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Trump Campaign Says it Raised $50.5 Million at Fundraiser; Total Eclipse to Appear Over North America Today; Vermont, Illinois Among Best Eclipse Viewing Spots. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired April 08, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:32]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Monday, April 8. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING, a record fundraising haul for Donald Trump. The former president also now, again, comparing himself to Nelson Mandela.

An engine cover coming loose on takeoff, forcing a Southwest flight to make an emergency landing.

And the countdown's on. Are you all set for today's total solar eclipse?

Six a.m. here in Washington, a live look at the Washington Monument on this Monday morning. The sun still hasn't made any appearance here in Washington yet today. It's going to be the star of the show throughout the afternoon.

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

Former President Donald Trump this weekend both comparing himself to Nelson Mandela again, and also telling wealthy donors, according to "The New York Times," that he likes immigrants from nice countries like Denmark, and promising guests at the Palm Beach mansion that he was speaking at, that they were safe, for now, from undocumented immigrants living across the river in the more diverse West Palm Beach.

The Trump campaign claimed that they raised over $50 million at the event, doubling President Biden's record haul in New York last night. Last month, excuse me.

Trump, according to "The Times," was defending his remarks as president when he had lamented that immigrants were coming from "s- hole" countries. You may remember that.

"The Times" also reported that Trump said that President Biden has, quote, "soiled the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. Trump said, according to "The Times," "I mean that literally, which is sad." "The Times" then writes this: "The attendee who witnessed the moment said that dinner guests laughed, and that Mr. Trump's remark was interpreted as the former president saying that Mr. Biden had defecated on the desk." This, of course, is the same guy who again posted on social media this

weekend, comparing himself to Nelson Mandela, as he did back in October.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT/2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you want to challenge the result of an election, they hound you. Look what happened this weekend with two good people. They hound them, and they scare them, and they've -- but we don't get scared. We don't get scared.

I'll tell you what. I don't mind being Nelson Mandela, because I'm doing it for a reason.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: OK. With that, let's bring in Molly Ball, senior political correspondent for "The Wall Street Journal." Republican strategist Matt Gorman is here. And Lulu Garcia-Navarro of "The New York Times" also joins us.

Who would like to go first? Wow.

MOLLY BALL, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Where can we start? Where can we start?

HUNT: There's so much. No, but in seriousness, Molly, this is -- these are not necessarily things that we haven't heard from -- I mean, the Resolute Desk situation is kind of a new one. If anyone wants to touch that, please be my guest.

But he was literally rehashing remarks that he made as president when he talked about "nice" immigrants.

BALL: Right. Well, and to me what ties sort of all these strands together is the beginning of the general election and the lack of a pivot, if you will, from Trump rhetorically, right?

HUNT: Lack of a pivot, yes.

BALL: Because he is saying a lot of the same sort of polarizing, shall we say, things that he brought to the primary campaign. Chiefly, this theme of victimhood, right? And the way that he talks about his relationship with the Biden White House, with the Justice Department in particular, his criminal cases and so on.

This was a major theme of the primary campaign, and it was specifically in the sense that it drew his followers closer to him and reminded them of their allegiance to him.

But will the general election be a different story, right? He's now in -- he's supposed to be in persuasion mode, trying to bring in skeptical voters, whether they're, you know, Republicans who cast a vote for Nikki Haley in the primary, or independents and even conservative Democrats. Are they interested in him comparing himself to Nelson Mandela? Are they interested in his continued complaints about the 2020 election? That's something that I think remains to be seen.

HUNT: Right.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": I will actually say I think they are interested.

I think one of the powers of Donald Trump, if power it is, is that he has this ability, when he's -- when he says things about Nelson Mandela, he flips the script, right?

He's trying to sort of mask himself in this, in this aura of these very famous people, of these people that are revered. And it's trying to sort of put himself in that mold.

[06:05:06]

And I think rhetorically, we might look at that, because we obviously know the history of South Africa. We know the history of Apartheid. And in the same kind of brushes vilifying immigrants, people of color, and also trying to say that he is some kind of hero of civil rights.

But it does have, I think, resonance to a certain demographic.

And we are seeing him do well with people of color when he talks about immigrants, when he talks about vilifying the blood of this country. It's still managing to resonate with Latinos, with African-American men, in particular. I mean, it is actually having an impact.

MATT GORMAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, you're not wrong. I think about a year ago, when Trump started this campaign, I think an oft refrain we often said was who is he going to convince that voted -- that didn't vote for him in 2020 to vote for him in 2024?

Lulu is exactly right in this point. I think Latinos, especially African-American men, specifically, are becoming those folks who do fit that demographic.

