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Soon: President Biden To Sign Foreign Aid, TikTok Bill; Republicans Divided On How To End Stalled Impeachment Inquiry; Columbia Extends Negotiations With Student Protest Camp. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired April 24, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:39]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Wednesday, April 24th.

Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:

President Biden preparing to sign a $95 billion foreign aid package that finally made it through both chambers of Congress.

Donald Trump seemingly violating the gag order last night while a judge decides whether he violated that same gag order, at least ten other times before that.

And a midnight deadline for protesters to disband comes and goes at Columbia University. Both sides agreeing to keep talking.

(MUSIC)

HUNT: All right, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington, here's a live look at Capitol Hill.

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

Later on this morning, President Biden is expected to sign a long awaited foreign aid bill into law. It passed the Senate late last night, after six months of delays from hard line Republicans. The $95 billion deal includes funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): After more than six months of hard work, many twists and turns in the road, Americas sends a message to the entire world. We will not turn our back on you. I left a message for President Zelenskyy tonight, he had called me the other day and said, okay, we got it done. Now go win the fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So shortly after the vote, President Biden praised the bill's passage, saying the U.S. will begin sending weapons to Ukraine as soon as this week, the legislation also, includes a potential ban of TikTok gives the apps owner ByteDance that, of course, is that Chinese company, roughly nine months to sell or be banned in the U.S.

Joining me now, Nick Johnston. He's editor in chief at "Axios".

Nick, good morning. Good to see you.

NICK JOHNSTON, EDITOR IN CHIEF, AXIOS: Good morning. Good to be here.

HUNT: Look, big picture here, they finally got this over the finish line. It took months longer. It resulted in some setbacks for Volodymyr Zelenskyy's forces on the front lines in Ukraine.

But here they are. How do you think we got here? And what do you make of how quickly the tide turned here?

JOHNSTON: Yeah. I mean, I should we be shocked that something backed by the president, supported by the leadership in both houses of Congress, voted for by a large majorities in both chambers of Congress became law. I guess we should be shocked. I mean, that's where this day, that's why Washington.

HUNT: That's what Washington for you lately, right?

JOHNSTON: At the end of the day, what we knew, what we expected, what happened when it was people wanted to happen did happen. I think its very interesting how you mentioned that the amount of time it took, I thought the stories over the weekend about Mike Johnsons journey to this, about having to meet with get some of the very senior intelligence briefings to show like what kind of a threat Ukraine was facing, how important this aid was needing, how the tide really could turn if they didn't get this aid soon enough, changed his mind.

I think what's interesting now is what happens next, right? Johnson voted for that, and will he be speaker in another week or so? The House is back in their districts, Marjorie Taylor Greene think that they're being yelled at by their constituents about how they caved on that. Will they come back next week stolen a lot of that energy for the motion to vacate?

And remember the big leader of this in the Republican side in the Senate, Mitch McConnell. He's on his way out. His leadership was split on the final vote of that.

And so, I think this is maybe the last of an old regime of Congress, will be able to do things that a lot of people want. But well see what the fallout is on the Republican Party.

HUNT: Yeah. I mean, it's -- I'm just struck by the contrast that you present, which sit on the one hand, our government overwhelmingly supports this based on the votes.

JOHNSTON: Three hundred votes in the House, like most almost 80 in the Senate. Absolutely.

HUNT: But to then say that the people that actually made that happen, that made the will, that sort of massive will of everyone happen, are leaving. JOHNSTON: Right. As you make this feel like if maybe a last-gasp of just kind of thing, let's see what this fall out is, and I guess like a lot of the pieces of that when aid is required to further for Ukraine. Is its just a down payment? We'll just come back again. What will the mood for that if there's additional resources required for Israel? What's mood for that? And then it gets the TikTok thing. This sort of a clock, we have nine months and the reporting that we have at Axios, it's like what is going to happen next?

Well, TikTok might wait this out. We have an election coming and Donald Trump has flip-flopped on this position, like tweeting out on, when I'm tweeting out, I guess truthing out on his social media platform yesterday, that he is blaming Biden now for shutting down TikTok. Remember, but that was something that President Trump said he was going to do when he was president.

HUNT: Right, repeatedly. And I'm glad you raised the TikTok ban because this was something that the Senate had been approaching in a much more cautious way --

JOHNSTON: Right, right.

HUNT: -- compared to the House. I mean, this is a version of the ban that gives TikTok more time to figure out how to sell if that's what they're going to do.

How much influenced do you think the Chinese communist party has on ByteDance in this situation, once it gets set up?

JOHNSTON: I mean, this is a company owned by the Chinese Communist Party. It's a state run enterprise and I think what was more to look for, I think before possible election is that they're going to be a lot of lawyers in this town billing a lot of hours for the next nine months. There will be considerable and significant core challenges on this. And so this is far from away, far from being a done deal.

