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CNN This Morning

Today, Trump Rallies in Iowa as Haley, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) Attack; Today, Biden to Give Speech on Democracy and Freedom; Maersk to Divert All Vessels from Red Sea. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired January 05, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Backed groups targeting more ships near American troops.

[07:00:03]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: ISIS is now claiming responsibility for a pair of deadly explosions in Iran.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Time is running out to get a solution along the northern border.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dangerous unlawful behavior requires collective action.

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, a good Friday morning, everyone. It's the top of the hour. I'm Phil Mattingly.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Audie Cornish here in New York. Poppy Harlow is off today.

Right now, the countdown to the Iowa caucuses is on.

MATTINGLY: And Donald Trump is getting ready to make his big return to the state with two rallies today as he seeks a dominant victory in just ten days. His top rivals, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, are escalating their attacks on the former president as they struggle to chip away at his massive lead.

In back-to-back town halls in Des Moines, right here on CNN last night, DeSantis and Haley both made the case to Iowa voters that Republicans will lose in November if Trump is the nominee.

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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Democrats want Trump to be the candidate. They are going to talk about all the legal stuff. January 6th, that will be what the election will be about.

NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Chaos follows him, and we can't have a country in disarray and a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos. We won't survive it. And you don't defeat Democrat chaos with Republican chaos.

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CORNISH: CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Des Moines with the highlights from last night's dueling town halls. And, Jeff, as we said, the countdown is now. How are they going to change the dynamics of this race?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Audie and Phil. Well, you can just hear those arguments there, really making strong warnings to Republicans about the idea of re-electing or re-nominating Donald Trump.

Ron DeSantis was talking about the failed agenda of the Trump administration. Nikki Haley was talking about the chaos that a Trump presidency would bring. They were not really going after one another, as they have been, as their attack ads have been, but they're clearly making an argument for a new generation of leaders in a party, though, that is still led by Donald Trump.

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HALEY: It is time to move past President Trump and it is time to start focusing on how to strengthen America.

DESANTIS: You don't want it to be a referendum on Trump and the past. You want it to be a referendum on Biden's failures.

ZELENY (voice over): Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, sharpening their arguments against Donald Trump and one another. Ten days until Iowa voters rendered the first judgments of the Republican presidential race.

In back-to-back CNN town halls last night, DeSantis raising questions about Trump's electability and the uncertainty surrounding the mounting legal challenges against the former president.

DESANTIS: Whatever may be beneficial in the primary doesn't mean it's beneficial in the general election. And I think a 2024 election where the Democrats get to run against a candidate that is going through all this stuff, that is going to give the Democrats an advantage.

ZELENY: Haley arguing she's the most electable Republican candidate of all.

HALEY: Americans don't want another nail-biter of an election. And that's what we'll get. Look at any of the polls.

ZELENY: Even as she sought to put to rest a controversy that's been following her, over failing to say that slavery sparked the Civil War.

HALEY: I had black friends growing up. It is a very talked about thing. We have a big history in South Carolina when it comes to, you know, slavery, when it comes to all the things that happened with the Civil War, all that. I was over -- I was thinking past slavery and talking about the lesson that we would learn going forward. I shouldn't have done that. I should have said slavery.

ZELENY: In the aftermath of a deadly shooting Thursday at an Iowa high school just 30 miles away from the site of the town hall, DeSantis and Haley both said new gun laws weren't the answer.

HALEY: Instead of living in fear, let's do something about it. We have got to deal with the cancer that is mental health. We have to.

ZELENY: DeSantis said he supports a Florida proposal to eliminate a three-day waiting period to buy a firearm, a law passed following the 2018 shooting at Parkland High School that killed 17 people.

DESANTIS: You shouldn't have to be on a mandatory waiting period. Instant checks will do the job.

ZELENY: From immigration to the economy to foreign policy, the Republican rivals presented their own views, rarely criticizing one another to the degree they have on the campaign trail.

DESANTIS: Biden's weakness invited a lot of the problems that we're seeing around the world.

