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Harris Running Mate Contenders Hit The Campaign Trail; New ABC Poll: Harris Favorability Rating Up 8 Points In A Week; Local SWAT Team: No Direct Contact With Secret Service Before Shooting. Aired 2- 2:30p ET

Aired July 29, 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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[14:01:32]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: With just 99 days left until the election, the campaigns are facing plenty of challenges. But for Democrats, enthusiasm doesn't seem to be one. There's new polling out today as the Harris campaign is doubling down on a popular attack line against former President Donald Trump.

Plus, Iowa's ban on abortions after six weeks is now in effect. What it means for women, medical providers, and its impact on other states.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And uncertainty at the Paris Olympics after triathlon swim practice is canceled for a second day because of pollution in the river Seine.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

SANCHEZ: The time for final auditions is almost over. This week, several top contenders vying to be Vice President Kamala Harris's running mate are hitting the campaign trail. And Harris is expected to name her pick in the next week or so. And just a couple of hours from now, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer will headline a Harris for President Campaign event in Pennsylvania. This as we're learning new details about how the Harris campaign is seizing on republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as a major liability for the republican ticket. Harris advisors say that Vance's relative lack of government experience is giving them a new opportunity to go after 78-year-old former President Donald Trump.

CNN's Danny Freeman is live for us in Pennsylvania covering this Harris event. Danny, what should we expect to hear?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, what we're going to expect here is a fierce criticism, I should say, of former President Donald Trump and intense vouching for Vice President Kamala Harris as the new nominee of this party. I say new presumptive nominee.

And listen, Boris, we're here in Pennsylvania, so I'll talk primarily about Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, again, one of the people on that short list to potentially be the running mate of Vice President Harris. Think about it. Maybe over a week ago, he was definitely a strong surrogate for the Biden campaign, but he was still pretty much leading a normal governor's life. He was, earlier this month, putting the finalized touches on a state budget.

But then, when he was thrust into this national spotlight when it comes to this new invigorated veep stakes, he definitely jumped all in. Now, I should say, when I asked him last week if he is considering or if he would consider being Vice President Harris's running mate, he said, this is a deeply personal decision and that it really should be free from political pressure.

But I just want to point your attention to what that political pressure might look like. This is a Fox News poll from late last week, specifically of Pennsylvania voters. And you can see, Vice President Harris and former President Donald Trump, they have approval ratings in the high to mid-40s, but within the margin of error.

But take a look at Governor Shapiro's approval ratings in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 61% whopping number right there of approval when it comes to Pennsylvania voters. That's part of that political pressure which makes him a strong candidate for this running mate position here.

And we saw that in addition, on the trail over the weekend, the Governor was at a campaign event for Vice President Harris. Take a listen to what he said specifically when it comes to Donald Trump and this debate over debates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH SHAPIRO, GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA: By the way, did you see Trump even knows this? You can tell because now, he's afraid to debate her. Did you see that?

[14:05:01]

And by the way, he's not just afraid to debate her because he knows she's going to kick his (inaudible) in the debate. She is a skilled debater. But he's afraid to debate her because he's afraid of his record. He's afraid of having to defend a record that has been really dangerous and destructive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Now, Republicans are already jumping on this particular campaign event, saying that Vice President Harris does not have a good record, regurgitating a number of the talking points we've heard over the past week, highlighting her work with the border. But again, what we're expecting to see today from both Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who has said she is not going to put herself in this veep stakes contention for now. We're going to hear both of them fiercely go after former President Trump and fiercely support their new presumptive nominee, Vice President Harris. Boris?

SANCHEZ: We will be watching this event closely. Danny Freeman, live from Ambler, Pennsylvania. Thank you so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: We're getting in some new polling numbers showing a tight race in key battleground states and a shift in enthusiasm. Let's break down the numbers with CNN Senior Data Reporter Harry Enten.

All right. Let's start nationally. Where do things stand, Harry?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yeah, Brianna. All right. So let's take a look at this. We're only eight days into this race, but I want to just sort of note how tight things are right now between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris? This is the national margin. Look, the key nugget here is there's no clear leader.

