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JD Vance Pushes Back On Criticism Over "Childless Cat Lady" Comments; Harris Team Rejects Israeli Notion That Her Comments Could Harm Ceasefire Talks; CNN Survey Finds Harris Can Appear On Ballots In 48 States; Trump Meets With Netanyahu At Mar-A-Lago. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired July 26, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:01:01]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: A campaign shakeup as the Democratic Party is revving up. Vice President Harris locking in a critical endorsement and looking to keep the momentum going. We're following the latest.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus, a widespread and coordinated sabotage attack targeting France's rail system right before the Olympics opening ceremony. What we know about the nature of the disruption and how it's affected the Olympic athletes and fans.

And after just 48 hours, a massive California wildfire is already the biggest in the state. The flames showing no signs of dying down.

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

KEILAR: Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio senator, JD Vance, pushing back after his past comments about childless adults sparked fierce backlash. He's now saying that those comments were never directed at people who cannot or don't have kids. Instead, he says he was just criticizing the Democratic Party as being, quote, anti-family and anti-child. So let's go to CNN's Alayna Treene on this.

Alayna, pretty interesting backpedaling here by Vance.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Yes. He's definitely trying to clean this up. And look, I think he's arguing, and both the Trump team as well as JD Vance's team have been arguing for the past couple of days now that these remarks were taken out of context. I will note that these are resurfaced comments from 2021. This was an interview that he did with Tucker Carlson. There wasn't much context in that first interview, but he'd had spoken about this in other events where he did go into more context.

And essentially what he's been saying is that he wasn't trying to call people who don't have kids or who are struggling with fertility issues that they don't have as good of a handle on real issues. What he was trying to say is what you just laid out, which is that in this interview with Megyn Kelly, he said that the Democratic Party is, quote, "Anti-child and anti-family." Again, trying to contextualize some of these remarks.

I think it's notable because this is the first time we're actually hearing from JD Vance respond to this after these comments resurfaced and he - really, with the vacuum of the last 24 hours without hearing this response, you've seen Democrats really seize on this and try to go after him on this.

Now, I do think as well, you know, we were listening to that interview with Megyn Kelly. He was talking about as well that these comments were brought on in part by a conversation he had with his wife about their own family and how she was struggling as a lawyer and trying to raise children. We do have some sound from this interview. I want you to take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JD VANCE (R, 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 anti-family and anti-child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Brianna, again, this is him trying to clean up these remarks. I will say, I don't think there's a question that this isn't going over well within Trump world, you never want your newly picked vice presidential nominee to be in the media around comments like this, particularly when it comes to remarks that could alienate some suburban women, a conversation and a demographic, I should say, that the Trump team is going after very specifically and targeting in this election.

And so all of this, I think, is him trying to put a spin on his - on this, try to clean up the narrative and kind of take it back into his own hands. We'll see how Democrats respond.

KEILAR: Yes, it's really interesting. You're not in a good place when you're explaining.

Alayna, thank you.

And let's go now to CNN's MJ Lee.

MJ, let's talk about Vice President Harris.

[15:05:00]

While meeting with former President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, questioned her remarks on how Israel is conducting the war against Hamas. It's a notion that her team is clarifying. What more can you tell us?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, this all goes back to yesterday when, notably, we saw the President and Vice President meeting separately with the Israeli prime minister, and then the Vice President insisted on giving solo remarks afterwards, which is definitely not typical. And they happened to be some of the most forceful comments about the Israel-Hamas war and criticism of Israel's conduct of the war that we've seen so far coming out of the White House.

She said that she had expressed serious concerns to the Prime Minister about how he was waging this war. She said, we cannot look away from the tragedies, the civilian suffering and the humanitarian crisis. She said, I will not be silent.

Clearly, this has had the result of stirring some things up. We had, overnight, a senior Israeli official questioning whether those remarks from the Vice President could send a message to Hamas that there is daylight between the U.S. and Israel. Could it actually hamper the ongoing efforts to get a ceasefire deal through the finish line. And then the Prime Minister himself, in a meeting with former President Donald Trump, as you mentioned, at Mar-a-Lago this afternoon, questioning those comments as well, saying he hopes that they don't end up affecting Hamas' understanding of U.S.-Israeli relations.

And we have seen the Vice President's office really rejecting and pushing back on those suggestions. One aide telling CNN, 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.

It may have been, Brianna, the same message on substance. If you were looking at a transcript of what President Biden has said in recent days and weeks about the war versus what the Vice President said, I do think there's no question that, at least tonally, they were incredibly forceful comments coming from the Vice President. And I do think this is going to be an incredibly important space to watch because, ultimately, this is going to be one of the most difficult and complicated foreign policy issues that she will inherit if she does go on to win the presidency. And we'll see whether the Vice President's office continues to insist that there is zero daylight between her positions and the President's now that she is running as a presidential candidate.

