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Senior Administration Official: Biden Will Express Frustration With Netanyahu; Special Counsel Blasts Judge, Could Push Classified Documents Trial Past Election; Caitlin Clark Named Naismith Player Of The Year. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired April 04, 2024 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:30:13]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: A live look at Capitol Hill on this Thursday morning. Good morning to you. Thanks for being up with us. I'm Kasie Hunt.

President Joe Biden is expected to vent his "frustrations" in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. It's going to be the first conversation between the two leaders since seven aid workers from chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. The president condemned the attack earlier this week.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterating his message in the briefing room yesterday. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He's outraged. He's heartbroken. And we also laid out what we want to see and the conversations that we have been having. But it also lifts up the importance of having that hostage deal -- getting that done. Getting to a ceasefire. Getting that humanitarian aid. Making sure that those hostages come home to their loved ones.

So there's a lot of work to be done. We're going to continue to do that work. But I think that statement made it loud and clear -- made it loud and clear where the president stands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: A senior administration official tells CNN Biden is angry about the aid convoy incident and will express his frustration to Netanyahu during that phone call today.

Joining me now, Bloomberg News White House correspondent, Akayla Gardner. And D.C. correspondent for The Nevada Independent, Gabby Birenbaum. Ladies, thanks very much for being here this morning. I really appreciate it. Akayla, let me start with you and I want to kind of dig into the way that Chef Jose Andres has been speaking about what happened to his people in public and how this really has driven a new level of outrage here among, particularly, the president's base -- progressive voters, young people -- about what happened. Let's watch Chef Andres.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHEF JOSE ANDRES, FOUNDER, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: I spoke to President Biden yesterday. President Biden made the statement which it seems is already a harder stand (PH). It's very complicated to understand that we are going to be sending -- America is going to be sending his Navy and his military to do humanitarian work when at the same time, weapons provided by America not to defend (INAUDIBLE) from missile attacks, but use weapons that are killing civilians in this moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So he's talking there about the contradiction between what the president is saying and what the United States is doing.

What do you expect? What is your reporting about the pending call today and how the White House is trying to manage this?

AKAYLA GARDNER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG NEWS: Well, something that's been interesting, particularly about Jose Andres, is he's sort of implied that he believes that these attacks were systemic. He's called them a direct attack on aid workers. And I think Biden, particularly, has been more critical and more outspoken, saying this is one of the worst conflicts in recent history for aid workers. So I certainly expect him to drive home that point, and also some of the things he talked about with Jose Andres in that call with Netanyahu.

But I think the thing that's still looming behind the scenes is the U.S. is still facilitating conversations --backdoor conversations about the hostage deal, really trying to get that done and working with Qatar to do that as well.

So there's obviously a very complicated relationship here and I think we're seeing them more publicly being critical. But for so many young voters, for Arab-Americans, for Muslim-Americans it feels a little bit too late for people who are still frustrated as we saw with that meeting earlier this week with that group.

HUNT: You're seeing this, Gabby, expand a little bit -- this criticism of President Biden. I mean, on social media, I've seen callouts from John Favreau who --

GABBY BIRENBAUM, D.C. CORRESPONDENT, THE NEVADA INDEPENDENT: Right.

HUNT: -- worked for President Obama.

Sam Kass, who was the White House chef in the Obama years starting to push pressure -- to, like, call out Biden directly, which may not seem like a big deal but kind of in the sort of insular world of politics really shows you, especially as we're heading towards a general election, just how high emotions are running on this.

And I think it extends to Capitol Hill as well. And, of course, aid to Israel kind of tied up on the logjam over foreign aid generally speaking.

Let's listen to Chris Van Hollen, the senator from Maryland -- a pretty mild-mannered guy -- talking about this a couple of days ago -- watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, (D-MD): President Biden needs to be as serious about ensuring more humanitarian assistance gets into Gaza as Netanyahu has been in making his demands. I mean, we have this situation where the Netanyahu government continues to rebuff the President of the United States time and time again. Ignores reasonable requests. And what do we do? We say we're going to send more bombs.

