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Lyela Sayarath is Interviewed about School Shooting; Trump and Harris Campaigns Agree to Debate Rules; Cheney Endorses Harris; Putin Support Harris. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired September 05, 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: Your friend's doing who were there and saw it all happen firsthand.

LYELA SAYARATH, SAT NEXT TO ALLEGED SHOOTER IN CLASS: They're struggling a little bit but I'm trying to be there for them and, you know, make sure that they're OK. But we're all just kind of in one spot right now.

BERMAN: What are your plans for today?

SAYARATH: See my friends. Check up on them.

BERMAN: That sounds like a good idea. Check up on each other. You know, hug each other. You'll get through this. I know it's got to be incredibly difficult right now, but we appreciate you talking to us. Thank you for being here.

SAYARATH: (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: Lyela Sayarath.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: It's so hard to see that.

All right, this morning, Donald Trump already making baseless claims about the debate.

And Russian President Vladimir Putin making a very surprising claim about who he backs in the U.S. election.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:35:34]

SIDNER: It is crunch time for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. They will face off on the presidential debate stage in just five days. Both campaigns have agreed to the terms of next week's showdown, including muted microphones, which the Harris campaign still says she believes puts her at a disadvantage.

Joining us now, CNN national politics correspondent Eva McKend, and CNN national correspondent Kristen Holmes, both with us.

Eva, you are in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers are. Not a fan, but love the city. What are you - what are we hearing is going to happen there later today?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, despite their best efforts, the campaign losing this tug of war over the muted mics, perhaps lowering expectations a bit, saying that she would be at a disadvantage. But we are learning that ABC could decide, if they have a robust cross talk, to, in fact, turn up those mics. But, Sara, this really indicates the strategy from the campaign side. They want to characterize the former president as unserious, undisciplined, and her, as the disciplined leader, that the country needs in this moment.

And she's picking up an endorsement from the other side of the aisle. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZ CHENEY, FORMER REPUBLICAN CONGRESSWOMAN: And as a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this. And because of the danger that - that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris in this election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So, you hear an endorsement there from Liz Cheney. Time will tell how much that will help her.

But listen, lets run through the debate rules, Sara. The debate's going to last 90 minutes. They each will have two minutes to respond to the questions. Two commercial breaks. No notes that you can take up with you on that stage. But mics will, in fact, be muted when you talk out of turn. And the topics will not be shared with the candidates in advance.

SIDNER: So, you're in Pittsburgh. Harris is going to be in Pittsburgh. Why is she preparing there? Because we know she's preparing for this debate.

MCKEND: You know, Sara, by my count this will be her fourth time in the state since launching her campaign. She had that rollout in Philadelphia with Governor Walz. She had the labor event with President Biden. And she had the bus tour here as well.

And it just indicates that they want to message to voters that she is placing a high priority on this state. In her down time she can make the most of that time, being out and about in the community, as we suspect, meeting with voters. And then also core to her campaign argument is really affordability. A spokesperson for her campaign speaking to this earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IAN SAMS, SENIOR NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON, HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN: We're running to win. And she's running to win. And she's talking about the economy almost every single day on the campaign trail, and her plans to lower costs, whether it's in housing or groceries, her plans to give small businesses the tax incentives they need to start, and the resources they need to get off the ground, a tax cut for middle class families and working parents. You know, these are the things that she's talking about that I think resonate with voters in their lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So, the vice president going to roll in here in just a few hours. We'll see how she continues to try to make her case in - to voters here in Pittsburgh in the days leading up to the debate.

Sara.

SIDNER: Eva McKend, thank you so much, live there from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a very important state for both candidates.

Now to Kristen Holmes.

How is Donald Trump preparing? You know, we - we hear a lot from those around him that he's not actually preparing in the same ways that everyone else usually does.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's true. And they also don't like to use the word preparing because Donald Trump doesn't think that he has to prepare. But they are getting ready for this debate.

Now, they say it's pretty similar to how he prepared for the debate against President Joe Biden. He has these blocks of time on his calendar that they refer to as policy time or policy review time. That's where he sits down, whether it be on his plane or at Trump Tower, where he is today, or at Bedminster, with his various senior advisers and goes over their policy and talks about potential questions that could get asked on it and how to pivot back to the three topics that they really want Donald Trump talking about, which are crime, the economy, and immigration. Those, of course, being the same topics that we know he was pulling ahead of President Joe Biden on.

[08:40:00]

And they believe that if they can link Harris to Biden, he can pull ahead of Harris on as well. Obviously, issues that matter to voters.

