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The Lead with Jake Tapper
First Ballots Mailed One Day After Historic Harris-Trump Debate; Unanswered Questions In The Harris-Trump Debate; Biden & Harris Mark 9/11 Attacks At The Pentagon; Lawmakers Press Former New York Governor Cuomo About State's COVID Policies; More FDNY Members Have Died From 9/11-Related Illnesses Than Attack; Hurricane Francine's Eye Nears Landfall. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired September 11, 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]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: This is knee-deep mud.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Yeah, I guess so muddy that one player told the "AP" it gets in every nook and cranny and takes weeks to clean out of their nose, ears, and even toenails. Besides the good fun, this is actually for a good cause. It raises money for local community center and other groups.
The "Mud Bowl" looks like a lot of fun, and that guy looks like he's not wearing pants behind you. We assure you he's wearing pants.
KEILAR: Ii think he is though.
SANCHEZ: Yeah.
KEILAR: Yeah, no, ever since there was that bacterial tough mudder, I'm like no mud race. Negative.
SANCHEZ: Bacterial tough mudder.
KEILAR: It was bad.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KEILAR: THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts now.
(MUSIC)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So, will there be a rematch?
THE LEAD starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What you think is a friendship with what is known to be a dictator who would eat you for lunch.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Wait a minute, I'm talking now. If you don't mind, please? Does that sound familiar?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: The attack lines landed, but there is quite a bit that voters did not hear in last night's debate. Trump and Harris both leaving questions unanswered. We'll run down the list.
Senator Bernie Sanders is here with reaction as well as longtime Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn.
Also ahead, who is changing the rules? The controversial individuals behind the election in battleground Georgia. Will they impact results in November?
And breaking news: conditions deteriorating as Hurricane Francine nears landfall along the Louisiana coast, and New Orleans braces for impact.
(MUSIC)
TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.
Voting is now officially underway in the 2024 election. Alabama, today, the first state mailing out its absentee ballots amid an avalanche of headlines declaring Vice President Kamala Harris the winner of last night's debate against former President Donald Trump.
There are many reasons why this debate did not go well for Mr. Trump. One might be exemplified by his staggeringly absurd lie about migrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating local neighbors' cats and dogs. We'll take a closer look at that bizarre moment in just a second.
But, first, let's take a step back because we have been telling you for weeks that this debate would be a defining event in the race where Americans would have perhaps the only opportunity to hear both candidates make their case and the same arena side-by-side. And while by no means are we equating the two performances last night, it is also true that at times both Trump and Harris fell short of giving straightforward answers to questions about how exactly they went good run the country.
Vice President Harris began the debate by punting the first question on the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MUIR, ABC NEWS MODERATOR: Do you believe Americans are better off than they were four years ago?
HARRIS: So I was raised as a middle-class kid and I am actually the only person on the stage who has a plan that is about lifting up the middle class and working people of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: It went on from there. Despite the economy being the number one issue facing the country, the sitting vice president generally reverted to talking points about a few of her policy proposals, even Harris allies today are saying that she needs to talk more about what she will do for Americans if elected.
Senator Bernie Sanders will be here in a second to talk about more about the need for her to fill in some of those blanks.
On the border, another vulnerable issue for Harris, she also dodged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUIR: Would you have done anything differently from President Biden on this?
HARRIS: So I'm the only person on this stage who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs and human beings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: OK. That wasn't the question.
When asked how she would break through the Israel-Hamas war stalemate, Harris said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: We need a ceasefire deal and we need the hostages out. And so we will continue to work around the clock on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Okay. But again, how?
Trump, meanwhile, was also busy not answering big questions. His non- answers were, in many ways, revealing in different ways. He would not say whether or not he veto a national abortion ban.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm not in favor of abortion ban, but it doesn't matter because this issue has now been taken over by the states.
LINSEY DAVIS, ABC NEWS MODERATOR: Would you veto a national abortion ban if it came to your desk?
TRUMP: Well, I won't have to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: He never gave a yes or no on that. And Mr. Trump would also not say that Ukraine winning the war against Russia would be in America's best interest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think it's a U.S. best interest to get this war finished and just get it done.
MUIR: All right.
