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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Harris Ready To Debate Trump; Harris Campaign Looks To Name Running Mate By August 7; Older PA Dem Voters Re-Energized With Harris Replacing Biden; MD Dem. Gov. Moore On Enthusiasm For VP Harris' Campaign; Harris Releases First Presidential Campaign Video Featuring Beyonce's Song "Freedom". Aired 8-9p ET
Aired July 25, 2024 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: ... is whether what they believe his condition is.
JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN, FATHER OR ISRAEL-AMERICAN HELD HOSTAGE: Well, we haven't gotten any firm confirmation of life since late November early December. You know, it's anyone's guess on any given day, what the fate of the hostage is going to be.
On our kibbutz alone, kibbutz Nir Oz, there are still 33 hostages being held by Hamas. Of them, seven have already been confirmed dead, but they were alive on October 8th.
So, clearly there's a present danger to all of the hostages. Friendly fire or execution by Hamas.
BURNETTE: Well, Jonathan, thank you very much, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, his son Sagui, is in Gaza. Thanks for joining us AC360 starts now.
[20:00:45]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Tonight on 360, it is her campaign in a very tight race. How Kamala Harris, the torch now passed to her began running with it today with a little help from Beyonce.
Also, new developments in the search for a running mate, which the Harris campaign wants to get done in less than two weeks. And with the governor of Pennsylvania, one of the possibilities, how does Harris play in the Commonwealth? John King is there.
Good evening. Thanks for joining us. We begin tonight with breaking news at the end of what amounts the first full day of a brand new presidential campaign. A contest, which for all the momentum that Kamala Harris may now enjoy, is still according to new polling, very close and going to be very tough.
And in the wake of President Biden's speech last night, it is now fully Harris' to win or lose. She met solo tonight with Israel's visiting prime minister, their conversation wrapped up just a short time ago.
Afterwards, the vice president spoke briefly to reporters underscoring her support for Israel, reading each of the names of Americans held hostage in Gaza and also speaking out against the humanitarian crisis. there, calling for progress toward a ceasefire deal to end hostilities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, (R) US VICE PRESIDENT: As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done. So, to everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you.
Let's get the deal done so we can get a ceasefire to end the war. Let's bring the hostages home and let's provide much needed relief to the Palestinian people.
And ultimately, I remain committed to a path forward that can lead to a two-state solution. And I know right now it is hard to conceive of that prospect. But a two-state solution is the only path that ensures Israel remains a secure Jewish and democratic state and one that ensures Palestinians can finally realize the freedom, security, and prosperity that they rightly deserve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: The vice president took no questions, did not mention the campaign in her statement.
Earlier today, she spoke in Houston, appearing before the American Federation of Teachers, thanking them for their endorsement and touting the Biden administration's record regarding unions. Her campaign also launched its first TV spot with permission from Beyonce to use her song, "Freedom."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS (voice over): There are some people who think we should be a country of chaos, of fear, of hate, but us, we choose something different.
We choose freedom.
The freedom, not just to get by, but get ahead. The freedom to be safe from gun violence. The freedom to make decisions about your own body.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Also signaling that its game on, this from the vice president on the subject of debates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: I have agreed to the previously agreed upon September 10th debate. He agreed to that previously. Now, it appears he is backpedaling, but I'm ready and I think the voters deserve to see this split-screen that exists in this race on a debate stage. And so, I'm ready, let's go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, prior to President Biden dropping out of the race, the two campaigns have agreed to a debate hosted by ABC on September 10th.
Vice President Harris did not elaborate today on whether she would accept a debate between her and former President Trump for September 17, proposed now by Fox News. The former president on a press call with reporters earlier this week, said he wants to debate her, but has not yet agreed to anything. He was off the trail today, but did phone in this morning to Fox.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (D) FORMER US PRESIDENT (via phone): They say, sir you just got hit with a bullet, maybe he's changed, be nice and I'd love to be nice, but I'm dealing against real garbage.
And she was a prosecutor, but she was a failed prosecutor. She put a lot of people in jail that should have never been there. She put people in jail that were political enemies. She's bad news. She's a radical very smart person. She failed the bar exam. She couldn't even pass a bar exam. So it's brutal on her, she could have passed it. She thought she'd never be able to pass it. This is what we have as our next president?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:05:11]
COOPER: Keeping them honest, Miss Harris failed her first time then passed on her next try and it's not uncommon to fail California's bar exam. At least one state Supreme Court Justice flunked it, William Clark who went on to be a top adviser in the Reagan administration and the State's Republican governor in the 1990s Pete Wilson didn't pass until his fourth try.
But back to today, as we said at the top, new polling shows how tight the race now is, it's from "The New York Times," it shows Vice President Harris up six points from President Biden's performance but still within the margin of error.
