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Russia Says It Will Resume Participation In Grain Deal Amid War; Judge Restricts How Right-Wing Groups Can Patrol Arizona Drop Boxes; Arizona Governor's Race Spotlights Contrasting Styles. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired November 02, 2022 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL)
[07:33:45]
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: This just in. We have major news on Russia's war on Ukraine. Russia has just said it will resume its participation in the deal that allowed grain that had been trapped by the war in Ukrainian ports to continue to be exported. This has major impacts on the food supply around the world. Obviously, Russia had threatened to suspend its participation, worrying officials.
So we're going to talk about this and all the other major global headlines with U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas- Greenfield joining us on set. We are so grateful for you to be here this morning to answer our questions.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning. It's great to see you.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Good morning. Thank you Delighted to be here.
COLLINS: And so, this is massive news. Russia had said it was going to suspend its participation. Now it is saying it will not do so.
What are the implications of this, and what do you think is behind Russia's announcement here?
GREENFIELD: Well, I heard the news as I was coming in to the show this morning and I was delighted to hear this news. And I want to first, commend the U.N. -- the secretary-general, in particular -- for continuing to negotiate this important deal because it's providing needed food to the world. So, clearly, Russia was finally convinced that they needed to continue this. They can't stand in the way of feeding the entire world.
[07:35:02]
Sixty-six million tons of grain have been shipped from the Black Sea since this deal started and the vast majority of that is going to poor countries --
COLLINS: Yes.
GREENFIELD: -- in need of wheat. World Food Program, for example, gets about 50 percent of the wheat that it uses for humanitarian assistance from Ukraine and Russia.
LEMON: What was behind this convincing, you think?
GREENFIELD: I think it was the fact that they benefit. They benefit from this deal as well because it's also moving grain from Russia.
And just to make the point, this grain has never been sanctioned. The Russians tried to make that argument that we were sanctioning agricultural products. We've never sanctioned those products.
And this is beneficial to Russia as well.
COLLINS: Can I ask you about Iran because we had this new reporting yesterday on CNN that is so important? We know Iran has been sending drones to Russia to use in Ukraine. We've seen Zelenskyy talk about that. Now, CNN is reporting that they are talking about sending ballistic missiles, potentially, to Russia, which obviously would be significant.
What can the United Nations do to pressure Iran to stop sending drones -- to not send ballistic missiles to Russia to use against Ukrainians?
GREENFIELD: First and foremost, there are already sanctions against buying weapons from Iran. There's a resolution that is being violated right now by Iran and by the Russians. And we are going to ramp up the pressure to bring other nations on board to condemn these actions but also to hold Iran and Russia, and any others who are dealing with Russia accountable.
COLLINS: And what does that look like -- the ramping up of pressure on Iran?
GREENFIELD: I mean, it looks like bringing this before the Security Council, condemning it in the Security Council, forcing Russia and isolating -- continuing to isolate Russia in the Security Council. But also, to hold those countries who are assisting Iran and assisting Russia accountable through the sanctions that we already have in place.
LEMON: This is a very simple question --
GREENFIELD: Yes.
LEMON: -- and I think it's an overarching question that Americans ask. It's not Washington speak, right?
GREENFIELD: Yes.
LEMON: What are we going to do about Vladimir Putin? GREENFIELD: You know, Putin is really showing his lack of leadership. He's showing the world that he does not care about what -- the impact of what he's doing on the world. He's isolated. We will continue to isolate him and we will continue to publicize what he's doing so that he's not legitimized in the eyes of the world, nor is he legitimized in his own country.
HARLOW: Ambassador, talking about Vladimir Putin -- and that's such a critical question you asked, Don -- the G20 is coming up this month. Kaitlan will be there for us.
And President Biden sat down with Jake Tapper, as you know, just a few weeks ago, and I want people to hear what he told Jake about possibly meeting with Russian President Putin. Here he was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Would you be willing to meet with him at the G20?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, I have no intention of meeting with him. But, for example, if he came to me at the G20 and said I want to talk about the release of Griner, I'd meet with him. I mean, it would depend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: That was not a door-closed answer. So I wonder if you think the U.S. sees -- do you see an upside for any kind of meeting -- any face-to-face between Vladimir Putin and President Biden at the G20, especially if it could potentially lead to the release, for example, of Brittney Griner?
GREENFIELD: Well, I think the president was clear on what his intentions are.
HARLOW: Yes.
GREENFIELD: He has no plans to meet with Putin. But he did say very, very clearly -- and this is something that is a high priority for the president and for the entire administration is to get American citizens, including Brittney Griner, released from Russia. So the president clearly indicated that he's prepared to do that. But we have not seen any evidence that the Russians are prepared to release her.
