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Trump Focuses Attacks on Haley Days Before New Hampshire Primary; U.S Carries Out New Round of Strikes Against Houthis in Yemen; I Would Love It, the Four Words During Defamation Trial That Lay Bare Trump's Political Strategy. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired January 18, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Because I think people have been quite alarmed actually about the amount of recovery time that Kate needs from this, more than three months in total, it could be.

[07:00:08]

And here in The Sun, royals rocked by Kate op, really in reference to my point that three out of four of the top royals are out of action now in public. So, it's really down to Queen Camilla to be the front face of the entire monarchy. So, we expect to see her out and about next week, because the idea of monarchy is that they continue, they're a symbol of continuity and stability. But that's been rocked slightly this week because showing their frailty.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Our good wishes to all of them for their health. Max Foster, we appreciate the update, as always. Thank you.

POPPY HARLOW: And CNN This Morning continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Things are really heating up in New Hampshire.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Nikki Haley is counting on Democrats to infiltrate your Republican primary.

NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know Trump threw a temper tantrum about me last night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has a welcome audience among those undeclared voters in New Hampshire. This is a two-person race.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump unleashed, making a mockery out of a Manhattan courtroom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The judge telling him, I hope I don't have to consider excluding you from the trial, Trump replied, I would love it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His goal was to amplify his own victim narrative.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not about winning the case. This is about voters, nothing else.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: For the fourth time in less than a week, the U.S. has carried out strikes against the Houthi militants in Yemen.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The Houthis have given no indication they will back down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These actions by the Houthis are illegal, reckless and dangerous, and they need to stop.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: President Biden hoping to break a stalemate for immigration and aid to Ukraine.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): If the bill looks like some of the things that have been rumored, of course it's dead in the House.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Any party that says, do it my way or no way, we're not going to get anything done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: A good Thursday morning, everyone. I'm Phil Matting with Poppy Harlow here in New York. And Donald Trump is focusing his fire right on Nikki Haley as he seeks to deliver a knockout blow in the state of New Hampshire in its primary just five days from now.

Now, Trump is actually co-opting Haley's message, claiming he's the only one who can beat President Biden in November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If she wins, Biden wins. And I'm telling you that. A vote for Nikki Haley this Tuesday is a vote for Joe Biden and a Democrat Congress this November because that's what's going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: And the clock is clearly ticking down for Haley to stop Trump's seemingly inevitable march to the GOP nomination. Anxious Republicans opposed to Trump, they're urging Haley and her campaign to escalate her attacks, be more aggressive. Last night, Haley took a swipe at Trump's age.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY: The majority of Americans have said they don't want their options to be two 80-year-olds for president. We've got to move past that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, New Hampshire looks like it is quickly shaping up to be a two-candidate battle. Ron DeSantis pulling staff and resources out of the Granite State and instead sending them to South Carolina for next month's primary. In an apparent last ditch move to try to save his campaign, his super PAC is laying off staff, scaling back plans to compete in Nevada and Super Tuesday states. Last night, during his rally, Trump predicted DeSantis won't be in this much longer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: What the hell happened to Ron? Does anybody know what happened? I think I happened to Ron. I think he's going to be gone. I think all of those applause -- that was funny. But I think you can probably save him for about a week or so because I think he's going to be gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: DeSantis is not in New Hampshire today. He's back home in Florida for the day. So, is Trump, and he's there for his mother-in- law's funeral. Nikki Haley will be the only one campaigning in the Granite State today. That is where we find our Omar Jimenez in Manchester, New Hampshire. Good morning. What does this mean for the DeSantis camp?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, for starters, the DeSantis -- well, we're not expecting to see much of DeSantis over this next week. And his campaign claims that they are in it for the long haul and that they're just focusing on later states that come after New Hampshire.

But bottom line, Nikki Haley has an opportunity that they're hoping to capitalize on here. As you mentioned, she's the only one with campaign events in the state today. She's got a meet and greet starting in just a few hours.

But former President Trump has also been in full campaign mode, represented by the two places we've seen him most.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (voice over): Donald Trump juggling the courtroom and the campaign.

TRUMP: But I'm thrilled to be back in the great state of New Hampshire.

JIMENEZ: The former president rallied voters in New Hampshire last night after he willingly spent most of the day in a New York courtroom hearing E. Jean Carroll testify against him in her civil defamation trial.

TRUMP: And that's a nasty man. He's a nasty judge. He's a Trump- hating guy.

JIMENEZ: Trump clashed with Judge Lewis Kaplan, who threatened to throw him out of the trial for speaking with an earshot of the jury. I understand you are probably very eager for me to do that, the judge told Trump.

[07:05:00] Trump responding, I would love it.

TRUMP: This is a person, I have no idea until this happened, obviously, I have no idea who she was and nor could I care less. It's a rigged deal. It's a made up, fabricated story.

