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Burchett Calls VP Harris A DEI Hire With Abysmal Record; Democrats Coalescing Around Harris After Biden Exits Race; House Dem Leader Jeffries Speaks As Lawmakers Endorse Harris. 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 22, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:50]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CCN HOST: We do have breaking news. Vice President Kamala Harris picking up some major endorsements. More of them today as she's working to secure the democratic nomination just 24 hours after President Biden announced his withdrawal from his 2024 campaign.

Harris has shored up endorsements from more than 100 congressional democrats, including just a few minutes ago, a big one, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: We're also expecting to hear from the Senate Majority leader, Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at any moment. Sources telling CNN, they will also be endorsing the Vice President as the democratic party's nominee. CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill.

Manu, it seems like at this point, it's getting safer to say Harris is the presumptive nominee here.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. All signs are pointing in that direction as democratic potential rivals for the presidential -- the democratic nomination falling in line behind Kamala Harris and also democratic leaders doing so as well.

Nancy Pelosi, part of that group of top democrats who had expressed serious concerns about Joe Biden carrying on as the democratic nominee. Also, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries had private meetings expressing concerns of the democratic caucuses about Joe Biden remaining there at the top. We have not heard an explicit endorsement from Schumer or Jeffries, but that is expected to come soon.

Now, this all comes as both sides are now scrambling to figure out what it would mean for the fall campaign with Harris at the top of the ticket. I put the question to a republican congressman, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, about the fact that they would be going up against someone who would be the first black south Asian woman who could be president of the United States and what that means for the republican campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TIM BURCHETT, AMERICAN POLITIAN: Biden said - first off, he said he's going to hire a black female for vice president and that not, -- he just skipped over. What about white females? What about any other group? When you go down that route, you take mediocrity. and that's what they have right now as a vice president.

RAJU: So are you suggesting, she's -- she was at DEI hire?

BURCHETT: 100%, she was a DEI hire. He said he was going to hire and then she didn't. Her record is abysmal at best.

DANIEL GOLDMAN, AMERICAN POLITICIAN AND ATTORNEY: We know that as a former prosecutor, she can prosecute the case against a convicted felon and make the case to the American people that she is really primed and ready to take over as the leader of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And that last Congressman, Congressman Dan Goldman, a Democrat from New York, expressing what a lot of other Democrats are saying. They believe that she can draw a sharper contrast with Donald Trump than Joe Biden was able to -- also to bolster key parts of the democratic coalition that was, frankly, struggling that Joe Biden was struggling to put back together again, whether it's minority voters, young voters, and the like. Perhaps Harris can do that.

But what does she do to vulnerable Democrats in key districts and key states? Another key question for democratic leaders as they assess this huge change to the top of the ticket and what it means for their efforts to keep control of the Senate and take back the House.

KEILAR: All right, Manu, we'll keep our eye there on the ill. A lot of things moving and shaking today. Thank you for that. Let's go now to CNN's Eva McKenna. She is live outside of the Vice President's residence there in a sort of rainy Washington, DC today. Eva, Harris is heading though to Wilmington, Delaware. She's going to be meeting with campaign staff today. This is a big meeting.

EVA MCKEND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, Brianna. It's vitally important. It is the first time that she will have the opportunity to meet with campaign staff in Delaware since President Biden announced that he will not be seeking reelection. And this could serve as a real morale boost for the staffers. Some of whom are from all over the country now hearing from potentially the new top of the ticket. And this is what it has been for Harris the last several hours, just a lot of these key conversations.

We know she spent over 10 hours on the phone calling governors, members of Congress, civil rights leaders, labor leaders, all trying to just get the democratic coalition in line to support her in these critical weeks ahead.

[14:05:07]

You know, those people that she's speaking with telling me that she fully understands that this is not going to be a coronation and that she is going to have to work to shore up support in the coming weeks. We know that after this stop in Delaware, she will head to Milwaukee. That was a previously scheduled campaign stop she had in her capacity as vice president. As of this hour, the campaign telling us that that stop is still scheduled to happen.