KEILAR: All right. MJ Lee, live for us at the White House. Thank you for the report. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Even before Vice President Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee, Republicans were signaling their plans to block attempts to change candidates on ballots in some states. But a new CNN survey found that there are no obstacles for Harris to get on the ballot in at least 48 states. CNN's Paula Reid joins us now with more on her exclusive new reporting.

Paula, the 48 obviously include some major battlegrounds. That's right. The seven of the states that had the closest margins back in 2020 are among those that told us there's not going to be an issue with the Vice President appearing on the ballot.

Now, after the House speakers signaled that there could be, quote, "Legal impediments to Harris' name appearing on the ballot." We reached out to election officials in all 50 states to ask if there would be any issues. 48 states responded and said, there's not going to be any issue at all.

Let me give you a sample of what we heard from some of these states. For example, Georgia telling us, quote, "Biden dropping out will not impact Georgia ballots." Kentucky says, "No, there is no issue with Kamala being on the ballot." West Virginia says, "The candidate that will appear on West Virginia's ballot in November will be the candidate that is nominated by the DNC." In Alabama, they said, "Major parties have until August 23rd to certify who their presidential and vice presidential candidates will be."

Now, the two states that we did not hear back from, Florida and Montana, they just did not respond. But in an analysis of their rules and regulations suggests that there shouldn't be an issue there either. Now, the House Speaker's office did not respond to our request for clarification about exactly what he meant by the so-called legal impediments.

SANCHEZ: Paula, I'm hearing impediments, obviously plural. I may be reading into it, but it sounds like there might be other legal challenges we could see from Republicans.

PAULA REID, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly. This was the initial reaction that the idea of swapping out the candidates, even though they hadn't officially been nominated at the convention, could result in some successful legal challenges. Our reporting indicates that these legal challenges would not likely be successful. But Boris, that doesn't mean some folks may not try, because part of the political reason for litigating these issues is to create confusion and chaos, even to raise money.

If you file a lawsuit on something like this, even if it doesn't win, you issue a press release and people may donate to your cause to allow you to fund additional litigation. And there are other questions that I think they're going to try to litigate, like the transferring of campaign funds.

[15:10:03]

And certainly, they'll be looking for these issues.

We know from our sources that Trump allies have been discussing any potential lawsuits they can bring. But so far, it's not clear where there will be successful legally. But again, some of this is about politics, not succeeding in court.

SANCHEZ: Paula Reid, thanks so much for the reporting.

I want to discuss this and more with Democrat Tim Ryan. He's a former congressman representing Ohio, a former 2020 presidential candidate as well.

Congressman, thanks so much for being with us. As we just heard from Paula, 48 states tell CNN, there's not going to be any issue with Harris appearing at the top of the ticket since Biden was never the official nominee. Do you think that Democrats nevertheless should be prepared for potential legal challenges?

TIM RYAN, FORMER DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN: Oh, we are prepared. You know, we've got teams of lawyers at the DNC. I trust Jamie Harrison (ph) there to make sure that we're ready, set, go. But as you heard, this is just a side conversation happening. They're trying to distract. They don't want to talk about Kamala Harris. They don't want to talk about Trump. They certainly don't want to talk about JD Vance. So they're going to try to talk about something else, but we got this and we're going to be running hard in all these states.

SANCHEZ: To that point, I'm curious to get your response to JD Vance calling the Democratic Party anti-family and anti-child.

RYAN: Yes, I mean, here we go. Like, let's just stop. Like, nobody's anti-family. Nobody that I've ever met in my entire 51 years on this planet is anti-child. You know, so let's talk about the record. It was the Democrats who pushed the child tax credit that lifted millions and millions of kids out of poverty and their families out of poverty during the pandemic that just got rolled back. So, you know, check to the Democrats there.

In the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, we expanded Medicaid, which helped children get healthcare who otherwise weren't getting any healthcare for prevention to make sure that they're healthy so that they can learn, so that they could develop a skill, so that they could participate in the economy. You look at the supplemental nutrition program, food programs that go towards the poorest kids in the country to make sure that they get adequate nutrition so that they can learn and develop a skill and participate in the economy and thrive.

Those are just three examples off the top of my head of which the Republicans opposed. And moderate Republicans supported those things, but the JD Vance extremists and the Trump extremists don't support that stuff. So there's absolutely no evidence and I think people are seeing through it.

SANCHEZ: I wanted to zoom out and get a view of the bigger picture because last time we had a chance to speak, it was almost a month ago and you had written a column endorsing Vice President Harris as the 2024 nominee. I mean, it kind of worked out the way that you had hoped it seemed.

RYAN: Yes, beyond my wildest dreams. I mean, I wrote - I just read it the other day again and it does hold up pretty well. I mean, a lot of scar tissue between here and there, but she's energizing our base, which is what I said she would do. She's energizing and pulling in young people, which, you know, I thought would happen. And she's just - her campaign, it's like a West Coast run and gun offense.

