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End Of Interview With Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL); Soon: Harris Speaks At First Presidential Rally In Milwaukee; Speaker Johnson: Election Should Not Be About Race Or Gender; Harris Holds First Presidential Rally. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired July 23, 2024 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): Well, first, again, thanks to an extraordinarily selfless acts by the president, which I think would cement his legacy.
I think he's going to talk a little bit more about why he made this decision, how he feels about the vice president, where our country needs to go.
And I think -- I think he probably intends to talk about what he'd like to accomplish in the closing months of his tenure as president United States.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We heard Congressman Tim Burchett calling Vice President Harris a DEI hire, which has kind of become this almost like a like a veiled slur, I think.
Because we see people using it when it just it doesn't even make sense of people who weren't hired, but maybe who are elected. And what we see is this tends to be something that has only said about people of color or people who are not men.
I wonder what the effect is in your mind of some Republicans talking like that.
But with also a nod to the fact that there are people within your own party who, while they think that Harris' background should be a benefit to her, the perspective that she brings and the representation that she brings, they also worry that some voters might not see it that way.
What do you say?
QUIGLEY: Look, it's -- I believe it's intended as a slur. I think you're just going to -- just starting to see the beginnings of that. But I think the American people will see through that and unite against that sort of thing.
And again, obviously, she's not a hire. She's elected by the people in the United States of America. And it's not the DEI labor -- label or past history that they're worried about with her. It's the fact that she was a prosecutor and their candidate is a convicted felon. This is a rich diverse country. We'd like to think of that as a
strength, not a weakness. And why not be represented by someone who represents so much of that fabric that we treasure?
KEILAR: But what do you think about some of the energy from younger voters for Kamala Harris? I imagine you've had to learn what "Brat" is here in the last day or so.
I mean, what are -- what are you making of this whole new world that I think the non-Gen-Z-ers are discovering.
QUIGLEY: Well, first, you touched on a good point. It is a whole new world. Because, you know, one of the reasons I was concerned before President Biden made his choice, was I was concerned about where young people were going to go in this upcoming election.
I was concerned that they were to be apathetic or, you know, stay -- stay out of this entirely. I now no longer have those concerns of part of that base that's been revived is a very a young person's campaign. And I'm with them.
Just watch. If the first 24 hours was this dynamic, now watch for the next 24 days. It's going to be fun to watch.
KEILAR: Do you worry it could fizzle?
QUIGLEY: No. Look, there's an adrenaline that comes with this and a momentum. And, again, that's exactly why -- one of the key reasons that President Biden stepped aside.
There's a momentum in politics just like there is in sports. And that you have to make sometimes a change during that time to change the momentum.
I think he see the field tilted the wrong way for the Republicans. That's what's concerning them. And I think that's why they're being so aggressive against her.
KEILAR: Congressman Mike Quigley, great to have you on. Thanks for being with us.
QUIGLEY: Thank you. Take care.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: And I want to get to CNN's Annie Grayer, who is live on Capitol Hill to talk more about these attacks on Vice President Harris.
Annie, Mike Johnson is warning Republicans against attacking her on race and gender. What more are you learning about this?
ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, Jessica, Republicans essentially have to build their messaging strategy overnight. It's essentially like building a plane as it's taking off.
Because Republicans built their entire campaign around attacking President Joe Biden. But now that he is not running for reelection and Harrison is likely to be the Democratic presidential nominee, they have to build an entire new strategy.
But after talking to Republican lawmakers and Republican strategist, they're still going to use a lot of the same attacks that they used against Biden because Harris was Biden's number two.
But there are going to be some key additions that they're trying -- new attacks that they're trying out behind the scenes to develop across the board. But we're not seeing just lawmakers implement -- implement that necessarily.
We saw Republican Congressman Tim Burchett yesterday call Harris a DEI hire. And I'm told that Johnson really implored his members behind the scenes to focus on policies, not personality.
[14:35:03]
Not all lawmakers are taking that to --
(CROSSTALK)
GRAYER: to -- to concerns. So, we'll --
(CROSSTALK)
GRAYER: So we're going to see how this --
(CROSSTALK)
DEAN: Annie, I'm so sorry to interrupt you.
Let's listen in on Vice President Kamala Harris.
(CHEERING)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Thank you.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Thank you.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Thank you. Thank you, everyone.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Thank you. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Wisconsin.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you. It is good to be back. Thank you all very much.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Can we please hear it for Leah and her extraordinary story and leadership?
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
HARRIS: And i do believe our teachers do God's work. They teach other people's children and God knows we don't pay them enough.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Let's thank them.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And it is so good to be here and be back with so many extraordinary leaders, including my friend, the great governor of Wisconsin, Tony Evers.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: My dear friend, Senator Tammy Baldwin.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: You know, I had the privilege of serving with Tammy when I was in the United States Senate. And she has always fighting for the people of this state.
And I know that the folks that are here are going to make sure you return her to Washington, D.C. in November.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Yes, we are going to elect her back to Washington, D.C.
