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Post-Debate Numbers on Bidens' Candidacy; Relief After Biden's Press Conference; Tensions Between White House and Press Corps; Senior Voters in Michigan Weigh in on the Presidential Race. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired July 12, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

CHRIS KREBS, FORMER SENIOR OFFICIAL, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: The Brennan Center led, they discovered that it's critical to have rapid communications capabilities, strategic communications and relationships with the media between election officials and those media folks so you can get out and say, hey, this is real, this is not real.

But from an average user perspective, I think it goes back to everything we've been saying for years and years is, don't believe everything you read on the internet. Take a breath. Go look to the authoritative sources of information with elections. That's your local election official. That's your state election official. It's not some, you know, random dude on social media.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: It's interesting because it is that thing of telling people not to believe what they see, which is really hard when you're scrolling through things. You're like, oh, did you hear that? And it gets - it gets sent thousands and thousands of times before anyone often comes forward and says, hey, this is a fake.

How prevalent, do you think, that AI is going to be in this particular election?

KREBS: I still think we're in the early days. I think the bad guys, the Russians, the Iranians, the Chinese, and even some domestic actors are still toying around with the capability. You know, why do you really need a deep fake when cheap fakes still work, slowing down video, taking alternative angles of shots and photographs. So, I think the old tricks are still going to work. I think AI is still, like I said, nascent early days. It will certainly be a risk. And I think in the out years, two, three, four years down the road, it will be a much bigger risk.

But look, election officials have been preparing for the 2024 election, just like they prepped for '22 and '20 for years and years. They're in an election resilience, election security marathon. I think they're ready for it. I think they've got the tools in place to share information. And I think - I think that there - it's game time and they're ready to go.

SIDNER: It is game time, but AI is just getting better and better as we just saw there. Wow.

KREBS: That's right.

SIDNER: Chris Krebs, thank you so much for the conversation this morning. Appreciate you.

All right, just ahead, how does Kamala Harris look at the top of the ticket? We're breaking down this morning's latest numbers ahead of November.

And shark alert. The popular New York City beach with an unwelcome visitor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:37:21]

SIDNER: Democrats were hoping this election would be all about a referendum on Donald Trump, but all the focus has shifted to President Biden's political survival after the disastrous debate.

CNN's senior data reporter, Harry Enten, here. He ran the numbers on who is dominating the discussion online, on the campaign trail, and all around the world, because the world is actually watching and watched that press conference as well.

Harry, give us some sense of, you know, how much Americans have turned their attention to Biden or to Trump.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes. So, Sidner, I'll put it to you this way. These - these are Google searches, all right, the days that Biden led Trump in Google searches this year in 2024. Pre-debate, Biden led Trump, get this, on just 1 percent of days. The election, for all intents and purposes, really was about Donald Trump, not Joe Biden, despite the fact that Joe Biden, of course, is the incumbent. A very unusual situation.

But look at what's happened post-debate. Days in which Joe Biden has led Donald Trump in Google searches, 87 percent of the days. It's been all but two days. All but two days since the debate in which Joe Biden has led Donald Trump in Google searches. There were only two days prior in the entire year in which Joe Biden led Donald Trump in Google searches. That is completely flipped on its head post-debate. This election, for all intents and purposes, has turned into one that is about Joe Biden and not about Donald Trump.

SIDNER: Could that be a good thing or is this negative?

ENTEN: No. No, no, if that head shake doesn't give it away. This -

SIDNER: You know, sometimes, you know, you're Googling and you're not, you know, it's not a bad thing.

ENTEN: This - you do not want this election to be about Joe Biden if you are Joe Biden, because take a look here. The view of the candidates, look at this, negative rating for Joe Biden, 57 percent. Fifty-seven percent of Americans have a negative view about Joe Biden. You want this to be about Donald Trump because it's not like Donald Trump is beloved by the American public. Fifty-four percent of Americans have a negative opinion about Donald Trump. But again, if this election is about Joe Biden, this turns into a major issue for him, because I want to take you through a little bit of history, Sara.

SIDNER: OK. I love it when you do that.

ENTEN: A little bit of a history lesson at this particular hour.

Take a look here. Presidents with a 50 percent disapproval rating at this point in their presidency. Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Donald Trump in 2020, and now Joe Biden in 2024. What do these three gentlemen have in common, Trump, Bush, and Carter?

SIDNER: They all lost in their re-election.

ENTEN: All of them, they all lost. They all lost the election.

So, the fact is, Joe Biden, at this point, does not want to be part of this group. He wants the attention to turn back - turn back to Donald Trump because, in all honesty, Sara, I believe that's really the only way he can win because if it's a referendum about him, this contest is over.

[08:40:03]

SIDNER: Wow.

All right, Harry Enten, thank you so much. I love it when you give us a history lesson. That's my favorite thing that you do.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And though the election though isn't over, we still have months to go, but it still seems like it could be tomorrow.

