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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Protesters Flood Israel's Streets To Demand Ceasefire, Hostage Deal; Biden: Netanyahu Not Doing Enough To Secure Deal; Trump Claims He Had "Every Right" To Interfere With 2020 Election. Biden & Harris To Make Labor Day Pitch To Union Voters; U.S. Government Seizes Venezuelan President Maduro's Airplane. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired September 02, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:01]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The museum's director says they'll use the restoration process as a learning lesson and they actually want the family to be a part of it.
And this is pretty cute, as a gift, the book boy gave the staff a clay jar of his own, his little gift to them.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: That was adorable. That should go on display.
KEILAR: I think so. Maybe not in the same place. It needs a glass barrier.
BROWN: It needs a glass barrier. Exactly. What a sweet story.
KEILAR: Protect the ancient artifact.
THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts right now.
(MUSIC)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: Grief, anger, and critical questions in Israel.
THE LEAD starts right now.
Protests erupt on the streets of Israel after the bodies of six hostages killed by Hamas, including an American citizen, were found over the weekend. Today, President Biden met with his top officials as he prepares to present a final deal for a ceasefire and hostage release.
Plus, as his legal team braces for a whirlwind couple of weeks in multiple criminal cases, Donald Trump offers up his latest defense for his actions after the 2020 election.
And, the United States makes an unprecedented move, seizing a plane considered to be other country's Air Force One. Could this lead to a serious escalation?
(MUSIC) MATTINGLY: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Phil Mattingly, in for Jake Tapper.
We start with our world lead and a sea of protests in Israel after the worst spheres came true for the families of six hostages, their loved ones and in body bags this weekend, Israel's health ministry believes they were shot by their Hamas captors in Gaza at close range, shortly before the Israeli military reach them. One of the six is 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, dual Israeli American citizen, whose parents have joined this show several times.
Today, his mother, Rachel Goldberg, spoke at her son's funeral.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL GOLDBERG, MOTHER OF HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN: If there was something we could have done to save you and we didn't think of it, I beg your forgiveness. We tried so very hard so deeply in desperately. I'm sorry.
Now, my Hersh, I asked for your help as we transform our hope into grief in this new unknown brand of pain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: And now, grief has transformed to anger for hundreds of thousands of Israelis. Today, a nationwide strike in many still on the streets of Jerusalem at this late hour, calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure a hostage and ceasefire deal.
Despite that, Netanyahu dug-in today, attempting to justify Israel's continued war with Hamas, insisting Israel will not withdraw from a key area of southern Gaza, a major sticking point in the proposed negotiations. President Biden answered with his own pressure on Netanyahu, pitching a take it or leave it deal which "The Washington Post" reports, if it's not accepted by both parties will mark the end of the American-led talks.
Three of the six murdered hostages, including American Hersh Goldberg- Polin, were expected to be released in the first round of the latest deal. There are now just for American hostages believed to still be alive in Gaza.
Let's get straight to CNN's Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv.
Jeremy, you've been watching these protests unfold over the course of really the entire day. Give us a sense right now of the anger on the ground there.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Phil, over the last 24 hours, we have witnessed nearly constant protests, not only here in Tel Aviv, but across Israel. And in those protests, yes, there has been anger, but there has also been grief, anguish despair, so many emotions mixed in these protests. But above all, what fitness was a call to action as protesters demanded that this Israeli government change course and prioritize reaching a hostage deal. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND (voice-over): Outrage in the streets of Tel Aviv. For the second night in a row, tens of thousands raising their voices, demanding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strike a deal to bring home the hostages alive.
This outpouring of grief, anger, and frustration prompted by the deaths of six Israeli hostages whose bodies were recovered over the weekend. Hamas executed them hours before Israeli troops discovered the tunnel where they were being held.
But to many here, their deaths are a grizzly reminder of the Israeli government's failure.
MIMI ZEMAH, PROTESTER: The day before, they were alive. You saw their names on the deal that could have been signed. Three names are on that and they're not here.
GIL DICKMANN, RELATIVE OF HOSTAGE: We know that Hamas has agreed to a deal at some point and Israel was the one putting on more and more terms and actually postponing the deal, and right now, we know that decisions that our Prime Minister Netanyahu has made, made it impossible for Carmel and other hostages to return and put their lives in great danger, and that's what killed them.