My view is that a partnership needs to be a two-way street; not a one- way blank check with American taxpayer dollars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:35:05]

HUNT: I mean, this -- it may sound relatively mild-mannered. It is a significant shift for senators who are firmly in the mainstream of the Democratic Party to start talking that way about putting conditions on aid to Israel.

What do you hear there, and what are you hearing from members about this?

BIRENBAUM: Yeah. I mean, I think it's important to note it's not just Bernie Sanders here, right?

HUNT: Right.

BIRENBAUM: I mean, this is a significant portion of -- particularly in the Senate -- Democrats who feel like Israel's conduct has gone too far to the point that President Biden needs to change course.

And so, you've seen Sen. Van Hollen, for example, talk about Congress already has provided the authority for President Biden to sort of condition aid. The Foreign Assistance Act, right, says that if humanitarian aid from the U.S. is being imperiled that aid then has to be revoked or conditioned.

And so, he's saying he's also interested in Congress potentially blocking future arms transfers and weapons transfers. But he's saying the Biden administration already has the authority to sort of reevaluate that relationship with Israel.

And I think a lot of Senate Democrats feel that -- they agree that Biden -- he wants to limit civilian casualties. He wants humanitarian assistance in there. But if U.S. policy doesn't reflect that, something needs to change.

HUNT: Yeah.

Gabby, let's also talk about -- considering that Israel and aid to Israel not the only contentious foreign aid on the table --

BIRENBAUM: One of many.

HUNT: -- Ukraine has become, of course, this drama in that if it were put on the floor of the House it would most certainly pass --

BIRENBAUM: Right.

HUNT: -- right? It's popular. But it's being held up by the right wing, particularly Marjorie Taylor Greene. She said this earlier. She said, "I'm not saying I have a red line or a trigger, and I'm not saying I don't have a red line or trigger. But I'm going to tell you right now, funding Ukraine is one of the most egregious things that he can do."

The "he" in there, of course, is House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is under pressure from her motion to vacate. He has indicated he has plans to put Ukraine aid on the floor but he is trying to navigate this really tough situation with her.

What is your latest reporting on how this plays out and how Johnson is trying to manage it?

BIRENBAUM: Yeah. He's really walking a tightrope. I think he does seem to have a real interest in Ukraine aid. He has to do it in a way that -- like you said, this would pass on the floor of the House. It would pass with way more Democratic votes than Republican votes. So however he conditions the aid or creates it, it needs to be not so offensive to Democrats, right?

And he's talked about involving anti-climate policies. Turning over the moratorium on liquified natural gas permitting for export facilities.

He needs to do it in a way that Democrats say OK, we can accept this -- but that's not so friendly to Democrats that Republicans say we're going to do to you what we did to --

HUNT: Right.

BIRENBAUM: -- Kevin McCarthy. And that's a tough tightrope of anyone to walk, let alone a relative political rookie.

HUNT: Yeah.

How is the White House looking at this, Akayla?

GARDNER: Yeah. Mike Johnson had this idea of pausing -- or lifting the pause on liquified natural gas and tying that to Ukraine aid over the weekend. There was some curiosity whether the White House would be open to that to get Ukraine aid done. They recently said that they would not be open to that. That pause is really in place so that the Department of Energy can sort of quantify whether it's climate impact, essentially.

HUNT: Right.

GARDNER: But they're sort of just pushing that they really just want the Senate bipartisan bill to just pass. That's what they're kind of going -- or falling back on here. But I think you're going to have to wonder if they're going to have these conversations. This is something that Mike Johnson raised with Biden in a closed-door meeting.

So if they really want to get this done I think they're going to have to look at ways outside of border security to really see this happen.

HUNT: For sure.