Now, I do want to pull up those debate rules one more time because these debate rules here, these 90 minutes, this no pre-written notes, the mics being muted, these are things that Donald Trump's team wanted. The thing to remember about Donald Trump and his team is that they are somewhat superstitious. They want to not ruin a good thing. And they believe that he did well at the debate against President Joe Biden, and that they want to mimic those results. Now, obviously, this is a completely different scenario with a completely different candidate. But as far as they can do that in terms of mimicking those results and mimicking what that looked like, that's what they want to do.

Now, two other things just to bring up in terms of debate prep. We know he has brought in Tulsi Gabbard, once a rival of Kamala Harris'. Actually debated with her onstage. She has been helping with some of that preparation. We also know that Gabbard was able to rattle Kamala Harris on that debate stage back in 2020. So, likely there's some talk there about how she did that.

But overall, they insist that it's the same level of preparation that he had before he went on the stage with President Joe Biden. One thing to keep in mind, there's a lot of talk among Trump allies about whether or not he can keep his tone and temperament and maintain without letting her, Kamala Harris, get underneath his skin. Obviously, we will not know the answer to that until Tuesday.

SIDNER: An interesting little ditty they were dancing to their, him and Tulsi. I wonder if that's part of debate prep or not prep.

Trump is also giving a speech here in New York today. What do you know about that?

HOLMES: Well, look, we know that the economy is one of the top issues for voters, and he is expected to talk about that today.

Now, I was told by various senior advisers that he was going to roll out new economic policy. But I do want to note that we've been told this before and it's been similar to what we have seen before, essentially just him talking about how Kamala Harris' policies are not working and then going through what he did as president and how he would do that again. Not usually very heavy on the details, so we'll see what happens.

But this is at the New York Economic Club, and they do want to continue to hammer home this idea that Donald Trump is better on the economy, better when it comes to inflation, because they really do believe that's a key core issue for voters heading to the ballot box in November.

SIDNER: Yes. And that is what the polling has generally been saying. So, they are correct on that.

Kristen Holmes, thank you so much. Also to our Eva McKend, who is live from Harrisburg.

All right, follow CNN for complete coverage an exclusive analysis before and after the debate. The ABC News presidential debate, the simulcast, Tuesday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

And now to my favorite anchor of the day, John Berman.

BERMAN: I'm also the only anchor you're with today.

SIDNER: That is correct.

BERMAN: With us now, CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton, and Patti Solis Doyle, former presidential campaign manager for Hillary Clinton.

Shermichael, Liz Cheney says she's voting for Kamala Harris.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

BERMAN: What is the current Liz Cheney constituency?

SINGLETON: That's the million-dollar question that I'm still trying to figure out, John. It's significant, but the ultimate question is, what will be the impact? I think for the crowd of sort of never Trumpers or Trump skeptical Republicans who voted for President Biden in 2020, they're going to vote for Vice President Harris this November. I think they're probably excited because the former congresswoman was really sort of the last individual of that sort of critical Republican leadership that did not like the former president.

But in terms of changing the direction of this race one way or the other, numerically speaking, I don't think that's going to happen.

BERMAN: Patti, you know, how important might Liz Cheney be to those Haley voters, and how gettable do you think those Nikki Haley Republican primary voters really are?

PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR HILLARY CLINTON: Yes, exactly, John. This is - first of all, you had polling yesterday that shows us that this is going to be an incredibly tight race, all the way to the very, very end. Excruciatingly tight. So, every vote counts, including those Nikki Haley voters, including those sort of disenchanted Republicans that don't want to vote for Trump, those double-haters. So, I think what the Liz Cheney endorsement, if you'd call it an endorsement the way she laid it out, really just gives people - gives those voters permission to say, OK, Liz Cheney, the daughter of, you know, former Vice President Dick Cheney, someone who's wildly conservatives, someone who's, you know, moderate, if she can vote for - for Kamala Harris, then maybe I can too. And as I said, in this tight of a race, those votes are going to matter.

BERMAN: I want to play some sound from Donald Trump, who did a non- town hall town hall on Fox last night. And by that, I mean, I don't think the audience actually got to answer questions that we heard so far.

But, Shermichael, when you listen to this, I want you to remember what Kristen Holmes just told us, which is that Trump advisers want him to pivot all of his discussions towards inflation, immigration, and crime, and nothing else.

[08:45:00]

So, listen to what he had to say instead.

SINGLETON: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ABC is the worst network in terms of fairness. They are the most dishonest network. The meanest, the nastiest. But that was what I was presented with.

I think a lot of people are going to be watching to see how nasty they are, how unfair they are. I agreed to do it because they wouldn't do any other network.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, two things. One, as an ABC alum, that's crap. But less important than that is, it's not inflation, immigration or crime.

SINGLETON: Yes.

