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America's Choice 2014; Adam Schiff Call On Biden To Step Aside in 2024 Race; NFL Hall Of Famer Handcuffed On United Flight In Front Of Kids. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 17, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:44]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Boris Sanchez live in Milwaukee, at the site of the Republican National Convention. My co-anchor and good friend, Brianna Keilar is live for us in Washington, DC.

And here in Milwaukee, it's day three of the RNC. Tonight, former President Trump's new running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, will take center stage to deliver the most important speech of his political career thus far. It's notable, Senator Vance is the first veteran on a major party ticket since John McCain back in 2008.

The theme tonight is Make America strong once again, with a heavy focus not only on border security but foreign policy as well. Today, Republicans will feature some of Trump's staunchest supporters, as well as a slate of former servicemembers and Gold Star families. Let's get the latest now from CNN is Kristen Holmes and Alayna Treene.

So, Kristen, what more should we expect from night three at the convention?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, as you know, we're going to hear from veterans, Gold Star families. There's actually a family of an Israeli hostage that's going to be there. This is going to be kind of an outline, or at least trying to build up Donald Trump's foreign policy credentials, even though he doesn't really like to talk about foreign policy on the campaign trail.

Now, the most notable speaker, as you mentioned, is going to be Senator JD Vance. This is really his big debut. Yes, he's done some interviews since he was picked to be Donald Trump's vice president but this is his first time on the national stage, talking to the people.

Now, the other person who's very interesting is who's going to introduce him, which is his wife, Usha Vance. She and herself is a fascinating human being. She met him at Yale Law School. She was a trial lawyer. And she is somebody that he has credited with almost all of his success.

Now in addition to the two of them, you're going to hear from Don Jr., Trump's son, obviously, staunch supporter, also big ally of JD Vance. Kellyanne Conway still advises the president, was in charge of his 2016 campaign, as well as Representative Matt Gaetz, big ally, Nancy Mace, et cetera.

But again, big highlight tonight, big person everybody's watching JD Vance.

SANCHEZ: And, Alayna, you have some new reporting on the substance of his speech. What should we expect?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: I do. So I've spoken with someone who helped work on the remarks. And they essentially said the big focus for JD Vance tonight is about telling his life story. And I think anyone can agree, whether you like JD Vance or not, that he has an incredible journey. You know, he grew up in a poor Rust Belt town in Ohio. He came from a very unstable childhood, his family struggled with opioid addiction, all things he talks about in his book, "Hillbilly Elegy."

But then he went on to become a Marine. He went to Yale Law School. He was a successful venture capitalist, and he's only been in the Senate for a year-and-a-half. And now, he is Donald Trump's running mate. And so, he's going to talk a lot about that.

Now, Kristen also mentioned a big focus on foreign policy. That is actually an area where JD Vance does very well. It's a key focus of his. And I think you can hear -- you'll hear a lot of his populist messaging when it comes to that.

But of course, an area where him and Donald Trump agree mostly, and you can expect that everything he is going to say are things that the Trump campaign has looked at before, make sure they're aligned on and that they'll be, you know, embracing when he talks. I do want to read a quote for you though, very briefly, because I think this just encapsulates how they're thinking about this.

So the source familiar with JD Vance, his remarks told me if you want to crack suburban women, get them to watch the screen adaptation of Vance's memoir "Hillbilly Elegy." His life story is so powerful, expect a lot of focus on his bio and life story. So again, I think you're going to hear him really trying to pull on those personal stories, kind of like what we saw last night with some of the other speakers.

SANCHEZ: Excellent. Alayna Treene, Kristen Holmes, thank you both so much for the reporting. Appreciate it. Let's get some perspective now with Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw of Texas. Congressman, thank you so much for being with us.

I want to start with last night because we heard speaker after speaker blaming Democrats for crime and for record numbers of undocumented immigrants entering the country. Now earlier this year, you said that Republicans torpedoing the bipartisan Senate border bill was, I'm quoting you, "the height of stupidity." Do you think Republicans bear some responsibility for the state of immigration policy?

[13:05:02]

REP. DAN CRENSHAW (R-TX): You're misquoting me. So I didn't say that. I said, the height of stupidity is having an opinion on something that you haven't read yet. That's very different than what you just said.

So, look, we should have come to a deal on border security. We should defend Ukraine and if that's what they want -- that's still in the Republican platform because you don't want wars of conquest to continue in Europe, and give us another World War II. But you should also defend our own border, which is obviously the main theme of the RNC's talks today.

