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New Day

China Warns U.S. with Taiwan Defense Vow; U.S. May Send Special Forces to Help Protect Embassy in Kyiv; Voters Head to Polls in Primary Elections across U.S.; Georgia Republican Gubernatorial Candidate David Perdue Makes Controversial Criticism of Georgia Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Stacey Abrams; Former Vice President Mike Pence Endorses Georgia Governor Brian Kemp for Reelection; President Biden Ends First Visit to Asia. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 24, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Also testifying for Heard, Dr. David Spiegel, a psychiatrist who is an expert in intimate partner violence. Neither doctor has evaluated Depp, but they did review testimony and medical records. Spiegel concluded --

DR. DAVID SPIEGEL, PSYCHIATRIST, EXPERT IN INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE: Mr. Depp has behaviors that are consistent with both someone who has a substance abuse disorder as well as behavior, someone who say perpetrator of intimate partner violence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MELAS (on camera): The jury is expected to begin deliberating on Friday.

NEW DAY continues right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar with John Berman on this NEW DAY. Polls opening across the country as voters cast their ballots in several high-stakes primaries. CNN with special live coverage. And Georgia's Republican candidate for governor making an 11th hour racist attack against the Democratic nominee.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Biden wrapping up his trip to Asia this morning with concerns that China might be turning closer to Russia. And why the Biden administration is considering sending special forces to Kyiv.

KEILAR: Good morning to viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. It is Tuesday, May 24th. And a proxy war is playing out here on primary day and the future of the Republican Party is at stake. Voters head to the polls in five states today, but Georgia is really in the spotlight. The GOP race for governor pitting former president Trump against his vice president, Mike Pence, who stumped for incumbent Governor Brian Kemp at an election eve rally. Trump is supporting his primary opponent, David Perdue. Kemp has been a top Trump target for his role in helping to certify that 2020 election.

BERMAN: Trump issued a statement that might be unprecedented when it comes to former running mates. He wrote, quote, "Mike Pence was set to lose a governor's race in 2016 before he was plucked up and his political career was salvaged. Now, desperate to chase his lost relevance, Pence is parachuting into races hoping someone is paying attention." CNN reporters tracking the major primary contests.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kristen Holmes in Atlanta, Georgia, where the Republican governor's primary has become a proxy war between the MAGA Trump faction of the party who support former Senator David Perdue, and the Republican establish, including former vice president Mike Pence, who support incumbent Governor Brian Kemp. The recent polls show Perdue trailing to Kemp, and this will be a bit of a reckoning day for Trump. Perdue has relied on those 2020 election lies as a cornerstone of his campaign. But even if he loses, it will not be a total watch for former president Donald Trump. His endorsed candidate for Senate, Herschel Walker, is expected to take that candidacy.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dianne Gallagher in Huntsville, Alabama, where all eyes are on the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate race and whether or not Mo Brooks can successfully bring his campaign back from the dead two months after former president Trump rescinded his endorsement of the congressman. Brooks' campaign has been surging in recent weeks, up against poll leader Katie Britt and U.S. army pilot Mike Durant.

KEILAR: With more on this very important primary day, I want to bring in CNN anchor and chief national affairs analyst Kasie Hunt, and we're also joined by CNN political analyst and White House correspondent and Washington bureau chief for "The Grio" April Ryan.

The first thing I want to talk about is something that David Perdue said. Stacey Abrams, the presumptive Democratic nominee in the race in Georgia, was saying that Georgia is not the best place to live, for a number of factors, including maternal mortality, the maternal mortality rate and other measures. Perdue responded with this comment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID PERDUE, (R) GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Hey, she ain't from here. Let her go back where she came from, she doesn't like it here. The only thing she wants is to be president of the United States. She doesn't care about the people of Georgia. That's clear. When she told black farmers you don't need to be on the farm, and she told black workers in hospitality and all this, you don't need to be -- she is demeaning her own race when it comes to that. I am really over this. She should never be considered for material for a governor of any state, much less our state where she hates to live.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: He's telling her to go back where you came from. What do you think about this, April? APRIL RYAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It makes me wonder, does he know

something about her 23 and Me test if she took one, or is he talking about Madison, Wisconsin? It is atrocious on so many levels, and at the end of the day, on the face of it, if you're a Georgian and you hear her say that, you say wait a minute, let's dig in the details.

