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Christie Slams Opponents For Not Discussing Trump; U.K. Foreign Minister David Cameron Joins CNN This Morning; Critics: Biden Administration Delaying Menthol Cigarette Ban Over Politics. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired December 07, 2023 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

SHALANDA YOUNG, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET: Decided to put politics ahead of our national security interest. And frankly, I remain stunned by that. So we will continue to make the case of how important this is. The stakes are too high to give up and we will continue to push for this.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: If it's December and it's crunch time on funding, Shalanda Young is likely deeply engaged in the moment.

OMB Director Shalanda Young, please put a jacket on. We appreciate your time. Thank you.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: She's --

YOUNG: Thanks, Phil.

HARLOW: She's tough. She can take it.

All right. Tensions ran high at the fourth Republican presidential debate. Next, we're going to be joined by one of the four White House hopefuls who did not hold back. There he is. Governor Chris Christie with us live, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The fifth guy, who doesn't have the guts to show up and stand here -- he's the one who, as you just put it, is way ahead in the polls. And yet, I've got these three guys who are all seemingly to compete with Voldemort -- he who shall not be named.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIE: This is the fourth debate -- the fourth debate that you would be voted in the first 20 minutes as the most obnoxious blowhard in America. So, shut up for a little while. We are now 25 minutes into this debate and he has insulted Nikki Haley's basic intelligence -- not her positions, her basic intelligence. This is a smart, accomplished woman and you should stop insulting her.

[07:35:06]

If you ever got another Donald Trump term, he's letting you know I am your retribution.

ELIZABETH VARGAS, DEBATE MODERATOR, ANCHOR, NEWSNATION: Thank you.

CHRISTIE: He will only be -- Elizabeth, he will be his own retribution. He doesn't care for the American people. It's Donald Trump first.

So do I think he was kidding when he said he was a dictator? All you have to do is look at the history. Let me make it clear. His conduct is unacceptable. He's unfit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, as you just saw there, did not shy away from criticizing his opponents, both on stage and off the stage, at the fourth Republican presidential debate. It was a fiery night.

And he joins us this morning from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Governor, thanks very much for being with us, as always.

I want to start with your defense --

CHRISTIE: Thank you.

HARLOW: -- of Nikki Haley. You know it's getting a lot of headlines.

Is an alliance beginning to form between the two of you?

CHRISTIE: Stop. You know, you guys are so cynical.

HARLOW: Stop?

CHRISTIE: How about --

HARLOW: That's not cynical.

CHRISTIE: You look at last night. Yeah, it is very cynical.

HARLOW: I called it civilized in the last hour.

CHRISTIE: Because you know ---

HARLOW: I said it was civil and important.

CHRISTIE: No. You're -- what -- the intentions you read into it are cynical. How about basic human decency? HARLOW: Yeah.

CHRISTIE: And that's all I displayed on the stage last night with Nikki Haley.

Look, I disagree with Nikki on a lot of things and I don't think she's strong enough to take on Donald Trump. I think she is absolutely avoiding doing it. She was playing prevent defense on the stage last night trying to protect a lead she doesn't have.

So I have plenty of problems with Nikki, but her basic intelligence is not one of them. In fact, I think she's a really bright, accomplished woman and she belongs on that stage.

HARLOW: Um-hum.

CHRISTIE: But I'm not going to let Vivek Ramaswamy sit there and take broadside shots and say his 3-year-old son knows more than her.

Look, Vivek Ramaswamy is a misogynist. I think that's the only thing we can conclude when you hear all of his comments about women. And he goes at women's basic intelligence. And I think a lot of women watching that last night felt like that's exactly what he was doing. That's what I felt being the husband of a strong, accomplished wife who worked in a very male-dominated business on Wall Street, and I was not going to let it go on anymore.

So I don't think Nikki Haley should be our nominee, and I don't think she should be President of the United States. But I'll tell you this. She's certainly a very smart and accomplished woman and she deserves credit for what she's done in her career.

And I'm not going to stand there as a good person -- my mother taught me better than that -- and allow someone like that to take those kind of ridiculous shots at her.

HARLOW: And you're very right. Mary Pat is all of those things as well, Governor.

