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Polls Show Gender Gap Widening In Harris-Trump Face-Off; Landlords Offering More Concessions As Rental Market Cools; Harris To Announce 4-Year Plan To Lower Housing Costs; 2 Suspects Plead Not Guilty in Matthew Perry's Death; U.S. Facing Its Largest Summer COVID Wave In At Least 2 Years; Romanian Gymnast Awarded Bronze Medal Stripped From Chiles; Breakdancer Raygun Responds To "Devastating" Criticism. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired August 16, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:30:48]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: A look now at how Kamala Harris reset the race for president. As she gets set to unveil parts of her economic policy in the next hour or so, we're going to look specifically at the gender gap, where she stands among men and women voters.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Let's go to CNN's Harry Enten to break down the numbers for us.

So, Harry, could we really see a history-making gender gap in November?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: I mean, you look at where we were when Joe Biden was in the race and where we are now that Kamala Harris is the Democratic nominee and the gender gap is the name of the game, all right?

We're going to take a look nationally first. All right, this is Democrat versus Trump margin. So it's average across the same pulses.

We'll look at Biden versus Trump first. We're going to see that the gender gap was working in Donald Trump's favor. Among women voters, Joe Biden held an advantage, but it was just four points. Look at Donald Trump's advantage among men voters, though, up by nine points.

Now let's come to this side of the screen. Let's look at where we are right now, Harris versus Trump. First off, among men voters, look, Donald Trump still holds the advantage. And he held the exact same advantage, nine points.

But look at the difference among women voters. It's night and day. While Joe Biden was leading just by four points, look at Kamala Harris' advantage, up 11 points.

Now the gender gap is working against Donald Trump, and it's working for Kamala Harris, a seven-point switch-a-roo among women. And that is the reason that Kamala Harris has the momentum in the polls. It's why she has that no clear leader within the margin advantage error nationally.

It's because women voters are moving towards the Democrats, while men voters are sticking with Republicans, but not becoming any more Republican. So the gender gap is working against the former president, Mr. Trump.

DEAN: But Harry what's -- why is Harris gaining in the polls with women?

ENTEN: Yes, why. Why is she doing it? Well, you might make the argument that she's a woman, but it might also be she's just energizing younger women. We're seeing that as well. And we're seeing it specifically in these Great Lake battleground states.

I want you to look again here. Donald Trump versus the Democrat. We're talking Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. We know that this election most likely will be decided in these three pivotal battleground states.

And I want you to look here. Biden versus Trump, Harris versus Trump. We'll start here on Biden versus Trump.

Again, the gender gap working in Donald Trump's favor back when it was Joe Biden being the Democrat nominee. Donald Trump leading among men voters by 17 points.

You look, Joe Biden, has that advantage among women voters. In fact, it was a larger advantage that he helped nationally by 10 points. But again, the gender gap working in Trump's favor. He had a larger lead among men than Joe Biden had among women.

Jump over to this side of the screen. Kamala Harris versus Donald Trump. What do we see? It's the same thing that we saw nationally, right? Donald Trump holding his fair share among men voters, up by 15 points.

But Kamala Harris -- look at that -- that 17-point advantage. Significantly wider than what Joe Biden was holding among women voters.

So gender gap that was working for Donald Trump is now working for Kamala Harris. And it is the reason why, in the "New York Times"/Sienna College poll, where Joe Biden was trailing in those Great Lake battleground states, Kamala Harris is leading.

It is women voters. They have been supercharged by the Harris campaign in ways they simply weren't by the Joe Biden campaign.

SANCHEZ: So, Harry, from a historical perspective, is this typically where a gender gap stands or is this larger than normal?

ENTEN: If you know anything me -- about me, Boris Sanchez, you know, I love going through the history books. In fact, if I wasn't a political scientist, maybe I'd be a historian.

So let's go through the history books, all right? This is a Democrat versus Republican for president. This is the margin. Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.