DIAMOND: Netanyahu, meanwhile, doubling down on a core Israeli demand that has been a sticking point in negotiations, and blaming Hamas.
[16:05:06]
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The evil axis needs the Philadelphi corridor. And for that reason, we must keep control of the Philadelphi corridor. This is why Hamas insisted we're not going to be there. And this is why I insist that we are going to be there.
DIAMOND: In Israel, the pressure is building on Netanyahu. Schools closed early, flights delayed and buses disrupted as the largest union went on strike Monday for the first time since October 7.
And in the U.S., more pressure.
REPORTER: Do you think it's time for Prime Minister Netanyahu to do more on this issue? Do you think he's doing enough?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No.
DIAMOND: For the family of 23-year-old Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, grief is now taking center stage.
GOLDBERG: I will love you and I will miss you every single day for the rest of my life. But you're right. I know you're right here. I just have to teach myself how to feel you're in a different way.
DIAMOND: And hope that this moment will be different. JON POLIN, HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN'S FATHER: For 330 days, mama and I
sought the proverbial stone that we could turn over to save you. Maybe, just maybe your death is the stone to fuel that will bring home the remaining 101 hostages.
DIAMOND: That his son's death will not be in vain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND (on camera): And, Phil, that hope that we heard from Hersh's father, that his sons death might be a catalyst for change, it doesn't seem to have anywhere to go right now. And that's because these really prime minister really doubling down on his position that he will not budge over this demand that Israeli troops retain control of the Philadelphi corridor that strip of land between Gaza Egypt's border, and Hamas is insisting that Israeli troops withdraw from there and that leaves these two sides deadlocked.
But for now, the hostage families they are keeping up their fight, calling for more protests tomorrow -- Phil.
MATTINGLY: Jeremy Diamond, live for us in Tel Aviv. Thanks so much.
Meanwhile, as former President Trump tries to pin blame directly on his opponents for what happened in Gaza this weekend, President Biden, Vice President Harris, just arrived in Pittsburgh for a joint Labor Day rally.
CNN's Kayla Tausche is there for us.
Kayla, they will be in public at a campaign event shortly but they were also together this morning behind closed doors in the Situation Room. What's the latest from White House officials?
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Phil, the vice president and the president are going to seek to shift into campaign mode here in Pittsburgh in front of a very full union hall after grappling with the devastating events over the weekend. President Biden adjusting his schedule, returning to the White House this morning to helm that meeting in the Situation Room where he and the vice president, which the White House listed out by name were both discussing with their national security team at this situation that unfolded in Rafah over the weekend, as well as the latest on the ceasefire and hostage negotiations, which have been going on for weeks after the U.S. convene an emergency summit in the region on August 15th, where it believes that that would be the beginning of the final stages toward a final deal.
You heard President Biden in Jeremy's piece say that he believes that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not doing enough, underscoring these long simmering tensions between the two leaders, even as President Biden has been reluctant to publicly criticize Prime Minister Netanyahu. But when pressed about what specific typically he wanted to see the prime minister do. This was how was how Biden responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BIDEN: We're in the middle of negotiations. We're still in negotiating -- not with him, but my colleagues from Qatar and Egypt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAUSCHE: Now, after a hostage and ceasefire deal has alluded the United States and its partners for the better part of a year at this point, President Biden was asked why he has any optimism left that he can could get a deal this time around. And he said, Phil, simply, hope springs eternal.
MATTINGLY: Kayla Tausche for us on the ground in Pittsburgh, thanks so much.
Joining us now is Alon Pinkas, columnist for "Haaretz" and former Israeli consul general in New York.
We appreciate your time.
Given what we've seen on the ground over the course of the last 24 hours, you heard Jeremy reporting on, is it your sense right now that the country is on the cusp of a turning point?
ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK: Yes, but we've all been wrong, Phil, about this before because there was a -- there was a sense that immediately after the debacle and the calamity of October 7, that within a few weeks, people will fill the streets with anger and frustration and protests. That didn't happen for a variety of reasons. I doubt we have time to discuss that.