She's absolutely right about the number one ranking for the maternal death rate. And she's also right about issues of a living wage when she talks about issues of black farmers, as well as issues of hospitality.

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When you think of hospitality, can you make a living wage? No, for the most part. He's talking about that being something that is insulting to black America. No, she's talking about getting a living wage, not being the help who is underpaid, and who is not making a living wage.

And then let's go to black farmers. The numbers of black farmers dwindled since the early 1900s. You can't even count, quantify the numbers right now. And I heard that from Shirley Sherrod, who is a resident of Albany, Georgia, who also happens to sit on the Equity Commission for the Biden administration's Agriculture Department. And she said there are a host of reasons why black farming has dwindled, because, one, they're not able to incorporate many of the new technologies to include genetic modification of foods, et cetera, et cetera. So both of these industries have problems for a living wage for black people. Let's look at the details instead of looking at the surface.

PAUL: What do you see happening here? We just have to be clear, what Perdue said is a well-worn trop used for people of color, and frequently said to them in a racist way. It is not something -- it is sort of something that goes off like an alarm when he says it.

RYAN: It is ignorant.

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, well, so let's just underscore one point, too, that David Perdue is on his way to losing an election, right? This is a losing strategy in addition to being all the things that you guys have just laid out here. He is going to lose to Brian Kemp tonight, we expect. Every poll says that's true. This after a prolonged battle between Donald Trump and the establishment Republicans in Georgia, after Perdue has spent this entire campaign focusing on something that is not true, which is this idea that Joe Biden did not win in Georgia, because, they needed 11,000 plus votes. So I just think that context is important here because it is going to likely be Brian Kemp versus Stacey Abrams.

RYAN: That's right.

HUNT: And I think that if you are someone who is actually -- thinks you're going to win an election, you don't talk like this, because it is just going to energize the people that would come out and vote against you in a general election. I'm going to be interested to hear, will Brian Kemp say anything like this? But I think this is beyond the pale for a reason, and it's also politically a loser.

RYAN: I love how you're staying above board in describing this. Let's just call it what it is. It is a desperate attempt to reach out to those Trumpers who do not believe that Stacey Abrams is qualified to be governor. He's reaching out to those Trumpers who are into that replacement theory issue as well. So let's call it what it is.

HUNT: But it is not a winning message in Georgia.

RYAN: It is not at all. It is not at all. It is not at all.

KEILAR: Let's talk about Georgia and the other primary races that we're going to see today. What will today say about this proxy war between these two factions represented, at least in Georgia, over the last 24 hours by Donald Trump and by Mike Pence?

HUNT: I think it is actually going to be interesting. And I think our challenge in covering this throughout the election season is going to be to make sure that we are not necessarily dumbing it down or simplifying it so much that it's, is Donald Trump winning or is he not? But I think in Georgia, you have seen signs that the election denialism, the focus on 2020, just simply is not working. Brian Kemp is likely to win. Trump also took on Brad Raffensperger, who we may remember is like the last bastion of integrity, the Republican secretary of state who was the one who did two recounts, who told the press about the calls he was getting from the former president, Donald Trump, to try and find these 11,000 votes and change the results of the election.

He's been primaried by a Trump-supported person. Everybody thought he was probably dead in the water as an electoral candidate. But instead, he seems to be making a late breaking comeback. It seems like he may end up in a runoff with this guy, which is better than we thought, he may win outright. So I think you're going to see some signs here that people are over it. People are pretty miserable for a lot of reasons right now. Joe Biden's numbers are in the tank for a reason, inflation is really tough, but I don't think people really want to relitigate this. And I think the results in Georgia may underscore that tonight.