All right, Akayla Gardner, Gabby Birenbaum. Thank you guys both very much for being here. I really appreciate it.

All right. Right now, rescue crews are racing to save hundreds of people stranded by the deadly earthquake in Taiwan. At least nine people are dead and more than 1,000 injured after a massive 7.4- magnitude earthquake rocked Taiwan's east coast Wednesday. It was the strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years, collapsing buildings and causing others to lean, like this one.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is live in Hong Kong for us with more. Kristie Lu, good morning. How is the rescue effort going?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the search and rescue goes in Taiwan amid ongoing aftershocks a day after that huge 7.4-magnitude quake. Over 600 people are stranded, including groups of tourists, including miners, and hotel workers. And the death toll has sadly risen in the last hour. We have learned at least 10 people have died.

Now, this earthquake -- it caused landslides. It caused collapsed structures like those tilted buildings you've been seeing out of Hualien. More than 1,000 people are injured and rescuers are working around the clock to free people trapped by the debris. And they're also working really hard just to get to them.

Now, the epicenter, again, is in Hualien County on the east of Taiwan and many in this region are in remote areas that can be hard to reach.

And I want to show you some drone footage that shows the 50 stranded hotel employees waiting for rescue. Now, they were on their way to work on Wednesday in minibuses when the quake struck. And the rescuers -- they are just waiting for the roads to reopen and that's when they can reach these workers who are waiting for help.

[05:40:05]

Now, in another video we've been showing you is from another stretch of highway in the affected area. First responders -- they reached the scene of a major landslide. And once they're there they have to scramble through fallen rocks, boulders, debris all blocking that highway to reach the survivors. And they did reach a man they found who was unconscious and he was later sent on a stretcher to the hospital for treatment.

Now, a day after the earthquake, residents, as you can imagine, are still very nervous, very anxious. In fact, some had to sleep outdoors in tents last night as dozens of aftershocks hit the area.

And among those affected is this elderly survivor. Take a listen to her.

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WANG QIU ZHEN, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR (through translator): It's too scary being alone. I took three sleeping pills but I still couldn't sleep.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: She is scared. Many in the region on edge, Kasie. And authorities say more powerful aftershocks are expected in the next few days -- Kasie.

HUNT: All right, Kristie Lu Stout for us in Hong Kong. Kristie, thanks very much for that. I really appreciate it.

Coming up next, special counsel Jack Smith files a strong response to the judge in Trump's classified documents case. Will he attempt to have her removed from the case?

Plus, add another accomplishment to Caitlan Clark's illustrious college basketball career.

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[05:45:52]

HUNT: Former President Trump will likely face at least one criminal trial before the election later on this month after the New York judge in his hush money case declined Trump's request to delay the trial. The motion was a final Hail Mary by the presumptive Republican nominee to try to further delay his trials until after the election. Trump tried to argue the delay was justified as the Supreme Court has yet to hear Trump's lawyers' arguments for presidential immunity. That hearing is set to take place later this month.

The judge, Juan Merchan, who just last week expanded the gag order against Trump, argued he'd had ample time to bring this issue up earlier and that "The circumstances, viewed as a whole, test this Court's credulity."

Now, while the trial in New York is full steam ahead, the Florida classified documents case is less so. In a filing late Tuesday, special counsel Jack Smith blasted Judge Aileen Cannon for her handling of the case. He says the judge's decision and tactics are ultimately stalling.

Here's the former White House lawyer -- the Trump White House lawyer, Ty Cobb.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TY COBB, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: I think the evidence of her bias is pretty palpable at this stage of the game. I think the 11th Circuit tried desperately to draw a line for her. But her delays here are extraordinary. The filing today makes it plain that she has to rule and if she doesn't rule under either -- under either scenario, they'll be in a position to take her up to the 11th Circuit, and I think the 11th Circuit will likely take her off the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right, joining us now, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson. Joey, good morning. Wonderful to see you.

