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CNN This Morning

Woman Awaiting Texas Supreme Court Ruling on Abortion; Poll: Trump Maintains Sizeable Lead in Iowa; House Republicans Delay Aid Package to Israel and Ukraine Over Funding for U.S. Border Security; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Meet with President Biden and Members of Congress; U.N. Criticized for Not Condemning Sexual War Crimes by Hamas against Women in Israel Earlier. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 11, 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]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: It may just be $40 million to $50 million per years, so that helps them out on the MLB competitive balance tax, allows the team to spend more on other players. So there is that. So Ohtani is a giver, not just a taker.

But just to put this back in perspective. Money and salaries and incomes, $70 million per year. The median household income is just about $75,000 per year. So I don't think it really matters to most people. He's just getting paid a lot of money.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: I also hear he's a pretty nice guy, right?

ENTEN: He's a very nice guy.

HARLOW: That's what Phil tells me.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Very nice guy. He's worth it.

ENTEN: Phil knows nice people.

MATTINGLY: He's a once in a generation. Harry, I love we're talking baseball. Let's talk baseball every day.

ENTEN: Yes.

HARLOW: Or not.

MATTINGLY: CNN THIS MORNING continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY, (D-CT) FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Vladimir Putin is delighting right now in Republicans insistence that we get a deal on immigration reform, and if we don't, then they are going to allow Vladimir Putin to march into Ukraine, and perhaps into Europe. I think this is one of the most dangerous moments that I've ever faced in American politics, and I wish Republicans weren't holding Israel aid and aid to Ukraine hostage to the resolution of immigration reform. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: That is U.S. Senator Chris Murphy with quite a warning there as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is getting ready to head to Washington as Congress remains deadlocked on sending more military aid to his country.

MATTINGLY: He is set to meet with President Biden, the entire Senate, and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson tomorrow. The Biden administration has been repeatedly sounding the alarm for weeks about funding for Ukraine running dry and the dire consequences of that happening. Time quickly running out for Capitol Hill to reach any kind of deal before lawmakers leave town for the holiday. And Zelenskyy's trip already facing pushback from some Republicans. Ohio Senator J.D. Vance had this to say, quote, "In the midst of a historic border crisis, Zelenskyy will come to Washington and demand that Congress care more about his border than our own.

CNN White House correspondent Arlette Saenz joins us now. Arlette, does the White House feel like this visit and its high profile could change the dynamics of these negotiations?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they certainly hope so, Phil. And Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is often viewed as the best advocate for his own country's needs, and the White House is hoping by having Zelenskyy here in Washington, that that will apply some additional pressure on lawmakers up on Capitol Hill.

Now, Zelenskyy will meet here at the White House with President Biden, but he also will have a series of meetings up on Capitol Hill tomorrow. That includes a meeting with all senators, and then he will have a one-on-one meeting also with the new House Speaker Mike Johnson. Mike Johnson has argued that in order for this aid to be passed, the administration still needs to explain more about the path forward in Ukraine as well as including any -- or including border policy changes to any additional funding that has passed.

Those border policy changes have really been at the sticking point of these talks over Ukraine aid and aid for Israel, and that is an argument that was echoed by GOP senators over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD, (R-OK): It started with the Biden administration saying that we need to do a national security package that has Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and the border. Right now, the push and pull is really a political push and pull rather than it is anything else.

SEN. J.D. VANCE, (R-OH): What is the end goal here? How long does this go until the president can articulate the answer to those questions? I don't know why we would write another blank check.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, senators have been working for weeks trying to come up with some type of agreement when it comes to potential border policy changes. President Biden himself has said that he is open to making some changes on that front. Senator Chris Murphy had also suggested that the White House could become more engaged in those conversations in the coming week. But the White House has really been trying to make clear to lawmakers that time is running out to pass this additional aid, and they are hoping that having Zelenskyy here in Washington will help move those conversations along.

HARLOW: We'll see if it does. What about this new polling this morning from key battleground states like Michigan and Georgia that do not look good for President Biden? I wonder if the White House is responding at all this morning?

SAENZ: Well, the common refrain you hear from the White House and the campaign often about these polls is that they're not focused on these polls one year out. They're not necessarily predictive of the final outcome. And there's a belief within the campaign that the choice in the 2024 election will come into sharper focus once Biden starts making those contrasts a bit more, and as the Republican field becomes a little bit more set.

