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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Interview With Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ); New "DEI Hire" Attack Against Harris; Clip Resurfaces Of Republican VP Nominee J.D. Vance Attacking VP Harris For Being "Childless"; As VP Harris Moves To Secure The Democratic Nomination, Misinformation Follows Online; Conspiracy Theories Emerge Surrounding Assassination Attempt Against Trump; New Body Camera Video Shows Officers On Roof In The Immediate Aftermath Of The Trump Rally Shooting; Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris' Husband, Could Become Nation's First Gentleman If She Wins Nov. Election. 8-9p ET

Aired July 23, 2024 - 20:00   ET

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

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Davis did say that there was a man sitting by the window in the row in front of him that did corroborate what he said happened, so that he didn't hit him, he said, of course not. But what the Davis family really wants here, Erin, is for there to be accountability and for there to be some process to make this safer for flyers because, after all not everyone, as he says has the same platform as Terrell Davis, and maybe doesn't have two Super Bowl rings to his name and in which case can make the case and get the resource so it doesn't happen again to anybody else -- Erin.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: All right Stephanie, thank you.

ELAM: Thanks.

BURNETT: And thanks so much as always to all of you for being with us as well. See you back here tomorrow.

AC360 starts now.

[20:00:35]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Tonight on 360, Kamala Harris all but locks up the Democratic nomination and hits the road. What her first campaign day looked like, what new polling shows, and how the former president has started reshaping his campaign with his new opponent in mind.

Also tonight, another Republican lawmaker using racially loaded language to describe the vice president. Senator Cory Booker, joins us to talk about that. And later as the Secret Service director resigns, new details emerge about just how much time the former president's would-be assassin had after being spotted by a local police officer to start firing.

Good evening. Thanks for joining us.

It took barely more than a day for the Democratic Party to make Kamala Harris their presumptive nominee for president. In fact, by the time the top House and Senate Democrats endorsed her, enough Biden delegates had pledged their support to put her over the top.

As some pundits expected, it might take until tomorrow or perhaps all week is now done, leaving vice President Harris free to build on that momentum if she can, in her first day on the campaign trail in the swing state of Wisconsin.

Speaking in Milwaukee, she touched on many of the themes she previewed last night at campaign headquarters in Delaware including her line about having seen Donald Trump's type before back when she was a prosecutor.

Again today, she went at Trump head-on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He and his extreme Project 2024 agenda will weaken the middle class, like we know we've got to take this seriously. I can't believe they put that thing in writing. When you read it, you will see Donald Trump intends to cut Social Security and Medicare.

(BOOING)

HARRIS: He intends to give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and make working families foot the bill. America has tried these failed economic policies before, but we are not going back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: To that, new polling done in the last two days shows her with a two-percentage point lead among registered voters nationwide. That is within the poll's margin of error, meaning there's no clear leader.

A top Trump campaign pollster today said he expects, she will soon be gaining ground or even out ahead due to what he calls the Harris honeymoon. As for his boss, the former president, he phoned into a reporters' conference call today and launched several attacks, including this factually challenged one.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER US PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As a result of her dangerously extreme immigration policies, the largest invasion in history is now taking place at our southern border. And it's getting worse, not better.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, keeping them honest, it is getting better, not worse according to Customs and Border Protection. The number of people entering the country illegally has fallen by 25 percent since the White House announced asylum restrictions early last month.

Also, like them or not, they are President Biden's border policies, not actually Kamala Harris', she's not the administration's border czar, as the former president also claimed on and call today.

In 2021, she was charged with leading diplomatic efforts to address the root causes of migration from Central America to the US.

Additionally, as we and others reported at the time, bipartisan border legislation negotiated with one of the Senate's most conservative members failed earlier this year at the former president's behest because he wanted to deny President Biden any election year victory, particularly on immigration.

The former president also talked about his vice president pick on Tuesday's call saying, he'd still have chosen Senator JD Vance, had he known he'd be running against Vice President Harris, quoting him now, "I'd do the same pick. He's doing really well. He has really caught on."

Speaking of Senator Vance, this clip of him surfaced recently is getting a lot of attention today. It's from an interview he did with Tucker Carlson back in 2021.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JD VANCE (R-OH): We are effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.

And it's just a basic fact, if you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: For the record, Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten now have two children. Additionally, Vice President Harris has two stepchildren, Donald Trump has had five children with three wives. George Washington had no children, but did help Martha Washington's two from her previous marriage.

As for President Biden, he had four children, sadly buried two. He will speak tomorrow night at 8:00 from the White House about his decision to bow out of the race.

CNN's Eva McKend was at today's first Harris rally, joins us now from Milwaukee. So, what more did the vice president have to say?

