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Ohio Voters Vote Against Abortion Related Measure to Increase Threshold for Amending State Constitution; Hurricane Dora Causing Wildfires Throughout Island of Maui; White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Interviewed on Americans' Perception of U.S. Economy. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 09, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

NINA TURNER, FORMER OHIO STATE SENATOR: -- violent. There are people suffering, children are suffering in the great state of Florida. But instead of dealing with the 45 percent of working Floridians who are living near or at poverty, children living in poverty, 70 percent of the kids are black or Hispanic, instead of dealing with those issues, he has made it clear that no blacks need apply, no women need apply, no immigrants need apply. And he thinks that these cultural --

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: We lost Nina's shot at the top of the hour. It is 8:00. We are sorry about that, a technical issue. Kevin Madden, you are still us with. A quick chance to respond?

KEVIN MADDEN, FORMER TOP AIDE TO MITT ROMNEY PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Look, if you are going it to make a campaign manager switch, do it now in the summer, because the real big full tilt of this campaign, which is going to be the fall and into the winter when you get to these early primary contests in places like Iowa and New Hampshire, that's when your campaign has to be hitting its stride. So make a campaign -- get on sync with your campaign manager now.

But I will say, this is the last of the resets. The DeSantis campaign is not going to get any more opportunities to sort of change the leadership at the top. Instead, it's going to have to be about making the case right now to voters and proving to their donors and all their supporters that they are in it to win it.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Kevin Madden, and our thanks to Nina Turner as well, thank you both.

"CNN this morning" continues right now.

HARLOW: Good morning, everyone. Top of the hour, and a busy hour ahead for us here on CNN THIS MORNING. We're glad you're with us. Victor Blackwell is by my side. Good morning.

BLACKWELL: Good morning. Happy to be here.

HARLOW: We are following this breaking news out of Hawaii where evacuations are underway. Right now a hurricane is whipping up destructive wildfires. People have been jumping into the ocean to escape. Thousands are without power. We've got the latest on that.

BLACKWELL: And Ohio voters deliver a huge victory for abortion rights advocates. They rejected a measure that would make it harder to protect access to abortion when it goes on the ballot in November.

HARLOW: Just revealed, "The New York Times" has obtained a secret Trump internal memo that laid out the strategy to overturn the 2020 election. This is a key piece of evidence in the special counsel's probe. We will dig into all of the details.

This hour of CNN THIS MORNING starts now.

We begin, though, with this breaking news out of Hawaii. Evacuations right now underway this morning amid fast-moving wildfires. Officials say powerful winds from hurricane Dora are fueling the flames that are burning multiple structures in Maui and on the Big Island. Officials say their emergency 911 and other phone services are down. That means a lot of people there cannot use 911. Huge hurdles they're facing in terms of getting to residents. Thousands without power as these fires continue to grow in Maui. The lieutenant governor of Hawaii just told us moments ago this is an unprecedented disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GOV. SYLVIA LUKE, (D) HAWAII: Our hospital system on Maui, they are overburdened with burn patients, people suffering from inhalation. We are already in communication with other hospital systems about relieving the burden. The reality is that we need to fly people out of Maui to give them burn support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Let's go to meteorologist Derek Van Dam now in the weather center. What is described there is dire. And the lieutenant governor tells us this has never happened before, wildfires that have been created, spurred by a hurricane.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Victor, I think it's important that we clarify that. It's kind of a direct cause of the hurricane. We will get to the details on that in just a moment. But I spoke to the chief emergency management operator from Maui, and what she told me is this an all-hands-on-deck situation for their firefighters and the state personnel as well. There are three active wildfires on the island of Maui. But the western side of Maui is where they are focusing a lot of attention because the wildfire that is there is currently burning near residential and hotel districts, so some of the more populated areas of the island.

They are currently over 14,000 people without power. That's roughly 20 percent of the entire island. We expect that number to continue to grow because we have seen scenes just like this. Look the wildfire smoke just billowing out, and later on in this imagery you can see some of the residential neighborhoods being impacted by this ongoing wildfire. Again, this is on the west side.

So here is a look at the current wind situation, fanning the flames. Right now, the airport on Maui reporting 25-mile-per-hour sustained winds. However, there have been wind gusts in excess of 80 miles per hour. That is, get this, equivalent to a category one Atlantic hurricane. So very strong, very gusty. And it's not expected to let up anytime soon. We have got another 12 hours of this at least.

