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Biden, Harris Hail Alliances That Led to Historic Prisoner Swap; Harris to Announce Running Mate by Tuesday; U.S. Economy Added Just 114,000 Jobs Last Month. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired August 02, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome home. Three Americans are back in the United States after a historic prisoner exchange with Russia. Their emotional return, President Biden's message and the hurdles that they cleared to make this thing happen, 24 people exchanged, 7 different countries.

Big money, the Harris campaign just announced that it's raised $310 million last month, in one month, double what the Trump campaign says it brought in. What does it mean for this now reset presidential race?

And Justin Timberlake has a court appearance today for his DWI from this summer.

I'm Kate Bolduan with Omar Jimenez. Sara and John are out today. This is CNN News Central.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Breaking overnight, an emotional reunion for three Americans finally freed after being wrongfully detained in Russia. Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich and Russian American Journalist Alsu Kurmasheva greeted with tears of joy at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

Whelan reminding reporters he was held for five years, seven months and five days, a reminder of how closely he was paying attention to his time there. And during that time, he says he sang the national anthem every single day.

Gershkovich getting off the plane and sweeping his mom off her feet, The Wall Street Journal reporter telling his colleagues, you can see the picture there, on the tarmac, I'm home.

And Kurmasheva rushed into the arms of her two daughters who could be heard sobbing from yards away, one of them turning 13 years old today.

Now, the three Americans are returning home after an unprecedented prisoner swap that involves seven countries, a deal that President Biden says he was absolutely convinced his administration could get done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: We put back together relationships with countries that we haven't had before. We rebuilt NATO. We rebuilt the circumstances that allowed this to happen. That's why it happened.

REPORTER: What is your message tonight to Vladimir Putin?

BIDEN: Stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now, overnight, the released Americans were flown to an Army Medical Center in Texas to get checked up.

CNN's Rosa Flores is in San Antonio and Priscilla Alvarez is at the White House. Rosa, I want to begin with you. All three Americans are at Brooke Army Medical Center at this point. Can you explain the process that they're embarking on right now?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Omar, that process actually started in the hangar shortly after they landed. Our cameras were rolling. We were there. It was about 3:11 A.M. local time when their plane landed here in San Antonio at Kelly Field.

Shortly thereafter, we witnessed as the freed Americans exited the plane with their families, embraced with State Department officials, mingled with White House officials. And then we observed as the White House and the State Department handed over the freed Americans and their families to a U.S. Army colonel that then explained that they would be transported to the facility that you see behind me, Brooke Army Medical Center. Then there was a group of psychologists, and we have video of this as well, that explained to the freed Americans and their families that their wellbeing was their priority.

Now, just have that moment sink in for just a second because these freed Americans have spent years in some cases, especially in the case of Paul Whelan, years in a Russian prison, and here they are on American soil being told by a U.S. Army colonel and by his support staff that their wellbeing was their priority, that they would be transported to the facility that you see behind me, and that they were going to try to maximize the amount of time that they would spend with their families but that they would get a medical evaluation.

Now, I did ask Paul Whelan about this moment and here's what he said. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL WHELAN, U.S. MARINE VETERAN FREED IN PRISONER SWAP WITH RUSSIA: So, I'm looking forward to seeing my family down here and just recuperating from five years, seven months and five days of just absolute nonsense by the Russian government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:05:05] FLORES: Now, Omar, that nightmare, of course, in Russia is over. Now, these freed Americans are in the facility that you see behind me. It is unclear, of course, how long they will stay here. It just depends on their condition. But, again, I should add, they are here with their families. Omar, back to you.

JIMENEZ: And the beginning of a process. I want to bring in Priscilla Alvarez into this conversation, who's at the White House for us. What are we hearing from the White House this morning?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president described this yesterday as, quote, a feat of diplomacy. And to put this into context, it was the largest ever prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia since the Cold War, for all of those reasons, that is officials feel relieved and joyous this morning, just as they did yesterday.

But to take you behind the scenes, of course, these were painstaking negotiations that were ongoing for years, but that really started to come together over the last few months with the president seeking help from Germany and Slovenia. And the reason that Germany was important is because they had a Russian assassin who Russians wanted returned, and so the U.S. had to work with Germany to see if they were willing to return him so that they could have this deal come together. That meant calls between the president and the chancellor in January, a meeting in February, and then later, too, the vice president asking and talking with the chancellor and the Slovenian prime minister back in February when she was at the Munich security conference.

