Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump Not Committing Yet to Debate Kamala Harris; Interview With Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC); Obamas Endorse Kamala Harris; Trump Meets With Netanyahu. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 26, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:54]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Election whiplash. Vice President Harris' campaign launching at warp speed. We are just five days in, and top Democrats are making it clear they are all in, the Obamas just delivering their endorsement. Will it be enough to sway voters, though?

And coordinated sabotage. Hours before the Olympic Games' Opening Ceremony, France's high-speed train lines are attacked. We're following the impact and the investigation.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And they are the alleged leaders of one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the world. But, apparently, the U.S. simply tricked these two cartel leaders into falling right into the hands of the FBI.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: Happening now, former President Donald Trump is sitting down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That will happen at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. And this is the first time that the two men have met since Trump left office more than three years ago, today's meeting a chance for the two men to repair a once-close relationship that has soured since Trump left the White House.

The high-stakes sit-down coming at a critical moment in the war between Israel and Hamas and in the 2024 presidential race. It follows the prime minister's separate meetings yesterday with President Biden and Vice President Harris, now the presumptive Democratic nominee.

CNN's Alayna Treene is following the meeting for us.

Alayna, we obviously don't know how it's going yet, but tell us about the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Brianna, it's really fascinating. You mentioned this, but this is the first time that the two leaders are meeting since Donald Trump departed the White House more than three years ago.

And both of them had touted while he was in the White House their strong personal relationship. Netanyahu even went as far as to say that Donald Trump was the best friend Israel had had at the time. But now a lot of that has changed. The relationship has soured in recent years, in part because Donald Trump thought that Netanyahu was being disloyal when he congratulated Joe Biden for winning the 2020 race and for agreeing to and saying he wanted to work with him and looked forward to that.

So we're seeing a lot of these dynamics. It's interesting to see how they may play out today, but we have seen some photos coming in and new video of them greeting each other, Donald Trump and him shaking hands and smiling at the start of this meeting in Mar-a-Lago. Take a look at some of this video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It would have saved the Middle East, the Biden administration. Now she's taken over, and she's worse than him. She's actually worse than him.

So we will see how it goes. But if it all works out, if we win, it'll be very simple. So I'm going to work out and very quickly. If we don't, you're going to end up with major wars in the Middle East and maybe a Third World War. You are closer to a Third World War right now than at any time since the Second World War.

You have never been so close because we have incompetent people running our country. Thank you very much, everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Brianna, very harsh words there from the former president.

Of course, that was just part of this meeting. We're hoping to learn more once it wraps. But, look, I mean, Donald Trump has consistently said similar things that he just said on that video, which is that he believes that, if he wins the election in the fall, he could help Israel end this war quickly.

Of course, he has not offered any specifics to how he would do that. He's also claimed repeatedly, both on the campaign trail, but privately, that that war would have never happened if he was in office.

I also think it's really interesting because, like I said, their relationship has soured, but Donald Trump has been very critical of how Netanyahu has handled this. He argued in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 attack that there was a security failure that happened on Israel's part.

He has blamed Netanyahu, like I said, for some of the role in how that had malfunctioned, I guess. But, also, he's been critical since, saying that Israel has a public relations problem with Israel.

[13:05:07] So it's very interesting to watch how this goes today and also if the two men can reset some of these relations and work toward a better working relationship moving forward -- Brianna.

KEILAR: It will be interesting to see if Trump's animosity for Harris is actually an incentive for him to work that out with Netanyahu.

Alayna, thank you so much.

I want to bring in CNN chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt now.

How is Trump's message different than what we have heard from the White House?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, the way that it's the same is they both want this war to end soon.

Trump, as Alayna just said, didn't really -- doesn't really lay out how he wants that to happen. His message for quite some time now has been to Israel, you need to end this, you need to get this over with, and, mainly, he says for P.R. reasons.

But, Brianna, what does that actually mean? Does that mean wipe out the rest of Hamas in Gaza? We know that they still have -- excuse me -- they still have about half of their fighting force, some 14,000 people, still on the battlefield, whereas the White House would very much like this war to essentially end today.

They would like the cease-fire to go into effect as soon as possible. You heard that from Vice President Harris just yesterday. The cease- fire is needed now. And they were hoping, while Netanyahu was here in town for the past few days, to get Netanyahu to a place where Israel could agree to a cease-fire.

We have been told that the ball is in Israel's court. And I have just been told that there are high level cease-fire meetings that are due to resume in the coming days in Rome that would include the CIA Director Bill Burns, as well as mediating counterparts from Egypt, Qatar and Israeli intelligence.

And Netanyahu just moments ago did confirm that he will be dispatching an Israeli team at the beginning of the week.