[20:05:12]

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, she told voters that the path to the White House goes through Wisconsin, really indicating that she is going to prioritize the state. She also took time to thank President Joe Biden for what she characterized as his legacy of accomplishment.

But she really wants to frame this contest in very specific terms, her, as the former prosecutor, going up against former President Donald Trump, a convicted felon. She argues that Trump represents the past and she represents the future. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law? Or a country of chaos, fear, and hate?

And in this campaign, I promise you, I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: But her pitch to voters wasn't only about Trump. She also talked about how a defining goal of hers for a Harris presidency would really be focusing on building up the middle class -- Anderson.

COOPER: Any more focus on who the main contenders are for the VP slot?

MCKEND: Well, we're learning from our colleague, Jeff Zeleny that Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Governor Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly that they were all asked to submit personal information to the Democratic lawyers involved in this vetting process for Harris' future running mate.

But we know that Harris is considering a list of 10 total names, but at least those three have been the asked to submit this vital information that they of course, will comb through before she ultimately makes her decision.

COOPER: Eva McKend, thanks so much.

Perspective now from Democratic strategist James Carville, also former Trump White House communications director, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Robby Mook, who served as campaign manager for Hillary Clinton.

James, you warned against Democrats anointing Vice President Harris as the nominee. You talked about wanting to see town halls all over the country with multiple candidates. That's clearly not going to happen. Are you okay with what's happening?

JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: A hundred percent and people have coalesced around the vice president and I am with her a hundred percent.

You know, two weeks ago, it might have been a different environment. As Harold Wilson said, in politics, a week is a year. So, that was two years ago. But I am totally comfortable. Our delegates already coalesced around her, the donors that there. I think she's doing very well and I'm glad to be a hundred percent behind her.

COOPER: Alyssa, how do you think JD Vance is doing? Do you think President Trump is rethinking that?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think --

COOPER: Particularly when -- because the sheer volume of his old statements against Donald Trump are quite large.

GRIFFIN: There's bit of a twofold problem. There's these past statements that are very recent using critical language of Trump, that even the fiercest Never Trumpers have used against him. There's also, as you played earlier, him saying things that if you play in a suburban swing district to female voters is just radioactive in a general election.

But he's also not really catching steam on the campaign trail. His first event, I mean, statements he made fell flat. There was kind of tepid applause throughout, and I think you're seeing oftentimes when people go to me --

COOPER: Like two people liked his mountain deer jokes.

GRIFFIN: I didn't even get it to be honest. I was like I'm clearly not based enough, but you see if you take something from a junior senator to putting them on the national stage they often fall flat. And now you have a much more competitive race than even just a week ago and JD Vance does not add votes, it is just doubling down on MAGA.

COOPER: Robby, in a "New York Times" op-ed published tonight, Hillary Clinton writes, "I know a thing or two about how hard it can be for strong women candidates to fight through the sexism and double standards of American politics. I've been called a witch, a 'nasty woman' and much worse. I was even burned in effigy."

What lessons from 2016 do you think Harris should apply to this campaign?

ROBBY MOOK, FORMER CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Yes, look, I think female candidates do face certain barriers and among those is, I think they're judged more harshly for appearing too ambitious, or striving too much. And I think they play this incredibly well.

You saw she came out right out the gate and said, I want to earn this nomination, they proved they had the delegates to get the nomination, at which point then she pivoted to being the presumptive nominee.

I think we're going to hear all kinds of sexist tropes. You just heard the cat lady comments coming from JD Vance. And so, those will come, but I think the most important hurdle from her coming out the gate was to show that this -- she wasn't just trying to grab this. She earned it. It's hers.

It's stunning how quickly she assembled the political coalition to get this nomination. And I think Democrats are very united going into this.

[20:10:20]

COOPER: James, who do you think she should pick as her running mate?

CARVILLE: Oh, I don't know -- this sounds so political -- a ton of people and I have every confidence that she's going to make a wise choice to make. I mean there are seven people I could think of where you couldn't go wrong with any of them. So, I think there's a little suspense in there. They are dominating the press now and Trump kind of knows that he is being dominated.

I think Robby -- they are smart enough, and been around long enough to know that, this is a cool turn and she'll have some rougher days ahead, but for right now, damn, what a ride.

COOPER: Robby, just in terms of what issues she may be most vulnerable on. I mean, obviously, immigration is something that's already -- that she's being -- going to be attacked for. There's also this DEI hire, a line that's being used a lot by right-wing talkers on radio and television. A couple of congressmen are now using it as well.