So, all of this really came to a head over the last few weeks as well, as the president spoke with the Slovenian prime minister about two weeks ago. That was just before he made the announcement that he was dropping out of the presidential race. And Slovenia had two Russian nationals that were of interest to Russia. So, you can start to get a sense here of just how sensitive and intricate this whole diplomatic effort was as they tried to bring together this massive deal for the release of these Americans, among others.

Now, the president also reflected on that when he was on the tarmac last night. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: The toughest call on this one for other countries, because I asked them to do some things that were against their immediate self- interest, and really very difficult for them to do it, particularly Germany and Slovenia. Slovenia came in at the last minute and I tell you what, the chancellor was incredible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: So, you heard him there really underscoring the importance of alliances that really led up to this remarkable moment where the president and the vice president were able to greet these freed Americans at Joint Base Andrews before they continued to San Antonio. The vice president also taking a moment to reflect on the tarmac yesterday, using it as an opportunity to also underscore the stakes of the election and why it's so important through the lens of foreign policy to keep these alliances.

JIMENEZ: Quite the process to get to this point. Priscilla Alvarez, I really appreciate it, Rosa Flores as well. Kate?

BOLDUAN: And joining us right now to talk about this, Democratic Congressman from California Eric Swalwell. It's good to see you. Thanks for being in.

So, you're not going to find an elected, I haven't, that's not happy to see that homecoming and those reunions. Absolutely, everyone wants free Americans to be free and home. There is criticism, though, that I'm seeing from some Republicans of how the deal was done, the price, if you will, the cost of it.

Mike McCaul, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, saying that he's concerned that continuing to trade innocent Americans for actual Russian criminals sends a dangerous message to Putin that only encourages further hostage taking by his regime. I saw Speaker Johnson and Mitch McConnell say the very same.

What do you say about that, this, you know, hostage diplomacy?

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): I switched over from the Olympics last night to watch, you know, these scenes and you can't help but be filled with joy. It's freedom for these people, families reunited and we're the good guys and they're the bad guys. So, yes, we're going to get good guys back. And to do that, you're going to have to negotiate and give some bad guys back. I mean, it's how it's going to work. And the alternative is that they rot and die in a Russia prison.

But when I look at these responses, particularly Donald Trump's, he never welcomed them home. He's called it an embarrassment. He called it extortion. And the only thing embarrassing about it was his response.

BOLDUAN: I want to ask you about that because I think we're talking about is, and maybe I didn't hear all of his responses, but when he was on it was on a radio show, they did jump into criticizing how Biden did it, not saying anything about welcoming the Americans home.

Let me play how Donald Trump did respond to this prisoner swap and also how J.D. Vance kind of piggybacked on that. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And I heard he said this, why didn't Trump get him out?

[09:10:01]

And he was taken during that time. You know, I got out 59 different people, 59, and I didn't pay money. And they allowed some really rough people out. You know that, right? SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We have to ask ourselves, why are they coming home, and I think it's because bad guys all over the world recognize Donald Trump's about to be back in office, so they're cleaning house. That's a good thing. And I think it's a testament to Donald Trump's strength.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: John Kirby, who is a spokesman for the National Security Council, was on, and he said there is no evidence any of that is true. He actually -- I think his wording was, I don't actually even really know what to say about the J.D. Vance commentary.

But how do these exchanges -- it's now part of the election. How do these exchanges, how do you think they play in terms of foreign policy and the candidates who are running?

SWALWELL: Well, it shows strength by the president and also the vice president. And, by the way, she and I were prosecutors in the same office in Oakland and you have to negotiate thousands of deals for the length of time that she served. So, it doesn't surprise me at all that she was a part of the negotiations here and putting pressure on.

But what does it say about just like the human side of this? I think when you step back, why can't Donald Trump just be happy for these people's release? It's a weird emotion that you would make this about yourself. Like it's not about you, Donald, it's not about you. And he's kind of like that Debbie Downer character on SNL, like Donald Downer. And if you can't love your country during a joyous moment like this, you can't lead it.

