Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Biden And Trump Easily Win Their Primaries In Michigan; NATO Allies Reject Macron's "Troops To Ukraine"; Raging Wildfires In Texas Burn 370K+ Acres. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired February 28, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:39]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Wednesday, February 28th.

Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:

President Biden and Donald Trump taking home easy wins in the Michigan primaries. But both campaigns do have some cause for concern. We'll dig in.

A long day ahead for Hunter Biden testifying behind closed doors with GOP lawmakers pushing ahead to try to impeach his father.

And breaking news, evacuation orders issued in Texas as dangerous and fast-moving wildfires spread across hundreds of miles.

(MUSIC)

HUNT: All right. Five a.m. here in Washington. We've got to live look at the Washington monument to get you started this morning.

Good morning to you. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

Voters in Michigan have spoken. President Biden and Donald Trump easily winning their primaries last night, making a November rematch more likely than ever. But the outcome did expose weaknesses in both candidates. Biden captured roughly 81 percent of the vote, but 13 percent of Democrats checked the uncommitted box. Their way of protesting the president's support of Israel in its war with Hamas.

President Biden did not mention those detractors in a statement that he released last night. Instead, he simply thanked the Michigan voters.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump easily defeating his only remaining Republican challenger, Nikki Haley, in a call to supporters, Trump looks ahead to the general election, telling them, quote, we win Michigan, we win the whole thing.

But of course, Nikki Haley's still hanging on. She told CNN's Dana Bash last night she's going to continue to campaign and is looking forward to Super Tuesday in just a week. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are in all the Super Tuesday states now. That's what this is all about, is making sure that we hit every state and let you know, look, there is a voice out there for you. There is a way out. Yes. We are fighting through. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Just getting more and more direct every day and joining us now to talk more about this as congressional reporter for "Axios", Stef Kight.

Stef, good morning to you. Thanks so much for being here.

I want to start with the uncommitted vote. And if were able to put the Italian where it stands up on our screen. That would be great because it is significantly larger than organizers had even initially set their own bar for. They had said that they wanted to get at least 10,000 votes.

That was about the margin, there it is, in Michigan back in 2016. But look what they where they landed, that is ten times the goal that was set, that is 101,000 votes its actually closer to the margin of victory that Joe Biden had in the general election in Michigan in 2020, which was about 150,000 votes.

I mean, that is a very strong message there. What does this say right now about the state of the Democratic Party? And what do you think it says about what may happen in November?

STEF KIGHT, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, AXIOS: I mean, this is definitely a very strong message and of course this was even better than organizers anticipated. This was a big moment and it goes to show just how important issue of Israel and Biden's handling of the situation in Gaza there, how big an issue that's going to be. We've seen this divide in the Democratic Party. You know, since the attack on Israel in October and the fall of that, we've heard again and again from more progressive and younger voters who are upset with the way Biden has whole heartedly backed Israel and they want to see a change there.

And this just a very practical in real warning that this is to be taken seriously. This is not something to be brushed off. Again, this is an issue that is particularly important in Michigan. So, we are looking at something that this state in particular is going to care about more than potentially other swing states come November. But still, Michigan is a very important swing state. Biden needs --

HUNT: If he loses in Michigan, I mean, that's probably the ball game.

KIGHT: Exactly, especially when you're looking at a racist going to be so close. We're looking at match between Trump and Biden. And every single swing state is going to matter. We continue to see these polls coming out that show Trump beating Biden in a hypothetical race. And most of these swing states. So again, this is a very important warning sign. I will caveat that,

you know, there's a difference between a message vote in a primary and where for these voters actually end up come November when their choice, when they're given the choice of Biden versus Trump.

HUNT: Right. And I mean, I think the question then is going to be the fight between Joe Biden and the couch, right? I mean, many of these voters might end up staying home, at least that's, I think the concern, certainly that I hear when I talked to Democrats from Michigan.

[05:05:04]

Let's talk about the Republican side. One of them the interesting things in David Chalian was here with us yesterday, kind of explaining this. Nikki Haley did not campaign in Michigan the way she campaigned in some of these other states, right? She came close to 40 percent in her home state of South Carolina. She had done these major ad buys.

So, in many ways, this Michigan margin is a little bit more of a pure test of if all else is equal, if -- if one candidate is not campaigning more than the other, are spending way more money than the other, this is the percentage of the Republican Party that sticks with Nikki Haley and it's -- she had 26-1/2 percent here.