RYAN: And you hit a point. You talked about Joe Biden is in the tank. Democrats are looking to have a message that goes personally to persons, be it Georgia, be it the five states in the primaries, or be it all across the country. But I am most interested tonight to watch how Mike Pence has veered off and is standing on his own. Georgia is just, I believe, the first piece to watch Mike Pence do what he does and going around the country, moving away from Donald Trump. The fraction is real, and it has happened.

KEILAR: He's standing. He's standing on his own.

RYAN: He's standing on his own.

KEILAR: We'll see if he has much company. I think that is going to be the key here in the coming months. Kasey and April, great to speak with you both. Thank you so much.

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As we are talking about here, it's election night in America. Join CNN for live coverage tonight, beginning at 7:00 eastern.

BERMAN: President Biden wheels up from Tokyo, on his way back to Washington at this hour. But not before using Russia's invasion of Ukraine to send a message to China that a similar attack on Taiwan will be met with a fierce U.S. response. The president wrapped up his Asia trip meeting with leaders from Japan, Australia, and India, known as the quad. Well, India has been reluctant to condemn Russia's war in Ukraine. President Biden says he and his Indian counterpart agreed to continue to discuss the brutal and unprovoked conflict.

CNN's chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins joins us live from Tokyo. And Kaitlan, what people really wanted to see before the president left, would he add to his comments where he said that, yes, the United States would get involved militarily if China invaded Taiwan.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and, John, he added to them, but only with a few words, no kind of lengthy explanation from the president. But he really said it all, of course, when he made those groundbreaking comments saying that, yes, he would pledge to get United States involved militarily should China ever attack Taiwan. And that is a break from what you've seen other presidents do, because they have pursued what has been called strategic ambiguity.

And if you're not familiar with the term, it is basically this practice where presidents warn China against using force in Taiwan, but they have hesitated purposefully about what exactly the United States would do if China were to do that, if they were to invade or attack Taiwan, which has become -- been a concern, but has become more of a concern since this Russian invasion of Ukraine, with people watching to see, is China learning from what Russia's doing, and are they going to try to do something similar?

And my colleague Jeremy Diamond pressed the president on this today, trying to get him to go into a little bit more detail of what exactly he meant when he made those comments. And this is what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Mr. President, is the policy of strategic ambiguity towards Taiwan dead?

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No.

DIAMOND: Could you explain?

BIDEN: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, would you send troops to Taiwan if China invaded?

BIDEN: The policy has not changed at all. I stated that when I made it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The president saying their policy has not changed. Of course, saying that the United States would get involved militarily is further than where officials had been willing to go before when they said that they would supply Taiwan with arms should this invasion -- should this attack happened. They have not gone as far as to say troops would get involved as the way the president said during his press conference.

And we should note that Russia has really been looming over the president's entire trip here in Asia, his first one since taking office. And on his last day before he boarded Air Force One to come back to the United States, which is where he is now, he had these meetings with these world leaders that you were noting, John. And of course, a big one was the Indian prime minister who has taken a very different stance than the Australian prime minister, than the Japanese prime minister, than, of course, President Biden, when it comes to the Russian invasion. He's been reluctant to call out Russia, to even call what's happening an invasion or a war.

And so officials inside the White House say that they're trying to navigate this delicately, not calling out Prime Minister Modi publicly, but talking with him behind the scenes, which they have described as these constructive conversations. But what we've continued to see is Russia not condemn -- I should say India not condemn what Russia has done. They've also continued to accelerate their oil imports at times, continuing with those oil imports while other countries have either stopped them or made plans to stop them. So that is something that everyone has been watching.

And, John, you can really see it all in the readouts of these two meetings, where the White House said during President Biden's meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Modi, he condemned Russia's invasion. If you look at the Indian readout, it does not mention the war in Ukraine, John.