BOLDUAN: I laughed because I was actually -- I will ask you. You've leaned into the weird attack. I've seen you say it, I've seen you lean into it. Are you -- is like the now, the word of the month is going to be Donald Downer? I mean, what is this that Democrats are doing? Do you think it's working or is there an expiration date on this name calling?

SWALWELL: I think we just need to be plain spoken about what it is, like talk to people like you'd talk to them at a bar or at church or on Main Street.

BOLDUAN: I talk very differently at bars than I do at church.

SWALWELL: Ell, it's just kind of, it's just 24 karat, you know, creepiness that you would like, take a moment like this, a mom hugging her son, and you would like make it about you. And it's like it's not about you. Sorry, pal, not everything's about you.

BOLDUAN: Last night, I was on T.V. late, unfortunately. And Bomani had this great point, which was this kind of comes down to they're not like us politics. Republicans have run on that, he says, and this gets to they're not like us. But is that what the Democratic -- you want the Democratic Party to represent?

SWALWELL: What I want us to represent is people who just understand what this is all about and can boil it down to its essence. Too often Democrats think we're trying to win a Harvard Law School moot court competition and we're just trying to win a gut check. And I don't think Donald Trump passes the gut check in the way that he responded to this.

BOLDUAN: So, next big question up for Kamala Harris is her running mate. And there's this funny thing of like all of the top contenders kind of letting it be known that their weekend schedules have officially been left open.

J.B. Pritzker, Illinois governor, he had some fun with it last night. Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): Lollapalooza is happening this weekend here in Chicago. And my kids and, I mean, tens of thousands of others are going to be there. You know, I've heard other governors talk about how they've canceled their weekend plans. I was going to perform, of course, with Blink 182 on Sunday, but I've canceled in order to clear my schedule.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I mean, one, I'm kind of loving that. You have not wanted to stick your neck out and like endorse or back or someone that you'd like to see Kamala Harris pick. But do you think it is in terms of what a running mate should bring to this ticket? Do you think it is geography estate or personality and policy?

SWALWELL: They have to be ready to serve if called upon serving and have to be a good partner.

BOLDUAN: How do you measure ready to serve? That's subjective.

SWALWELL: world experience being, you know, elected and trusted by the voters and also you have to be a good partner. We have all of that. And we also don't have anyone who is like J.D. Vance. We don't have people who are insulting single women who don't have children. We don't have people who want to ban abortion, ban same-sex marriages. So, we have candidates who also, by the way, as you saw in a potential nominee there, someone who's just fun. And the team that has the most fun, I think, is the team that wins.

I'm hosting a Comics for Kamala event on Monday night. I've invited many of these V.P. nominees.

BOLDUAN: Are you comedian?

SWALWELL: I'm not a comedian.

BOLDUAN: Am I missing something here?

SWALWELL: No, that's why I hang out with funny people.

BOLDUAN: You hang out with funny people. SWALWELL: But like we're having fun and that has been missing for a long time in the Democratic Party.

BOLDUAN: One thing J.D. Vance has raised is that I think I wanted to ask you about is he's saying that Kamala Harris is hiding from taking tough questions. But he can say it that way. I will say it this way Kamala Harris, since she has gotten into race, has not sat or stood to take questions from reporters in a fulsome way. And she has announced that her positions from when she last ran for president to now have shifted on big issues, fracking, one example.

[09:15:04]

Why do you think she has not? Do you think she needs to?

SWALWELL: So, you know? She's building this plane midair. You know, two weeks ago, she was not the nominee. She's putting the campaign together. That's going to come. But the harshest critic of her who has had a lot of questions is now dodging the opportunity to be with her, and that's Donald Trump. So, Donald the Downer, Donald the Dodger, he's now backing out of the debate that he committed to. And so --

BOLDUAN: Don't dodge my question, though.

SWALWELL: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Does she need to take --

SWALWELL: She's going to do that. She's going to do that. Yes.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you.

SWALWELL: You too.

BOLDUAN: Thanks for coming in. Omar?

JIMENEZ: Well, breaking news that we're following this morning, the U.S. economy added just 114, 000 jobs in July, marking a slower pace of growth than in recent months. The unemployment rate also unexpectedly ticking up higher.

CNN's Paula Newton joins me now with more, who's been following these. Paula, just get into the numbers for us. What do they show?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes,114, 000 jobs. Not good in terms of they were expecting more than 60,000 more than that, right, at 175. So this is quite a slowdown in growth. I will say it is still growth.