Joining me now, Democratic strategist Keith Boykin and CNN political commentator Kristen Soltis Anderson.

It's great to see you guys.

Keith, last night you watched, you slept, you woke up, now thinking what about Joe Biden's candidacy?

KEITH BOYKIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I feel much better about Joe Biden's candidacy today than I did yesterday. He had a strong performance at the press conference last night. I think the poll numbers that have come out recently also indicative of the fact that he's doing better. The ABC News/"Washington Post" poll shows him tied with Donald Trump. A new NPR poll shows him ahead of Donald Trump.

On top of that, Joe Biden has had maybe two dozen campaign appearances in the past couple of weeks. He's shown himself to be a vigorous campaigner. No, he's not a 60-year-old, or a 50-year-old Joe Biden. He's an 81-year-old. Joe Biden. He's a lot slower than he was before. He's not as effective as a campaigner as he was before. But he clearly has a command of the issues.

And Democrats need to stop this whining and start fighting against Donald Trump, who is a convicted criminal, who is behind or responsible for or going to implement Project 2025. That's what we should be talking about as Republicans are going into their convention next week in Milwaukee, not about Joe Biden and his debate performance two weeks ago.

BOLDUAN: Kristen, your initial take last night made me smile. Your candor, so refreshing. To bring everyone up to speed who may have - who may have missed it, and you shouldn't have, you said, "as a pollster, I'm very uncomfortable with the level of importance that is being placed on our industry right now."

I mean there was a lot of talk from Biden and, honestly, from Chris Coons this morning, and from other elected Democrats, about polling, from Biden, how the polls are wrong, have been wrong, how the polls tell him now that voters want him to stay in the race and how the polls do not show that Kamala Harris would do better than him against Donald Trump. That's from Biden last night.

Talk to me.

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: What unbelievable pressure it would be right now to be Joe Biden's pollster, when he stands up at the NATO summit and says, the only thing that will drive me from the races is if my pollster comes to me and says I can't win. Unbelievable pressure. And I, frankly, think that we are putting too much importance on polls right now. I say this as someone who works in this industry.

Joe Biden should decide if he can serve another four years as president. Can he do the job and executed it well? And he has come to that conclusion. I don't know if I agree with that conclusion. I don't feel as reassured, in setting aside everything about the election, just the fact that Joe Biden is still the president. I don't feel as reassured after yesterday's press conference. It really was a Rorschach test, right? If you like Joe Biden and you want him to stay in, you can say, look, he stood for 60 minutes and answered questions. I think that's kind of a low bar. But if you don't like Joe Biden, you can point to the many slipups, the calling Kamala Harris vice president Trump and so on and so forth and say, look, he has lost his fastball.

Democrats are running out of time. They have no, no risk strategies. Stick with Biden, you have the risk that something is going to happen like that debate again over the course of the next four months, and do you have time to really recover? But there is also a risk of switching gears, going to another candidate.

Now, in the polling, Kamala Harris actually does about as well as Joe Biden. That could, of course, change as more Americans get former - form stronger opinions about her. But this race is really static right now. And it is much less about, do I like Joe Biden or do I like Donald Trump, but it's more about, how much do I dislike the other candidate? And that is what has made this so that the polls, even with that disastrous debate performance, just don't move that much.

BOLDUAN: So interesting.

So, Keith, Jim Clyburn was on the "Today" show this morning. Influential to say the least. Part - he was asked in part, should the conversation around Biden getting out of the race, should the conversation continue? I think we have the soundbite. Let's play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The conversation should be over?

REP. JIM CLYBURN (D-SC): No, the conversation should focus on the record of this administration, on the alternative to his election, and let Joe Biden continue to make his own decisions about his future. He's earned that right. And I am going to give him that much respect.

If he decides to change his mind later on, then we would respond to that. We have until the 19th of August to open our convention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I hear a lot in that. One, Clyburn said at the beginning, the conversation around him getting out of the race should be over. But he also says, if he decides to change his mind, then we'll deal with it. And he talks about, essentially we have up until the convention for that to happen.

What do you make of that, Keith?

BOYKIN: Well, I agree in part in the sense that Joe Biden is the person who will make the decision.

[08:45:06]

He has the pledged delegates in order to win the nomination. If he chooses to be the nominee, he will be the nominee. There's nothing that anybody can do, any pundit or any donor, to stop him from being the nominee.

The question is, if he chooses not to, that's OK with me too. I didn't support Joe Biden when he ran in any of his three presidential elections. He was never my candidate. So I'm not here as some Joe Biden simp (ph). I'm here as a person who believes that Democrats' best chance right now to win is with Joe Biden. And that's because if you look at the history, for the past 124 years since 1900, only one democratic candidate who - only one democratic president who has been an incumbent has ever lost re-election, and that was Jimmy Carter in 1980. And the reason why he lost is because the party was divided after Ted Kennedy waged a convention battle in 1980 - the 1980 Democratic convention.

