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Johnson Defies Ouster Threats, Advances Foreign Aid Plan; Senate Dismisses Articles Of Impeachment Against Mayorkas; Students And Younger Voters Protest Biden's Handling Of Gaza. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired April 18, 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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[05:30:37]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, there is a live look at Philadelphia. It's 5:30 in the morning. A little fog there in the City of Brotherly Love.
Good morning. Thanks for waking up with us. I'm Jim Acosta in for Kasie Hunt.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is moving ahead with his plan to bring separate aid bills for Israel and Ukraine to the House floor -- a decision that could cost him his job. Hardline Republicans opposed to Ukraine aid are outraged. Marjorie Taylor Greene telling CNN that support for her motion to oust Johnson is growing. But the speaker is not bowing to her threats.
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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): My philosophy is you do the right thing and you let the chips fall where they may. I don't -- if I operated out of fear over a motion to vacate I would never be able to do my job. I can make a selfish decision and do something that -- that's different, but I'm doing here what I believe to be the right thing. I think providing lethal aid to Ukraine right now is critically important.
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ACOSTA: Joining me now, Associated Press congressional reporter, Farnoush Amiri. And, Wall Street Journal White House reporter, Catherine Lucey. Great to see both of you here in the studio. Thank you so much for getting up so early. Always appreciate it.
Farnoush, what do you think? Are we going to see a speaker fight? Are we going to see these aid bills just sort of pass without any drama? Do we have any sense of it? Who knows? What's going on?
FARNOUSH AMIRI, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Yeah. I think -- I think if you were to ask --
ACOSTA: Yeah. AMIRI: -- Speaker Mike Johnson if he knows how this going to end for him he would say he doesn't.
ACOSTA: Yeah.
AMIRI: I mean, the vote right now is planned for Saturday. He's going to bring these separate packages to the floor and let members vote -- as he says, vote their conscience on each of them. Folks who really wanted to get Ukraine aid will be able to vote single -- you know, singlehandedly on Ukraine aid. The same with Israel folks. And then, obviously, I think there will be a large bipartisan support for Taiwan.
But you're right. I mean, the speaker -- the speakership is looming above him as it has been the second he got it, right? He came under the same threats that Kevin McCarthy had and now he is facing a growing, I would say -- two individuals who are saying motion to vacate. But he has what McCarthy didn't, which is Democrats publicly pledging to support him if Marjorie Taylor Greene decides to take this action.
ACOSTA: Yeah, and Marjorie Taylor Greene says support for her motion to vacate is growing. Here's what she said yesterday.
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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you -- is there support for your motion to vacate growing?
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): It is growing and I think some people are becoming more angry than I am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Now, is it growing because now she has Tom Massie on board and so instead of one you have two? Is that -- is that the definition of growing here?
AMIRI: I think there is -- you know, she's been telling us that there have been a lot of private supporters for weeks. Obviously, Thomas Massie came publicly after the aid bills were -- you know, the proposal was introduced in a conference meeting.
But there are -- I mean, if you go on Twitter, Matt Gaetz has mentioned that he is extremely frustrated. He believes that Mike Johnson is surrendering in bringing Ukraine aid to the floor.
But whether those people will do -- will join Marjorie Taylor Greene in doing -- you know, taking the -- again, like extreme action and vacating another speaker in an election year is I think something. We'll have to see.
ACOSTA: Yeah.
And Catherine, you're over at the White House. What's the White House view on this? Are they just sitting back and getting their popcorn out and watching all of this unfold? Do they want Democrats to bail out Mike Johnson if he can get Ukraine aid across the finish line, for example? What's your sense of it?
CATHERINE LUCEY, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: I mean, I think right now what the White House wants is these aid bills to advance. You saw the president make a really strong endorsement of this yesterday. They've been pushing for months this --
ACOSTA: Yeah.
LUCEY: -- privately, publicly trying to have those conversations and trying to impress upon them how important they think it is to get this aid out.
And so, I think that's -- we're going to see with this weekend. It really determines the future of that aid and probably the future for Mike Johnson.
ACOSTA: Yeah. And it would be -- I mean, sort of, unchartered waters for the president I think a little bit, too, if they can't get this passed. I mean, it's sort of like what's the plan B here, you know?
LUCEY: And --
ACOSTA: Just sort of wait until the election, I guess, or --
LUCEY: And it's not clear that there is. I mean, they keep --
ACOSTA: Yeah.
LUCEY: -- saying Ukraine desperately needs this aid. They've been really public about this. Military leaders have been talking about this. Zelenskyy, himself, has been saying they can't -- they need these resources.