Now, I want you to look at the trend line here because I think a lot of folks have been kind of getting confused on it. When we're looking at the national trend line in a matchup between Trump and Harris, in fact, there hasn't been all that much movement. Before Biden dropped out, you can see that Trump led Harris by two. You look where we are right now, it's a one point race well within the margin of error.

The massive change, the big switch was when Democrats went from Biden to Harris as the presumptive nominee. Why is that? Because pre-Biden dropping out, he actually trailed Donald Trump by six points in these same polls in which Harris was only down by two. So Democrats are in a much better position today than they were eight days ago because they changed their nominee to someone who's far more popular.

KEILAR: And tell us about this change in enthusiasm.

ENTEN: Yeah. All right. So this, I think, is the biggest change. It's not necessarily the voter choice, it's the enthusiasm that Democrats are feeling for their nominee, all right? So this is enthusiastic about voting for. So for Democrats, how many of them said they were enthusiastic about voting for Joe Biden in February? It was only 62%. Look at how high it has jumped now. It is 88%. My goodness gracious. That's a jump at 26 points.

Republicans for Donald Trump. Look, Republicans are enthusiastic about Donald Trump and they still are. They were in February at 80% and they're now at 82%. But the key nugget here is just that the difference, 88 for Harris now versus 82 for Trump now on the republican side, there's actually more enthusiasm for Harris now compare that to where we were back in February when Republicans actually had an 18 point advantage on enthusiasm. So what we're seeing here is, yes, we do see a tightening race in terms of voter choice nationally. But the real thing that has changed with Kamala Harris on the top of the ticket is enthusiasm among Democrats is now through the roof.

KEILAR: And tell us what you're seeing where it really matters in these key states.

ENTEN: Yeah. All right, so this is all national, but I think Al Gore and Hillary Clinton could tell you that the national pollings may diddly-squat. What matters is down in those important swing states. And so I want to take a look at these three swing states that have

been polled since Kamala Harris became the presumptive or likely democratic nominee. This is Harris versus Trump margin. Again, no clear leader. That's the key nugget here. Look at this. In Wisconsin, Trump up by a point, but well within the margin of error. How about Michigan? We've got ourselves a tie. And of course, the pivotal battleground state or commonwealth of Pennsylvania where Mister Freeman just was, look at that, we've got ourselves a tie.

Now, why are these three states so very important? Because it's the national map. Let's take a look here. All right. Let's just say that Kamala Harris loses in those sunbelt battleground states that Joe Biden was trailing in Nevada, Arizona, Georgia. All three that Joe Biden carried four years ago, excuse me. But take a look here. If in fact, Kamala Harris is able to win up in these great lake battleground states where the races are so tight right now, Wisconsin, Michigan, and of course, Pennsylvania, just as we were talking about, look at this, she would barely squeeze by with 270 electoral votes. So the fact is, at this particular point, with now 99 days to go, we've got ourselves a very tight race, one in which there's no clear leader and one in which either candidate really could pull out on top.

It's thrilling times for a political analyst like myself. I think voters on both sides of the aisle, though, wish that there was perhaps a little bit of a clearer picture. But perhaps, one will emerge. We'll just have to wait and see.

KEILAR: Yeah. But things are certainly getting interesting. Harry Enten, thank you for taking us through that. Boris?

ENTEN: Thank you.

[14:10:03]

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss the race for the White House and more with Democratic Congresswoman Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania.

Congresswoman, thank you so much for being with us. You were supportive of President Biden staying in the race when many of your colleagues were not. Now that he's stepped aside, I'm wondering what you're hearing from voters in your district if they share that increase in enthusiasm that some of the nationwide polling shows.

REP. MADELEINE DEAN, (D-PA): Boris, good to be with you. And it was fun to hear the enthusiasm in Harry's voice in his reporting. And we will hear that throughout the next 99 days. And I have to tell you, in my own district, the enthusiasm is extraordinarily high. You just had a reporter in Ambler, which is the fourth congressional district of Pennsylvania that I am so lucky to represent. And so when I'm talking to constituents, or yesterday and Saturday, as I helped launch some folks who were knocking on doors, handing out literature, handing out signs, I have to tell you, the enthusiasm is extraordinarily high for Kamala Harris at the top of our ticket.