[08:05:04]

Here's a look at a satellite image that we captured from NOAA. What you're seeing right here, that orange area on the center of Maui, that's actually one of the current three hotspots that are ongoing across the island. And then you can see the smoke that is billowing and moving in an easterly direction because of those powerful winds being directly created by hurricane Dora's passage just to our south. The problem is that 30 percent of Hawaiian islands are currently under drought conditions, and we have moderate drought right now over the hardest hit areas of Maui, so the western side of the island of Maui.

Here is Dora. High pressure to the north putting that squeeze with the pressure gradient, and that is creating the strong winds across the islands as we speak.

BLACKWELL: Important clarification there and explanation. Derek Van Dam, thank you.

This morning, Ohio voters have spoken and abortion rights advocates have won a critical victory. A Republican-backed measure was soundly defeated in a high-stakes special election. It would have made it harder for voters to change Ohio's constitution and protect women's access to abortion when it goes on the ballot this fall. Voter turnout was huge. The failed measure would have changed the rules and required a 60 percent super majority instead of a simple majority to pass abortion amendment when it goes on the ballot in November. Critics called it a GOP power grab. And it all comes after lawmakers in Ohio and other Republican-controlled states passed sweeping abortion bans instead of letting voters decide at the polls.

HARLOW: So our senior data reporter Harry Enten is here with numbers that we need to know. What is the morning number related to what Victor was just telling us?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes, so, look, we are talking about Ohio here. And I just want to give you an idea. Ohio is a state that Joe Biden lost by eight points to Donald Trump, and he only won, get this, seven counties in the state, just seven counties. Look at no on issue one -- 22 counties, more than three times as many counties. The no issue here appealed to voters it in the middle of the road as well as the number of voters on the right who traditionally vote Republican, this Republican trending state.

And this is part of a trend, Poppy, whereby we have had a number of ballot measures, six ballot measures since Roe v Wade was overturned, and look at the pro-abortion rights side on these ballot measures. They won on all of them.

HARLOW: Red states, too, which is important. ENTEN: Blue states like Vermont and red states like Kentucky, like

Montana, like Kansas. So this is something, abortion rights has been popular all over the map.

HARLOW: And we have this new CNN poll that came out this week, and it shows still this strong support since Roe v Wade was overturned for not overturning it. That remains.

ENTEN: That absolutely remains.

So disapprove of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade. Look at this, all voters, 63 percent. You get 93 percent of Democrats. Look at that, 69 percent of independents. You also get nearly a third of Republicans here. Those are the types of voters who went in Ohio last night, probably, and voted no on that particular ballot issue.

And here's the other thing, right. It's not just about abortion. It's about going to the rest of the ballot box. So I want you to take a look -- this is a little complicated. But this the average special election, and this is the Democratic margin. Look at where we were in 2021 and 2022 before Roe v Wade was overturned. The Democratic candidates were doing three points worse than Joe Biden on average. But look at where we were since Roe was overturned. Look here. They are doing about six points better than Joe Biden's been doing on average.

So it's not just about abortion. It's other these issues, what you are seeing is Democratic-leaning voters more likely to turn out and they're more likely to support Democratic candidates. So abortion, it's not just about abortion. It's about giving Democrats a boost at the polls on other issues as well.

HARLOW: Fascinating, Harry. Thank you very much. Victor?

BLACKWELL: Thank you, both.

We're joined now by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Karine, good to see you this morning.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: First, with the president's reaction to the outcome of the vote in Ohio last night?

JEAN-PIERRE: So, as you all have been saying, look, this has been -- what we saw in Ohio last night is a clear rejection to Amendment One, which really is a win for democracy, right? It is a win for voting. It is a win or Ohioans. And it is so incredibly important.

Just think about this. And you all have been talking about this all morning. I've been watching the show. Ohioans came out in an off-year election and literally rejected what Republicans, elected officials, were trying to do, what special interests were trying to do in the state, which is basically weaken voters' rights, weaken the rights of voters in the state. And so what - what we saw last night is such an important victory as we head to a critical vote, which should be made by the people. A decision that should be made by the people. When you think about how women in Ohio are going to -- are going to get - they're going to go to decide, if women in Ohio is going to have the right, the freedom, to make a decision on their reproductive rights, to make a decision on their health care. So, this is, again, a win for our democracy.