When I'm president, it's going to be totally different. We're going to lay down very clear markers, and people are going to know don't mess with the USA.

ZELENY: Haley drew gentle boos from the audience at Grandview University in Des Moines --

HALEY: Oh my gosh.

ZELENY: -- over a statement she made earlier this week in New Hampshire.

HALEY: You know Iowa starts it, you know that you correct it, you know that you continue to go --

ZELENY: With a smile, she downplayed that comment.

HALEY: New Hampshire makes fun of Iowa. Iowa makes fun of South Carolina. It's what we do. So, I mean, I think the problem in politics now is it's just like too serious and too dramatic.

ZELENY: Haley and DeSantis are locked in an increasingly bitter fight to emerge as the leading alternative to Trump.

[07:05:02]

Their collision course has left Trump in a frontrunner's lane of his own as he heads back to Iowa today. He's eyeing more than a victory in the caucuses. He's looking for a decisive one. Trump's advisers tell CNN, complacency among his supporters poses a bigger challenge than any of his rivals.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We got to be sure that we put this thing away. The poll numbers are scary because we're leading by so much. The key is you have to get out and vote.

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ZELENY (on camera): So, for all the criticism of Donald Trump, one thing not mentioned was the January 6th insurrection, with the exception of one voter asking about patriotism. But Ron DeSantis did make an interesting point. He said, look, all of the legal challenges facing the former president may rally his base for the primary but will be a negative in the general election campaign.

Now, all of that is coming into clear view today as Donald Trump comes back to Iowa and President Biden on the campaign trail as well, talking about that very thing. January 6th, of course, the anniversary of that is tomorrow.

So, guys, with ten days until the voting begins here, you get the sense that time is running a bit short, but there are also many open minds. That's what Haley and DeSantis last night were trying to do, to try and close some of them. Guys?

MATTINGLY: The sprint is on. Jeff Zeleny from Des Moines, thank you.

And next Wednesday at 9:00 p.m., Eastern, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderate CNN's Republican presidential debate live from Iowa. You got to tune into that.

CORNISH: President Biden will travel to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, today to deliver a major campaign speech revolving around tomorrow's third anniversary of the Capitol insurrection. It comes as he prepares for a possible rematch in November with Trump.

Biden's using the Revolutionary War landmark as a backdrop to send the message that the former president is a danger to democracy.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is at the White House. Good morning. And I want to start with this moment for the Biden campaign as he tries to use this anniversary to kick off his case for a second term.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, he's going to use this moment to set the stakes for the 2024 election. Protecting American democracy has been the centerpiece of the president's campaign. And he's going to illustrate that in his speech today by calling back the January 6th insurrection and also the threat that former President Trump poses to democracy.

And if you recall, back in 2020, the president also did this in his bid for the White House and calling for the battle of the soul of the nation. And in his re-election video just last year, when he announced that he would run again in 2024, he started that video with images of January 6.

And what campaign officials say now is that the threat is so much more urgent, saying in a statement, quote, the president will make the case directly that democracy and freedom, two powerful ideas that united the 13 colonies and that generations throughout our nation's history have fought and died for, remain central to the fight we're in today.

Now, as you mentioned there, the location of this speech is also important. It's the historic revolutionary war in Valley Forge. That's where George Washington commanded his troops. It's also where the president is going to highlight how Washington, after two terms of his presidency, relinquished power, and that he's drawing the contrast to the former president, who wouldn't accept the 2020 result. And also he'll talk about political violence and the insurrection marking that third anniversary tomorrow.

But what is important here is that the president made the decision to jumpstart his campaign on this issue. It's one that his campaign sees as a potent one, and they're laying the groundwork as they refine their messaging against the former president.

CORNISH: Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much.

MATTINGLY: And joining us now is CNN contributor and Staff Writer at The New Yorker Evan Osnos. Evan has also happened to write a biography of President Biden and knows kind of the ins and outs, particularly over the course of the last eight to ten years that led him to this moment probably better than anyone.

