The Lead with Jake Tapper Aired April 08, 2024 - 16:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. [16:00:00] … TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, the once in a generation and across the United States. Our teams are across the country and they're bringing you the best view from today's total solar eclipse. And we're going to be joined by another than Bill Nye, the science guy, to break down why this rare event is so important. The Lead with Jake Tapper Aired April 08, 2024 - 17:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. [17:00:00] … Plus, gas prices hitting a five-month high just ahead of the summer travel surge. And now a top economic forecaster is warning that surging oil prices could be the greatest threat to the U.S. economy right now, the possible impacts of the spike ahead. And Israel announces plans to move forward with something the U.S. and other close allies have warned against, a ground invasion of Rafah in Gaza. What does this mean for the tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians who have sought shelter there? A former CNN reporter- turned-founder of an aid organization just left Gaza and she'll join us live to share what she saw in the hardest-hit areas. But we're going to start with our eclipse coverage, someone lucky enough to get a bird's-eye view of the eclipse, the CNN's Pete Muntean. And Pete, you were on this special flight following the eclipse's path from Dallas to Detroit. What was that like? PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, Jake. This is it from Delta. It says, "Connecting the Cosmos," which is -- it's upside down, sadly, but sort of part of their slogan, a bit of a play on words. They also gave us all glasses on board. It was pretty amazing to see how dark it got on board this flight, Delta 1010, at 35,000 feet. Remember, this flight took off from Texas, where there was a lot of anxiety today about whether or not people would see the eclipse just in general on the ground because of the severe cloud cover there. We were above it all, and I have to tell you, it got incredibly dark on board before we got to totality. We were able to turn twice, left and right. The captain and the flight crew organized that with the FAA so we could see that. And I want you to listen now to one of the passengers on board. Some folks, especially those in the middle of the aisle, weren't able to totally see totality, but they said it was really more about the vibe and the experience of this than anything. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNKNOWN: The air gave you an entirely different perspective. When you're on the ground, the biggest impact of an eclipse is when it starts to get dark, and all the nocturnal creatures, the animals, the birds, they start to hear all of that. When you're in the airplane, you're not going to experience that, but you're going to get an entirely different visual because you can see so far. (END VIDEO CLIP) MUNTEAN: Delta poured over the weather leading up to this, and there was some concern that we would hit some clouds, although we were just on top of a little cirrus layer of clouds there to be able to see this in totality. It was a really incredible experience, Jake. A bit of science meets a bit of spirituality. Even some people got engaged on board this flight. A really incredible, almost trifecta. I just talked to the couple who got engaged. The groom-to-be says it would have been a disaster if she said no, but it was amazing to do this on this flight, this once-in-a- lifetime experience, and she said yes, the icing on the cake for all of us. TAPPER: Yeah, that'd be tough. You'd be stuck on the plane with her for a while there after that rejection. What part of today's experience was the most memorable for you, Pete? MUNTEAN: The silence on board, Jake. When we did those turns in totality, really, everyone was faces pressed against the window, something you really don't see very often on a commercial flight. And air travel in 2024 has become so mundane for so many people, this was maybe just a sprinkle of the romance that there used to be in aviation. People are calling this a once-in-a-lifetime experience, maybe a twice-in-a-lifetime experience. Delta, even in some of its materials that they handed out to us, this goodie bag for all the Avgeeks on board. They said, maybe see you again in 2044. TAPPER: And 2044 is when there's going to be an event that's seen in Montana and the Dakotas. You're going to have to wait until 2045 for it to be across the country. Are you going to do this again when the eclipse returns in either of those years? MUNTEAN: I'd like to do it in my airplane, Jake, you know. I have to say, looking at this from a 14-inch-tall Airbus window is a little difficult, and the pilots had to bank the airplane pretty steeply so we could see totality. The sun was almost directly above us. My airplane has a bit of a skylight, so it would have been perfect for this today. Maybe that's the plan in 2044 and 2045. TAPPER: But would you have to wear those crazy glasses while you're flying the plane? MUNTEAN: Maybe we throw it on autopilot for a little bit. The FAA did tweet today, passengers and pilots were wondering, is this legally considered night in aviation terms? They said, no, you have to wait until the sun actually goes down. Although the cool thing about this was, we got to experience that 360-degree sunset. So, I was seated on the left side of the plane at seat 31A. You could see essentially what looked like sunset on the left side of the plane. [17:05:01] And if I looked at the windows across from me in the other row, the F seats, you could see sunset on that side of the plane too. It was really something