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CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip
Harris and Trump Pitch Themselves as the Populist Candidate; Schools Say, No, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) Didn't Order Tampons in Boys' Bathrooms; Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) Says, Ethnic Enclaves Cause Higher Crime Rates; Trump Takes A Swipe At Medal Of Honor Recipients While Awarding A Republican Megadonor The Presidential Medal Of Freedom; U.S. Athlete Simone Biles Posts On Instagram, Says She's Still Not Over It. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired August 16, 2024 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Tonight, populist --
KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Together, we will build an opportunity economy.
PHILLIP: -- versus populist.
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: She could have at least said, you know, President Trump had some great ideas.
PHILLIP: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump bet big on economic sweeteners for the middle and lower class.
Plus, J.D. Vance is explaining.
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Has anybody ever seen the movie Gangs of New York?
PHILLIP: Again.
VANCE: These massive ethnic enclaves forming in our country, it can sometimes lead to higher crime rates.
PHILLIP: After missing the meaning --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a night for Americans.
PHILLIP: -- in a Martin Scorsese epic.
Also, Donald Trump dishonors vets.
TRUMP: Everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor.
PHILLIP: -- who give their last full measure of devotion.
TRUMP: Hit so many times by bullets or they're dead.
PHILLIP: And ready, set, study. Tulsi Gabbard and Philippe Reines get called up to help Trump and Harris prepare for a monumental debate clash.
Live at the table, Keith Boykin, Marc Lotter, Nayyera Haq and Jason Osborne. Welcome to a special edition of NewsNight, State of the Race.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIP (on camera): Good Friday evening to you. I'm Abby Philip in New York.
And let's just get right to what America is talking about, the candidates trying to prove it, it being who is more populist.
We're here at the table and in our fifth seat, we've got Linette Lopez, senior correspondent for Business Insider.
Kamala Harris today taking the populist argument right to Donald Trump. I want you to listen to how she framed why she has the right message and he doesn't.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Donald Trump's plans to devastate the middle class, punish working people, and make the cost of living go up for millions of Americans, and on the other hand, when I'm elected president, what we'll do to bring down costs, increase the security and stability financially of your family and expand opportunity for working and middle class Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: So, now a smart strategy to take the populism right to Donald Trump, he's had basically ownership of this message since 2016. Can she do it?
NAYYERA HAQ, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SENIOR DIRECTOR, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Well, his message has been very limiting, right? It has appealed to some of the cultural outrage of the white working class. Part of what Vice President Harris did today was appeal to millennials, younger folks, new parents, people trying to buy homes. We know that millennials are not going to be able to buy homes and have the economic growth compared to generations before, telling them that there's going to be an incentive, a financial Way that they can get that first starter home helpful.
The $6,000 tax credit for new parents, hugely helpful. There are ways that these issues and policies can be implemented, granted those were not laid out, but appealing to this rising generation that is feeling the economic pinch is a group that Trump and J.D. Vance have simply not been able to appeal to.
JASON OSBORNE, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP 2016 CAMPAIGN: I find it interesting because the last three and a half years, that has not been the message. That is not the reality that many Americans are feeling right now, right?
If you look at the difference between Trump and Kamala, you've got a record with Donald Trump where the economy was good, that people could actually afford homes, they could afford rent, they could afford groceries.
LINETTE LOPEZ, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, BUSINESS INSIDER: I love the millennial. I still could not afford a home during the Trump administration. My generation would like to raise a finger to that one.
OSBORNE: If you're giving $25,000 for a first time home buyer, and they can't afford the mortgage on that home that they bought for $25,000, you're not solving the problem, you're creating more problems.
HAQ: Well, there's a supply problem, but there's also an incentive in her plan, which is something that house investors have said it's needed for years, is to incentivize more supply, more building of the starter home.
OSBORNE: So, where's that in the last three years?
HAQ: That's also part of it. Well, the last three years also have been that whole stabilize the economy issue and all the economic indicators are trending the right way.
[22:05:02]
Again, listen, I have to do the grocery shopping at home. I know it feels different than the reality of what we're seeing in indicators. That's the gap that she's filling right now.
But Trump's message to go back and say, let's do things the way I did them and just forget about the economy that happened in COVID is completely disingenuous.
PHILLIP: I would say that the housing part of the plan has some components that a lot of people think are legitimate, necessary. But there were other parts of it, Linette, that were about price gouging, that were about other things that, frankly, economists say don't make any sense economically. The Washington Post Editorial Board has a piece out tonight. The times demands serious economic ideas. Harris supplies gimmicks.
Is it a risk to put things on the table that are really, frankly not realistic?
LOPEZ: I think we need to see more plans from the Harris team, for sure, defining price got price gouging and what the situations are in which the government would get interested in how companies are controlling prices, I would need to see that myself.
PHILLIP: Yes, I mean, because that's like critically important to whether or not -- LOPEZ: That's where the game is. But let's not forget, you know, why are we taking Trump's bona fides as a populist for granted? Did anyone listen to the Elon Musk call, where Trump and Elon were chuckling about busting unions? I mean, Harold Ham, the oil billionaire, says, I'm for Trump because he's for me. You know, we're taking this for granted as if Trump's real populace, as if the things that he says are actually real.
