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Harris Picks Up Steam with Voters; Harris Lays out Economic Plan; Disney Wants Lawsuit Thrown Out. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired August 15, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Could decide the election.

And we are standing by for a new retail sales report literally coming out in 28, 27 seconds. We're going to pour over the numbers during the break and tell you what they all mean. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:35:17]

BERMAN: All right, every day here on CNN's flagship morning show, we are trying to lay out deep insight in the major, historic shifts in this election.

CNN's senior data reporter, Harry Enten, is here with what might be or up until this point was one of the key, if not the key voting bloc in this election, the so-called double haters, people who didn't like either Donald Trump or President Biden.

What's happening with them?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, all right, so let's take a look at double haters. As you pointed out, these are folks who disliked Joe Biden as well as Donald Trump. And I want you to look at their voting patterns, who they want for president.

Now, let's go back to June. What we saw was 28 percent of those folks were going for Joe Biden compared to 19 percent who said they were going for Donald Trump. Now that Kamala Harris is the Democratic nominee, look at her support among them. Look at this, 53 percent say Kamala Harris. Look at that jump. That's a jump of 25 points. Donald Trump has gone in the other direction, down to 11 points.

And now we're looking at, what is that, John, that is a 42-point advantage among the folks who dislike Joe Biden and Donald Trump for Kamala Harris compared to just that nine point advantage that Joe Biden had back in June.

This, of course, is of substantial portion of the electorate. Before Kamala Harris got in, this was going to be the group that was going to determine one way or another. And it may still be. And if it is, Kamala Harris has this massive advantage over this very key bloc in the election.

BERMAN: I just want to point out, again, what we have seen in the last few weeks are these big shifts in polling you don't normally see. Right now at least, but that's a giant increase in no time.

ENTEN: That is a giant increase in no time. It turns out picking a nominee who's actually pretty close to having an even net favorability rating, that is favorable minus unfavorable, is a pretty good thing as opposed to one that has a net negative favorability, as Joe Biden did.

BERMAN: All right, what more do we know about some of these people, these double haters, I had to be careful how I said that, who have shifted their preference?

ENTEN: Yes, so, you know, who are these double haters who have shifted their preference? This is, again, a key group of voters. These are people who somewhat disapproved of Joe Biden's job as president. Somewhat disapprove. And this is in the key battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Look at the advantage that Kamala Harris has with this group. Look at this. She's at 55 percent. Donald Trump is just at 36 percent.

And this was a key bloc of voters back in the 2022 midterms. Normally when you see a president with a disapproval rating well north of 50 percent, you would think his party was in major trouble. But Democrats actually won that bloc by four points in a close race for the House, Democrats did. Look at Kamala Harris' advantage now though. It's 19 points. Well more than that four points that the House Democrats had back in 2022.

And so, again, you're wondering, how is it that Kamala Harris is doing so well despite the fact that Joe Biden is so unpopular. It's because those people who are lukewarm on him, they don't like him, but they don't hate him, they are going in heavy numbers for Kamala Harris in those key battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

BERMAN: So, there's this bizarre story this morning that we probably should be talking about more, which is that RFK Junior, "The New York Times" did reporting, has been doing - "The Post" reporting, has been doing outreach to the Harris campaign, wanting the two to meet. Maybe he would endorse her in return for a job.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: That aside, where have RFK Junior's voters, so far as they exist, been going the last few weeks?

ENTEN: Yes, that is truly a bizarre campaign. And, you know, we spoke about this earlier last - two weeks ago. We noted that RFK Junior's support was falling through the floor. And the question is, who are his voters going to? So, these are people who supported RFK Junior in July and now back - look at this, 39 percent of those who backed RFK Junior in July are now backing Kamala Harris. Way more than the 20 percent who are backing Donald Trump. Now, he's still getting 39 percent of them. But if you're only holding on to two-fifths of your support from July, you're falling through the floor, which RFK Junior is doing. But the key nugget here is Kamala Harris is picking up a slew of those voters who were disaffected, who said they were going to vote for a third party. They're no longer voting for a third party. By a two-to-one margin, they're voting for - say they're going to vote for Kamala Harris over Donald Trump. And that is a big reason why, in that Pew Research Center poll that came out yesterday, Harris was up by one, as opposed to Joe Biden being down by four back in the month of July.

BERMAN: As I said, it is so important to have you here explaining these historic shifts that we are seeing, at least right now in this campaign.

ENTE: You know, this was the most boring campaign, at least in my lifetime, through June. Since then, it has been absolutely Nutter Butter and we're seeing these shifts that we really never see. It's something exciting to see from a political analyst standpoint that I am in.

BERMAN: From a pure data perspective. Understand.

