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Haley Wins D.C. Primary; Today: Supreme Court May Rule on Trump Ballot Eligibility; Trump Campaign Cutting Costs Ahead of General Election; Blizzard Slams California. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired March 04, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Monday, March 4. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING.

[06:01:07]

The Supreme Court signals a ruling could be handled -- handed down today, that could impact Donald Trump's bid to return to the White House.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There must be an immediate ceasefire. This will get the hostages out and get a significant amount of aid in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Pressure on Israel. But is Netanyahu's government listening to her?

And Nikki Haley winning her first primary. We can find out Tuesday if it -- if it will be her last.

All right, 6 a.m. here in Washington. A live look at the Supreme Court, where again, so much of the action in this 2024 presidential election is going to play out right there inside that building.

Morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to be with you on this Monday morning.

And this week, the rematch that the country seems to be dreading is on. Former President Trump set to tighten his grip on the Republican nomination on Super Tuesday.

And on Thursday night, President Biden will deliver what could be the final State of the Union address for him, with millions watching.

A pair of polls from "The New York Times" and "The Wall Street Journal" over the weekend show just how tough the road is for Biden right now, who voters overwhelmingly say is too old to run again for president. But it's Donald Trump's legal challenges that really make this race unprecedented. And the Supreme Court has sent a rare smoke signal indicating that they are prepared to rule today, and it could be on state challenges to his name appearing on the ballot under the 14th Amendment.

It's going to be the first, but not the last time, that the court will weigh in on this presidential race. They have to decide whether Trump can be tried for his role in the January 6 riot at the Capitol, just as the country is set to decide whether Trump will take the presidential oath once again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN WELKER, HOST, NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS": Do you think Donald Trump would follow the Constitution if he were elected to a second term?

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know. I don't -- I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Do any of us know?

Let's ask. Tia Mitchell, Washington correspondent for the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution"; Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton; and Kate Bedingfield, CNN political commentator and former White House communications director.

Welcome all.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

HUNT: Shermichael, you're laughing, watching that.

SINGLETON: Yes. You know, this has been a struggle for Nikki Haley to begin. She's had every opportunity to be forthright in her criticism of Donald Trump, and it's been pretty meek and timid.

And so I've always asked a question: when this is done, Kasie, will she ultimately endorse Donald Trump? I mean, you have to wonder that, because she hasn't been as aggressive as many said that she could.

And I think if she would've done it a couple of months ago, maybe the support, maybe the momentum would be a lot stronger in some of these primary states.

HUNT: Maybe.

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean -- I mean, look, that -- that was kind of a classic moment. I mean, she -- she was given the opportunity to say what she clearly knows to be true and what we as Americans all saw on display when he was the president.

No, he will not abide by the Constitution. She, you know, continues -- this has been part of the problem with her campaign, what Shermichael was getting to. You know, she kind of delicately walks up to the line, but then never quite goes all the way. And that's -- in campaigning that doesn't work. I mean, people -- you know, you kind of need a sledgehammer message. You know?

I mean, people are just going about their lives. They're not absorbing the nuance of campaign messaging. You've got to tell them what you think.

And so, you know, that was -- that was to me that was disappointing answer. But, you know, she's -- she's clearly thinking about her own future in the Republican Party and hedging her bets.

HUNT: Yes. I mean, that's an interesting way -- You have to hit people with a sledgehammer. That's, I think, worth remembering.

BEDINGFIELD: Real talk. Yes.

HUNT: So speaking of, Haley, did -- was also asked in this interview about the pledge that everyone had to take to participate in RNC- sanctioned debates that said that they would report -- excuse me, support the eventual Republican nominee.

[06:05:02]

Watch how Haley answered that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY: I mean, at the time of the debate, we had to take it to where would you support the nominee? And you had to, in order to get on that debate stage, you said yes.

The RNC is now not the same RNC. Now it's --

WELKER: So you're no longer bound by that pledge?

HALEY: No, I think I'll make what decision I want to make, but that's not something I'm thinking about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Shermichael, that's kind of an answer to your question. Maybe?

SINGLETON: I mean, it is. I mean, look, I think she's right. I agree with her. The former president refused to take the pledge. Haley has every right to say, I'm not going to take the pledge either.

But again, she's had an opportunity in that moment, in that interview, to say, You know what? I am not going to support or endorse the former president, similarly to Chris Christie.