MARC LOTTER, FORMER TRUMP 2020 DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: but the things that he did are real, they're measurable. And Kamala's speech thinks that the American people are idiots.
LOPEZ: What did he do? He cut taxes for rich people.
LOTTER: He cuts taxes for everyone. And let's be honest now. I'll have a very honest conversation about this. Hang on a second. Hang on a second. The top 1 percent paid 41 percent of the federal income tax prior to the Trump tax cuts. They paid 46 percent after the Trump tax cuts. So, it's a lie, but much like all of Kamala's speech tonight, it was a lie. She takes no blame for being the reason why grocery prices are out of control, gas prices --
KEITH BOYKIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: How is Kamala Harris the reason for that? Kamala Harris is not the president of the United States. She is the vice president.
LOTTER: And the Fed out of San Francisco even said, price gouging, corporate greed, not the reason for the skyrocketing prices.
LOPEZ: Trump's narrative of the economy is agnostic of the fact.
PHILLIP: What is Trump going to do?
LOTTER: First and foremost?
PHILLIP: What he did, maybe, that's up for debate. But what is actually the Trump economic plan? Like, what is he going to do?
LOTTER: Well, obviously I don't speak for the former president or his campaign, but he has said very clearly, the first thing you're going to do is unleash American energy.
BOYKIN: Oh, what the hell does that mean? Come on, what --
LOTTER: Well, it's really easy.
BOYKIN: Unleash that -- okay.
LOTTER: It's really easy. You get back to low gas prices.
BOYKIN: That's a campaign slogan. That's not a policy.
HAQ: Gas prices -- here's a challenge when everyone wants to talk about gas prices and why it centers so much on price gouging. There is a literal oil cartel at play that sits around and these countries decide, based on whether or not they like Russia at the moment or they like the United States, how they're going to sell barrels for oil. That's why it's called an oil cartel.
Once people pay a certain gas price, economists call it sticky. Gas prices are sticky, because they realize people will pay it and they collude, this is a key word collusion, they collude to keep prices up. They're able to do that with supply and demand. It's very straightforward.
PHILLIP: But also gas production is at the highest level.
LOTTER: No, oil, not gas.
PHILLIP: Oil production is higher than it was under Trump.
LOTTER: And refinery production is lower.
BOYKIN: Overall energy.
LOTTER: And also it's not just gas and oil. It's also energy. It's also natural gas. It's coal. It's all of those --
PHILLIP: (INAUDIBLE) under Biden. So, what else?
LOTTER: The prices are absolutely up because the energy sector realizes they have a war against the American energy. They have already said the Green New Deal, we want to get rid of fossil fuels by 2035, 2040.
LOPEZ: But isn't green energy, energy? Like, if you have an energy company --
LOTTER: It's not sustainable. That's not where we're -- it cannot pick up the gas --
PHILLIP: I thought it was very interesting --
(CROSSTALKS)
PHILLIP: I thought it was very interesting.
LOTTER: They're building a coal plant every week.
PHILLIP: Marc, I thought it was very interesting that J.D. Vance, on Sunday, rolled out $5,000 child tax credit. You were upset yesterday because Harris -- well, now she's copying it saying it's $6,000. But then the question was asked, is that actually Trump's policy? And in a statement, here's what the Trump campaign says. President Trump will consider a significant expansion of the child tax credit that applies to American families. He'll consider it. They won't say that that's his policy, that he wants it to be $5,000. Why?
LOTTER: Well, I think they're probably still putting the -- they're putting the final touches on their final -- on their tax package.
PHILLIP: He's been running for president for --
BOYKIN: Ten years. PHILLIP: -- a year-and-a-half?
BOYKIN: Ten years --
LOTTER: I understand. What they're also working though -- you're working with lawmakers right now. Trust me, they're preparing reconciliation already for January 2025, when you have the White House, the House, and the Senate, and what you can do to extend the Trump tax cuts, what you can do to get this economy moving again, those kinds of discussions are probably already happening.
[22:10:04]
BOYKIN: The economy is moving right now. In fact, the problem is the economy is moving so rapidly, that's part of the reason why we have an issue with inflation, part of the reason why we have an issue with interest rates. So, it's not that the economy hasn't been moving. We have growth. We have 15.7 million new jobs created. We lost jobs, 3 million jobs.
LOTTER: Most of those are coming back from the pandemic, by the way.
BOYKIN: We lost 3 million jobs under the pandemic under the Trump administration. We've gained 15. 7 million jobs from the Biden Harris administration.
OSBORNE: But those jobs were lost during COVID.
BOYKIN: We have the lowest black unemployment rate in history under the Biden-Harris administration. We have the lowest black poverty rate in history under the Biden-Harris administration.
LOTTER: Thank God, because they can't afford gas and groceries.
BOYKIN: No. Inflation has come down to a three-year low just last month.