HUNT: How do you think -- I mean, do you think it impacts the election? You noted that Trump has already saying, well, it's Biden that's banning TikTok. Obviously, Trump has seen some gains with younger voters who are the ones that are predominantly on TikTok.

Can -- I mean, is you're going to -- obviously, he's going to try to make this an election issue, but it's not going to be banned in the United States before the election.

JOHNSTON: No, but like you can look at the language that Trump used on truth social when he talked about this, you know? Old person, Joe Biden, hey, young Americans, you know? That the old guys who were doing all this, I want to protect the app that you like.

I think that's definitely a politically issue on that, that's the way TikTok has been using it too. Look at the way TikTok has been flooding the hill by having TikTokers, by having young people who make their living on this, who are influencing on this platform, bombarding the Hill with messages. It's really freaked out Congress. HUNT: I was going to say, didn't -- didn't it totally backfire. I

mean, every member of Congress that I have talked to has said, well, you know, to the extent that I was willing to be convinced when I can be concerned about their political influence --

JOHNSTON: It proved the point but they can move that kind of thing. We know each one of those people. They're a voter. They have friends who are voters. And I think that the calculus that Trump is making that this is an issue that young people are on a different side of as opposed to members of Congress. And if you can you think make inroads with young people on that? Well, then, that's a position he's going to take.

HUNT: Yeah. I mean, I guess young people would actually have to show up and vote in greater numbers though.

JOHNSTON: We're still waiting for the young people to come in an election.

HUNT: I guess it's a pretty corneal reality.

JOHNSTON: All right. Nick Johnson, thank you. I really appreciate it.

HUNT: All right. Coming up next here, House Republicans are scrambling to find a way to end their Biden impeachment inquiry.

Plus, Donald Trump waiting for a judge to decide if he's in contempt of court for alleged gag order violations.

And Columbia University extending talks with pro-Palestinian student protesters to disband their encampment on campus.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:11:54]

HUNT: Welcome back.

New reporting here at CNN, Republicans scrambling to find a way out of their stalled impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Some members telling CNN that the way out would be to send criminal referrals to the Justice Department. But others in competitive House districts, they say it's just time to move on.

CNN Capitol Hill reporter Annie Grayer joins me now with her new reporting.

Annie, good morning to you.

I love this story that you have up in terms of just the depth of reporting and the texture that you -- the meat you've put on the bone here. This -- you focus a lot on James Comer, who's the person that's been really spearheading this inquiry. And you quote one lawmaker who's talked to him as saying, Comer is hoping Jesus comes so he can get out.

Explain why.

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, Kasie, this is not where Republicans thought they were going to be when they reclaimed the majority back in January of last year, investigating the president and his family was a top priority. And a lot of Republicans wanted this investigation to end with impeachment. That was the bar that was set. But there's been a series of missteps that have happened along the way.

And as I reported out this story with our colleague, Melanie Zanona, really talking to over a dozen Republican lawmakers and sources really just learn more about this blame game that's heating up behind the scenes about what went wrong and how they're not going to be able to deliver on the top target for so many Republican voters, and lawmakers.

Now, there are three chairmen who are leading this inquiry. But James comer has been focusing on the Biden family's business dealings, and that's come on what are the most scrutiny. And the thing I heard the most was his allegations against the president were some of the loftiest claims made and a lot of Republicans told me that they feel he over-promised and under-delivered, and that really hurt them throughout this investigation, instead of developing a narrative behind closed doors things, Comer was quick to put things out without the proper context or without just saving it for what it is.

And that really turned a lot of Republicans off in their very narrow majority, which is so now they're left where they are now, which is they don't have the evidence to impeach the president and they don't have the votes.

HUNT: When you say they don't have the votes, I mean, let's -- let's dig into the politics. The brass tacks of this. Why don't they have the votes? Who is not where Comer or leaders that want to do this need them to be?

GRAYER: I mean, I think the problem is there's so many. It's not just --

(LAUGHTER)

GRAYER: -- one or two.

It's more than a handful at this point. And in such a narrow majority, you can't afford to lose even one or two. Now, Comer maintains his job was never to impeach. He sees investigation success no matter what, and he has a support of Republican leadership in the House and the other committee chairmen.

And he has really seen a the boost in his national profile as a result of this investigation and he's -- sources say maybe even wanting to run for higher office one day and this investigation, regardless of how it ends up, could help him. But I think, one other thing that Republicans saw that really just took impeachment off the table was how the impeachment and the department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas was handled. You know, Republicans have focused on the border as both an issue on

politics and policy and they thought, you know, impeaching Mayorkas would be something that they could deliver. They did so very narrowly. They even failed to do so the first time.

HUNT: They said they tried and it was a debacle, and then they had to try again.

GRAYER: Yeah. And then that was delayed being sent over the Senate for weeks. It finally gets sent over. The Democratic-controlled Senate dismisses it very quickly.