But as time went by, the incentives for people to go out in the streets was severely diminished. Now what you have is a confluence of anger, frustration fury that people feel toward Netanyahu, a sense that he has undermined time and time again and lied about, a hostage deal.
[16:10:12]
And parallel to that, this is where the two are confluences, parallel to that, you have the IDF, the Israel defense force's chief of staff, you have the head of the Shabak, the general security service, and the head of the Mossad, the equivalent of the CIA, all opposing Mr. Netanyahu, on top of which his own defense minister on Thursday, last Thursday, warned that failure to secure a deal would result in the executions of hostages, and that's exactly what happened 36 hours later.
So, yes, there is a sense that perhaps this is a tipping point, but if I may add one more sentence field you know, these kind of demonstrations, this kind of outpouring of public outrage and anger it's only measured by how sustainable it is.
I mean, won huge demonstration, the one that took place yesterday, is not enough. You also need political action parallel to that. But let me put it this way. Mr. Netanyahu is his standing in front of the political abyss right now. MATTINGLY: Is there anything that would -- based on what we saw, the prime minister came out and aggressively defended his position has red line on the Philadelphi corridor. It doesn't seem like he's -- if he's feeling that pressure is certainly not showing it, he's not moving off where he is right now.
Do you see anything changing that?
PINKAS: No, I don't. But I got to tell you something, Phil. He's been confabulating. I mean, he gave this -- this speech of sorts about the strategic importance of a ten miles stretch of road called the Philadelphi corridor, but he's he forgot to mention two things.
The first is that as the minister in Ariel Sharon's government during the disengagement of 2005 when Israel evacuated Gaza, he, Mr. Netanyahu, twice voted for this road to stay under Egyptian control.
Secondly, he's been prime minister since 2009. What has he done in terms of the Philadelphi corridor that he's promising to do now? This is 2009 is 15 years ago and -- or 16 years ago. So I don't think anyone takes him seriously.
On the other hand, on the other hand, he's not budging. He is adamant that we should you should stay there he is not doing a good job in explaining to the average Israeli why this has any strategic importance and he knows. And that's, that's probably the most compelling and important things, Phil, he knows that through his speech tonight, statements turned into a speech, he basically -- he basically I'm sorry condemned more hostages to their death.
MATTINGLY: The idea of the diplomatic plan or strategy to kind of say, this is it, lasts proposal, best proposal that U.S. officials have been discussing with their counterparts, do you see that as doomed to fail at this point?
PINKAS: Well, it's doomed to fail unless, unless the U.S., unless the Biden administration exerts real pressure on Israel and by real pressure, I mean, things that they have not even considered doing until now, let alone are threatened to do.
Only real pressure and I'm not saying I'm welcoming think this kind of pressure. I wish it would be via mutual consent, understanding and cooperation. But without significant American pressure sure this would not -- I just don't see this moving.
Look, just today, the newspaper Israel published the story by Mr. Ronen Bergman also writes for "The New York Times" --
MATTINGLY: Yeah.
PINKAS: -- divulging or, you know, showing in fact, the documents dated July 27th, just five weeks ago, in which Mr. Netanyahu basically undermined the deal, the U.S. knew about this. Yet for five weeks, the U.S. essentially think about this.
MATTINGLY: Alon Pinkas, very complex situation. Appreciate your time, trying to explain it. Thanks so much.
PINKAS: Thank you, Phil.
MATTINGLY: Well, Donald Trump's lawyers are buckling down for a busy few weeks in the courtroom, but could Trump's latest comments hurt him in one of those criminal cases?
Plus, President Biden, Vice President Harris is moments away from teaming up on the campaign trail as they fight to win over union voters. How crucial will that labor support be this fall?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:18:46]
MATTINGLY: In our 2024 lead as former President Trump now faces an updated indictment and the federal election interference case against him, he is not denying that he interfered in the election. Listen to what he told Fox last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's so crazy that my poll numbers go up. Whoever heard, you get indicted for interfering with a presidential election, where you have every right to do it, you get indicted and you poll numbers go up?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Our great panel is here.