MOOK: Well, it's obviously absurd. I mean, she is just as accomplished as any vice president. And again, I can't emphasize enough and I think James mentioned this earlier. We weren't sure how this was going to go, going into this. We weren't sure how quickly the party would coalesce. There were certainly people demanding that there would be a process and she locked this up instantly. And that wasn't that by twisting arms. I mean, the outpouring has been incredible.

And one of the things I worried about was to be a safe space for Kamala Harris. The safe space for people to express their support for her and it overwhelmingly has. So, I'm confident she can push through these barriers that will be there. It is harder for candidates of color, it is harder for women candidates, but I'm really impressed with what I'm seeing right now. This, for a campaign manager, this is a perfect 48 hours.

COOPER: Alyssa, where do you think she is most vulnerable? I mean, the attack points are pretty clear, right now. There's obviously going to be more developed.

GRIFFIN: I think the Trump campaign is going to frame her as too left for a general election. They're going to hit her on border security and say that the Biden administration dragged their feet for some time. They're going to pull up the fact that during 2020, she said that rioters should be bailed out in the summer of protests and try to frame her as somebody who's maybe soft on protecting law enforcement.

But she is ready for these attacks. The reason she's probably the best candidate Democrats could put up; is we know exactly what the playbook is. And I've said this before and I'll say it again. Trump is going to overplay his hand. He is going to lean too hard into sexist misogynistic and racist attacks and it's going to turn off the very voters you need to win this election. Swing voters do not want to hear the name-calling. They do not want to hear that -- an attorney general, senator, and vice president as a DEI hire who didn't earn her way to being on the ticket.

COOPER: Theres this, the Reuters/IPSOS poll shows no clear leader in the Trump-Harris matchup. There's this campaign pollster for Trump predicting that Harris is going to -- there's the honeymoon for Harris. Do you think that indicates -- I mean, do you think he's just trying to get ahead of -- GRIFFIN: He's setting -- there is some expectation setting here, but I

do think there's a bump here of just people wanted someone other than the two candidates that were on the ticket and somebody who is taking the case to Donald Trump and she has very effectively in the last 72 hours laid out the case, she's got the line, she's the prosecutor going against the perpetrator. Like, the tagline is there, the social media and digital operation has been great.

This has been faster rapid response than we've seen from the Biden campaign this entire election. Even though it's a lot of the same team. So, I do think she's going to get a bump. It's going to be sustaining it for the next three months, while the world has dumped on her and that's where I think a VP who could sustain her and other Democratic surrogates are going to be a priority.

COOPER: Robby, when do you think a VP needs to get selected, until the actual convention?

MOOK: Yes, normally, you do wait until the weekend before. I could see it happening earlier here. The question is the vetting, right? This is practical issue of getting through that vetting. And when I went through this process with Hillary, the number one thing when you're picking a vice president, is it someone you think is qualified? Is it someone you want serving with you, to be a partner with you in being president? And that takes a little time to establish.

So, I think they'd be foolish to rush it. But if they have someone ready to get out the door, I would do it. I would keep the momentum going, keep owning the news cycle.

As James said earlier, these have been some really good days. There's going to be really hard days, but that's a special moment and if you could have that between now and the convention, that would be great.

[20:15:08]

COOPER: Robby, let me just ask you, just in terms of vetting, I mean, I'm not going to ask for any details, but like, do you find stuff on potential people that didn't, i mean, if most -- if they've won, if they're a governor or they're a member or senator, haven't they already kind of been vetted?

MOOK: Well, and she's looking at people like that who definitely have been vetted and certainly from a talent standpoint and a record standpoint, have been vetted. But yes, look, you occasionally find some things, but the names that you mentioned, any of these folks would be top tier and I think it's traditional to have your list of 10. My guess is they're looking at a very shortlist, three or four folks very seriously.

COOPER: Robby Mook, James Carville, Alyssa Farah Griffin, thank you all so much, appreciate it.

Coming up next, more on the racially coded attack line we've been hearing. Another Republican congressman has called Kamala Harris a "DEI hire." We'll talk about that and other things with a New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker.

Later with the Secret Service director stepping down, what a former agent makes of new details revealed today about just how long former President Trump's would-be assassin had to take his shots after he was spotted by a police officer, shockingly longer than we've been led to believe initially. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:20:12]

COOPER: Another Republican lawmaker suggested Vice President Harris got her job because of her race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HARRIET HAGEMAN (R-WY): I think she's one of the weakest candidates I've ever seen in the history of our country. I mean, intellectually, just really kind of the bottom of the barrel. I think she was a DEI hire and I think that that's what we're seeing and I just don't think that they have anybody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That's the Trump-backed Wyoming congresswoman who defeated Liz Cheney and it appears to be a GOP talking point. Here is the Tennessee Republican Congressman who said it yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are you suggesting she's a DEI hire?