LOTTER: It's still 20 percent.
BOYKIN: Inflation is below 3 percent now.
LOTTER: It's 20 percent since they took office. It compounds.
BOYKIN: Inflation has come down to a three-year low. We have more people who have access to health care. We've expanded energy production in this country. So, the idea that -- and the stock market, which Trump loves to talk about, he says is going to crash if he wasn't elected, is actually doing very well right now. So, all those different things you talk about, the economy not doing well, it's just not true, factually.
OSBORNE: But, Keith, I guess then, why is the American public not happy with Joe Biden? If everything that you're saying is true --
BOYKIN: Joe Biden is not running for president. He's no longer the candidate. OSBORNE: But you can't tie Kamala Harris to Biden when it's convenient. You have to tie her to the entire administration.
PHILLIP: Let me play what she said today that I thought was interesting, because you often hear the Biden-Harris presidency talking about, okay, prices are high. She got really specific today. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Families talk about their plans for the future, their ambitions, their aspirations for themselves, for their children. And they talk about how they're going to be able to actually achieve them financially, because, look, the bills add up, food, rent, gas, back to school clothes, prescription medication. After all that, for many families, there's not much left at the end of the month.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: There was a version of that the Trump campaign basically said, that's our message, where she was, I think, honest in a way that people have been asking for the Democrats to be, to acknowledge that this is a problem. Will that help?
OSBORNE: Well, I mean, I think, yes, you're absolutely right. It's finally time that she acknowledge it, or the Democrats acknowledge it, because the last three years, particularly the last year, they did ad campaigns from different Americans saying, hey, the economy is great, everything's wonderful. When everybody lives in the economy, everybody is affected by the prices at every step of the way, whether grocery stores, gas stations, et cetera. So, I don't know if that message works, because then what has happened over the last three years.
And, Keith, I understand exactly what you're saying, but the reality is that people aren't feeling what you're saying. People are still struggling and they can't seem to understand, you know, what --
BOYKIN: I don't think we're disagreeing though, because I think the point I was trying to make to Marc is that the reason why people are struggling is because prices have been too high. I don't think it's unusual for Democrats to acknowledge that. But the fact is that inflation is on the right trajectory right now. And the reason why the prices have been so high is because the economy has been so strong. That's the problem. It's paradoxical, but it's true, you know?
And one more thing about this policy initiative that she just announced today. I remember, I worked in the Clinton administration. Bill Clinton used to say that you may not be able to solve all the problems, but you have to be caught trying. And that's what she was doing today. Her solutions may not be the ones that will solve all the problems for the economy and they may not even make it through Congress, but at least she's caught trying.
Donald Trump was caught giving tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires. He's caught giving tax breaks to corporations and deregulating. That's the exact opposite of what she's doing here. PHILLIP: You may disagree with what Keith said, but I think that there is something astute politically about what he just said. You do have to be caught trying in politics.
Everyone stick around, much more ahead.
Coming up next, Trump and his allies say that Tim Walz forces schools to have tampons in boys' bathrooms. But we've got a fact check for you. It might surprise you.
Plus, J.D. Vance uses a movie to claim, quote, ethnic enclaves cause higher crime rates. We'll discuss that too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: Has anybody ever seen the movie, Gangs of New York? That's what I'm talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:15:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: He ordered tampons in boys' bathroom. Do we have any children here? Please close your -- he ordered tampons in boys' bathrooms.
He signed a bill that boys' bathrooms, all boys' bathrooms in Minnesota will have tampons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Donald Trump really wants Tampon Tim to stick. He's referencing this in an online narrative that Kamala Harris running mate forced Minnesota schools to put tampons in boys' bathrooms. But the question is, and it's a critical one, is that actually true?
Well, CNN's Daniel Dale actually contacted 15 school districts to find out. Daniel, what did you learn?
DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: I learned that this claim is false, Abby. It is not true that the law signed by Governor Walz last year requires, forces, Minnesota schools to provide tampons in boys' bathrooms.
So, I'll tell you what the schools told me, bu,t first, let's look at what the law actually says.
[22:20:02]
The law he signed says that Minnesota public and charter schools have to provide all menstruating students with access to menstrual products at no charge, and it says they must be made available to menstruating students in restrooms regularly used by students in grades 4 through 12 according to a plan developed by the school district.
So, a couple key things there, first of all, it never uses the words boys' bathrooms, and it also allows local school districts to come up with a plan about how to comply with this law.
So, how do they comply? I reached out to 25 school districts, suburban, urban, rural. All 15 that responded told me the same thing. They are in full compliance with this law without providing tampons in boys' bathrooms.
So how do they comply? Well, they provided remarkably similar answers. They told me that they provide tampons in girls' bathrooms, in single stall, unisex, or gender-neutral bathrooms, and also in nurses' offices or administrative offices.
