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New Polls Show Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris with Leads in Some Battleground States; Harris-Walz Campaign Visits Rural Counties in Georgia; Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to Sit for First Interview Since Harris Replaced Joe Biden on Democratic Presidential Ticket. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 29, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: That is insane growth. When you zoom out, you put those profits into context, this is incredible growth. They're up 25 times over the past two years profits. That's unheard of, something that we've really have never seen before. It's all because this company's computer chips are powering the A.I. revolution. They'd been compared to the modern day oil and gold because there's so much demand.

If there's one blemish here, it's the company's outlook. They're still protected strong growth, but some on the street were expecting even more spectacular growth, and they are actually having trouble meeting all the demand out there.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's fascinating. It's almost like they did good, but not good enough for looking ahead. Matt Egan, thank you.

John, it's sort of like a victim of your own success. You're doing too good, but apparently not good enough.

Another hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Counting down to the first interview so for Vice President Harris since she has been running for president right here on CNN, as new polls shake up the race.

Meet the real women whose real faces are being used to promote Donald Trump against their will.

And the U.S. Surgeon General declares being a parent is the newest public health problem. Tips on coping with the stress.

Kate and Sara are out. I'm John Berman with Rahel Solomon today. This is the franchise, CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SOLOMON: Just hours ahead of an exclusive interview with CNN, a high stakes critical test for the Kamala Harris campaign. And a new poll shows she's gaining ground in key sunbelt battleground states.

Today's sit down with our Dana Bash is Harris and running mate Tim Walz's first as the Democratic nominees. And it comes as a new FOX News poll shows that Harris is in a virtual tie with Trump in states like Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina. Voters in that same poll believe that Harris can be trusted to do a better job of uniting the country, fighting for people like themselves, and bringing needed change. The new insight is a bright spot for the Harris campaign as they start two days of a bus tour in southern Georgia today.

Joining us now is political reporter for "The Atlanta Journal- Constitution" Patricia Murphy. Patricia, good to see you. So walk us through. This tour actually started on Wednesday. What we've seen so far and what it says about the campaign strategy.

PATRICIA MURPHY, POLITICAL REPORTER "ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION": Yes, the tour started on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz landed in Savannah yesterday. They did a tour around Savannah, as well as Liberty County. That's outside of Savannah.

And that highlights the fact that a number of these smaller rural counties in Georgia are not entirely white. Liberty County is 44 percent black, so it's a way for the Harris campaign to get into areas outside of Atlanta where the Harris campaign still believes that can make up important ground and catch up with President Donald Trump.

SOLOMON: And it's been, Patricia, a really long time, decades since some of these voters have seen a Democratic nominee swing through their part of the state.

MURPHY: Yes. It hasn't been since 1992 when Bill Clinton, who did a similar bus tour, he did it in the southwest portion of the state. I talked to aides for Clinton at the time, and they called that the Bubbas for Bill tour. That was an effort to get, again, a Democrat outside of the metro area of Atlanta, get into rural counties and really start to close those margins with Republicans. They know that Republicans are probably going to win that area of the state. But if Democrats can close those margins and dominate Atlanta, that's how they believe they can win.

SOLOMON: Yes, and how much more do you think we could see the same sort of playbook in terms of going to more rural parts of the state, not necessarily just the big metropolitan area, but in other battleground states. You think about, for example, Pennsylvania, you think about North Carolina.

MURPHY: Yes, this has to be -- this has to be the recipe for success in states like North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, all of these battleground states. We look to somebody like Senator Raphael Warnock in 2022. He was the only Democrat to win statewide. He also went all around the state of Georgia. He went to these smaller areas. He went to the rural counties. He made up those margins. So that's the recipe here in Georgia. It's got to be the recipe in these other battleground states that are not just metro areas.

SOLOMON: I have to say, the dog of the back is a really nice touch, really sort of adding a certain something to this interview. Very cute.

(LAUGHTER)

MURPHY: I'm living on the edge.

SOLOMON: Yes. Let me ask though on the Republican side of things. Donald Trump himself will not be in Georgia today, but the Governor, Brian Kemp, will be attending a fundraiser. I think Mike Pompeo is the headliner. Talk to us a little bit about, one, what we know about Brian Kemp's popularity in Georgia and how impactful that could be for voters there.