Joining us now CNN political commentators from across the partisan spectrum, Scott Jennings, Maria Cardona, former Harris communications director, Jamal Simmons, and Paul Begala.
Jamal, what do you make of how things are going right now? Obviously, this is sort of a honeymoon phase. Clearly, former President Trump is honing his attack lines and unleashing them full-on.
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, they're trying to figure it out and we've seen Donald Trump in the past go out in public and try to work these lines with the crowd and see what he gets the response from. So, we'll see how that shakes out.
The difference with the Harris' campaign is they're not waiting around for Donald Trump to figure out its attack lines. They are going right at Donald Trump and talking about his 34 convictions, and talking about the problems he's had with being found liable for fraud, and all the other problems for the Trump campaign.
Now, what is interesting to me today is we've seen, the vice president sort of get into her own lane. It's an adjacent lane to President Biden's lane, but it's her own lane. We saw an ad that had a lot more energy in it or campaign launch video with the Beyonce song.
We saw her do this event with Netanyahu and right after with Netanyahu and there, she said something that was a little bit different than the president. She said that, it's important for Israel to defend itself, but it's also important how Israel defends itself, and talked about the Palestinian plight kind of at the same time, she talked about the tragedy of October 7th. A lot of people will hear that and notice that that is something that they really wanted to hear from a Democratic president.
And then lastly, she's also talking about, it's not just important to get -- to do well or to get by economically, but it's important to do better than that. And so she's really leaning in on the work that is left to do for people to get ahead in the country, not just get by.
COOPER: Paul, I mean, you've worked on a lot of campaigns. What do you make of this one? And it's interesting to me that it's most of the same people that were on -- running the Biden campaign and yet, the feeling and the energy behind it certainly does seem a lot different in just the space of a couple of days.
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It does and it is because of Kamala Harris and she brings all this energy and dynamism and, by the way, I think that's what DEI means, doesn't it mean to dynamic, energetic, and inspirational? If that's it, then that's what she is.
Here's the thing I noticed from that clip. The talk after she met with the prime minister of Israel. I worked for President Clinton, who's the greatest political talent in my lifetime. I worked for Obama's reelection, he's a genius.
Politicians make about 75 percent of the mistakes for their campaign in the first 25 percent of the race. This is why it's not bad that we have as long campaigns in America as a campaign manager. Because they screw up when they start and then they get their footing and they get better at it.
Kamala Harris has been a presidential candidate this time around for 96 hours. She walked into the most vexing, complicated, difficult, impossible problem on earth, the Israeli-Palestinian problem and she handled it with comfort, with command. I thought she was terrific.
So, that's a heck of a trial by fire for a candidate who has been running for four days.
COOPER: Let me play something the former GOP presidential candidate, Nikki Haley told Jake Tapper regarding that DEI hire attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NIKKI HALEY, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not helpful. Look, I mean, we're talking about a liberal senator who literally has not accomplished very much. And what she was given, she didn't do much with. You don't need to talk about what she looks like or what gender she is to talk about that. The American people are smarter than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Do you expect to hear more of that -- the "DEI hire" others or racist tropes, or sexist remarks?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I absolutely do, Anderson. I don't think Republicans, especially under Trump and JD Vance, can help themselves. And I think it's more than just that they were caught flatfooted because of President Biden dropping out and Vice President Kamala Harris taking his place as the presidential nominee.
I think it has to do with who she is and frankly, what she looks like. We know Donald Trump is a racist. We know he's a sexist. We know he's a misogynist, and so to have that wrapped into this formidable, incredibly competent, accomplished woman, who also happens to be very attractive, I think explodes his mind and explodes the minds of his MAGA acolytes because they don't know how to run against her.
And they are demonstrating that every single day when they make those ridiculous comments. But that's who they are at their core. That is what is in their DNA.
[20:10:12]
I think it was -- I think it also underscores what a dumb pick I think JD Vance was for their ticket because he exacerbates that. Especially, when he talks about reproductive women's rights, when he talks about the whole cat lady thing, and I don't think that's going away because even though they have to get their caucus together and tell them not to talk about like that to women. That is who they are at their core and they're not going to be able to help themselves.
COOPER: Scott, you've been very clear over the last couple of days that the whole "DEI hire" line is not something as Republican, you think is smart for them to do, that they should stick to the record, as you see of the vice president and certainly Joe Biden.
Is that something -- when you hear Trump calling into Fox and I'm replaying basically the insults you used in 2016 and 2020. I mean, nasty, calling her garbage now, a lunatic, she's going to destroy America. Isn't that -- isn't this just a replay of everything we've ever heard from him?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm looking at a video before we went on the air tonight from the campaign, it came out two hours ago and it had nothing to do with any of this DEI stuff.
