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President Biden Calls for Terms Limits on Supreme Court Justices; Kamala Harris Campaign Plans to Attack Republican Vice Presidential Candidate J.D. Vance; Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) Interviewed on J.D. Vance and Kamala Harris's Possible Pick for Her Vice Presidential Running Mate. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 29, 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]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Matt, thanks so much.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This morning President Biden set to take unprecedented action pushing for sweeping changes to the Supreme Court that he says is mired in a crisis of ethics.

New polling numbers show Vice President Kamala Harris making major gains, including now virtually tying Donald Trump in key battleground states. How she aims to capitalize on her momentum.

And a potential breakthrough in the way doctors detect dementia, how a simple blood test could change the way we diagnose it.

I'm Sara Sider with John Berman. Kate Bolduan is out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: This morning, does Donald Trump have a J.D. Vance problem? The Harris campaign thinks so, and more importantly, wants voters to think so. This morning in this brand new line of attack the Harris campaign is calling Vance the most unpopular V.P. pick in decades, and Vance himself faces backlash for calling Harris and others childless cat ladies with no direct stake in the country. That was in an interview a few years ago that's still reverberating.

CNN's Eva McKend is with us this morning. What does the Harris campaign see as this opening as they begin a new week?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: John, when I look at this strategy, it reminds me there is a benefit to going second. She will plan to set up a stark contrast between Vance and her own V.P. pick. The Harris campaign thinks Vance is a major liability for Trump. In the coming days they will argue he's weird and ill-prepared, not only that he's flip-flopped on positions -- remember, at one point he was a never Trumper. They say now that Biden is out of the contest, they will attempt to argue Vance's lack of readiness is a problem because of Trump's advanced age.

They will focus on Vance's lack of executive experience. And we heard a little bit of this on the campaign trail this weekend. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, he is one of the people on the shortlist to be Harris's pick, he was out on the stump and in support of Harris. And here's how he went after Trump and Vance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): I mean, two nights ago, he called her a bum. If he wants to see a bum, he ought to look in the mirror.

(CHEERING)

BESHEAR: And what he'll see looking back are multiple bankruptcies and 34 felony convictions.

(CHEERING)

BESHEAR: Then again, when J.D. Vance looks in the mirror, he doesn't see any conviction at all.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: And Harris will be busy this week. She's holding a campaign rally in Atlanta tomorrow, and then she'll be in Texas later in the week for the funeral of Sheila Jackson Lee. John?

BERMAN: It is interesting, because one of the things we're now hearing from Vice President Harris is maybe an attempt to manage expectations in the short-term a little bit. What are you seeing there?

MCKEND: That's right, John. She has seen a burst of momentum. Republicans argue that it's manufactured, but she raised more than $200 million in a week. And then also she's got 170,000 new volunteers to the campaigns. Still she's cautioning supporters that she is still the underdog in this race and that they have a big fight in the weeks ahead. John?

BERMAN: You always want to run like you're the underdog in any race. Even McKend, nice to see you this morning. Thanks so much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right, with me now is Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California. Thank you so much for joining us. Nice purple background there. Just wanted to ask you a quick question about --

REP. BARBARA LEE (D-CA): Thank you.

(LAUGHTER)

SIDNER: -- about Kamala. Kamala is from the state. She grew up in her career in the Bay Area. and I'm curious what you make of their attack lines right now, which is sort of calling the other campaign, especially J.D. Vance, weird?

LEE: Well, nice being with you, Sara.

J.D. Vance, first of all, is not prepared to be the vice president. And we have to remember that a vice president is one who would, for whatever reason, would have to step in as president if in fact the president could not serve. To have someone such as a J.D. Vance on this ticket demonstrates who Donald Trump is, if you ask me. It demonstrates or shows us exactly what he believes in by selecting a J.D. Vance, who is quite, as the campaign said, weird but also pretty, pretty unprepared, very scary in many respects.