HARLOW: You know, we had our correspondent Will Ripley on this morning talking about the unprecedented move from North Korea overnight firing 23 missiles and the response from South Korea, just explaining to our viewers how unprecedented this action is.
What is your reaction to that this morning?
GREENFIELD: It's unprecedented in the sense that there were so many --
HARLOW: In modern history -- so many, so fast -- exactly. GREENFIELD: Yes -- this day. But they have been continuously launching missiles over the past year and we have continued to condemn them because they break multiple Security Council resolutions. The Chinese and the Russians joined us in those condemnations earlier. Now, they have protected this regime.
[07:40:01]
And we have to --
HARLOW: Right.
GREENFIELD: -- put pressure on them to improve on and really enhance the sanctions that we already have imposed on them.
HARLOW: So Biden will say that to President Xi at the G20?
LEMON: Is that what he's going to say?
GREENFIELD: Well, I can't purview what the --
HARLOW: Would you like him to?
GREENFIELD: -- president will say, but I know that this is on the president's mind.
HARLOW: OK.
COLLINS: I've got two questions for you that we definitely have to ask while we have you with us.
And one, this new New York Times report this morning saying that senior Russian military leaders have met to talk about when and how Russia might use a nuclear weapon if they do. Have you seen that intelligence that they are having those discussions, and what does it --
GREENFIELD: So I'm not going to share any intelligence that I've seen, but this is absolutely irresponsible. It is not the action that we would expect from a permanent member of the Security Council.
They signed on themselves last year to a statement by the P5 that the use of nuclear weapons should never take place. And the fact that they're doing this shows that they have no confidence in the -- in themselves and they're looking at every possibility to try to defeat the Ukrainians.
And again, we will condemn these actions and bring this before the council as well.
COLLINS: And the last topic for you, Israel is obviously having an important moment right now and it looks like Netanyahu is about to potentially make a comeback. What's the United States' reaction to that?
GREENFIELD: You know, I can't comment on the elections in Israel, but will say that we have a close relationship with the Israelis. We support Israel in the United Nations and their elections will be determined by them. But our support for Israel's right to defend itself -- for the unfair treatment of Israel in the United Nations, which I deal with on a regular basis, we will continue to fight against.
LEMON: Listen, we're going to -- I'm going to keep you a little bit longer. I know that producers want to move on. But since we have you here and you're an important guest, I have to ask you because I know this is near and dear to your heart, what's happening with Iran --
HARLOW: Yes.
LEMON: -- and human rights, and women. And I know that's an important subject for you.
GREENFIELD: It is an important subject. And today we will be having something that we call an Arria formula meeting on Iran where we will be highlighting the conditions of Iranian women and supporting the right -- their right to protest. We will be bringing a number of countries together and hopefully, send a message: 1) to the Iranian women that we support them, but 2) to the Iranian government that their actions are unacceptable.
LEMON: Could we be doing more? Instead of standing by and giving our support and saying we support, we support, could we --
COLLINS: With internet.
LEMON: -- the United States --
GREENFIELD: Yes.
LEMON: Yes, and --
GREENFIELD: Well, we're -- we are doing more. So we have already sanctioned the morality police and we're sanctioning others who are engaged with these -- with these protests and what they're doing against the protesters. And we will continue to look for other actions that we can take --
HARLOW: Yes.
GREENFIELD: -- to hold the Iranian government accountable --
LEMON: Yes.
COLLINS: Yes.
GREENFIELD: -- for these horrific acts against women and other protesters.
LEMON: Ambassador, we're so happy that you came in this morning. Thank you for spending -- you spent a little bit more time --
COLLINS: So much time. LEMON: -- than -- with us than we had expected. But again, these are really important topics --
HARLOW: Thank you.
LEMON: -- and we're so glad to have you, of all people, weigh in on them.
COLLINS: I'm so --
LEMON: Did you get everything in that you wanted to talk about this morning?
GREENFIELD: I did. Thank you very much. And I really appreciate --
COLLINS: Thank you. We'd love to have you back.
GREENFIELD: -- your focusing on these important issues.
COLLINS: They are critical -- critical to our audience and the world. Thank you for joining us.
HARLOW: Thank you.
GREENFIELD: Thank you.
COLLINS: All right. Up next, we are going to talk about a federal judge restricting how a right-wing group can patrol Arizona drop boxes as voters are feeling intimidated. We've got Donie O'Sullivan here with what is driving those election conspiracies.
HARLOW: We will also discuss that and the latest in the race to be the next governor of Arizona. Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs joins us.