I want to start with you, Kristen Holmes. A judge in D.C. is going to consider how to move forward on this case at some point this week. It's a question. What are you hearing from Trump world about those comments if they're worried about what they may mean?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's more of an annoyance from the advisors that I talked to rather than an actual legal issue. I've spoken to a number of legal experts as well who say they think its unlikely that this is going to somehow impact his case. Overall, though they feel good about where the January 6 cases.
Obviously, Donald Trump's legal problems are a lot less worrisome to him if he wins the election in November, which is what they are hoping for because then, of course, he will plan to dismiss those cases that are brought by the Justice Department.
But right now, when it comes to that election interference case overall, one with the presidential immunity, they do believe that it's likely that this is going to get tied up in the courts for possibly years to come, even if Donald Trump isn't elected, just given the fact that there can be an appeal after appeal citing presidential immunity.
[16:20:11]
And two, the big one. They don't think this is going to trial before the election, which is their hope all along.
MATTINGLY: You know, as a -- you're a policy guy, and your specific policy area of expertise is one I think Republicans would love for the former president to be talking about as much as possible on energy issues. What are Republicans thinking when they see that?
NEIL CHATTERJEE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Look, I think a lot of this is baked in and the president has shown a remarkable ability to do jiu-jitsu and take things that would have been damning to another campaign and flip them and kind of get his base excited.
That said, this is looking backwards. The election starts for real tomorrow and I think every moment the president is campaign are spending talking about the past is a missed opportunity to kind of make this election about the future and defining the vice president and the delta between them and the path forward.
MATTINGLY: You know, Christy, to that point, and we're about to see the joint appearance by President Biden, Vice President Harris on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, an absolutely critical state.
How should Democrats deal with these specific issues?
CHRISTY SETZER, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: They should call attention to them every chance they get. And as you may have seen, Kamala Harris's campaign already put out a press release about it, calling attention to his comments.
I think what is interesting to me a couple of things. One is that Trump seems more emboldened in the fact that he can do whatever he wants. He also seems to be leaning into what I see as a court strategy when he tells voters that we have all the votes we need, when he tells Christian voters just vote this one time. Next time we'll have it fixed. What that says to me is a he truly believes that whether or not he has more votes at the end of the day, the courts -- specifically the Supreme Court, will come in and save him.
Again, I don't know if that's actually the case, but it seems to be what he believes.
MATTINGLY: Kristen, we're I think, what, a week from the debate at this point roughly.
HOLMES: Yep.
MATTINGLY: It's a holiday. I'm trying.
Things seem to have settled a little bit into after a bonkers six weeks or so, when you talked to Trump officials, where do they see this race at this point in time?
HOLMES: I will say that talking to some of these advisors this morning, this was the most confident that I had heard them in some time. They feel like the balance is over and that were in the real race now, I think there had been some concern despite what they were saying that, you know, oh, we know this is a balance. We know that this is going to land.
That maybe this wouldn't land, three months is not that long. What if this chance she can pull this out the entire time with all this enthusiasm, all of this booth just in the poll numbers? Think what they believe now is that they're getting to a point, as you said, that the racist settling and that they can now actually move forward in a way that they can break through.
I mean, the biggest problem that they've really had for the last several weeks is that one, none of Donald Trump's attack lines seem to be landing at all. And two, she's really appeared like Teflon. There's been so much excitement from Democrats that she's not Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, that everything that they've tried to put out there against her has kind of fallen flat.
And now I think they feel at least talking to them today, that they in a position that they can strike that. They can actually move forward with this campaign. It's not just this bubble of Kamala Harris is in, were very excited about her, these poll numbers are up in the air and that kind of thing.
MATTINGLY: It's interesting, it's interesting. You're talking to campaign -- Harris campaign team, and they're very, very clear. This is going to be razor thin no matter what.
They say that they are the underdogs, whether they are, aren't, the overdog and underdog here is like pretty much the same. Do Democrats writ large, understand that? Like did they get that the last six weeks have been an explosion of on some level relief, on some level of momentum, but its about to become a real grind here.
SETZER: I'd say they're calibrating it right, which is to say that I cant think of a Democrat that takes this race for granted because again, we all remember all too clearly what happened in 2016. And even 2020 where the polls consistently shown Joe Biden ahead, there was still this fear that yes, he's probably going to get more votes. And also, lets see what levers of power Donald Trump uses to try to take it back, right? Which in fact he did.