But these numbers in both Georgia and Michigan that show President Biden trailing GOP candidates certainly presents some of the challenges that Biden will face heading into that 2024 election at a time when Americans' views on the economy still remain pessimistic. So there still is a lot of work for the Biden campaign and the administration to do as they're trying to move the needle with voters with less than a year to go.

HARLOW: Arlette at the White House, thanks very much.

MATTINGLY: And joining us now, CNN senior global affairs analyst Bianna Golodryga, and senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations and "Washington Post" columnist Max Boot. Guys, thanks for joining us. Bianna, I was struck -- I was thinking back to literally less than a year ago, joint session of Congress, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, standing ovations repeatedly given by members of Congress, a Ukrainian flag from the battlefield, and vice versa, a surprise visit to the White House.

[08:05:10]

And how did we get from there to here?

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SECURITY GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I was just going to bring up that speech last year not only because I was home watching it with COVID and wished that I could have been working here as we were covering it, but also because you think about what's happened in that period of time since where you have Zelenskyy coming back, not making a joint speech between the joint session of Congress again, but actually having to -- I mean, lack for a better word, beg the president and beg Congress for additional aid now.

And you see what's happened in that country since. It hasn't helped that their counteroffensive hasn't gone according to plan. And they're fighting over whether you call it a stalemate or not now at this point, but there's internal division even among Ukrainians, and Zelenskyy himself, his popularity has gone down. But this has become a critical issue here in the United States where you not only have Republicans who are questioning whether there can be additional aid and funding going to Ukraine, but new polls suggest that even some Democrats think that the U.S. is spending too much money on Ukraine.

HARLOW: Yes. I was just going to bring that up. Max, a majority of Americans think too much than not enough, whether you look at the FT poll Phil brought up yesterday, or the Pew poll, or the NBC poll, or the A.P. poll. That's really interesting, as you have a new column that says you are ashamed to be an American on this point. Why do you think that the majority of the public is moving in the direction that Bianna mentioned than the other way?

MAX BOOT, COLUMNIST, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Well, clearly we live in a short attention span society, and after a couple of years, people are tired of the war. They would like to move on. Ukrainians would like to move on, too, but they can't move on because they had this genocidal invader occupying about 20 percent of their country and trying to take the rest of it. So they have no choice but to keep fighting.

And I think -- to me, I wrote I'm ashamed that there are so many Americans who want to betray our Ukrainian allies, just as there were so many in 1941 who wanted to betray Great Britain as it was battling the Nazis. I think we have to stay the course. And it's true the Ukrainian offensive did not generate as many gains as been hoped this summer, and the war is to some extent is stalemate. But it's not destined to stay a stalemate. If they don't provide Ukraine the ammunition it needs, the Russians can break through. And right now, they can kill people in Ukraine's cities unless we keep supplying the air defense weapons that Ukraine needs to keep itself safe.

HARLOW: And it's not just the United States. Europe and our allies are watching what happens here closely too because they're having the same issues with stockpiles being depleted in terms of weapons. Weapon production and procurement, we know, takes a long time. So even if we do give them the funding now, it will be months before any weapons do land in Ukrainian hands. And so if you are a European ally and you're dealing with similar issues at home, by the way, with even worsening economies than the U.S. economy because that does seem to be the number one concern among voters saying we're spending too much money in aiding Ukraine. Not because they don't think that Ukraine is on the right side of history here, but because they're concerned about the economy here at home.

GOLODRYGA: And that's why Blinken to the OMB director this weekend, the rationale changed, and their line now is 90 percent of the money you spend on new things for Ukraine goes to the U.S. and American jobs. It's an interesting shift.

BOOT: It's also -- keep in mind, it's not that -- yes, it's a lot of money in absolute terms, but not in the context of a $6 trillion federal budget. We're talking about the current request for Ukraine is one-tenth of one percent of federal spending. And it's the possible investment we could make because we're investing in our own security because the Ukrainians are fighting the Russians for us and we're not risking a single American soldier on the battlefield. And the Ukrainians are destroying, they're decimating the Russian military so it can't threaten its neighbors in Europe, can't threaten us. It's a great investment, and it's a pittance in the overall pool of federal spending.