It had nothing to do with race and gender. It had everything to do with her record as senator.
COOPER: But I'm talking about what your candidate is actually -- the words that are actually coming out of his mouth.
JENNINGS: First of all, he's not my candidate. I work here. I don't work for the campaign.
COOPER: Okay.
JENNINGS: Second, look, he is going to have to hone a message. He did get into this record that she has at his last rally and he seems to be familiar with the greatest policy hits of Kamala Harris and there's plenty. Senator, liberal, presidential candidate, very liberal, and as a vice president, a failure right alongside Biden.
He knows it. I think he's internalizing it and the campaign certainly knows what they have to do. If you look at the video products they are putting out tonight, he is going to have to stay disciplined on this because it will take them off message and it will hurt them if he doesn't. That's on his shoulders. But it's quite obvious to me the campaign knows the message they have to use.
They've got to circulating tonight and I suspect you're going to see it in wide distribution in the days ahead.
COOPER: Jamal, we mentioned former President Obama is expected to endorse her soon. Do you expect him to be out there. I mean, is this going to be like all hands on deck for many months or is it just in the waning in the final weeks, he does a few big rallies.
SIMMONS: The Democrats have an embarrassment of riches right now, right? Because you've got President Obama, who's going to come out and endorse her. We've already seen President Biden dominate the day with these meetings Netanyahu. And then we see Vice President Harris, who's going to be out in the campaign showed, getting her own attention.
While Donald Trump is kind of sitting by himself in Mar-a-Lago. I'm not sure what he's doing until he meets with Prime Minister Netanyahu. But you've got two or three people who are out there.
I expect you're going to see him do more of this, but here's the thing about Vice President Harris. She's got her own lane. President Obama was the first person of color to run. But she's got her own lane here.
I think, one of the things that I saw when I was with her. She met with labor members all over the country. So we're now seeing the Laborers' International come out and endorse her. We saw her at the AFT, the teachers union today and they've endorsed her, the first union to endorse her.
So she's got this real focus on middle-class families, working class families and how they're going to get ahead in the country. I think that is going to be a very important thing for her as she moves forward.
COOPER: We're going to continue the conversation in a minute. Coming up next new details on the accelerated process for picking a Democratic running mate.
And later, report on voters in Pennsylvania, which may truly live up to the name Keystone State for the winning side in November.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:17:37]
COOPER: Today on Fox, the former president reiterated his full support for his running mate, JD Vance. As for Vance's Democratic counterpart, no decision on that today from the vice president, but new reporting tonight from CNN's Jeff Zeleny
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: When we fight, we win.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The first big solo decision of Kamala Harris' new campaign could be less than two weeks away. It's one of the most accelerated vice presidential searches in modern American history.
With Harris racing to round out her ticket well before the Democratic Convention opens in Chicago on August 19th. Top contenders hail from some of the biggest battlegrounds, like Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former astronaut, and navy pilot; Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina, a former attorney general, elected six times statewide; and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, another former attorney general, who has won statewide three times
Also on the list, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a 2020 rival, who now calls Michigan home. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a veteran and former teacher who served more than a decade in Congress; and Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky, a rare Democrat, elected in a deep red state.
The search is well underway through private vetting and somewhat public auditions.
GOV. ROY COOPER, (D-NC): This is the vice president's 15th trip to the most military and veteran friendly state in the country.
ZELENY: Harris has a long relationship with Cooper, feasibly praising him just last week in Fayetteville.
HARRIS: My dear friend, Roy Cooper. You know, Roy and I served together when I was attorney general at California, and he was attorney general in North Carolina. I've known him for almost two decades and he is an extraordinary leader.
ZELENY: But the vice president is not tipping her hand to any favorites among the contenders, all of whom rushed to endorse her after President Biden stepped aside.
GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO, (D-PA): We've been friends for 20 years. She's an outstanding vice president.
ZELENY: Shapiro has drawn even more attention, considering Pennsylvania is at the heart of any winning White House bid, a point he downplays in choosing a running mate.
SHAPIRO: That is a deeply personal decision that should be made free from any political pressure.
ZELENY: Only Harris can say how geography, biography, or other personal factors weigh up her decision.
On Capitol Hill this week, Kelly was not eager to talk about any vice presidential shortlist.
SEN. MARK KELLY, (D-AZ): Again, this is not about me. This is about the future of this country.
ZELENY: Buttigieg, less so.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: I think anybody would be flattered to be mentioned in that context, no matter what, I'm going to be doing everything in my power to make sure that she's our next president.
ZELENY: For Harris, it's all part of her whirlwind and a bookend moment. Four years after answering the call from Biden to be his running mate --
JOE BIDEN (D), US PRESIDENT: You ready to go to work?
