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Biden "Increasingly Frustrated" Ahead Of Today's Netanyahu Call; Top Israeli Official Calls For Early Elections; WSJ: Macron Pushing For Tougher Approach On Putin. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired April 04, 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 Thursday, April 4th.

Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:

An outraged President Biden set to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The fallout growing after a strike kills aid workers in Gaza.

A race against time in Taiwan. Rescuers rushed to save workers struck -- stuck in mines and people trapped in buildings after that deadly earthquake.

Delayed denied. A judge rejects Donald Trump's effort to stall his hush money trial.

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HUNT: All right. Five a.m. here in Washington, a live look at Capitol Hill.

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

Just hours from now, President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will talk on the phone for the first time. Since an Israeli airstrike killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza.

A senior administration official says Biden is angry and will express his frustrations. But the White House says there's been no U.S. shift in policy and support for the current Israeli military operation remains unchanged.

Meanwhile, World Central Kitchen founder, the chef Jose Andres, is calling for an independent investigation, accusing Israel of, quote, systematically targeting his aid workers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE ANDRES, FOUNDER, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: These was not just bad luck situation where, oops, we dropped the bomb in the wrong place or, not. This was over 1.5, 1.8 kilometers with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, very colorful logo that we are obviously very proud of. That that's very clear who we are and what we do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. "Axios" political reporter Stef Kight joins us now.

Stef, good morning. Thank you very much for being here.

This has become a very difficult position for Joe Biden to occupy as he faces increasing pressure from Democrats, including waking up this morning to some former Obama -- former Obama aide John Favreau tweeting about this. And, of course, Jose Andres giving these emotional and reviews about the staff members who were lost.

How is the White House -- I mean, on the one hand, they're saying he's angry, he doesn't want this, but on the other hand, they're not changing the policy?

STEF KIGHT, POLITICAL REPORTER, AXIOS: Exactly. And that's the big question right now, right? We've seen kind of the rhetoric at least become more intense between U.S. officials, Democrats, President Biden himself, towards Netanyahu, towards Israel's actions, especially in Gaza, and as they move in on Rafah, as well as become a red line for the administration.

But we haven't seen is any real concrete action. The U.S. is still sending billions of dollars worth of weapons to Israel. We are still a key supporter. We do not, you know, impose any kind of restrictions on how those arms are able to be used. That's something that some Democrats have been calling for and Congress in particular. And so, this call today is going to be a big moment. We're certainly reaching a critical moment right now when it comes to just the tensions there. It is becoming more personal.

Jose Andres is a personal friend of the president. He is known in Washington, D.C. So this is -- this is really becoming more real for Biden, but to your point, we still haven't seen any indication of what actions Biden is one willing to take at this point.

HUNT: Let's hear a little bit more of what Jose Andres had to say in these interviews that he has been doing with international media. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRES: I spoke to President Biden yesterday, and President Biden made that statement. He seems ready a harder stand, but it's very complicated to understand that we are going to be sending -- America is going to be sending its navy and its military to do humanitarian work when at the same time weapons provided by America. Not, not to defend Israeli tells from missile attacks, but use weapons that are killing civilians in this moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, Andres, of course, kind of laying out the contradiction in the U.S. policy as he sees it.

How is something like this when you mentioned that Andres is a friend of Biden's.

[05:05:02]

I mean, how is this resonating? We know that the president is someone who's very impacted by personal interactions that he has, even more than anything else sometimes.

KIGHT: Absolutely. And I think we have already seen some of the impact from President Biden's call with Jose Andres following the killing of these aid workers, you know, and we have seen the strongest statements yet from President Biden when it comes to his frustration over what is going on.

He is much clearer in his desire for Israel to change course here. And, of course, this call is going to be a significant moment. I think we already have seen sort of the impact of this particular case of seeing aid workers killed, and hearing someone like Jose Andres who is I'm very happy to go on media and talk about what's going on and put pressure on Biden there. But again, whether this actually turns into policy changes, it's still the key question here. Yeah.

