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CNN This Morning
Trump Backtracks on Abortion Views; Severe Storms, Flooding Move to Southeast, Ohio Valley. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired April 11, 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 Thursday, April 11, right now on CNN THIS MORNING.
[06:01:01]
An about-face for Donald Trump, who now claims he's opposed to a federal abortion ban.
Downed trees, damaged homes, a possible tornado devastating parts of Louisiana.
And a critical national security tool shot down by Republicans after Donald Trump told them to kill it.
Six a.m. here in Washington. Here is a live look at Capitol Hill on this Thursday morning, a place that is functioning, I guess, the way we should come to expect that it should function, or not should function, but does function.
Anyway, good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
This morning, Republicans in the Arizona state legislature blocking attempts to repeal the 1864 law banning all abortion there, with just a single exception for the life of the mother.
As outrage grows, presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, is trying to convince voters that he doesn't support the Arizona law. And now says he would not sign a national abortion ban if he is elected president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT/2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, they did, and that'll be straightened out, and as you know, it's all about states' rights, and it'll be straightened out. And I'm sure that the governor and everybody else are going to bring it back into reason, and that will be taken care of, I think, very quickly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you sign a national abortion ban if Congress sent it to your desk?
TRUMP: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: No. Trump is trying to sound more moderate on an issue that has galvanized voters from Ohio to Kansas, to Kentucky, to vote to protect abortion rights.
But this Arizona law and restrictions similar to it in other states, they are in force because of Donald Trump.
Recall, how did he win the Republican nomination in the first place? Back in 2016, he released a list of 11 Supreme Court justices he would consider appointing to convince skeptical evangelical voters, who are the bedrock of the Republican base, that he, Trump, was one of them, or at least that he would act like one of them.
Then to hammer that home, he picked the very publicly pious Mike Pence as his running mate.
And then he was elected president, and he transformed the Supreme Court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Today I am keeping another promise to the American people by nominating Judge Neil Gorsuch.
I will nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: In June of 2022, after nearly 50 years, the court struck down Roe versus Wade; and Trump, who is now trying to say that he doesn't support the strictest restrictions that have been exploding in red states across the country, he has repeatedly bragged about how he made that possible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We ended Roe v. Wade.
We terminated Roe v. Wade.
I was able to terminate Roe v. Wade after 50 years of trying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The results have been stories like this one, told in a Biden campaign ad, yes, but about a woman, a family who wanted their child, wanted a child, and were devastated by the consequences of the fall of Roe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAPHIC: At 18 weeks, Amanda's water broke, and she had a miscarriage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The outfit, like she was --
GRAPHIC: Because Donald Trump killed Roe v. Wade, Amanda was denied standard medical care to prevent infection, an abortion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- maybe going to wear home from the hospital. All of these.
GRAPHIC: Doctors were forced to send her home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the blanket that she would have had.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK.
GRAPHIC: Donald Trump did this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: There's also Kate Cox. She's the Texas woman who also desperately wanted a baby. When she was told that her baby likely wouldn't live for more than a few days outside the womb, she sought an abortion to try to protect her ability to try again, to have a child.
[06:05:09]
Here's what she told NBC News in December.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATE COX, LEFT TEXAS TO RECEIVE EMERGENCY CARE: It's a hard -- hard time, you know, even with, you know, being hopeful with the decision that came from the hearing this morning. There's -- there's still -- we're going through the loss of a child.
There's no outcome here that I take home my healthy baby girl, you know. So it's hard, you know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Cox had to leave her home state of Texas to get the care that she needed.
Then there was this woman, Hadley Duvall, who told her story in a campaign ad for Kentucky's Democratic governor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HADLEY DUVALL, RAPE SURVIVOR: I was raped by my stepfather after years of sexual abuse. I was 12. Anyone who believes there should be no exceptions for rape and incest could never understand what it's like to stand in my shoes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: These are just three stories of countless stories like them, no doubt, unfolding across the country because of the fall of Roe versus Wade. Our panel is here. Let's bring in "New York Times" White House correspondent Zolan Kanno-Youngs; Republican strategist Doug Heye; and Democratic strategist Meghan Hays.
It's a tough way to start the morning morning, let's be honest.
But Meghan, this is a scenario where we saw Donald Trump try to say, and say to cameras, he wouldn't sign a national abortion ban. He did seem to say that the Democratic governor of Arizona would straighten out what's going on in Arizona.
But the bottom line is that the reality that Americans are living in right now is because of the things that he did when he was president of the United States.
MEGHAN HAYS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes, that is correct. And I don't think we should forget that, and I don't think voters will forget that in November.
I also think he's just trying to muddy the waters and say whatever he can to get elected, which is not different than what he said in '16 or in '20 and what he'll continue to say in '24.
HUNT: Doug Heye, what is your view of what Donald Trump is trying to do and whether it will work to convince people that he is in a different place on this than he has been?
DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, what he's trying to do is muddy the waters to some extent. He's trying to be nuanced, which is something that Donald Trump doesn't do very often, maybe doesn't do very well.
HUNT: Trump nuance.
HEYE: No. He is blunt-force trauma. He is not nuance.
I think he's -- he's showing that he sort of gets the issue. But the issue can be defined by his past, as Democrats are clearly going to do, not just in talking about Donald Trump, but in seeing -- and putting videos like you just showed over and over again. And does that mean that Donald Trump can't win in November? No.
Certainly, if you look at where Biden is on every issue other than abortion, he's -- he's underwater, often deeply underwater. But it does make it hard to win over, certainly, those suburban women who aren't satisfied with Joe Biden's presidency, who are otherwise gettable. This makes it much more impactful.
ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The difficult thing, even then, his attempt to find nuance is -- you know, in the most recent statement where he tried to defer to states on this issue. He's still opened up by also mentioning that he, basically, is responsible for the makeup of the Supreme Court currently, right?
So people are going to notice those comments, as well. And also, his kind of attempt to sort of meander this and pivot, that
goes up against videos and testimonies showing the human toll of this. I mean, immediately, once this statement was made by the former president, you saw the Biden campaign initially start making statements distributing videos, as well, like powerful ones that you just saw.
So, will sort of these quick answers, trying to sort of "both sides" it, you know, match up against some of the emotion and pathos that's shown in those videos? I mean, that's -- that's really going to be the challenge going forward, at least for his argument.
HUNT: Well, and Doug, I mean, one of the things I think that makes this issue different than some other issues, you're right to point out, yes, Republicans have advantages on immigration and other things.
But for a lot of people, you know, immigration is not something that is going to affect the decision they are going to make about themselves tomorrow.
HEYE: Sure.
HUNT: This issue is in people's houses in a way that other issues might not be.
HEYE: No, and I think -- I think that's why we've seen the responses be as powerful as they are and as impactful as they are in special elections, certainly in the midterm elections, as well.
But this is a race that is winnable by either one of these candidates, or losable by either one of these candidates.
The risk that Republicans have in Washington is that what's happening is state legislatures or judiciaries are sort of legislating out loud. And you don't know which state is going to be next and what those rules are going to be.
Certainly, we weren't thinking about -- when we're talking about South Carolina or Texas, for instance, weren't thinking about laws that went back to the Civil War.
So there could be other states that pop up like this, as well, which make it very difficult for Republicans to get to a safe place for where voters are.
HAYS: Well, and every minute this is in the news, is a minute they're not talking about things, as you mentioned, that Biden isn't performing well on, like the economy or immigration.
So for Democrats, it's a winning issue to keep this in the news. So every time Donald Trump gets out there, it's just -- it's more beneficial for Democrats. It's driving turnout. It's driving fundraising numbers.
[06:10:03] So for us, it's like every time a state is going to come back with a new law and Donald Trump's going to have to address it again, it's just continuing to drive home the contrast between President Biden and former President Trump.
HUNT: And you saw in this video that Trump put out on Truth Social overnight, he's very much trying to make that argument. Republicans say, look, now you can talk about all these other things. You don't want to talk about this. Except -- except they will.
All right. We're going to have more on this next, as Democrats in Arizona try and fail to repeal that century-old abortion law.
Plus, homes damaged by high winds and flooding as severe storms hit the South. We'll get your weather.
And new inflation data causing problems for the Biden campaign and for your wallet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:15:12]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, CBS' "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": This law is so old that it predates the invention of the cowboy hat, the urinal, the paper clip, and the machine that makes paper bags.
Should we really be enforcing laws from an era where the cutting-edge tech was a bag?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: And paperclip.
After the Arizona Supreme Court upheld a Civil War abortion ban on Tuesday -- Civil War-era abortion ban on Tuesday, Democrats in the state legislature tried to open debate on a bill that would repeal the 1864 law.
But they were blocked by Republicans, who cut them off and quickly adjourned for the week. It led to this chaotic scene on the state house floor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All in favor of that motion, vote aye.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aye!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Aye!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aye!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All opposed vote no. Ayes have it. So it will be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Our panel is back.
So Doug Heye, Trump trying to say, well, they're going to fix it in -- in Arizona. The governor is going to fix it. They're going to make it better.
The issue seems to be, for Republicans, that a lot of the Republicans that control state legislatures and Supreme Courts in these states are way more conservative than the electorate is. Just look at Alabama and IVF and look at what happened on the floor of the House.
HEYE: Sure. And more conservative than -- than where Trump has been, even though Trump, you know, is the one who's put judges, not just on the Supreme Court, but you know, federal --
HUNT: It's certainly how conservative he's trying to be right now. Right?
HEYE: Sure. And -- and so, you know, when he says, Well, this will be taken care of pretty quickly, it's very typical Trump speak. It sort of doesn't mean anything. It's a place holder that hopefully will move onto a different topic.