KEILAR: I do wonder if Trump and Netanyahu see a common foe in Vice President Harris, because, according to Israeli media, a senior Israeli official is accusing Harris of potentially making it harder to reach a cease-fire deal.

What can you tell us?

MARQUARDT: And the reason they're doing that is because Harris did come out yesterday with some very forceful comments. She did talk about the U.S.' ironclad support for Israel and Israel's right to defend itself. But she went on to say that it's important how Israel defends itself.

And she spoke in very sharp terms about the plight of the Palestinians, the suffering of the Palestinians, and really sort of showed her empathetic side.

Here's a little bit of what she said after her meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating, the images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third, or fourth time.

We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: So an anonymous senior Israeli official has told Israeli media traveling with Prime Minister Netanyahu that those remarks were problematic.

They took issue with how much she emphasized the suffering of the Palestinians, because they say, according to this one official, that that could show daylight between Israel and the United States, provide an opening for Hamas to complicate this.

So this Israeli official saying that this could make these cease-fire negotiations more complicated. A Harris aide told our colleague M.J. Lee: "I don't know what they're talking about."

KEILAR: Even as she mentioned sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli women, hostages taken by Hamas, which she said to note before she mentioned that about Gaza, It's quite a "pick a side" conflict.

Alex Marquardt, thank you so much -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Vice President Kamala Harris is capping off her whirlwind week by nabbing a crucial endorsement, former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama making it official in a video released today.

Here's a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY: I can't have this phone call without saying to my girl Kamala, I am proud of you. This is going to be historic.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We called to say Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office.

HARRIS: Oh, my goodness.

Michelle, Barack, this means so much to me. I am looking forward to doing this with the two of you, Doug and I both.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss with Democratic Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina.

Congressman, great to see you, as always.

You have said that you want to see a lovefest at the convention, the party rallying around Vice President Harris. Is there any doubt at all in your mind that she is going to be the nominee? Do you have any indication that there might be resistance at the convention?

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Absolutely none whatsoever. Thank you very much for having me.

The fact of the matter is, Democrats have coalesced around this nominee in a way that I have not seen since maybe Barack Obama.

[13:10:09]

We believe in her. We believe in Joe Biden. She was a partner with him in laying out a record that she can run on and a record that all of us can defend as Democrats, a record which I think is a launching pad for what will be a successful campaign for the presidency.

SANCHEZ: Speaking of that record, sir, the Trump team is using some of Harris' previous remarks about banning fracking, about demilitarizing the police, promoting Medicare for all to convince voters that she is a radical leftist.

How do you think she should respond?

CLYBURN: With her record. She has a record as a prosecutor in California prosecuting people who broke the law.

She has a record as a district attorney for -- I'm sorry -- for the attorney general for the entire state of California, a state that is three times what some of the biggest states of the other 49 states. And she has a record as vice president of these United States.

So, irrespective of what the MAGA Republicans may say, all she has to do is bring attention to her record. That's what speaks. The problem we have got here in politics today, people just lie and lie and lie, and we are tending to accept that as normal.

That is not normal for these United States of America. When I was growing up here in South Carolina, that was one of the worst things you could do is just to tell lies. But Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans just lie, lie and lie, and we tend to accept it. Her record is very clear for anybody who wishes to take a look at it.

So we can't trust them to do it. We Democrats are going to have call attention to this record day in and day out for the next 100-some-odd days to make sure that the American people get a good look at her record and not have to listen to the foolishness coming from the other side.

SANCHEZ: To be fair, the things that I pointed out, in terms of Medicare for all and demilitarizing the police, are things she said early on in the 2020 campaign.

Nevertheless, Congressman, I want to get your reaction to this claim from an Israeli official traveling with Prime Minister Netanyahu that the comments made by the vice president after the meeting with the prime minister jeopardize the potential for a cease-fire and hostage deal.

What did you think when you heard those remarks?

CLYBURN: Well, it seemed to be a continuation of Netanyahu's, let's just say, sabotaging a two-state solution.

We are all in for a two-state solution. We have been trying to do that as Democrats forever. Netanyahu has time and time again undermined those negotiations trying to get to a two-state solution. We know how he came into office, and doing those settlements against everybody's will.

He has driven himself to the low 20s in popularity in Israel. That ought to tell you all you need to know about Netanyahu. So, for him to see her words as being problematic, ask him, why is his popularity so problematic in Israel?

SANCHEZ: And, Congressman, going back to the campaign, we saw there the video released by the Obamas, their endorsement of Vice President Harris, and also an offer that they would do anything they could to help get her elected.

I'm wondering if that means hitting the campaign trail. Where on the map do you see the former first couple being most effective?