But what's crucial here, Omar, is look at that unemployment rate, 4.3 percent. It also means that more people are getting into the job market are trying to find a job that can't because what these numbers bear out, Omar, is what we're hearing from many people looking for jobs. They can't switch jobs as quickly. They can't maintain the salaries or the increases that they want, and it's taking so much longer to actually find that job. Now, what's all important here, though, is the fact that the Federal Reserve on interest rates, people were expecting that they are likely to cut in September by a quarter point. That may not be enough. And that's why it's kind of rattled futures. The Federal Reserve just had their meeting. They didn't cut interest rates. Look at futures. They're sliding. I mean, look, they're not freaking out, but they are certainly unnerved.

And, Omar, I also want to point out that when you look at earnings, like from a place like Amazon, perhaps off what was expected, but what was more important was the guidance they gave going forward. They're saying they're seeing a cautious consumer, again, stuff from the real economy that you and I are seeing every day. And they're worried going forward about a recession, not Amazon specifically, but a lot of economists, thinking that we should be at a place of lower interest rates.

One bright spot, as the interest rates come down, that could stimulate the housing market. And I know a lot of Americans have been waiting for those mortgage rates to come down substantially, so they can either buy that first home, or switch homes. Omar?

JIMENEZ: Paul Newton, I really appreciate it. We'll be talking to the acting secretary of labor about some of these numbers in a little bit to get some more detail on what you laid out. Thanks for being here.

All right, meanwhile, we're following other news. Kamala Harris jumped into the presidential race less than two weeks ago, but had a massive fundraising month in July, twice as much as the Trump campaign. We will explain just how much that is.

New this morning, President Biden also considering more U.S. defenses for Israel as the Middle East braces for for Iran's retaliation after the deaths of Hamas leaders.

And Justin Timberlake is touring in Europe but today will have to appear virtually for a DWI case in the U.S.

Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:00]

BOLDUAN: Breaking overnight, a massive July fundraising haul by the presumptive Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, $310 million raised in July. That's a haul. A majority of that, more than $200 million was raised in the first week of Harris' candidacy, more than double the amount that Donald Trump raised last month and two- thirds, campaign says, two-thirds of the fundraising for Harris here coming from first time donors to the campaign.

Joining me right now, Democratic Strategist Julie Roginsky and CNN political commentator and the host of Battleground, S.E. Cupp.

So, these are real numbers. They've been real numbers all along. There's been so much money getting thrown into this election. But you see this and you see what?

JULIE ROGINSKY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I see a lot of money on the ground, which is what you need to do because this election is all about the ground game. Everybody keeps talking about these few undecided voters that are still out there. Come on. It's really about making sure that your people get to the polls because that's what Trump's going to be doing. And he kind of gave up the game at that Chicago debacle dumpster fire, where he said, if you like me, you're going to vote for me. If you're not going to like me, you're not going to vote for me. And he's not wrong about that in the sense that this election is a complete referendum on where you think the Trump future is going. And so that's going to allow Harris to get her people to the polls, get her people on the ground to make sure that her supporters get to vote.

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Interestingly also, the Harris campaign is spending a lot on T.V. ads. And they're spending that because they're getting a lot of contributions directly through these ads. Otherwise, you don't spend that kind of money on these ads. So, they are doing -- they are very financially healthy. The question is whether this is a honeymoon boon, right, or can this continue through the coming weeks and months, when she has to face some more scrutiny, where she has to be interviewed, where she has to lay out an agenda. Does the cash keep coming? Do the polls keep going up? That's what we'll have to watch and see.

BOLDUAN: We talked about this late last night, which is -- and I don't know the answer. In a compressed, kind of unprecedented campaign, what is the length of the honeymoon period? So, I say that as the backdrop of Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell from Battleground, Michigan. She was on with me earlier, and she had something very interesting, as Debbie Dingell often does, on what these fundraising numbers say, but what also she's feeling in terms of Michigan and what's happening on the ground.

