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tv   This Week With George Stephanopoulos  ABC  February 25, 2024 8:00am-9:01am PST

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for the us senate. >> i'm adam schiff and i approve this message at the end of this. >> i know that i'm going to be with my person. >> sponsored locally by san diego. so happiness is calling. if you're happy and you know it, come to san diego and feel free to really show it. >> we're in this together. abc seven build a better bay area >> this week with george stephanopoulos starts right now. >> blowout win. >> i have never seen the republican party so unified as it is right now. >> donald trump dominates the south carolina primary despite making comments there widely criticized as racist primary .d as racist >> i'm being indictede widely c racist. eing indictede widely c >> i'm being indicted for you, the black population. >> martha: the latest on the fallout and what's next with rachel scott and rick klein. and ivf on pause in parts of alabama after a state court
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ruling raises concerns nationwide about creating embryos. >> how does someone else get to dictate what i want for my family? >> martha: republicans struggle to respond as democrats seize the issue. our exclusive interview with senator tammy duckworth. plus analysis from our powerhouse round table. >> martha: two years of war. >> america stands up for freedom. we never bow to anyone. ukraine suffers losses against russia as funding from the u.s. dries up. the casualties are one after another. you can see that line of ambulances there. we report from inside ukraine, and white house national security adviser jake sullivan joins us. plus -- >> we have lived experiences to bring to the table, and having that representation in the senate i think is vital. >> martha: rachel scott speaks to three women trying to shatter glass ceilings in 2024.
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>> martha: good morning, and welcome to "this week." as we come on the air this morning, former president donald trump is one step closer to securing the gop nomination for the white house. last night he easily won the south carolina primary defeating his one remaining challenger, nikki haley, in her home state by 20 points. haley has vowed to remain in the race through super tuesday on march 5th, but after her defeat last night, the path looks even more narrow, and in a matter of weeks, trump may officially have the delegates he needs to claim victory. haley is still making the case that trump is unelectable in november, and that he sows chaos and division with his actions and his rhetoric. our powerhouse political team is here to break down last night's results and trump's latest
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controversial comments, and we begin with abc's rachel scott in south carolina. good morning, rachel. >> reporter: martha, good morning. look. donald trump was so confident he barely even campaigned in this state, delivering a crushing blow to nikki haley in a state that elected her to the governor's mansion twice. haley knew this was going to be an uphill challenge, that the odds were stacked against her. this morning, she is defiant, vowing to stay in this race, still making the case that she is the only republican that can defeat president biden in november, but she has to get through donald trump first, and exit polls show that the voters that know her perhaps the best, right here in south carolina, they were not buying that electability argument. as for trump, he is laser focused on the general election. he didn't even mention her a single time in his victory speech, martha. >> martha: and rachel, the night before the primary, former president trump made several comments at the black conservative federation gala, 34 in south carolina there
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that biden is calling it outright racist. let's listen. >> i got indicted a second time, and a third time, and a fourth time, and a lot of people said that that's why the black people like me, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and i think that's why the black people are so much on my side now because they see what's happening to me. it happens to them. the mugshot, we've all seen the mugshot, and you know who embraced it more than anybody else? the black population. you see black people walking around with my mugshot. these lights are so bright in my eyes that i can't see too many people out there, but i can only see the black ones. i can't see any white ones, you see? that's how far i've come. >> martha: and rachel, those comments didn't seem to hurt him last night at all. >> reporter: no, and the crowd was cheering. i'm told that trump's team though was caught off guard by those comments. that was not in the script. the former president trying to appeal to black voters.