Now, she did do better in the suburbs in Michigan. She had stronger turnouts outside the Detroit suburbs, the suburbs of Lansing, Grand Rapids, et cetera. But that's kind of where things landed here. What's your top takeaway from the Republican results last night?

KIGHT: I mean, I think its very fair to compare the voters who voted for Nikki Haley on the Republican side, to the Democratic voters who voted on uncommitted, on the Biden side. They are voters who are giving warning signs to both of the top candidates on either party, reminding them that there are voters who are not thrilled about them becoming the nominees.

And Nikki Haley did receive hundreds of thousands of voters in Michigan who said that they wanted someone other than Donald Trump and that's something that Trump is going to have to contend with. We know that they are very aware of the Trump campaign, of their issues with suburban voters. And this is again just another sign that they need to figure that out before November, if they're going to have a chance at winning election for the presidency, right?

HUNT: And that, of course, was Haley's message there. And she, of course, says she's gone on to Super Tuesday is we've got at least more illegal just a week more of this.

Stef Kight -- Stef, thank you very much for being with us this morning.

KIGHT: Thanks for having me.

HUNT: All right. Breaking news just ahead, wildfires raging in Texas, forcing a nuclear facility to shut down. Well bring you that. Plus, Senate Republicans preparing to block a bill that would protect in vitro fertilization nationwide.

And French President Macron suggesting the West send troops to Ukraine. We'll give you the Biden administration's response. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:11:33]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. PAT RYDER, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: Just to be clear, we have no plans to send U.S. service members to fight in Ukraine. The president has been pretty clear on that and that continues to be our position.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: That's Major General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman on the possibility of sending U.S. troops to Ukraine. So, why is he talking about it?

The statement came after Monday's summit in Paris where the French President Emmanuel Macron said sending Western troops to Ukraine, quote, cannot be ruled out.

A NATO official and several European leaders also stressed that there are no plans to send in ground forces.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): In a very good debate, it was discussed that what was agreed from the outset among ourselves, and with each other also applies to the future, namely, that there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or NATO states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. CNN's Max Foster joins us now live from London.

Max, wonderful to see you. This is generated significant reaction across Europe and over here as well. I want to show you what Macron actually said in the summit. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): There's no consensus today to officially send support and to take responsibility for troops on the ground. But as things develop, nothing should be off the table. We will do everything necessary so that Russia cannot win this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: So, I got to tell you, I mean, my initial reaction to hearing this is that this landing in the U.S. debate about trying to get Ukraine aid over the finish line in Congress, it's not going to be helpful for that. What -- what's your read on this?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's extraordinary, but, you know, he's a bright guy. He is very experienced on the international stage. He's very popular on the international stage. He's much more popular than he is back at home at the moment. So it was baffling. He would have known how this would have been seen.

I do think it was really interesting that just the fact that they were talking about sending troops into battle with Russia. I mean, it's absolutely seismic and extremely worrying for a lot of people around the world. But, you know, just as interesting was that follow up where you had all of these European leaders coming out, stating really clearly that they had absolutely no plans to send troops into Ukraine.

And obviously, this all plays massively to Putin. All he wants is to create this divisiveness in the West. He wants to see it all breaking down and that's, you know, I think from Moscow's perspective, it was -- you know, this weird sort of self-flagellation across Europe. So, helping Moscow's narrative ultimately, when I think it was intended to sound as though that this was Europe being tough against Moscow.

HUNT: Yeah, I mean, it's -- it's splashed across the front page of "The Financial Times". Berlin lashes out, Paris should just supply more arms and that the Kremlin, as you point out, is ramping up more warnings.

If you're Vladimir Putin himself, I mean, does he see this as well, this is something I want, I want to try and the cause chaos in European and American politics because -- I mean, I can -- my reporting and conversations largely over here on this side of the Atlantic.

This is the thing that, you know, not just when you talk to Republican lawmakers, but when you go to Republican events and you talk to voters, what they hear, what they will say is and particularly Trump's supporters, they'll say -- well, we think Donald Trump is going to prevent World War III.

[05:15:08]

And that message plays right into this conversation about Ukraine.

FOSTER: I think it obviously works in terms of, you know, if there's any discord in the West, he capitalizes on it. It also speaks very much to his domestic narrative that, you know, NATO is the aggressor. So European countries, America are the aggressors and the ones that cause the war in Ukraine.