BERMAN: Kaitlan Collins for us, thank you, Kaitlan, for being there and helping us understand what went on this very important Asian trip. Thank you.

Joining me now is journalist Reena Ninan. She's the founder of Good Trouble Productions. And Reena, as the president is now on his way home from Asia, what do you think is different this morning than when he first got there? How have things changed now that he said what he said?

REENA NINAN, JOURNALIST: He's made these sort of references three times during his administration towards Taiwan, not maybe to this forceful way. But I have to say, if you look at the White House's stance over the past year on China, they have been aggressive about shoring up partnerships. I was here with you in the fall when we were talking about the military pact between the U.K., Australia, and the U.S. The U.S. will be sharing submarine technology. And they've managed to move Australia from sitting on the fence on

China to actually taking a stand on this. And that's not insignificant. They're shoring up allies, they're making it clear that they're not going to sit back and watch China particularly gain traction in the Indo-Pacific. And that what you've seen. And they made it very clear.

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BERMAN: How do you think China sees it? I mean, China's statement was that President Biden was playing with fire with his new words about Taiwan.

NINAN: Yes.

BERMAN: But how do you think they perceive things differently now?

NINAN: An absolute threat and they've made it very clear. In fact when Jake Sullivan spoke with his counterpart over in China recently, they've made it very clear that meddling in Taiwan affairs is something they're not going to stand for. But when you look at the appetite, is war on the horizon on Taiwan? Even the president of Taiwan has said she doesn't believe it.

Xi right now needs to shore up his base, make sure that he's standing for the next few years, that's a priority in China right now. But when you look at American sentiment here in the U.S., over 75 percent of Americans don't trust China. Don't look at them positively. That's a recent Pew study that's come out. And on top of that, you look at the U.S. Congress, 50 senators, bipartisan, signed an agreement asking the White House and this new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to include Taiwan in this.

And then there are subtle little things that policy watchers who watch this Taiwan issue very closely saw. On the State Department Web site, there is a Taiwan fact sheet. It might not be so significant to the rest of us, but they removed a mention of independence, you know, stopping independence and saying that this is a democracy and a technology powerhouse.

BERMAN: What's interesting to me in this trip is while it was a trip to Asia to meet with Asian leaders, how Ukraine.

NINAN: Yes.

BERMAN: Hung over everything. It really has changed diplomacy in this modern world. I think there will be pre-Ukraine and post-Ukraine and now the Russia, Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, has put out a statement saying that given Europe's departure from economic relationships with Russia, he says that Russia, he says, our economic ties with China will grow even further.

NINAN: I mean, that's a partnership and you noticed India went out of their way to make sure that Russia was not mentioned. They're a major military backer. So they don't want to isolate Russia as well. You spent time there in Ukraine recently, John. You know what it's

like on the ground there. People are watching to see what the situation in Ukraine, how the U.S. responds to that, which has been very aggressively and forcefully. But I don't think that situation dovetails with what happens in Taiwan. It's very different militarily.

But when you look on the ground and you've seen the Pentagon come out over the past week and actually say we do have classified plans, we're not ready to telegraph to you, we're not going to telegraph to you if this were to happen. We have a plan of action in place. But you better believe it, people are watching that situation in Ukraine to see how it expands.

BERMAN: I will say, a Russia with closer ties to China and India, the world's two most populous nations, it's not an isolated country if you're getting stronger ties to those nations.

Reena Ninan, great to see you. Thank you so much.

NINAN: Great to see you, John. You bet.

BERMAN: So could U.S. Special Operation Forces be sent to Kyiv?

KEILAR: And new CNN reporting this morning on why officials believe keeping Title 42 in place won't slow border crossings. We're going to take you live to the U.S.-Mexico border.

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[08:21:49]

BERMAN: CNN has learned that the Biden administration is considering sending Special Operation Forces into Ukraine to help guard the U.S. embassy in Kyiv. U.S. officials tell CNN that these plans are at a very preliminary stage and a proposal has not been presented to the president at this point for a decision.