[09:25:11]

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): Everybody calls me Debbie Downer. I'm going to go to Debbie Realist. Everybody's on a sugar high right now. There's a new energy, but this election is not over. So, yes, it's wonderful to see that kind of money come in, and a lot of it's grassroots donors, people who have never given before. So, people are engaged. But the base on the other side is engaged too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Speak to your point, which is, should people be -- it's like dumb to say celebrating too soon because obviously the election continues, but should people be wary here of kind of like, I don't know, being overly confident because she's saying -- she's calling it a sugar high. CUPP: Well, a couple of things. What they're getting back, they have reawakened some coalitions that were dormant during Joe Biden's campaign. So, they're getting back some young voters. They're getting back some Arab-American voters in Michigan. They're getting back some black voters. That doesn't push them over the edge. That gets them back to the levels of 2020 and where Democrats usually would be. So, that's good news, but it's not the whole story.

Trump Meanwhile is bleeding some folks with some of the nonsensical messaging that they're doing, suburban women being one of them. So, he's got a retain his coalition, which is very loyal, but he can't afford to tick off black women, suburban women, all the folks that he is just throwing -- he and J.D. Vance are just throwing darts at right now.

BOLDUAN: On J.D. Vance, Harry Enten was diving into kind of the weird moniker concept. And one of the things that he pointed out was that Vance's favorability in mid-July and then most recently and as Harry sees it, it's dropped significantly and you could see a drop, as you know, anyone gets into the headlines or capability drops over a period of months. Harry's point is that he's seeing Vance's capability dropping faster and more significantly. And so he thinks that the weirdness is having an impact.

But then I counter with this. How much impact does it running mate have, right? We say historically none. Is it going to be in an unprecedented, all we do is live in unprecedented, is this going to be chapter seven?

ROGINSKY: Who knows? I mean, look, I'll say this to my fellow Democrats. I wouldn't be getting sugar high and anything right now because if the election were today, chances are we're going to lose. I mean, she has a lot of work to do to lock this thing up. And, by the way, if you look at the polls for national polls, anytime a Democrat is neck and neck, they're losing in the Electoral College. That's just a fact. So, I don't know what sugar high anybody feels they're on, but they need to get off that sugar high and get to work.

Vance, you know, who knows? I mean, the truth of the matter is, I guess Lyndon Johnson, back in the day, had some sort of potential marginal impact on the 1960 election. But in our lifetime, I don't think so. I mean, I don't think Dick Cheney suddenly changed the game for George Bush, and I don't think, you know, Kamala Harris changed the game for Joe Biden.

People either love Donald Trump or they hate Donald Trump and they're going to vote accordingly. And so J.D. Vance has little to do with that, I think.

CUPP: I think you're right, but you have to wonder if you're Trump, is he being a drag on the ticket? You know, he might not help Donald Trump get over the edge, but if he's dragging the ticket, and right now those numbers are so bad for J.D. Vance, they're particularly bad in his home region, in the Rust Belt. The polling there is worse for J.D. Vance. So, I think Trump will tire of a running mate that is dragging the ticket down pretty soon, and either make a change or really kind of marginalize him.

BOLDUAN: I asked this of Eric Swalwell when he was on. One thing that J.D. Vance is raising, and we talked about this, is he's accusing Kamala Harris of hiding from taking tough questions. She hasn't sat or stood for -- facing reporters' questions in a significant way. The reason I pose this is not as selfishly, obviously, we would all like to ask some questions about evolution of positions, but also in this race to define a candidate before the opponent does. Isn't this part of it?

ROGINSKY: No, it's a process. This is a process question. I mean, this is something that we all care -- I mean, you guys all care about as reporters. Yes, of course. But the truth of the matter is, when I'm sitting around my dinner table thinking about how to pay for college for my kid, or about how to afford my mortgage, or any of my taxes.

BOLDUAN: Yes, but her positions have changed.

ROGINSKY: Except for the fact that she's going to spend her $300 million defining herself on T.V. and on social media the way she wants, right? And she's going to ultimately sit with you guys, I believe, but the bottom line is, that's not what he should be coming after her on. He should be coming after her on positions that affect regular people who are voting.

If you're standing there saying, well, you're not sitting for an interview, the average person doesn't have time to sit around worrying what Kamala Harris is doing. They just want to make sure she's doing something to help them. And that's the problem. That's the missed opportunity.

CUPP: I think you're right. I think you're right. But that's -- well, the way voters hear that -- I think you're absolutely right, they don't care.

[09:30:02]