[08:05:5]

And so when you look at a J.D. Vance, think of him as being or possibly being a president. I can't imagine having a J.D. Vance in the White House with the values, with the lack of variance, and with his really way of approaching people and women. And his unclear position on our democracy, because remember, he was an anti-Trumper for a long time. And we don't know if he believes in democracy or not because he goes whichever way the wind is blowing.

SIDNER: I'm curious, since we're talking about vice president, I'm going to throw out some names here for no apparent reason. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Senator Mark Kelly, of Arizona, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Tim Walz, Minnesota. There's another name being floated, Pete Buttigieg, the secretary of transportation, Roy Cooper of North Carolina. Who would you like to see be Kamala's vice president pick?

LEE: Sara, let me tell you, I have known Vice President Harris over three decades, as she's very smart. She's strategic as she will make her decision based on many, many factors. And she is deliberative. And whomever she decides to be her vice president, that's who we should unify around and understand that she made the correct decision as her, to be sure that she has her own vice president, but also for the country, because she's going to select somebody she believes is the best person who can lead this country on the Harris agenda.

SIDNER: All right, so you're going to back over Harris picks. I do want to ask you about something that's come up again and again on social media. Elon Musk, the owner of X, which formerly Twitter, and Tesla and many other things, chiming in on his site where he's got millions and millions and millions of followers calling her an extinctionist for comments she made about climate change, saying that some young people don't want to have kids because they fear what their world is going to be look like due to climate change.

But he also shared a fake video using an A.I. voice of Vice President Harris calling herself the ultimate diversity hire. That was not her voice. He has a huge platform. What do you think about the head of a social media company like this with such huge reach sharing this misinformation?

LEE: Well, in addition to being disgusting, it shows you just how dangerous he is and how dangerous it is for social media not to have guardrails, and how we need to make sure that, as we look at A.I. and move forward, that there are some regulatory guardrails and rules that it has to follow.

Otherwise, we're going to see all kinds of unfortunate things happen which are fake, which shows that anyone can say anything about anyone or do anything and not have any accountability. And accountability is so important. And I think he is showing us exactly what the lack of accountability on social media and with A.I. can do. It really is very dangerous, and we need to step up and call for some kind of accountability.

SIDNER: He's not just a user, he runs the company and is sharing these sorts of things. And there's been a lot of talk about whether or not there needs to be some rules put down by Congress. We will wait and see if that actually happens.

I do ask you about something Biden has proposed, new rules for the Supreme Court, such as term limits after 18 years of services. This is all coming, of course, because of questions over ethics with a couple of Supreme Court members. I'm curious what you think of that, and if it's something you think Kamala Harris should sign onto?

LEE: This is a very important decision for the president to make. And I am so glad he did. First of all, we have legislation calling for most of the provisions that he has called for. Secondly, the Supreme Court is at its lowest, and in fact the public has to have trust in the justice system. That's what it's supposed to be. When you look at the Supreme Court, you talked about corporate control, that's who has controlling now the Supreme Court. And when you look at the public and understand why the public is so disappointed and has decided that it's not a court that they could support, we need to do exactly what President Biden has proposed.

With regard to term limits, we have to absolutely have term limits. The Supreme Court is not elected. I don't support term limits for elected officials because I believe in a democracy, people have the right to vote for who they want to vote for. But appointed officials such as Supreme Court justices absolutely should have term limits. So I'm very pleased that it's the Biden-Harris administration has moved forward with this. And our legislation in Congress actually is legislation that speaks to all the issues that the president has put forward.

[08:10:9]

SIDNER: Congresswoman Barbara Lee, thank you so much for joining us there from Washington. Appreciate you.

John?

BERMAN: All right, just 99 days until Election Day. Polls show the race tightening. We've got new reporting on Trump campaign strategy to fight the momentum of Vice President Kamala Harris.