Joining me now is retired U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons.

Major, great to see you again. We're talking about the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where the U.S. embassy is beginning to operate once again. And the idea that, look, every embassy has protection whether it be diplomatic protection, U.S. Marines, but Special Forces here.

What were the point of the Special Forces be there and what will the footprint be?

MAJOR MIKE LYONS (RET.), U.S. ARMY: So, John, these are not going to be guys that are going to be outside the wire necessarily, protecting that embassy or so. What they'll likely bring is JSOC forces that bring a higher level of skillset to the battlefield here. And they'll work likely with the Ukraine government, normally security is responsible for the host nation. I think they want to offload that. They don't want the Ukraine military to worry about it.

But you bring JSOC and your bring Special Operators in, they're going to do more than protect the environment. They're going to be looking for asymmetrical fights that could possibly take place, intelligence comes into them, and they'll be more of a strategic overview of how the embassy will be protected.

BERMAN: What would the Russians make of this? I mean, is this something they would take?

LYONS: Well, I'm surprised we announced that we're doing this, but, you know, the question is, you know, you can't have guys outside the wire. They could get caught downrange some place training. That is not something they're going to want to do. But again, it's just about skillset. Marines are going to focus on the internal side of the embassy and not worry about the outside. JSOC will take care of that.

BERMAN: All right. Also, we're hearing now from U.S. Military officials about the U.S. troop presence in Europe overall. That they're expecting to maintain a level above 100,000 troops there. What's the significance of that number? And what does it tell you?

LYONS: That's a big deal. You got to look at history. First of all, you go back, height of the Cold War, we have about 350,000 troops in Europe at the height of the Cold War. Soviet Union falls, it all falls away. We go from -- we go from about 350,000 by 2005, we're at 100,000, Obama brings it down another 20,000, we're at 80,000 troops.

Now right now the troops are primarily in three places. They're in the U.K., they're in Germany, they're in Italy, and now Poland. Poland has got 10,000 troops in it. What I think the message is this we're going to now forward base troops I think here in the Baltics, I think in Poland and then also in Romania. You're going to see U.S. forward troops.

When we had troops stationed in Europe last time, they were well forward. We had the majority of those troops in Western Germany in case something happened. Well, the same thing matters here. If we're going to put ground troops in Europe, they've got to be well forward. Similar like we have in South Korea for them to make the difference.

BERMAN: Putting them right on the frontlines of the Russian bloc like they used to be on the frontlines of the Soviet bloc.

LYONS: That's right.

BERMAN: I want to get your take on what's happening actually in the ground right now in eastern Ukraine. We're hearing that the Russians are making gains, albeit slow gains, around Severodonetsk, which is this town in the far east. What kind of strategic value does this hold?

LYONS: So they need to close off this pocket so you can see it just on the map here. And by doing that, they'll force Ukraine military out. They still want to eventually get to Kramatorsk, that's the -- kind of the area where all roads meet here.

[08:25:06] But they're making gains inches at a time. And this is where the race is on to get that artillery to that location because the artillery could slow that down. But unfortunately the Russians are showing they're willing to put material, they're willing to put men into the fight and they're gaining there very slowly.

BERMAN: U.S. howitzers are arriving on the scene. The question is soon enough and in numbers enough that will make a difference.

Major Mike Lyons, great to see you. Thank you very much.

Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland says the Republicans can, quote, "course correct to a pre-Trump Republican state." Could today's primary in Georgia be a first step? Governor Hogan joins us ahead.

KEILAR: Plus, new this morning, what the Justice Department is now telling law enforcement to do in the wake of George Floyd's death.

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KEILAR: Voters in several states heading to the polls this morning for primary voting. Key Senate and governor positions at stake here and some experts are watching Republican voters to see what direction they want their party to go after Trump.

Joining us now is Republican Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland.

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