I'll give you a couple of sample quotes. A spokesperson for the St. Cloud District told me they provide free period products in, quote, female-only restrooms, designated gender-neutral restrooms, and from school health care offices. They continued, period products are not provided in male-only designated restrooms. A spokesperson for the Robbinsdale District in the Minneapolis suburbs said, quote, we have provided free tampons and pads to all in non-gender student restrooms and girls' restrooms for grades 4 and up. They're also available from health staffers. We do not have menstrual products in boys' bathrooms.
Now, it is, of course, possible that there are some districts that I wasn't able to reach today that do provide tampons in boys' bathrooms. But the Trump claim is that Walz is making them do it, forcing Minnesota schools to do it. And there is a broad consensus among school district that this is not true. I spoke to Scott Croonquist, the executive director of a school districts association, 52-member school districts. They educate more than half of public school students in the state. He told me, our interpretation of the law is the same as what you have heard from the people you have talked to in the school districts. The law does not require menstrual products in boys' bathrooms. Abby?
PHILLIP: Pretty clear there what's going on. Hopefully, we will no longer here that talking point, but I'm not so sure about that. But what about this school district where Walz himself used to teach high school?
DALE: Yes. I heard back from Minneapolis St. Paul, and the Moncado area district said the same thing. He said that basically the Trump claim is not true a spokesperson, Kevin Burns, told me the law signed by Governor Walz last year is, quote, very clear and that they are satisfying it by providing menstrual products and in, quote, traditional female and gender neutral restrooms, end quote, as well as school nurse's office, he said, not boys bathrooms.
PHILLIP: Daniel Dale, as always, thank you very much.
And it's a cliche for a reason. If you're explaining you're losing. Well, J.D. Vance is now finding himself once again explaining. Here is a resurface 2021 interview that captured him saying that ethnic enclaves spark violence and making a Gangs of New York comparison to do it.
But, here's the thing. Today, he is doing exactly the same thing. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: Has anybody ever seen the movie, Gangs of New York? That's what I'm talking about. We know that when you have these massive ethnic enclaves forming in our country, it can sometimes lead to higher crime rates. What we want is an American immigration policy that promotes assimilation, that no matter where you come from, you can become an American.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Our panel is back. It's such an interesting choice to reference that to justify. I guess what he's justifying is the Trump immigration policy.
Liz Mair, a political strategist tweeted, just to be clear, the nativists were the big league thugs and gangs of New York and they went around attacking Irish immigrants, interesting point for a guy who has converted to Trumpism on immigration to be making. Why?
OSBORNE: Yes.
PHILLIP: And to do it more than once, I left you speechless, Jason.
OSBORNE: You did. I mean, the whole statement did. I mean, it's a completely unnecessary, you know, use of a film, right, to talk about crime, which is definitely an issue that everybody is experiencing or seeing on T.V. as a problem or experiencing themselves as a problem.
I can't pretend to understand what he was trying to accomplish with that, but --
HAQ: So, Jason, your issue is with the use of the film and the accuracy of that, and not the broader point of just being racist about ethnic communities?
OSBORNE: No, my issue is with the statement made and then tying it to a film. Unless, of course, he has some investment in that film and wanted to see I'm going to be (INAUDIBLE) because we all have to watch it again.
PHILLIP: So, up on the Netflix queue.
LOPEZ: I think Martin Scorsese is doing just fine without J.D. Vance. What I'm tired of and what we're getting from this clip is this constant fear mongering about cities. You know, there's so much division in America right now. I grew up in West Virginia and Central Pennsylvania.
[22:25:01]
There are people that I know that I grew up with who are more scared to come to cities, like New York, Chicago, great American cities. They're full of great people. Because we have politicians who are sowing not just racism, but also this fear of what it is to live in a community that's not like yours.
And if we visit each other, if we get to know each other, we might find that we are not that different as Americans, but statements like that do not just create racial divisions, they create divisions between country folk and city folk, between people from different states and people with different lifestyles. I'm tired of it.
LOTTER: But I think we do have to -- and I'm not disagreeing with you on that, but I do think we do have to have an honest conversation, though, about crime. A lot of people are very worried about crime, whether it is crime committed by illegal immigrants, whether it's crime in general. We see over and over again, especially I used to work in local news, if it bleeds, it leads. Crime leads in almost every single day.
HAQ: But do we have to be racist when we talk about crime? So, let's just have that honest conversation, which is the fact that of the four cities that Operation Texas has been -- you know, Governor Abbott has been sending undocumented migrants to Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, those cities have all, according to their own police data, seen a minimum 10 percent decrease in major crimes in the last year.
So, this whole idea of migrants and cities and crime increasing --
LOTTER: Tell that to the family of Laken Riley. Tell that to the family of the other folks who have been murdered, raped, killed.
BOYKIN: You can't use an isolated example as an anecdote to disprove the factual evidence from the statistics. Yes, there are examples where horrible things happen to people, and people can acknowledge that without exaggerating it for a racist political purpose to make an argument that somehow all migrants or all immigrants are committing crimes, which is the undertone of what you and Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are saying.
LOTTER: I love when you tell me what my tone is and what I'm saying.
BOYKIN: Tell me how it's interpreted.