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): One hundred percent, she was a DEI hire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: It seems to be the talking point.

Also yesterday, former Trump economic advisor Larry Kudlow said something similar on Fox telling Senator Tommy Tuberville, "Her whole history is DEI."

COOPER: Joining us now is New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker.

Senator, I assume you're not surprised by this line of attack but it is right out of the gate. This is what they're using. What do you make of it?

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): Well, there are calls for unity and bringing our country together clearly didn't last long. It took them 48 hours to get where they are right now. But more than that, I think it's a strategy that's going to backfire.

The majority of Americans, women, know what this feels like to do everything you can to get your credentials, college education, advanced degrees, and no matter what you do, people say you're not enough or that you don't belong in that room.

And so, here's Kamala Harris. One of the most accomplished people ever to run for president of United States. She was a district attorney, elected twice statewide in California, which is bigger than most countries in the world.

She became a senator, served here nobly and ably and distinguished herself. She was a vice president for four years and helped usher in some of the greatest legislative achievements of any kind of White House. And now, there are people that aren't worthy to sit at the same table with her, to really trying to demean and degrade her.

Well, to me, we don't need leadership in this country anymore that demeans and degrades other Americans. Republican, Democrat, or Independent, have your policy disagreements, but to attack people in such a heinous personal way shows more about who you are than who you're talking about.

COOPER: The fact that, I mean, this is the first line of attack. What does that tell you about how nasty potentially this is going to get?

BOOKER: Well, again, it just exposes these Republican leaders who really don't -- I don't think represent the heart of the country Republican base, but it shows really who these people are. And if this is the way they're going to try to inspire and lead this country. And this is really who Donald Trump is. It reflects this kind of Trumpism, which is about taking anybody, even fellow Republicans.

Look at what Donald Trump has done to every woman that has ever challenged him. From women in the media during presidential debates to people like Nikki Haley. He constantly demeans and degrades and belittles and puts people down.

It's time that we as a nation turn this page once and for all and start to support leaders from any party that inspire us to look to the future, that call us to our higher angels of our nature, not to the low quicksand of political demonization. Enough is enough. We need in our country, from both parties, people that are willing to reach across the aisle find common ground and build from there.

COOPER: I want to ask you about something that Senator JD Vance, this is what he said about Vice President Harris at his first official solo campaign rally yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: She talks about the history of this country, not with appreciation, but with condemnation and look, of course, every country, just like every family, certainly mine has its pockmarks, right? Not everything is perfect. It's never going to be.

But you -- if you want to lead this country, you should feel grateful for it. You should feel a sense of gratitude and I never hear that gratitude come through when I listen to Kamala Harris.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: I'm not even sure what that means, but how do you interpret

it? And everyone is nodding their head in the background like they know exactly what he's talking about. Like there's something that she has said. Does it make sense to you?

BOOKER: It doesn't make sense to me. It's absurd.

First of all, I know Kamala Harris, I've served with Kamala Harris. She's a friend. She's in many ways a sole sister, somebody that I have gotten to know really well.

If you want to know about a value that she has, is this sense of gratitude, the sense of thanks, knowing that this is the contrary that could have a woman with a Black father, an Indian immigrant mother.

This is a nation that could elevate someone like this to the vice presidency and soon to the president. So, she loves this nation incredibly. And unlike JD Vance, it seems to want to support things like book banning, and obscuring, or Disney-fying our history.

She thinks we are great, not because we had no challenges or no racism or sexism or anti-immigrant, anti-Italian, anti-Irish history, anti- union history, no. We are great because we overcame that. That every generation knuckled down with grit and overcame our imperfections and made this a more perfect union.

[20:25:21]

The story of America is great because of the challenges we have overcome. She believes in this country the way that John Lewis believed in this country. Though he still talked about him getting beat down on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. She believes in this country because Fannie Lou Hamer believed in this country, participated in the political process and said proudly, "Ain't I a woman, too? Should I be included?"

She believes in this nation the way Martin Luther King believed in this nation. A man that was jailed and imprisoned, but still was willing to dream of better days for everybody. That's who Kamala Harris is, that's the kind of leadership America needs.

Enough of these people that want to divide us against one another. Let's bring us together now, once and for all. And I tell you, she reminds me of this great poem by Maya Angelou, you may try to write be down in history with your bitter, twisted lies. You may try to trot be in the very dirt, but still I rise.

Watch Kamala rise. She's going to rise through these challenges, this negativity, this kind of sinister demonization, and show America that we, all of us can overcome this kind of politics.