JIMENEZ: Carroll is seeking more than $10 million in damages after a judge found Trump liable for his 2019 defamatory statements about Carroll's sexual assault allegations.

HALEY: 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.

JIMENEZ: Back in New Hampshire, Nikki Haley is focusing her campaign squarely on Donald Trump, hitting back after a number of policy and personal attacks by Trump, including using her birth name, Nimrata, in a post widely seen as a racist dog whistle.

HALEY: And I know Trump threw a temper tantrum about me last night.

JIMENEZ: Trump hit Haley for the support she's drawn from outside the Republican Party in the state.

TRUMP: Nikki Haley is counting on Democrats.

The radical left Democrats are supporting Nikki Haley because they know she's much easier to beat than Trump.

JIMENEZ: Meanwhile, with no clear path in New Hampshire and two debates now canceled, Governor Ron DeSantis appears to be shifting his focus to South Carolina, his super PAC beginning layoffs and setting the stage for a likely final stand in Haley's home state.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to pick up delegates. Everyone that goes out and votes for me is going to help me get delegates, and that's what we want to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (on camera): We were at a town hall of his yesterday, and he was still asking for votes here in New Hampshire, despite essentially leaving the rest of the week. And when he was asked about that, he said he would probably be back Sunday, to use his words.

But bottom line, this is an opportunity Nikki Haley is hoping to capitalize on. And she got her essentially two-person race wish. The question is, can she, again, capitalize on the opportunity, but also pose what could be the most serious threat to the former president we have seen?

MATTINGLY: Yes, two-person race and today with the state to herself. Let's see what happens. Omar, thanks.

HARLOW: So, also today, the Justice Department has said to release its findings of their independent review of the police response to the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. That is where 19 children and 2 teachers were murdered in the 2022 shootings. It has left the community with so many questions as to why it took 77 minutes for authorities to act and stop the gunman.

MATTINGLY: But just ahead of the release, victims' families met with the U.S. attorney general, Merrick Garland, you see pictures of him there. One father saying, all they want is accountability.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALFRED GARZA, FATHER OF UVALDE VICTIM AMERIE JO GARZA: Accountability, you know, I mean, that's what everybody wants. That's what we all want. We want people to be held accountable for what they didn't do that day, you know? That's -- I mean, that's all that's left to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Our CNN's Shimon Prokupecz has covered this story from day one. You've spoken to the families from day one. What are they saying? What are they telling you after this meeting with the A.G., Shimon?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: So, they were really happy to have someone finally to sit with and to talk about what happened that day. They spent almost two hours or so with the Department of Justice. It was the attorney general and then one of his deputies, Vanita Gupta.

And it was -- they said a tough meeting. It was emotional at times. They want accountability to families. They feel like perhaps they're on their way here. And one of the key things I'm told from family members, they were told last night, was that the Department of Justice stressed the fact that one of the problems on the day of the shooting was that there was just no command structure. No one was essentially in charge giving orders.

One of the father, one of the parents of one of the kids who survived, spoke after the meeting. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSCAR ORONA, SONA NOAH WAS SHOT, SURVIVED UVALDE MASSACRE: I'm hopeful that you see all the people here that this will expand (ph) by 1,000 percent and not only the people in the United States but around the world will finally see the abysmal failure that law enforcement had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ: The other thing here, Phil and Poppy, is that it is taking so long for these families to get these answers and how the fact that they've been victimized in so many different ways by state officials, by local officials, that is something that the Department of Justice stressed to them, that they're trying to put an end to, that they're trying to deal with. And, hopefully, by meeting with them, and today, releasing this report later this afternoon, will finally hopefully give them some closure.

We will be hearing from the Department of Justice later this afternoon as well. They will be having a press conference in Uvalde. And then after that, we are going to hear from family members as well once they get the report and start reading through it.

[07:10:07]

So, it's going to definitely be a tough day in Uvalde throughout really today and then really the rest of the week, as many of them are going to be reliving all of this.

HARLOW: I'm so glad you'll be there with them, Shimon, on a day like today. Your reporting is the reason they finally got some deserved answers. So, thank you, Shimon.

MATTINGLY: Well, overnight, another round of U.S. airstrikes in Yemen, the fourth in less than a week, U.S. forces trying to stop Iran-backed Houthi militants from attacking ships in the Red Sea.

HARLOW: Just hours earlier, the Houthi struck a U.S.-owned and operated vessel in the Gulf of Aden for the second time in a week.

Let's go straight to the Pentagon and bring in our Natasha Bertrand, who joins us with more. What do we know about this latest? Is this the fourth round of strikes?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Poppy, the fourth round of strikes in just under a week, and the third round that the U.S. has carried out unilaterally without conjunction with allies. And that's really significant here, because the U.S. appears really to be taking matters into its own hands when it comes to defending shipping in the Red Sea.