But she didn't, and she didn't, in my opinion, because I do think ultimately, she is going to endorse him. Because I think Nikki Haley is thinking about 2028.

BEDINGFIELD: Yes. And she said -- I mean, she said, you know -- she said something like my -- I'm not a "never Trump" campaign.

SINGLETON: She did say that. That's right.

BEDINGFIELD: My campaign isn't about "never Trump."

And again, it goes to - you know, you're -- she's not defining herself. I mean, she has spent the entirety of the campaign sort of saying like, well, I don't really agree with what he's doing, but also he's -- he's fine. I mean, I guess he's OK.

Again, that is not a winning campaign strategy.

SINGLETON: The water's too cold. Taking my foot back out.

BEDINGFIELD: Right, right. Saying my opponent is also OK is not usually a winning campaign strategy.

HUNT: Yes. So let's -- let's talk big picture here with the president, Kate, set to deliver the State of the Union.

The polling over the weekend for him was pretty tough. I mean, first you had "The New York Times"/Siena College poll looking at what -- who was too old to be an effective president. Seventy-three percent of people said Biden was too old to be an effective president. Just 42 percent say Trump was.

And then in "The Journal" poll, 73 percent said Biden was too old, and Trump is at 52 percent.

They're -- I'm going to bring Tia in, in a second, but Kate, I want you to kind of set the stage for us here. Like what are the stakes for the president on Thursday?

BEDINGFIELD: Yes. Well, this will be a significant moment for him. Absolutely. Because there will be a lot of attention and focus. It's an opportunity for the president to -- you know, to really stand behind the bully pulpit, which there aren't that many opportunities anymore, given how fractured our media environment is.

So it is certainly a big moment. It will be an opportunity for the president to lay out both his affirmative vision and how that contrasts with Donald Trump.

But also to -- you know, to demonstrate that he is, you know, that he's strong, that he's forceful. I mean, if you remember last year's State of the Union, he had some great moments where he sort of essentially spontaneously baited Republicans into a back-and-forth on Social Security.

HUNT: Oh, yes. I had forgotten about that.

BEDINGFIELD: So it is -- there's really -- there is a great opportunity here for him.

And the other thing to remember about the State of the Union, I mean, this is one of the moments that a president really prepares for. There's a lot of -- you know, there's a lot of lead-up and focus on -- on the speech. There's a lot of rehearsal and preparation, which there aren't that many moments where a president has the time to really focus in.

So -- so it's a great opportunity for him to -- you know, to lay out his vision for the country, but -- but also to do so in a really forceful way. We saw him do it well last year, and I think he will this year, too.

HUNT: Tia, also big picture here, we have this ruling, potentially, coming down from the court on the Colorado ballot question. It does seem like the sense is the court, when they heard these arguments that they weren't going to touch it. They were basically going to leave Trump on the ballot. What do you expect today?

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, "ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION": Yes. I mean, we don't even know for sure, but we think that's the ruling that's going to come down today, because it does precede Colorado's primary on Tuesday.

I do think we kind of try to read the tea leaves from the oral arguments about a month ago. It didn't seem like justices were willing to kind of usurp the ability of voters to choose a candidate. And that's very drastic, to kick a candidate off the ballot, particularly a candidate who is the leading candidate. And it just doesn't seem --

HUNT: Who has yet to be convicted of a crime --

MITCHELL: Yes.

HUNT: -- despite being accused of many of them.

MITCHELL: Mm-hmm. And also, I think the justices seemed to indicate there were a lot of loopholes in the way the 14th Amendment is being interpreted.

For example, the officers listed doesn't list the office of the president, things like that.

So I don't think they're going to go so far as to say Donald Trump did not participate in an insurrection, therefore -- you know, I don't think they're going to say that.

HUNT: They seemed unlikely to touch the insurrection, the fundamental actual question.

MITCHELL: Yes, the perception is.

HUNT: Again, that's a really good point. OK, thanks to all. Stick around. We're going to be back later with our panel.

But coming up here, Philadelphia's head of LGBT affairs and her husband are arrested by a state trooper. Why the mayor is calling the incident very concerning. Next.

Plus ceasefire talks in Cairo shunned by the Israelis unless Prime Minister Netanyahu gets one demand granted.