MATTINGLY: Hey, Governor, I can -- I know --

CHRISTIE: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: I know how you feel about somebody on the debate stage based on kind of the intensity of your response. It's one of your tells. It's not a bad one, by the way. The intensity of your responses to Vivek Ramaswamy are at another level. Why?

CHRISTIE: Because he's like a drunk driver on the debate stage and he doesn't belong there. The guy hasn't voted in a Republican primary until the last Republican primary. And he's up there critiquing everybody else and calling us all thieves, and liars, and corrupt, and all the rest of it when meantime, what this guy did was make his fortune off of an Alzheimer's drug that didn't work and gave people false hope. He's nothing but a patent troll and a bad person. And he doesn't belong on the stage -- not because of any RNC criteria. It's because of basic decency -- and you saw it last night. And now, he's calling January 6 an inside job? I mean, this guy -- there is nothing that he won't stoop to.

But I will tell you this, too. Ron DeSantis, last night, proved himself to be a coward. He won't answer whether he would send troops to Taiwan to defend if China invaded. He won't say whether he would send troops for a credible plan to try to save American hostages in Gaza. And he won't say whether Donald Trump is fit for office or not, even though he got all three of those questions directly.

I got those questions directly. I answered them directly. Voters can agree or disagree with the position I take -- that's absolutely fair.

But he is, like, evading every question up there because he's afraid of offending. And in very much the same way, Nikki won't offend on Donald Trump either. It seems like both of them are warming up for the 2028 primary and trying to get Trump voters in 2028 rather than try to prevent the train wreck that a Trump presidency would be in 2024.

HARLOW: Governor, the debate last night was just hours after yet another mass shooting in America. Three people murdered on the UNLV campus. And yet, the issue of guns did not come up, except one question to Ramaswamy on his call for AR-15s in Taiwan.

[07:40:00]

So, for our viewers who want to know your position on guns and mass shootings in America, what would combating this wretched gun violence in America look like in a Christie administration? Previously, you have been supportive of an assault weapons ban. It actually motivated your run in the state of New Jersey in 1993.

CHRISTIE: Well, let me just say this. I think that it's very, very important for us to enforce the laws that we already have on the books. That's what I did as governor of New Jersey. I very aggressively enforced those laws.

If the recent mass shooting we had in Maine -- if the laws had been enforced regarding someone who showed clear signs of mental disturbance, and violent conduct, and violent speaking, we would have prevented those deaths.

And so, I want to see exactly what happened at UNLV last night. But I will say to you that at the end of this if we don't deal with the mental health crisis in this country and provide much more mental health treatment for folks and make it easier to involuntarily commit people who have obvious mental health issues and are speaking violently, we're going to continue to see this violence, whether we ban a type of weapon or not.

We have 350 million guns in circulation, Poppy, and banning certain weapons, unless you're going to confiscate them, too -- which I would never do -- you're not going to change the problem unless you get to the root cause, which is the mental health of the people who engage in these mass shootings.

HARLOW: Does that mean you would no -- you no longer would sign, as president, an assault weapons ban? I just want to be clear here.

CHRISTIE: Oh, yes -- no, no.

MATTINGLY: All right, Gov. Chris Christie unequivocally attacking the former president when others wouldn't last night. Once again, we appreciate your time, sir. Thank you.

CHRISTIE: Yeah. Oh, Phil --

MATTINGLY: Yeah?

CHRISTIE: -- by the way, would you remind Jeff Zeleny that I actually was doing that? I listened to Jeff this morning who said no one laid a glove on Donald Trump. I wondered whether Jeff was, like, watching a basketball game during the debate last night --

HARLOW: Oh, no, he was watching very closely.

CHRISTIE: -- and then providing commentary.

But if want to have somebody who is going to lay a glove on Donald Trump, go to chrischristie.com and donate.

MATTINGLY: Governor --

CHRISTIE: I'm the one who is going to tell the truth and I'll even tell it to Jeff Zeleny.

MATTINGLY: Governor, first off, I think Jeff Zeleny would happily have that discussion with you, and I think you know that well, too. I think Jeff was talking about the bigger picture things and where they stand right now. I will defend -- I like you, man, but I will defend Jeff Zeleny against anybody and his journalist talent and observations.