So I would say that look, there's a lot of metrics by now that the campaign should feel very, very good about, whether it's polling, whether it's money volunteers filling stadiums of supporters, all of that they should feel great about. But they also are realists and they know that there is an Electoral College advantage for Republicans. And they know that there's still a lot of time left.
HOLMES: Yeah, and there's a reason they're in Pennsylvania today, which is critical states, it's also critical state on the energy front.
And I have to ask you, I know Kristen's picked up on this as well. The last week or two, the former president has started pledged to cut energy prices in half for Americans within a year. And he also said in Michigan last week, they've declared a national emergency on an energy.
Is that possible the former than the latter? What is it? What would that mean?
CHATTERJEE: Like you said at the front, I'm a policy guy. So this is the stuff I think about all day long.
MATTINGLY: Yeah.
[16:25:00]
CHATTERJEE: Look, prices are up. We focus so much at the pump. Folks haven't noticed how much utility bills have gone up, how much electricity prices.
MATTINGLY: But cutting them in half in a year.
CHATTERJEE: There are things that can be done. My former agency certainly focuses on things like oversight of power markets and there are policy steps that can be taken to bring down the cost of electricity. Some of that means slowing the pace of retirement. Some of that means increasing things like natural gas production in a state like Pennsylvania.
And I think the president is trying to draw that distinction between himself and Vice President Harris. And I think that's why there's been so much of a focus on her flip-flopping on fracking. Now, she may say right now that she is not going to ban fracking in Pennsylvania.
But if you actually look at steps the administration has taken the last 3-1/2 years, they've put a stop to exporting liquefied natural gas they have made it more difficult to build out the natural gas pipelines that are necessary to move the product. And they've proposed a litany of rules out of EPA that are driving up a prices for consumers when they hit the switch and turn the lights on.
And so, there are definitely things that a change in policy could do to bring down the cost of electricity.
MATTINGLY: But just quickly because we're out of time. But would you advise a political candidate to promise to cut energy prices in half knowing how markets work?
CHATTERJEE: Look, presidents of all campaigns, of all political parties always promised to do things to bring prices down. It's about setting the policy tone and then going about and trying to effectuate it.
MATTINGLY: All right, guys, stick around. We got a lot more to get to.
Any path to the White House likely includes victories in those blue wall states. And ahead, I'll be joined by a mayor from one of those states where Governor Walz just wrapped up a campaign event. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:31:09] PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: We're back with our 2024 lead.
At any moment, we'll see President Joe Biden take the stage in Pittsburgh to rally for his vice president, Kamala Harris.
Let's bring back in our panel.
Neil, one more thing from the Fox interview that was striking to me. Actually, let's just listen to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can remember and this was when Republicans came up to me in one of my campaigns and they said, Tim is in the pocket of organized labor. I said that's a damn lie. I am the pocket.
If you want to attack me for standing up for collective bargaining, for fair wages, for safe working conditions, for health care and retirement, you roll the damn dice, I'll take my chances on that. I'll take my chances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Neil, this is not a mainstream media bait and switch that was obviously Tim Walz and that actually brings me to what I wanted to talk about in this block, which is the union vote, which is it's fascinating to me, it's been fascinating to me since 2016.
There is clearly a bare-knuckle brawl going on in the political side leadership sides of Democrats that has long been the case. I think nine of the ten biggest unions have endorsed. Rank and file is a different story here. You see Tim Walz. Obviously, it's going to be a primary focus for the president, vice president today. Where does it all net out to you right now?
NEIL CHATTERJEE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yeah, look, there's a big cultural fight going on there. Where Donald Trump I think has been successful, is in turning the Republican coalition until more of a working class populist coalition, which is attractive to a lot of these union voters who look at things like these EPA regulations that are driving out jobs in the energy space who see concerns about the long-term trajectory and they're, you know, sensing appeal from the message that is coming from the Trump campaign.
I also think the Harris-Walz campaign are making some tactical error. So my understanding is today they're going to announce that she's coming out against the U.S. steel deal, similar to what she did in Nevada when she copied Trumps policy on no taxes on tips, she is copying Trump's policies here. He came out against this deal --
MATTINGLY: Isn't she copying Joe Biden's policy today?
