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J.D. Vance Pushes Back On Criticism Over "Childless Cat Lady" Comments; Trump Meets With Netanyahu At Mar-A-Lago; Harris Team Rejects Israeli Notion That Her Comments Could Harm Ceasefire Talks. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 26, 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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[14:00:26]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Vice President Kamala Harris picking up a major endorsement as her campaign picks up major momentum. New polling shows the 2024 race is tightening how her veep pick could potentially tip the scales.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And in the meantime, diplomacy front and center in the presidential race, former President Trump meeting behind closed doors with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And this is after the Vice President conveyed her unwavering support for Israel during her sit down with Netanyahu. But she also told the Prime Minister that it's time to get a ceasefire deal done.

And good news, in the fight against inflation, new evidence showing that the Fed may have tamed price hikes. Wall Street is loving it. We'll tell you what it means for you. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

SANCHEZ: Right now, we're hearing new pushback by former President Donald Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, following major backlash over comments that he made about people who don't have children. Plus, Vice President Kamala Harris also pushing back after she was criticized for her comments on Israel's war in Gaza following a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

We want to get right to CNN's Alayna Treene, who's tracking all of this. Alayna, what is J.D. Vance saying now?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Boris, I think he's trying to contextualize some of those remarks that have resurfaced from 2021. He spoke on the Megyn Kelly Show on SiriusXM. And essentially said that he was being sarcastic when calling certain democratic leaders childless cat ladies.

I'm going to read for you some of what he said. I know I think we're still working on getting that sound because he just made these comments. But he said, quote, "this is not about criticizing people who, for various reasons, didn't have kids. This is about criticizing the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-child." He also went on to address some of the criticism we heard from

celebrity Jennifer Aniston, who actually had made a remark saying, I hope your daughter does not struggle with fertility issues.

J.D. Vance hit back at that during this interview as well and said that those comments were disgusting and that again, he wasn't trying to talk about or not be sympathetic to women who struggle with fertility issues, but that this was more about how Democrats in his terms have been, quote, "anti-child." But look, I think this is him really trying to clarify and clean up some of these remarks and put them into context.

When I've talked to his team about this and to Trump's team, they said these were comments from a long time ago. They were taken out of context. You know, this was an interview he did with Tucker Carlson. He didn't say much more beyond that during that interview. But there are other times where he went into this more at length. And this is him truly trying to, you know, set the narrative straight.

And I will also argue that Democrats have really seized on this as well. And so they've kind of been given the last 24 hours or so since these remarks resurfaced to fill that space and fill the oxygen by going after J.D. Vance on this. This is them trying to put this back into context and make sure that, you know, this is what he's saying he means.

And so we'll see more from this interview soon. But like I said, he's really trying to contextualize these and clean it up a bit.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. We'll see how Democrats respond to being called an anti-family, anti-child party. Alayna Treene, thank you so much for that reporting.

Let's get to CNN's MJ Lee, because, MJ, Vice President Kamala Harris made a speech yesterday after her and Netanyahu meeting. And it seemed to stir things up a bit. This had to do with an Israeli official traveling with Netanyahu telling Israeli media that they believe that her comments might have hurt the potential for a deal, for a ceasefire and hostage release by Hamas. Help us understand how the Vice President is now responding.

MJ LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Boris, definitely stirred things up. And remember, it's not typical for the Vice President to make separate remarks after a bilateral meeting like that. And when you listen to those remarks yesterday, they were some of the most forceful comments about the war that we have seen thus far coming out of the White House. She said that she told the Prime Minister that she had serious concerns about the civilian casualties, the humanitarian suffering in Gaza. She said, we cannot look away. I will not be silent. And that prompted Israeli officials, including one, as you said, that was traveling with the Prime Minister, saying that those comments could end up being interpreted by Hamas as there being daylight between the U.S. and Israel.