And look, I will say this, too. I think -- I've worked on campaigns that have run against him twice. And here I am and there his campaign is right now. So one thing -- one thing I've learned --

HUNT: You're basically on the outside.

GORMAN: Yes, exactly. I'm sitting here. Yes, rehashing. But look --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Good place to sit.

GORMAN: Yes. Very good place.

HUNT: We're very happy to have you.

GORMAN: We have donuts. I'm very happy.

HUNT: We have donuts. We have eclipse donuts. We'll get them in a minute.

GORMAN: Exactly. But one of the things -- you know, to learn is that it's almost like that scene from "I Love Lucy" where the chocolates just keep coming down the conveyor belt. You can choose to respond to everything. I mean, look, how much did you just read in that opening? That was, like, six things.

And if you're the DNC, or the Biden campaign, you can go and chase these rabbit holes wherever. But in my opinion, the most impactful thing of that clip was the fact that he raised $50 million, and we'll see where things end up. But the fundraising gap between Biden and Trump, it -- at least for the long haul, is going to be the most impactful thing coming out of this.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I don't know, though. Hillary Clinton outraised Trump in 2016, and -- and we know where that ended up. She's also not sitting with us.

GORMAN: You can lose -- yes, you can lose by about 10 million, 20 million words (ph), were Hillary and Trump. But McCain and Obama, McCain, 84 million and then Obama did about 120. There's a gap where it's impossible to come back from, when he's raising by one-half, 2x.

HUNT: So let me show you one other thing that happened in the last -- over the weekend that sort of plays into it. But earlier discussion you're having about some -- the kinds of varied types of voters he's trying to play to.

The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, came out and said he's not going to endorse anyone for president. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DWAYNE "THE ROCK" JOHNSON, ACTOR: The endorsement that I made years ago with Biden was one, I thought, was the best decision for me at that time. Am I going to do that again this year? That answer's no. I'm not going to do that, because what I realized, what that caused back then was something that tears me up in my guts, back then and now, which is division.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So there's obviously a reason I'm showing this.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes. There is a reason you're showing it. Obviously, a man of color sort of stepping away from the Democratic Party. I mean, he's emblematic. There are others, by the way. There are a lot of people in the hip-hop world that have either endorsed Trump or recanted their endorsement of President Biden.

I mean, I have to say this is slightly, for me, ridiculous that this -- that the Rock would say "My endorsement caused division in this country." I mean, this seems a little bit of a stretch.

GORMAN: Real quick, there's tequila (ph) on the table. He's a business guy. We see this across corporations, we see this across celebrities. They don't need to get that involved in political fights, don't have to.

HUNT: Right. Fair enough.

All right. Our panel is going to stick around.

Up next here, a Southwest flight forced to make an emergency landing after the engine cover ripped away during takeoff.

Plus former Capitol Hill police sergeant reacts to RFK Jr.'s controversial take on January 6th. You won't want to miss this conversation.

Plus, millions across the country hoping for clear skies as they prepare to witness today's solar eclipse.

Nancy Regitz says, "I'm a fifth-grade teacher in Southern California. We won't see much, but our school has purchased glasses for everyone to head outside and be a part of whatever we can see. The kids are excited!"

Can't wait. All right. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCELLO HERNANDEZ, CAST MEMBER, NBC'S "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": I am the New York earthquake! There is nothing on Earth a powerful as me!

KENAN THOMPSON, CAST MEMBER, NBC'S "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": What is this candy-ass little fool talking about?

COLIN JOST, CAST MEMBER, NBC'S "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Oh, my God. It's the eclipse.

THOMPSON: Yes.

JOST: I've heard the eclipse is only supposed to last like four minutes.

THOMPSON: Which is going to feel like an eternity when you're staring at me through a shoebox!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Our countdown to the eclipse across America continues. Later this afternoon, parts of our country will be temporarily plunged into darkness. The last time a solar eclipse passed over America was 2017. That was when then-President Trump infamously stared directly at the eclipse from the White House balcony without eye protection. Something I would really advise against.

Later today, in honor of this year's solar celebration, Trump posted this video on Truth Social.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) (MUSIC)

GRAPHIC: The most important moment in human history.

[PROFILE OF DONALD TRUMP SUPERIMPOSED OVER SUN]

GRAPHIC: We will save America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:15:08]

HUNT: OK. The panel's back. We're also joined by former NASA space biologist, Keith Cowling, who's the person we really want to talk to today about the eclipse. Thank you for coming in.

KEITH COWLING, FORMER NASA SPACE BIOLOGIST: My pleasure.

HUNT: So talk to us a little bit about why these eclipses are actually such a big deal for science. I mean, it's -- the things I have learned about this have been fascinating. The things I didn't know before.

