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Harris to Lay out Economic Plan; Trump Speaks about Personal Attacks; Safety Measures for DNC; Five Charged in Matthew Perry's Death; Policy Proposals of Trump and Harris. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired August 16, 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]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Details on her plan ahead.

Donald Trump says he is entitled to launch personal insults against Harris, but can he insult his way back to the White House? We'll take a look at the numbers.

Plus, so long 6 percent realtor commissions. A major shake-up in how realtors get paid. How will this change the way we buy and sell homes?

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

Happening now, Kamala Harris' campaign releasing brand new details of her economic plan as a Democratic Party nominee soon hits a stage in North Carolina to lay out all the details in her first major policy speech. It is a series of striking new proposals aimed to lowering costs for American families she says. Among the highlights, huge tax breaks for more than 100 million Americans, an historic ban on price gouging, a $25,000 subsidy for first-time homebuyers, and a push to eliminate medical debt for millions.

CNN anchor and chief political correspondent Dana Bash is joining us now.

This is a very aggressive plan, Dana. How do you think that voters will be able to take this all in, and whether or not she will be able to deliver this when critics are going to be right there ready to lambaste her?

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, no question about that. The whole criticism of the Joe Biden campaign on the economy was that he was relying on, look at all the things that I have done for you, of which he had many things to point to, but voters weren't feeling it, so they weren't buying it. And so what Kamala Harris and her campaign are clearly trying to do is not run away from those things, but try to look forward, trying to look ahead and do so through the prism of what voters are feeling the most, where they're hurting the most.

So, the question of childcare. A huge, huge issue for people. That is maybe the - one of the biggest rising costs for families. Housing. I mean we - you've talked on this show, I have as well, the price of housing, whether it's rentals or purchasing, any form of housing, is just absolutely, forgive me, through the roof. And so those are - those are some of the things that the Harris campaign knows will directly appeal to people who are not feeling the - on paper, if you look at the data, economic gains that the Biden-Harris administration has made.

SIDNER: Yes, people are hurting. That pun did not hurt me, though, Dana. I did - I did catch that.

BASH: You're welcome, Sara.

SIDNER: Donald Trump isn't on the trail today, but we certainly heard a lot from him yesterday during a news conference that he held again He did not stay on message. He started on message. Then he went off the rails. And then he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm very angry at her that she'd weaponize the justice system against me and other people. Very angry at her. I think I'm entitled to personal attacks. I don't have a lot of respect for her. I don't have a lot of respect for her intelligence.

To whether the personal attacks are good, bad. I mean she certainly attacks me personally. She actually called me weird. He's weird. It was just a sound bite. And she called J.D. and I weird. He's not weird.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: It was the vice presidential pick for Harris that started the weird thing, but it was continued. There is not a lot of messaging, I think, that the allies of Donald Trump had wanted to hear in this. What does this tell you about him?

BASH: Well, I think also - well, to answer that question about him in one second, but I - every time I hear that sound bite and others, I think to myself, thank goodness I'm a parent because you're weird, no, you're weird, no, you're weird. Like, we've all dealt with that. So, we can cover politics right now. You know, we - we get the current situation. Anybody who's had any interaction with people who are trying to attack each other, not on merits, and not on anything that really does matter.

Having said that, I just want to point out one thing, and that is, he said at the very beginning of that sound bite that you played, Sara, that she's weaponized the Justice Department against him. There's no evidence that Joe Biden has done that despite the fact that that was one of his main arguments against Biden, when Biden was running. And there's certainly no evidence that Kamala Harris has done that.

But on the question of staying on message, what we saw yesterday was the Trump campaign add new staff. Bring back Corey Lewandowski. They're going to do that. Who was Donald Trump's first campaign manager from the very first time he got into politics in his first presidential campaign in 2015.

[09:05:01]

And others who worked with Corey Lewandowski.

This is not a staff problem. This is not a chairman - or, excuse me, campaign chief Chris Lacivita or Susie Wiles who are kind of doing it together problem. This is a Donald Trump issue. And, you know, maybe he knows more than the people who are working for him. That would not be the first time when he's trying to appeal to certain kinds of people. But in this race, in this snapshot of time, there are very few Republicans who think that's the case when he goes off message, when he goes off script, when he doesn't talk about the issues that people really care about, who aren't already on his team, who aren't already going to go out and vote for him. The campaign, right now, the election, will very likely be decided on the margins in key swing states. And having that kind of message. I've not talked to any Republicans who think that that is going to bring the swing voters over to his side.