[08:05:08]

MURPHY: Yes. Governor Kemp is the most popular Republican here in the state of Georgia, including more popular than Donald Trump. And this rift between Donald Trump and Governor Kemp has been a major, major blow to Republicans here in the state, not just with Governor Kemp, but also with his wife, Marty Kemp. So Governor Kemp and Marty Kemp are both going to be at a fundraiser tonight in Atlanta that is seen as a major, major effort to mend this fight between these two gentlemen. They need to focus only on the election. If they have this storyline of these two camps fighting each other, that will only damage the campaign, it will only damage Republicans. So Kemp is doing this to make amends with Trump.

Trump started the fight, I have to say, but Kemp is coming to the middle to try and mend those so that they can just move forward. Putting money in Donald Trump's pocket is a great way to do it, and I think Kemp said that as well.

SOLOMON: Wow, really interesting. Patricia Murphy live for us there in Atlanta. Patricia, good to talk to you. Thank you.

John?

BERMAN: All right, with us now, CNN political commentators, Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton, and Democratic strategist Paul Begala.

Overnight, FOX News released this series of polls. We'll put up the top line numbers so everyone can see them right now, from key sunbelt states, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina. You can see basically no clear leader here, but a one or two point edge for Harris in three states, Trump up one in North Carolina.

It gets even more interesting as you dig under the numbers. If you ask bringing the needed change to the country, in other words, who is the change candidate in Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona. In Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona, again, Harris up by a few points, in North Carolina, Trump by a point. No clear leader. But the idea that a sitting vice president is seen as a change candidate, notable.

And finally, on the issues, I want to put up so people can see how the change has been on issues -- abortion, health care, the economy, the Israel-Hamas war, and immigration, you can see that on the economy and immigration, Donald Trump still holds healthy leads here. This is just Georgia, but it's basically the same in every state. I wanted to show you how much better Harris is doing than Biden was in the FOX News poll on all of the issues, including the economy and immigration and abortion. Up five points and some 13 points on abortion there.

So Paul, what do you see in all these numbers? What's the most important thing?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The most important thing, the best political strategists ever -- Shermichael is great, but the best ever, Henny Youngman, the old comedian. If you ever asked him how's your wife, he'd say, compared to what?

OK. Compared to what? I went back and looked at the Emerson poll of swing states three days before Joe Biden got out. Kamala Harris in Arizona has gained a 11 point since then. She's gained seven points in Georgia. She's game five points in Nevada. She's gained eight points in North Carolina. So pollsters tell you trust the trend, right. Compared to what? Compared to before she got in the race where Democrats were, they were close to writing off those sunbelt swing states. Now, she is tied or ahead and all of them, and as you point out, many of the internals, she's showing strength.

But you're also right, if I worked for Kamala Harris, I say we still need to win the economic argument, and she's not yet doing that. The trend is very good for her, but she's still got to make her economic case. That's why this interview tonight is so important.

BERMAN: What are the trends tell you, Shermichael, and how does this change the map?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I mean, holy smoke, John. Republicans have a problem. I would not underestimate Vice President Harris. The fact that they're campaigning in rural parts of Georgia, as noted in the previous interview, Senator Warnock did the same. The expectation strategically speaking, I would imagine, is not necessarily to win there. But if you can increase your margins in Atlanta, which includes Fulton County, DeKalb, while also targeting those lower propensity African American voters in the rural south of the state you can potentially win the state. And you would probably exercise that strategy in places like Pennsylvania so that you're moving outside of the urban corridors.

And so this is fascinating to me for a lot of different reasons, but it suggests that the former president, John, absolutely has to continue to make this message about the economy, immigration, and Israel and Hamas. You need to find some areas where not only you codify your support, but maybe some of those skeptical voters who may remain that are in the middle, you can turn them out over for those kitchen table issues because that's principally where their concern still lies.

BERMAN: What are the stakes in this interview, which takes place in just a few hours, Shermichael.

SINGLETON: Well, look, I think, to my point that I just made and Paul also alluded to, the vice president needs to talk about this economic issue and costs. If given another four years -- if given four years rather, what would she do and what would Governor Walz do to make things more affordable for the average person? Republicans have been very effective with messaging, running ads

across the country over the past two weeks now, saying, well, what has the vice president done over three-and-a-half years? She's talking about what she wants to do later, but what about now?

[08:10:00]

I think that is a compelling and effective message. And so tonight, I'm going to really be looking for some type of signal that the vice president and Governor Walz recognized as how important of an issue this is.

BERMAN: And Paul, it's interest. I had Senator Chris Murphy on, and I was asking him about some of the position changes that the vice president has on fracking, for instance. And he said he feels, he says, I just learned more about fracking. I think it's safe now. So my position has shifted. Maybe that's what Harris will say. How, how useful do you think a response like that would be?