COOPER: Senator Cory Booker, thank you for your time.

BOOKER: Thank you, thank you so much for having me.

COOPER: Joining us now from the left and right, respectively, CNN political commentators Ashley Allison and Scott Jennings.

Ashley, when you hear "DEI hire" some of these other things being said about Kamala Harris at this stage in the race, what does that tell you?

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I wish I could say I was surprised, but I'm not. I think most people, particularly people of color, particularly women of color are used to sometimes being put into a box as though me having this platform right now as if I haven't worked very hard to deserve it and earn it and to have a voice here.

I'm not saying that the majority of people think that way, but there are people in this country -- clearly, some elected officials who are saying that. I guess, I would just talk to Americans and not individuals who are calling her a DEI and say, we have an opportunity in this moment to be better than that. To just as much as you deserve to live and thrive in this country, so do I. And that is what the vice president represents.

Now, you don't have to agree with there are policy and how we get to a point to live and thrive, but you should see her humanity. You should see her hard work. You should see that in your neighbors and we will see it in you. But until we have leaders that are willing to actually lead like that, I'm worried that our country continues to just be more divided, more insulting of each other and we have a moment to be better and I just hope we do it.

COOPER: Scott, before she was vice president, she was a prosecutor in San Francisco, the attorney general of California, US senator. Is that the resume of a DEI hire, whatever even that means?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, look, I believe Kamala Harris is qualified to be the president. She has been the vice president. She was an elected official in California. She served in the United States Senate. So, I believe she's qualified. I do think some of this though, dates back to Joe Biden himself.

I mean, remember, when he was picking a vice president back in 2020, if he didn't promise he heavily implied publicly that his principal criteria for choosing a running mate were gender and then race, and he got a lot of pressure from Democrats to do that. And I think he unfairly stuck her with that when he went through his process because she is qualified.

I think the correct way for Republicans to go after this candidacy though, is to set all this aside and focus on what she said. She said crazy things during her 2020 short-lived campaign for president. Her record is standing with Joe Biden during an administration that has a mid-30s approval rating. You don't have to go down this road. You can say someone is qualified and you can also say, and the reason she was chosen, really, is because she was a super liberal who has crazy liberal ideas that have led the country off into the ditch. That's the right way to politically attack it.

COOPER: The fact though that they are choosing to go down this route, though, and right away and JD Vance, when he says that Kamala Harris hasn't shown gratitude to America, I mean, not only is that a ridiculously broad allegation, but it does sort of -- I mean, it rings of -- it doesn't, sound good. Do you think that's a wise -- does that make sense to you as an argument, Scott?

JENNINGS: No, what makes sense to me is for Republicans to focus on the issues that have put Trump in the lead in the first place -- cost of living, immigration, all the things you don't like about Joe Biden. She has been number two in the administration that gave it to you.

Everything else is off target and maybe even out of bounds. So, my advice would be stay over the target that put Trump on his way to the White House in the first place.

[20:30:13]

You get off that message and that will be a recipe for a rocky road in the fall.

COOPER: Ashley, what do you make of J.D. Vance sort of playing this role? Because this, you know, this clip surfaced going back to 2021 of him talking to Tucker Carlson, let's just play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R), OHIO: We're effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made. And so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too. And it's just a basic fact. You look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: I mean, again, just sort of -- that's weird. I mean, it's just sort of a -- it's a kind of a surprising line of attack. I mean, like what's wrong with cats?

ALLISON: You know, I take great offense because I'm a childless dog lady. You know, I'm not a cat person. I actually have a strong allergy to cats, but look, I love this country. I'm a former public school educator. I worked at nonprofits. My family loves this country.

My sister loves this country. My friends who are childless love this country. That is not a qualification of whether or not you are a leader or whether or not you have a love for this country. It's absurd for J.D. Vance to make that argument. But again, I'm not surprised.

I think, though, that what we're seeing -- I agree with Scott. Scott and I agree with on this. Let's talk about policy. But when people go to identifying folks, they used to be blame us of being the party of identity politics, but it seems like the Republicans are doing a lot of that right now, where they're using race and gender and whether or not you have a child or not as a disqualifying factor.

Again, we can be better than that. But when people do that, Senator Booker just quoted one poem from Maya Angelou. I'll quote another quote from her. Is that when people show you who they are, believe you. So there are a lot of black, brown, white, childless people out there. And so when he's talking about Kamala Harris, he's also talking about you. I'm not sure that's how you build a winning coalition.

COOPER: Yes. Ashley Allison, Scott Jennings, thanks so much.