COWLING: Well, for science, you can use a telescope and temporarily blocks the sun. A little thing, telescope. But these things allow people everywhere, with their scientific instruments, whether they're in colleges or universities, or in their backyards, or NASA to get 4 or 5 minutes of a really sharp image of the moon covering the sun. So you only see the sun's atmosphere.

But if you get on a jet plane, like some rich people, or like NASA, you could fly along that path. And it's an unprecedented opportunity to really get a nice sharp look.

HUNT: Wait, OK. Hold on. Back up, because our friend in Maine told us that they have nine private jets that are now flying to Maine to try to view it. You're saying that the real way to do it is to stay in your private plane and take the plane along the path?

COWLING: I wouldn't do that, but these -- somebody apparently is. I mean, the best place to be is right in the middle of the totality path with nice clear weather, with the glasses -- you must wear glasses. Looking up at it, in my opinion. I would take that over a jet.

HUNT: Really?

COWLING: Yes.

HUNT: Wow. OK. That's fascinating.

Any other sort of tips for viewing or things that people should be thinking about, I mean, is that -- you have so -- it's such a short period of time.

COWLING: It's -- yes, but it's cool. If you're in the right spot, and you can put your mind in the place of you're on a planet. I mean, we just had earthquake last week, so now we know the Earth shakes around a bit. No connection to the eclipse.

But if you can just imagine yourself in a big ball and another one going like this in front of another. You might get a little bit of moment of Zen where you realize you're on a planet. It's fleeting, but --

HUNT: Yes.

COWLING: For some people -- I remember in 1970, there was a partial eclipse, and I was a young boy doing the whole projection thing. And that sort of spurred by interest in astronomy and space.

HUNT: Yes.

COWLING: So out of the millions of people watching, maybe a couple of astronauts will be spawned.

BALL: Can I ask you a question? Because I was in the path of totality in 2017, and I thought it was amazing. But here on the East Coast, or at least in D.C., we're only going to get about 80 percent of it?

COWLING: We're going to get 90-ish percent. I'm going to -- I was going to --

BALL: How dramatic will that be?

COWLING: Well, for me, I'm going to be out with the spaghetti -- my wife will be just rolling her eyes, but I'll be, you know, looking for something. Because there's no leaves in the trees to do that thing.

BALL: Yes.

COWLING: But it'll be enough that it'll get dark. And I don't think the animals are quite reacting to the seasons yet, but you might hear the birds stop chirping for a minute or two, and it'll get cooler.

BALL: So even if you're not in the path, you'll still notice it. It'll still be pretty dramatic?

COWLING: If you're paying attention to it, it's like the earthquake. You feel it or not.

HUNT: But you said something. You said you're going to be looking down. You are not going to be looking up and wearing glasses?

COWLING: Yes. I'll be doing that, too, but --

BALL: OK.

COWLING: -- since I've seen these. I'm just interested in the colander thing, where you get the spaghetti strainer. I'm just interested.

HUNT: I'm sorry, explain this. You get a colander, and you do what with it?

COWLING: You hold it just right. And all these little holes, it's like a pinhole camera. And you can see all these little versions of the eclipse. Or if you had leaves in the trees in your backyard and you've got just the right angle coming through, the leaves themselves will act like little lenses.

So you just Google it. It's -- I mean, it's funny to look at the sky, watch the moon and the stars through that.

BALL: Right.

COWLING: This is kind of -- I don't know. Kind of DIY astronomy with stuff in your kitchen.

HUNT: So you put like a white sheet under the colander for the best view?

COWLING: You can. I do it on the street.

HUNT: On the street?

COWLING: Yes.

BALL: And it creates those little, like, crescents.

COWLING: Yes. I think that's -- I mean, you know, it's cool. But again, it's this idea. It is not difficult to be a DIY scientist, to do something to actually see the eclipse in a way that maybe a scientist might do without the glasses, although you should very much have these glasses. Unless you have welder's goggles that are like grade 12, as I understand it.

HUNT: Grade 12 welder's goggles?

COWLING: I have two -- I have two high school buddies who are going to do that.

HUNT: OK. Yes. I mean, I will say, you put these on and, like, you can't -- you can't see anything. Like I'm in theory supposed to read something over there.

COWLING: For a moment there will be --

HUNT: They look cool, though.

COWLING: For a moment, there will be 30 or 40 million American space nerds. So for us space nerds, it's -- it's a good thing.

HUNT: Yes. Well, look, you've given -- given me the best activity for -- I've got a four-and-a-half-year-old. So I have to convince him to keep these on.

COWLING: Do the pie plate. Do the thing where you put it in a pie plate like that. And then you put it on and look like the "SNL" thing.