SIDNER: Dana Bash, that's saying a whole lot. Thank you so much. I appreciate your reporting for us early this morning.

BASH: Thanks, Sara. Great to see you.

SIDNER: Thanks.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us right now, CNN political commentator, former Democratic state representative from South Carolina, Bakari Sellers, and former Trump administration official Matt Mowers.

Hello, gentlemen.

Matt, Trump and the personal attacks, and now his defense of his personal attacks. People around him want him to stop. He clearly does not want to. What do you think his campaign should do or will need to do now about this? Because Donald Trump is going to do exactly what he's doing.

MATT MOWERS, FORMER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, you know, in Donald Trump's mind. they're all intertwined. The policy attacks are intertwined with the personal attacks because, remember, for Donald Trump often it comes out as, can you do the job. He likes to talk about competence. You remember he was - one of the first things he said when he came down that golden escalator back in 2015 was, he was saying, we have a bunch of incompetent people running this country. That ties into the policy issues he spoke about yesterday. He talks about the issues around inflation and the fact that energy prices are up 50 percent over the last four years. That groceries are up 20 percent over the last few years. You know, we want to talk about tax policy on a day like today. It talks about whether Kamala Harris wants for repeal the Trump tax cuts, which, by the way, double the standard deduction, which over 90 percent of Americans take. It actually presented the largest tax cut in American history. Is she going to rip that away from families right now?

So, it really ties into a bit of a larger thing. And for Donald Trump, it's all aligned, the policy with the more personal attacks.

BOLDUAN: I guess the question then becomes, Bakari, and I want to ask you about Harris' economic rollout today, but Matt just made me think, I guess the question is, what ends up sticking with voters, right? He says in the same speech he's standing in front of - it's kind of emblematic, right? He's standing in front of tables of groceries, higher prices than they were, you know, before the Biden ministration. But what he says, which is so jarring, is his defense of his personal attacks against Kamala Harris, calling her not intelligent and calling her all sorts of things.

How does - what's going to stick with what voters? I guess there's no way of knowing. But if he's thinks it's all wrapped into one, it's really some - one thing is going to stick with voters. I guess it depends if its swing voters or just the MAGA base.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, I think Donald Trump does a lot of red meat for his base. And the fact is, Matt is not running for president of the United States. He would probably fare better in terms of communicating a message and a plan then Donald Trump is right now, because what we heard from Matt today is probably what Republicans want to hear from Donald Trump.

One of the things that Donald Trump has to stop doing, and this is just something that bothers me to my core, is you've got to stop calling black people and black women in particular stupid. And Republicans do that up and down.

Lauren Boebert, for example, had the audacity to call Kamala Harris dumb. They call her a DEI hire. This is enveloped in racial undertones. So, just, for the love of God, Republicans, please refrain from playing these racial identity politics that you accuse Democrats of playing often and going down this path of insulting this woman's intelligence and calling her dumb, because we all know that by September 10th, when we're preparing for this debate, and when she gets on stage next to Donald Trump and she shows the world that he's an intellectual midget, then you're going to say that she was more well-prepared, and she's in courtrooms all day.

And so what I don't like is for these racial undertones and for them to go down this path of calling her and other black women stupid. I think that clouds the message with those personal attacks.

BOLDUAN: This is actually where I was going to go, because you often talk to me about the game of setting expectations that we see very - very, like, plainly, leading up - in the days leading up to a debate. And I was going to ask you how, Bakari, how does - how does it work when Donald Trump keeps calling her not smart, keeps calling her not intelligence, I mean calling her dumb to say - to say it a different way?

[09:10:08]

How does it work? Because we know that Kamala Harris is already doing mock debates and she's already starting to prepare.

SELLERS: A shout out to Howard University. My daughter is a sophomore there. And that is where Kamala Harris is doing her mock debate prep. I mean, I just know that in, you know, in a week or so people who come on, Matt and others, are going to have this difficult task of trying to set expectations for the debate. And they're going to go down the path of, she was a DA. She's attorney general. She - they talk about the fact that she failed the bar exam once. Well, I failed the bar exam twice, OK, just to get that out there since we're having this moment of introspection, guys, OK? All right. So, some of us (INAUDIBLE) the bar exam.