LEMON: There she is.
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[07:48:30]
LEMON: As we look at that beautiful shot of the Capitol there, this morning, a federal judge in Arizona imposing new restrictions against right-wing groups after voters complained about aggressive patrols of ballot drop boxes in that state.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan reports now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GERALD, ARIZONA VOTER: Yes, I covered my plates because they were taking pictures and all that stuff. I mean, this is what we've come to in America. These guys call themselves patriots -- really?
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The effects of election conspiracy theories already on full display here in the swing state of Arizona. Armed men stalking vote drop boxes, prompting voters to hide their identities and even cover their license plates as they go to vote.
GERALD: If a guy is standing over there, he's got his face covered, he's got -- and he's armed, what's that tell you? They don't want you to vote. They don't want you to vote.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Ballot drop boxes are the target of conspiracy theorists who falsely believe that they were used to steal the 2020 election.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's called "2000 Mules."
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Central to all of this is the movie "2000 Mules." It was released in May and Trump even hosted a screening of it at Mar-a-Lago. The movie falsely claims that so-called mules are casting hundreds or thousands of votes at drop boxes.
MELODY JENNINGS, FOUNDER, CLEAN ELECTIONS USA: We're actually seeing mules be intimidated from doing their thievery.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): The organizer behind many of the drop box watchers said she was inspired by the movie to take action.
JENNINGS: Because we believe that there was something stolen in 2020. And just because you don't, we do.
[07:50:03]
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): But the kind of people her group are seeing are not mules. They are real voters who are now afraid.
KELLY WILSON, ARIZONA VOTER: I could never come down here alone. You know, I couldn't do it myself.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): It's scary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just flat-out insane. It's voter intimidation.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): The movie has been roundly debunked by cyber experts and election officials.
JOHN SCOTT-RAILTON, SENIOR RESEARCHER, CITIZEN LAB: This is not a technical report that would hold any water. This is not research that would hold any water. And indeed, when we see what governments who have been provided with this data have said, it's pretty clear that they are deeply unimpressed with this as well.
WILLIAM BARR, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you, Mr. President.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Even former attorney general Bill Barr, who was appointed by Trump, told this to the January 6 committee.
BARR: The election was not stolen by fraud. And I haven't seen anything since the election that changes my mind on that, including the "2000 Mules" movie.
(Laughter)
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Nevertheless, the lies persist.
GARRETT ARCHER, FORMER ARIZONA SENIOR ELECTION ANALYST: If you talk to people who don't believe that the election was fair in 2020, nine times out of 10 one of the first things they're going to bring up is "2000 Mules."
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): You've seen it?
ANOLA GAY BUDJENSKA, SUPPORTER OF ARIZONA GOVERNOR CANDIDATE KARI LAKE: I sure have.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): What did you think?
BUDJENSKA: I think it's --
ROGER, ARIZONA VOTER: It's very accurate.
BUDJENSKA: -- very accurate and I think it's -- they're going to try it again.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): We met Anola Gay Budjenska and her son Roger outside an event for Kari Lake, the revolving election denier running for governor of Arizona. They swear by the movie.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): How many times have you seen it?
BUDJENSKA: Four times.
ROGER: I've watched it three times.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Republican chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors warns the lies in the movie are a threat to democracy.
BILL GATES, CHAIRMAN, MARICOPA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: They've dehumanized folks with this term "mule." These are people who are exercising their right to vote in this democracy. This dehumanization that's going on and our political discourse right now is very dangerous because it does justify the use of violence.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): People who want to watch "2000 Mules" have to pay up to $20.00 or $30.00 -- a price many are willing to pay.
BUDJENSKA: I bought, actually, the "2000 Mules" to hand out to friends that are non-believers. And they come back they go oh, my God -- I had no idea.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): How many copies did you buy?
BUDJENSKA: All total, I've bought 12 copies.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): But not all Republicans want to buy into the lies.
GERALD: And I'm a Republican, but I'm an American first. I mean, it's funny. I mean, I've voted a lot of times. I'm in my 60s and this is the first time an election has ever been stolen, right? I mean, come on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'SULLIVAN: Now, a federal judge ruling overnight that armed men like you see in that piece there -- they need to stay at least 250 feet away from these vote drop boxes. Arizona is, of course, an open-carry state but it's not really a good look for what is supposed to be a healthy democracy if you have guys with guns at the ballot box.
LEMON: Just real quickly, just to be clear, these are Democrats and Republicans that are equally disturbed by this -- what they see?
O'SULLIVAN: Absolutely. That last gentleman we spoke to there, a lifelong Republican, and he thinks that this is all really a disgrace.