ZELENY: She's getting ready to make a call of her own.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:20:32]
COOPER: Jeff Zeleny joins us now. So any sense of what Harris is specifically looking for in a running mate? How much of it is simply the electoral map?
ZELENY: Anderson, talking to a senior adviser, they said that she's looking for someone she's comfortable with and someone who's ready to be president.
Now, of course, the question is, who is that? She's also looking, I'm told, for someone who can amplify her record and respond to attacks and perhaps give out attacks to former President Donald Trump as well.
The question of geography, of course, is hanging over all of this. Look at where some of these finalists are coming from. Arizona, a key swing state; Pennsylvania, a swing state; North Carolina, they hope to make it a swing state as well.
But the deep connections she has and the relationships with many of these people, also are coming into play. We do know that the former attorney general, Eric Holder is leading this search. They are looking through financial records, public statements, family histories, as well.
But Anderson, I'm told this will end with her doing face-to-face interviews with some of these candidates. The question is, who can she see in this role that she's been playing for more than three years?
COOPER: Jeff Zeleny, thanks very much. Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who is the wife, also of Senator Mark Kelly, just posted on social media about JD Vance's now well-known remarks about Democrats and childless cat ladies, a sentence I never thought I would actually say.
Quoting now, "Vice President @KamalaHarris is proud mom of two remarkable stepchildren -- and so am I @CaptMarkKelly and I were trying to have a baby through IVF before I was shot and that dream was stolen from us. To suggest we are somehow lesser is disgraceful."
We should note that in June of this year, Senator Vance did join other members of the Senate and calling for IVF to remain legal nationwide.
Back with Scott Jennings, Maria Cardona, Jamal Simmons, and Paul Begala.
Paul, let me start with you because the conventional wisdom is that the vice president would pick a moderate white male politician as her running mate. Do you think that will be the case? And how much of this is about the electoral map? I mean, obviously Pennsylvania is critical -- Arizona.
BEGALA: I have a completely heretical view, Anderson, a completely heretical view. The map doesn't matter for spit. Nothing. It doesn't deliver anything. It never has.
When I was working for President Obama's reelection PAC and Mitt Romney picked Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan's beloved in Wisconsin. Wisconsin is a swing state.
Romney, not only didn't win Wisconsin, he didn't win Paul Ryan's congressional district. The map is a myth.
She needs to pick -- I love Zeleny's report, in that, her aides are saying she can pick somebody who she's comfortable with, somebody who could step in on day one, somebody who could take the fight in the campaign.
That's what she needs to do. This whole -- I'm serious. My test is, does my mama look at this and say, oh, well, they would be a good president. They could step in. Nothing else matters.
I'm telling you, the map is baloney and anybody who buys into the map is blowing smoke up your --
COOPER: Jamal, do you agree with Paul?
SIMMONS: God forbid, I ever disagree with Paul Begala. I don't disagree with him about the map being bad, but it can't hurt, right? It can't hurt to have somebody who's not on my home state to be able to campaign.
For me, I think also about some demographic things. The reality is, there is a risk that the first woman of color president might need some help with male voters. And having a candidate in the VP slot who can go and talk to those male voters, about why he supports her, and why he thinks she's the right person to lead, especially maybe if that person is a veteran, maybe a fighter pilot, maybe an astronaut, that might also be super helpful.
COOPER: Is that how you want her to think?
SIMMONS: I think it makes a lot of sense. Listen, I have a six-year- old boy. If I told him I was going to meet the governor from North Carolina. I don't know if he'd care. If I told him I was going to meet the captain of a space shuttle, I think he want to go with me. So, I think -- that matters to people.
COOPER: Maria, I want to play some of the potential Democratic vice president candidate, what they've been saying about former President Trump's running mate, JD Vance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BESHEAR: JD Vance is a phony. He's fake. The problem with JD Vance is he has no conviction. But I guess his running mate has 34.
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): People like JD Vance know nothing about small- town America.
GOV. JB PRITZKER (D-IL): when JD Vance frankly, attacks women, hides the fact that he is opposed to reproductive rights, even in cases of rape or incest. He's the Donald Trump mini-me.
KELLY: You mentioned that comment about childless cat lady, which is utterly ridiculous and obnoxious and wrong.
What I really worry about is what he would do being one heartbeat away from the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:25:05]
COOPER: It is interesting how all the people publicly named on the shortlist are now suddenly appearing on television but we haven't seen them often on cable news. They're suddenly now very available for interviews because they want to be seen as carriers of the message and in case anyone from the campaign, I guess its watching, what do you make of Paul's point that the electoral map should not be the overriding concern, it doesn't matter, for I think spit, he said.
CARDONA: I agree with Paul, though, everyone is so focused on the map for Democrats because of what was going on when President Biden was still there in terms of it becoming more narrow because of his issues.