We can't have that again. We can't make that mistake again. If Democrats are united, we will win. If Democrats are divided, we will lose. That's the issue.

BOLDUAN: And that's -

BOYKIN: And I don't care if Kamala Harris is the nominee or not because I support Kamala Harris too. But Joe Biden is the best alternative right now.

BOLDUAN: Kristen, real quick, Chris Coons was - Biden's campaign co- chair, was speaking with Sara and his take was really downplaying the number of Democrats that have come out to say Biden should step aside, pointing that it is a small fraction by - by quantity of elected Democrats, and that the vast majority of Democrats are not breaking from Biden. Does he have a point?

ANDERSON: So, right now there's a lot of talk that this is all a bunch of elites panicking, that actually Democratic voters are with Biden. But the poll suggests a little bit of the opposite, that actually voters may be ahead of where the elites are on this. In polls, when you ask Democratic voters, do you think that Joe Biden should stay in as the nominee, they're pretty split. It varies poll to poll. And right now we have not seen 50 percent of Democratic elected officials in Washington come out against Biden. So, this is one where there is a bit of a disconnect, but I actually think it might run in the opposite direction that Senator Coons was talking about.

BOLDUAN: Wild times. Great to see you both. Thank you very much.

Sara.

SIDNER: That is definitely the best way to put it. We are in wild and unprecedented times. Thank you, Kate.

This morning, CNN Heroes is back and we're kicking off this year's campaign with an amazing woman from California who is giving at risk children and cast off canines a chance for futures filled with hope, happiness, and possibility. Meet our first 2024 CNN Hero, Melissa Wolf.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELISSA WOLF, CNN HERO: If dogs know that you're safe and that you're kind to them, they're going to give back twice as much, just like humans.

If you guys want to do some warm-up with her now. Take turns like five skills each.

We bring that information to kids, saying, we need your help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mack (ph).

WOLF: We need your help to get these dogs placed into a permanent adoptive home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Treat. Treat.

WOLF: Always treat. There you go.

Sit. Stay. He does down, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I feel like that's too basic.

WOLF: When kids can contribute to giving a dog a second chance at a better life, we see the shift in them. I get goosebumps when I talk about this after 12 years.

There's a vulnerability that the dogs allow to be able to care for them. It not only helps the animal, but it helps the child to develop a level of compassion and empathy for others.

We serve kids that have great intellect, great creativity, great compassion. I will just be a crazy dog lady for the rest of my life, but I'm all in it for the kids. They are our leaders, and we need to take care of them.

Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Oh, those dogs. OK, Melissa's organization has served more than 450 young people and they've helped place more than 220 dogs in their forever homes. To learn more about her work, go to cnnheroes.com right now. And while you're there, you can nominate your own CNN Hero.

All right, ahead, new this morning, a massive data breach at AT&T. The text and call records of nearly all of their customers might have been leaked. What you need to know about that.

And a driver with a learners permanent. Oh. Oh, I'm not sure they're going to get that permanent permit. That ended in a nasty crash. We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:53:51]

SIDNER: One of the most extraordinary things about the president's press conference is that just about every reporter, including the international press, asked about Biden's competency to his face. Contention we are seeing with the White House press corps and the White House is really, really high since his performance during the debate.

We are bringing in Hadas Gold.

Look, you see this tension with the White House. You see it in the press conferences. You saw it last night a bit. You see it when they're - when they're in the room together. What do you - what do you make of - of all of this?

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think - I think we might have some of the tension in this press conference. So, let's just listen in on what we've heard between the press secretary and the press over the last few days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Being this aggressive way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we are miffed around here about how information's been shared with the press corps.

JEAN-PIERRE: And you guys asked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you (INAUDIBLE) then have to come back and clean it up (INAUDIBLE).

JEAN-PIERRE: I never answered the question incorrectly. That is not true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That one you should be able to answer by this point.

JEAN-PIERRE: Wait, no, no, no, no, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People have been reporting about it.

JEAN-PIERRE: No, wait a minute. Calm - Ed, please, a little respect here, please.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the second time in less than a week where the briefing had prompted a need for later clarification on questions about the president's health.

[08:55:05]

And I'm just wondering if you could speak to what -

JEAN-PIERRE: So, I disagree. I disagree, Seung Min. it's not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLD: Now, listen, the White House press corps should never be satisfied in their relationship with the press security, with the communication shop.

SIDNER: Right.

GOLD: There should always be a constant push and pull for more transparency and more access.

