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Barack and Michelle Obama Endorse Kamala Harris for President; Trump Campaign Yet to Agree to Debate with Kamala Harris; Coordinated Sabotage on Trains in France Causing Disruption for Travelers Hours Before Olympic Opening Ceremony in Paris; In France: "Coordinated Sabotage" on Train Lines Before Olympic Opening Ceremony; Then-Senator Harris Supported "Defund The Police" Movement in 2020. 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 26, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN ANCHOR: They're going to have to do a full NASA agency review to determine if this spacecraft is safe to bring these astronauts back. If that goes well, that means we're looking at early to mid-August at the earliest, John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I guess it's not exactly lost in space, but maybe stuck in space. Kristin Fisher, thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL with Emmy award winning music starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Big news this morning, the Obamas are backing Kamala Harris. What this critical endorsement means for the vice president as her campaign just keeps gaining momentum.

And coordinated sabotage on trains in France causing massive disruption for hundreds of thousands of travelers just hours before the Olympic opening ceremony in Paris. What we know so far about the attack on French railways.

And a remarkable moment on Capitol Hill. We'll tell you how advancements in artificial intelligence gave a Democratic congresswoman her voice back.

I'm Sara Sidner John Berman. Kate is out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: Brand new this morning, former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, they have formally back Vice President Kamala Harris for president. They held off for a few days, but no more. And it comes just hours after Donald Trump apparently wavered on debating Harris. His campaign said he was not ready to commit yet, citing the fact that Obama had not endorsed. That may not have aged well.

With us now, CNN senior White House correspondent Kayla Tausche. Kayla, great to have you this morning. As we said, the Obamas took their time a little bit, but now Harris has the endorsement. KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. It's been a fast and furious week for Vice President Harris, who is now atop the Democrats' presidential ticket. And she ended that week on a high note with that highly anticipated endorsement from the Democratic Party's power couple. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We call to say Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse your to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAUSCHE: That, of course, former President Barack Obama on the phone with Vice President Harris alongside the former first lady Michelle Obama, an endorsement that came several days into her ascendancy to the top of the ticket, and notably after the Democratic National Committee convened its Rules Committee to formally a clinch those delegates for Harris and formally advanced her nomination for the party.

Now, she is going to we are seeing a boost of momentum from this endorsement as the campaign barrels toward what it is calling a weekend of action. According to the campaign, there will be more than 2,300 events over the weekend. Coffee hour, soul food potlucks, and pride trivia nights, office openings and more as she seeks to embrace the campaign infrastructure that President Biden has handed down to her and also tries to expand it and reshape it in her own image.

Her campaign says that she is also planning a slew of battleground events as she has throughout the week today, holding events in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, and more states. That, of course, with surrogates and affiliate groups in those states, as she's rallied various demographics virtually on Zoom throughout the week, John, just continuing this momentum, of course, as the party barrels toward its own convention. It's less than a week away, and she's still needs a running mate, too.

BERMAN: Kayla Tausche at the White House this morning. Great to see you. Thanks so much.

SIDNER: All right, the Obamas have endorsed, there have been a huge uptick in people registering to vote, while Republicans are signaling they're going to try to stop this switch to Harris from Biden from happening somehow legally. We have our CNN political commentator and former White House director of communications Alyssa Farah Griffin with us this morning.

I want to begin with the importance of the Obamas getting on the phone with her, saying, hey, we got your back, we're with you. A lot of people questioning why did it take so long. Does any of this matter at this point?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Huge. It's the final endorsement that she needed. And I think it speaks to how savvy Harris' campaign has been that she actually thought to film it and turn it into a campaign ad and put it out there.

But listen, Republicans have kind of had this conspiracy theory for years, that they're going to switch Michelle Obama out, a widely popular cultural figure. But it's turning out Kamala Harris may be able to have that level of momentum and excitement that people were always worried Michelle Obama might have.

BERMAN: I was surprised to see the Trump campaign last night citing the fact that Obama had not yet endorsed as a reason to put the pause button on committing to the debates. So Alyssa, two-part question. One, does that mean now that the pause is lifted? And what's going on here with the debates?