[14:05:13] And they sort of raised the suggestion that that could complicate the ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire and hostages release deal. The Vice President's office is now clearly trying to reject that notion. This is what an aide to the Vice President said in part in a statement. They said, I don't know what they're talking about. President Biden and Vice President Harris delivered the same message in their private meetings to Prime Minister Netanyahu. It is time to get the ceasefire and hostage deal done.

This is clearly, Boris, only the beginning of the Vice President's transformation from vice president to vice president that is now seeking the presidency. You know, up until Sunday, the Vice President's office has always been very sensitive to any comments that she might make, anything she might do, that could suggest that there is daylight between the president on policy issues and the vice president. And I do think we are going to see in the coming days and weeks whether that stance begins to shift a little bit as she is quickly trying to come into her own and build out her candidacy.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, a lot to watch for on that front. MJ Lee, thank you so much for the reporting. Brianna?

KEILAR: Well, Kamala Harris may have plenty of momentum as the presumptive democratic nominee. But when it comes to polling, all that momentum has yet to propel her ahead of Donald Trump.

A New York Times/Siena College Poll among likely voters shows there is no clear leader. The former President is at 48%, Harris at 47. And this is a poll that was fully conducted after Biden withdrew from the 2024 race. It does also show favorability has improved for both candidates, six points for Trump, a jump of ten points for Harris.

So let's talk about this further with Larry Sabato, who is the Founder and Director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. Larry, how are you reading this new poll?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER OF POLITICS: Well, I think it's more good news for Democrats because many of them didn't believe, and I was one of them, they'd ever be on a par again. They're tied essentially. That poll means nothing, a one point lead. The fact is that Kamala Harris has now tied it up again. It's almost like we're back to where we were before that disastrous first debate when Biden's performance was extremely subpar. So that's good.

And we need to remember people -- number one, they don't follow vice presidents. We do. You know, the uber political activists and reporters, you know, we follow presidents, and vice presidents, and senators and all the rest. But Americans don't do that unless a vice president is moving up, as Kamala Harris is now doing. So she's not well-defined.

And what's going to define her? She fears that it will be a massive attacks and negative advertising from the Trump people. But what could define her much better and much further would be the selection of this vice presidential candidate. She can really shape her image in ways that will help her enormously. And yes, other presidents have done that, too. I can just cite one example. Bill Clinton. In 1992, there was a debate going on as to whether he was a liberal or whether he was a moderate. So he picked somebody that surprised the political community. He picked Al Gore, who was clearly seen as a moderate, even a moderate conservative senator from Tennessee. It helped to define Clinton as a moderate. It helped him win the election.

KEILAR: I know you think that her pick is more critical than in other races. But I wonder if you think, is there a too safe choice, or is there a risk of her being too bold in her choice?

SABATO: Well, the bold pick is always dangerous. We've had a lot of bold picks. I think, of Sarah Palin. I hope she's doing well in Alaska. But that would be an example of a bold pick that really didn't work out and certainly did not add votes to John McCain back in 2008. And there are other examples. So bold, I don't know. But I do think that you can have a safe pick who brings in electoral votes. That's the whole ball game, is winning 270 electoral votes.

So bring in a state that's not quite there for you. And the running mate, the research shows, can add a point or two or three, depending on the year and the circumstances. Hey, these races are really close in the swing states. That's enough to win a state, 19 electoral votes in Pennsylvania, 16 in North Carolina, 11 in Arizona, just to mention 3 where we know there are candidates for vice president.

KEILAR: Yeah, we were looking there at some of the faces, Shapiro, and Cooper, and Kelly, in those states you just mentioned.

[14:10:04]

And the Harris campaign outlined its view of her electoral path to victory in a memo earlier this week. Beyond the blue wall states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, they included Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina. So she's got her pick of a few of those. And I wonder if you think that there's a specific one that she should concentrate on.

