expected to serve his four-month sentence at this low- security prison in Danbury, Connecticut. But sources say it's no picnic there.
Joining us now is prison consultant, Justin Paperny. He's the founder and director of White-Collar Advice.
Justin, thanks for being here.
Do you know what this prison specifically is like?
JUSTIN PAPERNY, PRISON CONSULTANT & FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, WHITE COLLAR ADVICE: We know what Danbury's like. It looks like a prisoner in Katlyn, Connecticut. It looks very akin to a prison in California. They're -- they're very similar.
It's going to come down to his routine. How he adjusts. And more importantly, he's got to avoid problems.
Bannon has frequently said no prison or jail can shut him up. He has to understand how prison staff can view a statement like that as he pursues his activities, probably, 24 hours a day.
CAMEROTA: That's interesting because, as you know, Bannon is famous for using overheated rhetoric, vitriol, on his podcasts. He talks about going on the attack. He talks about the war room, blah, blah, blah.
So will he be able to be a big fish there?
PAPERNY: Well, look, he probably has some regrets he didn't go in earlier because we're in an imaginary prison before you go that you don't get credit for it.
Also, he would have had a bigger impact on the election had he gotten it over with. So he has that regret.
We have to understand, the Bureau of Prisons is concerned about security of the institution, keeping costs down. They're understaffed at this prison. For these reasons, they don't want any problems. OK?
[16:45:04]
You have Democrats and Republicans that agree on few things. They both agree the GOP handled Covid poorly, the Epstein debacle and conspiracy. So if they think he's at risk of causing problems, they can just send him to segregation for 120 days.
So you can expect some staff to be sympathetic towards him. Certainly, as a former lieutenant in the Navy, veterans will welcome him. But they do not want problems.
And if he says things over the phone, via email -- of course, phone calls are recorded, emails are saved -- he can call into his podcast from prison, as I did from federal prison in 2008.
If anything threatens security of the institution, they say, have a nice day, we're sending you to segregation for 120 days. And either he wins -- whether he's in segregation or he serves his time in the regular compound, either way it benefits and advances his agenda or message.
CAMEROTA: Oh, well, in that case, do you have advice for him for these four months?
PAPERNY: I would advise him to what is success for him. Most people go to prison, they want to lay low, get through it, avoid problems, prove worthy at the support of their family.
I read where he said, I won't be exercising, I'm not lifting the weights, I'm not getting prison swollen. He will be working. Other than sleeping, eating, and doing his prison job, he is going to be advancing his agenda.
And my advice would be to understand the consequences that follow every decision on the inside. That's what my business partner, Michael Santos, who served 26 years, encouraged me to do.
On every choice that follows defendant but understand his goals may be different than the warden's goals. That much I can tell you.
CAMEROTA: He's supposed to be serving four months. Is that still -- is that really four months or might he be able to lessen that with good behavior?
PAPERNY: No good time if you get sentenced to a year or less. Additionally, because he was not sentenced to any term of supervision.
Ironically, and unfortunately for him, he does not qualify for the First Step Act that President Trump signed in late 2018. So he's going to serve 120 days, less than one day he probably got for his arraignment, 119 days.
CAMEROTA: He says that prison will not change him. Is that possible? Are there some people who sail through this experience and come out unchanged?
PAPERNY: Absolutely. There are people that go out unchanged. And with what he's been through in his life, the ups and downs, the drama, the attention, this will be a little blip in his life.
If anything, he'll probably use it to advance his agenda and to talk more about the injustices that have come that way. And whether you agree with the injustices or not, I would remind him, you will not be the only person who ever served time on the wrong side of prison boundaries, who endured an injustice.
There will be people there, for measurably longer than him, who also do not agree with their sentence. And they will be looking at how he responds. Does he complain, does he criticize long-term prisoners who have endured worse, he would not get off to the best start if he -- if he did that.
So I don't think it will change him. If anything, I only think it will help him and his agenda.
CAMEROTA: Justin Paperny, very interesting perspective. Thank you.
PAPERNY: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: All right. We now have the first named of the hurricane season. It's Hurricane Beryl. We are tracking this newly named hurricane, next.
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CAMEROTA: Breaking news from the National Hurricane Center. Beryl has now strengthened into a hurricane and is expected to intensify quickly. The storm is forecast to bring life-threatening winds and storm surges.
CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has this latest.
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ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. Beryl is now the first tropical system to reach hurricane strength of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. And it's actually expected to intensify even more, up to major hurricane status over the next day or so.
Now, one of the things to note, though, is the average first second- named storm usually doesn't occur until July 17th. And the average date of the first hurricane isn't usually until August 11th. So Beryl is really in kind of rare territory here.
And one of the main reasons for that is how warm these sea surface temperatures are. On average, the location of Beryl is running about three to five degrees above average. And that may not seem like that much, but it's just enough to really allow storms like this to flourish in these very warm conditions.
Also, too, to note, it's very aware of where it developed. This far east of the Windward Islands early into the season, say, for example, June, is not very common. So it's not just that it's strengthened very quickly, but also the location in which it formed make this a very uncommon storm.
Now, it's expected to make its way towards the Windward Islands over the next 12 to 24 hours. And by late Sunday or even early Monday, this storm is forecast to get to major hurricane strength as it makes its way into the Caribbean Sea.
We already have watches and warnings in place for the Windward Islands, but several other locations may end up seeing some additional watches and warnings take place as the storm continues to track westward in the coming days.
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CAMEROTA: Allison, thank you.
So in today's "START SMALL, THINK BIG," coral reefs are dying off at an alarming rate. We visit a farm on Grand Bahama that's striving to restore the underwater reefs by growing coral on land.
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[16:54:57]
SIMON DIXON, CORAL VITA: Welcome to Coral Vita. We are a coral restoration facility and our aim is to be the first for-profit company within restoration. We see that as leveraging a brand-new industry.
We can generate revenue by completing contracts. And then that money can be put back into the business to push science forward.
What we'll do is we'll take one of these corals and then we turn them into micro fragments. So by cutting them, essentially what we're doing is we're encouraging faster growth than we would normally see from a larger parent colony.
And we're looking for it to cover this plug before we then move on to our next phase, which is placing it onto a cookie. That way, they'll communicate together and will actually fuse onto the cookie, creating a much larger coral mass.
So the benefit of a land-based farm is obviously the degree of control that we have over the environment so that we can provide the corals with exactly what they need to, yes, to facilitate that fast growth that we're looking for.
So in a little under a year, this particular species of coral has gone from an ocean through the micro fragmenting and is now ready to go back to the room.
And I hope, behind that is to obviously be able to push restoration forward and make a real difference in a much shorter timeframe than we believe is currently possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: And happening now, President Biden meeting face-to-face with top Democratic donors amid growing concerns about his candidacy and whether he should be replaced.
We'll be right back.
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