And that's where I want to start with you, because there's connective tissue, and Priscilla got at it from the battle of the soul of the nation and his campaign launch in 2019 to Warm Springs, to Gettysburg, to Philadelphia, you can kind of take it all the way through. Why?

EVAN OSNOS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, for Joe Biden, this is something that began long before January 6th. He had images of the neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville when he announced his candidacy back in 2019. And there, again, you see it now tying into a through line that runs right up into this moment.

Look, the choice to make the first major speech of 2024, of the election year, not about the economy, not about legislation, but about democracy, is to send a very clear message. That is the central arena of the coming year of this campaign.

And, look, I think this is also partly a message to Democrats who, many of whom are worried about his approval ratings, who say, we want to see a feisty, more vigorous response to what is pretty clear now a Donald Trump candidacy steamrolling across the Republican field.

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CORNISH: You know, Donald Trump will actually be in court, I think, on January 9th, he's expected to be in D.C. court talking about being immune from prosecution on charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 election. So, how big a role do you think these court cases could play in this race? Is that something that Biden is going to address head on?

OSNOS: Well, look, Biden has been careful to say -- to keep some bright lines around what he is doing as a candidate when he talks about the threat to American democracy as a fundamental, a sacred issue, as one of his advisers put it the other day, but at the same time not saying that he's getting involved in these legal issues.

We know this is something Americans are concerned about. He's concerned about any perception that he would be interfering. And, look, it is a juggling act.

But I think what is clear now is that after months of Democrats saying, what is this campaign going to hinge on, there is no question. This is about what they call inside the campaign, inside the White House, the freedom agenda, the idea that there is a fundamental assault on American freedoms and that there is a candidate, a Republican likely nominee who is leading that charge.

MATTINGLY: Evan, at the same time that he's going to give these remarks, obviously, tomorrow is the third -- marks the third year since the January 6th attacks. His campaign launching a half million dollar ad by in seven critical battleground states. Take a listen to some of it.

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JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Now, something dangerous happened in America. There's an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy. All of us are being asked right now, what will we do to maintain our democracy?

History is watching. The world is watching. And most importantly, our children and grandchildren will hold us responsible.

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MATTINGLY: I think what I come back to is you talk to Democrats who have a million ideas of what Biden and his team should be talking about right now. And oftentimes it is not democracy. It is not -- it's about economic issues, pocketbook issues, what you're doing to stem inflation, all these types of issues. And Biden always comes back here. And I wonder if that's because he thinks they were wrong the first 15 times or if there's something else he's seeing.

OSNOS: You know, there is an element here that the Biden campaign, Biden and his advisers believed in 2020, and then they believed again in 2022 in the midterm elections, that it was not going to come down to questions of the economy. Yes, people are concerned about inflation and they remain concerned, even as it's come down. They believe that in the end, in the final analysis, Americans will see the prospect of a return of Donald Trump, a return to that America, the one that is pictured in that ad, a gallows in front of the capital, that that, in the end, is the thing that will make people say, I do not want to go back to that.

And it's a subtle acknowledgement that we know, yes, Americans have their dissatisfactions with Joe Biden, but what this ad and what this campaign is going to make the case is this is not just a referendum on Joe Biden. Their view is this is a choice between him and Donald J. Trump.

CORNISH: Evan Osnos, thanks so much. OSNOS: My pleasure.

CORNISH: Now, ISIS has claimed responsibility for Wednesday's deadly twin explosions in Iran. We'll discuss how that attack and others in recent weeks are feeding into fears of war across the Middle East. And former Defense Secretary Mark Esper joins us live next.

MATTINGLY: And we're getting new details this morning about the 17- year-old boy who killed a sixth grader and wounded five other people at his high school in Perry, Iowa.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought she was like exaggerating. I was like, no way, like that couldn't happen. Like you guys just heard something and then, nope, that's what she heard and that's -- it could have been her. She heard three gunshots that could have been pointed out in her direction.