And this morning, U.S. citizens in Lebanon told to prepare to shelter in place for long periods as tension escalates in the Middle East.

New details from law enforcement about the communication breakdown that led to the assassination attempt or contributed to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

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[08:15:16]

BERMAN: This morning, the US embassy in Beirut is advising citizens to prepare to, "Shelter in place for long periods" amid fears of a possible conflict in Lebanon.

Overnight, the Israeli military conducted airstrikes against Hezbollah, targets deep inside Lebanese territory after blaming the militant group for a rocket attack that killed 12 children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights this weekend.

CNN anchor and chief national security analyst, Jim Sciutto is with us now. Jim, you've done extensive reporting in Northern Israel in this affected area after October 7th. And I do understand you've got new reporting on all of this, this morning.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: That's right, John. I'm told that the US administration is not expecting a major Israeli operation in Southern Lebanon for now, a major ground invasion.

They are certainly bracing themselves for, as I think the region is, Israeli retaliation. You heard that right out of the mouth of the Israeli prime minister. And I think what we saw overnight and the video that you're showing there is an indication of that.

It doesn't mean that that strike overnight is the last strike. But they're not expecting a major ground invasion right now. Now, that doesn't mean it never comes, right?

And I'll tell you when I was there going back to late October and November last year, when you speak to many Israelis, but also those in the military. It's a matter of when not if, Israel solves as they will often say the Hezbollah problem and part of that is driven by all those people, many tens of thousands of people, Israelis who have been forced to flee south from the Northern Israeli border and still haven't been able to go home because of that constant threat of strikes coming across the border from Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon.

BERMAN: A very different opponent though in Hezbollah than Hamas.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BERMAN: One with extensive resources and to rid themselves of what they call the Hezbollah problem would be resource heavy operation.

SCIUTTO: No question.

BERMAN: But, Jim, on that other issue, in Gaza right now, how does the situation there and the peace talks, how does all of it play together?

SCIUTTO: Listen part of it is that, you know, from the US's perspective and others in the region is, Israel can't really go into Southern Lebanon with a major operation until they complete military operations in Gaza. However, they define complete, right? And those military operations are still underway.

Smaller scale than we saw earlier in the war but they're still underway, it doesn't mean they could never do it, but that's the thinking. They would much prefer to finish in the south before they do anything in the north. But you have other factors there.

You have Benjamin Netanyahu's own political calculations thinking that he pushes out these negotiations further, feeling that he has less pressure now from President Biden now that he is stepping down. You have Hamas, perhaps calculating and you've seen this, John, that extending the conflict there is actually in their interest, despite the enormous civilian casualties.

So, that piece factors into the calculations about the northern front as well. And listen, you and I have talked about prospects for a ceasefire deal in Gaza for weeks and months right now. And every time it seems that you're getting close, there's something that pulls the sides back from actually pushing it across the finish line and it's familiar territory and the people of Gaza continue to suffer.

But it's not clear that all the key parties are ready to make the deal. there.

BERMAN: Jim, what is the thinking on -- and not suggesting that the situation on the northern border of Israel hasn't been deadly. It has been deadly and it has displaced tens of thousands of people.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BERMAN: But Hezbollah has acted in a way that does not escalate this situation in a particularly major way over the last several months. Why? Why? Does Iran play into this at all?

SCIUTTO: Yes, Iran does. I mean, there's even some thinking that Iran doesn't want a broader regional war. That goes back to when you had those -- those missile and drone attacks a few weeks ago. That there was some signalling from Iran that, okay, we're going to stop here, right? Now, whether that's enough to satisfy Israel and others, understandably not clear that it would be, regardless.

There has been some questions as to as to how far Iran wants this to go. Hezbollah has a domestic political problem, right? It is a militant group, but it has a political problem and it -- the Lebanese, people don't want to go to war. You heard that from the Lebanese foreign minister speaking to our Ben Wedeman earlier today as well.