SABATO: Well, the -- I don't think there's just one. I think any of those candidates would help her. But the one you naturally focus on is Pennsylvania, first of all, because there are more electoral votes, but also because Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin are frequently lumped together as blue wall states. And they do have demographic characteristics that are similar in many respects.

So you could probably get more out of a pick of Shapiro than you could say in the west with Mark Kelly, although you get other things with Mark Kelly, like Gabby Giffords, his wife.

KEILAR: Larry, we did just get in that sound of J.D. Vance, Trumps running mate, trying to do some cleanup on his childless cat ladies comment. So let's listen to that and then we'll talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) J.D. VANCE: VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The simple point that I made is that having children, becoming a father, becoming a mother, I really do think it changes your perspective in a pretty profound way, that this is not about criticizing people who, for various reasons, didn't have kids. This is about criticizing the Democratic Party for becoming ant-family and anti-child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: What do you think about how this has been a distraction, the comment coming to light and now his cleanup?

SABATO: Yes. Well, whatever you're cleaning up, you're losing, at least, on that particular item. We all know that from decades in politics. So that tells you, it has been hurtful to the Republicans and to Vance in particular. Look, J.D. Vance, and I followed him for a long time. I read his book Hillbilly Elegy when it came out. He's a smart guy. And he has projected that intelligence in a way that many can't do in politics. But you know what, Brianna, he's missed his calling. You know what he should have been? A tenured professor because he's made a lot of odd comments. Some, you're going to be hearing about that maybe haven't surfaced yet. He's made a lot of odd comments.

When you're a tenured professor, people don't bat an eye. I'm living proof of that. But when you are a candidate for vice president and you say controversial things and you try to clean up the language when it's years old and you've had years to clean it up, it's a problem.

KEILAR: Are there specific comments you're talking about that you're aware of, or are you just, you know, expecting that more will come out because he has spoken a lot and people are digging?

SABATO: Well, I'm sure there's more than I know about. But the one I found particularly odd was the idea that parents, because they have, quote, "more of a stake in the future than people who don't have children," I guess that means stepchildren, too, they don't count according to Mr. Vance. If you have children, you should have more than one vote. You should have multiple votes. This is insane. I'm sorry. That is -- it's an insane concept. It will never happen. It shouldn't ever happen. It destroys one person, one vote.

But again, see, that's the kind of thing that an academic would propose and get a good article out of it and a couple of lecture invitations. But that's not helpful when you're running for vice president.

KEILAR: Yeah, it's a bad look right now for him. Larry, great to get your insights as always. Thanks for being with us.

SABATO: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Boris?

SANCHEZ: From the vice presidential pick in one party to the other, or at least the search for one, the search to find a running mate for Kamala Harris is now in full swing. And sources are saying the Vice President will be making that final call over the next two weeks. Let's get the latest in the veepstakes with CNN's Jeff Zeleny.

So, Jeff, anticipation is building right now. Where do things stand?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Boris, it's essentially a warp speed vice presidential search. We've never seen one this fast in modern American history. Usually, there's about three months or so. That's what it was four years ago for Senator Kamala Harris when she was finally chosen by candidate Joe Biden.

But look, I mean, there is a long variety of senators or governors, excuse me, one senator that we know of, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, a cabinet secretary, perhaps Pete Buttigieg. But we're watching all of this sort of play out in real time, these auditions, if you will, largely in cable television, conversation and things. But take a listen to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. He made his own case today for why he should be potentially in the running.

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JOSH SHAPIRO, GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA: She is a fearless leader.

[14:15:01]

She has always put people before the powerful, whether in a courtroom, in the halls of power, or in the Office of the Vice President. You could not have a clear contrast between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. And let me tell you something, he's pretty afraid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So look, you heard the governor there clearly making his case, showing how he could be a bit of a pit bull, if you will, an attack dog. That, of course, is a central sort of role of the running mate.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. A bit of an audition, auditions that we've seen from different candidates. When should we expect her to start weighing in?