I'm proud of Joe Biden. I'm proud to work with him another six months to be very honest and proud of his record. But look what he's done in a selfless way, thinking only of the best interest of America, he put forward this extraordinarily capable woman, a woman who has served for three and a half years as vice president. But think about her record before that as both a state and federal prosecutor. Kamala Harris will be able to prosecute this case for our democratic values, for our freedoms as she put in her commercial, we choose freedom.

She is an extraordinary public servant and extraordinary talent who I have had the chance to get to know. And I can't wait until she brings the race here to Pennsylvania. And it's not bad that my own governor is being considered for vice president.

SANCHEZ: I do want to ask you about that, Congresswoman. But first, I want to go back to something you said about her record because some of her statements going back to the early part of the 2020 presidential campaign are now being used by Republicans to paint her as this radical leftist. I'm talking about her call to end fracking within the United States, to demilitarize the police, as well as a number of other statements that she has then sort of shifted on. How do you think she should respond to those attacks from republicans?

DEAN: I think you just have to look at her body of work. I don't think those attacks are going to stick. They're flailing. You can see that. They're absolutely flailing because the two folks they have on their side of the ticket, Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance, you talk about flip flopping. Neither of them has a core set of ideologies. They're only thinking of themselves. And now, with Mr. Vance, who has said such things as rape is an inconvenience, criticizing childless so called catwomen, how is that going to play in Pennsylvania? It won't play well in my district. And their lack of character, their lack of a core set of American values will speak so much louder than any of these attempts to attack Kamala Harris who is a woman of character, and democratic values, and public service that stands out.

SANCHEZ: So Congresswoman, back to your previous statement about your governor, Josh Shapiro, being considered as a potential VP pick for Vice President Harris. Does he have your endorsement? Who do you think she should nominate?

DEAN: I think it's entirely her choice. And the governor has, in a private conversation with me, has said as much. He's also said that publicly. It's entirely the vice president's choice. It's a very important and personal choice. So I won't put forward endorsements, I'll just put forward my enthusiasm. I have known Josh Shapiro for more than 20 years. He has been a friend. He has been a mentor to me as I was running to fill his empty seat in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

He looked after me. He helped guide me, even as I went on now to Congress. So we remain colleagues and friends. He's a man of family. He's a man of deep faith. I'm a person of faith, so we share that even though our faiths are different faiths. He's a man of extraordinary accomplishment, political and public service accomplishment. So we go way back. And so he has my full throated enthusiasm. And I have to tell you, Pennsylvania will be very excited with whomever the Vice President picks because we have such a deep bench. But Josh Shapiro would be a very great pick. SANCHEZ: Congressman, you were just named to the task force that set

to investigate the attempted assassination on Donald Trump. I'm curious to get your thoughts on some of the new reporting that we've received from local SWAT teams on the ground saying that they identified the shooter as a suspect 90 minutes before the incident took place, and that they passed along their warnings to secret service and other officials that were on the ground there, but no one acted on it. What's your response?

[19:15:24]

DEAN: Well, my response is I am honored first to be named to this select task force. So I thank leader Hakeem Jeffries and Speaker Mike Johnson for confirming me and other Pennsylvanians, including my colleague Chrissy Houlahan and some other very able people.

So I won't react to piece by piece information because literally, our job will be to collect all of the facts, all of the information. And I say this in the context of this political season, because, as President Biden said, political violence has no place in America and no place in American elections. We resolve our differences by going out, and knocking on doors, and working for candidates that we believe in and then voting and engaging voters.

We do not resort to political violence on either side of the aisle. So I condemn what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania. And I will be honored to serve on this task force to get to the facts, to get to the truth so that America will recognize in a bipartisan way that nobody, no matter where your political alliances fit, should accept political violence. We must call it out and do everything in our power by using our voice and our rhetoric to make sure that we don't endanger and call out, we don't incite any kind of violence.

SANCHEZ: And quickly, Congresswoman, do you anticipate calling former President Trump to testify?

DEAN: I don't know. We have not yet met. The team will meet.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, we appreciate your perspective. Thanks for being with us.

DEAN: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Still ahead this hour, urgent text messages, photos, and warnings about Donald Trump's would be assassin. What we were just discussing with the Congresswoman, a full hour and a half before he pulled the trigger. We're going to outline the disturbing new details in just moments.