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he won just 6% of the black vote in 2016, 8% in 2020. he's looking at president biden's low approval ratings across the board. he does see an opening there, and he talked a lot about criminal justice reform, signing the first step act into law. that is something though that he doesn't mention nearly as much when campaigning in front of predominantly white crowds like in iowa and new hampshire, and that's because he's a criminal defendant, and a mugshot, that black voters will like him even more. nikki haley lashing out against those comments calling them disgusting saying it's a warning sign for the party as it expands its tent. you have democrats pointing to a long list of racially insensitive things that the former president has said, from being accused of discriminating against black tenants. he was sued back in the 1970s over that, to pushing false conspiracy birtherism, conspiracy theories about barack obama, and telling citizens to
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go back to where they came from. >> martha: thank you. rick klein, what do you see when you look at last night? are there any warning signs for donald trump? >> inside or out, you do see some concerns that might be there for a trump candidacy going forward. he's got core republicans. we saw this in the exit polls. he won republican votes by about 40 points last night, but independents, that's another story, and this was an open primary. anyone could vote. nikki haley carried independent voters by about 20 points. it's one thing to win a republican primary, but the general election is another story, and given the legal issues that he continues to face, we asked in this exit poll, whether trump would be fit to serve if he was convicted of a crime. check this out. 36% say no. that's more than a third of core republican voters who say if he is convicted, he is not fit to serve, but the exit poll also showed i think pretty starkly how the core argument that haley
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has made against trump just fell flat. she has been saying only i can beat joe biden and that's not what the exit polls show. in fact, voters are much more likely to think that trump can beat joe biden than haley. >> martha: past exit polls have shown how many republicans still believe president biden did not legitimately win the election. how does south carolina compare? >> yeah, once again, we see an overwhelming number. 61% of people in south carolina believe falsely that joe biden did not legitimately win the election, and to me it speaks to the maga takeover of the republican party. we saw this across issues, whether it's immigration, foreign policy, or whether it's the economy. republican voters believe what donald trump is saying. they like what he is talking about. they like him, and they continue to say that over and over again, and that really is what it comes down to, is that donald trump is popular with his base. people believe what he's saying even when it's false. >> martha: still a lot to look forward to. thank you, rick klein, and terrorism scott.
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we turn now to the uproar over the alabama supreme court's decision that frozen embryos should be considered people. the state's governor is working on a solution with gop lawmakers to protect ivf access in the state, but for now, families in alabama are left waiting as the political implications are being felt across the country. abc's elizabeth schulze spoke with some of those alabama families. >> i want so badly to become a mother. >> both of us want it. >> this is our biggest, like, prayer and dream. >> reporter: it's a dream that's now on hold for emily capalito and her husband james after an historic and contentious decision by alabama's supreme court. >> i'm really angry and i'm really sad. >> reporter: the couple's frozen embryos were the result of an arduous fertility journey, costing more than $50,000 and countless shots and anxiety.
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their fertility clinic at the university of alabama at birmingham is one of the three major providers in this state that has paused ivf treatments. >> it has been very scary because i have not had any answers. >> reporter: 238,000 american families turned to ivf every year to get pregnant. multiple embryos are typically frozen to try to increase the likelihood that one will successfully implant, discarding unused embryos as a routine part of the process, but after alabama's supreme court ruling, it could be considered a crime. >> that decision has a ton of unintended consequences. >> reporter: in the ruling, the court says frozen embryos qualify as children, and anyone who discards them could be liable for wrongful death. for doctors like beth malitzia, that's too much of a legal risk. >> did you expect to be in a position where you're pausing this standard care for fertility because of a decision by the state supreme court? >> not at all, and i think maybe
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i was naive with that. i think the dobbs decision blew open a door, and we don't know what's on the other side of that. >> reporter: reproductive rights advocates warned overturning roe v. wade put not just abortions but fertility treatments at risk too. president biden said that's what happened calling the alabama decision outrageous and unacceptable and blaming former president trump for appointing justices who overturned roe. after public uproar over alabama's decision, trump came out in full-throated support of ivf, but didn't comment on the court's decision that embryos are people. >> we want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder. >> reporter: gabbie price and her husband in leeds, alabama have been trying without success for seven years to get pregnant. >> we really wanted to give as many children as possible a loving home. >> reporter: after a miscarriage last year, they sold their home