Let's start there with what Ty Cobb had to say about Aileen Cannon because this is increasingly becoming part of the conversation in terms of how she is handling this. This filing from Jack Smith was really a remarkable one. We don't hear a lot from him and this really -- it took me by surprise.

Can you -- can you help us understand -- I mean, what stood out to you in the filing, and what do you think happens next with Judge Cannon?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah, Kasie. Good morning to you.

I think what stood out most was really a sense of frustration and a sense of impatience. You know, judges have a myriad of decisions to make but when those decisions are questionable and when, in the past, she certainly, as it relates to Mr. Trump, shown a willingness to really intervene on his behalf and to make decisions dating back to 2022 in terms of whether the Mar-a-Lago search was appropriate. Certainly, the appellate division thought so and overturned her.

In terms of 2023 and whether the appointment of a special master to delay the FBI's reviewing of special documents should happen and the 11th Circuit overturning her again.

I think what happens is the special counsel is saying enough. And certainly, as a lawyer, that has to be done in a certain way -- a professional way. In a way that makes your point without yelling and screaming about it, which the special counsel essentially did.

So here you have, Kasie, briefly, a situation where the judge is saying listen, I want two sets of jury instructions. Both those jury instructions really relating to irrelevant issues. The issue in this case is not about the Presidential Records Act, right -- which really, essentially, presidential records are public. They're not personal.

So when you have a decision where the judge is saying submit jury instructions that would demonstrate or at least suggest that these were the personal property -- 32 classified documents of the president -- it's frustrating, especially since it's not a case about that. The Presidential Records Act referring to when you're president. This is two years later. This is about the Espionage Act. And so, I think the special counsel said enough.

In terms of what could happen in the future, I think as Ty Cobb noted, you could see a recusal motion being submitted to have her off the case. But even that, Kasie, is problematic because guess what? It leads to delay, and that's exactly what the Trump team wants, needs, and may very well get -- and is getting, in fact.

HUNT: Yeah. Could you just give us a little bit more on that -- this idea that she could be taken off the case? I mean, is it plausible? What's the mechanism? I don't have my head around that.

JACKSON: So, all great questions, Kasie.

[05:50:00]

I think it is plausible because obviously, as a judge you have to comport yourself in a way that demonstrates that you're impartial and that you cannot have the appearance of any type of improprieties. And so, I think that in the event the judge continues to make questionable rulings, continues to stall, and continues to frustrate the essence of the case moving forward to administer justice then the mechanism would be a motion that seeks recusal by the special counsel.

I think, in essence, the appellate division could rule on that even and send the case back to a different judge. And so, it has to come -- if there is any type of recusal motion it has to come because a party moves for that to happen, that party would be the special counsel. It would be entertained by the court and depending upon the nature of the motion -- the factual essence of the motion speaking about the judge's conduct and decision-making -- that's something you could very well see.

But again, Kasie, it really leads to delay, delay, delay, and that's a tactic that fits right into the former president's strategy.

HUNT: Very interesting.

So, Joey, briefly on the hush money situation in New York, is this the last of these delay motions? I mean, is it even possible to answer that question? I mean, at what point can the Trump team stop throwing up these types of Hail Marys?

JACKSON: So never say never, right? Of course, you and I have learned that, right, in the course of time --

HUNT: Many times.

JACKSON: -- as we all have. But the realities are is that I think this judge also is frustrated.

You know, when cases begin, Kasie, what happens is that pretrial motions are set. What are those? Those are motions that are previous to trial that really you alert the court that you're making certain -- you want the court to make certain motions predicated -- decisions, excuse me, predicated upon arguments you're making.

That motion schedule was set last year. The motion submitted several months ago. The motion heard, right, a couple of months ago.