So, I do think that people will take a look at it in that way. I think overall though, Anderson, Paul is right. But Jamal is right too.
The map doesn't really matter because no one has really won or lost a presidential election because of who their VP pick is. And so, I think the most important thing here is going to be the chemistry that Vice President Kamala Harris has with whoever she picks as her vice president. And for that person to be able to not just step in, in the role on day one, but to be able to prosecute the case against Trump, against JD Vance from day one.
And we just saw, like, I think a mini-tryout right for all of those folks who could possibly be debating JD Vance because I do think that the other focus here is also, what I mentioned before, I think there's a lot of buyer's remorse on the other side.
And so JD Vance, I think has become a distraction, which is exactly what you don't want your VP pick to be.
COOPER: What's interesting, Scott, because initially in advance of JD Vance, there were a lot of -- the clips that were being played about him were things he had said about Donald Trump in his prior life when he thought Donald Trump was America's Hitler, which is a quote from him, a phrase he used.
Now, these clips are surfacing. There's another one that surfaced today from 2021, him talking about childless people. But this time, he's saying that their votes should count less than the votes of parents. I want to play this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JD VANCE (R-OH), US VICE PRESIDENT NOMINEE: Let's give votes to all children in this country, but let's give control over those votes to the parents of those children.
When you go to the polls in this country as a parent, you should have more power. You should have more of an ability to speak your voice in our Democratic Republic than people who don't have kids.
People will say, and I'm sure "The Atlantic" and "The Washington Post" and all the usual suspects will criticize me about this in the coming days. Well, doesn't this mean that non-parents don't have as much of a voice as parents. Doesn't this mean that parents get a bigger say at how our democracy functions?
Yes, absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Do you think -- is this something we just heard that all the potential Democratic VP candidates are being vetted by the campaign. So you think this is stuff that was vetted by the Trump campaign like, what do you think they were aware of this kind of stuff before?
JENNINGS: I hope so. I mean, I would assume so. I mean, they went through a very long process and looked at a lot of different people. And so, I would imagine, yes, obviously Trump wound up picking somebody that he was comfortable with and thought vibe with him and mesh with him on his policy agenda.
So, I think they take all these things into account and decide whether it's important to them or not and balance with the things that matter to them the most, which was i think picking someone young who is pretty good on TV, who kind of is a succession plan for Donald Trump's ideology for the Republican Party.
On the Democrat side, I think she's actually got some interesting choices out there. If I were in her shoes and I'm not arguing that he would necessarily automatically deliver Pennsylvania.
They can't win without Pennsylvania. Shapiro seems like a talent to me. I agree with Paul conceptually that it's no guarantee, but he's talented. He's from an important state, but most importantly in my mind, you have a lot of whispering in the Democratic Party right now that she should not choose him because he's Jewish.
Heck, you've got some hollering in corners of the Democratic Party that she shouldn't choose him because he's Jewish.
There are people that think that, that ticket couldn't sustain putting a Jewish person on there. I think if she chose him and said to all of her people on the far progressive left flank, shut up and get in line, this is what we're doing. That would actually impress the hell out of me, as a big leadership moment for her, so, that's what I do.
COOPER: Jamal, let me ask you about that. You were shaking your head.
SIMMONS: Yes. I think that's kind of a cheap shot. Democrats have been very welcoming of people of all backgrounds, I mean, they were taking a very big leap with the top of the ticket and obviously, the vice president's husband is Jewish, so I don't think she has a problem with Jewish people.
COOPER: My understanding of those people who have raised that, at least on air, wonder if Democratic support for people who are more on the Palestinian side of the conflict in the Middle East.
[20:30:12]
SIMMONS: And the question that will come up is the positions that people have, not the ethnicity or the background that people have. So that's really the question that I think you'll hear from voters.
COOPER: Jamal, thanks very much. Thanks, everyone.
Speaking of Pennsylvania, our John King with a new all over the map report from there next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: We're talking about Pennsylvania before the break. Our John King went back there to talk again with some older voters to see what they think of Vice President Harris replacing President Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we go. JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mahjong requires focus, patience, a clear strategy to build matching sets of tiles. Changing course deep into the game is risky, but sometimes even experienced players see no choice but to try.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I have your joker, please?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Heads up.
[20:35:03]
KING: See how easy it is to swap out a candidate in the middle of the game?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
KING (voice-over): This game ends in a draw.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody wins.
KING: Nobody wins?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody wins.
KING (voice-over): And a visitor brings up another big change.
KING: Show of hands if you think Harris can win Pennsylvania. So you're more optimistic now than you were with President Biden leading the ticket. There's a head shake.
PAMELA ALTA, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: No.