HUNT: Yeah. What role does Congress had to play here? I mean, I think its also important to note that aid to Israel is held up in that same logjam that is affected Ukraine aid and while we've focused a lot on the challenges around Ukraine aid for Israel, briefly, opposition has been building with Democrats.

KIGHT: No, it is true and it -- and it could, it could complicate things depending on what the house decides to do. First, of course, there has been growing pressure from Democrats in Congress to limit how Israel can use the aid that we send there, Israel is really the exception when it comes to how freely we allow them to use the weapons and weapons we send their way without restriction there.

And so I think we will continue to see criticism coming from Democrats in Congress over this issue. Of course, you know, Democratic leader, Senate Leader Chuck Schumer has been critical of Netanyahu, has called for elections, but he has not gone so far as to say there should be limits place on the weapons that we sent Israel.

HUNT: All right. Stef Kight of "Axios" -- Stef, thank you very much for starting us off. I really appreciate it me

And speaking of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, he's doubling down on his calls for new elections in Israel. This came after Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Wednesday also called for early elections to be held in September, just before the one year anniversary of the Hamas terror attack on Israel.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is live in Abu Dhabi with more for us.

Paula, good morning to you.

What is the likelihood of new early elections taking place in Israel?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kasie, if it was up to the main opposition leader, then it would certainly be before September or by September, just before the anniversary of the October 7 attacks on Israel.

And we are hearing louder voices and more voices calling for the removal of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

So, Benny Gantz, a key figure in the Israeli war cabinet at this point, saying publicly that he believes the election should happen by September. It should be up to the Israeli people who is leading the country to show that they have confidence in what the country is undergoing at this point. And as you say, Kasie, it does follow just last month, Chuck Schumer saying that he believed that that was necessary as well.

Now he did face rather an onslaught from certainly from the Republican side saying that he shouldn't have made those remarks, but he's now doubling in down saying the fact that even those in Israel are calling for fresh elections shows that it is the way to go.

Now, of course, when it comes to Benjamin Netanyahu's party, the Likud party, they are saying that it is simply not possible at this point. They are in the midst of a war also saying that he must stop engaging in petty politics -- Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Paula Hancocks for us this morning, Paula, thank you very much for that.

Coming up next here, Donald Trump's tactic of delay, delay, delay hits a roadblock in his hush money trial.

Plus, the danger after the deadly earthquake in Taiwan, dozens of miners rescued overnight, but hundreds still stranded and missing.

Plus, a possible strategic shift by the West in the war in Ukraine. One leader's move rattles NATO allies.

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[05:13:47]

HUNT: Welcome back.

New reporting in "The Wall Street Journal" says French President Emmanuel Macron has been pushing President Biden and other world leaders behind the scenes for a much more confrontational approach to Russia in the war on Ukraine. And confidential calls with Biden and German chancellor Olaf Scholz, "The Journal" reports Macron urged Western allies to keep the Kremlin guessing about possible red lines.

CNN's Max Foster joins me live now from London.

Max, good morning. Always wonderful to see you. So let me show everyone what Macron said at the end of the summit back

in February, where he kind of took his posture towards Ukraine to a new place. 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: Everything necessary. He seemed to suggest the possibility of Western troops on the ground at raise a lot of eyebrows at the time.

What's going on here with Macron in his pressure on this -- on this front?

[05:15:03]

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's hard to know because he's obviously changed position completely. He did. If you remember going back some time, he -- I wouldn't describe as a close relationship with Putin, but who's having contacts with Putin when other countries weren't. So he seems to be much closer to Putin's not view of the world, but in terms of working with Putin, and now, he seems to have done a complete about-face.

So you mentioned the red lines, that is broadening the policy, particularly the U.S., where there's a red line. And if you cross it, then this thing could escalate. So we don't want to do certain things that could provoke Russia into attack. What Macron is talking about is this idea of strategic ambiguity. So let's get rid of the red lines and show that we have our own strategy, but we're not sharing it. So that puts them on a war footing, doesn't it, it's more aggressive.

But it's a really bold new because neither the U.S. nor Germany, two key allies, think it's a good idea, but he seems to be pressing on with it and, you know, that clip you just sound play just there, we thought that could have been a one-off. He just made this statement, but actually it does seem to be much more of a wider strategy for him.