BEGALA: I think very useful. I think it's what happens. Look, you represent the Bay Ara, there's not a lot of fracking in the Bay Area. But then you start to learn about Texas, Oklahoma, eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania. Again, come back to Henny Youngman, Madam Vice President. Here's free advice. By the way, she loves Berman. She watches your show every morning. And here's what you need to do. Compared to what? So yes, I support fracking. But compared to Donald Trump, who offered big oil to suspend every environmental protection if they gave him $1 billion in campaign contributions.

So it's not just -- this is not jeopardy tonight, Madam Vice President, this is compared to what? And every answer, the only question that voters want to hear is why are you better than the other guy, right? That's what we're doing here. It's a job interview and it's a competition. So if only -- if she only says, here's why I switched on fracking, that is necessary but insufficient. She's got to then attack the other guy for getting into bed with big oil, which has a lot more problematic for most voters than him getting into bed with Stormy Daniels.

BERMAN: So Matt Bai wrote in "The Washington Post" today, but I'm just going to move past that. In "The Washington Post" Matt Bai wrote, he really mostly about the debate, how he feels Harris should approach Trump in the debate. But I think it applies to the interview to, and Matt writes, "Voters don't need to see contempt and moral posturing from Harris. They want a candidate who can respond to craziness with grace, warmth, humor, and confidence, all the things Trump so painfully lacks."

So Shermichael, is that the key here, the contrast?

SINGLETON: I mean, look, the contrast is important, and I think one sort of deciding factor for a lot of voters, if a politician changes their stances on something, John, that they previously believed or held in the past, a lot of times voters assume, OK, this is because of political expediency. But if you can make the argument that, well, look, I've been vice president for three-and-a-half years, a heartbeat away from the presidency, and one of the things I've learned in that role is that your expectations about governance and the reality of governance, it ultimately changes, I think voters would actually be persuaded by that argument.

Obviously, on the Republican side you could also draw the contrast, OK, sure, you're saying that now, but why didn't you say that a year or two ago, and it's up to voters in the middle to decide which argument they would like to believe. But I think drawing that contrast of stability, if you will, would probably yield some benefit to the vice president, which is why a lot of Republicans continue, John, to remind the former president, stick with the message. People want to believe and see that you can lead without division, without chaos, and with a level of stability. And if he can do that, then I think this race will continue to be competitive all the way till November.

BERMAN: Yes, see Truth Social over the last 36 hours or so. Shermichael Singleton, Paul Begala, Henny Youngman, thanks to all three of you this morning. Appreciate it.

BEGALA: Thanks, John.

SINGLETON: Thanks.

SOLOMON: All right, John, newly released evidence shows what the would-be assassin had planned at the Donald Trump rally. Is the FBI any closer to learning a motive?

And new warnings about recalled boars head deli meats as the death toll grows from a listeria outbreak.

And the long holiday weekend travel rush is on. Which times will be the worst for traffic tie-ups? We'll get into it.

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[08:18:28]

BERMAN: New details this morning on Donald Trump's would-be assassin. The FBI says the shooter was determined to carry out some kind of attack and became hyper-focused on Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania which was just 40 minutes from his home.

CNN chief law enforcement intelligence analyst, John Miller is here. John, you've got new information, some new CNN reporting about what was on his electronic devices.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: That's right, John. Two federal law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation have confirmed to CNN that in his searches for bomb- making instructions a document that he not only searched, but then downloaded, so he could refer back to it is a DHS Primer on improvised explosive devices.

And this document, which is still online as far as I know explains what are the elements of an IED. To make a bomb you need an initiator, you need a power source, and so on. What are the main charges that are used in that? And it goes through different chemicals and compounds. It comes complete with charts about blast radiuses that show how many pounds of explosives you need to kill people within certain distances.

So the question we put to DHS was, if this individual found this document useful in his planning of an attempted assassination of the president. Remember, they found two live improvised explosive devices in the trunk of his car at the rally site. Is this too much information?

What Homeland Security told us was the department provides information to the American public to protect against a range of security threats, which doesn't really get to the core of our question. So, I spoke to bomb squad commanders.

[08:20:10]

I'm a 20-year member of the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators. So I ran this by some people who said, there's information in here that when provided to law enforcement is considered law enforcement sensitive. So, why is it in this document by the National Academies of Science and the Department of Homeland Security? It raises some questions.

BERMAN: It does raise it, really two things going on here. Number one, gosh, do you want anything available to would-be assassins or terrorists that they might be able to use to help them carry out their plot.