And so, a lot Republicans saw that and thought, okay, we know it trying to impeach Joe Biden is a much heavier lift and are very narrow majority. If it's going to end up the same way and a quick dismissal in the Senate, why not just let voters decide in November.

HUNT: So, Amy, does this mean that Hunter Biden is kind of off the hook at this point or do you expect them to keep trying to dig in on him?

GRAYER: I think, yeah. I think that's a totally different story. I mean, obviously, there's an ongoing criminal investigation into Hunter Biden and I think that Comer and the Republicans leading this inquiry have a lot of threads that they're pulling on the president's son. But we have to remember what the intention of this investigation was, which, you know, Comer when he came out and his introductory press conference as committee chairman of oversight committee was he wanted to investigate Joe Biden.

And so, that is where the scrutiny comes in because if you want to talk about Hunter in his business dealings, that's one thing, but if you're trying to lay the groundwork to impeach the president, you have to have the evidence and the focal point of that, and that's where it seems like they've really fallen short.

HUNT: Really interesting, great reporting. Annie Grayer, thank you very much for being with us this morning. I really appreciate it.

All right. Ahead here, Donald Trump potentially violating a gag order again last night while a judge decides whether to hold them in contempt for doing it before.

Plus, a career course correction for Congressman George Santos, former Congressman George Santos.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:21:29]

HUNT: All right. Twenty past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.

Moments ago, Columbia University announcing they'll extend negotiations with student protesters camping on school grounds. The university issued a midnight deadline for the tends to be removed but says they're making progress in talks with the pro-Palestinian demonstrators, and will give them two more days to disband.

The FDA discovering traces of bird flu in milk from grocery stores. They say it was a very small amount, likely remnants of the virus from cows. The agency doesn't think it will affect infect people and tried to make it very clear it is still safe to drink milk.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken touching down in China for meetings with senior officials. He's expected to issue a strong warning to Chinese leaders about the country's support for Russia's war in Ukraine.

And disgraced former Congressman George Santos, he's ended his independent bid in New York's first congressional district. He says he doesn't want to split the Republican ticket in handle when two Democrats. Santos adding, quote, it's only goodbye for now. I'll be back.

Time now for whether. Severe storm threats on the horizon and the tornado alley from Texas to Oklahoma. Those threats include powerful winds, large hail, possible twisters, and there's also fire danger ramping up in the Southwest.

Our weatherman Van Dam tracking all of it for us.

Derek, good morning to you. Always wonderful to see you. What are folks looking at today?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. Good morning, Kasie. So what were going to experience over the next few days is a ramping up of the danger level for severe weather threat. Today kind of a marginal outlook of severe weather really confined to a very specific location, north-central Texas, parts of Oklahoma.

But as I'll show you in a moment, this is going to expand an impact on portion of our population right across the central parts of the states.

In the meantime, we do have this small chance of isolated hail damaging winds between Midland and Lubbock, Texas, and marginal risk extends all the way to Oklahoma City.

I just wanted to note that it will be a soggy start to the Northeast today. There's a cold front is moving through. It's going to impact places like New York, Boston, all the way to D.C. The I-95 corridor, cold front presses through, cools are temperatures and then we start to focus on the large weather maker that brings are several day severe weather threat that really ramps up for the day tomorrow. And then for the day on Friday.

So, Thursday, about 15 million people under the severe weather threat as we head into the first parts of the weekend, nearly 40 million people. Look at how this moves eastward with the progression of the system already an enhanced risk just west of Oklahoma City, including Dodge City. And then a slight risk from Des Moines, all the way to Dallas. So we need to keep an eye out of the sky on top of this severe weather threat. We have the potential for flash flooding. Look at these rainfall totals through the weekend that could easily

top four to six inches. Of course. This is the breadbasket of America, so we could use the rein in some locations, but a little bit too much too soon and too quickly could lead to flooding, of course.

Behind the system winds pick up very dry conditions since then that means critical fire danger extends across parts of New Mexico, and the Texas panhandle from Friday into Saturday. So a wide range of weather and it really ramps up Thursday and Friday, Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Our weatherman Van Dam for us, Derek, thank you. See you next hour.

VAN DAM: Have a great day. Okay.

HUNT: Coming up next, the future of Speaker Mike Johnson as a foreign aid bill for Israel and Ukraine finally reaches the president's desk.

Plus, from fake robocalls to image as manipulated by artificial intelligence, disinformation could have a major impact on the 2024 election.

[05:25:06]

We'll take a look into efforts to combat those lies, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNT: We have a live look at, looks like the inner harbor in Baltimore, Maryland, on this Wednesday morning.

Good morning. Thank you for being up with us. I'm Kasie Hunt.

President Biden is set to sign a long-awaited foreign aid package today. It passed with bipartisan support in the Senate last night.

[05:30:00]