LOTTER: This is no different than what our first segment. Basically what you are saying is the American people's concerns about the economy, about crime, you're idiots, you're stupid, no, we're going to tell you what the stats say and what you worry about is not my issue.
HAQ: No. You're allowed to worry and we're allowed to have concerns about our individual --
LOTTER: Which we're not allowed to talk.
HAQ: And of all the people who've been gaslighting America, Trump is number one. Let's be clear on the candidates and who's gaslighting. Maybe one side, the Democrats under Biden --
LOTTER: Inflation is transitory, but, sure, go ahead.
HAQ: Maybe they were doing too much of that. Let's reason with your mind and not appeal to emotion, which you heard the White House yesterday acknowledge and say, yes, people are feeling the pain. Kamala Harris is the vice president saying people are feeling pain.
LOTTER: Three and a half years later.
HAQ: All of that, Trump has continued to gaslight and lie to the American public, making up numbers, making up stats, and that is what people are tired of.
PHILLIP: It is also just simply not true that immigrants or migrants produce disproportionate or even produce a notable amount of crime.
LOTTER: Every crime by an illegal immigrant is notable because it shouldn't have happened in the first place.
PHILLIP: Listen, every crime is a crime that shouldn't happen. But there's no truth to the idea that migrants or immigrants are driving crime in this country.
BOYKIN: And that's --
HAQ: According to the police department's own report, J.D. Vance was standing there with a police banner behind him lying.
LOTTER: Getting the endorsement by the Milwaukee Police Union, by the way, because we know who supports police.
HAQ: Lying about what those police departments are saying about what's happening in their own city. So, that is the smoke and mirrors that we are trying to see.
LOTTER: So, the police are now lying?
HAQ: The police data for these major cities says crime is reducing. I'm citing them, right? J.D. Vance is lying about that.
On top of that, I think it's hilarious to talk about crime in New York, mention Gangs of New York, about a movie that insults Irish- American immigrants who are the backbone of the New York police, like Boston police force.
BOYKIN: Can I just say one more, one thing too? The biggest criminal in New York, he's a convicted criminal running for president of the United States, and you guys are in the Republican Party defending a conviction of 34. He's convicted of 34. Okay, right. So, people go to jail for so called paperwork misdemeanors --
LOTTER: You can beat cops in New York City and be let out of jail --
BOYKIN: Martha Stewart went to jail for a paperwork crime. People go to prison for these crimes and Donald Trump is a convicted felon. You can't make double standards because if a black person like myself was convicted of the same -- yes, if a black person like myself was convicted of the same crimes Donald Trump was, I would not be a candidate for president. I would not be even a serious candidate for any public office, and you know that.
PHILLIP: Look, this is going to be a question, I think, for Republicans. They were planning on running a campaign in this cycle that said that crime is rising, that Democrats are responsible. Crime is not rising. It's falling. I looked at the top ten, and most of them are red states.
OSBORNE: Thank you.
PHILLIP: So, is that really going to be an argument that works this time around?
OSBORNE: Okay, well, I'm looking at the list that you just posted there, and Alaska is number three.
[22:30:00]
I mean, I think when you're -- which is kind of comical, that's where I'm originally from. So, I can't speak to the stats that were on that, but I can speak to Alaska, and the idea that Alaska has a high crime rate is kind of comical. But I think-
PHILLIP: It's per capita, but you know, right.
OSBORNE: I think the Republicans and Trump don't bear the entire blame for the perception that crime is a problem. When -- to your point that you made when you were in the local news, if it bleeds, it leaves. There are stories after stories after stories in the local media, primarily, because that's where most of the folks talk about crime, is always a criminal story. There's --
HAQ: That's an editorial choice, and Donald Trump and Fox News are making an editorial choice to now connect.
UNKNOWN: Lots of other media operations --
HAQ: I've worked in local media, too. It is a choice to make crime your first story, and it is a choice to choose crime from districts and areas where people --
LOTTER: Hold on. You're attacking the media now, so you're attacking democracy. You're not allowed to do that. We're being told. We'll cut right to the chase. Police support Donald Trump, Milwaukee Police Union today support Donald Trump, Kamala Harris defund the police, bailed out the Minneapolis rioters.
BOYKIN: Donald Trump is a convicted criminal -- thirty-four felony charges.
LOTTER: Call me when it gets overturned.
BOYKIN: Convicted criminal.
PHILLIP: We're going to hit pause. LOTTER: You're going to overturn.
UNKNOWN: He's still a convicted criminal. You're supporting him.
PHILLIP: I don't think you're ever going to agree on either of those things.
LOTTER: She defunded the police.
PHILLIP: Linette, appreciate you joining us. Thank you very much. Hang tight, everyone, because coming up next, speaking of J.D. Vance, he's defending his running mate after Donald Trump downplayed the Medal of Honor. A special guest will join us in our fifth seat. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:36:11]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (R): Miriam, I watched Sheldon sitting so proud in the White House when we gave Miriam the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That's the highest award you can get as a civilian.