ACOSTA: Yeah.
LUCEY: And so this has been a very big priority for the president and he's been very vocal about that.
ACOSTA: Yeah.
And, I mean, yesterday, Farnoush, Speaker Johnson did speak with CNN about this -- about what he thinks about this motion to vacate. Let's listen to that.
[05:35:05]
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JOHNSON: I don't think -- I don't walk around thinking about the motion to vacate. It's a procedural matter here that I think has been abused in recent times. Maybe at some point we change that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Yeah. What is your sense -- I don't think about it.
AMIRI: I mean, again, if I close my eyes I can just hear Kevin McCarthy. It's deja vu all over again. Kevin McCarthy also tried to ignore the growing -- I mean, obviously, in his case, it was a -- it was a much more loud and growing caucus of folks who were trying to oust him.
But he has to -- he has to go on do his job, like he mentioned. Like, you know, lethal aid for Ukraine is something that military leaders -- that our own intelligence has been saying is vital for Ukraine to win this war against Russia. And he's willing to -- he was asked are you willing to lose your job over sending this aid to this country that we see as an ally -- that we see our future depended on their success -- and he said it's going to be worth it for him.
ACOSTA: And Johnson also was talking about a social media post from the House Speaker -- former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. This is going back a ways. Newt Gingrich says this.
"Speaker Johnson is working to lead the most complicated House since the Civil War. Any Republican who moves to vacate the chair should be challenged as totally destructive. It took 15 ballots to elect Speaker McCarthy. It took three weeks to elect Speaker Johnson."
I mean, all of those -- some of those things are true there.
"He should serve until someone else proves they can get 218 votes. Any other path is suicidally destructive for the House GOP."
Now, it is somewhat interesting that Newt Gingrich is calling for peace in the House of Representatives. I mean, he used to be kind of the bomb-thrower back in the day.
But, Catherine -- I mean, a lot of what Gingrich is saying there is true. I mean, I have to think that there's a calculus in the back of their minds in the House Republican Conference. If they blow things up again there could be real consequences heading into the fall.
LUCEY: I think that is the private calculation, right --
ACOSTA: Yeah.
LUCEY: -- is are they prepared to actually go through this another time? And so far, we haven't seen -- as much as we've seen frustration beyond those two votes, we haven't really seen if they are willing to go all the way. I mean, "suicidally destructive" are strong words but I think --
ACOSTA: Yeah.
LUCEY: -- some of them do feel like that -- that's true.
ACOSTA: Yeah.
And I do want to talk about what took place in this impeachment thing that just went thud over in the Senate yesterday. I mean, the House impeached the Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas. They delivered those articles of impeachment over to the Senate. And then it just -- it just ended. It just -- have you ever seen anything like this before?
AMIRI: No.
ACOSTA: But, I guess we haven't seen a cabinet secretary impeached --
AMIRI: Yeah, we haven't in 150 years.
ACOSTA: -- in quite a long time -- yeah.
AMIRI: This is also my first impeachment, which is a little -- I mean, it wasn't as exciting as everyone told me it would be.
ACOSTA: Yeah.
AMIRI: It lasted three hours.
ACOSTA: Wasn't much going on there, yeah.
AMIRI: Wasn't much going on -- no. Members were bored.
I spoke with Sen. Chris Murphy after, who said that this is his third time and it won't be making it to his memoir, which is fair enough. All people did was sign an oath book and there was minimal debate.
But really, I mean, this was what Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had told us all along. They were going to dismiss these articles. They do not believe they rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors that is required under the Constitution for impeachment.
And you're seeing -- you know, you -- but Republicans came out, especially Sen. Josh Hawley, and said that this is going to set a precedent and a Republican majority in the Senate if they again have an event where they decide to impeach a cabinet official or a president. In that case, they will look into this precedent once again.
ACOSTA: Yeah, Catherine. I mean, I kind of wonder what the White House was thinking when they watched all of this unfold yesterday. They must have been gratified.
LUCEY: Yeah. I mean, certainly, the White House was pleased this went away.
ACOSTA: Yeah.
LUCEY: They have long called this a political stunt.
I do think, though -- I mean, you know, Jim, if you -- if you step back, this issue isn't going away on the campaign trail.
ACOSTA: Right.
LUCEY: Certainly, the president is under a lot of pressure about the border and about immigration. And I think we know that Donald Trump is going to continue to try and keep making that a leading issue.
ACOSTA: No -- there's no question about it.
All right, guys. Ladies, thank you so much for being here this morning. It's awfully early but that was great. Appreciate it.
AMIRI: Yeah.