CHATTERJEE: Well, of course, he's been in the job for three-and-a- half years. But the irony here is from a policy perspective, the real way she could have demonstrated leadership here was actually coming out in support of this deal because this is actually a very good deal for Pennsylvania. It's going to save this company is going to keep those jobs in Pittsburgh.
She could have demonstrated real leadership. It might not have polled as well, but I think it would have had a broader impact of signaling, I'm going to do the right thing. I'm going to pursue smart policies. I think would have appeal to union voters and a broader swath of the electorate.
Instead, she pandered to voters in Pennsylvania by just copying Donald Trump. And I don't think that's an effective way to court these voters.
MATTINGLY: Christy, to you?
CHRISTY SETZER, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: All right. A lot going on here, the first thing is that it is absolutely true that Donald Trump has made inroads with the rank and file union members. I would say that a lot of that is about demographics as much does anything. We were just talking about. There's certain unions that are just overwhelmingly comprised of white working class men that are basically his base. So it's no surprise there.
In Pittsburgh today, look, this is a smart contrast for them. I think for the Harris campaign in that they are talking about an issue in which it might be the case that U.S. steel thinks that's a good deal, but U.S. steel workers and the labor union certainly do not. Obviously, they want to position themselves as on behalf of workers.
So I think that's smart. Obviously, the economy is an issue that is always going to be, if not the top, one of the top issues. So I think they're playing it right.
MATTINGLY: Kristen, do they -- does the Trump campaign have a number? Like do they know -- like they know their margins so well, kind of across every single county? So they have a sense of how many union voters they need to peel off or what the kind of split between the two needs to be for them to be able to win in a Pennsylvania or in Michigan.
[16:35:06]
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't think they have a specific number, but, of course, they are watching all those margins very carefully and both sides understand that this is going to be an election that is determined mean by razor-thin margins, and so any vote that they can siphon off.
I will say that -- I do want to push back on one thing. I actually don't think it's necessarily just demographics because I think that you're also seeing Donald Trump make inroads with other communities that have normally shifted and voted Democratic for sample like Black men.
I think that part of the appeal is something that were seeing with Donald Trump at that is -- defies that we have known for politics for the last several decades, which is these traditional voting bloc he has managed to infiltrate and change the structure of. And yes, overall rank and file members, that's who's kind of going towards Donald Trump, but you're also seeing these, as I said, Black men.
But the other part of this is that as these different groups move forward, they're all saying the same thing. They're not actually talking about, just like EV mandates or working regulations. They're talking about the economy. They're talking about inflation, talking about immigration and crime. That is why his campaign is stressing. So hard that that's what he should be talking about because they're not necessarily just focused on the policies that help them in their jobs or help them moving forward.
They're focused on putting groceries are putting food on the table and putting gasoline in their car. And that's what they want Donald Trump to be focused on. Now, obviously, Donald Trump himself cannot focus on the things very well, but they do believe at the end of the day, if he can if he can focus on that messaging, he can infiltrate these traditional voting blocs that maybe went Democratic or went to win independent or even Republicans. We've seen them go in different direction because of Donald Trumps personality.
So I think that's really what you've seen with him and maybe it'll go back eventually when Donald Trump is no longer in the race, but its been a real change in what we know of politics.
MATTINGLY: Yes, there's five or six like fascinating crosstabs, tracked with historical precedent. We'll have to wait and see.
All right, guys. Thank you very much.
We got a lot more to get to. President Biden is about to make their return to the campaign trail in a joint appearance with Vice President Harris as she fights for votes in what could be the most important of the battlegrounds in this next election. That's live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:41:38]
MATTINGLY: In just a few minutes, we expect to see Vice President Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh, right there on your screen, alongside her most prominent support, the president of the United States. This will be their first joint campaign events since President Biden dropped out of the race. And it comes just moments after Harris's running mate, Governor Tim Walz, spoke in Milwaukee and played some of that sound last block.
Here now is Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson.
Mr. Mayor, appreciate your time. We already spoke during the break about how much I enjoyed your city during the Republican Convention.