I mean, every - they're sending out releases that aren't just sleeper press releases because they have to talk about an issue. They're sharp, they're edgy, they're penetrating and they're boxing Trump and JD Vance into a corner. This is how you run a campaign. So beyond my wildest dreams, I knew she was ready. I knew she would meet the moment and I'm just glad she's getting the opportunity to do that. And all of us are starting to get behind her. You see these calls with 150,000 white women, 150,000 black women, black men, white men. I'm doing a call Monday night with Michael Skolnik (ph) and some others for the dudes, the white dudes, but we're all coming together.

It's going to be men and women. You know, we're not going to divide into these little sections, I think like sometimes Democrats do. This is a movement, a cohesive, integrative movement around a candidate that is the next generation that has a very aspirational message that wants to leave all this toxic nonsense that we've been fighting over since the Vietnam War challenging us.

You know, you got JD Vance and Trump. JD Vance says, America needs a Caesar, like one person to come in and Trump loves the strong men. No, this is the United States of America. Kamala Harris is challenging all of us to be citizens, to participate. Do we want to reform the United States? Then we all have a stake in that. And that means door knocking in every community across the country. And I think you're going to see a tidal wave here that this country hasn't probably seen the energy since the Obama campaign and America 2.0 is coming your way.

So if you're frustrated with the system, you're looking for reform, you're looking for a new generation candidate to challenge you like Kennedy did, like Roosevelt did, like even Ronald Reagan did and Obama did, you're getting that and more Kamala Harris.

[15:15:11]

So I'm excited for what's to come.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, that question of reforming the system, Republicans are pointing to some of the things that Harris said during the 2020 campaign about her support for demilitarizing the police, for banning fracking, for Medicare for All and they're painting her as a radical leftist. I'm wondering how you think she should respond to those claims.

RYAN: Well, she'll come out in due time I think with her own agenda, but I know her to be a very pragmatic and practical person. She has three and a half years now working in the administration. I think her views on things are maybe a little bit different today than they were in a presidential campaign in 2020. I'm not speaking on her behalf, of course, but my sense is when I look at how she's talking about things, what her focus is going to be, it's going to be focused on the bread and butter issues, the economic issues, the issues around justice and equality, and I'll let her speak for herself there.

But to me, I think this is going to be a campaign about healing and this is about a - this is going to be about a campaign about bringing Americans together. So not necessarily for one side or for the other, I think she wants to bring people together. And we need - there's so many issues that people agree on too around the economy, around sensible - addressing sensible gun legislation, around making sure kids have food and proper healthcare. How do we help our veterans with modernized techniques to help them deal with post-traumatic stress from the wars? How do we heal trauma? How do we educate our kids better? How do we do things like shop class and get everybody skilled up and ready to compete?

I think those - there's so much - I don't even want to say in the middle because it's just that they're American. They're just - they're pragmatic solutions. That's what she's going to be for and that's what the country needs. So I believe something 10 years ago that I didn't believe today, so did probably some other people, but it's about what can heal the country, what can bring us together. And I think she's just the perfect person right now to be able to do that.

SANCHEZ: Former Congressman Tim Ryan, we have to leave the conversation there. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

RYAN: Thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Still ahead, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, capping off his trip to the United States with a face-to-face sit-down with former President Donald Trump. We have an update from the meeting coming up.

Plus, a coordinated attack on France's rail system all over the country just hours before the Olympics opening ceremony, what we're following in this investigation.

And another state in wildfire in California exploding in size. Officials arresting someone for potentially sparking it. Those stories and much more, straight ahead.

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[15:22:22]

SANCHEZ: For more than three hours now, former President Donald Trump has been meeting with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. This is the first time these two leaders have met face-to-face since Donald Trump left office more than three years ago.

KEILAR: Today's meeting is a chance for the two men to repair a once- closed relationship that has become strained since Trump lost the 2020 race. The high-stakes sit-down also comes at a critical moment in the war between Israel and Hamas and also in the 2024 presidential race. CNN's Kristen Holmes is in Florida for us.

All right. Kristen, I know you were briefly granted access to this meeting. What can you tell us?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, one of the first questions I asked Brianna and Boris was what their relationship would look like if Donald Trump was to be re-elected. Just one reminder here is that they were very close when Donald Trump was in office, but the relationship has since soured. After Netanyahu said congratulations to Joe Biden on winning the election, Donald Trump really turned on him, thinking that that was a disloyal move.