So do we bear some blame, no, because the first three years of Joe Biden presidency has been reversing every single policy that Trump had in place that he felt was doing its best to mitigate the disaster at the border. There's tens of millions people that want to come to this country at any given time. And if you give them an incentive to do so they will do so. And Joe Biden gave them every incentive to do so.

So that deal aside, no, it's -- that's completely on Joe Biden. Voters know it. This is why if you polled voters, they trust Republicans way, way, way, way more on immigration than they do Democrats.

SANCHEZ: I apologize for using that quote in the wrong context. I must have misread it. I appreciate the correction. I do want to ask you about foreign policy, because that's where the focus is shifting tonight, with a keynote from the vice presidential nominee JD Vance.

He seems to favor this more isolationist America first view, specifically on Ukraine. What does his nomination tell you about Ukraine policy and a potential second Trump term?

CRENSHAW: I mean, vice presidents don't matter all that much. Trump is what matters. And luckily, I have four years of a Trump presidency to go off of. And in that four years, Putin invade Ukraine. And the reason was, you know, this is this is hearsay but I'm sure everybody's reported on it, what did he tell Putin? He said he would bomb Moscow if they invaded Ukraine. He was a real tough talker.

Peace through strength actually matters, and the strength part is what's difficult. You have to say uncomfortable things and you have to be willing to put your money where your mouth is. Trump proved that over and over again. He proved it when he when he took out Soleimani from Iran, for instance.

And, you know, he proved it when he escalated in Syria, Sometimes you have to escalate in order to deescalate, and to beat ISIS so that you can pull out in a manner that's responsible. He did not have a disaster in Afghanistan the way Biden did.

So when I actually look at Trump's foreign policy, I'm generally pretty happy with it. I don't see it as isolationist. I don't see it as retracting from the world. You know, he says a lot of things that make allies uncomfortable that because he's trying to get them to do more, and that's a good thing.

I'm unclear on where on where the vice president stands on these things. He seems unclear on it. But in the end, it's what Trump believes. And, look, you cannot go back to a pre-World War II world where wars of conquest are OK and we just greenlight them. Because you know what you're gonna get, a lot more of them. And then your children will not have the same global economy that we have now.

So there's a divide on that, right. I'm on one side of it. There's other Republicans on the other side of it. There's Democrats on both sides of that. That's always been a divide in American politics. It will continue to be and we're going to continue to have those discussions.

SANCHEZ: It does seem like the vice president was pretty clear when he said that he doesn't care about what happens in Ukraine either way. But you don't think that Ukraine is at all at risk of losing support with Trump in office?

CRENSHAW: Trump has never said, but as J.D. Vance said that Trump has never said that, right? Trump came up with a different approach of --

SANCHEZ: But he sort of --

CRENSHAW: Trump has come up with a different approach. I mean, the reason we made it a loan, you know, what did Trump say, let's make it a loan. That's basically the easiest loan ever with no interest and no timelines on it. Trump has always been pretty good about supporting Ukraine. When Obama was giving Ukraine, you know, blankets, Trump was giving them weapons.

So I'm not as worried about the Trump presidency. It again it sure J.D. Vance says Ukraine doesn't matter all that much. Well, the vice presidency doesn't matter all that much, either. The president is what matters and that's what I'm voting for.

SANCHEZ: Sorry, I do want to ask you about China because Beijing is also closely going to be watching this election. And for the first time since 1980, Taiwan wasn't even mentioned in the Republican platform. Former President Trump described the U.S. assurances that Taiwan would be helped by the United States in the potential Chinese invasion as an insurance policy. He seemed to sort of treated as a transactional ordeal.

I'm wondering if Trump wins, how do you think he'd respond to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan?

[13:10:08]

CRENSHAW: It's hard to say, I don't know how Biden would respond to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. I don't know how the Congress would respond to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. I don't even want to have that possibility in mind. What we need to be doing, what we should all be aligned in doing. And I think we are, this is pretty bipartisan, is making sure that Taiwan is impenetrable. You want to make it so costly on the Chinese to even think about invading Taiwan that we don't have to make that decision about whether we'd actually go to war over it.

Now, it's worth noting, the economic consequences of an invasion to Taiwan are massive, massive for the world, right? Ninety percent of the most advanced semiconductors are produced there. And that's not changing anytime soon, that's not just some infrastructure that you can just create all of a sudden.

And, look, we have this argument with colleagues, I guess on both sides, all the time. You have to understand global economics and the reason you have all the great things you do for the last 80 years ever since D-Day. And it's because America led the world. And if you retract from that, your kids will have a much a much poorer and less prosperous lifestyle than you have. And that's the debate we're going to continue to have. That's why American leadership is important.