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and moved into this camper van to save money for their last resort, ivf. gabbie started a new job just for its fertility benefits. does this change your view of who you would want representing you, who you would choose to vote for? >> it absolutely does. there's been a lot of talk about the fall of roe v. wade and the effects that that's had, and this is a big one. >> reporter: for "this week," elizabeth schulze, in birmingham, alabama. >> martha: i'm joined by tammy duckworth. good morning, senator. if i can get personal, i know that you turned to ivf to -- for your daughters, aged 9 and 5. >> yes. >> martha: what was your reaction when you saw the supreme court decision in alabama? >> not at all surprised, unfortunately. i have been talking about this
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since 2018 when it was clear republicans were working to eliminate women's reproductive rights. i said if neil gorsuch gets put on the supreme court, if amy coney barrett gets put on the supreme court, we're going to have an erosion, and i said, ivf is next. they said they're coming for it, and i'm devastated for those families that are trying to start families, but i was not at all surprised. >> martha: and just to be clear, the decision does not outlaw ivf, but obviously makes it more complicated. can you freeze those embryos? what do you do with embryos that are not used, right? >> the decision is very clear that a fertilized egg is a child, a human being can means that for example in my case, when we have five fertilized eggs and three were nonviable, when the doctor discarded those with my consent, that would be considered manslaughter or murder. basically republicans have put the rights of the a fertilized egg over the rights of the woman and that is not something that i think people agree with. >> martha: you introduced a bill last month to safeguard ivf access nationally. the national republican senate campaign arm is instructing their candidates to, quote,
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clearly and concisely reject efforts by the government to restrict ivf. do you think you can now get republican support to pass your bill? >> it's been crickets since the alabama ruling, and let's make it clear. republicans will say whatever they need to say to try to cover themselves on this, but they have been clear and donald trump has been the guy leading this effort to eliminate women's reproductive rights and reproductive choice, and so this is the next step, and by the way, not a single republican has reached out to me on the bill. i've introduced the bill multiple times and on multiple congresses, but frankly, you know, let's see if they vote for it when we bring it to the floor. >> martha: i want to talk about south carolina last night. i'm sure you watched. it was full of people saying they deny the election, that the election was stolen. does what happened in south carolina and what's happened so far and donald trump clear winner here, change your approach with biden/harris? >> no. i think what we talk about, again, is that donald trump has
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been very clear about what he's doing. he's not running for president for the american people. he's not running for president to take care of working families. he's running for president for himself. that's all he cares about every day. president biden gets up every day and works hard to protect the american people and works hard to make sure he delivers for working families across this country. the choice very clear and we need to continue to hammer home that message. >> martha: saw the exit polls, veterans like yourself, voted for him despite comments about nikki haley's husband who is deployed right now. again, the election deniers, black voters, young voters. nothing gives you pause after watching what donald trump has said? >> it does, but it has all along. i think it's very -- donald trump, this is what he has been doing. he's shown us over time who he is, and he's a guy who cares
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about no one but himself. you know, i have often thought when i go into work with my colleagues, and i assumed they loved america as much as i love america, that we just look at the problem from different perspectives, but we can come to a compromise. donald trump cares about one thing, donald trump. that is in contrast with joe biden who cares deeply about america, who gets up every day and does everything that he can to serve this country, and we have to hammer that home, and again, we bring up these things, you know, for young people, for young families. we talk about ivf. we talk about reproductive choice, and we talk about the fact that donald trump is the guy who took away womens' right to protect -- to make their own decisions about their families. >> martha: how big of a factor do you think that will be? we saw what happened in the midterms. will it be a huge factor now? is this something that democrats are saying, just what we want to talk about? if this is going to happen, now is the time we want it to happen, the alabama ruling. >> definitely. this is what we're going to be talking about. we're going to talk about the fact that donald trump is the guy and republicans have been working literally for years to take away your reproductive choice, which includes access to
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ivf for people struggling to start families, but we also came to a compromise on border security, the crisis at the border and when we had a compromise and gave republicans what they wanted, it was donald trump who killed the compromise, who stuck a knife in james langford's back and said, you know what? i don't want a compromise at the border. that's not what i care about. i care about donald trump. >> martha: let me ask you about the border. the biden administration is considering using executive action to make it harder for migrants to claim asylum. would you support that? >> i would support that because we have a crisis at the border. >> martha: something donald trump tried? >> there was a worker program so people could go to work. i think that is critically important is a work permit for folks who want to come here and let's put them to work. i've got the ag industries looking for workers, and retail looking for workers. while they're waiting, let's let them work. it was exactly that.