But all of that seemed to be forgotten today. Donald Trump saying, we've always had a good relationship, of course we would work well together. Now, I also asked them about remarks from Kamala Harris that she made after she met with Netanyahu yesterday. Here's what both of them said about those remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We're trying to get one. And I think the - to the extent that Hamas understands that there's no daylight between Israel and United States that expedites the deal and I hope that those comments of - don't change that.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, I'm not sure if you could hear that as clearly in my ear, it wasn't quite as clear, but Netanyahu there says he hopes that her remarks didn't impact any negotiations on the ceasefire deal. There was some talk among Israeli officials among Israeli senior officials that they might've hurt any of these negotiations.

But again, a lot of this is coming at a crucial time. As you mentioned, they did provide - they being the campaign - a readout of this meeting saying that essentially Netanyahu had thanked Donald Trump for everything he had done while he was in office. And also that Donald Trump said that he stands fully with Israel after those October 7th attacks.

Just a reminder, Trump is somebody who has painted himself as one of the staunchest supporters of Israel, despite what he has said about Netanyahu.

[15:25:02]

So he clearly wants to go back to that role, hearing him there talking about how he can't believe that Jewish people would vote Democratic and particularly now shifting that argument to voting for Kamala Harris.

KEILAR: All right. Kristen Holmes live for us in Florida, thank you.

And let's talk about this now further with Mark Esper who, of course, served as defense secretary in the Trump administration. He also serves on the board for a handful of aerospace and defense-related companies.

Mr. Secretary, thanks for being with us. What are you expecting from this meeting between Trump and Netanyahu?

MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I was expecting what we saw and that is a lot of camaraderie between the two gentlemen. They both benefit from having a good meeting and a good commentary coming out of it. Obviously, Bibi Netanyahu wants to show Israelis that he is - he can work with both parties and particularly is - has a good relationship with Donald Trump who did a lot of things for Israel, I should add.

And Donald Trump conversely wants to show that he still commands the respect and relationship with Bibi Netanyahu. Obviously, Trump has a strong evangelical base that supports Israel and the Jewish people. And with this latest flap over the comments by Kamala Harris, he can show a contrast between him and her with regard to support for Israel.

So I think both sides probably get out of it what they wanted to get out of it.

KEILAR: Let me ask you about that. Harris said after her meeting with Netanyahu that Israel has a right to defend itself but how it does so matters. And she also highlighted the devastation in Gaza as well as detailing the horrors that we saw on October 7th. Trump said her comments were disrespectful towards Israel and a senior Israeli official told media in Israel that the comment could harm ceasefire talks. Do you agree with that?

ESPER: Well, it is true that what the United States - its leaders do and say can affect ceasefire talks. We know in the past that, for example, when the Biden administration held up delivery of 2,000-pound bombs or when we refused to block a security council resolution condemning Israel or criticizing Israel, Hamas reads that very carefully and they calibrate their negotiations and their demands based on what they see, the so-called daylight that you heard from the T up there that they may have more room to maneuver, so it is important.

I think, you know, obviously, when Kamala Harris spoke yesterday, she both spoke very strongly about United States commitment to Israel but added arguably with more conviction than President Biden, the importance she places on the lives of innocent Palestinians. And I guess that is being interpreted as the so-called daylight. We'll see if that's true.

This comes particularly at a time when the administration is saying that we are within 10 yards of a deal between Israel and Hamas. I was with Jake Sullivan and Tony Blinken last weekend in Aspen, Colorado and they both believe that to be the case.

But, look, this is just the politics of the election playing itself out and we're all eager to see what positions Kamala Harris will stake out both contrary to Biden and as she tries to introduce her own views on these topics as she tries to play to the American electorate.

KEILAR: If Trump were to be elected in this upcoming election, what do you think this relationship would be like? And what do you think his policy would be like towards Israel considering what he has said publicly about Netanyahu and about the war between Israel and Hamas?

ESPER: Yes, look, I think he'd be a very staunch supporter of Israel. When he talks about wanting the war to end, his nuance, as I interpret it, means he wants them to quickly finish up Hamas and destroy Hamas or dismantle Hamas, choose your verb, which is a little bit different or a lot different than maybe where the Biden administration is saying now, which is basically just get a ceasefire going so we can end the humanitarian suffering.

So in my view, there is a distinction in that nuance. But I think Trump would be a staunch supporter. Look, he moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. He advanced the Abraham Accords. He took serious action with regard to recognizing the Israeli claims on the Golan. We moved the - Israel into the central command area of responsibility for war fighting purposes.

So I think certainly the government - the Israeli people, see that the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu during that time accrued a lot of benefits to Israel.

KEILAR: He's also said they have a PR problem. He's also talked about some of the issues with the war. I mean, he hasn't been - it hasn't been completely glowing what he's said.

ESPER: Yes. Look, I think he's right. I think we would all agree that Israel's conduct at this war has not played well on the international stage.

[15:30:00]

I mean, most countries have criticized Israel's conduct. I have said that I think Israel needs to do a far better job in terms of reducing civilian casualties.