TRUMP: Negotiate a deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: As he runs for a second term, he did not stand by his recent seeming admission that he lost the 2020 election by a whisker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUIR: Are you now acknowledging that you lost in 2020?
TRUMP: No, I don't acknowledge that at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Mr. Trump did not take any opportunity to -- take the opportunity to express any remorse for any of his own actions or inactions during the January 6 attack, which, of course, resulted in injuries and the deaths of multiple individuals, including police officers after the attack, defending the Capitol.
[16:05:12]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUIR: Is there anything you regret about what you did on that day? Yes or no.
TRUMP: I had nothing to do with that other than they asked me to make a speech.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: The notion that Mr. Trump had nothing to do with the disaster of January 6 is so obviously false. It is rather stunning.
And while none of those were shining moment for the former president, let us turn back to that one unmistakable reason why Trump's debate performance was so shall we say, wanting? Understand that Trump has siloed himself off into an unhealthy media ecosystem. Now, many politicians and many Americans do this. They limit their intake of information to that which comports with their preexisting beliefs and narratives.
It's a booming business. Websites, cable channels that generally only interview folks from one party or the other with anchors openly rooting for one candidate or the other. But we saw last night with Mr. Trump, however, is something far more nefarious. Its evidence of someone not just stuck in an information silo, but a misinformation silo.
The most notorious evidence of that last night came with this outrageous and more than a little bit racist lie about Haitians in one town in Ohio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating -- they're eating the pets of the people that live there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: This must be the craziest subject to ever rear its head in American presidential debate. Trump latched onto this dark corners of the Internet claim with zero supporting evidence. Springfield City officials tell CNN there have been no credible reports of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by people within the immigrant community.
Conservative commentator Erick Erickson noted, quote, the liars on the right think got Trump to regurgitate their lie. He could have focused on the actual problems in Springfield, but ran with the lie from the idiots on social media, unquote.
Trump is actually traveling with some of these folks, conspiracy peddlers. We should note, a veritable legion of doom of bigots and liars, perhaps none so depraved as this woman, Laura Loomer, he or she is, getting off of Trump's plane before yesterday's debate. Just on Sunday, she posted an insanely -- insanely racist message that if Harris, whose mom was an Indian immigrant, wins, quote, the White House will smells like curry and White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center, unquote.
On this 23rd anniversary of 911, we should also note, Loomer posted last year that 9/11 was a, quote, inside job, unquote.
Trump continues to bring this person along on his travels with him. Why? I don't know. But we should note it's not just Loomer who is in Trump's circle embracing this migrants are eating your cats meme. It was also pushed by Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.
And other lawmakers who frankly often seem more motivated by a desire for clicks and owning the libs on social media instead of facts and truth. Vance has acknowledged the possibility, quote, but all these rumors will turn out to be false, unquote. But nonetheless, he urged his supporters to, quote, keep they cat memes flowing, so as to not, quote, let the cry babies in the media dissuade you fellow patriots.
Vance told CNN's Kaitlan Collins last night the falsehoods are necessary in order to shame the media into covering these issues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The people on the ground dealing with this, think that it is happening. And I think that its important for journalists to actually get on the ground and uncover this stuff for themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Wild stuff, lies from a senator, lies with a higher purpose.
Now, the misinformation silo may be why Trump mostly bypassed all these issues or he could've scored real points against Vice President Harris -- inflation, the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, serious actual issues related to the immigration crisis.
Trump instead sounded like a 4Chan post come to life, which is great if you're going after voters who want a focus on conspiracy theories and unhinged lies. But if you're trying to win a debate and an election, it's for the dogs.
Let's dive into all this with my panel.
Kate, today, several Democrats are expressing concerns about how tight this race still is. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): This race is going to come down to just a few thousand votes probably. Everybody is all hands on deck. Everybody is. We have a campaign that is not taking any vote for granted.
SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): I'm very concerned and I tell people all the time, you know, somebody asked me in Chicago, what you learned from 2016? And I said, you can't win by little. You got to win by a lot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Winning the debate is not winning an election.
KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, absolutely. And there's no question the race is very, very close. I mean, if you look at where things stand in the battleground, states that are ultimately going to decide the election. This is a coin toss race, and I think Democrats are smart to keep that in mind.