Harry Enten, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us right now is Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky and former senior adviser to the Trump 2016 campaign, Jason Osborne.

It's good to see you guys. Thanks for being here.

So, let's, Julie, you've got the reporting - we'll talk about RFK if we have time at the end. You've got the reporting and the analysis that you heard from Harry that how Harris is making inroads, where Harris is making inroads in terms of the double haters.

[08:40:09]

Kind of showing the contours of the momentum that we've already been seeing in the polling.

One place that Donald Trump has remained ahead, though, before and is currently, is on the economy. And Harris is now going to be rolling out this big - it's a big moment for her as she's rolling out this economic plan tomorrow. how much is riding on it then?

JULIE ROGINSKY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, first of all, Harris is catching up to him on the economy. There's some polls that actually show her being more trusted. But look, it is the number one issue in the country despite what Donald Trump said at his press conference yesterday. And it's something that she has to address. How much she has to go into details is a different story. Look, she owns the Harris - the Biden-Harris record, good and bad.

Right now it's good. The market's up, inflation's down. Unemployment, we're basically at full employment. I mean all indicators are great for her. And so that's - that's her record. I mean that's something that she can run on easily, and something that she can defend easily. Something Trump is going to attack, obviously.

But at the end of the day, it's something that belongs to her. I don't think she needs to go into too much detail because the -

BOLDUAN: You really don't?

ROGINSKY: I don't because she's - she's living it, right? The last four years are what her record is. And if you want more of the same, that's what you're going to get with her, hopefully. And that's what she basically has to say.

Look, so much of this - everybody wants to talk about policy, but so much of these elections are about personality.

BOLDUAN: That's very true.

ROGINSKY: And so, you know, does she need to go into detail about CPI and all these other, you know, minute details? I don't think so. I think she needs to state a broad set of principles and then talk about how she's going to address those issues in a very concise way and not really go into too much detail. She doesn't need to.

BOLDUAN: I find it interesting - I mean, Jason, what do you - what do you think of that, not going into detail might be a good thing. Saying more of the same might be a good thing for Kamala Harris on the campaign trail.

JASON OSBORNE, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP 2016 CAMPAIGN: I'm a little bit shocked, quite frankly. I mean I think, if they want to run on the last four years and the economy being great as - as something that's going to convince voters to support them, all for it. Because the reality is, is that costs, while have been coming down - while they have been coming down the last few months, they're still way higher than they were four years ago. I mean were still having this housing crisis where people are paying thousands of dollars more per month in rent because they can't afford a house because that - the mortgage rates are too high. And groceries. I mean I know that - that Kamala is going to be talking about price gouging, et cetera, but they're not looking at the bigger picture in terms of, you know, the supply chain and how everything that the government does influences the prices of each step of the way in the process.

And so, yes, you can go after corporations for price gouging, but how are you going to stop, you know, the - the increasing costs or the elevated costs for actually delivering the food to the shelves in the grocery stores? I mean that's a big chunk of price there as well.

And so I think what they have to do, what Kamala has to do, is she does have to go into detail. And for once we'd like to see some more recognition that, hey, you are feeling the crunch at the - at the grocery store, at the gas pump, in your homes and everyday life, not sitting there telling us how the economy is great because we all - we all live it. We all know that the economy is not great right now.

BOLDUAN: One thing - let me - and Julie was getting at this, and, Jason, I want to - I want to play for both of you, but it has been clear in polling and just logic dictates that the economy is everything. It effects everyone's lives. It's one - it affects everything, every aspect of your life, and that is why the economy remains the number one issue for voters. And then you have what Donald Trump said yesterday on the campaign - on the campaign trail about the economy.

Let me play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're talking about a thing called the economy. They wanted to do a speech on the economy. A lot of people are very devastated by what's happened with inflation and all of the other things. So, we're doing this as a intellectual speech. You're all intellectuals today.

They say it's the most important subject. I'm not sure it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Just casting doubt that the economy is the most important subject, Jason. I mean do you share the concern of people like Nikki Haley that if Donald Trump doesn't reset you have a problem?

OSBORNE: Oh, absolutely. I mean I think - look, the reality is, the last three weeks for Trump have not been good. I mean, there's - you can't sugarcoat any of it, right? And I think what is encouraging is actually that now this week, even on this show, we're actually talking about policies, not actually, you know, some - something that Trump has said about somebody. And it's a little bit refreshing in a way.

I don't want to sit here and guess what he was trying to mean. I mean I know that, in his mind, the economy is important.