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it was stuff that fixed the border problems, but also allowed us to let -- to be humane about how we take care of the migrants who are here. >> martha: thanks very much for joining us this morning. much appreciated. >> thank you. >> martha: when we come back, my report from ukraine as the nation enters its third year of war with russia, and i'll speak with white house national security adviser jake sullivan on the battle for more aid. we're back in two minutes. sull on the battle for more aid. we're back in two minutes. detect this: living with hiv, craig learned he can stay undetectable with fewer medicines. that's why he switched to dovato. dovato is a complete hiv treatment for some adults. no other complete hiv pill uses fewer medicines to help keep you undetectable than dovato. detect this: leo learned that most hiv pills contain 3 or 4 medicines. dovato is as effective with just 2. if you have hepatitis b, don't stop dovato without talking to your doctor. don't take dovato if you're allergic to its ingredients or
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when enamel is gone, you cannot get it back. but you can repair it with pronamel repair. it penetrates deep into the tooth to actively repair acid weakened enamel. i recommend pronamel repair. with new pronamel repair mouthwash you can enhance that repair beyond brushing. they work great together. my frequent heartburn had me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. the clock is ticking. ukrainian soldiers and civilians are dying. if we don't support ukraine in this moment, it'll never be forgotten in history, and it'll have impacts for decades to come. >> if ukraine gets the arms, they can win. if they don't get the arms, they could certainly lose. they would certainly lose. >> martha: that was president biden as well as senate majority leader chuck schumer who
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traveled to ukraine this week calling for more aid to ukraine, as year three of the conflict has begun. with u.s. aid to ukraine in limbo, and notable gains on the battlefield this week, we traveled to ukraine again where there is no end to the war in sight, a war i watched from ukraine two years ago this weekend as russia unleashed its brutal assault. it began before dawn. a powerful volley of russian missiles striking targets across ukraine. but predictions that russia would quickly control ukraine were simply wrong. instead, it has been a slow, deadly grind on battlefields, in cities, and towns. a massive loss of life and property that has affected every community. there is no better example than this. two years ago, just outside of the vibrant city of lviv in western ukraine stood this barren, grassy field, and this
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is that field today, filled with hundreds and hundreds of graves of soldiers killed within the last two years. fathers, brothers, sons now gone. their loved ones even while air raid sirens wail, left only with gardens to tend in their honor. mothers like natalia whose 38-year-old son adan died just over a month ago. what would your message be to russia? if all of the world would unite together against russia, this war would stop, she tells me, but russian forces are far from halting their aggression. in southeastern ukraine this week, ukrainian soldiers forced to withdraw from the key town, a significant gain for russia and one that a commander blames a lack of manpower, and dwindling reserves of ammunition. they call this a slaughter.
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the loss of life immense. the number of wounded overwhelming hospitals. the casualties are arriving constantly at this hospital. you can see that line of ambulances and right now, they are taking patients out to transfer them to other hospitals. this is the hospital in dnipro where only the most severely wounded of those fighters gets treated. this doctor heads the hospital and has been there since the invasion began. these soldiers are from that avdiivka? >> yes. >> martha: more so than other places? >> yes. >> martha: the doctors here have treated more than 25,000 soldiers, transfused 14 tons of
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blood, amputated more than 3,500 limbs, and performed more than 1,300 brain surgeries. this american neurosurgeon is here volunteering in ukraine for the second time since the war began. he now practices in washington, d.c., but began his career as an army surgeon. you had so many injuries during iraq and afghanistan and treated soldiers from those wars. how does this compare? >> that was one-tenth of the number of patients that i've seen here. what we had over 20 years of war is basically what they have had in two years very simply put. >> reporter: dr. armando performed brain surgery this day five times. we watched him in the operating room remove shrapnel from the brain of a young, severely injured ukrainian soldier hit by artillery. no matter what, this is a long, long recovery. >> oh yeah. this is definitely a long
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recovery, but it's -- it's frontal lobe. so his chances for recovery are actually much, much better. >> reporter: dr. armando says lack of u.s. aid as the war drags on is clearly having an impact. you know that the aid was held up. do you think that has made a difference? >> the less fire power you have, the more casualties you have, the more lives are lost. it's directly related. >> reporter: he says he was inspired to volunteer here again because of the oath he took in the u.s. army. tell me why you are so committed. >> i'm committed because at west point when i was a cadet and commissioned as an officer, we used to swore an oath to the constitution to defend the united states against enemies foreign and domestic. this is a foreign enemy. russia is an enemy against the united states, against democracy, against human rights, against all of civilization, and
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if there's ever a place, a time where america needs to lead, this is the place. >> martha: in the hospital hallway, we met the family and mother of a young soldier in the icu after being shot in the abdomen. you never know how hard it is until your own son is hurt, she told me, calling this war a meat grinder. but despite the loss, the pain, and no end in sight, soldiers keep fighting. the majority volunteers. we are with the third assault brigade in ukraine. we can't say exactly where we are, but this is one of the fiercest brigades in all of ukraine. this soldier who goes by call sign center has been in the ukrainian army since 2017. at this training facility, he told me the fight is getting more difficult. how important is u.s. aid? we are defending with old, rusty soviet weapons, he tells me.