KING: Tell me why.
ALTA: No. I don't think a lot of men will vote for Harris. I just don't. Whether you're Democrat, Republican, whatever, I just don't think the majority of men are ready for a female president.
KING: These three hands went up pretty quickly. So do you have more energy and enthusiasm about the campaign now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God, yes.
KING: One more time, show of hands. Who wants to see them debate?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh yes.
KING (voice-over): Suddenly, Democrats like retiree and Mahjong instructor Darrell Ann Murphy are bursting with energy. Suddenly, they see at least a chance to win battleground Pennsylvania and keep Donald Trump out of the White House.
DARRELL ANN MURPHY, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: I don't even like to hear the word Trump.
KING: What do you call him? MURPHY: The monster.
KING (voice-over): At this same table five months ago, three of the four thought President Biden was up to the job, and they called criticism of his age unfair. But they began to see things that worried them. Biden's debate debacle left no doubt.
MURPHY: From experience, I know how quickly things can go downhill when you are an older person.
KING (voice-over): Now a new challenge.
MURPHY: You know, she's at the perfect age. She's committed. She's vigorous. And I overwhelmingly, the women I talk to are, let's go, let's go.
KING (voice-over): Civil rights activist Marvin Boyer organized the black history display at this museum in downtown Easton. The debate changed his mind, too. And in Harris, Boyer sees what was missing in Biden.
MARVIN BOYER, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: You have to be aggressive because he's coming after you. And I think she's up to the challenge in that regard.
KING (voice-over): The winner here in Northampton County tends to be the winner statewide. Every vote matters.
BOYER: It also reenergizes a strong constituency of the Democratic Party, meaning black females. So I think it's a good thing in that regard.
KING: Do you think America is ready to elect a woman of color its president?
BOYER: There's still racism, misogyny in this country in 2024. No question. Well, can we overcome it with this election enough that she can be elected? I hope so.
KING (voice-over): Geology professor Lawrence Malinconico changed his mind after the debate, too. His wife donated to Harris as soon as the news broke. And Malinconico believes students will be much more energized now.
LARRY MALINCONICO, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: There is an acceptable choice now when -- before I think there was real skepticism about the viability of President Biden for another four years.
KING: Do you think she could win Pennsylvania?
MALINCONICO: I hope so. I think part of it will depend on her choice of vice president.
KING: Do you think the country's ready for that, a woman of color as president?
MALINCONICO: I hope so. I'm a little nervous about that.
KING: Are you looking forward to Harris debating Trump?
MALINCONICO: Absolutely.
KING: Why?
MALINCONICO: I'm hoping she'll just eat him alive.
KING (voice-over): Pat Levin became politically active in the 1940s during FDR's third term.
PAT LEVIN, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: So, you know, I've never seen anything like this.
KING (voice-over): She's just a few weeks from 95. Performance, not age, is Levin's test. And she sadly came to see President Biden couldn't pass it anymore.
LEVIN: I love him. I think he has been just wonderful. But he is definitely impaired in terms of his thinking, in terms of his presentation, in terms of his energy.
KING (voice-over): Simple advice for Harris.
LEVIN: Get into those swing states and show her enthusiasm and her stamina and her strength and be able to communicate strongly.
KING (voice-over): And one defining issue, if anyone, seeks her wisdom.
LEVIN: It's democracy. It's -- actually, this might be our last free and fair election if we don't win it. We cannot afford to lose this election for the American people.
KING (voice-over): A big twist at crunch time in what for Pat Levin will be presidential vote number 19.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: John, I'm not going to ask you as though I want to about your pilates and how you did, but what does the data say about whether Harris can recreate Biden's combination -- winning combination Pennsylvania and the other blue wall states?
KING (on-camera): That's a fascinating question. We don't have good enough data yet. We need to let this settle in and get there. But let me walk through the challenge. This is Northampton County where we were. Biden won it by just over 1,200 votes last time.
Went on to win the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And, of course, Anderson, went on to win the blue wall states. Well, how did that happen? One recipe of Biden's win -- look at this, excuse me for turning my back -- is that he did better among white men than Hillary Clinton did. This is Clinton in Pennsylvania in 2016, 32 percent. Biden at 37 percent. That's a big difference in Northampton County, across Pennsylvania, and in Michigan and Wisconsin as well.
[20:40:05]
Again, the reason Biden won, look at the same numbers in the national exit poll 2016 and 2020. Clinton, 31 percent of white men nationally. Biden, 38 percent. Can Harris get close to this or will she be closer to that? If she can't get close to this, can she increase black turnout? Could she get a higher share of women, particularly in the suburbs? That's the challenge the Harris campaign is going through.