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MATTINGLY: Well, new this morning, global shipping giant Maersk says it will divert all of its vessels from the Red Sea for the, quote, foreseeable future due to significantly elevated security risks. Those ships will now sail around the tip of Africa. Iranian-backed Houthi militants recently attacked several vessels in the Red Sea, including a Maersk ship on Saturday.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, meantime, is heading to the Middle East, aiming to ease rising tensions on several fronts in the region. Just in the past five days alone, the U.S. targeted a pro-Iranian militia commander in Baghdad. ISIS claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack in Iran since the 1979 revolution. Israel is suspected of carrying out a strike in Beirut that killed a senior Hamas leader. And as mentioned in the Red Sea, U.S. Helicopters sank three Houthi boats after coming under fire.

Tensions are rising, but regional players to this point have mostly stayed away from open warfare against Israel or its allies. But as one Middle East expert tells The Washington Post, quote, they're playing a very dangerous game. It's chicken, basically. Any miscalculation, any miscommunication, any accidental strike could trigger a major escalation.

Joining us now to discuss is former Defense Secretary under President Trump Mark Esper. Mr. Secretary, I appreciate your time.

Those warnings have existed since the conflict began in the wake of the October 7th terror attacks, but it feels more acute and dangerous now than ever before. Is that fair?

MARK ESPER, FORMER TRUMP DEFENSE SECRETARY: Yes, I think it is. It's stepped up a notch. As you outlined over the past week or so, some of the events related, some not related, for example, the attack by ISIS in Iran. But, nonetheless, it heightens the tension in the region and it makes the game a little bit more complicated and a little bit more dangerous.

MATTINGLY: We've been talking about the Red Sea a lot. There's a major economic impact. There's obviously a major regional impact to that. There are a lot of people outside of the Biden administration, and you're one of them, that have been urging them to do more, to directly strike the Houthis in Yemen. Why don't they?

ESPER: Yes. Well, first of all, the importance of the Red Sea, it's 12 percent of commercial trade to include a lot of energy. And so anything passing through that waterway is going to now see increased prices and delays. So, it has an economic impact as well.

Now, look, on your question, I don't know exactly why. I think, one, concerned about escalation, which I think is a false concern, but we've seen that same type of mindset in the Ukraine conflict.

[07:20:06]

And then, secondly, I think that they are concerned that somehow if we strike back and take actions against the Houthis in Yemen, that it will upset the truce between the Saudis and Yemenis, that the Biden administration, it seems, is a foreign policy accomplishment.

I don't see that connection. What I see is continuing attacks by the Houthis, regardless of what we say. So, we've been three months now.

The Houthis have attacked, have launched over 100 missiles and cruise missiles. We continue to warn and threaten. Just as recently as Wednesday, the White House sent out a stern warning to the Houthis, and on Thursday, the Houthis launched a remote-controlled boat armed with explosives into the commercial shipping lane.

So, it's clearly not working. And at some point, as you quoted a Middle East expert, something is going to happen. It's going to really escalate things. And my view is we should be attacking the ground targets, the launch pads in Yemen to go after the Houthis before something really big happens.

MATTINGLY: Given the amount of issues that this administration needs to work with Saudi on in this moment, needs their help, needs their assistance, needs them at the table, how much influence do you think they have in their concerns over getting back into a conflict after a lengthy ceasefire play a role in this?

ESPER: Well, they probably don't want to get into a conflict with the Houthis right now. But, again, I don't see the relationship between the United States responding to attack against merchant vessels and arguably against U.S. Navy ships in the water south of Yemen is somehow impacting that truce. I mean, the Houthis have said very clearly that they're going to continue to do what they're doing as long as Israel continues its assault into Gaza.

So, how long are we going to wait? How many attacks are we going to suffer? And how much shipping is going to be impacted before we respond?

I think if you take out the launchers, if you take out the launch pads, you have an impact, you can impose some cost on them. And maybe they'll think twice about launching more rockets, missiles, cruise missiles at commercial ships.

MATTINGLY: We've had a lot of discussions over the course of the last several weeks when it comes to this topic, very critical topic, about proportionality, whether something is reciprocal, the back and forth. And my question has always been, how do you know what that line is? And what happens if somebody makes a mistake?