You know, how many -- I mean, how many Inflation [SIC] Weeks did you -- Infrastructure Weeks did you cover? Actual number zero, because they never happened. We just kept being told, in two weeks, it's going to be Inflation [SIC] Week. And it never really was.
This is a typical Trump tactic -- tactic. And he does it, because he knows it can be successful for him.
HUNT: Well, and Zolan, the bottom line here is that it is going to have to be decided at the ballot box in many of these places. The reality is it will be in a way that could actually impact -- and this is why I think Trump is doing what he's doing -- the presidential election.
KANNO-YOUNGS: One hundred percent. I mean, this will be one of the major issues that could determine the election, going back to the midterms. You also saw that, as well.
HUNT: I mean, literally, like Arizona Electoral College.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Yes.
HUNT: We're counting votes on election night, and like, 10,000 votes either way in Arizona may throw the election.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Absolute -- I mean, absolutely, absolutely. And that's -- right now, you are seeing a former president make statements with the main factor being politics in this election, trying to base maneuver this election.
It's not guided by, and it hasn't been for much -- for a long time, by based off of, like, a strong conviction, you know, on this issue. It's playing politics here. And you're going to see that, you know, moving forward.
On the other side, I do think it's going to be interesting. We know that the Biden campaign, the Biden White House, is going to continue to try to attach him to this issue and not let him separate himself from it.
I do think it's going to be interesting to see how something like the vice president's tour, you know, across the nation is going to be and how hard they go on really calling out the former president, not just local Republicans, and tying him to this issue.
Seeing how -- like, just how far this goes beyond just social media videos and statements, but also to sort of primetime speeches will be something to watch.
HUNT: Meghan, how do you see this playing out in Arizona? Do you think the legislature takes any action? Is it tied up in the courts? What's next?
HAYS: I think it's probably tied up the courts, and I don't think the legislature, as we saw, is going to take much action. I think it's going to be on a decision on the ballot, which is going to drive turnout, which is, again, good for Democrats; because you're going to get these suburban women that are out there voting. You're going to get people who are not necessarily happy with the president but now have a reason to go vote.
So we were worried about voter turnout before, and people not excited about either candidate. This is giving people a reason to be excited in a way that could really -- it's not only going affect the top of the ticket; it's also going to affect the down-ballot races.
HUNT: All right.
Coming up next here, inflation threatening to derail the Biden economy. We're going to talk about it with former presidential adviser Mark McKinnon.
Plus, a potato chip commercial sparking outrage in Italy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:23:29]
HUNT: All right, 22 minutes past the hour. Five things you've got to see this morning.
At least ten people were injured after a tornado touched down in Slidell, Louisiana. That storm also cutting off power to thousands along the Gulf Coast.
And in neighboring Mississippi, one person reported killed and at least one other injured by related storms.
Dozens of homes were also damaged by high winds and flooding in Madison County.
Police have charged a 26-year-old man for detonating an explosive device just outside the Alabama attorney general's office in February. Kyle Calvert faces up to 30 years in prison.
The University of Iowa announcing they'll retire superstar guard Caitlin Clark's jersey. Clark will be the school's last women's basketball player to ever wear the number 22. Go, Caitlin.
And this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CRUNCHING SOUND)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: That potato chips summary sparking outrage in Italy. A Catholic group that monitors Italian radio and TV wants this TV ad pulled off the air, because it depicts nuns receiving potato chips for holy communion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: OK. Time now for weather. Those severe storms are heading toward the Southeast and the Ohio valley this morning with a flash flood warning issued for Tallahassee, Florida.
Our meteorologist Elisa Raffa joins this -- joins us and is tracking the system.
Elisa, what are you seeing?
ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We're looking at this threat continuing to spread East and Northeast as we go through the day today.
[06:25:03]
We're looking at some EF-1 tornado damage in Slidell. A lot of surveys need to continue through the day today. We have at least five reported tornadoes across the Southeast. That line of storms now rushing into the Florida Panhandle, and it's been dumping ton of rain. We're talking about months' worth of rain in hours for places like New Orleans and, this morning, Tallahassee, where we continue to have flash flood warnings as we go through the next couple of hours, because they got a month's worth of rain in just two hours overnight.
Since yesterday, they're looking at rain totals nearing seven inches. Just incredible amounts the moisture in this.
The rain continues to move through Southern Georgia, actually delaying the start of the Masters there in Augusta.
You see the showers stretching up into the Northeast, from Chicago up towards New York. We'll continue to find some of that rain pushing into the area as we go through the day today.
The severe risk stretches from Tampa, through Charlotte, up to Pittsburgh. You have got that level three out of five enhanced risk in the Ohio Valley for a couple of damaging winds, a few tornadoes and large hail. That flooding risk will continue, as well.
HUNT: All right. Elisa Raffa for us. Elisa, thanks very much for that.
All right. Coming up next, a critical tool that the FBI director says keep America -- keeps America safe was rejected by Republicans on orders from Donald Trump.
Plus, Fareed Zakaria is here to discuss the rising threat that Iran poses to Israel and the U.S.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