It's the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor, but civilian version. It's actually much better because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, that's soldiers. They're either in very bad shape because they've been hit so many times by bullets or they're dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: That was Donald Trump last night, taking a swipe at Medal of Honor recipients while awarding a Republican megadonor the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And today Trump's running mate and a fellow military vet, J.D. Vance, actually defended those comments. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I've seen him give out a number of awards and commendations to military veterans and of course, I myself am a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War. This is a guy who loves our veterans and who honors our veterans. I don't think him complimenting and saying a nice word about a person who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom is in any way denigrating those who received military honors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: I'm back with my panel here along with Iraq veteran and founder of Independent Veterans of America, Paul RIECKHOFF. He joins us in our fifth seat. Paul, I was looking at your face as that sound was playing. What was going through your mind? PAUL RIECKHOFF, CEO, INDEPENDENT VETERANS OF AMERICA: It's
ridiculous. It's absurd. It's insulting. The VFW just put out a press release and called it asinine. It's really ridiculous, especially because he's been the Commander-in-Chief and given out, I think, 11 or 12 Medal of Honors himself.
So, he should know better. If he was one of my sons, I'd pull him on the side and explain to him the difference between the Medal of Freedom and the Medal of Honor. The problem here is he's the former Commander-in-Chief and a candidate for President.
So, I think it's bad for our country. It's also bad politics. I mean this is the kind of stuff that drives away independence. Half the country is independent. They're not Democrats and Republicans. Half of veterans are independent.
And they are a very influential demographic in this race, especially in swing states. So, if you want to insult the military, you know, he succeeded there. If you want to win the election, this isn't going to help you.
PHILLIP: Disappointing to hear J.D. Vance basically shrug.
RIECKHOFF: The only people going to defend this are politicians. I mean, it's indefensible. I think you've seen Medal of Honor recipients. You've seen the VFW is not a very political organization. They usually don't get involved in situations like this.
But there's universal outrage, and he should apologize and at least try to clean it up. But this is, you know, the same guy who attacked John McCain. There is a pattern here of, at best, sloppy language when talking about the military. And it's going to hurt him.
PHILLIP: It's the John McCain of it all. But you know, I mean, there were several other examples. I mean, he questioned why Nikki Haley's husband wasn't by her side. He was deployed. But this is what really stuck out to me, the anecdote about what he did when a wounded veteran sang "God Bless America" near him. This was an account by people who were there, including Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Trump walked over to congratulate Avila, but then said to Milley, with an earshot of several witnesses, "Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that, the wounded. Never let Avila appear in public again." That was according to "The Atlantic" who had that story related to him. It's been confirmed by others, as well. It's a pattern and a disturbing one.
OSBORNE: Yeah, I mean, look, this is, to your point, yes, he needs to come out and talk about what he meant or why he said what he said. I mean, when I listened to it and I saw it, and I'm not trying to defend at all what he said, but I think maybe the intent of it was the award was given, the importance of the award that she got, she didn't get injured or shot at. I mean, but it's still, it's really bad, right?
RIECKHOFF: It's pretty hard to try to explain, right?
[22:40:00]
OSBORNE: I'm not trying to defend it at all. I'm not defending it.
RIECKHOFF: Because there's no defending it. I think that this is one of those really clear ones, you can believe your ears and believe your eyes. You heard it. You saw it. I mean, Medal of Honor.
HAQ: There's no defense.
OSBORNE: But at the same time, he is a very strong defender of the U.S. Armed Forces.
RIECKHOFF: He's still accountable. He's still accountable. You could be the chairman of the Joint Chiefs if you say this.
OSBORNE: It's still wrong.
HAQ: There's no defense.
OSBORNE: I don't disagree.
HAQ: There is an explanation and the explanation is simply that he doesn't value ideals of sacrifice and service, honor and integrity. The idea of being a quote-unquote victim because you believed in a cause and you're willing to give your life for it is something he simply cannot fathom.
He also can't, as a personality defect, tell somebody, give them a compliment without having to compare them or denigrate somebody else. Like just say this is a great award, period, full stop.
PHILLIP: I think it's interesting that he always focuses on the wounded, the injured, the people who didn't make it back as a failure. I don't -- I truly do not understand that, but we cannot deny that that has not happened multiple times. I mean, it's just a repeated tick of his in private and in public.
BOYKIN: Well, allegedly, he did this in France, right, at the cemetery. He didn't want to go to the cemetery because he said --
LOTTER: That was a bad weather call. It's been debunked a thousand times over.
PHILLIP: John Kelly, who was there, said -
LOTTER: -- and 18 people who were there. John Kelly is selling lies. Eighteen people who were there did it.
BOYKIN: Wait, wait. It was bad weather call.
BOYKIN: Can I just finish my sentence? Okay. Let's just assume I'm wrong about that.
LOTTER: Okay.
BOYKIN: He also did say, we saw this on television, he said he doesn't like John McCain. He didn't consider him a hero because he prefers people who were not captured. This is the current, the former commander-in-chief saying this when he was a candidate for president, that John McCain was not a war hero because he was captured.