[08:05:04]

GRIFFIN: Well, it was bizarre because there was reporting that the endorsement was coming. And in fact, in Obamas Twitter, he posted about it. He stated that this -- that call actually came days ago. So the endorsement was actually already there.

I think they're buying time because they have to restructure their entire campaign, running against a 50 something year-old former prosecutor, former attorney general, is very different than running against Joe Biden. I think Trump is going to have to debate. He's going to look incredibly weak if he doesn't and he prides himself in strength. So I think the September debate, September 10th debate does have to happen.

SIDNER: I want to ask you about some of the attacks we have heard, and John got this, too, over and over again, the word, sort of San Francisco liberal, radical, liberal. Those things have been put out there over and over again. But there's this the other strain of condemnation of Kamala Harris, and it's always DEI, DEI, DEI. We're hearing that over and over and over again. But one FOX business show host went further in his comments and then doubled down on them on Twitter. Let me let people hear what he had to say about Kamala Harris and what he thought of her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEC LACE, HOST, "THE ALEC LACE SHOW": Yes, and then there's the DEI press secretary telling you that the DEI vice president is the future of the party here. And so the future looks kind of dim for the Democrats here, but this is no shocker either. Kamala Harris, she's the original "Hack Tuah" girl. That's the way she got where she is, and the party is going downhill if it's in her hands.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was tough. That was, that was harsh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: She's saying that was tough. That was Alec Lace. That was harsh because it is a reference to a certain sexual action, saying that that's what she is originally known for. What the hell?

GRIFFIN: It's disgusting. It's despicable. It's sexist. It's completely counterproductive, by the way. We've seen this, leaning into racist attacks, misogynistic attacks against her. That does not work with the very suburban swing voters that you need to win an election. And I credit Mike Johnson and others who have said, this is not where we need to go. But what matters is, is this where Donald Trump tells his followers not to go? What is his message he's going to lean into?

It is totally fair game to critique her on border security, supporting the green new deal early in her career. There are plenty of liberal policies you can contrast. This has just beyond the pale, and it's much more than just tough. It's disgusting. He shouldn't be on air.

BERMAN: It's interesting, too, because this type of discussion comes as these comments that J.D. Vance made in 2021, they've had to life this week. They keep on coming up -- Jennifer Aniston putting out a statement -- where he basically criticized or question the ability of women who don't have children to somehow make policy, that somehow they don't have the right experience to do that. And this has lingered all week. Alyssa, how much longer do you think it will go on? How big of an issue is it? What can Harris do with this?

GRIFFIN: It's a huge deal. I have heard from lifelong Republican girlfriends who weren't super familiar with J.D. Vance, and they're just so offended by the comments, whether they've struggled to get pregnant, whether they've miscarried, whether they want to be married and have kids but haven't met the right partner. It's just, it's such an alienating take.

And I was always surprised by the J.D. Vance pick because I've followed his descent into right wing extremism, which is not how he started his career. And there is more of this. There's going to be more extreme statements that come out. And since the story has been big, he has skipped Netanyahu's address, went on Charlie Kirk's radio show, sat down with Don Jr. He has yet to do a major mainstream interview and explain what he meant by these comments and tried to do the cleanup.

It seems like there was no vet of him for his past statements that are easy to find, and in the Harris campaign is frankly moving a lot quicker than the Biden was in digging these things up and putting them out there.

SIDNER: There are memes all over saying childless cat lady, and it is taken a life of its own, really, online. Alyssa Farah Griffin, thank you so much for coming in this morning. Appreciate it.

BERMAN: All right, an attack on France's rail system just hours before the Olympic opening ceremony. What does this mean for athletes? What does it mean for spectators?

SIDNER: I'll take it from here, John. This morning, Donald Trump meets face-to-face with Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time in years at Mar-a-Lago.