MATTINGLY: Bianna, I want to ask you. Secretary Blinken also talked a lot this weekend or was asked a lot about what's happening in Israel right now, U.S. support for Israel and concerns in Israel as well. But also, I want to play some sound related to something that you have been covering a lot over the course of the last couple of weeks. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Atrocities that we saw on October 7th are almost beyond human description or beyond our capacity to digest. And we've talked about them before, but the sexual violence that we saw on October 7th is beyond anything that I've seen either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: What happens now, right? If you and Jake and a lot of our colleagues that have drawn a lot of attention to this, it feels like everybody is talking about it who should have been talking about it from the very beginning, and that's not the State Department. They have. Where does it go? You acknowledge the reality. Are there investigations? Are there prosecutions? How does this work?

GOLODRYGA: The investigations in Israel do continue. They have been hoping to bring in more international bodies to help further these investigations and condemn the atrocities committed by Hamas.

[08:10:06]

It was a good first step nearly two months later to have U.N. Women speak out and condemn it and to have Antonio Guterres condemn it. But remember, when you talk about that ceasefire resolution vote on Friday in the Security Council, the focus was on the ceasefire, but the body itself has not in its language condemned Hamas yet, which was one of the reasons why the United States has vetoed it.

HARLOW: I'm glad you said that. It's a big deal.

GOLODRYGA: You can't it an independent body. Anybody who views the United Nations -- and I'm sorry I have to say this. That's why one of the reasons Jake asked the question to Blinken, do you think there may be some concerns about antisemitism here, because the fact that you have a body like the United Nations Security Council, very rich that Russia sits on this as well, that can't condemn Hamas for the atrocities speaks volumes.

HARLOW: Thank you both. Max, Bianna, appreciate it.

MATTINGLY: A surprise move from Donald Trump deciding not to testify today in his civil trial. More on his decision ahead. HARLOW: Also, a pregnant woman in Texas, her health is on the line,

and she is waiting to find out if she will be allowed to have an abortion that her doctor deems is necessary for her own health. Her attorneys in studio with us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: This morning, a Dallas woman is seeking an abortion and is, quote, on pins and needles according to her attorney as she waits for a court decision on her unprecedented challenge to one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the United States. The Texas Supreme Court is blocking, at least for now, Kate Cox's court-approved exception for the state's abortion ban. It said the case will remain pending before them.

[08:15:00]

They did not give a timeline for when they'll make a final decision and time is not on Kate Cox's side.

She is now 21 weeks pregnant, but her doctor says her baby is suffering from a rare genetic condition that is almost always fatal, and that Kate's own health as a mother is also at risk if she carries to term.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton petitioned the High Court to intervene after a lower court judge ruled that indeed Cox could move forward with terminating her pregnancy.

In just a matter of days, Cox has gone from being approved to now in limbo waiting for a court to decide.

Joining us now in studio is her attorney -- the attorney for Kate Cox and for her doctor, Molly Duane, senior staff attorney for the Center of Reproductive Rights. We just talked to you on Friday.

Thank you for being with us.

What a development over the weekend, and you have said after the Supreme Court issued this, by the way with no explanation, they just issued this, that you fear that what you call justice delayed will be justice denied. What do you mean?

MOLLY DUANE, SENIOR STAFF ATTORNEY, CENTER OF REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: Well, while a week may be a very short amount of time for a court is a very long amount of time for a real patient in a medical crisis. I mean, think about how you would feel?

You get this order saying yes, my abortion can go forward. My doctor can give me the life-saving care, an abortion, which is what I need right now and then, all of a sudden a court steps in and says on a Friday night, we need more time to think about it.

Now, it has been all weekend that Kate has been waiting. She and I have been in constant contact. She spent most of the weekend in bed. I mean, think about how you would feel in that situation? This is why it is completely untenable for patients to have to come to

court and ask for court authorization for life-saving medical care. It's simply outrageous and people should be outraged by what is happening in Texas right now.

HARLOW: For some people, if they haven't been following this case, Kate already has children and wants to be able to have more. She is concerned, if she carries this baby to term, she won't. She'll be precluded from having more children.

But you're talking about the difference between a doctor making this decision, which is what her doctor did versus a judge. But what's interesting is the writ that the AG of Texas filed to the Texas Supreme Court to get this decision so far in his favor.

Here's how the writ begins: "The judiciary is called upon to serve in black robes, not white coats, and it must be vigilant to stay in its lane and remember its role." So, he is saying the courtroom shouldn't decide, the doctor should decide. But indeed he's asking a court to decide.