That's not something that is an admirable thing for someone to say, especially in the Republican Party that used to be a party that talked about national security and national defense and protecting the military.
And so, I just want some honesty from the Republicans at some point. You know, if somebody does something that's hypocritical or contradictory to what you espouse to be your values, at least have the courage to say that's wrong. Don't just defend it. Just say it's wrong.
OSBORNE: I did.
BOYKIN: And then talk about some other things. I appreciate you for doing that, Jason. I want Marc to do the same thing.
PHILLIP: And I think it is an important point. Why can't people, Republicans, just say that that's wrong? Why is it that Trump will, you know, push them out of the Republican Party if they criticize him over something that he's wrong about?
LOTTER: Look, this is not the ideal comparison. I think what he was trying to basically -- I think he was trying, and I'm not defending it because I think the language was probably sloppy, but I think he was trying to say this is on equal par.
You do not have -- but the people in the in the Medal of Honor are heroes. They were shot at. They sacrificed their lives. They sacrificed their safety, and that's why they were honored. But when we get this down to about the military, there's no question. Donald Trump invested more in the military than everybody since Ronald Reagan.
RIECKHOFF: Hold on, that's the pivot
PHILLIP: That's also not true. It's not true.
RIECKHOFF: That's the pivot. Let's just talk about the issue.
LOTTER: Since Ronald Reagan.
RIECKHOFF: Can we talk about the issue?
LOTTER: Since Ronald Reagan.
RIECKHOFF: Talk about the issue without the political pivot.
PHILLIP: It is not true. The Pentagon -- the Pentagon -- okay. Let me just, from the factual perspective, the budget that you're talking about was higher under Obama for several years than it was under Trump. It's just not true that he spent more on the military.
But to your point, it is a pivot because that's not the core issue. Why does Trump get away with doing what he did when it's clearly out of bounds? Does he get away with it?
RIECKHOFF: I don't think he does get away with it. No, I think it's stacking up. I think the pattern is becoming more clear. He's pushing more people away from him as a candidate. He's also pushing more people away from the Republican Party.
This is not the party of John McCain anymore. This is not the party of Colin Powell. This is also about integrity and about leadership and about command climate. You have to ask yourself, is this the right way to speak to people? All the time. Not just with military people.
But I have two young sons. I want them to have a president and both candidates that they can look up to. Who can set the right example. Who can set the right tone. Who can be respectful in everything that they do. And he doesn't do that. He shows a lack of character constantly. He's nasty. He's mean.
That's not real leadership. And we need real integrity and leadership, especially right now from both parties, because our kids are watching and our enemies are watching. And when they see a former commander-in- chief continue to attack our military, they love it. They celebrate it. Putin is so happy to see stuff like this. So, we've got to get it cleaned up across the board and the Republicans should be the ones to do it. Because he's your guy.
PHILLIP: You know, Paul, I wonder. I mean, I'm sure you know veterans who support Trump.
RIECKHOFF: Definitely.
PHILLIP: Do they give him a pass for this? Are they bothered by it? I mean, does this just blow over?
RIECKHOFF: The military and veterans' community is not a monolith. It's as diverse as this country. You've got hardcore people that will never move no matter what he says. But you have a key group of this country, I'd say roughly half of veterans, who are up for grabs, who maybe don't like either candidate. And when they see this stuff over and over again, it pushes them away.
[22:45:00]
So, I think it does make an impact. And each clip speaks for itself. And over time, it seems to be a character issue. And I think that's what military folks are looking for, is character and honor and integrity from both sides, and especially from someone who wants to be commander in chief.
The old question used to be, who do you want to have a beer with, right? Which candidate do you want to have a beer with? I think the question should be, who do you want to be the commander in chief of your sons and daughters?
LOTTER: The one who will keep them out of war. That's Donald Trump. That would be Donald Trump.
RIECKHOFF: Neither one of them is going to be able to do that. Let's be honest about the global reality.
LOTTER: Well, that's because of the failures of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
RIECKHOFF: Neither one of them is going to be able to keep us out of war. So, stop selling that stuff. That is not our modern reality in 2024.
LOTTER: It can be.
HAQ: It's also kind of awful to say that to an Iraq war veteran because we all know how that started.
RIECKHOFF: Oops. Yeah, I can defend myself. But with all due respect, like, this is our global reality. And if you guys stand up and say, I'm going to keep you out of war, well, you've got to start by pulling people out of multiple countries right now where we are actively engaged in combat.
PHILLIP: When the Trump campaign tries to make the issues with Tim Walz's descriptions of his service a big issue, and then Trump says something like this, I mean, how does that all balance out in your view?
OSBORNE: I don't know if it does balance out, right? I mean, I think I've been asked this question about what do I think about the Tim Walz thing? And that's not for me. Honestly, that's not a decision I can make or have an opinion on. I mean, that's somebody like you, because I don't know enough about the situation with Tim Walz to say that that was the right thing or the wrong thing, right?
PHILLIP: But they've suggested that he was, you know, he was stealing valor, you know, whatever.