ZELENY: Well, that's what's so interesting. Of course, she is busy with her day job. She's Vice President, as we saw her meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday. She's campaigning. But I'm told she's following this in real time, but likely to give some final one on one interviews, perhaps next week. But that timing is all up to her. I think all eyes should be on the naval observatory where she lives here in Washington over the weekend to see if she's having those conversations.

But, Boris, it's so interesting. No one knows what the job is like more than her because she's currently in the job. So this is a unique sort of perspective. But again, time is running short here. Again, the reason this matters, 100 days from Sunday, that's election day.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. We expect cameras will be perched outside of the naval observatory this weekend. And Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much.

ZELENY: You bet.

SANCHEZ: Former President Donald Trump is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago. It's the first time the two have met since Trump left office more than three years ago. We have new reporting about what was said. Plus, we'll take you to a swing state that President Biden barely won only by about 12,000 votes. The Peat State, Georgia, what voters there are now saying about the new Harris campaign. And inflation inching closer toward the Fed's target. New numbers on how it's hitting your wallet and what this means for a potential rate cut in September.

We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: Happening right now. Former President Donald Trump is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. This is the first time these two leaders have met face to face since Trump left office more than three years ago.

Today's meeting is a chance for the two to repair a once close relationship that soured when Trump left the White House and Netanyahu recognized Joe Biden as the winner, the legitimate winner of the 2020 election. The high stakes sit down also comes at a critical moment in the war between Israel and Hamas and the 2024 presidential race.

Let's get the latest from West Palm Beach with CNN's Kristen Holmes, who joins us live near Mar-a-Lago. Kristen, you were in the room briefly in person where these two were meeting. What did they share with reporters?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we were able to ask them a couple of questions. Now, I will say we have gotten the formal readout of their meeting in which essentially, it's exactly what you would expect from the Trump campaign. They say that Netanyahu came, that he thanked Donald Trump for everything that he did while he was in office. And then from the Trump side, it said that he said that he stood in solidarity with Israel after those October 7th attacks.

Now, when we were actually in the room, we got to ask a couple of questions. One, about their relationship in general, what it would be like if Donald Trump were to win a second term. Donald Trump essentially ignoring the fact that their relationship had soured, saying that nothing was ever wrong, that of course they would have a great relationship moving forward because it's always been good. Again as we know, that has not totally been the case. But the other part of this is I asked both of them what their response was to Vice President Kamala Harris's remarks after she met with Netanyahu yesterday.

This is what Donald Trump had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONAL TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL: She's a radical left person. San Francisco destroyed San Francisco. She's really a destroyer. She doesn't know how to build. And I think her remarks were disrespectful. They weren't very nice pertaining to Israel. I actually don't know how a person who's Jewish can vote for her. But that's up to them. But she was certainly disrespectful to Israel,

in my opinion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And obviously, that's something he said before about how he doesn't know how Jewish people could vote for Democrats. Now, he is specifically saying could vote for Kamala Harris. I also asked the Prime Minister of Israel the same question and whether or not those discussions, as we had heard from senior Israeli officials, had hurt negotiations. He said that he hoped that they didn't impact negotiations for us.

SANCHEZ: Kristen Holmes, live from West Palm Beach. Thank you so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: Trump's meeting with Netanyahu comes one day after he met separately with President Biden and Vice President Harris at the White House. Harris pledged ironclad support for Israel, but urged Netanyahu to get a ceasefire deal done and said she would not be silent about the suffering in Gaza.

We're joined now by Congressman Jake Auchincloss. He is a Democrat from Massachusetts. And I know that you've been paying close attention to these meetings. I wanted to ask you about the opening comment from Vice President Harris after she finished her meeting with Netanyahu. She said Israel has a right to defend itself, but how it does so matters? What did you think about that?

REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): She's right. Kamala Harris supports a strong U.S.-Israel relationship. And she also understands that how Israel proceeds in demilitarizing and deradicalizing Gaza is going to set the table for the potential to rebuild Gaza without Hamas and to more tightly bind the Abraham Accords into a true regional alliance that will, one, allow for peace and stability in the Middle east, but two, also allow for the United States to really move its strategic focus firmly and fully to the Indo-Pacific, where the Chinese Communist Party is our near-peer pacing adversary, and where we need to deploy the bulk of our geopolitical and military capacity.

[14:25:36]

SANCHEZ: Israel's diaspora minister is saying that someone should update Harris on what happened on October 7th, sort of alluding that she doesn't seem to know what happened. Even though in her comments, she mentioned what happened. She spoke specifically about the sexual violence that Hamas perpetrated against women. She spoke about the hostages that Hamas took. And you have Israeli media quoting a senior Israeli official saying that Harris is urging for a ceasefire and hostage deal is counterproductive and may hurt efforts to reach an agreement. What do you think they're doing with these public comments? AUCHINCLOSS: I don't know. But they need to focus less on us domestic

politics. They need to focus less on Washington and Mar-a-Lago. And they need to focus more on Rome. We need to execute Phase 1 of President Biden's proposed deal in which we have a temporary ceasefire in exchange for hostage release, including the American hostages, and then move towards the permanent defeat of Hamas with a day of strategy to rebuild governance, security, and education in Gaza.

Ultimately, the opportunity that Netanyahu missed when he addressed Congress, and he did do a good job of framing the moral case for the U.S.-Israel relationship, but he missed the strategic opportunity to say to us, here is how I'm going to rebuild Gaza and drain the political capital from Hamas. Here's how I'm going to empower Palestinians to embark on security, education, and governance reforms such that the average Palestinian has an actual alternative to Hamas, because that is what they seek.

KEILAR: It's no secret that Netanyahu's preferred candidate in the field would be Trump. Do you see Israeli officials trying to meddle in the election here?

AUCHINCLOSS: No, I don't think they're necessarily trying to meddle in the election. I'll just say it's a good thing that Netanyahu doesn't get a vote in American elections. But you know who does get a vote? Those Haley voters in Pennsylvania and Michigan and Wisconsin, largely suburban women who are listening to J.D. Vance and wondering to themselves, what the heck was Donald Trump thinking? I mean, this is a guy who's at the top of the ticket who already has bragged about and been found liable for sexual assault, now picks a guy who starts his campaign by insulting women who haven't been able to start a family. This is a disaster by Donald Trump. And it is going to further alienate key swing voters.

KEILAR: I do want to ask you, Prime Minister Netanyahu, in his comments meeting with President Biden praised him for his decades of service and for being a Zionist. Do you think that Vice President Harris is a Zionist?

AUCHINCLOSS: That's for Vice President Harris to convey. I'm a Zionist. I proudly support the U.S.-Israel relationship. I proudly support a Jewish democratic state. And I know that Kamala Harris, through her record and through her rhetoric, has been clear that she supports Israel's right to defend itself. She supports the Jewish people's right to call Israel home as a bulwark against global anti- semitism. And I particularly found her comments about the depredations at Union Station during Netanyahu's speech to be powerful.

She called it out specifically anti-semitism, anti-Americanism, and the desecration of the U.S. flag, I thought, were powerful statements of where she stands as someone who supports faith, family, and the flag.

KEILAR:" But for you, as someone who proudly calls yourself a Zionist, is it important for you that the democratic nominee presumed at this point, calls herself that? AUCHINCLOSS: I think we're getting wrapped around the wheel on

terminology right now. It's important for me that through her voice and vote, she supports the U.S.-Israel relationship. As for the way that she communicates that she is -- she has proven herself able to talk to the average American and she's proven herself a strong supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship. And right now, those are the two things that we need to be able to put together because particularly for younger Americans, they are not seeing the context and the history of Israel, and they are not seeing the value of the U.S.-Israel relationship. And we need somebody who can, I think, elucidate in both moral but also --