The question from the Democratic side I think everybody realizes how close this race is going to be, is can Donald Trump peel off a broad swath of support from unions? Are Democrats worried about that right now?
MAYOR CAVALIER JOHNSON (D), MILWAUKEE: Well, I mean, I can tell you this that we know this is going to be a close election and Democrats are taking nothing for granted here in Milwaukee, in Wisconsin generally, and Democrats led by vice president have made just substantial early and often investments into communities that we need to invest in order to win this race.
So we know that Donald Trump is attempting, attempting being the operative word to make inroads with a number of different groups but Democrats will continue to fight for every single vote and not take any single -- not take any vote for granted.
That's part of the reason why Governor Walz which was here with us at labor festival in Milwaukee today.
MATTINGLY: There were a lot of fascinating moments at the Republican Convention in your city. Hulk Hogan certainly was -- the one from a policy and political perspective that I've found most interesting was the Teamsters Union head actually spoke at the convention, and he said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN O'BRIEN, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS: Half of our members are Republicans, half of our members a Democrat, so we have to serve all of our membership equally. You don't hire someone unless you give them an interview and, you know, this is our opportunity to ask her about Teamster-specific issues and also labor issues.
So until we have that meeting, you know, obviously, we will wait to make that determination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Mr. Mayor, the teamsters union has more than 1 million members. Their leader was not actually invited to the Democratic Convention. How important is his endorsement is the Teamsters endorsement right now?
JOHNSON: Well, look, its important to have somebody ran for president of the United States and somebody who will be president of the United States who understands the value of the hard working men and women of the United States. I mean, just think about it, today's a holiday. It's Labor Day. A lot of folks have the day off, many folks enjoy overtime pay, many folks enjoy having the weekend to have time with their friends, have time with their family, and all of that.
That's all thanks to unions and there's only one candidate in this race right now who came up in a middle-class household. That's Kamala Harris.
So she wants to make sure that all families have those same sort of values and the same sort of leg up that middle-class families need. There's only one candidate in this race would sign the Pro Act into law. And that's Kamala Harris. And there's only one candidate in this race that make sure that their campaign pay their bills and works to make sure that the little guy gets their fair.
So I think at the end of the day, folk with the proper amount of organizing, including the unions, will come to see that Kamala Harris is the best choice to serve as the 47th president of this country.
MATTINGLY: Mr. Mayor, the vice president, has not bitten when people have asked her about personal attacks from the former president.
[16:45:06]
The former president now has a new attack. He's accusing her of lying about a college summer job on Truth Social posting, a photoshopped image of the vice president along with this quote, kamala said she worked at McDonald's. She never did, lie.
What's your reaction to something like this?
JOHNSON: I mean, it's no wonder why that, you know, she would not pay any interests are attention to that. We have to focus on what's important. We have to focus in on what the issues are, the things that are important to the American people, not these baseless accusations leaves lives, these folks that are just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. I mean, it's kind of ridiculous really.
And so that's what Kamala Harris is going. She's focusing in on what's important to the American people, not who worked at what summer job. I mean, if she -- if she flipped burgers in made and made fries at McDonald's, then I take her at her word that she made fries at McDonald's. I mean, I don't think that my first job is on my resume. I was a custodian at the YMCA here in Milwaukee.
But today, I'm the mayor and delivering for the people of my city, just like she's the vice president delivering for people America and as president of the United States, she's going to deliver for all Americans, we should be focused on that.
MATTINGLY: Mayor Cavalier Johnson, one of the most important cities and one of the most important states as we head to November, thanks so much for your time.
JOHNSON: Thank you.
MATTINGLY: Well, a stunning move today is the U.S. sees the plane belonging to a world leader and then flew to Florida. What happens now? Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:51:01]
MATTINGLY: After more than 30 years, the stars of the original movie "Beetlejuice" are reuniting for the sequel. The film is distributed by Warner brothers, which like CNN is part of Warner Brothers Discovery.
CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister sat down with the cast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three iconic words.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody can say it three times.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like, what about saying it twice?
WAGMEISTER: Three iconic women returning to that ghostly comedy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The juice is loose.
WAGMEISTER: -- 36 years after the original.
Catherine O'Hara.