It can be easy sometimes in the wake of a night last night where there's no question that VP Harris turned in a terrific performance and really, I think ate away at some of Trump's perceived strength in this race, particularly by making him seem weak and defensive and constantly engaging on her terms.
[16:10:07]
So I thought she did a terrific service for herself in her candidacy last night, but it is important to not lose sight of the fact that winning a debate is not winning the election. But I do think what she did really effectively was put the contrast on display. I mean, you had Donald Trump shouting about migrants eating dogs rather than talking about issues that are -- that matter to people in these swing states.
And I thought she came across as confident, calm, effective, and, you know, if you're a person who's deciding who is the person with the temperament that I want to put in the Oval Office, I think the question last night was pretty clear. TAPPER: Ramesh, do you think we'll see another debate? And if you were
advising Trump, would you tell him that he should do another debate?
RAMESH PONNURU, EDITOR, NATIONAL REVIEW: If I were advising Trump, which is a very hard thing to imagine, I think I would ask for a do- over if only because even if it's another bad debate, at least each one is less important if you have more than one.
TAPPER: Just water it down.
PONNURU: Yes. Right.
Now, but the problem is -- the problem with the Trump who was on display last night was the same Trump we always see really is that he doesn't have any self-control. He doesn't have any self-discipline. That's one of the reasons so many Americans have decided he's not fit for office. And that was what he was just displaying.
TAPPER: And, Jamie, we have a new indication of how well Harris's team thinks that debate went. The new Kamala HQ Twitter account posted: Our newest ad just dropped and then does still link to the entire debate on top of that.
You point to some of the body language moment starting with the handshake. Vice President Harris went right over to Donald Trump the same way, by the way, Ronald Reagan did with Jimmy Carter in 1980, kind of like, I'm here. What's going on, buddy?
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORERSPONDENT: Right. She took control of the situation immediately with that. I just want to say that social media account, they know what they're doing. They're using humor over and over again. Donald Trump is not known for having a great sense of humor, especially about himself.
But -- but just to talk about what she did last night, the handshake, those faces, the smile, the slow head shake, which my husband says, I'm guilty of doing from time to time. But that was a political strategy by the campaign going into last night.
We keep talking about the debate and the substance. And you talked about the lack of policy. But we also keep using the word "performance".
TAPPER: Yeah.
GANGEL: And Donald Trump knows from his perspective, it is a performance art, and they met him there. We saw him destroy 16 Republicans on the debate stage in 2016. Last night, he met his match.
TAPPER: Yeah.
GANGEL: She really took him on and all of those little things, the smiles, it makes a difference.
TAPPER: No, they telegraphed, Ron, that ahead of time --
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah.
TAPPER: -- that she was going to try to bait him into nonsense and you saw there was some -- she gave an answer on health care and she kind of just for whatever re -- well, what we know the reason she mentioned John McCain doing the thumbs down. She even did the thumbs down -- sorry, there it is -- when he destroyed his -- Trump's attempt to get rid of Obamacare, repeal Obamacare.
There's no reason to mention that except to get under his skin. And if you look back, I want to show you a little montage we created, just for you, Ron.
BROWNSTEIN: Sure.
(LAUGHTER)
TAPPER: Of some -- of some of the chums that she threw into the water. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: People start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.
Well, I think this is so rich, coming from someone who has been prosecuted.
Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people.
Clearly, he is having a very difficult time processing that.
World leaders are laughing at Donald Trump.
I have talked with military leaders, some of whom work with you, and they say you're a disgrace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: I mean, she's even using with disgrace there, some of the language he uses and it's just -- it's just, he took every -- he took every bite.
BROWNSTEIN: We were talking about chum, have this image in my head of Roy Scheider, we're going to need a bigger boat, you know? And Trump is the shark.
Look, one of the biggest problems Democrats have faced in this race is that the retrospective job approval of Trump has been improving, right? I mean, people say they approve of his performance as president at a rate that is higher than his actual approval was at any point during his presidency.
And I think experts believe that's largely because they are viewing him primarily through the lens of inflation, like things don't cost -- things didn't cost as much when he was president. But when he was president, despite all of that economic satisfaction, his approval rating never reached 50 percent.