Coming up, more attacks on the Vice President, her citizenship race, the misinformation and smears spreading online about her. Donie O'Sullivan has more on that next. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:36:36]

COOPER: Since President Biden, the Democratic Party rallied around Kamala Harris as their now presumptive nominee for the presidency, misinformation about her has been spreading fast online, questioning her citizenship and race and smearing her reputation with altered videos and photoshopped images.

Donie O'Sullivan joins us now. So what have you been seeing out there?

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, look, a lot of this is what you'd expect. It runs the gamut. A lot of folks pushing this are trying to hide their racism, more so than others. And other folks are just being very blatant about it. So it's the stuff like photoshopped images, videos, a new birther conspiracy theory that she is in some way not eligible to be president of the United States, which is false.

A lot of it --

COOPER: So literally they're doing the birthers on President Obama.

O'SULLIVAN: Oh, yes, yes. It's really at this point. I mean, it's quite interesting to see because you can see they're just throwing everything out there and seeing what sticks. Also as well, you know, playing to this idea that this was a coup, that she organized a coup or that she is working for the Clintons or the Obamas, because in this kind of right wing online sphere, you know, they are the most evil.

So if you can tie Harris to them, then, you know, it makes life a bit easier. I want to show you one photoshopped image. We don't know whether it was AI photoshopped or otherwise, but it's pretty crude. This is the sort of thing going around, you know, a -- the original image there, obviously Harris with the second gentleman.

And there you can see Epstein falsely put into an image. So there's all that --

COOPER: Which is interesting because there are actual pictures of Donald Trump with Jeffrey Epstein, who he did hang out with socially and yet --

O'SULLIVAN: Yes, no, the irony is lost --

COOPER: OK.

O'SULLIVAN: -- on a lot of the people posting this.

COOPER: I don't know why I felt the need to point out the obvious.

O'SULLIVAN: But, you know, look, even something like that, you see it in this context, it's obviously stupid. But, you know, you've even seen yourself on reporting on QAnon and things where all these things in the future and months later can get grabbed and put together --

COOPER: Oh yes.

O'SULLIVAN: -- and presented in a kind of package --

COOPER: And people believe this stuff. I mean --

O'SULLIVAN: They do.

COOPER: Yes.

O'SULLIVAN: They do.

COOPER: People who seem totally normal --

O'SULLIVAN: Yes.

COOPER: -- believe this stuff.

O'SULLIVAN: They do.

COOPER: There's also conspiracy theories both on the right and the left about the assassination attempt on former President Trump.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes.

COOPER: I mean, the amount of people on the left who initially, I mean, literally, I was looking at stuff online, didn't believe it was real. It was incredible to me.

O'SULLIVAN: And still don't believe. They believe --

COOPER: They're still hanging on to that.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes, that it was staged. And actually, last week at the RNC, we were at an anti-Trump protest and we spoke to some Democratic voters. And here's what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it is a terrible comment on the country state right now that anyone would think anywhere that it's appropriate to shoot at any political candidate. But I couldn't help but wonder, because we've been lied to over and over by this man, the way he came up and raised his fist and acted like it was nothing, he wants to make it into something big.

O'SULLIVAN: You're saying, well, maybe it was a staged assassination attempt.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. And that I hate that that's what I'm doing. I hate that that's where I have gone. And I wonder why I've gone there. And what really frightens me and scares me and makes me angry is suddenly now I'm in on a conspiracy theory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: You know, Anderson, it was really fascinating to speak to those ladies, because as you can see there, Mary Mann (ph) was her name in Wisconsin, she knows that what they're engaging in, what they're speaking about is irrational.

COOPER: Right.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes. Being honest with us, she was like, look, this is what I still believe because I cannot believe this man. And I think it really, you know, paints a pretty bleak picture I think of where we are in this country right now, where people really don't know what to believe.

[20:40:14]

COOPER: Yes. It is fascinating. I mean, yes. It's also, I mean, this is just the beginning. I mean, this is --

O'SULLIVAN: Yes, absolutely.

COOPER: Yes.

O'SULLIVAN: And look, obviously, any, you know, we're still talking about the JFK assassination many years later. So -- and look, I should point out that on the right, lots of folks, including Alex Jones, who's still out there on Twitter, despite all the lawsuits and everything, has almost 3 million followers. He's saying it was the deep state that tried to kill Trump and importantly, pushing this idea that the deep state are going to continue to try again.

Just one final point, one thing I would mention is that last week we were at the RNC. And as well as there being, you know, CNN and the other big global news organizations, there is just this whole world now of the likes of where Steve Bannon broadcasts.

COOPER: Yes.

O'SULLIVAN: Mike Lindell, the My Pillow guy, he has his own media kind of empire. And these are all organizations that are pushing propaganda, that are pushing lies, at the same time as --

COOPER: Yes.