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if we had more western weapons, more western artillery, we would have been at least three times more effective. still, he says, we keep up the fight. for many of the soldiers and people of ukraine who have lost so much, there is weariness here that has settled in on this anniversary, and a profound sense of uncertainty. i'm joined now by white house national security adviser, jake sullivan. mr. sullivan, thanks for joining us this morning. i saw growing uncertainty in ukraine. how would you characterize where we are two years into this? >> well, first, martha, let's take a step back. yesterday as you noted was the two-year anniversary of russia's brutal imperial war of conquest against ukraine. most people bet that ukraine would fall within a week or two, that kyiv would be occupied, the capital of ukraine, kyiv would
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be occupied by russian forces. two years later, kyiv stands. ukraine stands. it stands as a proud, free democracy, but it is still continuing to fight against a vicious russian onslaught in the east, and for that, it needs weapons. it needs ammunition, and it needs resources from countries like the united states, and that's why president biden has been pushing so hard to get ukraine the resources it needs, to be able to fend off the russians and take back the territory that russia occupies. this is not about a shortage of will, martha. this is about a shortage of bullets, and if we can fill that shortage of bullets, ukraine will stand up brave and courageous, and take the fight to the russians. >> martha: i know you have spoken to house speaker mike johnson. do you think there will be a vote on the hill and what are you doing to make certain that happens getting aid to ukraine? >> well, this is one of those instances where one person can bend the course of history.
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speaker johnson, if he put this bill on the floor, would produce a strong bipartisan majority vote in favor of the aid to ukraine. we saw that in the senate. it passed overwhelmingly on a bipartisan basis, and if there were an up and down vote, it would pass overwhelmingly in the house. so it comes down to one person, speaker johnson. will he put the bill on the floor? i have spoken with him personally. he has indicated that he would like to get the funding for ukraine. he's trying to figure out a way to do it. right now it comes down to his willingness to step up to the plate and discharge his responsibility at this critical moment, and history is watching. >> martha: you know, you talk about the story of ukraine and that they thought they might be defeated right away, and were not, but the people i talk to in ukraine say the story of 2023
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looks to be that ukraine's counteroffensive failed, did not do what they wanted it to do because they did not have the training and the war fighting equipment they wanted. what's your reaction to that? >> look. when you are in the middle of a war, and you're fighting every day under a hail of fire from the enemy, i can understand the frustration and the pain that they are going through, but the facts are that the united states and a coalition of 50 nations that president biden pulled together and secretary austin pulled together, delivered to ukraine all of the pieces of equipment, all of the shells, all of the rockets that they requested, into their counteroffensive last year. they did so in the spring. ukraine launched that counteroffensive in the summer and they ran into some difficulties although they were able to take some territory. >> martha: one of the things that they say over there is that the administration really did take a slow, incremental approach. you didn't want to send f-16s at first. you didn't want to send abrams
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tanks. i think a year ago, you and i were talking, and you said, that's not what they needed. they think they needed it earlier, and that that would have helped. >> well, first of all, if you look at the sum total of what the united states has provided to ukraine in this fight, it is an incredible quantity of material delivered at speed, at scale, outpacing the expectations of anyone. here in the united states, in europe, or in ukraine. the ramp-up of assistance, of armored personnel carriers, of infantry vehicles, yes, tanks, ammunition, training at scale, all done in the course -- not of years, not of years, martha, but of months running up to the spring of 2023. so the idea that we did not mobilize a massive quantity of resources and capabilities to deliver to the ukrainians, simply doesn't wash, and i would say that of course, there are
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additional capabilities that the ukrainians have looked for. f-16s being one of them, and we several months ago, said we would be prepared to provide f-16s. the issue there has been there aren't very many ukrainian pilots to be able to pilot those aircraft. it's not about whether or not f-16s could possibly have been on the battlefield in the spring of last year. so the united states will continue alongside our allies and partners to try to get ukraine all of the tools and capabilities that it needs to be able to conduct this fight as rapidly and as efficiently as we possibly can. >> martha: okay. i want to talk about the sanctions this week. in light of the war and the death of alexei navalny, the white house announced these extensive new sanctions against 500 individuals and entities in russia who they say have ties to russian aggression in ukraine. what difference do you think that will make given the history of sanctions not really working? >> well, martha, let's talk