DUANE: I mean, actually, what he is saying is that physicians in Texas shouldn't be practicing Medicine, Ken Paxton is practicing Medicine, because that's what he wants.

He wants to review her medical records. He wants to decide if he thinks she's sick enough, and I think that what this goes to show is that when people tout the medical exemptions to abortion bans as meaning that the abortion bans are okay and that people who really need care are still getting it, that's a lie. It's just not true.

HARLOW: Let's take this bigger picture then, Kate, she represents what could be many women. You have a case before the High Court in Texas trying to get clarity on what those exceptions mean. You're representing 20 different women.

There is something in this filing that Ken Paxton brought to the Texas Supreme Court that stood out to me, and I want to understand it. He wrote: "Texas' medical expert stated that Miss Cox did not meet the necessary requirements in the medical exemption." Did that -- who is that medical expert? Did they examine Kate Cox? Her doctor did.

DUANE: No this is the same medical expert that testified in the Zurawski versus Texas case and said that actually, this should be left to the judgment of patients and physicians, and that what has been happening in Texas for the last two years while these abortion bans have been in place is creating substandard care because physicians are terrified. That's her language "terrified."

She said it's the blind leading the blind because when you're talking about life in prison and loss of your medical license, physicians can't take a chance when Ken Paxton is going to threaten them.

HARLOW: Speak to that.

So his original letter to the hospitals after Kate was briefly allowed to go get this abortion stated that: To the hospitals. This order from the court will not insulate you or anyone else from civil or criminal liability, including first-degree felony prosecution."

First-degree felony prosecution in Texas is a minimum five years in prison and maximum 99 years. That's why you mean these doctors could face life in prison.

DUANE: That's what he is saying, and I want people to really understand what that letter means. That is, as far as I can tell, directly flouting a court order and saying I, Ken Paxton get to decide, and we're talking first agree. He wants to put physicians in prison for their entire life.

HARLOW: But Molly, what legal remedy do you have? You're betting on the text from court. That's all you've got, right?

DUANE: Well, I mean, there are a lot of levers in this country to pull and I am a lawyer, I operate in the courts. The Texas Supreme Court is the supreme law of the land when it comes to the law of Texas and we are still hopeful that the Texas Supreme Court will recognize this as the unprecedented matter that it is.

But for Kate, I'm still just really focused on getting her the health care that she needs.

[08:20:06]

HARLOW: And if they don't, if the court does not agree with you and Kate, what does this mean for women across the state of Texas? Is this the new normal?

DUANE: I wouldn't call it the new normal because what Kate has done here, putting herself out there, letting everyone including the attorney general and physicians who haven't even examined her opine on her medical situation, that is a stunning and brave thing to do and 99 percent of women will be unable to do that.

I think what Kate's case shows is that abortion is medical care. It is urgent, essential health care, and it should be left to physicians, in conjunction with their patients and their families to decide what's right for every patient.

Would you want Ken Paxton in the medical room with you? I don't think so.

HARLOW: Molly Duane, thank you. Please keep us posted as this progresses.

DUANE: Thanks so much for your time.

HARLOW: Appreciate your time very much -- Phil.

MATTINGLY: New polling just out of Iowa this morning highlighting the grip Donald Trump has on the Republican Party. We're going to break down the new numbers, next. HARLOW: Also, pressure growing on Harvard's president should resign

after her testimony on antisemitism on Capitol Hill, but now hundreds of Harvard faculty members defending her this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:24:06]

HARLOW: Well, new this morning, new CNN polling from two crucial battleground states, it shows President Biden trailing former President Trump in Georgia, a state Biden carried by a narrow margin in 2020.

[08:25:18]

Today, registered voters there say they prefer Trump over Biden by five points; and in Michigan, which went for Trump in 2016 then Biden in 2020, our poll shows Trump 10 points up.

Note, that a full 10 percent of those polled in each state say they wouldn't support either candidate.

MATTINGLY: Also new this morning, the Des Moines Register has a new poll on the GOP race in Iowa. Donald Trump maintains a sizable lead, 51 percent; Ron DeSantis in second place with 19 percent, ahead of Nikki Haley who is in third with 16 percent.

Now keep in mind, that poll coming with just five weeks until the Iowa caucuses. The Florida governor has been going on the attack recently taking some swipes at Trump even while campaigning over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is running, if you listen to the stuff he is saying about personal retribution, and about himself and his own issues.