LUCEY: Thank you.
ACOSTA: Thanks for the time.
In the meantime, President Biden is under immense pressure from a key group of voters over his handling of the war in Gaza. University students and younger voters -- they're pivotal for President Biden's reelection bid and they have repeatedly protested and interrupted his speeches to call for a ceasefire.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny has this fascinating report from the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At one stop after another, cries of protest trail President Biden, even outside the United Steelworkers headquarters in Pittsburgh, one of the many friendly venues the White House selects in hopes of minimizing angry disruptions over the Israel-Gaza war.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, Pittsburgh.
ZELENY (voice-over): Whether or not the president can hear their message, many demonstrators share a common bond. They are students frustrated and furious at U.S. foreign policy.
KARIM SAFIEDDINE, STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: There is, indeed, a will to stop this conflict. It can be stopped.
ZELENY (voice-over): Karim Safieddine is a PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh, one of many young Americans speaking out.
ZELENY: If there is not something that changes dramatically, can you vote for Joe Biden?
SAFIEDDINE: I do not believe so. And I do believe that many people will not be voting for Joe Biden. And if this, indeed, does something, it does open a debate -- a discussion.
ZELENY (voice-over): The debate plays out most everywhere Biden goes as he tries to rebuild his winning coalition. One of the most resistant pieces of that puzzle is young voters on college campuses, a place Biden has avoided almost entirely.
DAHILA SABA, STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON: I think he would be met with a lot of backlash, a lot of protest because his policies have been -- have killed tens of thousands of people. ZELENY (voice-over): Dahila Saba is a Wisconsin graduate student who helped organize a protest vote in the state's primary earlier this month. She bristles at the notion of whether her opposition to Biden could help Donald Trump.
SABA: We reject the idea that the Democratic Party feels like they have to coerce people into voting for them by leveraging the threat of another candidate that is worse.
ZELENY (voice-over): If protests rage until the election, Biden could well become the first Democratic president since the Vietnam era unwelcomed to large crowds of students.
BARRY BURDEN, DIRECTOR, ELECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON: He does have this problem of a kind of nagging protest vote on the Democratic side because of his handling of things in Gaza.
ZELENY (voice-over): Barry Buden leads the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin, where presidential visits to college campuses --
BURDEN: Thousands of people to see Kennedy.
ZELENY (voice-over): -- have long been a historically critical stop for Democrats.
BURDEN: You could feel the kind of youth energy behind the Clinton campaign. This was just a very comfortable place for Obama as a candidate and a very necessary place for him to find votes.
ZELENY: What do you make of the protest vote and how that could impact November?
BURDEN: Well, Biden certainly does not have the support of young people the way Obama did. I think the Vietnam War is the closest analogy. That was also the period when we had the biggest generation gap between the parties.
ZELENY (voice-over): While pro-Palestinian demonstrations are far more than a campus movement, Biden's advisers are studying young voters carefully.
ANNA SORYAL, STUDENT, CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY: The one thing that's surprising me is the degree to which he's disregarding public opinion.
ZELENY (voice-over): Anna Soryal is a graduate architecture student at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. She regrets her vote for Biden four years ago.
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ACOSTA: All right. Coming up next, Poland's president dining with Donald Trump. The two men at odds when it comes to aid for Ukraine. Plus, win or go home. The 76ers and the Heat battling for the NBA's final playoff spot.
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[05:47:03
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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he's doing a fantastic job. The people of Poland love him. They really do. They really love you. And that's not an easy thing to accomplish but he's done a fantastic job and he's my friend. And we had four great years together -- four great years -- and we may have to do it again.
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ACOSTA: That is Donald Trump praising Polish President Andrzej Duda while welcoming him to Trump Tower last night. The former president hosting the nationalist leader who once floated the idea of naming a military base in Poland for Trump.
The Trump campaign says the two old friends talked about Duda's proposal for NATO countries to increase their defense spending, Russia's war in Ukraine, and tensions in the Middle East over their 2 1/2-hour meeting.
Joining me now is CNN national political reporter, Daniel Strauss. We've seen Donald Trump do this from time to time. What did you think about this meeting they had yesterday? The Polish president was pushing for more U.S. aid to Ukraine. That is certainly not where Trump is.
DANIEL STRAUSS, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Right, right, and that's a factor. But also, this is -- this is something that I think a lot of presidential candidates want to do. They want to show some kind of foreign policy acumen, familiarity with world leaders, and associate with like-minded leaders around the world.