And so, the fact is that if you were serious about filing a motion about immunity you would have made it or could have suggested it earlier. So it seems obvious to the court that this is another delay tactic. And so, I think the court is not entertaining it. And I think the judge has delayed the trial already giving three weeks from the earlier March 25 date in which the case was going to go forward, to say that's it.

And so, I think what we'll see when the case comes forward on April 15 is the selection of the jury, the moving to trial, and the adjudication, in this case, of guilt or innocence of the former President of the United States.

So my view is anything could happen but it certainly looks likely that this case is getting tried before a jury, and that trial is going to happen at some point very soon -- a couple of weeks.

HUNT: Of course. Maybe the only one that actually unfolds before the November election.

Joey Jackson, always a pleasure. Thanks for being here.

JACKSON: Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: All right, time now for sports. Caitlin Clark continuing her record season.

Carolyn Manno has this morning's Bleacher Report. Carolyn, good morning.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

She's a household name. What can you say? After breaking the NCAA Division I scoring record this season, she deserves it all.

Not exactly a huge surprise that she was named the Naismith Women's College Player of the Year. The award announced yesterday in Cleveland where Clark was on site to accept. She's the first player to receive the honor in consecutive seasons since Brianna Stewart won it three times between 2014 and 2016. So not bad company to be in ahead of the upcoming WNBA draft.

Clark looking at the bigger picture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAITLIN CLARK, GUARD, IOWA HAWKEYES: I think it's been a special year for women's basketball and to win this award is really special. But to be back here playing with my team, I couldn't script it any

better. And some of them are here somewhere back there. I'm not really sure. Oh, right there. Thank you for being here. I love you guys. This is just as much yours as it is mine. And I'm just very grateful and thankful, and I'll see you all on Friday night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: Indeed.

LSU star Angel Reese announced her decision to declare for the WNBA draft. In an article issued by Vogue yesterday, the 21-year-old said she's done everything she's wanted to in college, including winning last year's national title. She feels ready to go pro.

In the NBA, the Celtics locked up the best record of the NBA season by dismantling the Thunder. Kristaps Porzingis had a team-leading 27 points as well as five blocks. But it was an all-around team effort. Jayson Tatum had 24 on the night. Jaylen Brown had 23 to give the Celtics their 60th win of the season.

Here's what Tatum had to say about his team's record after the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAYSON TATUM, FORWARD, BOSTON CELTICS: Seven years in the NBA now, you learn to appreciate the process. I mean, all the while, we want to hang a banner we can't skip steps. And winning 60-plus games and punching the best record in the league is -- it's a big deal.

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MANNO: The Pistons in Atlanta where an unlikely star emerged. Detroit's Malachi Flynn coming in off the bench and dropping 50 points, shattering his former career-high of 27 and setting a franchise record for a reserve. Unfortunately, that was not enough. Jalen Johnson soared with 28 points, 14 boards, 11 assists for his first career triple-double, helping the Hawks clinch a Play-In Tournament berth.

[05:55:03]

And Shohei Ohtani stepping up to the plate in the seventh inning of a tight one against the Giants and he unleashed, sending the ball into orbit, knocking it an astounding 430 feet when all is said and done. Dodgers Stadium just erupted watching their $700 million man round the bases for the first time this season. His first home run as a Dodger would prove to be the game-winner. L.A. getting the best of San Francisco 5-4, sweeping the series.

And Ohtani called it a huge relief to get that first home run out of the way.

Kasie, as you know, it's been a challenging couple of months for him. The pressure of his enormous contract. The transition to the Dodgers. This betting scandal that led to the firing of his longtime interpreter and confidante. So, Dave Roberts, the manager, said that there's a little bit of relief here for everybody.

HUNT: Yes. It takes the pressure off. It will probably be easier to hit number two for him.

Carolyn, thank you. I appreciate it.

Coming up next, President Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu speak for the first time since the deadly airstrike on aid workers in Gaza.

Plus, new video gives us a glimpse of the raid at one of the homes of music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs.

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