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Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) is Interviewed about the Presidential Race; Harris Starts Campaigning in Milwaukee; Clooney Endorses Harris. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 23, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And as far as I know, no cops were beaten up, no one defecated in the Capitol, there was no criminal trespass in terms of changing the Democratic candidates, were there?

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): Well, no, but what you get with Kamala Harris is a failed prosecutor who wouldn't seek the death penalty for cop killers, even though her San Francisco - fellow San Francisco Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, wanted to. Kamala Harris also has to answer questions about what's happened over the last three and a half years. She was not just a part of the conspiracy of silence about Joe Biden's decline, she was the leader of it. She has said time and time again that he's fit as a fiddle, that he's sharp as a tack.

When Robert Hur, in February, refused to bring criminal charges against Joe Biden, in large part because he said he was a failing, feeble, frail, old man. Kamala Harris came out and savaged him in the most strident terms.

So, the American people deserve to know, what did Kamala Harris know and when did she know it.

BERMAN: You know, it is interesting, you and others have been very critical of Joe Biden when he was running, saying he couldn't serve another four years. But when the Democratic Party, and Joe Biden himself agrees with you finally, you criticize them. Isn't that a double standard?

COTTON: Well, John, what I've always said is that Joe Biden was obviously declining. He probably wasn't fit to be president. But even if he was 20 years younger, he still would have been a failed president because he was too liberal.

And the same is true of Kamala Harris. She is a San Francisco liberal. She's responsible for all the failed Biden-Harris policies. As vice president, she presides over the Senate, cast votes for tie - to break ties. She literally cast the tie-breaking vote for the trillions of dollars of spending that unleashed record high inflation. Joe Biden appointed her borders czar.

BERMAN: Well, that's not true. You - you -

COTTON: We've had more than 10 million illegal aliens cross our border with Kamala Harris.

BERMAN: Senator - Senator, you know that's actually not true.

COTTON: John, that's absolutely true.

BERMAN: No, no, she was appointed. What she was - what she was charged with doing was dealing with the diplomatic effort in the northern triangle, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. She was never picked as the border czar. You can criticize what she did on immigration, but she as never the border czar, correct?

COTTON: Well - well, John, Joe Biden said that's what she was going to do. Now, maybe she wanted to limit it because she said things in the past during her failed campaign for president, like she wanted to decriminalize illegal entry into this country, or she wanted to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Again, Kamala Harris is a San Francisco liberal who would just continue the failed Biden-Harris policies. Or, as a matter of fact, probably make them worse if you look at her record -

BERMAN: Well -

COTTON: As the most liberal senator, even more liberal than Bernie Sanders.

BERMAN: You - it sounded, up until this point, it sounded like you would rather run against Joe Biden than Vice President Harris. Is that true?

COTTON: Oh, I'm like Donald - I agree with Donald Trump on this. It doesn't matter who the Democrats run. They can take Joe Biden out of the White House. They can't take the failed liberal ideology out of their party. And Kamala Harris probably embodies that failed ideology more than anyone. And a San Francisco liberal who has consistently voted to spend trillions of dollars that's unleashed inflation, that's defended wide-open borders and supported a failed foreign policy that has brought chaos and war around the world.

BERMAN: You call her a failed San Francisco liberal, which is interesting given that when she was running for president and then picked as VP in 2020, the Trump campaign actually went after her for being too tough on crime when she was attorney general and she worked in law enforcement inside California. This is from Katrina Pearson, who was a spokesperson for the campaign at that time. She said, "she fought to keep inmates locked up in overcrowded prisons so they could be used for cheap labor. She champion laws and put parents in jail for truancy and prosecuted the mentally ill," basically suggesting that she was too hard on crime there.

Your reaction?

COTTON: Well, there's many cases in which Kamala Harris has been extremely weak on crime. As I mentioned earlier, she refused to seek the death penalty for a cop killer. She let thousands of violent felons go. In the Senate she promoted efforts, for instance, to eliminate the cash bail system, which many cities have done and had huge spikes in crime.