It isn't -- and this is why I say to my friends to, you cannot call it America First when you basically are allowing and greenlighting China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea to run the world economy, and run the world and dictate everyone's actions. That's America last. That'll continue to be a debate.

SANCHEZ: Congressman Dan Crenshaw, we appreciate your joining us. I look forward to expanding the conversation in the future. Thanks.

CRENSHAW: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: This just in to CNN, Adam Schiff is adding his name to the list of those calling on President Biden to step aside and let another Democrat run for president. Schiff is of course running for the Senate and is the most prominent Democrat to come forward and do this. In a statement he said, "A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November. Well, the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden's alone, I believe it's time for him to pass the torch."

We'll have more on this battle and the Democratic Party, and much more from the Republican National Convention. And another story we are closely watching, an NFL Hall of Famer says he was unjustly detained on a United Flight. CNN's live interview with him is just moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:17:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: We're following all of the breaking news out of the RNC but also growing questions today about why former NFL player and Hall of Famer Terrell Davis was taken off of the United Airlines flight in handcuffs. He says this happened after he lightly tapped a flight attendant on the arm to ask for a cup of ice for his son.

The story going viral online after Davis wrote about the incident on social media over the weekend. And now Davis and his wife, Tamiko, are speaking out and they are joining Erin Burnett for this cable exclusive. Erin?

ERIN BURNETT: All right, Brianna, thank you so much. You know, as Brianna is talking about it, this incident is extremely controversial. It touches on so many important issues in this country. Terrell Davis and his wife, Tamiko, are here with us now and thank you both for being here.

This isn't where you expect it to be. You're supposed to be on vacation?

TERRELL DAVIS, NFL HALL OF FAMER: Yes.

BURNETT: Disney, beach and California --

Davis: On the beach.

BURNETT: -- that's where you were flying. And now instead you're here. And you're here because your son wanted a cup of ice, flight attendant didn't hear it, cart move past and you just reached to tap the flight attendant.

DAVIS: Just like that. I mean, you describe it. That was the only interaction I had with the flight attendant. And then once I touched him or tapped him on his shoulder, he spun back and said, don't hit me. He left the cart there, went into the cockpit or went up to first class. And we didn't see him for about five or 10 minutes, or at least five minutes. She was on the other side.

And then, he came back and he placed a cup of ice on my son's tray, grabbed the cart, took it up to first class.

BURNETT: And that was it.

DAVIS: That was it.

BURNETT: And what was the tap? I mean, can you demonstrate?

DAVIS: A typical tap.

BURNETT: Yeah, just like sorry, you missed me.

DAVIS: Yeah. I said, excuse me, and he didn't hear me. So I just -- I tapped him.

BURNETT: Right.

DAVIS: And then that's when he spawned back.

BURNETT: (Inaudible) pass you and there's three people in each, you know, you're trying to get the right --

DAVIS: Right.

BURNETT: OK. So did anybody say anything to you after that initial, you know, when he said, don't hit me?

DAVIS: Yeah. As I was looking confused about what happened, there was a gentleman that was sitting in front of me at the window seat. And he turned around, he said, dude, you didn't hit him, because I saw that. You didn't hit him. I was like, of course, I didn't hit him.

So that was it. And so, he had seen what happened. Guy goes up there. And then from there, like I said --

BURNETT: The flight went on.

DAVIS: The flight went on. It was a typical flight from that point on.

BURNETT: So you didn't think anything had happened? I mean, other than this was awkward.

DAVIS: Why would I?

BURNETT: And -- but yeah.

DAVIS: Why would I? Like there was no exchange back. Normally there's an argument or something and then, you know, maybe there's a -- if there was -- if there was a hit.

BURNETT: And to me just be clear, the flight goes on. You didn't even see this?

TAMIKO DAVIS, TERRELL DAVIS' WIFE: No idea.

BURNETT: Right, recause you are a family of five. So you've got one, you've got two.

T. DAVIS: Exactly. And I've got my headphones on. I'm interacting with my daughter and join the flight. So if there was this big commotion that warranted the reaction --

BURNETT: Right.

T. DAVIS: -- it would have caught my attention.

BURNETT: OK. So then nothing happens. You land, you're thinking, OK, we're going to Disney, and where you're going. And then the FBI Los Angeles field office, which did confirm to us they responded to this, to a reported fight incident. They boarded the plane.

[13:20:10]

DAVIS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: OK. When do you see this?

DAVIS: Well, they told everybody to stay on the flight and stay seated. And I just thought there was like a medical emergency, somebody gotten sick or something. And so, I get -- I'm reading a magazine, and just kind of just waiting for them to allow us to get up.