And in just minutes, we get the newest numbers tracking the fight against inflation. That's all coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:13:44]

SIDNER: We continue to follow breaking news out of France where officials say the Olympics opening ceremony will go ahead as planned despite several coordinated attacks targeting France's high-speed train network and causing utter chaos for stranded travelers. You see them there. Railway staff and police working at the scenes of at least three attacks in more rural areas of the country. They've said at least one potential attack was foiled. France's state railway company said the, quote, sabotage is disrupting travel for about 800,000 passengers and damaged station facilities.

CNN senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI director Andrew McCabe joining us this morning. Thank you so much for coming in for us this morning. Wow, what are you learning about these attacks and what do you make of them? We haven't seen like a statement or anything so far, I don't think.

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: We haven't. We haven't seen that yet. But we know that these attacks took place in multiple locations, targeting multiple train lines, mostly lines affecting the northern and eastern sides of France, which is the main routes to the rest of Europe. We know that they targeted the high- speed train lines, so the most high-profile, likely most important train lines to the country.

[08:15:00]

We also know that they were targeted in a way that destroyed a cabling system that's necessary to protect the safety of the drivers.

It appears that these actions were done in a way that didn't actually put a moving train with passengers on it in immediate jeopardy. It seems from the very little reporting we have so far that this was an attack that was really designed to bring the system down rather than to inflict mass casualties on civilians.

And that's important, Sara, because it gives us some indication that this may be the result of a political group or a group that's trying to send a message to the French government rather than the attacks we think of an instantly, which is, those perpetuated by ISIS or Al- Qaeda. Those groups typically look to cause mass casualties in a way that the world will see. The modus operandi here is, I think particularly instructive at this point.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: If you're looking into who was behind this, I mean, it happened right before the opening ceremony -- the day of the opening ceremony, clearly, to get the world's attention. What would you be looking for to try to figure out why this happened? And what would you expect that in the next day or so, maybe today, you would start to find out what the message that was supposed to be sent was?

MCCABE: Well, I'm quite sure that the French law enforcement and intelligence community have many folks that they're focused on this morning, kind of domestic disturbances and political protests that turn violent are fairly common in France.

There's a period where France underwent nightly violent protests in some of the suburbs around Paris for -- really driven by all sorts of different social and political issues. There are large immigrant populations in those suburbs that feel like they're not adequately represented and given the same sort of kind of help that they wish to have, things like that.

So I would expect that the community, law enforcement and intelligence community, is looking at all of those groups that basically have complaints with the French government. Whether they'd be far left or far right almost doesn't matter, you have a wide variety of groups that are politically motivated and that are opposed to the French government -- of the actions of the French government, I would expect those folks, those groups are probably highest on the list of possible suspects this morning.

It's probably just a matter of time before we hear from some of them taking responsibility for these actions as well.

SIDNER: And there is always a possibility that it's somebody outside of the country that has somehow coordinated this. We will be watching and waiting and the people in France, the people there for the Olympics are very frustrated at this hour as you might imagine.

Andrew McCabe, thank you so much, appreciate you coming on this morning.

How are swing state voters responding to the change at the top of the Democratic ticket? We will hear from some senior voters on the choice of a younger generation candidate. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:22:40]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The news this morning, Vice President Harris picked up the official endorsement of former President Barak Obama and Michelle Obama just a few hours ago.

With us now, Congressman Dan Kildee, a Democrat from Michigan. And congressman, how are things for Democrats in Michigan this morning, or put another way, how are things different today than they were one week ago?

REP. DAN KILDEE (D-MI): Well, things have improved. The horse race numbers are one indication of that, but I think we have to be careful not to look too closely at that because the biggest difference I see on the ground is the level of enthusiasm, not just among Democratic base voters, but among those swing voters who are really kind of unsure where they would go because they wanted a choice other than Donald Trump or President Biden.

That may not be fair to President Biden in my view, but that was the fact. The enthusiasm level is so much higher now than it was just a few weeks ago. And that's going to make a big difference. BERMAN: All right, Rust Belt versus Sun Belt, which should the Harris

campaign focus on?