BERMAN: Yes.

COTTON: Remember, in the summer of 2020, she posted a fundraiser to help bail out the BLM rioters who torched Minneapolis. That's Kamala Harris' record -

BERMAN: So -

COTTON: A failed San Francisco liberal that's wrong for America.

BERMAN: Again, and you've repeated that phrase several times. Clearly that's something that you wanted to get out there today.

You have been critical of President Trump for signing The First Step Act, which was passed in 2018 during his administration, championed by Jared Kushner, perhaps the most important staffer inside the White House at the time. This was criminal justice reform. You called it, "the worst mistake of the Trump administration."

Have you spoken to President Trump about this?

COTTON: Oh, on many occasions. And it's still much better than anything Kamala Harris has ever done on crime.

[09:35:00]

Again, she's let a cop killer walk from the death penalty, she let thousands of felons go free. In the Senate, she championed efforts to eliminate the bail system. She posted fundraisers for BLM rioters in the summer of 2020. She continues to be a liberal ideologues on criminal justice matters, and, frankly, on just about every other matter.

BERMAN: Just -

COTTON: That's why she had the most liberal voting record in the Senate. Even more liberal than Bernie Sanders.

BERMAN: Just to let - before I let you go, since you brought up the Black Lives Matter protests. President Trump - former President Trump has said he would pardon some - many of the January 6th rioters. Does that mean you're against that?

COTTON: No, John, he said he would consider it. And I think it's appropriate to consider it when you look at the unusually aggressive techniques the Department of Justice has used, weaponizing our legal system against some - in some cases people who weren't even inside the Capitol on that day. Now, of course, anyone who committed violence against law enforcement officials or destroyed public property should face the legal consequences.

But President Trump is right when he says that we should consider a pardon against the victims of a weaponized system of justice. We should not be supporting BLM and Antifa rioters who torched downtown Minneapolis. That's what Kamala Harris did in 2020. It's what she's continued to do to this very day. You could still contribute money to their bail fund up to this very morning because Kamala Harris is soft on crime. She is a failed San Francisco liberal.

BERMAN: A San Francisco liberal. We heard you say that many, many times this morning.

Senator Tom Cotton, from Arkansas, thank you very much.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, a Republican congressman suggests Kamala Harris was only hired because she's a black woman. The explosive comments about DEI hires. We will talk about that, next.

Plus, Kamala Harris embraces being called "brat." Why? Take a look at these viral videos.

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[09:41:25]

SIDNER: In a few hours Kamala Harris heads to Milwaukee for a kickoff rally for her campaign for president. As speculation heats up over who she'll choose as her running mate, one rumored contender seems to have taken herself out of the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. Gretchen WHITMER (D-MI): I am not leaving Michigan. I'm proud to be the governor of Michigan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: That was Gretchen Whitmer there, the governor of Michigan.

So much to talk about with Democratic strategist Keith Boykin and Pete Seat, former White House spokesperson for President George W. Bush.

Keith, I just want to talk to you quickly because I'm not sure we've seen anything like this before in our recent history. Give us a sense of how the feelings changed over the past 48 hours inside the Democratic Party now that Kamala Harris is the presumptive nominee for president.

KEITH BOYKIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think that's right, Sara. I have never seen anything like this in my entire life. The Democratic Party is energized and united. Just a few days ago the party was divided and in disarray. And suddenly it's come together more quickly than I think I've seen at any point at any time in any convention leading up to any convention in history. The best parallel I can think of is Democrats in 2008 when Barack Obama was nominated. But even then, the party was still reeling after the battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The party now is incredibly united. Black women are coming together.