And I hear it before I see it, because I can hear -- like I can hear commotion, I can hear the radio, I can hear like, you know, you can hear it when board a plane. And then I just looked up, and I'm watching them, and they're coming down the aisle, and they just come right up to me.

BURNETT: So they're coming down now, at this point you still -- you're like who is it? What do they need? And then they stop at you.

DAVIS: They stop at me. The gentleman leans over. He has a big FBI on his shirt -- on his jacket. And he leans over and he's got handcuffs, and I'm looking at looking at him, and he says, don't fight it, don't fight it. And he puts the cuffs on me.

BURNETT: And your boys were there?

DAVIS: And my boys are there, and my daughter is there, my wife is there. And it's like -- I felt so like -- I was stripped of my dignity. You know, I was powerless. I had -- I couldn't do anything. I'm wondering what's going on? They didn't ask me any questions. It wasn't -- I'd had no chance to even --

BURNETT: Explain.

DAVIS: -- explain what happened, if anything happened.

SANCHEZ: But I mean, when they -- (inaudible) you with handcuffs.

DAVIS: Handcuffs.

BURNETT: Your boys are right there, right?

DAVIS: The boys are right there, yes.

SANCHEZ: Three in a row coach. And you did -- are you thinking why?

DAVIS: I am confused.

T. DAVIS: But you're calm?

DAVIS: I'm calm, yes.

BURNETT: You're calm.

T. DAVIS: Terrell, he had no choice but to comply.

BURNETT: Yeah.

T. DAVIS: And that's a whole another level to this. You know, I think he's not given an opportunity to ask questions or to challenge or to say, wait, what's happening? Because the FBI agent came right to him, not asking his name, not giving any type of explanation. The first words that the FBI agent told him was, don't make a scene, don't fight it. So what can he do?

Terrell knows better. Unfortunately, historically, in these situations, interaction with law enforcement and law enforcement as a black man, you can't fight, you can't resist. You can't -- (inaudible) say fight, you can't ask.

So thank God my husband has the wherewithal, the class, the understanding, to know in that moment, all he could do was sit there and comply, and be humiliated in front of his sons, and the 200, whatever how many people were on that plane. They didn't give him any other options.

BURNETT: And you're -- you talk about being humiliated. Did you feel in that moment, you talk about historically being -- but did you feel your blackness in that moment?

DAVIS: You know what, that's a perfect word to use in this case, because it's not what you think, it's how people make you feel. And I certainly felt like that wouldn't have happened if I were a person of, you know, there was a white horse, right? That wouldn't have happened.

BURNETT: Right.

DAVIS: That's what I felt. Now, whether that's true or not, that's a different conversation. But yeah, you felt like that it was no degree of respect --

BURNETT: Courtesy.

DAVIS: -- Courtesy, or anything --

BURNETT: Regard.

DAVIS: You know --

BURNETT: Well, I mean, when I saw this story, OK, I had just flown back, and I also have three kids. So we do the same thing. We do two and one. And all I could think of, and I know you don't know exactly what happened or what the motive was, or what someone was feeling, but I could just think to myself that I don't think that would have happened --

DAVIS: Right.

BURNETT: -- to me or my husband.

DAVIS: Right, right. And that's what we talked about. And here's the other thing too. Not only do I have my kids there, I'm always trying to tell them how to be the model, right? Try to be an example to my kids, and do the right things, and then you know what, you don't have to worry about anything, but we did the right thing, right?

We didn't do anything, but yet I found myself with handcuffs, being (inaudible) off of a plane and being treated like a convict, right? And then this kind of you're guilty until you're proven innocent applied in that situation.

T. DAVIS: But the damage had already done.

DAVIS: The damage was done already.

BURNETT: So did your kids, did you get to say anything to them as you get off the plane? DAVIS: So the other heartbreaking part that I still just -- it looks in my head, is when they took me down the hallway, they take me out to the jet way, they don't take me to the regular terminal. And at least the FBI agent, you know, had the wherewithal to say, listen, man, he brought my family out, my wife and kids came out, and he asked for like a sweater or something to put on my handcuffs so nobody would see me.

And I've been looking on my family's face when they saw me in handcuffs, and I was going out the back door and they were going out on one of the, I guess the, you know, the jet bridge.

BURNETT: Yes.

[13:25:05]

DAVIS: I can see the look on their faces and it broke my heart, 'cause my kids are looking, their eyes are watery. They don't know what's happening to their dad. It's got the handcuffs on, nobody explained to them what was going on? And I was powerless. I couldn't do anything about it.