HUNT: That's a great idea. That's an excellent idea. Yes. My one-year- old, I think she's just going to have to stay inside, because otherwise, she'll fry her eyes forever. She'll never keep these on. COWLING: Yes, you don't want to do that.

HUNT: Yes. All right.

So whether you're in the path of totality or not, as we were just talking about here, because we're not. We're in partial totality here in D.C. But you can celebrate the solar eclipse with plenty of limited-edition snacks and treats.

All weekend, you can order a Total Eclipse of The Hut. That is a large pizza special from, of course, Pizza Hut.

Moon Pie will sell its signature marshmallow cookies in special boxes that it calls a solar eclipse survival kit. Think you can survive the eclipse without that. Let's be real.

But SunChips has created a new flavor, Pineapple Habanero, and Black Bean Spicy Gouda. And these SunChips will be available online this afternoon during a window for just four minutes and 27 seconds. That's how long the totality is going to last in any single location.

[06:20:08]

And then there are these. They're delicious Krispy Kremes, eclipse doughnut topped with an Oreo cookie. I just had to try it once I found out we were going to be able to have these for the morning. You know, I don't -- can't decide, if it's actually breakfast or not. But there you go. Plenty of things.

What do you guys think?

GORMAN: They're very good. They're very good. Very good.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I like them so much that I have stuff all over my face, apparently. So that's what that was. Really good.

HUNT: So good. Keep going.

Thank you so much for coming. We learned so much from you. It's great. And definitely trying that.

Join CNN for special live coverage of the eclipse across America. It starts live today at 1 p.m. Eastern. You can also stream it on MAX.

Coming up, an engine cover falling off a Southwest Airlines jet, forcing an emergency landing.

Plus awaiting House Speaker Mike Johnson's big decision on Ukraine aid. I'll talk to Democratic Congress Dan Kildee ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:25:15]

HUNT: The FAA is investigating how an engine cover fell off a Southwest Airlines jet, striking its wing during takeoff. In recorded air traffic control audio, one of the pilots said that

several passengers and flight attendants heard something loud hit the wing.

The Houston Boeing -- Houston-bound Boeing plane made it to 10,000 feet before turning back and landing safely in Denver.

The South Carolina Gamecocks finishing a perfect season and taking home their third NCAA title, posting an 87-to-75 victory over superstar guard Caitlin Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes.

In an emotional moment after the game, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley thanked Caitlin Clark for, quote, "lifting up our sport."

If you haven't heard by now, there's an eclipse today. How much of it you're going to see depends on exactly where you're going to be. Our meteorologist, Allison Chinchar, joins us now with the forecast.

Allison, what are people going to -- going to -- What should they expect today?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right? Maybe a little bit of everything. And that's going to entirely depend on where you plan to view it.

Look, there are going to be some fantastic spots to view across the country, especially across these areas of the Mississippi and Ohio River Valley. Cape Girardeau, Missouri; Carbondale, Illinois; Evansville, Indiana, all looking to be very nice spots.

And another good section farther off to the North, basically from Burlington, Vermont, up through Caribou, Maine. Also going to have plenty of sunshine there.

Now there will be a couple of trouble spots. Namely say, for that Erie, Pennsylvania, up through Rochester, New York, and most of the eclipse path for Texas and the bulk of Arkansas, as well.

And the main concern there is the fact that we expect some strong to severe thunderstorms. Now, the bulk of those storms are actually going to come after the eclipse. But we all know those clouds build ahead of time. So you're going to really start to see that increasing cloud cover as we go through the day today.

And then as folks are leaving, they may have to encounter some of that large hail, damaging winds and, yes, even potentially some tornadoes as we spread Eastward into places like Shreveport and even Jackson, Mississippi.

So if the folks live home there, but maybe you're traveling, they may encounter some of those thunderstorms on their way back.

HUNT: Allison, are your sun earrings for the occasion?

CHINCHAR: They are, as is my shirt. Yes, I only get to wear this every couple of years. Have to take advantage of it. HUNT: Well, you can hang it up for 20 years after this, it sounds

like. Allison Chinchar, thanks very much. I really appreciate it.

All right. Live coverage of the eclipse across America starts today at 1 p.m. Eastern. And there's also an eclipse pre-show at 12. Kind of like gameday coverage here at CNN. Don't miss it.

Also coming up next here, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. saying he has some doubts about whether the Capitol attack was really an insurrection. A former Capitol police sergeant who was there that day joins me to respond, next.

Plus, a suspect arrested in the arson attack on Senator Bernie Sanders' office. We'll tell you about that.

And we're just hours away from the total solar eclipse. Over the weekend, I asked some of our viewers how they're preparing. We get this from Tracy. She says, quote, "Got the last pair of glasses at the library today." Tracy's trying to move some work meetings to get outside to watch. Good luck, Tracy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:00]