CATHERINE O'HARA, ACTRESS: I'm trying to capture the perfect primal scream.
WAGMEISTER: -- and Winona Ryder --
WINONA RYDER, ACTRESS: I can't believe I'm doing this.
WAGMEISTER: -- reprise their roles in the long-awaited sequel to "Beetlejuice".
It took a long time, but why is now the right time for this?
O'HARA: Jena had to be born --
RYDER: Yeah.
O'HARA: -- and become an actress.
JENNA ORTEGA, ACTRESS: I think I'm going to love it here.
WAGMEISTER: Fresh off Netflix's monster hit Wednesday, Jenna Ortega plays Ryder's daughter and O'Hara's granddaughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is your mom, Lydia Deetz?
ORTEGA: Unfortunately.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's a legend.
WAGMEISTER: All three women sat down with CNN ahead of the films release.
I love sitting with the three of you because it's the three generations of women of this film.
Jenna, what did you learn from working with Winona and Catherine?
ORTEGA: First of all, comedy legend. Everything that you guys call myself absolutely perfect. I feel like Winona has this quality to her that that's why you're like the perfect Lydia, because you feel like you know where you feel like you relate to her, but there still something there that's unattainable and it belongs to just you.
WAGMEISTER: The sequel finds the Deetz family back home where Beetlejuice first haunted them. When Ortega's asteroid accidentally opened the portal to the afterlife, Michael Keaton's Beetlejuice is unleashed all over again.
O'HARA: I honestly did not know that this movie so loved. The right age, I guess, the nostalgic sort of value of it really means something to them.
Ryder: There's just nothing like it. It's in its own genre. That is a testament to Tim.
WAGMEISTER: Tim Burton returns to direct the sequel to the 1988 classic.
TIM BURTON, DIRECTOR, "BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE": Is that a movie that could have been made in like 1989? It really was the anchor to this three generations of the Deetz.
WAGMEISTER: And also made Wednesday with Ortega a natural choice for Beetlejuice, even though she wasn't born when the original came out, she saw decades later at age nine.
And what do you remember about watching it?
ORTEGA: I remember sweating a lot because as I saw drunk Beetlejuice costume when I was 6-years-old, that costume party. And she's terrified me.
WAGMEISTER: As for a third movie, likely titled with those three curse words.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.
WGMEISTER: -- these generational stars say they could be back for more.
O'HARA: Yeah, like to be live 30 years.
WAGMEISTER: Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: Well, any moment, President Biden joins Vice President Harris in the crucial battleground of Pennsylvania. We'll bring it to you live, ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:58:23]
MATTINGLY: In our last leads today, the U.S. government seized the plane described as the Air Force One of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro flew around the world, but U.S. officials say he violated U.S. sanctions to buy it. So when the plane was in Dominican Republic for maintenance, the U.S. seized it and it flew to Florida. Fair to say, this only adds frosty relationship between the two countries.
Well, tonight on CNN, a direct comparison where Kamala Harris and Donald Trump stand on major issues. It's a revealing back-to-back look broken down by CNN's Audie Cornish and Abby Phillip.
Here's a preview of one hot-button issue, abortion rights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The vice president traveled the country on what she called a fight for reproductive freedoms tour. Harris is believed to be the first sitting being vice president or president to visit an abortion clinic.
Visiting a clinic that's something politically that was seen as like a fascinating moment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. And she also took the message into those suburban areas that we typically please don't go into.
CORNISH: With her on that tour, her future running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
JASMINE WRIGHT, REPORTER, NOTUS: Walz really impressed her by being by her side in that moment. And so I think this is a doubling down on the understanding that this campaign is in so many ways about reproductive rights.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For 54 years, they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated. And I did it.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): But the reversal of Roe would become a loss at the ballot box, blunting the expected red wave in the 2022 midterms, and being very unpopular with voters as Trump approaches 2024.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS: He doesn't know how to talk about it everybody does.
TRUMP: Hello, obviously.
COLLINS: Does he tout it? Does he distance himself from it? He seems to choose a mixture of both.
(CHANTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: It's back-to-back episodes of "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" starts tonight at 8:00 Eastern here for on CNN.
The news continues on CNN. Alex Marquardt in for Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM".