special, totally something else. TAPPER: Pete, what's that sweet eclipse rage you're at? What is that? MUNTEAN: This is the party here. There are actually two flights that Delta offered, eclipse flights that landed here in Detroit simultaneously. The first one came in through that gate, A75. That was the flight that was offered back in February. It was sold out in less than 24 hours. I was on the flight that came in through gate A77 there that was offered after that flight sold out. There were even some seats on it this morning the last I checked. Some of them were going for $950 or more in the main cabin. That's pretty steep for a ticket in coach and they were middle and aisle seats. But there were even people intermixed between the Avgeeks and the people who wanted to see the eclipse, just people regularly traveling on the airlines. In fact, the guy two seats over for me, he's a mortgage broker. He was coming here to Detroit to try and close a deal. TAPPER: $950 for a window or aisle. That's harsh. Pete Muntean in Detroit, thanks so much. Let's go to CNN chief climate correspondent Bill Weir now. Bill, what was today's experience like for you? You're a man who seeks totality all the time. BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Jake, I am so lucky in this job. I get to travel the world, see some really cool stuff. And to pay penance for that, I spent a totality in a studio next to Richard Quest. So, I am full of rage right now and resentment. But no, actually it was, it was nice to sort of do the play by play of watching that shadow literally move people to mass weddings or proposals, to tears or cheers, to move animals, to huddle together at the Dallas Zoo. The penguins or the flamingos flocked for nighttime safety. It moved me to see NASA doing these amazing experiments to try to understand our star, Jake, which a lot of people don't appreciate. We focused on it today. A solar storm would have enormous impacts on Earth. The power you saw coming out of that, the corona there, those eruptions, it's its most active now. And so, one step closer with data that was gathered today to be able to predict space weather. When there's a solar storm, it takes only eight minutes for all that energy to reach Earth and has such an impact on our modern lives. But just the experience of it we saw was just universal awe and wonder. And it's such a novelty to have this sort of nonpartisan, a natural event that humanity can't control, can't speed up. You just have to absorb. Overall, what a cool day. TAPPER: What questions are scientists looking to answer as they study this solar eclipse? WEIR: Well, it is that solar weather piece of it to see how the corona, which is much hotter than the plasma surface of the sun, but it's really hard to observe because the sun is so bright. So, they're giving you that, that filter in the middle of the day, they can study that more closely. Also, the ionosphere is the layer of the sky between our habitable atmosphere and deep space. And it's charged with all these electrical particles that come from the sun and it affects radio waves. It affects terrestrial communication. NASA also had not only flying planes up to measure the corona and the ionosphere, but shoot rockets up to measure these changes. And there were even ham radio operators that were part of sort of citizen science experiments, bouncing their radio signals off the ionosphere to see how it's changing as that big shadow crosses overhead. It's really cool. I'm nerding out, as you can tell. TAPPER: No, it's great. And it's going to be another two decades before we see anything like this again. In 2044, you could see it in Montana and the Dakotas, 2045 it will be across the country. You have this book coming out, "Life as We Know It Can Be." We're going to talk to you about it next week. It comes out a week from tomorrow. What do you hope your son, the book is a letter to your son? What do you hope your son learns when he's able to experience in 2044, 2045, what we saw today? WEIR: Well, my little boy River was watching in Brooklyn. He had his little, you know, 3D goggles on, watching it. I want him to understand his connection to the universe in this way, that sense of awe, that connection. I really think this younger generation, we got to get them in love with the natural world, to understand weather patterns here on earth, how those things are changing, to fall in love with what's worth saving right now. And the idea that a thousand years ago, people in the pueblo tribes saw the same phenomenon as he saw today. They captured it, they carved it into stone, best they knew how. [17:10:00] Now we have all these amazing tools, all this technology to capture this phenomenon and understand it and improve our lives for the better. So, anything that connects us with each other around nature, I'll take it, Jake. TAPPER: Bill Weir, thank you so much. And if we don't see you later this week, which I hope we do, we'll definitely see you next week when your book comes out, "Life as We Know It Can Be." Pick yourself up a copy or pre-order right now. Thanks, Bill. Another view of the total solar eclipse, this time in the view from a time-lapse camera in Dallas. You can see the crowd there at White Rock Lake in just 25 minutes time. You can see skyline go from light to dark. Clouds only blocked part of the view. And one more time-lapse to share. This is from cameras looking high in the sky from Stowe, Vermont. Crowds were gathered to watch this event on mountain ski slopes below. This was one of the last moments of totality visible in the United States, hitting about 90 minutes ago. We're going to have more eclipse coverage ahead, including a live interview with the man who taught us to love science from a young age, Bill Nye, the Science Guy, coming to "The Lead." Plus, an announcement from Israel today that is sure to make some allies uneasy as Israeli troops prepare for a ground invasion against Hamas in southern Gaza, one that U.S. officials have warned them not to do. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:15:29] TAPPER: We have some breaking news for you now on our "Law and Justice Lead." A New York judge has just issued a ruling in one of the appeals that Donald Trump's lawyers are arguing in an effort to delay the hush money case involving former porn star and director Stormy Daniels. Let's get right to CNN chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid. Paula, they filed a couple motions here. What did the judge rule on? PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are just a week out from this hush money case getting underway in Manhattan. And today, the Trump team filed a petition to stay or pause this case. Well, they argue why they believe that the venue of this trial should be changed. Now, the Trump lawyers argue that pretrial publicity has resulted in a situation where Trump cannot get a fair trial. They said they did some sort of survey where over 60 percent of respondents think Trump is guilty. But prosecutors punched back, saying, look, not all pretrial publicity is prejudicial. They also said it's too late to file a petition like this. The judge has denied this request. But as you noted, Jake, this is just the latest in a series of attempts to try to get this case delayed. TAPPER: Paula Reid, thanks so much. Let's bring in a senior legal analyst for CNN, Elie Honig. Elie, what's your reaction to this ruling? ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Jake, as expected, I think it was 20 minutes ago or so, I said to you that I think it's unlikely Donald Trump succeeds on this venue motion. Now he has not succeeded for the time being, and for a couple reasons. First of all, as Paula said, this motion has already been made. It's too late to bring it up to an appeals court now. And second of all, just looking at the propriety here of charging this case in Manhattan, this is where the crime occurred, the alleged falsification of business records. Prosecutors do sometimes play games and try to charge a case in a district where a small part of the conduct happened to get a more favorable jury pool. That's not what's happening here. This case almost had to be charged in Manhattan. And finally, as judges often recognize, if there are jurors or potential jurors who are very biased against the defendant, that's what jury selection is for. It's a whole weeding out process. And so, it's no surprise that this judge, this one judge on the Court of Appeals has denied the motion for now. TAPPER: Are you surprised by how quickly the judge ruled? HONIG: Well, this was an emergency procedure. I mean, the argument started at 3:45. So I'll say yes, this is what are we an hour and change after that. This was quick, but I think it shows recognition by judges in New York state that this thing is meant to start April 15th and they seem to have very little patience for Trump's Hail Mary's here. TAPPER: All right, Elie Honig, thanks so much. Congress is back to work. The men and women we Americans elected and pay to get stuff done. So, will members be able to find any common ground as they tackle a very long agenda in an election year? Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:22:19] TAPPER: Now to our "World Lead," in an attempt to recover their hostages and to destroy Hamas following the horrendous October 7th terrorist attack, the government of Israel says it is primed and ready to make one of the most controversial moves of the war yet. Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the date has been set for the invasion of Rafah, despite intense pleas from various allies, including the United States, to not proceed. CNN's Nic Robertson shows us the harsh reality on the ground in Gaza as Israel's withdrawal from another major southern city reveals complete and utter destruction. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Khan Younis' highway of hell, shattered witness to four deadly months of Israeli occupation. Nothing untouched. The Jaffa mosque reduced to rubble. The (inaudible) gas station destroyed. Spreading out from the thoroughfare, a city size stamp of destruction. Almost every building in the southern Gazan hub once home to 420,000 Palestinians wrecked by Israeli troops searching for Hamas. The scale testimony of the ferocity of the fight, the graffiti left behind. Venom, Gaza for the Jews, it reads. The IDF sudden departure over the weekend, opening the way for residents to return to what's left of their homes. It is a shock, a shock what happened. It was not small. While coming here in the car, I saw things. The destruction is unbearable. Mohammed Abu Diab tells a cameraman, I'm going to my house and I know it's destroyed. I'm going to remove the rubble and get a shirt out. Return is not victory here. It's resilience. Saleem going back to his destroyed home. I will put a tent on it. Even if they destroy all of Khan Younis, we will stay here and we are steadfast. At first, just a trickle of people coming back. Many wary the withdrawal, not what it seems, and with good reason. A drive along the border fence where the troop pulled out showing just that. ROBERTSON (on camera): We've just seen two huge explosions over there coming from Khan Younis area. Looking along the horizon, I can see other detonations and hear the fighter jets pulling off into the distance. It's clear this is still a very active battlefront. [17:25:00] (Voice-over): A mile away, scores