Plus, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro set for a third term in office following a highly contentious election with the opposition and members of the international community crying foul. And the largest active wildfire in the United States burning in Northern California as firefighters fight desperately to get it contained. We're going to talk to residents forced to evacuate ahead.

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[14:20:26]

KEILAR: New today, the FBI says former President Trump has agreed to sit for a victim interview as part of the FBI's investigation into the assassination attempt at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, just over two weeks ago. This is routine. It's voluntary. Investigators say, they want Trump's perspective just like any other witness to a crime.

Joining us now to talk more about this and where the investigation is, we have Jonathan Wackrow. He's a CNN Law Enforcement Analyst and a former secret service agent.

Jonathan, thanks for being with us. Can you just give us an idea of how this victim interview will go? What kind of questions the FBI is going to be asking?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT: Well, what they're going to ask is literally the impact to this crime, right? And, you know, what the former President felt at that moment, you know, he was a victim along with many other individuals that were victims. They're trying to see, was there any type of, you know, connection to, you know, from the former President to the actual shooter themselves? Again, I think the challenge for the FBI right now is that they're trying to build out this threat profile of the shooter across like three major domains.

And, you know, information from the former President and the former President's staff actually will be helpful in trying to assess and make a determination around, you know, the motivation of the attacker, the intent of the attacker, and, you know, their capabilities. So anything that the former president can share with the FBI is critically important in terms of the FBI's ongoing investigation of this criminal matter.

KEILAR: I want to play what the local law enforcement SWAT team told ABC News. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON WOODS, LEADER OF BEAVER COUNTY SWAT TEAM: We were supposed to get a face to face briefing with the secret service snipers whenever they arrived. And that never happened. So I think that that was probably a pivotal point where I started thinking things were wrong because that never happened and we had no communication with the Secret Service.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So Jonathan, no face to face meeting with the Secret Service, even though it sounds like there was supposed to be one. But also, we've learned no direct comms between local law enforcement and the Secret Service the day of and during the event they were going through this command center. Is that best practices?

WACKROW: No, it absolutely is not best practices. The best practice is to have a unified communication in command structure so that everyone is maintains the same level of situational awareness when a. you know, suspicious activity is identified or a threat is presented, that then the information goes out to all stakeholder groups, local law enforcement and the Secret Service at the same time, and that there's a unified response on how to address either a suspicious individual or a clear threat.

[14:25:15]

We now know, you know, hearing from these members of the ESU team, that they did not have that level of communication directly to the Secret Service. And that's a critical failure point. They were communicating with each other. Local law enforcement did the right thing. They identified suspicious behavior early on. They were communicating. However, that communication was in a silo. It wasn't shared broadly.

What we did hear last week from testimony with the Pennsylvania State Police commissioner was that there was some information transferred from the local police department, the ESU team to the state police, and the state police then gave that information to the Secret Service.

So we talk about communication breakdown. It's the point to point communication, but it's also how that communication, when received, was actioned off of or in this case, wasn't actioned off of to prevent this horrific tragedy.

KEILAR: Yeah, it's sort of like watching people play telephone. And we all know how that goes. So I wonder what this says to you about accountability when I think even laypeople can look at this and say, wow, that is ripe for mistakes. What does that tell you about accountability? Is it really enough just that the Secret Service Director is gone, or do you really need to have someone kind of scour their practices? And whose responsibility is that? Is that DHS? Is that partially a failure of oversight there? Is that congressional oversight failures? What do you think?

WACKROW: And Brianna, it's yes to all, right? And I think the more that we are able to look at one, this individual incident and see, hey, was this a one off? Did communication just break down on this particular Saturday evening between law enforcement and the Secret Service in Butler, Pennsylvania? Or is there a systemic issue in the way that the Secret Service communicates with its law enforcement partners, specifically in two ways, one, in the communication structure, the command and control, as well as the roles and responsibilities. Is the Secret Service doing the right thing in terms of describing the criticality of the role and responsibilities that local law enforcement plays in the overarching security plan?

So again, I think it's -- we have to look at this in isolation and in the broader context of the protective model.

KEILAR: All right. Jonathan, thank you so much for your insights. We do appreciate it. Jonathan Wackrow, thank you.

WACKROW: Thank you.

KEILAR: Coming up. One of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws takes effect today. We'll have it next.

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