And the fact that the former president is meeting with a far-right leader is not by accident, and it is the latest in a series of discussions he's had with prominent officials from around the world. And the larger implication -- the underlying sentiment there is that -- is to remind voters that he has strong connections abroad. That he is still sort of a presidential figure even though he's out of office.
ACOSTA: I mean, yeah, I think he's trying to put out the image that OK, he's doing something other than just being on trial in New York.
STRAUSS: Right.
ACOSTA: He can do these meetings over at Trump Tower or down at Mar- a-Lago. He had a meeting with Viktor Orban --
STRAUSS: Right.
ACOSTA: -- recently. It sounds -- it seems as though he's trying to send a message to his
base this is where I'm going with my foreign policy if I get back in the White House.
STRAUSS: Right. And look, -- I mean, in 2016, we did see a sort of ripple effect of the election results here, and like-minded leaders around the world get elected. And I think there is a sort of incentive there, too, to push some sort of global movement.
ACOSTA: Yeah.
STRAUSS: It doesn't hurt.
ACOSTA: And this is interesting, Daniel. President Biden holding campaign events in Philadelphia today. He's set to be endorsed by more than a dozen members of the extended Kennedy family. I think it was on Easter where there was that photo of Biden with the Kennedy family members at the White House. Notably absent, RFK Jr.
I mean, this is -- I think this is pretty significant because when you talk to folks out there, especially people who might not be paying all that much attention to the election just yet, they hear oh, Robert Kennedy Jr. is on the ballot.
STRAUSS: Right.
ACOSTA: Oh, I like the Kennedys. I like them.
STRAUSS: Well --
[05:50:00]
ACOSTA: Maybe I like him.
And it seems as though the Kennedy family has taken note of this and that might be why we're seeing what we're going to see today.
STRAUSS: Yeah. The Kennedy family and the Biden reelect here.
ACOSTA: Yeah.
STRAUSS: They -- this is pretty -- it's pretty clear from examples like this that the Biden team knows that a third-party bid -- that Robert F. Kennedy's candidacy is something that they can't ignore and they want to highlight that this is not sort of blessed by the entire Kennedy family as a whole here.
ACOSTA: Yeah. They've come out and very strongly I think -- I mean, criticized --
STRAUSS: Right.
ACOSTA: -- Bobby Kennedy Jr. and said hey, we don't -- we don't believe some of the stuff he believes in and we are Democrats. We support Joe Biden.
STRAUSS: Right. It is a testament to the Kennedy name, right?
ACOSTA: Yeah.
STRAUSS: Like, he's running as an Independent right now.
ACOSTA: Right.
STRAUSS: But the fact that the entire family is so motivated to --
ACOSTA: Yeah.
STRAUSS: -- have this event with the Democratic president and the incumbent nominee for president shows that the Kennedy name leaves voters thinking that this is a Democrat. This is someone who has the support of his entire family behind him --
ACOSTA: Yeah.
STRAUSS: -- and that's not the case here.
ACOSTA: And I said -- just to fact-check myself, I think we showed a picture there just a moment ago and I said Easter earlier. But I think it was St. Patrick's Day.
STRAUSS: Aha.
ACOSTA: If we could put that up on the screen one more time. Was it St. Patrick's Day? It was St. Patrick's Day. One of the Kennedy -- the dead giveaway, all the green in the photo. And then, in the far-right, on the -- in the back, I should say, somebody is wearing what looks like a leprechaun's hat.
STRAUSS: There you go.
ACOSTA: So there -- that's your giveaway right there.
STRAUSS: Uh-huh.
ACOSTA: That was St. Patrick's Day, so I fact-checked myself -- all right.
Daniel, great to -- great stuff. Thanks a lot --
STRAUSS: Thanks.
ACOSTA: -- for being with us. Appreciate it.
In the meantime, the 76ers punch their ticket to the playoffs after a come-from-behind win against the Miami Heat.
Andy Scholes has this morning's Bleacher Report.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, good morning, Jim.
So, the 76ers -- I mean, man, they are red-hot heading into their first-round matchup now against the New York Knicks. Philly won nine in a row now.
And last night things weren't looking great. They were done 14 to the Heat, but Joel Embiid led them back. He had 23 points in this one and a huge assist late. Under a minute to go, tie game here. Embiid to Kelly Oubre Jr. He gets the bucket plus the foul. Philly would then hold on to win 105-104.
Now, Jimmy Butler injured his knee late in the first quarter. He stayed in and played 40 minutes but was noticeably limping after. And he said he hopes he can play in tomorrow's eight-seed play-in game with the Bulls.