LEMON: Donie, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Great reporting.
HARLOW: Great reporting again, as always.
Joining us now to talk about that and a lot more is Arizona's Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Katie Hobbs. She is currently Arizona's secretary of state. Secretary Hobbs, thank you for your time this morning.
I have to ask your reaction to Donie's reporting. As Don said, we heard from Republicans and Democrats very concerned about this.
KATIE HOBBS, (D) ARIZONA SECRETARY OF STATE, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE (via Skype): Yes, absolutely. This is something that my office has been concerned about as well. We have continued to forward complaints of this type of activity to the Department of Justice.
I am very glad about the ruling yesterday that provided for a restraining order on this type of activity because we have received so many reports of voters feeling intimidated.
LEMON: Yes. I have to ask you -- listen, why not -- I want to talk about your debating. Why not debate your opponent? If you believe your opponent is -- you know, has issues in spreading conspiracy theories about a stolen election and so on, and is not being truthful with the people of Arizona, why then not get on the debate stage and debate her?
HOBBS: You know, not only is Kari Lake -- has she centered her entire platform around this election denialism, I didn't want to give her a bigger stage to do that. But additionally, she has shown that she's not interested in having any kind of substantive conversation. She's only interested in creating a spectacle and I didn't want to be --
LEMON: But couldn't you -- if you are in the same space with her, wouldn't you be -- wouldn't it be easier to knock it down in front of everyone -- in front of the most people? Because you're not stopping her from spreading --
HARLOW: Yes.
LEMON: -- whatever you believe that she --
HOBBS: You know, I --
LEMON: -- is spreading by not debating her.
She can go on television and she can talk about it. She can go in front of the people of Arizona every single day and talk about it. But you're not confronting her on it and it seems like it would be an easy fix if you stood up on a debate stage and confronted her about these issues.
HOBBS: Look, we're six days out from the election and our campaign strategy is our campaign strategy, so we're moving forward. I'm continuing to make my case to the voters of Arizona. Whether or not we debated in this race is not going to decide this election.
[07:55:06]
So, I just -- we made a decision -- didn't want to be a part of her spectacle. And she is not -- she won't answer these tough questions to real reporters. She only talks to fake news outlets.
HARLOW: But, Secretary, it's not just her that you won't debate. You also did not debate your Democratic primary opponent, Marco Lopez. Why? And have you ever --
HOBBS: I was --
HARLOW: Have you ever --
HOBBS: I was miles ahead of him --
HARLOW: Go ahead.
HOBBS: I was miles ahead of him in the race and won handily. It's a totally different situation here.
HARLOW: Well, it's not debating your opponent. Again, have you ever debated your opponent running for political office?
HOBBS: Yes, I have. Yes, I have.
HARLOW: Why do you think it wasn't important for people to see a debate in this election for governor at all?
HOBBS: In the primary, I was focused on the general election. I was miles ahead of my opponent and I won handily. It wasn't an issue.
We're six days from the election and this is -- this is the decision we made. So --
COLLINS: One thing debates are good for, obviously, is talking about policy differences on the issues. One of the biggest issues right now is the economy and Arizona has one of the highest inflation rates in the United States. A lot of that is driven by the high cost of housing.
Do you think that your party has done an effective job at communicating to voters what your economic message is?
HOBBS: Well, I don't know about my party but I can tell you that we're talking about the economy to voters every single day. It's one of the top concerns. And we're talking about the plans that we have to actually address inflation, and the skyrocketing housing prices, and groceries, and everything else.
I have an affordable Arizona plan that -- we unveiled our housing plan yesterday. And these are -- these are plans that provide real solutions that put money back in people's pockets and give them tax breaks on everyday items. And economic experts have looked at my plan and said it's really good. So that's what we're talking to Arizonans about how we can provide meaningful relief on day one.
Kari Lake doesn't have an economic plan that does anything except make inflation worse.
COLLINS: And quickly, on abortion, you spoke with our colleague Dana Bash recently. I didn't feel like you really answered her question on abortion, so I want to give you another chance to do so.
What limits on abortion do you support?
HOBBS: I have been unequivocal in this answer. I believe the decision to have an abortion should be between a woman and her doctor, period. Politicians and the government don't belong in these kind of medical decisions
HARLOW: So does that mean that as governor, then, you would veto any law with any limit on abortion?
HOBBS: I would veto any additional restrictions on abortion that are sent to my desk as governor, yes.
HARLOW: So that's a yes.
Thank you, Sec. Hobbs. We appreciate your time this morning.
COLLINS: Thanks so much.
HARLOW: We'll be right back.
LEMON: Well, there you go.
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