And then, Brianna, it seems to me that she would be eager now that the national conversation has shifted away from this will-he-won't-he conversation to get back to talking about the issues. We know that she has been particularly strong talking about reproductive rights on the campaign trail. She recently held an event focused on that issue in Michigan, where she featured two former republican women to really show how the administration was trying to appeal to a broad swath of the electorate. But she really has her work cut out for her and not much time to make her case.

Brianna?

KEILAR: That's right. The clock is ticking. Eva Mckend, live outside the Naval Observatory. Thank you for that report. And earlier today, Kamala Harris's campaign quietly debuted their new logo. They are using the same font in Harris for president that was used in President Biden's campaign. A spokesperson confirming.

BOLDUAN: I believe Hakeem Jeffries is coming out right now. So let's go back and listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAKEEM JEFFRIES, AMERICAN POLITICIAN AND ATTORNEY: Heroic, patriotic, transformational leader who will go down in American history as one of the greatest public servants of all time.

When President Biden and Vice President Harris first took office on January 20th of 2021, the Biden-Harris team assumed a public health crisis, an economic crisis, and a democracy crisis in the immediate aftermath of January 6th at the same time. And thanks to the leadership of President Joe Biden and his partnership with Vice President Kamala Harris, they were able to rescue the country from a once in a century pandemic and turn the situation around so we could return to normalcy.

Thanks to the leadership of President Biden and his partnership with Vice President Harris, they were able to save the economy from a once in a decade or so recession-like situation and set us on a positive path so that everyday Americans could thrive in every single zip code across America.

Thanks to the leadership of President Biden and his partnership with Vice President Harris, dignity and decency and a democratic way of life was restored to the Oval Office and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We owe a debt of gratitude to President Biden for his tremendous leadership. And I'm also thankful for the incredible partnership that he has had for the last three and a half years with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Yeah. MALE: Leader Jeffrey?

FEMALE: Leader Jeffry, first, will you endorse Kamala Harris? And then I have one other question for you.

JEFFRIES: Well, Leader Schumer and I are scheduled to meet with Vice President Harris shortly. The House came back into session today. The Senate does not come back into session tomorrow. I'm excited for that meeting. And let me say this, that Vice President Kamala Harris has excited the community. She's excited the House democratic caucus. And she's exciting the country. And so I'm looking forward to sitting down with her in person in short order with Leader Schumer. And we'll have more to say about the path forward as soon as that meeting continues.

MALE: Leader Jeffries, quick question. What does President Biden need to do these final few months to ease the path, to help, you know, while he's in office, to ease the path, to make it easier for Democrats to flip the House and to keep the White House?

JEFFRIES: Well, President Biden is going to continue to do his job. And he's put the country first. He's put the American people first. He's put hard working American taxpayers first, which is what President Biden has always done.

[14:10:01]

And as a result of his leadership, we've seen transformational change, fixing our crumbling bridges, roads, tunnels, airports, our sewer, and water systems, rescuing the economy from the once in a century pandemic, gun safety legislation for the first time in 30 years, standing up for our veterans, bringing domestic manufacturing jobs back home to the country, and passing the Inflation Reduction Act, which is the largest investment in combating the climate crisis in the history of the world. We still have more work to do. We still have to lower costs. We still have to end price gouging. We have to continue to grow the middle class, defend democracy, and fight for reproductive freedom.

President Biden will continue to do that job, along with Vice President Harris and Democrats in the House and the Senate.

MALE: Leader Jeffries, (inaudible).

JEFFRIES: (Inaudible).

MALE: You know, this has been a few weeks of very intense discussions about Biden being at the top of the ticket. What light can you shed to the American public about the concerns that you conveyed to the President about staying on the top of the ticket?

JEFFRIES: It was a private conversation with President Joe Biden. That will remain private.