It is so good to be here also with Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Attorney General Josh Kaul (ph).
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Wisconsin's secretary of state, Sarah Godlewski.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: County executive, David Crowley.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Mayor Cavalier Johnson.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And the great state party chair, Ben Wikler.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: So I have worked with Ben.
You and I've been working together for years.
And I can attest he knows how to build the infrastructure that delivers wins up and down the ballot. Thank you, Ben.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: So it is good to be back in Wisconsin. And it is great to be in Milwaukee.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: As many of you know, our state campaign headquarters are in this city.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And there is a reason for that. The path to the White House goes through Wisconsin.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Yes, it does. And to win in Wisconsin, we are counting on you right here in Milwaukee.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And you helped us win in 2020. And in 2024, we will win again.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Yes, we will.
So, Milwaukee, I want to start by saying a few words, and I could really speak at length, but a few words about our incredible President Joe Biden.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: It has truly been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve as vice president to our president, Joe Biden.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Joe's legacy of accomplishment over his entire career and over the past 3.5 years is unmatched in modern history. In one term, think about it, in one term as president, he has already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who served two terms in office.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And I know we are all deeply, deeply grateful for his continuing service to our nation.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And it is my great honor to have Joe Biden's endorsement in this race.
(CHEERING)
[14:40:01]
HARRIS: So, Wisconsin, I am told, as of this morning, that we have earned the support of enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: I am so very honored. And I pledge to you, I will spend the coming weeks continuing to unite our party so that we are ready to win in November.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: So, friends, we have 105 days until Election Day. And in that time, we've got some work to do. But we're not afraid of hard work. We like hard work, don't we?
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And we will win this election.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Yes, we will.
So, as Leah told you before, I was elected vice president. Before I was a United States Senator, I was elected attorney general of the state of California, and I was a courtroom prosecutor before then.
And in those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Predators who abused women, fraudsters, who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.
(SHOUTING)
HARRIS: So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump's type.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(CHANTING)
HARRIS: And in this campaign, I promised you, I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: As attorney general of California, I took on one of our country's largest for-profit colleges that was scamming students. Donald Trump ran a for-profit college that scammed students.
(BOOING)
HARRIS: As a prosecutor, I specialized in cases involving sexual abuse. Well, Trump was found liable for committing sexual abuse.
(BOOING)
HARRIS: As attorney general of California, I took on the big Wall Street banks and held them accountable for fraud.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Donald Trump was just found guilty of fraud on 34 counts.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: But let's also make no mistake. This campaign is not just about us versus Donald Trump. This campaign is about who we fight for.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: This is about who we fight for.
Just look at how we are running our campaigns. So Donald Trump is relying on support from billionaires and big corporations and he is trading access in exchange for campaign contributions.
(BOOING)
HARRIS: A couple of months ago, you all saw that a couple of months ago at Mar-a-Lago, he literally promised big oil companies, big oil lobbyists he would do their bidding for $1 billion in campaign donations.
(BOOING)
HARRIS: On the other hand, we are running a people-power campaign.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And we just had -- some breaking news -- we just had the best 24 hours --
(CHEERING) HARRIS: -- of grassroots fundraising in presidential campaign history.
(CHEERING)
[14:44:59]
HARRIS: And because we are a people-powered campaign, that is how you know we will be a people-first presidency.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And, Wisconsin, this campaign is also about two different visions for our nation. One, where we are focused on the future. The other focused on the past.
We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity, not just to get by, but to get ahead.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: A future where no child has to grow up in poverty.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Where every worker has the freedom to join a union.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Where every person has an affordable health care --
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: -- affordable child care --
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: -- and paid family leave.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: We believe in a future where every senior can retire with dignity.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: So all of this is to say building up the middleclass will be a defining goal of my presidency.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Because here's the thing we all hear and Wisconsin knows. When our middle-classes is strong, America is strong.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: But Donald Trump wants to take our country backward. He and his extreme Project 2025 agenda --
(BOOING)
HARRIS: -- will weaken the middle-class. Like we know we've got to take this serious. I can't believe they put that in writing.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: Read it. It's 900 pages.
But here's the thing. You -- when you read it, you will see that Donald Trump intends to cut Social Security and Medicare.
(BOOING)
HARRIS: He intends to give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and make working families foot the bill.
(BOOING)
HARRIS: They intend to end the Affordable Care Act.
(BOOING)
HARRIS: And take us back then to a time when insurance companies had the power to deny people with pre-existing conditions.
(BOOING)
HARRIS: Remember what that was like? Children with asthma, women who survived breast cancer, grandparents with diabetes. America has tried these failed economic policies before. But we are not going back.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: We are not going back.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: We are not going back.
(CHEERING)
(CHANTING)
HARRIS: I'll tell you why we're not going back. Because ours is a fight for the future.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And it is a fight for freedom.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Generations of Americans -- generations. And we have to remember this. The shoulders on which we stand, generations of Americans before us, led the fight for freedom.