Now, last night's strikes were aimed at 14 Houthi missile launchers, and they were taken out by Tomahawk missiles that were launched by U.S. Navy ships, as well as by a guided missile submarine. And the reason that the U.S. conducted these attacks, the second round of attacks just this week, is, according to Central Command, because these missiles on launch rails presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region and could have been fired at any time, prompting us forces to exercise their inherent right and obligation to defend themselves.

Now, this is similar to an attack that the U.S. carried out earlier this week on Houthi anti-ship missiles that they launched essentially preemptively as they saw the Houthis preparing to launch those missiles. So, the U.S. really seems now to be taking the initiative, seeing the Houthis preparing to launch these missiles, putting these missile launchers on targets and taking them out before they can actually launch these attacks.

MATTINGLY: Natasha, I think the question that I have, particularly as the kind of efforts have moved to this scale, is, what is the longer term game here? Is it just to take them out one off each time they load missiles to fire or is there some broader, bigger picture that they're looking at?

BERTRAND: Well, that's the big question, because these rounds of strikes, they have not been working. The Houthis did launch additional attacks over the last several days, targeting U.S. merchant vessels in the Red Sea and posing a threat to U.S. Navy ships there as well. And so the question now is, is this going to continue, this kind of escalating tit-for-tat, and how does that factor into us concerns about this escalating even further into the region?

Now, Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder, he was asked just yesterday about concerns that this conflict could widen beyond Gaza and Israel given the attacks that we continue to see from the Houthis on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. PAT RYDER, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: Clearly, there are tensions in the Middle East. There have been tensions there since the Israel- Hamas conflict has kicked off. But to answer your question, no, we currently assess that the fight between Israel and Hamas continues to remain contained in Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERTRAND: Now, the Pentagon has said for its part that they're going to continue to do what they can to defend their own assets, of course, and Red Sea shipping. But the question remains is if they aren't taking out enough of the Houthi's capabilities to keep up with the attacks that they have been launching, then how do you eventually deter them? That is the big question that the U.S. military is grappling with at this point for sure.

HARLOW: For sure, or does it inflame the situation? Natasha at the Pentagon, thanks very much.

MATTINGLY: Well, Donald Trump lashing out in court loudly, calling the defamation lawsuit against him a, quote, witch hunt. The four key words he also said that reveal the campaign game he's very clearly playing right now.

HARLOW: Also, new overnight, Pakistan striking Iran in response to Iran's deadly attacks there yesterday. Why this could inflame an already very tense Middle East.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

MATTINGLY: I would love it, four words, the embodiment of saying the quiet part out loud, four words that laid bare, the reality of the central pillar of Donald Trump's political strategy. Those four words came during a contentious and outright remarkable exchange with New York Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan, after Kaplan threatened to kick Trump out of the court for, quote, disruptive comments.

I would love it, Trump said, throwing his hands up in the air, according to reporters in the room. I would love it, he repeated.

Now, in a normal proceeding, it would mark a surreal moment. For Trump, on trial for civil defamation, after a jury has already found he was civilly liable for sexual assault, it was clearly for effect.

Now, Trump wasn't required to even be in attendance. In fact, he didn't attend the last trial at all. But for a presidential candidate who has transformed his avalanche of legal issues into a clear cut and, for now, very successful primary campaign strategy, the decision to detour to New York City from New Hampshire on consecutive days, was about as intentional as it gets. In fact, he said as much after his dominant win in Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If I didn't get indicted all these times, and if they didn't unfairly go after, I would have won, but it would have been much closer, I tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: It is not subtle, nor, I should note, is it normal. But it is unequivocally the plan, one that has corresponded with major boosts in fundraising, major bumps in Republican support. And just a few days before a potentially decisive New Hampshire primary, a growing sense of inevitability as the Republican presidential nominee, which takes us back to those four words in the New York courtroom.

The judge's threat to eject Trump was an action the former president appeared to be actively courting. Kaplan saw his audible, quote, witch hunt and con job exclamations for what they were, noting with clear awareness, quote, I hope I don't have to consider excluding you from this trial.

[07:20:01]

I understand you are very eager for me to do that. Trump's response captured this moment in politics in this Republican primary with absolute precision, four words, I would love it.

HARLOW: Thanks, Phil, very satisfying.

Joining us now, CNN Senior Legal Analyst and former assistant U.S. Attorney to the Southern District of New York Elie Honig, and Westchester County District Attorney and former Southern District of New York Division Chief Mimi Rocah. They both, I should know, appeared before Judge Kaplan, who had those exchanges with Trump yesterday. Good morning, thank you guys very much for being here.