Let's look at the women mark because this really tells the story. That 17-point advantage that Kamala Harris held in the "New York Times"/Sienna College poll, compare that to the exit polls in 2020 and 2016, 17 points.

Significantly larger than when Joe Biden held the advantage in those states back in 2020. When he won all three of them, he only won it by 13. How about Hillary Clinton? It was 11 points.

Men voters, this is the interesting sort of nugget here. Donald Trump is doing better among men voters than he did in 2020 or 2016. But because of women voters being so Democratic, it's not mattering.

A significantly widening gender gap, and it is working -- it is working for Kamala Harris. And it's why she holds the advantage right now in this race. At least in those key battleground states.

[13:35:05]

DEAN: It is so interesting.

All right, Harry Enten, always great to have you. Thanks so much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

DEAN: When Harris speaks about an hour from now, one part of the economic plan that she will reveal focuses on lowering the cost of housing. For many Americans right now, rent is expensive. Buying a home can feel nearly impossible.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And interestingly, that problem is now leading to a shift in the rental market because apartment units are staying vacant longer. So landlords are having to do more to lure tenants. It's giving renters the upper hand.

CNN's Matt Egan has reporting on this.

Matt, take us through the details.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Boris and Jessica, we have some good news for renters on this summer Friday. The United States is going through a boom for building apartments. And all that new supply is making it harder and harder for landlords to fill units.

So, yes, some landlords are being forced to offer concessions, like free parking, free weeks, or even three months of rent.

One in three apartment units listed on Zillow right now are offering concessions to try to get people to sign a lease. That is up from about one in five years ago.

And I spoke to a grad student in Arizona who told me that every single apartment that she looked for was offering some kind of concession. She ended up getting half a month off of rent.

And another woman, a teacher, also in Arizona, said she got a whole month free for rent.

And it's not just in Arizona. Zillow found that at least half the units in six major cities have concessions right now, including Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Raleigh, Nashville and Salt Lake City.

So look, there's always this balance of power between tenants and landlords. But right now, renters have some leverage. So if you're out there looking for an apartment right now, you can use that leverage to your advantage to get a better deal and maybe even some other concessions.

DEAN: And what does it mean for rent itself? Is that finally going down?

EGAN: It's not going down, but it is cooling off. So if you look at the last two years, we see rent up by just over 5 percent. So it's up, but it's not through the roof. That's basically in line with historical norms.

And importantly, this is a big deceleration from the prior two years when rent was spiking more than 20 percent.

Now, this issue, the cost of housing, has come up on the campaign trail. Vice President Harris is out with some new ideas for how to help both renters and buyers, including, importantly, some tax incentives to try to boost the supply of both houses, starter homes, for example, and rental units.

There's also a $40 billion innovation fund. That, again, is designed to try to ease this shortage of housing. It's also $25,000 downpayment support. That, of course, would be politically popular.

But I have to tell you some of the experts I'm talking to, they're pushing back against the wisdom of downpayment support right now because it would boost demand at a time when demand is already very high.

So it'll be important that they get the supply side figured out before they start encouraging more demand -- Boris and Jessica?

DEAN: All right. Matt Egan, thanks for breaking it down for us. Appreciate it.

EGAN: Thanks.

DEAN: Still ahead, new details in the death of actor, Matthew Perry. What authorities are now revealing about the five suspects, including the so-called ketamine queen.

SANCHEZ: Plus, the COVID summer surge is here. And it's possibly the worst we've had in years. What you and your family need to know, next.

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[13:42:53] DEAN: One of the doctors accused in the death of actor, Matthew Perry,

will be allowed to continue operating as clinic, but will have to tell his patients about the charges against him and post a sign about it on the front door.

Dr. Salvador Plasencia is among the five defendants. He and another suspect, the so-called ketamine queen, both pleading not guilty yesterday. We've learned at three others in this case have taken plea deals.

SANCHEZ: And the group is accused of supplying Perry with ketamine, a potentially deadly drug, despite his well-known battle with addiction.

CNN's Stephanie Elam joins us now from Los Angeles.