OSBORNE: Stolen valor.
PHILLIP: Stolen Valor.
RIECKHOFF: They called him a coward.
PHILLIP: They called him a coward.
RIECKHOFF: They called him a coward for not deploying. He had already put in his time.
PHILLIP: Yeah. Actually, I'm curious if that's, you know.
HAQ: And how did Tim Walz respond this week? He said, you know what, J.D. Vance is also somebody who served. I'm not attacking a fellow veteran. Like there is a code of honor and conduct that we are going to respect about the service and what we did. And J.D. Vance turns around and does what?
OSBORNE: Does it again.
HAQ: Bends himself over to just help Trump out. I mean, that is what Trump demands from his people. He demands that kind of loyalty that he will not give back in return. There was an entire economic policy, all these sorts of policies -- Project 2025.
And the second that started getting scrutiny, Trump denied a hundred and forty people who worked for him and just said, no, no, I have nothing to do with this. They're not my people. It is not about bigger cause, greater service. It is about him.
OSBORNE: Well, no, to your point on Project 2025, he can deny everything to do with Project 2025 because 140 people work for him. That doesn't mean that he has loyalty to what they're saying now if he doesn't agree.
RIECKHOFF: Can we get back to Vance and Walz? I mean, this is where it always goes. Now, we're talking about Project 2025.
PHILLIP: Right. Let me let you, I mean, I'm curious about what you think about the Vance-Walz match-up. I mean, do you think that that dispute over his military service is within bounds?
RIECKHOFF: This is historic. Let's start with that, right? To have post 9-11 candidates on a ticket from both sides is historic. And I think it's an opportunity for both of them to set a better tone for our politics, period. We can be the generation of veterans that tries to create unity, that tries to bring us together, or we can be proxies for the parties.
Vance took the first shot. He did what Republicans have done in the past, which has worked, unfortunately, swift voting him, right? Going after his service. It worked on John Kerry. It worked on Max Cleland. It's a playbook, a play that they've pulled out of that playbook before.
But the question was, how is Walz going to respond? He could go low or he could go high. He defended himself and he honored his service. Now, the question is, what do they do? Are they going to keep going down in the gutter or are they going to pull it up and set a better example for all of our politics? That's the opportunity here.
LOTTER: And I think the big difference, though, no one is, I'm not questioning his service. His embellishment of his own record is absolutely fair game.
PHILLIP: Well, look--
LOTTER: Thank him for his service, both of you.
PHILLIP: Well, I appreciate your optimism, that note that you struck. I think that's so important. On this issue, it's important to actually go high. You know what I mean? So, we'll see what happens. Thank you very much for being here. And thank you for your service. Thank you so much. Everyone else, stay with me. Your nightcaps are up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:53:29] PHILLIP: And we are back and it's time for the "NewsNightcap". You each have 30 seconds to say your piece. Keith, you're up.
BOYKIN: Wow. Okay.
PHILLIP: You're ready.
BOYKIN: My hot take is that Donald Trump needs to lose so I can get back my life. He is exhausting, especially for a political commentator, all the controversy and the stunts and such an attention whore and just really exhausting for somebody like me to have to pay attention to everything he's doing.
I would love to get back to having a president of the United States where I don't have to follow their midnight tweets, follow all the latest scandals and controversies. I can just have a life again. That's my goal.
PHILLIP: All right. Well, you look pretty rested to me. Jason.
OSBORNE: My hot take is not on politics, but it's on the NIL and the new series coming out about LSU produced by Shaq.
PHILLIP: Okay.
OSBORNE: And is the NIL actually hurting schools that don't have big donor bases and the ability for them to recruit players? I think it is.
PHILLIP: Nayyera?
HAQ: Oh, mine's sports related, too. Simone Biles posted on Instagram saying that she's still not over it. Just great photos from the Paris Olympics. And I'm not --I'm still not over it, either. It's -- what she has done in terms of comeback, integrity, vulnerability, just showing real strength of physical power at the age of 28.
I mean, I could not have fathomed any of what she's done. And she's now the greatest of all time. She went from foster care to becoming an American hero. And this is what I'm over. I'm over people giving her a hard time for getting fancy things like fancy cars and handbags when she has earned it.
22:55:04
PHILLIP: Absolutely. That and then some. All right, Marc.
LOTTER: All right. Hot take.
PHILLIP: Take us home.
LOTTER: Credit goes where credit's due. CNN's Kate Bolduan posted a video, I think a couple of days ago, taking on pumpkin spice. It's out. It's already out. Krispy Kreme. There's pumpkin spice donut came out on Monday. Come on. It's August. We're not even into September yet. It's too early for pumpkin spice. Credit to you, Kate. Great video.
PHILLIP: Okay. Bipartisan take. We love Kate Bolduan. And we loved -- I loved that take. I agree with you. Everyone, thank you so much. And thank you for watching. We'll have a special edition of "NewsNight" on Sunday before the Democratic National Convention. "Laura Coates Live" though, starts right after this.