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about what the function of sanctions is. it is to drive down russia's access to revenue and if you look at the russian national wealth fund, the war chest that putin has had since before this war began, he's depleting it month by month. second, it is to try to deny particular components to go into the russian defense industrial base so that we slow down and complicate their war machine making it more difficult for them to feel the advanced weapons. >> martha: i do want to say that -- >> we have in our view, been able to slow that down, and third, it is to be able to identify those leaders and those individuals who are responsible and to hold them personally accountable and in the case of alexei navalny, we did that on friday. they by themselves are not going to generate a strategic result in this war, but they can contribute to a strategic result and we are going to stay patient
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and resolved, and relentless in the application of these sanctions. >> martha: i just want to ask you very quickly, if there are 500 russian entities that deserve to be sanctioned, why did you wait until now? >> well, first of all, we haven't waited until now. we had sanctions on the first day of the war. >> martha: those 500 i'm talking about. >> because every month, martha, the way this works is you continue to identify the entities that are contributing to russia's war machine. the banks that are funding it, the factories that are building the weapons, the individuals that are responsible, and every month we have a team of people looking for those targets and adding targets. this is the latest turn of the crank and there will be more. >> martha: thanks so much for joining us this morning, mr. sullivan. coming up, the powerhouse round table breaks down all the week's politics including the results from south carolina, and the political fallout from alabama's
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ivf ruling. we'll be right back. the political fallout from alabama's ivf ruling. we'll be right back. (♪) ♪ healthier's not something that happens all alone ♪ ♪ it takes greg and lydia, and josie on the phone. ♪ ♪ it's grammy getting checked on in her favorite chair. ♪ ♪ or dolling herself up to go ♪ ♪ handle all of her care. ♪ ♪ with doctors to nurses ♪ ♪ and all the people in between ♪ ♪ healthier happens in more ways ♪ ♪ than ray's ever seen. ♪ ♪ healthier happens together. ♪
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thankfully, tide's the answer to almost all of them. do crabs have eyebrows? except that one. for all of life's laundry questions, it's got to be tide. choose advil liqui-gels for faster, stronger and longer-lasting relief than tylenol rapid release gels because advil targets pain at the source of inflammation. so for faster pain relief, advil the pain away. >> martha: and so much to discuss this morning so let's bring in our powerhouse round table, former dnc chair donna brazile, former rnc chair reince priebus, npr white house correspondent asma khalid, and political playbook co-author, rachael bade. donna, i want to start with you about trump's comments on friday night to a room full of black voters. >> a room full of black
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conservatives and they're about 5% or 10% of the black population. this is black history month. it's the history we've all made it as americans. a history that we share, and the future that we all want to see together. no one that i've heard from, no one that i understand wants to go back to donald trump, go back to the past, go back to the train wreck, the division, and the chaos. so it's the history that we not only share, but the history that we want to make together and under donald trump, we didn't make a lot of black history. >> martha: reince priebus, did you consider those comments racist? he wasn't on the teleprompter. >> i don't know. look. i remember back in 2016 when president trump went in to say, hey. what the hell do you have to lose? and i was the one saying, oh, no. we can't say it like that, and, you know, it turned out that he did better in the black community in 2016 than a lot of previous presidents and took, if you look at the polling, he's looking at recent polling about 22% in the black community in the seven battleground states. his record, whether it be the
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first step back, whether it be pardoning alice johnson, whether it be unemployment, was pretty good, and i think black voters are very open to donald trump and one of the biggest movers to the republican party are black men under 40. then on the other side, you've got -- >> martha: but i hear comments like that. does that concern you? >> joe biden said, you ain't black if you want to support donald trump. he referred to a black reporter and asked the black reporter whether the black reporter was a junky. the things he said about barack obama which were ridiculous. i mean -- >> who said about barack obama? donald trump who questioned his nationality? >> i don't even want to repeat what joe biden said in 2008. >> this is not a conversation about whether or not -- who has a record, okay? because we know donald trump's record. this is about the future, and what what donald trump said was
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racist tropes and it's insulting and demeaning to basically go to black people and say, oh. don't you like the fact that i have 91 convictions? don't you want to see this mugshot? hell no. we want freedom and justice and equality like everybody else. >> listen. for the record, i don't disagree. these things that are said are not helpful. they're distractions. i think the part of it is he's trying to be entertaining. i don't disagree. however, what i also see are the facts, and the facts are that 22% of black voters in america like what he's saying, like what he stands for, and likes him as a candidate. so that's something you're going to -- your side's going to have to deal with. >> i would just add how much of this is actually, you know, folks in the black community actually liking donald trump versus feeling sort of neglected by joe biden right now? i mean, we've talked about this on this show.
