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Molly Duane is Interviewed about An Abortion Fight; November Jobs Report; Hunter Biden Faces Federal Charges. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 08, 2023 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:32:02]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.

This morning Attorney General Ken Paxton in Texas is threatening more legal action in a closely watched abortion case. In a new letter Paxton says that Kate Cox, the 20-week pregnant woman seeking an abortion, does not qualify for an exemption to the state's strict six- week ban and threatens to prosecute her doctor. This is despite a judge's order allowing Cox to end her pregnancy. Cox and her lawyers have argued that her baby, who has been diagnosed with a fatal disorder, is not expected to live more than a few days outside the womb, and that continuing with the pregnancy, quote, "puts Cox at high risk for severe complications threatening her life and her future fertility." And that's key because Texas' abortion ban allows exceptions to save the life of a pregnant woman. Cox wrote this about her decision in "The Dallas Morning News." "An abortion was not something I ever imagined I would need. I just never thought I'd be in the situation I'm in right now, 20 weeks pregnant with a baby that won't survive and could jeopardize my health and a future pregnancy."

And here is what she told NBC "Nightly News."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE COX, SUING TEXAS FOR RIGHT TO ABORTION: It's a hard time. You know, even with, you know, being hopeful with the decision that came from the hearing this morning, there is - there's still - we're going through the loss of a - of a child. There's no outcome here that I take home my healthy baby girl, you know? So, it's hard, you know.

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HARLOW: Joining us now is the attorney for Kate Cox and for her doctor, Molly Duane, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Molly, thank you for being with us.

And let's begin with, you won, but you also say that this cannot be the new normal. MOLLY DUANE, SR. STAFF ATTORNEY, CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: That's right. I mean, I want to start with just how outrageous it was that we had to come to court in the first place so that Ms. Cox could essentially beg for her life and her future fertility. The reality is that 99 percent of pregnant people seeking abortion care for whatever reasons that they have are not going to be able to do the same. But what is even more stunning is what the attorney general's response has been, which is that not only is Ms. Cox not sick enough to get an abortion, she's not even sick enough to come to court, and - and we have right here an order, a duly enacted order, of a court of his state, of which he is an officer of that court, that he's saying he's just going to disregard.

HARLOW: Yes, he called the judge an activist judge. And in this letter, which really is his response to three hospitals, he writes this, that this TRO, the temporary restraining order, "does not insulate hospitals, doctors, or anyone else from civil or criminal liability violating Texas' abortion laws."

What does that mean for other women in Kate's position? What does that mean for her doctor, who you also represent?

DUANE: Well, I just want to be clear about how stunning this statement from Texas is.

[08:35:02]

This is the attorney general saying that he should be the one practicing medicine rather than the physicians in his state. And that even when a court says that a physician and a patient are in a situation where life-saving care is on the line, I mean Ms. Cox is a mother. She has two young children. She is hopeful to expand her family. She and her husband say that they have always wanted to have a big family. And what the attorney general is saying is that he values this non-viable pregnancy of hers more than her own life and her future children.

And so I just -- looking at how a physician is supposed to operate in this environment, it's absurd. I mean we were in the Texas Supreme Court last week arguing that the intimidation and the fear mongering from the state of Texas has been so intense, the physicians are terrified to rely on the medical exception, which, you know, anti- abortion folks are always touting as, oh, don't worry, there are exceptions. Well, I think we know now, there are no real exceptions. And the attorney general is going to threaten every physician who tries to rely on the exception to provide life-saving care to their patients. And that should be deeply troubling to all citizens of Texas, as well as people around the country.

HARLOW: I think - and this is - Kate is an example. This is much broader, right? If there is not clarity, what does that mean for many women? Your organization represents, for example, a group of 20 women who are seeking to get clarity on what the exceptions actually mean in the Texas law now. What does Kate's case mean for that? And I ask that also pointing to Ken Paxton's letter, another sentence that is so striking is he writes that this order from the court yesterday, quote, "does not enjoin actions brought by private citizens." Remember, Texas has this unique law where private citizens can bring these cases.

DUANE: That's right. And so what we have in Texas is a total abortion ban that subjects physicians to life in prison and loss of their medical license and subjects individual people to hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential fines if vigilantes go after them for helping, in this case, Ms. Cox's husband just wants to help her get the necessary medical care that she needs to save her life and protect her family. And the state of Texas is saying, this order from the court, which explicitly says that it applies to both the vigilante lawsuits under SB-8, and the, you know, severe penalties to physicians under the trigger ban, says to physicians and people in the state that the law doesn't mean anything.

If the attorney general says it's so, he doesn't need to follow what a court of his own state, of which he is an officer and has taken an oath to uphold what it means. You know, I'm a lawyer, just like he is. And I took an oath to follow the laws of this country. And I am, frankly, stunned by what we are seeing out of Texas.