FEMALE: Mr. Leader, I mean, there has been a lot of reporting about what was said and wasn't. So just for the record, can you just be clear, did you ever tell the President that he could hurt Democrats chances of taking back the majority if he stayed in the race? And secondly, what do you say to those, whether it's Ron Klain or congressional Republicans who claim that democratic party leaders or elected officials push the President out?

JEFFRIES: President Joe Biden is a heroic, patriotic, and transformational figure. And he will go down in history as one of the greatest public servants of all time. That much is clear. I had a private conversation with President Biden to express the perspectives that were wide ranging of the House democratic caucus. That conversation will remain private.

In terms of my republican colleagues, former President Donald Trump and extreme MAGA Republicans are having a meltdown right now, a complete and total meltdown. Why? Because they're presidential nominees and popular. The extreme mag of republican policies are unpopular, including trying to impose a nationwide abortion ban on the American people. And their project 2025 is unpopular. They're having a meltdown right now. All we want to do as Democrats is have a debate about moving the country forward and continuing to put people over politics.

MALE: Can you speak for just a moment to what the concerns you were hearing from members, you know, in swing districts who were concerned about the President, possibly dragging down ballot and how this potentially changes that equation by changing the competence?

JEFFRIES: It's what we're looking forward to. We are going to do everything we need to do as House Democrats to win back control of the House of Representatives and vacate the extreme MAGA republican majority on November 5th.

MALE: When is that meeting? Today or tomorrow?

JEFFRIES: We're waiting on Leader Schumer to get back into town, as well as to get exact confirmation from Vice President Harris.

MALE: Just only here?

JEFFRIES: Thanks.

MALE: Like, can you just (inaudible) to see if it's exciting the (inaudible) is resigning, perhaps been kind of (inaudible) speak to what particularly the fights the caucus about her versus the President?

JEFFRIES: Well, we're looking at a frame of change versus the status quo, moving the country forward versus Donald Trump and extreme MAGA Republicans who want to turn back the clock, defending freedom like a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive healthcare decisions, versus the nationwide abortion ban that Donald Trump and the extreme MAGA Republicans want to jam down the throats of the American people.

We're looking at building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up that works for everyday Americans versus the extreme MAGA republican plans and Donald Trump's plans to drive a big tax cut down the throats of the American people that benefit the wealthy, the well off, and the (inaudible). Last question. Last question.

MALE: Leader Jeffries, do you (inaudible) --

JEFFRIES: Last question.

MALE: -- you mentioned (inaudible)?

JEFFRIES: Last question. I'm looking forward and excited for the meeting that we will have in short order with Vice President Kamala Harris. Thank you, everyone.

MALE: Mr. Jeffirs, you said that Biden should resign. Can you respond to that?

FEMALE: Leader Jeffries, kind of personal level?

BOLDUAN: All right. You were listening there to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries who went right up it to the line, Brianna, and said a lot of glowing things about Kamala Harris but didn't quite endorse her, instead saying he wants to meet with the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Harris. Not sure when that meeting is going to happen just yet, but they're going to sit down with her.

As Jamie Gangel reported just a little bit earlier, we are expecting both of them to ultimately endorse her the question now. Seems to just be when.

KEILAR: Yes, exactly. Joining us now is pollster and communications strategist Frank Luntz, watching all of this with great interest. What a weekend it has been and beginning to this week. What do you think as you were looking at Kamala Harris, who is, you know, presumptively the presumptive nominee at this point in time, we see all the support coalescing around her, you know, what do you think based on what you hear from voters?

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FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER AND COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIST: The same states are in play, but it's different voters right now. And we're still going to be fighting over as he's talked about hardworking taxpayers. And I think that the key voting block is the one that J.D. Vance tried to address on Wednesday, and she's been addressing for her whole career, people who live paycheck to paycheck. I don't call them blue collar. I don't call them working class, because those are insulting labels.