HARLOW: And integrity.

MATTINGLY: Yeah.

CHRISTIE: Yeah. Well, I didn't question his integrity; I just questioned whether he actually watched the debate. And even somebody like Jeff Zeleny can be wrong every once in a while, guys.

MATTINGLY: I disagree, sir. I know he's there, so I'm sure you guys will run in and --

CHRISTIE: Respectfully.

MATTINGLY: But --

HARLOW: You guys should go have a cup of coffee, Governor.

MATTINGLY: He will give you a readout of his views, and I hope he passes them along to us as well.

Governor Chris Christie --

CHRISTIE: You got it.

MATTINGLY: -- we always appreciate it, my friend. Thank you.

HARLOW: Thank you. Thank you.

OK. The push to get -- to get Congress to pass new funding for Ukraine is now getting help from the United Kingdom. We're going to be joined next by the former U.K. prime minister and current foreign minister. David Cameron is with us.

MATTINGLY: And we'll break down the details of a new lawsuit that claims Meta is creating a quote, "breeding ground" for child predators on Facebook and Instagram. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:46:45]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Obviously, this is the fate of the world at stake because if the United States doesn't support Ukraine, Ukraine cannot win this war. Ultimately, Kyiv will be a Russian city and we will rue the day that we left Ukraine to hang out to dry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: That was Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy outlining the stakes if Congress doesn't enact new funding for Ukraine.

Today, Congress has approved more than $110 billion for Kyiv since Russia's invasion. The current package calls for an additional $61 billion for Ukraine. But as we mentioned earlier, that funding, along with money for Israel, was blocked in the U.S. Senate yesterday because Republicans want more to be done to protect the border.

HARLOW: President Biden's push to compel Congress to act now getting some help from the United Kingdom. Former U.K. prime minister and current Foreign Minister David Cameron was in Washington yesterday meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson. You see them right there. And Cameron's visit to the United States is, in part, to reaffirm Britain's support for Ukraine.

(Audio gap)

-- Foreign Minister David Cameron. Thank you so much for your time.

And let's (audio gap) speaker. Did it seem that he was committed to getting that funding to Ukraine, even if it means Republican concessions?

DAVID CAMERON, U.K. FOREIGN MINISTER: I think he is committed to getting that money through, and most of the people I saw on the Hill yesterday support backing Ukraine because it's the right thing to do. I mean, if you fundamentally think about it, the countries supporting Ukraine add up the economies and we outmatch Russia 30 to one. We've just got to make that economic strength show and make it pay, and that's what this is all about.

Obviously, it's complicated about exactly how a bill goes through Congress and what it gets attached to it, and I don't want to get involved in that. But I just absolutely know that this money will make a huge difference to a Ukrainian campaign that actually is, in many ways, far more successful than people give them credit for.

They've taken back half the land that Russia stole from them. The other night, they destroyed 20 percent of Russia's attack helicopters in one night, thanks to American equipment. They've driven the Russian Navy back across the Black Sea. They're exporting grain again, so their economy is growing again.

This is an investment into their success and the worst thing in the world would be to allow Putin a win in Ukraine -- not just because that would be bad, in itself, but he'd be back for more.

MATTINGLY: Mr. Foreign Secretary, the U.S. and the U.K. have been pillars in the, kind of, Western coalition that has driven the funding, that has driven the support over the course of this conflict.

In your view, what happens to that coalition if the U.S. can't deliver with this round of funding?

CAMERON: Well, the U.S. is the lynchpin of the coalition because you're such a strong and powerful economy and you have such capable military, and diplomatic, and economic assets.

But one of the things I've been pleased to see, coming back into politics, is actually the incredible unity across the European nations. NATO is getting stronger and bigger. We've got Sweden joining, Finland joining. Many more countries are spending two percent of their GDP on defense, which is absolutely right. I called for it many years ago and quite rightly, the Americans have supported it.

[07:50:00]

But there's no doubt that America coming forward with this package will lift the morale of the Ukrainians. It will make sure Europe focuses on doing more. And to people in the U.S., you say is Europe doing enough? Right now, actually, if you add up military and civilian, European nations are doing more than the U.S. And I think that's important and quite right.