And last night, Kamala Harris, with a lot of help from Donald Trump, reminded 78 million people watching why that was so. I mean, he -- he displayed all of the behavior, the dismissiveness, the divisiveness, the tendency to go down these right-wing rabbit holes.
[16:15:02]
He's talking about immigrants eating pets that cause people when he was president to question whether he was fit for the job, even though they were basically satisfied with the way the economy was going.
And that doesn't eliminate all the problems. You still have a lot of discontent about the economy, as you noted. The one blind spot on a performance where she probably did not do enough to show voters how she would make their life better in a second term.
But she, with a big assist from Trump, certainly reminded them of why they would be hesitant about putting him back in the Oval Office.
TAPPER: And then last night, Taylor Swift endorsed the Harris presidential campaign just minutes after the debate ended, posting a picture of her with her cat Benjamin Button, I'm told. And writing: I'm voting for Kamala Harris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior here to champion them. She signed her post from a childless cat lady, a nod to J.D. Vance's description of Democrats as childless cat ladies.
Does it actually matter that Taylor's -- I mean, she's huge. And if my daughter is watching, I know she's the greatest person that's ever lived, Taylor Swift, second only to your mother. But does it actually matter?
BEDINGFIELD: I mean, look, as a bona fide Swifty, I may not be the most objective on this question, but I think most celebrity endorsements don't matter all that much to be totally candid. I do think hers matters for two reasons. One, she has an incredibly large and incredibly loyal following. I mean, the people who love her, care about her, follow her on Twitter.
I mean, look at -- look at what happened to the NFL over the last year when Taylor Swift started showing up a game. Suddenly, women were watching NFL games. Suddenly, like Chiefs games were appointment viewing. So she has shown an ability to influence people's behavior. So I think that matters.
And then secondly, I think the fact that she signed the post "childless cat lady" also she is first of all, show she connects, knows how to connect with young people, but also shows how completely this war on women that Vance and Trump are prosecuting has seeped into the culture.
BROWNSTEIN: You know, long time ago, I wrote a book which was a history of the relationship between Hollywood and politics.
TAPPER: Yeah, it was great. BROWNSTEIN: Going back to the '20s and I think my conclusion was the main thing, celebrity endorsements can do for you is they widen the bandwidth of your communication. I mean, they reach people who are probably not watching the debate, who, I'm sorry to say, probably not watching us right now.
There are a lot of people who are -- the one thing they are going to know about this campaign is that Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris.
TAPPER: Do you think it matters?
PONNURU: Race is not always to the swift.
TAPPER: Thanks one and all. Appreciate it.
So with five -- so with 55 days until the election, what will it take to move the needle in the race? My next guest should know. He's been reelected 15 times. Congressman Jim Clyburn is here with his advice for Kamala Harris.
Plus, what Republicans in Congress are saying about Donald Trump and his fight in the 2024 race.
And the outer bands of Hurricane Francine is hitting Louisiana right now. CNN has a team on the ground. We're going to take you there, coming up.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:21:45]
TAPPER: As the dust settles on the debate, we want to check in with a key voice in the Democratic Party, Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina.
Thanks so much for joining us, sir.
One thing we continue to hear from Democrats, supporters of Vice President Harris, is that she still needs to fill in some of the blanks more. Let people know where she stands on specific policies and how her policies will affect them.
Do you agree?
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Well, thank you very much for having me.
What I do think is that she needs to do if I were advising her, (INAUDIBLE) meeting, but I think it's good for her to be out among people, responding to their questions and their sentiments.
I think that just to say have one-on-one discussions with people in the media will not necessarily connect with the voters. I want to see her connecting with voters, responding to their dreams and their aspiration, listening to their questions, and then find -- find solution because, you know, if you go on these one-on-one, sometimes, you build out into question until there's a word that's uttered that can be used in a negative way.
I just would like to see her out among the people, interacting with them in a town hall type setting.
TAPPER: Interesting, okay. Well, you just heard that Vice President Harris and CNN here would love to do some town halls with you, help you meet some of the voters out there, especially in the battleground states.
One key point, Congressman Clyburn, of distinction between the two candidates last night was on the topic of abortion. Let me play a little that from that section of the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Every legal scholar, every Democrat, every Republican, liberal, conservative, they all wanted this issue to be brought back to the states.