[08:10:14]

BLACKWELL: We certainly know it's going to be part of the president's argument as we get closer to Election Day.

Let's talk about why you and the president are there out west. You're talking climate, but also economy. And the latest CNN poll out just days ago showed that Americans are pretty sour on the state of the economy. They think it's in a downturn or getting worse. About half of respondents, the president's approval rating for his handling of the economy is at 37 percent, 30 percent on inflation specifically.

From the White House's perspective, why is their disparity between the good story, the narrative you think you have to tell, and how it's received by the American people?

JEAN-PIERRE: So, a couple of things, Victor. Look, as we know, polls don't show everything. They don't tell the full story, as you just stated. And we have to remember, if you look at where we were back in the fall of 2022 during the midterm elections, when the president delivered a historic midterms for Democrats, when we think about how, as a - as a Democratic president he delivered a victory that we hadn't seen in decades, right? And he led that messaging throughout those months going into November.

And we are in a stronger position now than we were back - back then in the fall. And so that is important to note.

Look, there's a - there's a lot going on in this country and we understand that, you know, Americans are coming out of a pandemic. We are dealing - we're dealing with a lot, when you think about the economy. But, here's the thing, this is a president who has spent the last two years turning the economy around. You hear us talk about Bidenomics. You just mentioned how we're doing this west - this kind of - this West Coast swing, talking directly to the American people about how wages are actually going up, about how inflation is going down over a long, extended period of time, more than - more than 12 months. That is important. That is important. Consumer confidence is up.

And so, when you see unemployment is lower than 4 percent, that has been steady for some time, this is what we are going to talk about. This is why the president is going out there, is going to talk directly to the American people to have that conversation.

Again, polls don't tell the entire story. We're going to continue to tell our story, tell what we have done in the past two years. When you think about creating 13.5 million jobs -- BLACKWELL: Yes.

JEAN-PIERRE: -- that is all important. And so this is why I'm on with all of - with both of you to talk about that, to make sure that the president's message is reaching your viewers.

BLACKWELL: You are telling the story. There - there is a narrative to tell that the numbers are changing.

Let me ask you about something here that -- the branding - you just used the word. We have it on screen, Bidenomics.

JEAN-PIERRE: Yes.

BLACKWELL: We know the polls show that people are pretty sour - at least half of the American people are sour on the economy. Isn't that just dangerous getting closer to the election if things take a downturn? If - I mean, as the CBO predicts, unemployment will get closer to 4.7 percent by Election Day. That you've got a narrative now of Bidenomics and things going in a certain way, but that can quickly turn in the opposite direction. Why literally fuse the president's name with the economics that Americans aren't very happy with?

JEAN-PIERRE: Well, here's the thing, Bidenomics is indeed working when - when we say that -- you look at the data, right? Cost of - cost is going down, right. We think about inflation. When you think about wages going up, that is Bidenomics.

Look, the president has always believed -- not just as president, but as vice president, as a senator, that we need to build an economy that is building from the bottom up, middle out, right? We need to make sure we leave no one behind.

He came from a middle class family. You heard him talking about growing up in Scranton, what that means. He understands what the American people have gone -- go through, right, sitting at your kitchen table once a month trying to figure out how to pay those bills. So, this is why we talk about it in this way -

BLACKWELL: Yes.

JEAN-PIERRE: -- because this is what he believes.

And then let's not forget, you know, you have Republicans out there, especially in Congress, who want to do the opposite. You think about the Inflation Reduction Act that's going to help with the deficit, that's actually going to help make investments. We're talking about - you guys were talking about what was going on in Hawaii. Climate change is affecting so many communities and they want to repeal that. They (INAUDIBLE) --

BLACKWELL: I'm glad you mentioned - I'm glad you mentioned climate change, because we're watching -

JEAN-PIERRE: You know? So, that's something to talk about too (ph). BLACKWELL: We're watching what's happening in Hawaii and these really dire pictures of what's been described by the lieutenant governor who was on with us today with the wildfires related to that hurricane.