BURNETT: Have you talked to them now? What do they think? You're here, not in California on vacation.

T. DAVIS: They're sad.

DAVIS: Yes.

T. DAVIS: You know, they're the blessing, you know, there's always a blessing. The blessing in this is that we were meeting family in California. So we had some time with cousins and you know, they were able to run around and get a distract -- have a distraction. But, you know, the conversations are happening.

There was a simple conversation we were having as family about, you know, some random story, I can't remember. And our daughter's question was, did that person get arrested? So that's her register.

BURNETT: She's nine, right?

DAVIS: She's nine, our youngest. That's her register right now.

BURNETT: So you've talked about growing up as a black man, and how you felt unfairly singled out at times. So now you have teen, early teen boys. So now, what do you tell them about this?

DAVIS: I always try not to use, like I always try to go through a checklist of things that it could be. And I try to always use race or use race as like the last sort of possible thing. And -- but always tell them what applies to everybody else doesn't apply to you. And you have to be a little -- you can't you say something, like my friends are doing it so I'm going do it. No, no, no, no, no. Jaxon, you can't do that. Myles, you can't do that.

So we're always trying to teach them that -- there's consequences, but we are held to a different standard. And we've already had to talk a lot about, if you get pulled over, this is how you act, this is what you do. Never tried to put yourself in that situation. That's the other thing.

We appreciate them. Don't ever put yourself in that situation. And here I am with handcuffs on for something I didn't do, and they were confused by that. Like you did the right things dad but you still --

BURNETT: Even that moment when you know you didn't do anything wrong, I guess your must be flashing back to, well, the only thing that happened was the ice. But did you have any sense before that of how shameful it would feel? Or, you know, you talked about, you know, when he put the sweater over the handcuffs, like how that moment would feel. And you're standing up that in front of an entire plane in handcuffs.

DAVIS: Yes. I've built my entire career in the public. You know, my public know --

T. DAVIS: Your image.

DAVIS: Image, everything I've spent years building, you know? I'm very aware of that, you know? I've tried to be nice to people, I try to treat people fairly. And this -- and then to have this happen to me was despicable, you know? And it's like --

BURNETT: Well, you're a famous person, your Hall of Famer -- I mean, you're getting on the plane in Denver. I mean, you're -- every -- every kind of record that could have you have it. You're a known person.

DAVIS: Right.

BURNETT: So, you know, from this point on, you know, United has issued a statement. They said this is clearly not the kind of travel experience we strive to provide. We've reached out to Mr. Davis' team to apologize and we've removed the flight attendant from duty while we closely review this matter.

From that, I just want to show a couple of things. But first of all, the flight attendant.

DAVIS: Yes.

BURNETT: The flight attendant, I guess, it's not even clear what the race of the flight attendant was, right?

DAVIS: Right.

T. DAVIS: No,

BURNETT: To you.

DAVIS: Not at this point, no. And --

BURNETT: It was a man. DAVIS: It was a man, it was a man. And this is where I'm furious is that, when you make that call, like what your intent because you know as a flight attendant what the code words are, that would trigger a response that you got. So you went to the cockpit out front, and you made a call and you use these words, because they told me later this is why they responded the way he responded, that I struck him.

BURNETT: Struck was the word that he uses. That was -- so the FBI tell you this?

DAVIS: The FBI said it.

BURNETT: Yeah.

DAVIS: He said that the flight attendant reporting being struck --

T. DAVIS: By a passenger.

DAVIS: -- by a passenger. So when they came on, that's the information they had, was that that passenger struck a flight attendant.

T. DAVIS: Yes.

BURNETT: And did they treat you when you had the back and forth with them and they release you, how did all this essentially become they realized that this was nothing, right? Now you got to deal with United -- in that moment.

DAVIS: Yeah. They took me through their process, and they interview me. And they said I didn't have to speak but I said, you know what, I want to. And I didn't need an attorney there, and I spoke, and I told him what happened. And you can kind of tell when I told him, he kind of looked at me like, that's it?

I'm like, yeah, that's it. And he was like, you could tell he didn't believe what was happening. But I said there was a passenger in front of me who saw it. So thank God, you know, thank God he was on the plane.

BURNETT: And they talk to him?

DAVIS: They talk to him.

BURNETT: And he said the same thing, right?

DAVIS: Yes.

BURNETT: And then when they came on, you're saying a lot of people then I guess they start picking up their phones and recording.

DAVIS: Yeah. As we were -- well, as I was leaving, they were recording the incident., I mean, it was just the most embarrassing, humiliating experience I've ever had.