As they look at, yes, the encouraging early data, Anderson, but it's going to take a week, 10 days, maybe even until after the Democratic convention to have a solid sense of where her strengths are and where she has to work on weaknesses, if that's one of them.
COOPER: Nationally, another poll today showed Harris performing better than Biden. Obviously, not a complete picture. What about third-party candidates?
KING (on-camera): Right. I want to be adamant about this, that this needs to be included in the conversation, just like it was in 2016. We have a lot of people looking at these head-to-head, Harris versus Trump. That's not the race. That's not the race out in America.
In 2016, we had a lot of Clinton versus Trump. Clinton led all the national polls. Did she win? She did not. She won the popular vote, but she did not. This is something we need to look at. This map's a little crude, but look, Robert Kennedy, the Libertarian Party, and the Green Party, they haven't officially chosen their candidates yet, those parties. So we just have the party label.
That's on -- they're on the ballot, those three, in Michigan. At least the Libertarians and the Greens in Wisconsin. Kennedy in Minnesota. You get the picture. This is North Carolina. This is Georgia down here, out here in the western battlegrounds. The third-party candidates will be on the ballot.
Why do I want to bring attention to that? Because look at 2016, right? Hillary Clinton got 48 percent of the vote nationally. She won the popular vote, but she lost in these states. She lost in Michigan, Wisconsin, elsewhere.
Look, Trump's share was about the same in both elections. It was the third-party candidates that cost Hillary Clinton the election. We cannot forget them going forward.
The head-to-head matchup show Harris doing better. That's energizing the Democrats, but it's more complicated than that.
COOPER: Yes. John King, thanks.
Up next, Maryland's Democratic governor and Harris campaign co-chair, Wes Moore, joins me to talk about the DEI attacks on Harris and what we -- he expects to see over the next few months.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:46:10]
COOPER: With less than a month until the Democratic National Convention, a little over 100 days until the election, the upcoming weeks are crucial for Vice President Harris and her campaign. Just before air, I spoke with Democratic Governor Maryland Wes Moore, who also serves as a campaign co-chair.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Governor Moore, it's obviously been an enthusiastic few days for Vice President Harris. What specifically do you think she needs to do in the days ahead to sustain the excitement that she has already and ensure it's not, as David Axelrod and others have warned about, a political sugar high?
GOV. WES MOORE (D-MD): Yes. I think she needs to do what she's doing now, which is continuing to share her vision. You know, I think that for a lot of people, they understand the threat that Donald Trump and now J.D. Vance pose. They understand the fact that we have a campaign on the other side that is fueled on division and, frankly, pretty odd and disturbing ideas about everything from women's reproductive health, to the role of women in our society, to how they think about American isolationism.
We know that on that side. But the thing that she has got to do and the thing that she will do is show her vision for the future because elections are not won on fear. Elections are won on hope. Elections are won on vision. Elections are won on the future.
And so as she continues to go out there and share her vision with the rest of the country, I believe that's going to be the necessary ingredient in order to win in November.
COOPER: You recently tweeted a photo of you and Vice President Harris. You wrote that former President Trump is about to find out that being president is a black job, in quotes. That was in reference to a claim he made during the June debate that migrants were taking away what he called black jobs.
You know, there have been already a number of racist, sexist attacks from some Republicans, you know, calling the vice president a DEI hire. Do you think that this is just the beginning of those?
MOORE: Yes, I think some of the comments that we've heard about the Vice President so far have been remarkably disturbing and also pretty telling. And the fact that you had, you know, a Speaker of the House who had to go back and tell a caucus that, hey, everybody, you know, don't make racist comments, should say a lot.
I also think it becomes really important for people to know that they cannot be distracted by the foolishness, that some of the comments that we have heard, we are going to make sure we push back on them, whether they be racist or sexist comments.
But also the thing that we know is this, the thing that the Vice President is going to focus her time on is doing the work. The thing the vice president is going to focus her time on is making sure that we can build an America where everybody is seen and everybody is supported.
The thing that she's going to focus her time on is making sure that our policies reflect the protection of freedoms and the protection of our future in the way that they should. And so, it has been disturbing seeing some of the comments that have been made about her and made about, you know, so many people in these positions where I was called a DEI governor from people.
But the way that I addressed it was starve it of oxygen. Because when you starve ignorance of oxygen, ignorance dies. Just do the work.
COOPER: You know, there was this talk during the Republican convention before Donald Trump actually spoke that, you know, he had somehow fundamentally changed after having a, you know, a near-death experience. I do want to place something that the former president said about Vice President Harris at his campaign rally just yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala Harris has been the ultra-liberal driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe. She is a radical left lunatic who will destroy our country. Lying Kamala is also a total radical on a word called -- do you know this, right? A word called what? Abortion.