I did a great service in doing it. It took courage to do it.
HARRIS: You want to talk about this is what people wanted -- pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because their health care providers are afraid they might go to jail and she's bleeding out in a car the parking lot. She didn't want that. Her husband didn't want that.
A 12 or 13-year-old survivor of incest being forced to carry a pregnancy to term. They don't want that.
What you are putting her through is unconscionable.
It's insulting to the women of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: How do you think that played out last night, and do you think that's effective, especially in battleground states? For example, in Georgia, to your south or in North Carolina to your north, given that your home state is not really a battleground?
CLYBURN: That's right. It plays out very well I think.
I do believe that (AUDIO GAP) individual freedoms. It's so interesting to me that my Republican friends always talking about freedom this and freedom that.
[16:25:01]
Still, they want to get into people's medical rooms. They want to get into people's bedrooms. They want to see eliminate freedoms on the most personal basis that it can be there. And so I think she was very effective at that response last night. To
me, it may have been the highlight of the evening as a father of three daughters.
TAPPER: There was also an interesting moment when Dana Bash asked Vice President Harris about Trump questioning her racial identity during that interview about 11 days ago, Vice President Harris just said it the same old stuff, move on, let's move on. But last night, she talked about Trump's racial history at length, including calling for the execution of the since exonerated Central Park Five, birtherism against Obama.
I don't know if that is a suggestion that Kamala Harris still needs to improve her standing with Black voters, especially Black men. What do you think?
CLYBURN: Well, I think it was important for her to do that last night, because I think in all three of those instances that Black men were involved. I have a real difficulty trying to figure out why any Black man would just ignore the way he treated the first African-American president of these United States, the way he treated the five young men of color, the way he treated Black families, find homes in New York.
With that kind of a treatment, how can you vote for this guy? I don't understand anybody that tells me that they can ignore that sort of thing. And when he referred to a Black woman that worked with him as a dog on national television, what Black man doesn't have a sister or an aunt or a cousin? And what -- to see a woman of color treated that way.
I'm having real difficulty with any African American man that tells me he can ignore that kind of disgusting comment from Donald Trump and still vote for him. I obviously in South Carolina, we always say the best way to tell what a person will do is look at what he or she has done. And when you look at what Donald Trump has done, what he has said, the way he treats women, the way he insults men, how can you vote for this guy?
But there's something about that because I've seen what he said about some of his competitors about their wives, and about them. And they just ignore it. They're like it never happened. I don't understand that.
If you talked about my life or significant other that way, buddy, I won't be ignoring you.
TAPPER: A message there for Senator Ted Cruz, perhaps.
Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn, thank you so much for your time today. Always good to have you on, sir.
Coming up next, the Republicans' reaction to that Donald Trump's debate performance. How are those conspiracy theories about cats and dogs being eaten in Ohio going over? We're going to go there next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the Pentagon, marking the 23rd the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at the Pentagon. That's a wreath laying ceremony, this moment, 23 years ago for us when the clear blue skies for forever marked by acts of terror. It killed nearly 3,000 innocent Americans.
But it also was a time, of course, thousands of loved ones left grieving, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands really. Our country was united in grief at times, speaking the names of those lost to keep them alive in our memory.
So, right now, the president, the vice president there at the Pentagon paying specific respects to the 64 individuals killed on the plane by al Qaeda that day and 125 who were at work at the Pentagon that day, devoted to protecting our country.
[16:30:10]
Let's listen in for a minute.
(WREATH LAYING CEREMONY)
TAPPER: Let's bring in CNN's Kayla Tausche who is at the White House now.
Kayla, President Biden made it a point this year to attend all three major 9/11 memorial ceremonies in New York City, just now at the Pentagon in Arlington, and also earlier and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jake. The president and the vice president making their way back to D.C. after visiting those sites in New York City and Shanksville. In Shanksville, President Biden told a crowd there that it was important to return to the bipartisan unity that the country experienced in the aftermath of 9/11.
And there was an interesting exchange with the Trump supporter where the two exchanged hats in that moment where Biden was seen chuckling. It's a temporary truce in this political back and forth in this highly charged election season, Jake. Of course, Vice President Harris, President Biden, and former President Donald Trump, all at the World Trade Center site this morning somberly remembering those lives lost during that terrorist attack, 23 years ago.