The president did an interview with The Weather Channel in which he was asked about declaring the climate crisis a national emergency. I want to show just a bit of that exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you prepared to declare a national emergency with respect to climate change?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've already done that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you've already declared that national emergency?

BIDEN: Practically speaking, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:15:00]

BLACKWELL: But he hasn't done it. He corrected it saying, practically speaking. If the climate crisis is as important as this White House says it is, why hasn't the president declared a national emergency? And if so, when will that happen?

JEAN-PIERRE: So, here's the thing, Victor, this is a president that has taken really an ambitious approach to climate change, right? I just started talking about the Inflation Reduction Act. That is a piece of legislation that is clearly now law that is so ambitious, that is going to make an investment in dealing with climate change that we have never seen. We have not seen before.

And so you think about $369 billion of investment into clean energy, that's going to make a difference when you think about cutting pollution, when you think about creating clean energy jobs, this is what we're talking about. You talk about the bipartisan infrastructure law, right, that's going to strengthen our power grid, right, that's going to actually make efforts to deal with an existential threat. And you heard the president say that. And you have heard him say that multiple times.

We were just in Arizona yesterday where the president announced his fifth national monument. And what is that going to do? It's going to honor the tribal communities and - a nd the indigenous people by protecting land. Almost a million acres of land. And what does that do? That protects clean energy. That helps the economy and local - and the local economy, and clean water, right? And so all of those things are incredibly important, and the president has been incredibly ambitious. Look, what the president was talking about is the - the defense - the Defense Production Act. That's something that he did very early on. What does that do? That makes sure that when - when we - when we think about the domestic approach, those clean - clean energy manufacturing moved - moved here. So, all of these things are important.

BLACKWELL: Sure. I hear - Karine, there is - there is a narrative, there is a story to tell. But specifically, on what many advocates have - have asked for was the declaration of that national emergency on climate crisis. The president corrected himself. He has not done that.

We've got to go. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre joining us specially early this morning from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Thanks so much for the time.

JEAN-PIERRE: It's very early here.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it is. Thank you.

JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you.

HARLOW: Fascinating interview.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

HARLOW: Yes. Great to have you on.

BLACKWELL: Yes, great.

HARLOW: We have a lot ahead this morning. For the first time we're seeing this secret memo from an unindicted co-conspirator the Federal January 6 case against Donald Trump, showing the evolution of the fake electoral scheme. What does this mean for the prosecution? Ahead.

BLACKWELL: And just in this morning, the American Bar Association is taking action against attacks on the election system, launching a task force for American democracy, it's co-chairs. Former Homeland Security Secretary under President Obama, Jeh Johnson. And one of the country's best known conservative jurists, Michael Luttig, joins us, next.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: New this morning, we're getting our first look at a key piece of evidence in the investigation into former President Donald Trump and the efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The New York Times has obtained a memo written by unindicted co- conspirator number five, attorney Kenneth Chesebro. The Fraudulent Elector Memo was first mentioned in the indictment that came down last week, but we have not seen it until now. And while we knew the contours of the fake electoral scheme, this memo shows how it evolved and how it was discussed behind the scenes. In it, Chesebro writes, "The Supreme Court would likely end up ruling that the power to count the votes does not lie with the President of the Senate." Meaning Mike Pence at the time.

But even if it failed, he wrote that the scheme would do two things, "Buy the Trump campaign more time and would deprive Biden of electoral votes and or add to Trump's column." He also says what he suggests is a bold, controversial strategy. In the indictment Prosecutors say that the memo shows the orchestration of, "A fake controversy that would derail the proper certification of Biden as President-elect."

HARLOW: As Trump faces charges of trying to subvert democracy. The American Bar Association just announced this morning the creation of its task force for American democracy to look at ways to improve public trust in our election systems. This task force will focus on depoliticizing how elections are run.

Educating the public on the principles of our democracy and addressing the root causes of the lack of trust in our elections right now. This taskforce is co-chaired by our next two guests, Former Homeland Security Secretary under President Obama, Jeh Johnson. He's now a partner of Paul, Weiss.

And Former Federal Appeals Court Judge J. Michael Luttig, one of the country's best known conservative jurists who advise former Vice President Pence, his legal team in the days ahead of January 6 to reject these fraudulent claims by Trump allies.