But the frustration we've heard from the press corps since the debate, and honestly it's been going on now for more than a year, but especially since the debate, that they feel they've been stonewalled from access to the president, and in some ways they feel as though they've been misled in some of the information they're getting because some of the information they've been getting from the press secretary from the podium has led to clarifications to follow us. That's what you're hearing from the reporters there. Now, they have been pushing for a press conference with the president

since the days after the debate.

SIDNER: Right.

GOLD: They say - even our own MJ Lee said in the Briefing Room -

SIDNER: Right.

GOLD: We've got a Briefing Room here ready to go. Why isn't the president coming out here and showing us that it was just a bad night. That he can handle it. So, they got their press conference yesterday.

But I should note, President Biden has done some of the fewest press conferences than his most recent predecessors, including most -- including also fewer interviews. Now, the White House will counter this and say, he's done almost as many off the cuff press gaggles like we saw President Trump doing to and from events, but reports will say that is not the same thing. Why wasn't he out here, you know, in the days after the debate talking to us, taking in these questions.

Now, the White House has also defended the press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, saying that, you know, "every day she goes out there, she takes tough questions, she respects the role of the media, and she does it with grace and integrity." And the reporters, they just say that they feel that there is an issue with the answers they are still getting from the White House. And while I do think that they are, you know, of course happy that the president took their questions for an hour, they are still going to be getting that push and pull with the White House for more information and for credible information when they asked for it.

SIDNER: I think you can easily say this has been building for a long time because there have not been a lot of press conferences. And then to keep asking and asking, and this has just boiled over.

GOLD: Yes.

SIDNER: It will be interesting to see how this progresses over the next few months before the election.

Hadas Gold, it's always good to see you. Thank you so much.

GOLD: Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: Appreciate it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: This morning, Democrats are still struggling. More Democrats calling on President Biden to step aside since his press conference last night. But others saying that his steadier performance compared to the debate did what it needed to do, calm nerves.

The president is headed back on the campaign trail today to battleground Michigan. And CNN's Gary Tuchman is in Michigan and watched the press conference with a group of older voters there.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn the palms to face each other.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A tai chi class at a Michigan seniors center. Warren Fritz is part of it.

WARREN FRITZ, MICHIGAN VOTER: I am 83-years-old as of January of this year.

TUCHMAN (voice over): He's a proud Democrat and about two years older than President Joe Biden.

TUCHMAN: After this debate and other things, do you think that Joe Biden should stay in the race or they should pass the baton to a younger Democrat.

FRITZ: I think he should stay in the race. Any day that you have a - one day you have a bad day doesn't define you for the rest of your life.

JANICE WERBINSKI, MICHIGAN VOTER: I fully appreciate him. I think he was wonderful as our president.

TUCHMAN (voice over): Janice Werbinski is 76-years-old and is also a loyal Democrat. She says she would never vote for Donald Trump. But regarding Joe Biden -

WERBINSKI: I just don't think he can manage for four more years.

TUCHMAN (voice over): We've come to the Portage Community Senior Center in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, a county where Democrats have won eight presidential elections in a row. We're talking to people who have been loyal to Joe Biden and who are close to his age.

Arthur Roberts, a retired postmaster in Portage, Michigan, is 78.

ARTHUR ROBERTS, MICHIGAN VOTER: I think he should stay.

TUCHMAN (voice over): He thinks the debate was just one bad night.

ROBERTS: I believe that experience counts. And it's just like with age, you mellow with time. The older you get, the more knowledgeable you are. I think he's very knowledgeable.

TUCHMAN (voice over): Max Hardy is 74, a retired social worker. He thinks Joe Biden has done a wonderful job as president, but -

MAX HARDY, MICHIGAN VOTER: Deep down I would like to see some of the younger stars in the Democratic Party and have Joe gratefully handed over the baton to them.

TUCHMAN (voice over): Seventy-three-year-old Larry Campbell begs to differ.

LARRY CAMPBELL, MICHIGAN VOTER: I'm with him 100 percent.

TUCHMAN (voice over): Kathleen Penning (ph) and Raymond Simons (ph) are also in their 70s.

KATHLEEN PENNING (ph), MICHIGAN VOTER: I think he should stay in.

RAYMOND SIMONS (ph), MICHIGAN VOTER: I think he's our best bet.

TUCHMAN (voice over): Several of the senior fell Joe Biden is the victim of age discrimination.

JOAN STOMMEN, MICHIGAN VOTER: I am 80. I think he is a very active person. He has a good character. He's done a wonderful job all these years.

TUCHMAN (voice over): Inge Neil, who is 76, also thinks Joe Biden has done a wonderful job, but she has a twist in mind.

INGE NEIL, MICHIGAN VOTER: Ideally, it would be if - if they would switch roles. Kamala Harris would step up and be president, and he would be the vice president.

TUCHMAN: That's what you would like to see, them switch.

[09:00:03]

NEIL: Well, he has lots of experience, lots of knowledge.