And just last night from his hotel room in New York City, on the eve of those commemorative events, President Biden watch the debate and watch that commanding presence that Vice President Harris delivered an a senior adviser tells me that Biden, in that moment, felt that it was yet another validating moment in his decision to step down from the race, Jake.
But, of course, that means that this is his final 911 that he will be commemorating as president of the United States, Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Kayla Tausche at the White House on this solemn day of commemoration. Thank you so much.
Onto another tragedy, thousands of those who were the most vulnerable taken too soon years of grief and still no closure for families wanting to know why. On Tuesday, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic demanded to know what was behind the deadly decision for New York state nursing homes from then Governor Andrew Cuomo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. BRAD WENSTRUP (R-OH): Governor, you own this. It's your name on the letterhead. This is your directive, whether you knew about it or not.
REP. RAUL RUIZ (D-CA): Many families are still looking for answers.
TAPPER (voice-over): Both Republicans and Democrats are demanding answers.
REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): Look them in the eye and apologize what you have failed to do.
TAPPER: Grasping for a reason why New York nursing homes were forced to admit those who had coronavirus in 2020.
ANDREW CUOMO (D), FORMER NEW YORK GOVERNOR: I am sorry for your loss and I believe you are owed and an apology because this country should have done better.
TAPPER: The hearing focusing on this March 2020 New York State Health Department advisory. Quote: No resident shall be denied readmission or admission to the nursing home solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.
Two months after that, Cuomo started facing tough questions about this order at his daily coronavirus briefings.
CUOMO: I think the rule that you can't discriminate against the COVID patient is right.
TAPPER: Congress now questioning Cuomo, not just on that policy, but how reporting resident deaths changed.
RUIZ: Initially, the nursing home fatality data included deaths both in facility and out of facility. However, in early May 2020, this reporting changed to only in facility deaths.
Was this change your decision?
CUOMO: No, sir.
RUIZ: Whose decision was it?
CUOMO: I don't know.
TAPPER: An answer lawmakers found lacking. WENSTRUP: It is scientifically significant to know where how and why
someone contracted COVID-19 and died.
TAPPER: And making their frustrations clear.
STEFANIK: It is a disgrace you will never hold elected office again.
TAPPER: But for Governor Cuomo, the buck stopped somewhere else.
CUOMO: This was a national issue with the president said, I take no responsibility, I leave it to the states.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER (on camera): Finding few answers from Governor Cuomo, the committee hit his successor, Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, with a subpoena for her communications back in 2020, looking for anything related to how the state reported these many deaths.
Let's bring in Republican Congressman Brad Wenstrup of Ohio. He's a doctor and chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Congressman, your subcommittee spent hours talking to Governor Cuomo, but both you and other lawmakers acknowledged Cuomo's answers were not as direct or substantive as you wanted. What do you -- what do you say to families left disappointed because of the hearing yesterday?
WENSTRUP: Yeah. I've gotten mixed reactions from the families as you might imagine. Their pleas that something is being done because the state of New York is not looking into it and they're happy that at least Congress is taking a look at it.
I say to them, I apologize. You know, look, you just talked about 9/11, unifying us as a nation due to the deaths that happened to so many people. To me, that's what this -- the pandemic was about. And this is an American issue, but an problem is, we're into this, this particular state where a directive was ordered that many would argue was malpractice and it does go against CDC guidelines in spite of the government -- the governor saying that they had the option to adhere to CDC guidelines.
He's shown no remorse and he's blaming other people. You know, we are looking at what happened regardless of administration, regardless of state, and what even was going on globally. That's what we're about. And he had the chance to maybe say, I'm sorry, this directive should not have happened.
But no, he said I had nothing to do with it, yet he reverses that later. And right before the hearing, opening statements are usually three to five pages. He gives us almost 300 pages. He prepared for a trial when we were just trying to get to facts and we're still trying to get the facts and we have more people that want to come and talk to us.
It's really a shame. Ive never seen anyone in leadership or had the opportunity to lead. You know, normally in the military as leaders eat last, I didn't see that with this governor. He was getting testing for him and his family while he prohibited testing of patients that were being admitted or readmitted to the nursing homes where the most vulnerable people were and he blames the nursing homes.