Stephanie, what more are you learning?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the more you look at this, you can see that the U.S. attorney is painting a picture of how these five people we're working to just take advantage of Matthew Perry's fragile state, knowing that he has had a long battle with drug addiction and looking to just make money off of him.

In fact, they argue that, during September and October over of 2023 -- remember he passed away in at the end of October 2023 -- that they sold him 20 vials of ketamine for $55,000.

And when you look at Salvador Plasencia, they're saying that he worked with another doctor to get his hands on this ketamine, to get it then to Matthew Perry's assistant, that they could -- that person could go ahead and inject him with.

They're saying he was charging $2,000 for a vial when the doctor could get it for about $12.

And so what this means now, because -- you just talked about how he's now got to let his patients know that he can -- he's in the situation now.

They also have taken away his DEA license. So that means those controlled substances, he won't be able to prescribe those at this point either, even though he's able to keep working.

He is facing up to 120 years in prison if he is found guilty of these charges. His trial begins on October 8th.

But while the U.S. attorney is painting this picture, take a listen to what his attorney had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEFAN SACKS, ATTORNEY TO DR. SALVADOR PLASENCIA: Mr. Perry was on ketamine treatment medically supervised, medically prescribed. And while the U.S. attorney may disagree with Dr. Plasencia's medical judgment, there was nothing criminal at the time.

[13:45:03]

And more importantly, the ketamine that was involved in Mr. Perry's passing was not related to Mr. Dr. Plasencia. That was provided by another party sometime later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And according to what the authorities said yesterday, that is true. They do believe that the dosage of ketamine that killed Matthew Perry came from Jasveen Sangha, who is known on the street as the ketamine queen.

She is being held without bail. They say that they believe she's a risk to flee. And so they said she was selling -- had a whole drug selling emporium in her house. So that's why these two are the leads in this case.

SANCHEZ: An investigation, a story that we will continue to track.

Stephanie Elam, thank you so much.

If it seems like a lot of people you know are getting COVID, it's not just in your head. The U.S. is in the middle of a summer surge. The worst we've had in at least two years.

DEAN: CNN medical correspondent, Meg Tirrell, is joining us now.

And, Meg, the CDC releasing new COVID data. So how big is this surge?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So what we are looking at here is a way of monitoring levels of the virus in wastewater. It's sort of a passive monitoring system, as fewer people are getting tested and reporting the results of those tests.

And so looking at the viral levels in wastewater over time, you are seeing a summer peak right now. That is comparable to what we saw in the summer of 2022.

It hasn't yet quite surpassed those levels in the wastewater data, which was actually expected to happen today, which would make it the biggest since the CDC really started tracking in this way at the beginning of 2022.

And this is corresponding with uptakes that we are seeing in emergency department visits, in the hospitalization rate and in the death rate.

It's really important to note, though, that those levels are so much lower than they we're at previous times during the pandemic. And come off a low that we were seeing in May. That was the lowest that we've ever seen in the pandemic.

So while there is a lot of COVID out there, it is causing less severe disease.

And as you can see from this map of where the wastewater levels are highest, and that's in the red and the yellow states. This is not evenly distributed. So the west to seeing the highest levels of the virus in wastewater right now.

But this wave -- we typically see these in the summer. This one is coming a little earlier than we saw last year. We see a bigger wave in the winter typically.

And that's because we tend to see these sort of four to six months cycles of new variants and waning immunity. And we are seeing both of those right now.

The current variant that's the most prevalent is called KP.3.1.1. It's 37 percent of cases in the most recent CDC data. That's tripled over the past month.

We are expecting updated COVID vaccines to be coming within the next month or so. So a lot of people who are worried about protecting themselves are looking forward to those.

Of course, masking, testing, staying home if you're sick, getting Paxlovid if you are infected in the higher risk group, all of those things are still recommended -- guys?

SANCHEZ: Meg Tirrell, thank you so much for the update.