So, they know that they wouldn't necessarily have the Lebanese population on their side given the size of any conflagration, right, in the north. But then you have to think Israel's calculus. You and I covered the 2006 war when Israel went into Southern Lebanon, which was already bloody and long and deadly for Israeli forces and so on, and everybody involved.

[08:20:02] Hezbollah has an order of magnitude, more missiles and rockets than it had then. So, the cost to Israel, even with its air defences, the potential costs are enormous as well. There are massive risks for everybody involved to expanding this.

BERMAN: Jim Sciutto, always great to have you on. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.

SCIUTTO: Thanks a lot.

BERMAN: Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, just ahead, new developments in diagnosing Alzheimer's. A blood test that issignificantly better at predicting the ailment.

And a CNN exclusive, an inside look at how the Supreme Court delivered a rare win for reproductive rights while at the same time, one state is enacting a very restrictive ban. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: The Supreme Court began this year, poised to build on its 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. In fact, after that ruling, today for example, one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country goes into effect in Iowa.

In January, though the High Court took the extraordinary step of allowing Idaho to enforce its restriction ban. But over the next six months, several twists and turns would change the course of that case.

CNN chief Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic is joining us now with an exclusive look at this. You got behind the scenes, good morning. What can you tell us about how this changed when the ruling finally came out about Idaho?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Sure, Sara, it's good to see you. And you know, abortion remains one of the most difficult topics for the Supreme Court and for the country. and it's certainly an issue in the presidential campaign.

[08:25:07]

We wanted to find out why the justices in January of this year allowed Idaho's very restrictive abortion ban take effect. But then by June dismiss the case and essentially said, never mind.

What we found out is in that first move in January of this year, it was a secret six-three vote. They never reveal how they vote, six to three vote with the Republican appointed conservatives wanting Idaho's ban to take effect over the objections of the Democratically appointed three liberals.

Idaho's law is controversial because it has an exception only for -- to prevent the death of the mother, not for medical emergencies for her health. And the Biden administration was arguing that federal law protects women in emergency situations and would allow abortions in emergency rooms to protect her health, not just two avoid death.

But what happened then, by April when the justices heard the case and then voted in another private session, that conservative super majority started to splinter Justice Amy Coney Barrett, in particular, was concerned about what was happening on the ground in Idaho.

Women were having to be airlifted out of state when they had complications from pregnancies. Her arguments and her concerns convinced justices, Chief Justice John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh. to consider how to dismiss this case.

But the problem they had was that three other conservatives, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch didn't want to dismiss the case. They wanted to keep it and they wanted to rule for Idaho and its very restrictive ban. That gave liberals rare leverage.

The liberal because as you know, Sara, have only three votes on this court, usually. And usually they cannot get their way for even some sort of compromise but this time they did.

Working with those three conservatives at the center, they ensured not only that the case would be dismissed, but that original January order would we lifted. The justices at the center had resisted lifting that January order. They wanted Idaho's ban to stay in effect even as the case played out in lower courts. But the liberals made sure that part of the compromise was that the Idaho ban would not be enforced in emergency rooms.

So right now in Idaho, women don't have to be airlifted out for pregnancy complications. But Sara, I have to tell you that this case will be back, not just potentially from Idaho, but other states are trying to ensure that Biden administration policy to protect pregnancy complications does not interfere with their restrictive state bans -- Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, certainly, the Supreme Court left the door open. We know that President Biden, we are expecting to call on some big restrictions when it comes to the Supreme Court as well. We'll talk about that a bit later.

Joan Biskupic, thank you so much for your reporting, appreciate it -- John.

BISKUPIC: Thank you.

BERMAN: So, how much can change in one week? Apparently, quite a bit. New polls show how opinions of Vice President Harris have shifted over the last seven days.

And a sting operation with the help of a double agent. Why a major cartel leader in US custody says he was double-crossed and forcibly kidnapped by a fellow cartel member.

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