The other part of it that's interesting, is that this guy had it, that this guy went and searched for it. What does that tell you about his mindset?

MILLER: ... and saved it.

BERMAN: Yes.

MILLER: Which meant, it suggests he kept coming back to it and had it downloaded to his phone.

BERMAN: We also, and again, this is part of the news conference yesterday, have new photos that were released of the gun and of other things that this would-be assassin used. What does that tell you?

MILLER: So, that tells us a couple of things. I mean, one, when you see the gun with the backpack that was recovered with the shooter on the roof, you see the gun disassembled. It's got a folding stock that folds back, a barrel that can be removed and that meant it could fit into that backpack.

There's a lot of people have said, if this guy was walking around with a rifle that's more than three feet long, how did he get by everybody and managed to climb up to the roof?

We also learned from the time he got on that roof to the time he fired his eight shots is just a space of six minutes during which people said there's a guy crawling on the roof. He appears to have a rifle and that's when police literally tried to chase him up there and he turned on them with the rifle and we know the rest.

BERMAN: John Miller, great to see you as always. Thanks for sharing this reporting.

MILLER: You too, John.

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, Russia launching a new wave of drone attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine's capital as President Zelenskyy prepares to make a request of President Biden that he hopes could change the course of the war.

And, the pro-MAGA influencer on your social media feed may not really be a Trump supporter. or even an American.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: It is saying vote for Trump in 2024, what's your reaction?

DEBBIE NEDERLOF, GERMAN FASHION INFLUENCER: To be honest, what the (bleep) was my reaction. That was my reaction because I have nothing to do with United States with Trump or --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:48]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back and new this morning, Ukraine says that two senior Ukrainian officials will travel to the US as soon as this week to meet with the Biden administration and share a list of targets inside Russia, the visit comes after Russia launched another massive attack on Ukraine overnight, the third this week.

Let's bring in CNN's Oren Liebermann, who joins us now from the Pentagon with more.

Oren, give us a sense of what the goal is for Ukraine with this visit?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Rahel, the goal of this visit from two of Ukraine's top officials is to try to press and convince the Biden administration to ease restrictions on the use of US weapons against Russia and in Russia.

So far Ukraine is only allowed to use US Weaponry right across the border in a fairly small area. They want to be able to use some of the US long-range weapons against priority targets inside of Russia and that's what they're here for.

They'll present a list of priority targets deeper inside Russia to the Biden administration in the hopes that US will loosen or ease the restrictions on the use of US weapons by Ukraine.

Those two officials, Andriy Yermak, the head of the office of the president of Ukraine and Rustem Umerov, Ukraine's Defense minister will be here tomorrow for those meetings. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made it clear why he believes the US and others should ease those restrictions so they can hit longer range targets inside of Russia.

SOLOMON: Oren, what's the likelihood that this visit would actually --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): ... to insist that their determination now lifting the restrictions on long- range strikes for Ukraine now will help us to end the war as soon as possible in a fair way for Ukraine and the world as a whole.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: A Ukrainian lawmaker says it's important to change the restrictions and ease those restrictions so that Ukraine is able to change the course of the war.

SOLOMON: Oren, what's the likelihood that this visit would actually shift or move the US position on this?

LIEBERMANN: So far, the US has indicated they're not changing, or at least having changed so far, the restrictions on the use of long-range weapons. We have seen Ukraine use US made long-range ATACMS missiles against priority targets in Crimea, in occupied Crimea, such as air defense systems.

And it's important to note is the context of all of this, Ukraine is pushing on its Kursk offensive from its northern border into Russia in which its still able to gain some territory. Meanwhile, at the same time, in Eastern Ukraine on the frontlines there, Russia is able to gain some territory as it pushes on its own Kharkiv offensive, which has been moving over the course of the summer.

So, even though the US hasn't changed its position just yet, Ukraine has noticed over and over again what we've seen repeatedly and that's that the US and specifically the Biden administration will very often say no, no, no, no, no. Yes.

We've seen that with patriots. We've seen that with F-16s, Abrams tanks and this is clearly what Ukraine is hoping for now. But when it comes to restrictions on weapons, the US will once again say no, no, no, no, no, yes.

SOLOMON: Hopefully for Ukraine, yes, we'll see if that happens and if this visit is what gets them there.

Oren Liebermann, live for us at the Pentagon. Oren, thank you.

A trip of a lifetime that ruined by rotting water pipes. How some vacations are getting cut short at the Grand Canyon.

And still ahead, why a ruling from the Supreme Court is putting President Biden's student loan relief plan in limbo?

[08:30:11]

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