There are people who struggle, they have jobs, but they are one paycheck away from disaster. And they are looking for two things. Do they understand my concerns, my fears, my hopes? And do they have solutions to make my life better? It's both of them. And I'll give you the example. Back in 2008, sorry, 2012, Mitt Romney was able to prove that he had the solutions to people's problems, but he was unable to show the empathy that he understood them. Barack Obama, the public didn't think he had the solutions, they

thought Romney was better at that, but they thought that he empathized better. So the winning candidate in 2024 will have the empathy for the people that paycheck to paycheck and the solution to make their day to day quality of life better.

BOLDUAN: And Frank, of course, you're talking to voters all the time. You really have your finger on the pulse of what they're kind of thinking through. There's been a lot of talk around, are we coordinating the Vice President? Has she earned it? Will people accept her as the nominee? Or will they feel like this was something that was shoved upon them? What is your sense in talking to voters about how they think about that?

LUNTZ: They're going to accept it. And what the Trump campaign doesn't realize is that if there was an opponent to her, if one of these possible other presidential nominees had jumped in and then they tried to silence them, then they would have an issue. But no one is challenging her and it is a coronation. And it's okay because there is no alternative. I think that focusing on the process is missing the real concerns of voters.

Inflation absolutely still matters and it's something that both Biden- Harris kind of dismissed. I think abortion rights matter for young women. And in fact, the two groups that are going to be energized from these young women who thought that Joe Biden was too old and they were not attracted to Donald Trump, they were not participating. They're not going to come out in droves because of Harris and the black vote, which really matters in states like North Carolina and Georgia. They're going to participate because of Harris.

But in the end, the three states that matter, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, she's got to choose someone and she's got Gretchen Whitmer who said she wouldn't take it. That would be two women on the ticket. If two women can host CNN, why can't two women be president and vice president? I think that Shapiro is probably the candidate that she goes with because that's the state she wants to win. Or Kelly and the senator from Arizona or the governor of North Carolina, all three cases, the governor is popular enough that it takes a state that may have been leaning republican and puts it in a democratic camp.

BOLDUAN: And Shapiro very, very popular in Pennsylvania. So that is an interesting one.

KEILAR: That's very interesting.

LUNTZ: But there's something that I would address with you, which is, you can see it already. Trump has no hesitation. He has no filter. He has no self-censor. And she will fight him, attack for attack, insult for insult. And I'm afraid of negativity of this campaign. Trump was unable to control himself. The speech that he wrote for last Thursday night was very powerful and very unifying.

But that's not what he delivered. He wrote a 45 minutes speech. He adlibbed another 45 minutes. And it's all the negativity that voters don't like. She's got more discipline. She's better able to stick to the teleprompter and stick to the message. But I'm really concerned about whatever debate they have because there will be no-holds-barred, no boundaries, And we're already at a breaking point democratically. And I'm just afraid that this could push the country over the edge.

KEILAR: You were watching as we watched a republican Congressman, Congressman Burchett, saying that he thinks that Kamala Harris is a DEI hire. And this is a refrain. We've been seeing this play out in this secret service hearing. We've been hearing this play out as some Republicans are talking about Kamala Harris or maybe even just privately. What do you think about that line of attack?

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LUNTZ: The public believes that Dei has gone too far. And in fact, what they're asking for is not diversity, equity, and inclusion. What they're asking for is mutual respect, the idea that I see you for your talents, not for your gender, not for your age, not for your ethnicity. And they want to make sure that everyone has an equal shot, an equal opportunity at that brass ring. And they think the DEI goes too far in looking at someone's identity rather than their capability.

That said, an overt attack or calling someone a DEI hire makes the public turn against you. They don't want that kind of labeling. The whole purpose of where we are right now in 2024 is to stop the labeling, stop the identification, stop the labeling that basically cuts us off from each other.

I don't want to sound like a kumbaya, like this is the 1960s and all that, but the public is saying, let's make sure everyone has equal opportunity, but they're not saying, let's have equal outcomes. And most importantly, stop criticizing people for how they look, stop criticizing for who they are, and start focusing on their skills and their talents.