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i mean, a lot of folks in the black community feeling like they voted for joe biden. they single-handedly helped deliver the nomination to him this that that he hasn't passed enough legislation and support for them. so that could be what we're seeing right now. >> donald trump's on the verge of getting the highest percentage of black votes in 50 years. >> but why? >> martha: i want to move onto looking at south carolina in general. no huge surprise. >> no. no huge surprise. >> martha: that he won, but nikki haley saying she's staying in the race and i think people are saying, why? >> to what end, right? look. her campaign suggests that voters, and she has said that voters deserve a choice. you know, my perennial question has been at what point though does she have to win a state to show why she's on this ballot? look. i see this as a bigger sort of existential question within the republican party. many voters are disenchanted with joe biden and there's a
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question about his age and, you know, where the electorate might be. on the republican side, i think there are voters who are disenchanted with donald trump, and a part of me wonders if nikki haley is sticking around long enough to make a viable calculation that she is a potential alternative should anything happen to donald trump. >> martha: rachael, i want to go back to you on that. is she is person they would turn to if something happened to donald trump? >> the longer she stays in, she'll anger republican voters who want to unify. she has this race against the clock, right? if she can stay in long enough for something -- for trump to get a conviction or something like that, you know, people could potentially turn to her, but that's probably not going to happen because that's months and months away, but, you know, just to underscore what asma was saying, donald trump has a problem with the base. he was talking last night about how republicans are very united, but what 1 in 5 voters told the ap that they would not vote for donald trump even if he got the
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nomination. these are republican voters in south carolina. how is he going to unite the party? this is going to be a big problem for him in the general election. >> martha: where do those voters go? >> i think they're going to go -- >> martha: there is a big chunk who don't want donald trump. where do they go? >> i think a lot of those folks are going to come back to donald trump, number one. you see it in polling. every four years this happens. there's big primaries in indiana -- look at 2016. no one's going to go for donald trump. >> martha: he did lose in 2020 though. >> he did, true, but i think in reality this is south carolina. this is nikki haley's home state. there's going to be a real affinity for nikki haley there. if 1 in 5 voters that are republicans that love nikki haley aren't happy about her losing by 20 points and saying, listen, i'm not going to support donald trump, that's not unusual. the threat for joe biden is a little watched thing that happened this week in wisconsin was that the green party is now
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going to have a line in wisconsin, and jill stein in 2016 got over 30,000 votes in wisconsin and donald trump won by 22,000 votes in wisconsin. so if you are looking at -- the dynamics that are going to be on the ballot, that green party line is something for everybody to watch. >> martha: and donna, what does this do when you look forward to joe biden? a lot of people don't want joe biden who are democrats. >> we have been hearing that for the last couple of months and you know what? people are still going out to vote, and joe biden is doing quite well and raising money, and i'm sure what you'll see over the next couple of weeks is more momentum, and the democratic coalition comes back together and begins to reach out to independents. we want to go back to nikki haley. i don't know her path forward. she picked up three delegates last night. 1,215 is what you need on the republican side and she's going to have a hard time getting more delegates when the rules begin
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to change that says it's winner take all by cd or statewide. donald trump went in -- maybe not donald trump personally, but his team went into several of theiss states including michigan and they're stirring the pot. i don't know how far she'll go, but if you have money, keep traveling. >> martha: one of the things we have seen president biden do is up his attacks on donald trump. do you see that working at all? >> do i see that working? i don't know. i mean, they have certainly tried to up their attacks. you saw that just this week even with the alabama court decision on ivf which i'm sure we'll talk about, but i don't see that particularly effective yet. what we saw with donald trump yesterday with his cpac comments is him try to pivot and make this a contest with joe biden. i think though, that nikki haley's endurance in this race is not just about donald trump. it does strike me that it speaks to the fact there is a subset of the american electorate that is
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dissatisfied with joe biden and donald trump being their only two options and yes, she's running in a republican electorate, but it speaks to that. >> martha: let's move onto michigan. you've got michigan this week and progressives have been upset about joe biden's support of israel which we think there might be some sort of ceasefire and hostage release brewing. that state has the largest percentage of arab american voters. how concerned should the campaign be about this? >> way more concerned than they currently are. i actually talked to the leader of the abandoned biden movement on the ground there. he's a palestinian american, and those folks who have had family members who have died during the bombardments in gaza, and he was a biden voter. just a few months ago, he had a biden/harris sign in his yard. he said he would sooner vote for mickey mouse. few look at the numbers, one more thing, martha, joe biden won by 150,000 votes in michigan. there are 200,000 muslim or arab american voters in michigan. if he alienates all of them,
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michigan is gone for him. >> martha: we just have a few seconds here, but really could have a profound impact. >> a critical impact. i sat with a number of people who sat in meetings either with biden campaign officials or with biden officials, policy makers who were so dissatisfied still not convinced they will vote for joe biden. >> martha: something we'll watch this week. michigan coming up. thanks to all of you. up next, rachel scott on three black women looking to make history in the u.s. senate. we'll be right back. omen lookin history in the u.s. senate. we'll be right back. t my money to work hard too. so, i use my freedom unlimited card. earning on my favorite soup. aaaaaah. got it. earning on that éclair. don't touch it, don't touch it yet. let me get the big one. nope. -this one? -nope. -this one? -yes. no. what? the big one. they're all the same size. wait! lemme get 'em all. i'm gonna get 'em all! earn big with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? chase.