HARLOW: Molly Duane, thank you very much.

DUANE: And I've been litigating there for years.

HARLOW: Thank you very much for being us with. Please keep us posted as this progresses because we haven't seen the attorney general file a writ (ph) yet to take this up to the Texas Supreme Court. So, we'll see. We'll watch closely. But -

DUANE: Well, actually, I have some late breaking news -

HARLOW: OK. Go ahead.

DUANE: I actually have some late breaking news for you there because we -- we received the writ (ph) late last night.

HARLOW: OK.

DUANE: So, I woke up to it in my email box.

HARLOW: Well, that's a big deal.

DUANE: And, you know, as soon as I get - as soon as I get off television with you, I'll be working on our response. So.

HARLOW: Thank you. Thank you. Please come back. Appreciate it.

DUANE: Thanks, Poppy.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the November jobs report has just been released. We're going to break down the numbers and what it means for the economy. That's next.

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[08:42:11] MATTINGLY: Well, just into CNN, about 11 minutes ago, the Labor Department just released the November jobs report. The economy adding 199,000 new jobs last month. Slightly exceeding economists expectations.

Let's get straight to CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon to break down the numbers.

What are we seeing?

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so this is -- we were just talking on the commercial break, is this hot, is this robust? This is robust but certainly cooler than we have seen. So, 199,000, Phil, as you pointed out.

So, the expectation was 180,000, right? And that is pretty much in line with the decade before the pandemic. If you look at the prior two months, October actually remained at 150,000 jobs. September was revised down about 35,000 jobs. So, if you look at sort of where the jobs were added, these were industries like health care, they added jobs, government, manufacturing added jobs.

Now, part of the boost this month is, of course, those striking workers that have - exactly, that have come off the payroll. So, you think about the auto workers, for example. You think about the actors who have come off the payrolls. So, that is sort of boosting the top line number.

We did see some declines in retail trade. Wages increased. This is, of course, huge for the Fed. Wages increased on a monthly basis 0.4 percent. Unemployment, this is something that Citibank, for example, said is the most important aspect of this report. Unemployment edged down slightly. So, it went from 3.9 percent to 3.7 percent. And if you're thinking, well, I feel like I've heard you say that a lot over the last year, you have, because unemployment has been stuck in this range of about 3.4 to, let's call it, 3.9 for the last 18 months. So we're still in that range.

But this is still a tight labor market. The Fed meets next week. The last I checked, the markets weren't super thrilled with this report. They actually dipped on this report. Yes, I mean, they're marginally lower. But this is a - this is a labor markets that is still tight, robust, but maybe not so hot, as you called it, Phil.

HARLOW: So hot. Chugging along consistently, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yes.

HARLOW: Thank you, Rahel.

MATTINGLY: Well, drugs, escorts, luxury hotels and exotic cars. Hunter Biden facing nine federal criminal charges for allegedly failing to pay millions in taxes. CNN's Dana Bash is going to join us next to discuss what comes next for the president's son.

Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:48:36]

MATTINGLY: Well, Donald Trump has been using his legal woes as fuel for his campaign. The clear Republican frontrunner set to testify in his $250 million civil fraud trial on Monday. He's already taking the opportunity to raise money for his White House bid. Trump left the courtroom in New York yesterday calling the case a, quote, "political witch hunt" and saying that the cases are actually helping his poll numbers.

HARLOW: This all comes as Hunter Biden, President Biden's son, is now facing nine new federal criminal charges. He is accused of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes from 2016 to 2019 and instead spending that money on things like drugs, escorts, pornography and luxury hotels. Again, there is no allegation in the 56-page indictment against President Biden, but it could have major political implications for him.

CNN anchor and chief political correspondent Dana Bash joins us now.

Dana, good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Happy Friday.

HARLOW: Where would - where would you like to begin? On which, the former president or the current president's son? It's just amazing the collision course here of the courtroom and the, you know, campaign trial.

BASH: That's exactly what I was thinking. As you were introing the topics, I was thinking, you know, this is precisely what Republicans are hoping, which is to conflate these two issues. But as you absolutely correctly pointed out, this is about the son of a president, the son and the now president when this happened weren't even -- President Biden wasn't even in office at the time.

[08:50:09]

And also the notion of Hunter Biden and these tax issues, they have been around for a very long time. And this is a really big deal. I'm not trying to suggest that it's not. The idea that he is being prosecuted.

The politics of it are definitely in the eye of the beholder. Let's just start with Hunter Biden. As unprecedented as this is, this huge indictment against Hunter Biden, Republicans say that this is the Biden Justice Department actually defending him. Why? Because they argue that this is trying to throw under the rug the notion of other people in the Biden orbit doing something wrong, despite not having proof, particularly, that we have seen when it comes to President Biden.