O'SULLIVAN: -- news organizations are letting go of journalists.

COOPER: Yes. Well, Donie O'Sullivan, thanks so much.

Coming up, the Secret Service director responds to her critics demanding she step down. Plus, new revelations about the security lapses in the attempted assassination of the former president during the hearing today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:45:33]

COOPER: Under intense pressure, the director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned today, saying the agency fell short, her words, 10 days ago, when a gunman was able to place himself on a rooftop, aim and nearly assassinate the former president by an extensive security presence.

She'd rejected bipartisan calls for her resignation as of Monday. The service's deputy director will now lead the embattled agency. Turning now to the investigation, though, of the actual security breakdown, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner testified today before Homeland Security Committee that two local law enforcement officers were inside a building with vantage points looking -- points overlooking, I should say, the roof where the gunman would soon fire.

But they left to look for a suspicious individual that turned turned out to be him. He also said the length of time between when a police officer encountered the gunman on that roof and when the shots were fired at the former president was much longer than he'd once indicated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMMISSIONER CHRISTOPHER PARIS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: If the first shots rang out at 18, 11 hours, the hoisting up of the officer occurred probably no more. Again, I'm going to give you a time, but I want to just put it --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We understand it's not specific.

PARIS: -- of a sequence of events. I would say at most two and a half to three minutes before that first shot. It was minutes. It was a very short period of time, even for his ability --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But not seconds.

PARIS: I would say minutes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That's remarkable. For more on what we heard today, I'm joined by Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez and former Secret Service Agent Jonathan Wackrow. Evan, I mean, the idea that it was minutes from a police officer hoisting up, seeing a guy with a gun and then, you know, not engaging with him and then that guy still being able to be up there is incredible. I understand you have new video just released from the scene of the shooting.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Anderson, we just got this video that was released by Senator Chuck Grassley. And one of the things that we learned in this new video is, you know, you're seeing the aftermath of this shooting and you see a Secret Service agent up there talking to some of the local officers who were on the scene.

And you can see the body of the gunman. You can see the blood trailing on the roof there. And you also see a shot there of the building nearby, which is what the Pennsylvania police commissioner there was talking about. That's where these officers first spotted this man and took video or took pictures, rather, that they sent out to police.

They saw him on a bicycle. They saw a bag and considered him to be suspicious. And that's the reason why they sent out that video. Now, Senator Grassley sent a letter to the Homeland Security Department and to the Secret Service asking for more information.

One of the things you also see in this video that was released by the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit, one of the things you hear is someone saying they want access to a drone to take a look at the scene. And again, and this is in the aftermath of the shooting.

Now, Anderson, you remember that the Secret Service director said that they did not use a drone to provide security for the rally. And we do know that the shooter did use a drone to essentially look at the scene that he was about to attack later that day.

COOPER: And Evan, there were more details about the aftermath of the shooting that came out during that hearing.

PEREZ: Right. And so the -- Christopher Paris, the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner who testified about -- by the way, Anderson, they invited other public officials to testify, and he's the only one that showed up to provide that testimony. And one of the things he did correct himself there, when he refers to those two to three minutes, he's saying the amount of time that the shooter was on that roof.

He later clarified that there was only seconds from the time that one officer --

COOPER: OK.

PEREZ: -- takes a look at him and the time that the shots were actually fired. But it really does raise the question, going back to what you played earlier in this segment here, you know, the police who were supposed to be in that building and might have had a view of him getting on that roof could have made a difference, could have made a difference in obviously him getting access to it and having enough time to fire those shots. That is going to be a big part of this investigation going forward, Anderson.

[20:50:02]

COOPER: So I just want to be clear, because either I'm misunderstood or the way he phrased it, maybe he phrased it wrong.

PEREZ: He did, yes.

COOPER: I was not minutes between the police officer seeing the guy dropping down and the shots. It was seconds, but it was minutes --

PEREZ: It was seconds.

COOPER: -- that the shooter was on the roof itself.

PEREZ: That's correct. And he wasn't seen there --

COOPER: OK.

PEREZ: -- because those officers who did have a view of that roof had left to try to go find him.

COOPER: Jonathan, what stands out to you about this video and also the details that have come out now?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, listen, I think the details are really important here. And this is what we really wanted to start hearing yesterday during the testimony by the director of the Secret Service. But what you're really starting to see, especially when you're talking about the two officers that left their post to go try to address a threat, when I hear that, to me, it signals that the roles and responsibility of the local law enforcement, their specific posts, was not clearly understood prior to this event ever taking place.