Ahead, a Romanian gymnast has received the bronze medal that was stripped from Team USA's Jordan Chiles. What Chiles is saying about the controversy when we come back.

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[13:52:32]

SANCHEZ: Going from one gymnast to another. Romania's Ana Barbosu officially receiving the bronze medal at a ceremony in Bucharest today. It follows this controversial decision that resulted in American gymnast, Jordan Chiles, being stripped of her bronze medal.

DEAN: Chiles is now speaking out after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favor of the challenge by Romania, saying the decision feels, quote, "unjust" and calling it one of the most challenging moments of her career.

Joining us now to discuss is CNN sports analyst, Christine Brennan.

Christine, good to see you.

I know we talked about this a little bit when you were Paris covering the Olympics as it was happening. Remind our viewers how we got here and what might come next.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: You know, Jessica, this started with a floor exercise, the competition and an American appeal of a judge's ruling. And the U.S. thought they got the appeal in, in time. And in fact, that's what was originally decided.

And that's why Jordan Chiles won the bronze medal and the heartbreak for Barbosu as she realized she did not have that bronze medal. The Romanians then appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

They have ad-hoc committees, small panels that are at the Olympics to make quick decisions.

And unfortunately, they had the wrong email address for USOPC and USA Gymnastics. And so the lawyers were not advised on as quickly as they should have been about this appeal. And then the U.S. was rushed and hurried when they did then put up their defense.

Anyway, the decision was made. The Romanian was then given the bronze medal.

Since that time, the U.S. has said it will appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal. That's the last place they can go after the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

In the meantime, though, the Romanians basically hurried, and they could do it, the IOC, the National Olympic Committee said, go ahead, you can have a medal ceremony.

And so they did have that just a couple of hours ago, as you said, in Romania and Barbosu now has the bronze medal around her neck.

But of course, Jordan Chiles, is back in the U.S. and she has her bronze medal. So we've got a lot of bronze medals floating around and two heartbroken athletes as well as another Romanian.

And I thought it was wonderful when Barbosu said today at her ceremony that not only does she deserve that bronze, but Jordan Chiles and her Romanian teammates, who is also in the mix here.

And if -- if only the adults in the room had the class, the grace and the dignity of these wonderful young athletes.

SANCHEZ: Yes, absolutely.

[13:55:00]

No shortage of small controversies at the Olympics. Yesterday, we heard from Australian breakdancer, Raygun, reacting to some of the hate that she's been getting online since her performance went viral at the Olympics.

Let's listen to what she said.

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RACHAEL GUNN, A/K/A "RAYGUN," AUSTRALIAN B-GIRL: I'm glad I was able to bring some joy into your lives. That's what I hoped. I do realize that I opened the door to so much hate, which has, frankly, been pretty devastating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: This is obviously not to the level of what we're seeing with that bronze medal, but it's still something that has generated a lot of attention, Christine. What do you make of it?

BRENNAN: Yes, well, I'm again, all these athletes, Jordan Chiles has talked about how she has just been berated and abused on social media. You know, this is what they're all dealing with now. A generation ago that never happened.

Obviously, breaking -- breakdancing is a controversial choice to be in the Olympics. It's not necessarily -- they're not targeting -- we're not the target audience, clearly, the three of us, for -- for breakdancing.

But these are human beings. And no matter what you think, if it was ridiculous, if you didn't like the routine, if you thought it was silly, you're still dealing with human beings.

And I think people forget that as they look, get all of these athletes, be it Jordan Chiles or Barbosu or, in this case, the Australian breakdancer, as Raygun -- as -- as commodities or something to just be mocked and laughed at.

And hopefully, people will learn, although I'm not going to hold my breath on that. I'm sure we all won't because of where we are with social media.

But this is another example of the Olympics becoming so big, but also the negative things that can happen in that situation.

DEAN: Just try to hang on to your humanity. Remember, we're all human.

Christine Brennan, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Minutes from now, Vice President Kamala Harris will lay out her economic pitch to voters. We'll preview that speech, and also the potential impacts of those policies.

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