On the other hand, guys, you have Donald Trump for -- who this is about, it's not about his kid, it's about him and this is the most important thing to him, it's his entire life, it's quite literally his brand and his business and he is defending it. It is not criminal, it is civil, but it will have large implications for him on how he can and cannot do his job, which is already -- the company is already deeply troubled because of the politics that have gone into his life over the past almost ten years.

So, it is interesting that we have this juxtaposition, but it is important, again, as you pointed out, Poppy, to say how different these two cases are.

HARLOW: Yes.

MATTINGLY: Dana, I'm going to be selfish for a minute because one of the coolest parts about my job is I can get political insight from you anytime I want via text message to your phone. What I want to talk to you about is I've seen pictures of what you're doing on Sunday night, some of the reporting that went into it. In fact, we have a clip of it and I want people to watch.

BASH: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD COSELL: And here comes Billie Jean King.

BASH: A massive television audience, 90 million people worldwide watched as she made a dramatic entrance onto the court.

BILLIE JEAN KING, TENNIS LEGEND: I didn't see the King-Riggs match until 25 years after the match.

BASH: Really?

KING: Yes, and I wish I had seen it, though, because it was so clear in 1973 where we're at. Howard Cosell talked about only my looks.

COSELL: A very attractive young lady and sometimes you get the feeling that if she ever let her hair grow down to her shoulders, took her glasses off, you'd have somebody vying for a Hollywood screen test.

KING: Only my looks. He talked about Bobby's -- you know, what'd done, like Hall of Famer, all his accomplishments, right?

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MATTINGLY: This is the latest of your series called "Being." It's with Billie Jean King. Tell us everything about it without spoiling the actual episode itself.

BASH: Well, I mean, it's -- what an honor to be able to spend time with this legend. You don't have to be a sports fan to absolutely -- particularly for women -- benefit from everything that she did. This - we're ending 2023, this is a milestone year for her for many reasons. It was 50 years ago that the King/Riggs match, which she was talking to, happened. Battle of the sexes, which she won, of course. It was 50 years ago that she fought for and got equal pay, equal prize money at the U.S. Open.

And, guys, I was at the U.S. Open with Billie Jean King. And you know who we ran into there? Coco Gauff. And it was two weeks before she actually won the U.S. Open. We have a moment that we were able to kind of witness where the two of them interacted about equality and also about the game of tennis. Billie Jean King gave Coco Gauff some - some pointers. And, again, two weeks later, she won and thanked Billy Jean for the push, the successful push, for getting equal prize money. She got a $3 million check, the same as the men. We talk about a lot. I'm really excited for everybody to see this. She (INAUDIBLE) short hair.

MATTINGLY: And that was the picture - that was the picture I had seen. And I was like, I need to know what happened there.

Dana, we love you. Thank you. We cannot wait to watch.

Be sure to tune in, "Being Billie Jean King."

BASH: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: As we noted, it airs on Sunday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

HARLOW: See you soon, Dana. Congrats.

For many this time of year is, of course, about giving back. That's what it should be for everyone, right? But "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" salutes ten extraordinary people who put others first all year long. The star studded gala airs live this Sunday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sunday on CNN.

[08:55:02]

ESTEFANIA REBELLON, YES WE CAN WORLD FOUNDATION: We provide bilingual education for migrant and refugee children at the U.S./Mexico border.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Support the extraordinary people making a difference in our world.

MIKE GOLDBERG, I.CARE: We are rebuilding the coral reefs here in the Florida Keys.

OSEI BOATENG, OKB-HOPE FOUNDATION: I'm going to ensure that people in Ghana have access to health care.

DR. KWANE STEWART, PROJECT STREET VET: If I see a pet in need, and a person who cares for them dearly.

ADAM PEARCE, LOVEYOURBRAIN: Trauma can be a pathway for growth.

ALVIN IRBY, BARBERSHOP BOOKS: We install child friendly reading space in the barbershop.

YASMINE ARRINGTON BROOKS, SCHOLARCHIPS: We all are connected because of the shared experience of having an incarcerated parent.

STACEY BUCKNER, OFF-ROAD OUTREACH: There should be no homeless vets, period, none.

TESCHA HAWLEY, DAY EAGLE HOPE PROJECT: I don't want to be defined as a victim of my circumstances.

MAMA SHU, AVALON VILLAGE: I do want to make sure that they get all the attention and love that they deserve.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute, Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

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HARLOW: Grab your box of tissues. You will cry in the best way. It's going to be quite a show. You don't want to miss it. So, get your family, turn on the TV, you're going to love it.

MATTINGLY: One of the best nights of the year.

Everybody have a great weekend.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right after this break.

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