[08:45:00]

But immigration is also important. Crime's important, you know. And so I think moving forward, you know, with more policy statements coming out from Kamala's campaign, then we're going to see, you know, hopefully more issue specific discussions on the Trump side and for him to talk about what exactly he's going to do moving forward, you know, beyond, you know, some of the little nuggets that he keeps sharing here and there.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean we could get a few - a few or a lot of the - more of those little nuggets when he holds his press conference later, which we know - we have examples of what happened last time, which there were a lot of false claims being made that we know is Donald Trump staying true to Donald Trump. Does that mean reset or does that mean this is what you get? We'll find out together. It's good to see you guys. Thank you so much.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you, Kate.

New retail sales report just in this morning, up 1 percent, you can see it there, in July, better than expected.

CNN business anchor Julia Chatterley is here.

What else are we seeing from these numbers? This is good, right?

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, "FIRST MOVE": And this is cue the , hey, big spender music, quite frankly.

SIDNER: Yes.

CHATTERLEY: This is more than double what we were expecting for the month of July, even with a bit of slippage in the June month. So, we gave a bit back there.

And a huge chunk of this was about auto buying. Remember yesterday when we were talking about inflation?

SIDNER: Yes.

CHATTERLEY: I mean you're seeing prices coming down for trucks and cars. So, I think that stimulated the buying. I think this is an important point, but, wow, despite the concerns about rising prices, this is a strong number and I can't take away from that.

It also fits with what we heard from the biggest retailer in the United States today as well. They saw a 22 percent rise in U.S. digital sales. Their store sales were up 4.2 percent. They raised their profit forecast as well. It shows you for value goods, for all consumers, for essentials, they're still buying.

If I look at that retail sales number again, though, and it fits to this story as well, Amazon Prime day hit in the midst of this.

SIDNER: Ah.

CHATTERLEY: Adobe estimates that American spent around $14 billion online in two days alone. Guilty, your honor. I may have added to that. So, we could see a little bit of a slip back, but it is building at least a positive story as far as spending is concerned.

And yet we're buying less Starbucks. We're cutting back on our coffees. We're cutting back on our Big Macs. We are being more cautious about how we spend. So, we've still got to keep an eye on the jobs market. That's the next data point. Remember, it was all about this last week.

SIDNER: That's what I wondered. Those weekly jobless, right? CHATTERLEY: I can show you - exactly. The number of people claiming

first-time benefits, it's still a lot of people, remember, asking for help. It's better than expected again. And for the people that continue to claim unemployment benefits, that number was slightly better again too.

So, two positive data points in an economy that's slowing. These numbers are nowhere near recession. We've not even mentioned the word for a week. But I will bring it back. And despite the fact that it is -

SIDNER: You brought up the "r" words?

CHATTERLEY: I did it. I'm sorry. I do think it's still consistent with the Fed beginning to cut rates in September.

SIDNER: OK.

CHATTERLEY: You could have told me that.

SIDNER: But the market - right.

CHATTERLEY: You could have told me that.

SIDNER: Yes, the market liked it, obviously.

CHATTERLEY: Yes, they like it. Yes. It's not that good. It's good.

SIDNER: Right. But better than expected?

CHATTERLEY: Not (INAUDIBLE). Yes. Still consistent with a cut.

SIDNER: OK.

All right, Julia Chatterley, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

CHATTERLEY: Thank you.

SIDNER: Kate.

BOLDUAN: A woman died after eating at a Disney World restaurant. The company says her husband signed away his rights to - with regard to a wrongful death lawsuit because of a Disney Plus subscription. More on that ahead.

And Taylor Swift returns to the stage tonight for the first time since her Eras concerts were canceled due to a potential terror attack. The additional security measures now in place to make sure that fans are safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:52:45]

SIDNER: This morning, Disney is at the center of a legal fight that is raising eyebrows. The company is being hit with a wrongful death lawsuit involving a woman who ate at a restaurant in a Disney resort. Her husband is suing because he says his wife died after suffering a severe allergic reaction to the food she ate at the restaurant, and that Disney should be held responsible. The story is getting a lot of attention because of what Disney is claiming they must do. Disney says that since her husband signed up for a one-month trial subscription to Disney Plus in 2019, the case must be thrown out of court and sent to arbitration instead.

Let's discuss this with Misty Marris. She is a defense and trial attorney, and a friend of the show.

Thank you so much for being on.

All right, what? So, according to the lawsuit, Disney is saying, if you sign on to get Disney Plus, that keeps you from being able to sue them and asked for a jury trial? This this viable?

MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE AND TRIAL ATTORNEY: Oh, Sara, I mean, when's the last time anybody read those terms and conditions? I know that I have not. So, who would think that the argument would be, you're basically signing your rights way for a jury trial. So, look, this is a long shot for the defensive. And here's why. There's an arbitration agreement. Arbitration is a different forum than a jury trial. An arbitration goes before a neutral, usually a former judge. It's what's known as a better defense venue because a jury in a horrific case like this, where there's been this tragic death, the heartstrings might be tugged. They're going to be sympathetic. Whereas the idea from a defense perspective, the arbitrator is going to be dispassionate and really look at these technical legal arguments.