BOLDUAN: That's good and very interesting stuff. And it's going to be so fascinating to see how this plays out. And once we really get to see her, she defines herself, Trump defines her. How that all shapes up. All right, Frank Luntz.

LUNTZ: Thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much. All right. Manu Raju is there on the Hill for us, our Chief Congressional Correspondent. Manu, it was notable that we didn't get an endorsement there outright from Jefferies, although it is expected. What was that about?

RAJU: Yeah, it was interesting because there could be a variety of reasons. Sometimes members don't like to offer their endorsement in the halls of the capitol, given it's obviously a very political in nature to offer an endorsement. and this is not necessarily a political institution, although it is obviously a very political institution.

But nevertheless, other members are willing -- been quick to endorse Kamala Harris. What Hakeem Jeffries indicated there is that he wants to have a meeting first with the Vice President and with Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, who also has not yet endorsed Kamala Harris. He wants to have a meeting with her first and expect that to happen in the next couple of days.

But the reason for this here is for Jefferies to really send a signal that the party is indeed coalescing behind Kamala Harris, that they see that this is a new chapter in the fall campaign. This is a party that has been so badly divided over the last several weeks. Jeffries has heard so many concerns from Democrats if Joe Biden were to stay on the top of the ticket. He had that private meetings Jeffries did with the President just before they left town last week. I tried to ask him specifically about what specific concerns he relayed or any light he could shed about that conversation with the President of the United States. He declined to say there's a private discussion that will remain private, instead trying to tout Joe Biden's record.

So it's a very much effort here by Jefferies to turn the page past the last few weeks, try to move on to the new chapter, try to get his party, try to frame the debate between Harris and Trump in the months ahead, even if he didn't explicitly offer that endorsement. You can bet that is coming soon, especially since she has no other major rival in this race, but a different attitude from democratic leaders who had been distraught over Joe Biden's chances over the last few weeks. Much more upbeat now with Biden out of the race and Harris very much in it.

BOLDUAN: Yes, there was a different tone today, that is for sure. Manu Raju on the Hill, thanks so much. Still ahead this hour on CNN News Central, after spending months declaring President Biden fit for office, Donald Trump's campaign is reportedly scrambling to restrategize after Biden now -- he's dropped out of the race. Let's take you behind the scenes of his campaign.

KEILAR: Polls say rare show a bipartisanship on Capitol Hill where the head of the secret service is facing that bipartisan grilling over the assassination attempt of Donald Trump. Lawmakers from both sides now calling for her to resign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY CHEATLE, SERVICE SECRET DIRECTOR: There were sufficient resources --

WILLIAM TIMMONS, CONGRESSMAN: What did you just say?

CHEATLE: -- that were given to --

TIMMONS: Did you just say there were sufficient resources? President Trump got shot.

CHEATLE: They got that (inaudible).

TIMMONS: Someone got killed. There were not sufficient resources clearly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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BOLDUAN: Happening right now, Republican Vice Presidential nominee J.D. Vance, you see it right there, speaking in his hometown in Ohio for his first solo campaign stop. Behind the scenes, the Trump campaign is adjusting its strategy after learning former President could face Kamala Harris in November. Joining us now, CNN National Correspondent Kristen Holmes.

Kristen, how is the Trump campaign pivoting here?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, they've just started the calculations that they need to do to see exactly what a campaign against Kamala Harris would look like. The things you have to remember are that they've spent millions of dollars in modeling and data research in order to be President Joe Biden. And they felt sincerely confident in that effort. Not only did they feel like they were going to win some of these key battleground states, but they actually felt, at one point, like they had the ability to expand the map. They saw the lack of enthusiasm around Joe Biden. And they saw that continuing to shrink that amount of enthusiasm.

Now, this is a different story. Now, if you talk to some of Trump's advisers, they say they built their campaign around Donald Trump, not around --