And next, how crippling legal bills have the Trump campaign looking to cut costs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:13:44]

HUNT: Welcome back. New this morning here at CNN, cost cutting in the Trump campaign in the ramp-up to the general election.

Staffers -- the horror -- have to use UberX to save cash. CNN's Alayna Treene is here with the details.

Alayna, good morning.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

HUNT: Oh, the horror.

TREENE: Right.

HUNT: So but I mean, look, this is a serious story. So what -- what are they doing here and why?

TREENE: I mean, there are a lot of fun anecdotes like the UberX one about this. But really, it is that they are trying to rein in costs and preserve as many resources as possible.

And because of that, you're seeing especially the people at the top, people like Susie Wiles, Chris LaCivita, the co-campaign managers. They are being very adamant about trying to lower costs.

The UberX anecdote that you mentioned, there was a staffer who was joking that Susie Wiles is a miser, something that other people agree with on the campaign, that they -- someone would notice, or she would notice specifically if a staffer's taking a more expensive Uber.

I -- we have some really fun antidotes, as well from Chris LaCivita. He -- you know, he privately grumbles a lot about how expensive Donald Trump's rallies are. He's really made a concerted effort to try and host them at less costly venues.

There's also a great quote from one senior adviser about furniture. I want to read it to you because --

[06:15:05]

HUNT: Yes, I was just looking at that.

TREENE: -- it -- it exemplifies what I'm trying to say, which is they told us, quote, "Anyone that's ever worked on a campaign knows that at the headquarters, the furniture should be functional, and that's it. Mismatched and functional is the decor of the Trump campaign offices. We don't have mahogany desks, and if we do, they're 200 years old and they're falling apart." So there's a lot of fun in this, but the reality and the more serious

part of this is they know they need to rein in spending. And part of that is, one, a lot of Donald Trump's top people are very concerned of having a repeat of what happened in the 2020 campaign, when Trump was the incumbent. They were supposed to have this big money operation that was supposed to be one of the assets to his campaign.

And then over the summer and into the fall, they really faced a cash crunch. They burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in just a matter of months. And that left them in a dire financial situation --

HUNT: Yes.

TREENE: -- in the leadup to the election. And so that's something that worries them.

And the other part, of course, is the Trump campaign itself is already facing a lot of financial struggles because of his legal bills. And so they want to keep that in check.

HUNT: I was going to say, how much of this is about his -- his legal problems?

TREENE: It's a lot. I mean, it's a huge part of it. And I mean, you look at the avenues that they have pay for his legal bills. They insist that they're going to keep doing the same things they have, which is to mainly rely on his leadership PAC, Save America, which has really been underwriting most of the legal bills.

But Save America is actually -- has a lot less money than they had last year. They spent more than $50 million on his legal expenses. So that's something that they're dealing with.

They also have another fund called the Legal Defense Fund. That is what they use to pay for co-defendants' lawyers, as well as his allies who are caught up in Donald Trump's legal problems.

But one thing that is new that we have in this reporting is Donald Trump himself has begun to pay for his own legal bills. One senior advisor I spoke with said it's at least in the six-figure range, which is a lot of money.

And this comes from a man who we know has long loathed to pay his own legal bills. He has a history of stiffing lawyers. But it's become --

HUNT: Yes.

TREENE: It's come to the point where they really need to start pulling on every avenue they can.

Now, one thing that they insist, his campaign, that they will not be pulling from is the RNC, which is coming -- come -- came as a surprise to a lot of people I think.

HUNT: Right.

TREENE: Especially given the leadership changes we're seeing Trump pushing for.

HUNT: Right.

TREENE: But one, the RNC had one of the worst fundraising years last year in about a decade.

HUNT: So they couldn't do a lot, right?

TREENE: Right. And also, they know they need the RNC to help with his general election campaigns.

HUNT: They do, and they also could face enormous backlash from the party if it's not functional for other people.

All right. Alayna Treene, thanks very much for bringing us your reporting.

TREENE: Yes.

HUNT: I really appreciate it.

All right Coming up, some soggy weather ahead for Super Tuesday. We're going to show you where.

Plus, Pentagon leak suspect Jack Teixeira is just hours away from entering a court plea. We're watching that.

And lift off! Destination: the International Space Station.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And lift-off of NASA Crew 8 (ph)!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:21:55]

HUNT: Welcome back. An alarming video circulating online showing part of a violent police arrest in Philadelphia that's now being investigated by the D.A's office.