TAPPER: Let's turn to the debate last night. Most viewers seem to believe that Vice President Harris beat Donald Trump, did a much better job than him.
Are you worried about how the debate last night might impact the race?
WENSTRUP: Well, you know, these are -- these races, that this is up to each one of the candidates there. And I would tell you, that's not how I would debate. I've had many debates and myself and it doesn't usually get conducted in the way that that one was.
We'll see. Only time will tell and time is running out for both candidates.
TAPPER: Congressman Brad Wenstrup of Ohio.
By the way, before you go, do you know anything about people in Ohio migrants eating cats or dogs as President Trump asserted? Because we've looked into it and local officials can't find any actual critical -- credible examples of that.
WENSTRUMP: No, I can't say that I looked into it, and I don't -- I don't know anything about it, to be honest with you. Sorry.
TAPPER: All right. Congressman, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.
WENSTRUP: Thanks.
TAPPER: We should note, we have invited former Governor Andrew Cuomo to appear here on THE LEAD. We have yet to hear back. There's an open invitation for her to -- him to come and explain his nursing home order and any number of other things.
Even after last night's intense debate, a moment of civility today between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, a handshake at a 9/11 ceremony in New York. My next guest is on a mission to save the lives of first responders who survived the attack and were in the rubble cleaning up. That's next.
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[16:43:15]
TAPPER: As our nation marks 23 years since those horrific September 11th attacks, New York has passed a grim milestone. More members of the New York City fire department have died from illnesses linked to the attack than those who were killed on 9/11 itself.
My next guest has spent a significant part of her career working on legislation to protect those first responders who survived the attacks.
Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York joins us now.
Senator, your reaction to this number, that more New York firefighters have died from 9/11-related illnesses that actually died in this -- in the skyscrapers that day.
SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): Well, it's pretty shocking. But as we know, the toxins that were emitted when the towers collapsed were so corrosive, to health. I mean, lung cancers, brain cancers, stomach cancers, and these men and women who were the ones to race up the towers when everybody else was coming down deserve the health care, they need to survive and they deserve the compensation when they do lose their lives.
And so, we've been fighting over the last 20 years to make sure that they have the resources they need to get the health care that they need and we're still fighting. We have about $3 billion left to get because of the rate of inflation for health care costs has been higher than the rate of inflation for anything else. And so, our formula was flawed until we need to get more resources.
TAPPER: It's so wild that it has to be a fight. You know, I mean, because after 911 everybody was talking about how great our first responders are the policemen, and the policewomen and the firefighters who ran up the towers that day. And then when it comes time for it, so many members of Congress don't want to spend the money.
Why? Why don't they?
GILLIBRAND: Well, I'm optimistic that we can get that unity back to pass this again. We've been able to pass it unanimously the last three times we passed funding for this.
[16:45:01]
And so I'm optimistic that we can get that bipartisan, bicameral support again.
You just have to remind people, not everybody was in public service on 9/11. Not everybody was really cognizant of the sacrifices that were made by our first responders and the community that live there. And so, I just need time with them and we also have our first responders who come to the Hill to tell their stories.
And that gets sadder and sadder because they die.
TAPPER: Some of them died -- yeah.
GILLIBRAND: Having been here many times because they first come on their own volition, then they come with a walker, then they come in a wheelchair, then they come with an oxygen tank, and then they're not there and it's just heartbreaking to watch their struggle just to get the basic care that they need.
TAPPER: And you have this bipartisan bill, the 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act, that that will correct the $3 billion from that the health --
GILLIBRAND: Yeah, it will be the -- the formula that was -- didn't really reflect the cost of inflation for health care costs.
TAPPER: I want to ask you because PGA Tour officials have been meeting in New York this week with representatives from Saudi Arabia's public investment fund over this potential $1 billion deal for PGA in Saudi Arabia and the -- you know, the merger with LIV Golf, the timing has the garnered a lot of criticism from 9/11 families.
The group 9/11 Justice responded yesterday saying in part: It's disgusting, unacceptable, and incredibly painful that the tour would do this especially now -- meaning, having these meetings this week. What do you make of it?