Tens of thousands of black women came together on a conference call just the other day. Black men are coming together. Just last night, tens of thousands of black men came together. The Divine Nine, the black Greek organizations, the HBCUs. Women of all colors are coming together, concerned about reproductive rights and abortion and concerned - and actually happy to have a woman at the top of the ticket. The delegates have come together. She's already, in one day, gotten - gotten all of the - the 1,976 delegates she needs to win the nomination. She's gotten endorsements from two presidents already. Half of the United States Senate. More than 100 members of the United States House of Representatives . The AFL-CIO. All this has happened in just one day. And on top of that, they've raised a record $250 million, a quarter of a billion dollars in one day. I've never seen this before in the Democratic Party.

I'm sure that Donald Trump, right now, must be doing something in his pants and - and just having all kinds of buyer's remorse about the idea that Democrats changed the game on him, fundamentally, and now he's stuck with J.D. Vance, an inexperienced freshman senator with only one year of experience. They've got to be really sweating right now.

SIDNER: Keith, you are on fire this morning. You must have had an extra little cup of coffee there. You - is (ph) going.

Pete, you know, look, as - as Keith noted, the Republicans do seem to be struggling a bit on their attack strategy against Kamala Harris, caught potentially by surprise, although they have been sort of attacking her a bit over - over the past few months.

But we are hearing some things that they are being told, the messaging to the Republicans, is, look, just attack her on things that she has done, in other words policy, and nothing else. But already Donald Trump has broken the rule, and so have some other elected officials.

Here's what Donald Trump put on his Truth Social. He called her "dumb as a rock." And he said it's a, you know, "totally failed and insignificant vice president" and is turned into a great president, "a future great president."

[09:45:02]

How is that possible? So, a pretty low blow there.

But then you have this from Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): Biden said - first off he said he was going to hire a black female for vice president and that not - just - he just skipped over - what about - what about white females? What about any other group? It just - when you go down that route, you - you - you take mediocrity. And that's what they have right now as the vice president. MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, are you suggesting she's a - she was a DEI hire?

BURCHETT: One hundred percent. She was a DEI hire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: No one has ever said that about a white male candidate. Why? Why use this language?

PETE SEAT, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPOKESPERSON FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, Sara just to be sure, did you say that Donald Trump was a rule-breaker a few seconds ago? Of course we know that about him.

SIDNER: Noted.

SEAT: And look, some of the base is going to - is going to eat this up because they do not believe that Kamala Harris was picked to be vice president on the merits. There are some people who will see this as an attack on identity politics. The identity politics that more and more Democrats are getting tired of.

But I would argue that all Democrats did was switch out the who. They're still saddled with the what. This might be the Harris for president campaign, but it is still the Biden-Harris agenda. And there is a lot, a lot to talk about on that. And in this next three weeks, between right now and the Democratic National Convention, I think there is an opportunity to define Kamala Harris. And who does that more effective could very well end up being the victor come November. Is it Kamala Harris, who does a better job reintroducing herself? Not a lot of people get a second chance for a first impression. She has won right now. Or is it the Trump campaign that can pretty much just control h, find Biden, replaced with Harris, in all their ready-made press releases to get out there side of this.

SIDNER: Pete Seat, Keith Boykin, thank you both for coming on this morning and having this fund discussion.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A new endorsement pickup for Kamala Harris today. George Clooney, the same George Clooney who just this month made waves by essentially begging Joe Biden to get out of the race. What he's saying now.

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[09:51:51]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEYONCE, MUSICIAN (singing): Cause I need freedom too! I break chains all by myself. Won't let my freedom rot in hell. Hey! I'mma keep running cause a winner don't quit on themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BOLDUAN: That is Kamala Harris walking into campaign headquarters yesterday to her new theme song, getting the green light to use Beyonce's hit "Freedom" for her campaign.

And then this morning, Harris picked up a new endorsement. George Clooney saying he is throwing his support behind the VP.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has much more on this.

And it was just a couple weeks ago that Clooney very publicly called on Biden to step aside. What is George Clooney saying now?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: That is right. We all remember that op-ed that Clooney wrote for "The New York Times," and that had great impact and really made waves through Hollywood and through D.C.