You were inside the Pentagon. You were inside the building. You were in these discussions in the situation room with national security officials. Is there a chart? How do you know? Like where the red line is, where this won't cause a reaction, this won't cause an escalation?

ESPER: Well, there's no formula, per se, but it's composed of a number of factors, you know, your own capabilities, what the battle damage assessment may or may not be, the impact on regional players, what the odds are of escalation, what are the odds that you'll restore deterrence. I think there are a number of factors to play in here.

But, again, I think if you look around multiple conflicts, you see a hesitancy by the Biden administration to do things that might otherwise reduce escalation, whether it's here in this conflict, and not just with regard to the Houthis, but let's talk about Iraq, Syria, Southern Lebanon, other places where -- particularly Iraq and Syria, where American forces have been attacked over a hundred some times, and we've only responded six or seven. The same is true in Ukraine, with us restraining the Ukrainians or not providing the weapons they need when they wanted it to go after Russia. So, I can't explain that mindset.

MATTINGLY: Yes. I mean, I do think the drone strike in Baghdad going after a very specific leader was a level that we hadn't seen this administration go before.

I do want to ask you before I let you go, though. A new report from Democrats in the House Oversight Committee said 24 in governments, including China and Saudi Arabia, paid $7.8 million to Trump business entities during his presidency. It's one of the things everybody was always trying to figure out during his presidency, the influence, and when people were staying at hotels or businesses. Does that concern you, given the influence operations, the countries like China run?

ESPER: Well, first of all, back to the other comments you made, I do agree that I think the Biden administration's attack on the militia leader in Baghdad was significant. I think it was good. I was surprised that they did it within Baghdad. There are a number of factors there at play that we were always concerned about getting U.S. forces kicked out of Iraq. And there's a few reasons why we need to be there, I think.

But, look, on the second thing, I've seen those stories popped up I haven't dealt into them. I think you always want to be concerned about foreign influence. I know China was cited, for example, but, arguably, Trump took pretty tough actions against the Chinese when it came to laying tariffs and all that stuff.

But, look, these things should be explored, looked into. Transparency is important and get to the facts. So, that would be my take on it based on what little I've read so far.

MATTINGLY: Secretary Mask Esper, it's a very important point about Iraq and the stability of the government there, the U.S. forces and the coalition forces there that we should definitely talk about in the future. I appreciate your time, sir, as always. Thank you.

ESPER: Thank you.

[07:25:00]

CORNISH: A new batch of documents connected to Jeffrey Epstein have just been released. What we're learning about alleged efforts by Bill Clinton to bury stories about the late sex offender.

MATTINGLY: And right now, a four-alarm fire is ripping through a large industrial building in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Officials say the fire started just before 545 this morning. No word yet on what caused the fire or if there are any injuries. We're going to keep you posted throughout the morning.

We'll be right back.

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CORNISH: New information this morning about Thursday's deadly shooting at a high school in Perry, Iowa. A 6th grader was killed, among the wounded, four other students and the school principal. Several news outlets, including the A.P., reporting the shooter posted a TikTok video from inside the school bathroom, posed with a blue duffel bag, captioned, now we wait.

Police say the 17-year-old shooter Dylan Butler died from a self inflicted gunshot wound.

CNN's Veronica miracle is live for us in Perry, Iowa. Veronica, I want to start first with what you're learning about the shooter's social media post.

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Audie, this is a part of the investigation. Certainly, authorities are trying to figure out exactly what the motive is. They are looking at social media posts posted by the gunman before the shooting. We're also learning from the A.P. that that TikTok video is now part of this investigation.

And also new this morning, two students revealing to ABC News that bullying may have played a factor in this shooting. They say that the 17 year old gunman may have been bullied since he was in elementary school. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He got tired. He got tired of the bullying.

[07:30:00]

He got tired of the harassment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We tried to be there when he needed us, which, clearly, we weren't there for him enough.