And now, Wisconsin, the baton is in our hands.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: We, who believe in the sacred freedom to vote, will make sure every American has the ability to cast their ballot and have it counted.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
HARRIS: We, who believe that every person in our nation should -- who should have the freedom to live safe from the terror of gun violence.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: We'll finally pass Red Flag laws, universal background checks, and an assault weapons ban.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
[14:49:57]
HARRIS: And we, who believe in reproductive freedom --
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: -- will stop Donald Trump's extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own their own bodies.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And not let big government tell them what to do.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: When Congress passes a law to restore reproductive freedoms, as president of the United States, I will sign it into law.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: So, Wisconsin, ultimately, in this election, we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in? A country --
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And to your point, do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law --
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: -- or a country of chaos, fear and hate? (CHEERING):
HARRIS: And here's the beauty of this moment. We each have the power to answer that question. The power is with the people.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: We each have the power to answer that question. And in the next 105 days, then we have work to do.
(SHOUTING)
HARRIS: We have doors to knock on, we have phone calls to make, we have voters to register.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And we have an election to win!
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: So, Wisconsin, today I ask you, are you ready to get to work?
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Do we believe in freedom?
(SHOUTING)
HARRIS: Do we believe in opportunity?
(SHOUTING)
HARRIS: Do we believe in the promise of America?
(SHOUTING)
HARRIS: And are we ready to fight for it?
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And when we fight, we win!
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: God bless you. Glod bless --
(CHEERING)
(SINGING)
KEILAR: And there it is, that Beyonce song to wrap it up, which ties obviously in with a message that she is putting forth there, a country about freedom, not about chaos.
I want to bring in Jeff Zeleny and Kristen Hollmes to talk a little bit about what we're seeing.
I mean, the thing that strikes me, Jeff, is just the contrast of a Vice President Harris to a President Biden on the campaign trail.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Without question. With the same set of facts, the same opponent, but delivered in a, I mean, remarkably -- choose your word -- different way.
I mean, this is a prosecutor making her case.
This is also the same vice president who has been out there really for the last three years making speeches, but not when she is at the top of the ticket. Something has changed obviously.
Now this is her burden. This is her case. And often, when the vice president has been out there -- I've been at several of her rallies -- she's been talking about the Affordable Care Act, the infrastructure fund.
She's been selling the administration's programs, but not in a political speech like this.
So look, the race to define Vice President Kamala Harris is on. She is locked in this race. Obviously, she's trying to define herself as a prosecutor.
And the Republicans are also trying to define her. But in this key moment here, right out of the gate, it was just striking to watch. I mean, she said it's 105 days to Election Day. Yes. We have work to do. We have an election to win.
She's not saying that she has this. But Democrats just feel a breath of fresh air, a chance that they can actually be competitive in this race. But just judging her stamina, her energy and her acuity at taking the --- on Donald Trump. We're in an entirely different race now.
DEAN: Yes, that was a very lively campaign speech that we saw the crowd engaging in.
To that end, with the contrast, Kristen, not only is it a contrast with where the president -- President Biden's campaign has been, but she is now striking quite a contrast with former President Donald Trump.
And we've seen her setting this up, that she was a prosecutor. He is a felon. She prosecuted these different types of cases. And then we did see her starting to really try out some slogans.
And you heard her saying we're not going back and people chanting.
[14:55:04]
Does it start -- are they starting to try to really draw that contrast with Trump, that that's a backward-looking choice? KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, I want to go to
what Jeff was just saying. Because I think, right now, that the Trump folks are focused on is this race to define Kamala Harris.
Because when they look at all the polling, they obviously see the same thing that everybody else did, which was that Kamala Harris has high name identification.
But when it comes to what people actually know about Harris, not just as vice president, but also as our time it's a prosecutor, most people don't know a lot about her history.
She is now going to have to really raise, in the next four months, and define what that looks -- what that means going forward, particularly the people who are not -- who aren't at that rally, who aren't just so excited for a more lively candidate but are still looking for options.
That is what the Trump people are going to try to combat. You're going to see them trying to educate people or, quote, unquote, introduce Kamala Harris, their version of Kamala Harris, to the American public.
And it's obviously going to be increasingly negative. We've already seen Donald Trump, over and over again, bashing her on social media, trying out his different slogans.
Say, there are more insulting than Kamala Harris saying, let's not go back. But I believe this is going to get increasingly more personal.
And one thing to note is that Trump's -- the head of Trump's polling, Tony Fabrizio, put out a memo that he blasted to essentially everyone. They said it was an internal memo, but they sent it to the press.
Which said that they were expecting a Harris honeymoon. Well, clearly, they are expectations and a level-setting right now.
They essentially say that there's likely to be a number of polls in coming weeks, national polls included, that show Harris either gaining on Donald Trump in a way that Biden was not, or surpassing Donald Trump. But that they expect over time, things will even out.
Again, this is expectation setting for people who have been seeing these poll numbers with Donald Trump. Probably also expectation setting for the candidate himself.
DEAN: All right. Kristen Hollmes, Jeff Zeleny, stay with us.
We have much more ahead. We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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