CLYBURN: Every place there is a map.

Barack Obama the first time out carried the state of North Carolina, didn't do it the second time, but did the first time. And if you have done it before, you can do it again. I do believe he will be a tremendous benefit in those states that Joe Biden failed to carry the last time out, bringing those Democrats back into the fold.

So, there's not a state that he will not be helpful in. So I'm looking forward to him being on the campaign trail on behalf of this great ticket.

[13:15:07]

SANCHEZ: Notably, you mentioned your neighbor to the north, North Carolina. Democrats are bullish on flipping that state. And you recently touted the governor there, Roy Cooper, as a potential V.P. pick for Harris. Do you think he would be the best fit for her?

CLYBURN: Well, I wouldn't say he'd be the best. He would be a good fit. I have touted Pete Buttigieg as a good fit, Governor Walz out in Minnesota, great, Shapiro up in Pennsylvania, outstanding.

These are people that I know. And I think she has a great bench from which to pick. I'm not looking at all the numbers that they will be looking at. When you start vetting a running partner, there are a lot of things that go into that vetting. They will have all that information. I don't.

All I have are the relationships I have had over the years, relationship with Shapiro, with Buttigieg, with Cooper, with Walz. I served with Walz and consider him to be a very good friend. We campaigned together out in Minnesota. He's an outstanding person.

I just like these guys. And I think they will make good partners. But she has to make a decision based upon how the vibes are between her and whoever her choice may be.

SANCHEZ: The all-important vibes, yes, got to make sure those are good.

Congressman James Clyburn, appreciate you sharing a Friday afternoon with us. Thanks.

CLYBURN: Thank you very much for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Still ahead this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL: accusations of backpedaling, as the Trump campaign says it will not commit to a debate against Vice President Harris.

Plus, we're learning the FBI wants to speak to former President Trump as it investigates the assassination attempt against him. We have the latest on that ongoing probe.

And a massive coordinated attack on France's train lines, officials calling it organized sabotage, coming just hours before the Opening Ceremony to the Olympics.

These stories and much more coming your way in just moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:21:22]

KEILAR: Now to the debate over the next presidential debate.

Right now, it is up in the air because Trump's campaign is refusing to commit to this September 10 face-off until Harris is officially the Democratic nominee. The Trump team releasing a statement. It says -- quote -- "It would be

inappropriate to schedule things with Harris, because Democrats very well could still change their minds."

SANCHEZ: Now, Vice President Harris said the former president is -- quote -- "backpedaling." And she tweeted out this -- quote -- "What happened to any time, any place?"

Let's dig into this with Pete Seat, a former White House spokesperson during the George W. Bush administration. He's now the vice president of Bose Public Affairs Group. And Erin Perrine, a former press communications director for the Trump 2020 campaign. She's currently a Republican strategist for Axiom Strategies.

So, Erin, is this gamesmanship, or is there like a legitimate reason for Trump to be sort of stepping away from this debate or threatening to?

ERIN PERRINE, FORMER DIRECTOR OF PRESS COMMUNICATIONS, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN: It's gamesmanship, right? This resets the totality of the election.

So for them to then say, hey, we're going to wait until Democrats pick their nominee, it's a little bit of just hot air there. But Trump will debate and he has to debate, especially ahead of early voting starting in late September for some of these states.

You have a shorter runway now to try and define Kamala Harris and to pit her on positions. Not debating would be a catastrophe. And the Trump team needs to make sure, I would say and highly recommend, they keep the same format they had for the last debate, because no audience and muting mics worked in Trump's favor.

It kept him controlled and focused.

KEILAR: Pete, how do you see the Harris element changing what ultimately this debate, whatever the details that are worked out are? How do you see it changing things?

PETE SEAT, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: Well, I will agree with Erin. I think a debate is going to happen.

And what the Trump campaign is doing here or what they're signaling is, the unexpected swiftness, the blink of an eye of Democrats consolidating and coronating Kamala Harris.

The Trump campaign thought that, if Biden dropped out, chaos would engulf the Democratic Party. And they want to keep top of mind for voters the oddity of this process and this unprecedented way in which she will become the nominee.

So I think they have to do the debate. I think Erin makes a great point. The format is helpful and favorable to Donald Trump, but it's something that's going to happen, and we're just watching politics play out. SANCHEZ: Do you think that there might be an additional debate? There

was talk among the Trump team of adding one on or perhaps replacing the one in ABC with one on FOX.

Do you see that potentially happening?

SEAT: I -- honestly, I think they should do as many debates as they can.