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only from nature's bounty. [stomach growling] it's nothing... sounds like something. ♪when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion♪ ♪upset stomach, diarrhea♪ pepto bismol coats and soothes for fast relief when you need it most. you have made history, and it's much to the point of the history-making, you are showing the way of our entire country to the future. you have shown what we can do when we come together, when we -- when we stop them from dividing us among race lines and
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gender lines and >> martha: that was carol moseley brown, the first black woman elected to the u.s. senate delivering her victory speech 32 years ago. this year several black women are running for the senate, so as we mark black history month, rachel scott spoke with three of those candidates about the challenges they faced and the history they could make. >> reporter: there have been more than 2,000 senators in america's 247-year history, but just 12 have been black. only three have been black women. this year, barbara lee, angela alsobrooks, and lisa blunt rochester are vying for the senate and hoping to serve there together. >> i truly believe that the lens that i bring is lacking in the united states senate. >> reporter: lee has represented oakland, california in the house of representatives since 1998. >> what happens with representation is that not only
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new ideas, new experiences, and new solutions come to the table, black women understand these struggles in terms of fixing our democracy, fighting for our democracy. >> reporter: she credits shirley chisholm, the first black woman elected to congress, with convincing her to register to vote. >> i didn't believe that the democrats or republicans were understanding the needs and aspirations of myself as a young, single mom, and she said, look. we need your voice. we need you on the inside. we need you to come help shake things up. >> reporter: polls show lee trailing two fellow democrats and a republican ahead of the primary next tuesday, with only the top two advancing. are there clear challenges there for black women to be able to run for office? >> the system oftentimes, and that's one thing shirley chisholm reminded me of. it's not built and made for the participation of certain people who have been shut out for so long, but as dr. maya angelou said, still we rise.
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>> reporter: angela alsobrooks is up against millionaire congressman david trone in the may 14th primary. she could go on to face larry hogan in november. >> i was the first woman elected s a prosecutor here. i was the first woman to be elected as county executive. what that has meant brought to bear solutions. they are very different, based not only on my professional experience, but lived experience, and i think it's important to have people representing you who live like you, who can think like the people they represent. >> reporter: alsobrooks is very close with vice president kamala harris, the second black woman ever sworn in as senator, kamala harris. what lessons have you taken away from her? >> that it is not as important if you are the first at something, but that you create the record and roadway so others can be successful too. you are not truly successful until you've made someone else successful. >> reporter: lisa blunt
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rochester is the favorite for deep blue delaware. there has never been a woman. there's never been a person of color. there has never been a black woman to represent the state of delaware in the united states senate. what would that mean to you? >> for me to be able to represent and bring those lived experiences, the professional experiences, the policy issues. i mean, we know that black women die from childbirth more than their white counterparts. we have 43% more student loan debt than our white counterparts. i don't really think about the history so much because, you know, my intention is to make a difference and to have an impact on people's lives. >> reporter: just two of these candidates win, they could make even more history as the senate has never seen more than one black woman serving at a time. >> i guess you think about shirley chisholm in this moment where she said, if they don't give you a seat at the table, you bring a folding chair. well, maybe we'll have many folding chairs.
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>> martha: our thanks to rachel scott. with that, we'll be right back. scott. with that, we'll be right back. conservative republican steve garvey is the wrong choice for the senate. ...our republican opponent here on this stage has voted for donald trump twice. mr. garvey, you voted for him twice... as your own man, what is your decision? garvey is wrong for california. but garvey's surging in the polls. fox news says garvey would be a boost to republican control of the senate. stop garvey.
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adam schiff for senate. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message. >> martha: that's all for us today. thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. check out "world news tonight," and tune into abc newslive tuesday night for coverage of the michigan primary results. have a great day. e michigan pri. have a great day.
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expect and what to know if you're heading to the east bay. >> it's a cooler day. you can see here from the cloud cover on top of mount tam. temperatures range from the low 40s to the upper 50s. it will get breezy and cloudier throughout your sunday. i'll have your full accuweather seven day forecast coming up next on abc. seven mornings at nine.
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