[20:50:04]
She is a threat to democracy, a true threat to democracy. You've been terrible at everything you've done. You're ultra-liberal, and we don't want you here. We don't want you anywhere. Kamala, you're fired. Get out of here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I mean, beyond the mispronouncing the name intentionally, which is, you know, an old trick of his and many others, what does this say to you that, I mean, it is -- this is like a video from four years ago, essentially. It's the same rhetoric. It's the same language. Literally, he's called her nasty already several times, I think twice yesterday.
MOORE: I think what's really dangerous, it doesn't sound like a video from four years ago. It sounds like a video from 40 years ago. The level of divisiveness and backwards-looking ideology that he continues to introduce into the public discourse is incredibly troubling. And I think it also is important to show that distinct difference between these two.
It's sad to hear that this is going to be the line of attack that he has to do, and in the way that I think we need to defend it and the way we need to protect against it is by making sure the energy stays high and that we win decisively in November.
COOPER: Governor Wes Moore, thanks for your time.
MOORE: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Still ahead, an integral yet often overlooked part of most presidential campaigns, the music.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We choose freedom.
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Our Randi Kaye looks at how various tunes have helped shape campaigns over the years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The freedom not just to get by, but give ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:55:51]
COOPER: As we mentioned in the top of broadcast today, Vice President Harris released her first campaign video featuring a familiar tune from one of the world's biggest music stars, Beyonce.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We choose freedom.
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That's Beyonce's song, "Freedom," in the background. Harris also walked out to that song during her first official visit to her campaign headquarters Monday. Beyonce hasn't officially endorsed Harris. She did give the Harris campaign permission to use the song.
But Harris is far from the first candidate to use music to try and help shape their campaign. Randi Kaye has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SINGING) RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One of the best- known political campaign songs of all time, "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too." The 1840 hit sang the praises of Whig Party candidates William Henry Harrison and his running mate John Tyler. The song referenced the site of Harrison's 1811 battle between his Indiana militia and Native Americans.
For years, candidates used folk songs and show tunes before that gave way to the popular music of today, all of it setting the tone for a campaign. In 1960, Frank Sinatra changed the lyrics of one of his hit songs, "High Hopes," tailoring it to John F. Kennedy, the Democratic candidate for president.
(SINGING)
KAYE (voice-over): This was Michael Dukakis at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, with a little help from artist Neil Diamond.
(SINGING)
KAYE (voice-over): By 1992, Bill Clinton leaned on a hit song from 1977, "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow," by Fleetwood Mac, and turned it into his anthem.
(SINGING)
KAYE (voice-over): For Barack Obama's campaigns, it always came back to Stevie Wonder.
(SINGING)
KAYE (voice-over): And for Mitt Romney --
REP. MITT ROMNEY (R), UTAH: So I'm happy to introduce a son of Detroit, a friend, a guy who makes great music, who introduces me by DVD everywhere I go, Kid Rock.
KAYE (voice-over): Kid Rock's 2010 hit, "Born Free," was his go-to song in 2012.
(SINGING)
KAYE (voice-over): In 2016, Rachel Platten's pop anthem, "Fight Song," became the unofficial anthem of Hillary Clinton's campaign.
(SINGING)
KAYE (voice-over): In 2020, then-president-elect Joe Biden celebrated with Coldplay's Sky Full of Stars after he was declared the winner on November 7th.
(SINGING)
KAYE (voice-over): And at his inauguration, Katy Perry.
(SINGING) KAYE (voice-over): More recently, President Biden had been using Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down."
(SINGING)
KAYE (voice-over): For years, former President Donald Trump favored songs from the Village People.
(SINGING)
KAYE (voice-over): Until a cease-and-desist letter from the band put an end to that. Trump's preferred entrance song, Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA."
(SINGING)
KAYE (voice-over): And at the RNC convention last week, this was Kid Rock warming up the crowd.
(SINGING)
KID ROCK, AMERICAN MUSICIAN AND SINGER: What up, America? If you're ready for President Trump to take the stage, I need everybody to stand up. I need everybody.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE (on-camera): And, Anderson, over the years, a long list of artists have sent Donald Trump cease-and-desist letters after he was using their music. The estate of Tom Petty, after the artist passed away, sent a letter to the Trump campaign saying, Tom Petty would never want a song used for a campaign of hate.
The same goes for the artist Prince. He also got a letter from the estate for Prince saying, please stop using the music. And more interesting, Anderson, is what happened in 2018. Pharrell Williams sent a letter to the Trump campaign saying, stopped using the music because his hit song "Happy" had been used just hours at a campaign event, just hours after nearly 12 people had been gunned down at a Pittsburgh synagogue. So there's a history of this with Donald Trump, Anderson.
COOPER: Randi Kaye, thanks so much.
The news continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now.