BOLDUAN: I never even had the you know what's to try to take the bar. OK, I'll just say that.

SELLERS: Well, it's hard. And it's traumatizing. Ad I talk to my therapist about that all the time. But I eventually passed.

Nonetheless, what I'm saying is that they are going to try to recalibrate. And they are going to try to set expectations so low for Donald Trump by making her out to be - to make her out to be Thurgood Marshall, et cetera. And all I'm simply saying is, you can't call her dumb, which has virtual overlay in it in one breath, and then say she's Thurgood Marshall when we're preparing for a debate because we know what the outcome of that debate will be.

BOLDUAN: Matt, please join this therapy session that has been highly enjoyable. What do you think?

MOWERS: Yes, as someone who also never took the bar, by the way.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

MOWERS: What I will say is, I mean, in fairness, Donald Trump has called a lot of people dumb and a lot of people losers and lowlifes too. I don't think it has to do with race as much as it has to do with anyone who, you know, takes a swing at Donald Trump. He swings back.

And so, now I will say, he also took a similar tact in the run-up to the debate against Joe Biden. He happened to be proven right. You know, you had a lot of other folks trying to raise the bar for Joe Biden and clearly didn't have to in that one.

What I'd say though, at the end of the day, is that voters are going to look at qualities, they're going to look at policy in first and foremost. They're going to say, you know, Kamala Harris was there, you know, right next to Joe Biden when we had rising inflation and stubbornly high prices that make life unaffordable for us. They're going to say she was there during the Afghanistan withdrawal and that there was 13 gold star families as a result of that disastrous withdrawal. And they're going to ask the question if she ever reached out to those families the way Joe Biden didn't either. They're going to ask all those questions.

But then it also ties into a larger issue around, is she going to be able to handle the job? They're going to look at the record she's had for the last four years, whether it's on the border, whether it's on inflation, and then they're going to make that judgment on that as well.

BOLDUAN: What sticks, that's what my takeaway is. We don't know yet. But it's great to see you guys. Thank you both very much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, five people, including doctors and a woman known as the ketamine queen are now charged in connection with the overdose death of "Friends" star Matthew Perry. More on the case and the details that are being made - the deals that are being made by some of the defendants. Our Stephanie Elam will have that.

Plus, the DNC starts in just three days in Chicago. How authorities are ramping up security in the face of potential attacks and expected protests there.

And the whole process of buying and selling houses now changing after a multi-billion-dollar court ruling shook up the real estate industry. We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:18:02]

BOLDUAN: The Democratic Convention kicks off in three days at Chicago's United Center. The DNC now giving you a first glimpse - you see there - of what the main stage will look like next week.

And in the lead up to all of this, it's been a massive operation by law enforcement to ensure that the convention is safe and secure as law enforcement is also preparing for what could be big protests expected in Chicago.

CNN's Whitney Wild is live outside the United Center in Chicago with more on this for us.

Whitney, what are you seeing in terms of those preparations?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: The most visible thing you see security-wise out here, Kate, is this non-scalable fencing that goes on for several blocks around the United Center. And just to give you some perspective, Kate, about how critical this is. You know, in speaking with the Secret Service, they say they simply could not secure this location without this fence. It's pretty unassuming, but it is an absolutely critical tool. This is what you're going to see here at the United Center, as well as at McCormick Place. These are two locations that are hosting portions of the DNC.

Kate, the United Center has been shut down for a month. It takes hundreds of people just to put this fence up alone. So that just gives you some perspective of how massive of an undertaking this is.

In addition, Kate, the planning for this has been going on for more than a year. There is a very long list of law enforcement agencies and surrounding agencies that are going to be involved in this. And what we know, Kate, is that there are going to be thousands of law enforcement officers on the ground. That includes more than 500 mutual aid officers. They're also going to have support in the air, support on the ground. So, this is truly a multifaceted security footprint here.

The big questions, Kate, are, how many protesters are actually going to show up, and what is the dynamic going to be like for those protesters? Chicago police has been preparing for a range of scenarios. They are committed to making sure that people can exercise their First Amendment rights. But they also have an obligation to the community as well, Kate. So, what they're trying to balance here is ensuring this is safe for everyone.

Kate, back to you.