Well, now, he, in a statement, is telling our Jake Tapper that he is endorsing Harris, and he is thanking Biden for stepping aside. He says in part, quote, "President Biden has shown what true leadership is. He's saving democracy once again." And then he says that he is excited to go do whatever he can to support Vice President Harris.

Now, as you mentioned up top there, yesterday, when Kamala Harris stepped out at her campaign headquarters, she came out to a Beyonce song, "Freedom." Well, I have learned exclusively from a source close to Harris that Beyonce did give her approval to Harris and her campaign to use this song.

Now, while Beyonce has not given her official endorsement yet to Vice President Harris, this indicates that she certainly has the star's support.

SIDNER: All right. Kamala Harris is being called "brat." And if you've been on social media lately, like John is always, take a look at what you probably - I know you've seen these.

(VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: All right, I'm old enough to remember when brat meant spoiled, right? And, wow -

BOLDUAN: It still can. Don't worry.

SIDNER: You're going - she's going for it. And -

BOLDUAN: And she's got music.

SIDNER: I'm sorry.

BOLDUAN: I - completely unintentional. I do not know how this happened today.

SIDNER: This is brat. You're brat.

BOLDUAN: I mean it was - exactly (ph). I'm so a brat. SIDNER: And you, you're close, John.

BERMAN: How did that happen?

SIDNER: I don't know.

BOLDUAN: No, no, no, I literally did not try.

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE).

SIDNER: I -

BOLDUAN: I woke up at zero o'clock in the morning and decided to come to work, as I always do, dress with my eyes closed and walked out. That's what I did.

SIDNER: Hearing you, not believing, but that's OK.

Elizabeth, what does "brat" mean now?

WAGMEISTER: I was going to say, Kate, you are in your brat green. You are brat, whether intentional or not. All three of you are brat actually.

BOLDUAN: Especially need to define what brat is. OK, good. Like, volatile.

WAGMEISTER: So, let me break this down. So, as you saw - so, yes. So - so that video that we saw of Kamala Harris dancing some of her most quotable moments with the overlay of green and set to the music of British pops star Charli XCX.

So, her most recent album is called "Brat." It came out last month.

As you see there, Charli then posted on X, "Kamala is brat."

[09:55:02]

Now, she posted this on Sunday, just shortly after President Biden gave his endorsement to Harris to be the Democratic nominee.

And let me tell you why this is such a big deal. Charli XCX has a huge, young following. She's very much immersed in internet culture. And what the Biden campaign couldn't do, and was struggling with doing, was getting gen z support. Well now, Kamala Harris has complete gen z attention and she has really embraced this.

Now, for all you who are wondering what brat means, well, Charli XCX, she says it's a girl who likes the party, is just herself, you know, makes mistakes, but is really just her true self.

So, gen z has embraced this. They're all wearing green. It's a brat summer. It's an aesthetic. It's a mood. It's a culture.

SIDNER: Could it be likes to party, does not make mistakes, and wears green? BOLDUAN: I think she also defined it as volatile. I was like, yep.

SIDNER: Up. Yep. Check, check and check. We're all brat.

WAGMEISTER: I don't know why I'm wearing orange today, actually.

SIDNER: You can only hope to be brat, I guess, but you've already made it, obviously.

BOLDUAN: It's brat summer. John (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: Just happened to wear it. I don't know who dressed me. Who dressed me.

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE) sort of like I literally just did, OK.

BERMAN: Sometimes I get dressed. I don't even do it myself. The clothes just appear.

SIDNER: Uh-huh. Uh.

BERMAN: Thank you, all. Elizabeth, thank you very much. And thank you all for joining us. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "CNN NEWSROOM" up next.

BOLDUAN: I - you (ph) so wrong today.

SIDNER: Brat.

BOLDUAN: No one understands me.

SIDNER: I mean he's got - he's got a green freaking (ph) tie on, but -

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