If the Trump campaign is certain that they can portray and define Kamala Harris negatively, why shouldn't he want to be on a debate stage with her? Same thing for Kamala Harris. If they think they have a positive record to run on, why shouldn't she want to be on a debate stage as often as possible to reach those undecided and Kamala-curious voters that are out there and potentially willing to cast their ballot for her, when they weren't willing to cast their ballot for Joe Biden?

KEILAR: Erin, Trump seems to be saying, the policies are the same, whether it's Harris or whether it's Biden. But you can't ignore that these are two very different people, Harris and Biden, right?

So how does it change for Trump?

PERRINE: So, you heard Donald Trump in that first rally after Kamala was announced as the new nominee, where he called her ultra-liberal.

[13:25:07]

What he's doing there is defining her early, because, as a primary candidate in the '20 race, she was to the left of Bernie Sanders. She was listed as the most liberal senator. She believed in Medicare for all. She believed in these extreme left policies.

She had to moderate a bit more as the vice president under Joe Biden. So, for them, by saying she's ultra-liberal and saying she's untrustworthy, which was something else Donald Trump said, no matter what position she takes, they will be able to say she flip-flopped. Oh, she's changed since the '20 election. Oh, she's abandoning her record because she can't run on it.

Whatever it is, they're going to define her and say that she is being untrustworthy, which, for the American people is probably a big part of who they're going to vote for.

SANCHEZ: Hypothetically...

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: ... if you were giving advice to Kamala Harris, who would you have her look most closely at for a V.P. pick?

PERRINE: Yes, this seems to be the question of the moment right now. We're in V.P. stakes 2.0.

I think Josh Shapiro is an incredibly compelling candidate for her. I don't think any V.P. candidate is going to electorally change the map. It's never panned out that way. It's just not a reality of the race. But who can help bolster her message and show a new age in the Democratic Party? I think he really does that.

I think he does it better than Senator Mark Kelly, who, while he would be helpful, especially on the immigration issue for Democrats, isn't, I think, as likable on TV as I think Josh Shapiro would be.

KEILAR: Pete, what do you think about the veepstakes?

SEAT: Well, I think, if you're looking for someone who is a strong communicator and messenger, she should pick the other Hoosier Pete, Pete Buttigieg.

He doesn't bring her the state of Michigan, which is where he currently resides and moved to a couple of years ago. But he is a strong communicator. And, undoubtedly, so is J.D. Vance. I think that would be an epic debate between those two.

But she will likely go the Electoral College route. I actually disagree. I think of Shapiro or a Mark Kelly could help bring in two very critical states in Pennsylvania and Arizona.

SANCHEZ: Interesting.

KEILAR: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Good conversation. We appreciate it.

Pete Seat, Erin Perrine, thanks so much for joining us.

PERRINE: Thank you.

KEILAR: And let's get now to Kristen Holmes. She has just left the meeting between former President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Kristen, what can you tell us?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, they let us in for just a few minutes, but I was able to ask a number of questions of both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Donald Trump.

One, I asked Netanyahu where cease-fire talks were, if they were any closer. He said they were still working on it. I also asked for reaction from both of them to Kamala Harris' remarks after she sat down with Netanyahu. Donald Trump said that they were disrespectful to Israel.

He went on to tout his record in Israel, his record in the Middle East while he served in office. This, and then went on to attack Kamala Harris, unsurprisingly, using these same kind of terms we have heard before, calling her radical, saying she's a San Francisco, California, radical liberal.

I also asked Netanyahu what next steps might be and also what their relationship might look like. Did they talk about what it would look like if Donald Trump was to be elected in November? And Trump said that there was never anything wrong with their relationship, that, of course, it would be fine, they didn't need to talk about it, because they have always had a good relationship.

Brianna, of course, I will remind you that they have not. They have had a relationship that really soured in the last several years, particularly after Netanyahu congratulated President Joe Biden on winning the election, a move that Donald Trump thought was disloyal.

But I was talking to a photographer who was in the room before I even got there who said that the relationship between the two of them, the dynamic, when they first saw each other, seemed as though they were still old friends.

At one point, Netanyahu, in this photo, as Doug Mills of "New York Times" has posted it online, asked to see Donald Trump's ear and the wound that he had from that assassination attempt. So I think it is safe to say that the two of them seem to be on a different page than they were even just a few months ago.

Of course, we're trying to get another readout from the part of the meeting that we weren't in. As soon as we have that, we will bring you those updated details.

SANCHEZ: Yes, fascinating that he would say, we have always had a good relationship.

KEILAR: A little revisionist.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

Kristen Holmes from West Palm Beach, thanks so much for those details.

Coming up, we're following a massive attack on France's train system just as the Olympics are set to get under way. The country already on high alert, and now hundreds of thousands of travelers are stranded.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)