Early in his career, who worked in the Reagan White House, he served as a law clerk to the late Legal Titan, Antonin Scalia. Secretary Johnson in charge today, join us now for their first joint appearance as co-chairs. We appreciate it and judge let me begin with you. For everyone watching at home, what will this task force do for them?

J. MICHAEL LUTTIG, FORMER JUDGE, U.S. COURT APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT: Good morning, Poppy, and thank you very much for having Secretary Johnson and me on this morning. The most important issue facing the country between now and the election in 2024 is American democracy.

The American Bar Association, under the new leadership of its new President Mary Smith, has created a task force on American democracy, which will explore the causes and the reasons for the denigration in the perception of American democracy by the American people. And we'll explore ways in which to rehabilitate and restore confidence of the American people in our elections and in our democracy.

HARLOW: Mr. Secretary, how do you change hearts and minds when so many lies are still being yelled so loudly by leading figures?

JEH JOHNSON, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY, OBAMA ADMIN: Poppy, that's to the heart of what we're going to be doing over the next year with this task force. The opportunity for me to co-chair this task force with Judge Luttig, who in my opinion is one of the heroes of January 6, will be the capstone of my career in public service.

We've assembled and recruited a group of really distinguished extraordinary Americans to be on this task force including retired judges, State and local Federal, like Judge Luttig himself. Commentators across the spectrum, Election Law Experts of Cybersecurity Expert, Chris Krebs. and two former candidates for President Carly Fiorina and Dick Gephardt.

In my judgement, everything has to be on the table and what we assess from the issues you raised, voter confidence to weather cybersecurity election, social media, conventional press contributes to or detracts from our democracy. The safety of election workers to frankly, the manner in which we elect candidates for Federal office.

[08:25:13]

We're going to be engaging in a listening tour around the country, this will be very much a public exercise, and we're going to take a year to do this. It's important, as Judge Luttig said, democracy, the strength of our democracy, and enduring democracy is the root of all else, which is why I think this is such an important exercise and inquiry.

HARLOW: I want people to remember, Mr. Secretary, you're a Democrat. Judge Luttig, you're a Republican, and you're working together on this. This is very bipartisan. Judge Luttig, we will all remember when you testified before the January 6th commission, and you called Donald Trump quote, a clear and present danger to American democracy. He is now three times indicted potentially for. He is by far the Republican frontrunner. Do you think he is still a clear and present danger to American democracy?

LUTTIG: I do, Poppy. More so today than he was last summer, when I testified before the Congress of the United States. For these obvious reasons, the former President has continued to insist and persists in his false claim that he had won the 2020 Presidential election, and that it was stolen from him. And his Republican allies and the Republican Party have joined him in that persistent claim to this day.

So, for the two and a half years since January 6, these false claims have corrupted American democracy. They've corrupted American elections, and they've corrupted the perception of the American people in America herself. This must come to a conclusion and the trials -- the trials of the former President now, will become, together with the events of January 6.

The singular, infamous events in American history, whereby a former President of the United States, for the first time in American history is prosecuted and tried for grave offences against the United States of America. At the same time that he is running again for the Presidency of the United States as the presumptive Republican nominee for the Presidency.

HARLOW: Judge you told our colleague Jamie Gangel, after the latest indictment came down last week. These are his grave offences against the United States as a President could commit, save possibly treason. Just to remind our viewers, you are a conservative's conservative. Trump is winning by a mile in the polls. Republican officials are lining up behind him. What do you think has happened to your party?

LUTTIG: I'm not a political person, Poppy. And frankly, I don't care about the Republican Party at all. Except to the extent that the two political parties in America are the political guardians of democracy in our country. American democracy simply cannot function without two equally healthy and equally strong political parties. So, today, in my view, there is no Republican Party to counter the Democratic Party in the country. And for that reason, American democracy is in grave peril.

HARLOW: There is no Republican Party?

LUTTIG: In my view, and let me explain, Poppy. A political party is a collection and assemblage of individuals who share a set of beliefs and principles and policy views about the United States of America. Today, there is no such shared set of beliefs and values and principles, or even policy views within the Republican Party for America. Until or unless the Republican Party can pull itself together into a credible Republican Party, political party. Then, we simply don't have two competing parties in America.

HARLOW: Secretary Johnson. When we look at the polling here it is very --

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