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JIMMY BUTLER, FORWARD, MIAMI HEAT: I don't want to jinx it but, I mean, I hope that I'm fine. I hope I wake up tomorrow and I can still stick a move. But, you know, right now, I can't say that that's the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: All right. The Bulls moving on to the eight-seed game after easily beating the Hawks last night. Coby White had himself a game -- a career-high 42 for Chicago in this. The Bulls would win 131-116.
So tomorrow it's going to be the Bulls and the Heat in Miami for the eight-seed in the Eastern Conference. Then you've got the Kings at the Pelicans for the eight-seed in the West. That one's at 9:30 Eastern on our sister station TNT.
A tough blow for New Orleans. Zion Williamson -- he injured himself late in that Lakers game. He is now out with an injured hamstring.
Now, off the court, the NBA handing down an unprecedented punishment, banning Raptors player Jontay Porter for life for gambling. Now, according to the league, an investigation found Porter fed inside information to a known sports better and took himself out of at least one game to affect the outcome of a prop bet on his performance. Porter also bet on NBA games, including at least three on Raptors games, one of which was for them to lose.
All right, we're now 99 days away from the Paris Games and the Men's USA Basketball Team may have the most star-power ever. For the first time, LeBron and Stef Curry will be teammates playing for their country. And USA basketball director Grant Hill says that's certainly going to be fun.
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GRANT HILL, MANAGING DIRECTOR, USA BASKETBALL MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM: They've been great ambassadors not just but for the game of basketball globally. And for them to now be on the same team -- we're so used to seeing them compete against each other and legendary and iconic games and battles. It kind of reminds me of -- and I hate to make comparisons but when you think about that '92 Dream Team and you think about Magic and Byrd and how they went at it. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Yeah. So, Team USA is going to be going for the fifth straight gold at the Paris Games, which start in late July.
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Arizona Coyotes saluting their fans at their final game.
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SCHOLES: Yeah, so that was the Arizona Coyotes saluting their fans at what's likely their final game in the state. The crowd at Mullet Arena in Tempe cheered throughout the final minute of last night's 5-2 win over the Oilers. The NHL Board of Governors set to meet this afternoon to approve the team's sale to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, who intends to move the team to Salt Lake City.
[05:55:05]
And, Jim, this really just ends a --
ACOSTA: Wow!
SCHOLES: -- yearslong saga of the team moving arenas, trying to figure out an arena.
ACOSTA: Yeah.
SCHOLES: The caveat is if they can figure out an arena there in Arizona, the team is guaranteed an expansion team within five years. But certainly sad every time a team or a city loses a team.
ACOSTA: That is sad.
SCHOLES: Yeah. So we'll see what happens.
ACOSTA: And Salt Lake becoming a big sports market. I mean, they've got the Jazz and if they get an NHL team that's big stuff.
And I know, Andy, you were talking about the dream team of 2024 this time around. I'm old enough to remember -- maybe you were, what -- I don't want to ask how old you were in 1992.
SCHOLES: Uh, nine.
ACOSTA: But it was 1992, right?
SCHOLES: Yeah.
ACOSTA: That was the Dream Team. Michael --
SCHOLES: Oh, for sure. I remember --
ACOSTA: Michael Jordan --
SCHOLES: -- those games like it was yesterday. I was collecting all the McDonald's cups trying to get each guy --
ACOSTA: Yeah.
SCHOLES: -- each guy on it.
But I'll tell you what.
ACOSTA: Sports Illustrated.
SCHOLES: Yeah.
ACOSTA: All those covers.
SCHOLES: Jim, this year is going to certainly --
ACOSTA: Yeah.
SCHOLES: -- be cool, though. LeBron, Stef --
ACOSTA: Yeah.
SCHOLES: -- Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard --
ACOSTA: Amazing.
SCHOLES: -- and Jayson Tatum. It's going to be a great team. Here's hoping they can just bring home the gold.
ACOSTA: And the pressure is on because as you and I have both seen with recent NBA drafts and so on, a lot of these big players are coming out of Europe. And so, for folks to think oh, the -- it's just going to be a walk for Team USA, there's going to be some tough competition, I've got to think.
SCHOLES: Oh, yeah, certainly. And we didn't even medal in the FIFA games last year. We didn't have our A-team, but we didn't medal.
ACOSTA: Yes.
SCHOLES: So that gives us some motivation I think.
ACOSTA: A little motivation.
All right. Thanks, Andy. I really appreciate it.
SCHOLES: All right.
ACOSTA: Coming up, what prosecutors plan to ask Donald Trump if he decides to testify in his hush money trial. Plus, the trail of destruction left by a tornado in Ohio.
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