To the brilliant question Phil asked you last hour, Elie, I'm going to pose it to you Mimi, and that is if Trump were anyone else, would he have gotten thrown out of that courtroom yesterday?

MIMI ROCAH, FORMER DIVISION CHIEF, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Yes, eventually. I do think Judge Kaplan would have given the warning that he gave, but, you know, he probably gave a little longer leash because of all the reasons that we know, that the pushback, if he is thrown out, will be even greater, and because Judge Kaplan is smart enough to know, as you just relayed, that this is exactly what Trump wants. He wants to be thrown out so he can be perceived as the victim. And Judge Kaplan is smart enough not only to know it, but to say it out loud himself. He's the first judge, I think, to really sort of call Trump on his bluff in that way.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: And just so people understand, Judge Kaplan is -- I don't know the better word for it, he's scary. I mean, right? There's 40-some judges in that courthouse. You would get a little bit, when you went into Judge Kaplan's courtroom, you would go, okay, I better be on my game. I mean, he is smart, he takes no guff, and so it's interesting to see the dynamic happen in there.

MATTINGLY: Can we take a step back for a minute and remind people what this is actually about? I feel like we have spent, and to some degree, we play into it when it becomes -- we're talking about Trump's antics and whether or not he should have been kicked out. We're not talking about the fact that he was found liable for sexual assault, he was found liable for defamation. What's this trial about?

HONIG: That's such a great point because the dramatics are all over this. So, the core of what this is about is E. Jean Carroll sued Donald Trump, it's a civil case not a criminal case, in the first trial that happened last year for sexually assaulting him and for defaming him, and the jury found in E. Jean Carroll's favor on all but one of the claims that she made. This is the same thing but it has to do with earlier statements that Donald Trump made while he was president.

So, the core of this is what happened in that department store as alleged by E. Jean Carroll Which a jury has found was sexual assault and then his later comment -- Donald Trump's later comments, which a jury has found was defamatory. What we're doing here is the jury's deciding how much money, that's it, how much damages Donald Trump owes E. Jean Carroll?

ROCAH: I mean, can I just add to -- because it is so important to talk about what's happening in the courtroom and not his antics. E. Jean Carroll is having to face the person for the first time face-to- face who a jury has found raped her. That is really hard to do under any circumstances.

I mean, both of us have been with victims who have had to do that when there's no one watching, having to do that when it's the former president running for president, powerful person who is trying to intimidate you, which he clearly is, he's trying to intimidate the judge. I think he's trying to intimidate the jury. He is also trying to intimidate her.

And I just think we have to take a moment and talk that she is brave for doing this. I mean, it takes so much courage to do this. And it's probably a lot harder than she's letting it on and that people can see. She's a survivor and she's facing the person who assaulted her.

HARLOW: To your very important point, let's just read for people a little bit of what she said when she was asked about the social media attacks that she endured after all of this. It makes it hard for a girl to get up in the morning. I know I'm old, I know I'm 80, I know I'm not a pretty young woman, but it makes it tough to go on with the day. That gets lost a lot of times, doesn't it?

ROCAH: Yes. And, I mean, even when we're talking about what the trial is about, you know, we're talking about damages, we're talking about money, you know, her attorney said, how much will it take to get him to stop. But this isn't about money. She really wants him to stop.

And it's, you know, the sexual assault that the jury found happened on one particular day, but the bullying and the harassment and the damage has been continuing since then, and it continued in the courtroom in front of all of us.

So, I think that makes him look small. It's different than him bullying the judge, you know, doing what he did in the A.G. case. I think when you do this to someone who's a survivor, who's an older woman, it, I think, makes him look small.

HONIG: I think we'll see that reflected in the jury's award here.

[07:25:01]

I think that they're allowed to assess how much emotional damage and suffering has this victim been through, and I think we're going to see that in a few days when we get a verdict.

HARLOW: And important point, we will hear in a couple of days. We'll know soon. Mimi, thank you, Elie, thank you.

MATTINGLY: Well, the youngest hostage taken on October 7th turns one- year-old today. What his family is doing to celebrate him as they work to have him released.

HARLOW: And the CEO of Boeing promising the company will, quote, get better after the mid-flight blowout of a door plug on an Alaskan Airlines 737 MAX 9. The woman leading the investigation, the head of the NTSB, she is here. She is with us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Welcome back. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is vowing the company will, quote, learn from the Alaska Airlines incident that forced an emergency landing right after takeoff when a part of the airplane's main body flew off midflight earlier this month. Calhoun promised that Boeing and its partners, quote, will get better during this town hall meeting that he had last night with contractors who built the 737 MAX 9's fuselage. And this comes as the National Transportation Safety Board is still trying to determine whether bolts were even installed on the door plug that blew out.

[07:30:04]

The chair of the NTSB, Jennifer Homendy, joins us now. Am I right in that?