HUNT: Yeah, it's really interesting. I mean, he started off when this war first started warning allies that they, quote, must not humiliate Russia, end quote, so to your point that he seemed to be closer to Putin then. But now, "The Journal" reports Macron is calling attention to what many European officials fret over in private, that decades of transatlantic security ties are at risk of unraveling and they, of course, talk about Donald Trump at securing the Republican nomination and having a good chance of winning the presidency in the fall.

Is that what this is about? Is this Macron trying to take kind of a new path in a world where these ties may fray? FOSTER: Well, a lot of people saying it's realistic. You know, let's have some action rather than just prevention strategy, if you like. So, you know, there's lots of European voices and said we need to be on a war footing potentially, if Russia does invade Eastern Europe.

So I think Macron has a huge amount of support in Eastern Europe, which want to go much closer towards some sort of action instead of just sitting there waiting to see what happens with these red lines. Cynics would argue, we've got European elections.

This year, the far right is doing extremely well in France. You know, he's got key opposition there, could potentially overtake him. These aren't French elections, but they are European elections that could undermine him. So he's just trying to look like a stronger leader, more aggressive, perhaps taking on some of the far-right lines.

HUNT: I should have had those boxing photos of Macron produced for this segment which plays into that.

Max Foster for us in London -- Max, thanks very much. I'll see you tomorrow.

FOSTER: Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Coming up next, here comes winter in April. Powerful storm could drop more than a foot of snow on some people.

Plus, a medical breakthrough as a man receives the world's first pig kidney transplant.

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[05:22:37]

HUNT: All right. Twenty-two minutes past the hour. Here's your morning round up.

The nation's largest fresh egg producer, detecting bird flu at its Texas facility Cal-Maine Foods says they're initiating the killing of 1.6 million hens as required by the USDA.

The first living recipient of a genetically edited pig kidney is being discharged from the hospital. The hospital says Rick Slayman is recovering well and well continue to recuperate at home.

The Biden administration announcing $20 to expand clean energy access and climate solutions. They say it will emphasize climate projects in communities overburdened by pollution.

All right. So strong storm system that just ripped through the Ohio and Tennessee valleys now evolving into a potent nor'easter. You're looking at live pictures from New Hampshire as parts of the Northeast could see up to more than two feet of snow, travel delays and power outages should be expected the next few days.

Lets get to our meteorologist Elisa Raffa. Elisa, good morning to you. This is April.

ELISA RAFFA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And we've got snowflakes flying around you know. Typically, people feel like want to be done with the snow as we get into April, but it's still flying around in New England this morning. I mean, look at the radar, this storm has some lightning strikes off shore there where the center is and you've got this to know slinging into parts of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, even upstate New York, and then swirling through the Great Lakes as well.

We still have winter storm warnings in effect for an additional five to 12 inches of snow in the pink that you see there over parts of Maine, some advisories over upstate New York where we've already gotten some decent totals already down. Looks like about six to 12 inches or so, if not more in some of the higher elevations there, over Maine.

Now, this storm is also sloshing some of that ocean inland and you've got some coastal flooding concerns from Maine down to New York and New Jersey with some dangerous rip currents possible as well. High wind warnings from Boston over to Cape Cod with some gusts up to 65 miles per hour. We've already seen some gusts up to 60 to 65 miles per hour through Massachusetts, Connecticut, and then down into New York.

So, we'll continue to swirl with the gusty winds and the snow through the day today, up in New England, you can see some of these showers also on the back as we go into the day today.

[05:25:00]

And it's been pretty wet up in New England where we've had rainfalls much above average so far this year.

HUNT: All right. Elisa Raffa for us, Elisa, thanks very much for that.

Coming up next here, we're going to dig into today's high stakes call between President Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu. Global outrage growing over the deadly strike on aid workers in Gaza.

Plus, the judge in Trump's classified documents case receiving a stinging rebuke from the special counsel. The details and the fallout from Jack Smith's latest filing, ahead.

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