KILDEE: Well, we have to have a 50-state strategy. But the reality of course is without Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, it's really difficult for any Democratic candidate for president to put together 270 electoral votes. So my advice of course, is to go to where those swing states are. Go to those places that are must-win states. Let's get that done. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

This is going to be a close election and we have to be smart and strategic. I think the most strategic -- smart strategic move would be to focus on those key states that have -- absolutely have to be part of the calculation to win.

BERMAN: Sounds like a vote for the Rust Belt right there.

The KFile overnight, Andrew Kaczynski and his team found an interview that the vice president who was then a senator did in 2020, and this was during everything going on around George Floyd and the protests there, where she talked about the "defund the police" movement.

And what she said is that the movement was about rightly saying, look at budgets and priorities and I want to play a little bit more of what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), US VICE PRESIDENT: Part of what we have to do here is also look at the militarization of police departments and the kind of money that is going to that and we need to demilitarize police departments. It is outdated and is actually wrong and backward to think that more police officers will create more safety.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:25:09]

BERMAN: So this is the type of thing that Republicans are highlighting already this week, calling her a San Francisco liberal. How do you think she needs to respond to this?

KILDEE: I think two important ways. One, to point out that it is the Biden-Harris administration that has dramatically increased funding to support local police. But during that period of time where that interview took place, there were lots of the same kinds of conversations taking place around the country, including in my district.

And here's what the discussion was, we can't ask the police alone to deal with this issue of crime and violence. Even police leadership will say the whole community has to be involved. So, I remember that debate and that was principally focused on not just saying, okay, more and more and more police will solve the crime problem. We have to invest in different aspects of the stability of community. I just helped secure money in my own district in Saginaw, Michigan for

a police in community partnership, where money goes in both directions. I think that's what the vice president was speaking of, at least as I recall, the debate at that time.

BERMAN: One other thing that's come up this week, if you look over, I guess your right shoulder is Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz over in Minnesota. One of the things he sort of spearheaded is now calling Republicans like Donald Trump and JD Vance, his vice presidential pick. I guess, weird, there's no other way to say it, weird. Listen to what the governor said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): These are weird people on the other side. They want to take books away. They want to be on your exam room. That's what it comes down to. Don't get -- sugarcoating this, these are weird ideas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And other people have been saying that, over the last few days. I'm curious what you think of that argument.

KILDEE: Well, I think it's an argument that works because it's true. I serve in the Congress. I see what the Republican agenda looks like every day. It is weird. There's no two ways about it, but it's more than weird. It's dangerous. It's scary, the extent to which their manifesto calls upon the government to make personal decisions for women, for example, or about your future.

It's not just weird, it's scary weird.

BERMAN: I understand what you're saying or why you would push it to dangerous and scary, but it's the weird part that I'm still sort of focused on. What is it that you and/or Governor Walz see as weird specifically?

KILDEE:I mean, I haven't talked to Tim about this, but my interpretation is the extent to which they argue for smaller government and then strangely turn out to be promoting policies that are all about government control of us individually. That's weird, but then, I guess just the notion that they can hold those two thoughts in their head is a little, little frightening.

BERMAN: This may be the most important question I have for you. Are those your drums behind you and do you play them? And if you do play them, what do you play best on them?

KILDEE: I do play them. I play almost every day when I'm here at home. It's sort of my therapy. I play old rock and roll. I love Ringo Starr and I will play anything that Ringo played and I love doing it every day. It's fun.

BERMAN: Shockingly, one of the most underrated drummers, even though he was of course, with the Beatles. Congressman Dan Kildee, we do appreciate you being with us this morning. Thank you so much for your time. We'll let you get back to the drums.

KILDEE: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, he thinks I'm weird now.

This morning, an alleged cartel kingpin and the son of the notorious El Chapo in custody. New reporting on the major sting operation overnight.

And artificial intelligence makes its debut on the House floor after a neurological disorder robbed her of her voice. AI helped this lawmaker get it back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JENNIFER WAXTON (D-VA): I can no longer give the same kind of impassioned impromptu speeches during debates on the floor or in committee hearings. This very impressive AI recreation of my voice does the public speaking for me now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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