of recently withdrawn tanks and fighting vehicles parked up. The IDF saying the surprise move marks an end of ground operations in Gaza in their current form. Warning though, troops out to recuperate and prepare for future operations. HERZI HALEV, IDF CHIEF OF STAFF (through translation): The war in Gaza continues and we are far from stopping. (END VIDEOTAPE) ROBERTSON (on camera): Well, the army chief of staff didn't spell it out like the prime minister, as you just told us there, Jake, making it very clear that the preparations will be, it appears to go into Rafah. He says the time is set. Is this about placating the increasingly rancorous relationship he has with some of his hardline members of his cabinet who are criticizing him for pulling the troops out and criticizing him for indicating they might not go to Rafah? Is it tough on that line or is it just pressure on Hamas at those negotiations in Cairo? It's not clear, but no ambiguity now. Rafah will be the next place those troops and tanks will be going to if they're sent into battle soon. Jake? TAPPER: All right, Nic Robertson in Jerusalem. Thanks so much. Joining us now from Egypt, someone you probably already know quite well, Arwa Damon. You know her work. She was an excellent CNN senior international correspondent who spent nearly two decades reporting from war zones for us. And now she's the founder and president of a nonprofit group called INARA or International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance, which provides long term care to children impacted by human made and natural disasters. Arwa, you just returned from Gaza. Not a lot of journalists are there, and though I know you're a humanitarian aid worker now, not a journalist. Put on your journalist hat for us for a second. What did you see there? ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was impossible to explain, Jake. And I also do want to apologize. I'm in transit right now, so you might be hearing a bit of background noise. But the southern part of Gaza is this teeming mass of humans, just miserable, searching for everything from safety to food to baby diapers. You know, you heard Nic's report there on Khan Younis. I was actually at a field hospital in Gaza yesterday when some of the bodies that had been dug out from underneath the rubble of Khan Younis began to arrive. These are bodies whose loved ones had not been able to reach them for about a week. And I say bodies, but it was more like body parts. There was also the corpse of a small child. Every single person who you talk to there has a horrific, nightmarish story. There's quite simply not enough humanitarian assistance, and people are absolutely terrified, having lived with these drones and bombs and tragedies for six months now, terrified of what's going to happen if this impending Rafah invasion does take place. They don't know what to do. You really get the sense that you're moving among ghosts. People are ghosts of themselves. They're ghosts of the people that were, and they're constantly haunted by the ghosts of everything that they've lost, Jake. TAPPER: Yeah, I want to play a quick part of a video that you posted from Gaza. Let's take a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAMON (voice-over): It's so beautiful to see the kids having so much fun, but it's like, you constantly hear the, like, sounds of explosions and flinches everywhere. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: What are the best tools to support the long-term mental health needs of the kids in Gaza for when this horrible war is over? DAMON: Look, and that clip is from, you know, one of the small sorts of mental health programs that we have for children. We're working inside 13 shelters, and right now it's emergency mental health, which basically means creating some sort of a distraction for children and adults. And what we're trying to do is raise the funds to be able to ensure that we are ready for what we call the day after, the day when there is a ceasefire, the day when we can go in and begin implementing these longer-term medical and mental health programs that we have. We have to recognize that the trauma, especially when it comes to children, I mean, look, adults can barely cope with this, right? Like, a child just can't even begin to process it. These traumas are coming from multiple different directions, and they are constant, they are daily, because there is no respite in this area. And it's not just the constant fear of, you know, the bombs and the drones and all of it. It's also coupled with, you know, hunger, very extreme and very real hunger. And then you have to imagine the trauma that it creates for a child to turn to their parent and say, I'm hungry, or I'm sick, or I don't feel well, and their parent isn't able to reassure them. That also has a different sort of a lasting impact. TAPPER: So, since President Biden leaned on Netanyahu on that phone call, and Netanyahu opened that crossing, the Erez crossing, from Israel into Gaza, more aid trucks have been able to get into Israel. Not enough, but still more. The State Department said 304 aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday. CNN analyst Barack Ravid just reported that 419 aid trucks entered today. These are the highest numbers in a single day since the war began. Are you at all optimistic that the aid is going to continue to flow at this pace? [17:30:17] DAMON: You know, I'm going to quote what a young man from Gaza said to me, and he said, hope is a very dangerous thing. Gazans are so afraid to believe that aid is going to be coming in and be sustainable, that a ceasefire might actually be coming in. It's really all they want. Jake, everyone who you talk to just …