[09:20:00]

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, Whitney. Thank you so much for that.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, this morning we're learning new details about the five people charged in connection to the death of "Friends" star Matthew Perry. Investigators say they uncovered an underground network of drug sellers and suppliers responsible for distributing the ketamine that killed Perry last October. Among the defendants, two doctors, another drug dealer and Perry's live-in personal assistant and a woman investigators called the ketamine queen. Three of those defendants have so far pleaded guilty.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is joining us now from Los Angeles.

Stephanie, what evidence did the U.S. attorney say it had on the five people in - accused in Perry's death?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you, first of all, had those guilty pleas from the three, right? But then there were those two that were arrested yesterday, Sara. And that were the two that they saying were the leads in this case that really did not care for Matthew Perry's health and just saw him as a way to make a lot of money.

In fact, I want you to listen to the U.S. attorney when he describes - I was there in the room yesterday when he described exactly how they saw Matthew Perry.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN ESTRADA, U.S. ATTORNEY: These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves. They knew what they were doing was wrong. They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry. But they did it anyways. In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr. Perry than caring for his well-being. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And what the U.S. attorney alleges is that in the fall of 2023, that Matthew Perry relapsed. And that is when he was looking to get ketamine any way that he could. And they're saying during September and October of 2023, Perry got 20 vials of ketamine for $55,000. Keeping in mind here that one vile would cost about $12 for the doctor and he was charging like $2,000. That's what the U.S. attorney is alleging here.

So, Dr. Salvador Plasencia is the main doctor that they were going after with this. They say they have text messages from him where he was texting another doctor saying, quote, "I wonder how much this moron will pay." And also saying that he wanted to be the only source of ketamine for Matthew Perry as well.

We know he entered a plea of not guilty yesterday. He did surrender his DEA license. That means he can no longer prescribe those controlled substances. He could face 120 years in federal prison. His trial will start in October.

Now, the ketamine queen, I also have to mention her because they said they found drug selling paraphernalia throughout her house. They have also said that she is a risk to flee. So, she is being held. She's looking at life in prison.

Then there's also the live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, who they say was injecting Matthew Perry with ketamine without any training, including on the day that he died, as well as another man, Eric Fleming, who they are saying was getting the drugs away from the ketamine queen. These are the five people they say are responsible for Matthew Perry's death.

Sara.

SIDNER: And, of course, Stephanie, we've heard from Dr. Plasencia's defense attorney who says, you know, he's not guilty of this. He didn't supply the ketamine that ended up killing him and that Perry was on some sort of ketamine regimen.

This case is just deeper and deeper and deeper as you dig into this. I really appreciate your time this morning. Thank you, Steph.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump rolling out their economic plans. How do their policies so far compare and what they mean for voters? That's next.

BOLDUAN: And part of Donald Trump's 2024 strategy has been trying to win over more black voters. Polls have shown he has seen some success. And CNN went to Virginia to meet one of those voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every woman ought to have one of these. It's just one of those things of, when people see one, then they want one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:28:29]

SIDNER: Polls show the economy has emerged as the most important issue for voters in the 2024 election. So, at this point in the race, how do presidential candidates, Harris and Trump, compare on actual policy?

CNN business anchor Julia Chatterley is here.

Julia, first up, let's talk about food prices. We know that Kamala Harris is rolling out a new proposal on this front.

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, "FIRST MOVE": It doesn't get more hot button than this does it, Sara. This is the Harris campaign leaning into her former life as a prosecutor and tackling what's known as price gouging when companies collude to keep prices high or just make - take advantage of when they are already going up. She's floated the first ever federal ban on food price hikes, including sweeping new powers for federal authorities like the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission. Right now what the FTC can do, it can tackle what's known as price gouging. It can also stop deals being made between big grocers, for example, that they think will end up with higher prices for consumers.

What it can't do is go to a grocer and say, hey, we think egg prices are too high. You need to lower them. And you can't charge this for that. That would be an enormous expansion of powers. And it's simply very difficult to see how that would take place. There's no detail. And we haven't got that yet. We'll see if we get it today. She'll talk about the meat industry in particular. I think this is an important one because it's so consolidated. But what would be the penalties if indeed it was decided that they were gouging?

The critical question here is, what is the problem that you're trying to fix and what's causing it?

[09:30:02]

Because price rises generally have come down to pandemic supply chain recovery, war, of course, and what we've seen in Ukraine, higher