Obviously, our perspective on it is that he went into Ukraine illegally and he's the aggressor. But this allows him to suggest that you got -- this won't be under the banner of NATO because I'm sure America wouldn't sign up to it, but its NATO countries in Europe going -- coming towards the Russian border and attacking it.

So it works on his, in his favor on the international stage in terms of discord, but on the domestic stage as well. In terms of the fact that NATO is on the attack, not him.

HUNT: Really interesting. Max Foster for us in London -- Max, always loved to see you. See you tomorrow.

FOSTER: Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Up next here, calls for a public health emergency declared as measles spreads in Florida. What decade are we in exactly?

And breaking right now, a disaster declaration in Texas. Wildfires raging out of control.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNT: All right. Twenty minutes past the hour.

Live look at the Atlanta skyline on this Wednesday morning.

All right. Senate Republicans signaling that they're going to block Democrats from enshrining protections from -- for in vitro fertilization in the federal law today. They are calling IVF a state's rights issue.

A federal appeals court refusing to halt the execution of Texas death row inmate Ivan Cantu. He's scheduled to be executed today for the 2000 murders of his cousin and his fiance.

And a measles outbreaks spreading in Florida, ten cases now reported statewide, seven linked to a single elementary school. Florida surgeon general appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis told parents of another vaccinated children last week that they could choose to send their kids to school. That is contrary to CDC quarantine guidelines.

All right. Let's get now to the breaking news out of Texas where raging wildfires have burned hundreds of thousands of acres, triggering evacuations across several regions.

Officials say gusting winds are fanning the flames with little containment so far. Amarillo's nuclear weapons plants says that they're monitoring the fire. They plan to open today and they say they have a well-staffed emergency response team.

All right. Our weatherman Van Dam is tracking all of it for us.

Derek, good morning to you. These pictures, this is -- wow.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, what our viewers are looking at is extreme fire behavior, fed by these strong, strong gusty winds which changed directions. It also changed the direction of the fire spread as well, which I'll show you.

But look how quickly the fire, this is a smokehouse creek fire in the Texas panhandle, crosses this roadway. I mean, you can almost see the flames jump from one side to the other, very telling video coming out of this region and then also just think about the impacts that this has on the agricultural community that houses this area.

Watch as these farmers and ranchers tried to save their cattle, take them away from the burning embers that are in the distance. Look at the smoke plume behind them in the cattle just running for -- frankly, for their lives. So that is the situation on the ground in Texas. There are several fires ongoing. Were really focusing in on the smokehouse creek fire, which is at zero percent containment.

We saw it blow up yesterday day. We first saw 50,000 acres than 100,000, now sitting over 300,000 acres with the latest information. And that brings it to the fifth largest wild or brushfire in Texas history. And this thing, it has got a long way to go before it is contained. And we know that.

The satellite imagery was telling because that's the cold front right there. It's kind of difficult to perceive. But if that band of clouds and it actually change the direction of the spreading fire, which was originally from north the west, and then it became due out of the north as the wind direction picked up and changed as that cold front move through.

So still gusty winds through the course of the day today, there was not the extreme fire behavior that we experienced yesterday, but still a problem across the Texas panhandle. The other issue with this wide scale storm system across the country is the tornado outbreak that occurred yesterday. We had tornadoes reported across Illinois and an unconfirmed report in the Grand Blanc, Michigan region, southeastern Michigan overnight in the dead of night when people are sleeping.

There is currently five, count them five states impacted by tornado watches. So the severe weather threat, not yet over. This includes southeastern Indiana, parts of Ohio, into Kentucky, and northern sections of Tennessee. These are valid through the course of the morning.

I want to give a heads-up to Columbus because actually, this is just new for information to us. Columbus in Ohio now under a tornado warning with this approaching band of storms, there has been known tornado signatures, and the radar just to the west of Columbus. So, as this advances eastward, we want to be getting two are safe shelter in and around the western suburbs of Columbus.

[05:25:03]

This storm system continues to advance eastward. Yeah. Wow, Kasie, I mean, from wildfires to blizzards on the West Coast to tornadoes across the Ohio valley. It is a busy, busy weather day.

HUNT: Indeed it is. And thank you for bringing those warnings to us.

Our weatherman Van Dam, Derek, thank you very much. I'll see you tomorrow.

VAN DAM: All right.

HUNT: And coming up here, Biden and Trump both winning big in Michigan. How voters exposed weaknesses though in both campaigns.

Plus, President Biden face-to-face with four top congressional leaders. How one senator described the high intensity level of that meeting. That's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)