HARLOW: Turning to the war between Israel and Hamas, the U.K.'s Defense secretary is visiting Israel and also the West Bank this week.

Your former chief foreign policy adviser, John Casson, has been critical of the Netanyahu regime's approach and what we're seeing in terms of the response in Gaza, saying, quote, "The current approach is not making the Israelis safe and secure for the long term but creating a traumatized generation of Palestinians and teaching them that Israel is their enemy. It is undermining the prospects of a two-state solution and deliberately dismantling it."

Do you agree, and do you have concerns about the continued way that Israel is responding?

CAMERON: Well, I start from the simple proposition that what happened on October the seventh was a terrible terrorist attack. And I stood in Kibbutz Be'eri and saw the rooms where children were murdered in front of their parents and parents were killed in front of their children.

And we have to give Israel that basic support of saying you are right to try to get rid of Hamas' leadership and its armed personnel because effectively, you can't live next to a state that is run by a group of terrorists. And so, to that extent, we should support Israel.

And to people who call for an immediate ceasefire now, if we leave Hamas in charge of even a part of Gaza, there will never be a two- state solution because you can't expect Israel to live next to a group of people that are -- want to do October the seventh all over again.

But, of course, as Israel takes the steps that it's taking, we want them to obey international humanitarian law. We want them to minimize civilian casualties.

I know you had Tony Blinken on your program yesterday and I'm going to be meeting with him today. And he made a series of points about how Israel is trying to behave differently in the south of Gaza to the north of Gaza. And I think that is right and we should continue to make those points to them because ultimately, the long-term security of Israel does depend not only on their own armed strength and fortitude but also on having Palestinians able to live in peace and security as well.

MATTINGLY: Sir, you're an astute observer of, obviously, your politics but the U.S. politics as well. I'm interested if we could step back because, in all of these conflicts, the leadership of the U.S. is a critical piece of it.

When you look at the political realities in the United States right now -- a 2024 campaign that's very much on a way -- underway and a frontrunner that is somebody who disagrees on a lot of issues with, kind of, the key Western pillars of the last several decades, what do you think?

CAMERON: Well, I think two things.

One is that your friends and allies have got to make a better case for why European security is so essential to American security. I believe that it is. I mean, if you look at our two countries our people live all over the world. Our businesses trade all over the world.

The case for engagement for trying to bring about stability and security in the Middle East, the case for beating back Putin in Ukraine -- the cases for those things are very strong. They're in our own national interest. But I think there's something else we both have in common, which is

our domestic politics have been sort of disrupted by problems over immigration, by problems over unequal economic development, and some people and places left behind. And we have to address those issues, too.

So -- but there shouldn't be alternatives. We've got to address our domestic issues and problems and domestic security and prosperity and, at the same time, be thoroughly engaged abroad. But the two things do go together. It's harder to argue for, it's hard to do, but this was never meant to be easy.

MATTINGLY: U.K. Foreign Secretary and former Prime Minister David Cameron. We appreciate your time, sir. Thank you very much.

CAMERON: Thank you.

HARLOW: Ahead for us, menthol cigarettes were supposed to be banned this year but implementing the new rules has been postponed. We'll talk about why some believe that is and why the delay from the Biden administration, next.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:59:00]

HARLOW: There is fresh criticism over the delay of federal rules that were to ban menthol-flavored cigarettes. The rule was originally planned to be finalized by August of this year. Now it's not expected until March of next year. Some are blaming politics.

Rene Marsh joins us with more. What's happening?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy and Phil.

You know, there is this anger and outrage from groups like the NAACP and a long list of public health organizations after this delay was announced despite the FDA's and the Health and Human Services' support for this menthol ban.

Now, the science is very clear. The CDC says that menthol flavor makes cigarettes more addictive. The tobacco industry has aggressively marketed menthol cigarettes to minority communities. More than 83 percent of Black smokers -- they choose menthol as compared to 30 percent of whites. And Black people die at significantly higher rates from smoking-related illnesses.

And so, the NAACP says failures to enact this ban would be discriminatory and they say that is the case because this has had such an outsized health crisis impact on the Black community. Take a listen.