A state trooper wrestling with a man on the side of the road, his hands pinned behind his back as a woman films the incident. The woman is Celena Morrison, executive director of LGBTQ affairs for the city. And the man on the ground is her husband, Darius.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CELANA MORRISON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF LGBTQ AFFAIRS FOR PHILADELPHIA: I work for the mayor!

DARIUS MCLEAN, HUSBAND OF CELENA MORRISON: Don't! Please! Just stop! Don't! It's because I'm black.

MORRISON: Would you please?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not because you're black.

MORRISON: Yes, it is!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get that stuff off me. Put it down. Put it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Yikes. Police say that the two were resisting arrest at a traffic stop, which they say resulted from, quote, multiple vehicle code violations.

The Philadelphia merit -- mayor has called the video very concerning. CNN has reached out to police and to Morrison for comment.

All right. We've got more rain and snow for California today after that multiday storm brought powerful winds and whiteout conditions and made travel extremely difficult, even impossible in some areas.

A snowslide shut down roads in and out of Tahoe, leaving drivers trapped for hours.

But what's causing trouble on the streets is a big boost for the state's water supply, and it is a sight to see on those mountain tops. That is Yosemite National Park. It is beautiful.

Our Weatherman Van Dam joins us now. Derek, good morning. What have we got?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. This is the fifth day of blizzard conditions. I mean, just incredible.

This is a punishing snowstorm for the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. And you could see what people have contended with, pulling vehicles out of snowdrifts that are higher than the SUV itself.

Sugar Bowl in California, 89 inches. You do the math, that's over seven feet of snow, and it is still snowing. It is still picking up, or I should say accumulating.

But this is what made it particularly dangerous this weekend. The snow was whipped around by wind gusts in excess of 140 miles per hour, especially in those high elevations.

And you start parsing that out. We're talking about a Category 4 Atlantic hurricane equivalent with those types of gusts.

Still, some winter storm warnings and blizzard warnings, but that expires this morning. Radar certainly not as active as what we experienced this past weekend.

There's more precipitation moving into the central and Northern portions of the state this week, but that's a different storm, and that will provide more rain for the coastal areas.

Let's talk about Super Tuesday. This is the big deal. Lots of states, in fact, 15 states -- 16 when you start talking about American Samoa -- going to the polls and, yes, consequential results coming out of tomorrow.

So here's a look at the weather, lots of rain across the Deep South. This is the concern we have. Rainfall especially into places like Alabama, which will be going to the polls.

And then across the East Coast, we do have some lighter precipitation, and this will be in the form of rain, not snow. It's of course, too warm for snow.

Let's talk about the severe weather risk. If you're heading to the polls in Arkansas, or maybe, perhaps Eastern Texas, isolated tornadoes and damaging winds.

And then Kasie mentioned this heavy rainfall threat. There is a marginal risk of flash flooding. So heading to anywhere in the polls across Alabama, yes, it's going to be a wet day. So heads up, Super Tuesday coming at you very wet -- Kasie.

[06:25:06]

HUNT: Yes. Be careful out there, and it can -- weather, you know. We're all weather reporters, us political reporters, on election days. So thanks for that. Our Weatherman Van Dam.

VAN DAM: Yes. It impacts everywhere.

HUNT: Derek, thank you very much.

VAN DAM: All right. OK.

HUNT: All right. So I know we've seen it before, but I got to say, I don't think it ever gets old.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one ignition. Engines, full power, and lift-off of NASA Crew 8. Go Falcon, go SpaceX, and go NASA.

HUNT: The SpaceX Falcon rocket blasting off from the Kennedy Space Center Sunday with three U.S. astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut onboard. They are bound for the International Space Station.

Two earlier attempts at this launch were scrubbed because of the weather.

All right. Up next here, Vice President Kamala Harris turning up the pressure on Israel for ceasefire in Gaza.

And the one and only CNN's Jake Tapper joins us to talk about that, about Israel, about Donald Trump and his -- you haven't seen this. I highly recommend it. It's awesome. The new series, "United States of Scandal." That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNT: All right. Welcome back. We're waking up here. A live look at the White House and the Washington Monument, just before 6:30 here on the East Coast. Good morning. I'm Kasie Hunt.

The White House is escalating calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, tapping Vice President Harris to try to drive home the message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: There must be an immediate.