GILLIBRAND: Well, it is hard -- it's very hard for these 9/11 families because they want justice. More and more evidence has come out that mid-level, even senior level people at the embassy, the Saudi embassy were involved in helping the 9/11 attackers in organizing their flying lessons, in organizing their lives in Los Angeles.
And I think there needs to be reconciliation and there needs to be a gesture from the Saudi government to these families to have some reconciliation, because whether the current royal family and the current leaders had anything to do with it is really beside the point if there were people within the Saudi government who were part of the 9/11 attack. There has to be some kind of compensation and some kind of healing before any other serious thing, serious agreement with Saudi Arabia.
And I think the reason why the LIV Golf is under, you know, the skin of these families is it just seems like people have not recognized that this is still a very serious, hurtful, and painful issue for so many Americans.
TAPPER: Yeah, I want to ask you about the debate last night because Vice President Harris, by almost all accounts at a very good performance, I am still hearing from other Democrats that they really want to see her do a little bit more in terms of filling out some of the blanks in terms of what she will do policy-wise for people.
We just had Congressman Clyburn on talking about -- he wants to see her doing town halls, meeting with voters. It's not just enough to sit down with a reporter here and there, although I think she's only done one interview with Dana Bash, but still, do you agree that she -- does she still needs to do a lot more?
GILLIBRAND: No, I think she's doing a great job and I think she kicked his butt last night and I thought her energy, her discipline, her ability to bait him was simple, like she just kept putting it out there and he kept just eating it up. It was shocking.
And I thought she was able to really show her passion on a number of the issues that you talked about. I thought her dialogue on reproductive rights was extremely not only persuasive, but heartfelt. She was talking about what women in America wants. And she talked about a family who is trying to have a child, and then they have a miscarriage and they can't actually get a DNC and save her life, but she has to bleed out in a parking lot before any doctor can see her because they're so afraid of being incarcerated.
Those real life stories -- I thought she was able to convey and we know what kind of President Kamala Harris is going to be.
She's going to be a fighter. She's going to fight for middle class families. She's going to fight for good jobs, education, health care -- all the things that Democratic Party stands for.
She's very clear about what she would sign into law. And as we know what the Biden administration, what it takes to pass meaningful legislation, she has to work with Congress. You have to make sure you're reaching across the party lines to build unity. And that's all the things she's committed to doing.
So I think she's going to help the American people in the way they need most. I think she's going to put people first. She's going to put their lives and their families first and I think she'll be a great president.
I don't think she needs a detailed policy analysis on 17 different issues. I think the American people just want to know that she's going to fight for them and their kids and their opportunities in the future. And I think she's done that very well.
TAPPER: New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, thank you so much on this 9/11 commemoration. It's nice to have you here. I appreciate it.
GILLIBRAND: Nice to be here.
TAPPER: As if there's not enough already going on, we're standing by for an update on Hurricane Francine, the eye of the category one storm is about to make landfall along the Louisiana coast. And CNN has a team in its track. We're going to check in with them, next.
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TAPPER: Right now, Louisiana is bracing for impact from Hurricane Francine. Derek Van Dam is there.
Derek, tell us what you're seeing?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Jake, yeah. We're in Morgan City, Louisiana. And what you're looking at behind me is the northern edge of the eyewall, the strongest part of Hurricane Francine coming ashore, making landfall here in the coming hour or so.
There have been tropical storm force gusts that have impacted us here, but we anticipate these conditions to just go downhill from here because we know that some of the readings just offshore from here have clocked in upwards of 90 miles per hour that is coming to this location right now. Every time we get one of these stronger gusts of wind and pelt our face, it feels like the backwash of a jet engine as it stings every little exposed part of my body.
[16:55:09]
Now, this storm is coming at a northeasterly trajectory. And so, what this means is that the current path with the latest computer models and information that we have available to us has this eastern eyewall where were being impacted by, also impacting New Orleans.
City officials there have canceled flights in and out of New Orleans International Airport all day today and you can see exactly why because this is coming towards them. I'm under a flash flood warning, a hurricane warning and a tornado watch right now where I'm standing and we're keeping posted here through the duration of the storm, Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Derek Van Dam in Morgan City, Louisiana, thanks so much. We're going to keep close watch on that hurricane as it moves in.
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TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.