I'm not running about my issues. I'm running about your issues. I'm running about your family. That's going to be the focus for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Joining us now politics and State House reporter for "The Des Moines Register," Stephen Gruber-Miller.

Stephen, we appreciate your time this morning.

The poll itself, when you dig in, I was trying to compare it to the October poll, what's changed? Clearly, Trump still with a very sizable lead. What stood out to you about where things stand in the race here?

STEPHEN GRUBER-MILLER, POLITICS AND STATE HOUSE REPORTER FOR "THE DES MOINES REGISTER": Yes, as we've seen some candidates drop out of the race, we've really just seen Trump's lead widen over his opponents.

What we see now is for the first time, he has a majority support among likely Republican caucus goers in Iowa. Before, he was in the 40s; now he's above 50 percent. That's significant.

We also see the battle for second place continuing with Ron DeSantis, at 19, like you said, and Nikki Haley at 16. This doesn't represent a whole lot of movement for either of them and it comes after DeSantis in particular has some big endorsements from Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, and a lot of other leading state figures.

So they still have some room to grow here. They need to grow to catch Trump.

Traditionally, Iowa caucus goers decided really late in the game, so that might benefit a challenger. But in this poll, we see that 70 percent of Trump supporters already have their minds made up, whereas for DeSantis, it is only about 30 percent and just a little more than that for Nikki Haley. So the Trump supporters seem to be locked in.

One other stat that I would note is among new caucus goers, people who have not caucused before, Trump has a five to one lead over DeSantis, 63 percent support among first time caucus goers to DeSantis' 12.

HARLOW; How do you explain that, Stephen?

GRUBER-MILLER: Yes, so I mean, part of what can make the caucuses unpredictable is candidates who are able to bring in a large number of new first time caucus goers. You'd think of Barack Obama or Bernie Sanders who rode a wave of momentum from people who hadn't gone to the caucus process before, they hadn't traditionally participated.

In this case, like I said, Trump has a commanding lead among those people who haven't gone out of their way to go to a caucus on a Monday night before. So you know, if the other candidates' theory of the race is that they're going to bring in new people and expand the electorate to cut into the base that Trump has, what we're seeing is the opposite.

MATTINGLY: Stephen, five weeks out from the caucuses, every campaign is telling you how amazing their operation is, how they've got the secret sauce behind-the-scenes to change the dynamics of what you're seeing in the polls.

When you look kind of underneath the hood here, are the operations -- who's got the best operation? Is there one that stands out to you right now?

GRUBER-MILLER: You know, they've all got their strengths, right? I mean, DeSantis has had a lot of people in Iowa with never back down. He's got a lot of people knocking doors. They've collected a lot of data from Iowans and they've made relationships over the last few months.

Nikki Haley just got a big endorsement from Americans for Prosperity Action. So they have dozens of door knockers and about 10 paid staffers around the state who are doing work on her behalf.

But I talked to a Republican operative recently who said Trump doesn't get enough credit for his ground game. He has really professionalized his operation from 2016. They don't -- they are not flashy about it, they let the candidate do the talking. But they're out there talking to Iowans and they've built up a lot of data and information that's going to help them turn out voters on caucus night.

HARLOW: Let's show folks a little clip from a new ad that Ron DeSantis has just targeted to Iowa voters going after Nikki Haley. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OVER: When you read Nikki's lips, what you're reading is fiction. You can't trust Tricky Nikki.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Tricky Nikki, he has got a nickname for her. How do you think that plays among Iowa voters?

GRUBER-MILLER: Yes, well I talked to Iowa voters yesterday at Nikki Haley events who said they wish that the candidates would stop attacking each other so much, right? They want to know what the candidates are for, not to see them put down other people.

But I will say the dynamic between Haley and DeSantis, I mean, DeSantis has gone all-in on Iowa, right? He needs to do a strong showing in Iowa to prove that he's viable beyond as a Trump challenger; Haley has sort of taken a slightly different approach. She has -- you know, better performances in New Hampshire and South Carolina, hopefully to look forward to in her perspective.

So, you know, does she need to get second place in Iowa? I don't know. She wants to do well, certainly. But it's sort of that battle of second place where Haley feels like if she can take that mantle, there is no case for DeSantis and DeSantis really needs that second place spot.

[08:30:48]