Again, if those two officers were there providing the overwatch and surveillance of those rooftops as they should have been, they would have identified this individual right away and most likely would have been able to, you know, stop this type of attack prior to it happening.

So to me, it's the roles and responsibilities during the advance were not articulated properly by the Secret Service with their local law enforcement partners. Again, law enforcement was probably doing the right thing. They had the right intent to try to go find and address a threat. However, these posts are carefully curated to overwatch critical locations.

This was a critical location. So by the fact that these officers, you know, left and left that area vulnerable, we see the tragic consequences that it caused.

COOPER: Yes. Jonathan Wackrow, Evan Perez, thank you. Appreciate it.

Next, Kamala Harris's husband, second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, on the campaign trail for her today and firing back at Donald Trump as well. Take a look at his enduring relationship with Harris.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:56:12]

COOPER: Next week, Kamala Harris's husband will headline two fundraisers for her presidential campaign. Second gentleman, Doug Emhoff could become the first ever first gentleman if his wife wins the election. He's already busy helping the campaign, even firing back today at her Republican opponent.

With more on that and their relationship, here's our Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOUG EMHOFF, SECOND GENTLEMAN: That's all he's got.

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That was second gentleman Doug Emhoff today in response to questions about former President Donald Trump's attacks on his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris. Emhoff promised that Team Harris will --

EMHOFF: Prosecute the case against Donald Trump and his lies, his gaslighting, his -- during COVID, the dereliction of duty, inciting an insurrection and all those other things.

KAYE (voice-over): His loyalty unmistakable as it has been for more than a decade. The 59-year-old Emhoff proudly plays the role of plus one, at Harris's side when she was California's attorney general, U.S. Senator and later the country's first female vice president.

EMHOFF: I'm married to the first woman ever to hold this role. So first of all --

KAYE (voice-over): As second gentleman, that means --

EMHOFF: I'm her husband first and be a supportive husband so she can do her job as vice president of the United States.

KAYE (voice-over): Emhoff for his part has been rallying voters on two key issues, reproductive rights and antisemitism. Emhoff is the first Jewish spouse of any vice president or president for that matter, a role he has taken very seriously since early in the administration.

EMHOFF: Part of the work that we had done, prior to October 7th was the first ever national strategy to combat antisemitism.

All of us must be against this, must be against antisemitism. I will not remain silent and I'm proud to be Jewish. I'm proud to live openly as a Jew and I'm not afraid. We cannot live in fear. We refuse to be afraid.

KAYE (voice-over): On reproductive rights, he's worked to engage both women and men around the country.

EMHOFF: This is a issue of fairness to women. Women are dying.

KAYE (voice-over): Emhoff and Harris first met on a blind date in 2013.

EMHOFF: I left this ridiculous voicemail, which she has saved and plays back to me on our anniversary every year. I thought I'd never hear from her again, but --

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But it was just -- it was adorable. EMHOFF: We did go on that first date, love at first sight. We were literally talking about our future at the -- by the end of that first date and that next morning I'm sending her an email, here are my availabilities for the next six months. And 10 years later, 11 years later, here we are.

KAYE (voice-over): Emhoff and Harris married in 2014. Their blended family includes two adult children from Emhoff's marriage to his first wife. For Harris, the title of step-mom just didn't fit.

HARRIS: Their word for me is mamala. And so they call me mamala.

KAYE (voice-over): In 2019, during the campaign, Emhoff sprang to his feet to help protect his wife from an animal rights activist who had rushed the stage. He later tweeted this, "We are good. I love Kamala Harris and would do anything for her."

Emhoff was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in New Jersey. He has a law degree from the University of Southern California, and since moving to D.C. has taught at Georgetown Law School. Now with his wife unofficially at the top of the ticket, Doug Emhoff could become the country's inaugural first gentleman.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE (on-camera): And Anderson, Emhoff's schedule could get a whole lot busier. We understand that he will be headlining two fundraisers next week. He will actually be stepping in for First Lady Jill Biden and headlining those. One is July 29th. That is set to include a conversation with David Letterman. That will take place in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts.

The other one is just a couple of days later in Yarmouth, Maine. We also understand that the governor of Hawaii, Josh Green, will be at that first fundraiser on July 29th. Again, he is stepping in for First Lady Jill Biden.

But Anderson, this really shouldn't surprise us. We expect that his schedule will ramp up because certainly in 2020 --

COOPER: Yes.

KAYE (on-camera): -- on the campaign trail, he spoke at a lot of rallies. He was very active on social media --

COOPER: Yes.

KAYE (on-camera): -- and he was really out there.

COOPER: Randi Kaye, thanks so much.

The news continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now.