But the way that this arbitration agreement is structured, the defense argues that it applies to everything, not just the types of services that would be associated with the app. It also applies when you step foot in the park. But that's a very overly broad reading and you've got to look at the full terms and conditions, which, by the way, now I did read, because if they relate to things like subscriptions, users, copyright, exactly what you would think. It doesn't talk about brick- and-mortar, stepping into the park and a personal injury case. So, in that situation, it's unlikely the court is going to extend that arbitration agreement into those types of scenarios.

[08:55:03]

SIDNER: Do you see this being a thing that we all need to be really paying attention to, because I don't know anyone that reads any of that when they sign up for, you know, Disney, Netflix, Max. No one reads those, right?

MARRIS: No. And think about it, though, when you buy a ticket to a venue, you go to a concert, every single time you're - you - taking anything, buying something, purchasing, and there's terms and conditions associated with it, you are agreeing them in. And the general principle is, these are contracts. They're contractual agreements between the companies and the consumer.

That being said, there is a degree of, you read the contract and whether or not it's reasonable, that it's going to extend to other rights outside of those user agreements, or what would be what's called conscionable, meaning, it's not that you can necessarily sign your life away because you want to watch television through an app. There's going to be limits to how far these companies can extend those obligations.

But to your point, Sara, buyer beware. When you are signing up for terms and conditions, those are contractual agreements regardless of what it is. So it may be a better idea for us all, myself included, to read them.

SIDNER: To read them. Arbitration is often the name of the game.

I do want to ask you about another defense from Disney. They're saying that the restaurant is not theirs, but it is in the Disney resort where they do own the property. How strong of the case is that?

MARRIS: Now, here's how this plays out. The first threshold question, who hears the case, right? Judge and jury or arbitrator. Regardless of who hears it, this is a defense Disney intends to raise. And they're saying they're not the owner of the restaurant. That's not necessarily what we call dispositive. It means it doesn't necessarily win the day. Other facts are going to matter.

For instance, who the restaurant or Disney, because they are operating on Disney property, who's responsible for training, hiring? Who's responsible for establishing safety protocols? Were those safety protocols sufficient? So, it's going to be a factual inquiry into the responsibilities of each party. So, it's a defense that will play out throughout the course of - either with a judge and jury, which will be a public trial, or before an arbitrator, which is behind closed doors.

Either way, it's a defense to raise, but there's facts that are going to matter as to whether or not it will be successful.

SIDNER: It's quite a case. I think a lot of folks are going to be surprised at the initial defense that Disney has put out there.

Misty Marris, thank you so much. I appreciate your time this morning.

MARRIS: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: John.

BERMAN: This morning, a manhunt is underway in North Carolina for a convicted murderer of a one-year old girl. The convict escaped from a police van when he was being taken to a medical appointment on Tuesday. There is a $25,000 reward for information leading to his capture. People in the area are being told to keep their doors, windows, and cars locked.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy plans to appoint his former chief of staff, George Helmy to replace Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, who is stepping down next week. Last month a jury, found Menendez guilty of federal corruption charges, including bribery, extortion, and obstruction of justice. He is set to be sentenced in October. Just yesterday, Kate Bolduan pressed Governor Murphy on when he would

make a decision. Apparently forcing his hand. No doubt the cause of this announcement or this information coming out today.

A Russian court just sentenced a Russian American ballerina to 12 years in prison, all because of a $51 donation she made to a Ukrainian charity. Ksenia Karelina pleaded guilty to treason after she was arrested in February. Her boyfriend tells CNN, he bought her a ticket to visit Russia as a birthday gift. Her lawyer says he will appeal.

Want to show you Mount Etna in Italy, Europe's largest and most active volcano. No, no, we're not showing you Mount Etna. Now we are. There's Mount Etna. I knew it was there. What a relief. What a relief that Mount Etna is still in Italy and is still erupting. It has forced the partial closure of the airport in Sicily. Flights are grounded for now. Passengers are being told to check their flight status before they go to the airport. Everyone be careful there.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL, with Mount Etna, starts right now.

BOLDUAN: Kamala Harris reigniting the fight for North Carolina, a state a Democrat hasn't won for president since 2008. New detail on what she's planning to roll out there as she lays out her economic pitch.

And a major security operation. London preparing for hundreds of thousands of Taylor Swift fans as she is getting ready to take the stage for the first time since that terror plot was thwarted targeting her concerts.

[09:00:08]

And an incredible scene.