BERMAN: I can't help but notice that those words didn't come up in whatever - however long that rant was.

SINGLETON: I mean, you know, look, I expect the form president to say what he just said, John. But I - may - people may not like some of Trump's demeanor on certain things. But when you look at the data, including this recent poll that just came out, most voters still believe he is the most competent individual to handle the economy and immigration. And so I think the calculus for - from the campaign's perspective is, you need to focus on these things because you do have that ten to 11 point advantage.

If he can figure out a way to replicate what he did in the debate against President Biden -

BERMAN: Well -

SINGLETON: Being silent when necessary, and jumping in, hitting hard on the issues where there is a clear distinction, then I think he could fair fairly well.

BERMAN: Patti, before I get to what I was going to ask their, let me just ask about that first debate because President Biden was not good, right? Let's stipulate. In fact, so not good that he's no longer the Democratic nominee.

DOYLE: Correct.

BERMAN: But in a vacuum, do you think that the Donald Trump who was on that stage, not in comparison to Joe Biden, but the Donald Trump who was on that stage, does that Donald Trump win a debate against Kamala Harris?

DOYLE: Well, let's go back to that debate. You're right, I think that debate cost Joe Biden the presidency, or a second term.

But remember, Donald Trump lied more than 28 times, 20 - I forget the count, but he lied a lot. And he - the fact that the mics were off - really sort of the audience didn't get to see him be sort of in Biden space and the chaos and the - and his, you know, normal MO when it comes to debates. So, I think that works in his favor for sure. But Kamala Harris has

some real debate chops. She was very good in 2019 during the primary season, and she was extremely good against Vice President Pence in the - in the general.

So, I think instead of Donald Trump really sort of focusing his time on, you know, having - grinding his acts against ABC, he should spend more time prepping because as Shermichael pointed out, that if - if he - if he focuses on the issues, he'd probably have a better night. But it doesn't seem like he's going to. He just can't help himself, right?

So, I would - I would focus on prepping. I would focus on being disciplined because I'm pretty confident that Kamala Harris will be.

SINGLETON: Yes. Yes.

BERMAN: I am sure the advice you're giving to the Trump campaign is deeply sincere and they appreciate - they appreciate all of your recommendations.

Patti Solis Doyle, Shermichael Singleton, thanks to both of you. We really appreciate it.

SINGLETON: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Sara.

DOYLE: Thank you.

SIDNER: All right, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealing who he supports in the U.S. presidential race. His seemingly sarcastic comments as the Biden administration cracks down on Russian interference in American elections.

And, you have to see this new video of an asteroid - this is so cool - bouncing off earth's atmosphere. How officials can look at this and say, ah, nothing to worry about. Really? Yikes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:53:10]

SIDNER: This morning, four people are dead, families mourning those nine people injured. The 14-year-old suspect accused of killing those four and injuring those nine at a Georgia high school could make his first court appearance. He's expected to be charged as an adult with murder for the deaths of the two 14-year-old classmates and two math teachers, one of whom was also a coach. Parents are revealing the panicked text messages from their children as gunfire sounded out around them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIN CLARK, MOTHER OF STUDENT AT APALACHEE HIGH SCHOOL: He said he heard eight or nine gunshots. He is writing an essay and he heard the shots. And then some of the students in the class, you know, thought it was a prank or they didn't think it was real. And he said, no, this sounds real. He said he got up and he closed the door to his classroom. He said another student helped him put desks in front of the classroom door so that the - if the shooter came by they couldn't get in. He said after that everybody just laid low.

I'm still in shock. I'm still in disbelief. I - I - I we have a - this is a small county. Like, we are not big. And just - I'm just still in shock. And I just prayed that he would be OK when I got there.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And we're -

CLARK: And thankfully he was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: But, of course, not everyone was. Again, four people shot and killed, two teachers, two 14-year-old students.

Authorities say the suspect, it turns out, was questioned last year at another county about a school shooting threat that he made online. But after speaking with the them 13-year-old and his father, they say that he had no reason to take further action, the police, but that there were guns in the house. Parents saying he did not have access to.

[08:55:03]

BERMAN: So, a pretty rare sight in the skies. A small asteroids spotted, measuring about three feet across, still big enough to see and quite a spectacular sight as it bounced off the atmosphere. Now, we're told by space agencies that asteroids of this size, they say they're harmless and bounce off the atmosphere every time. Every two weeks they say. They bounce off until they don't. It is very rare, we're told, to see one, though, before it strikes the atmosphere like that. That's what made that site so extraordinary.

So, for those who want to dress up like a burrito, Chipotle is teaming up with the pop-up Halloween change Spirit Halloween for a collection of costumes. You could either be a napkin, because that's what everyone wants to be, a napkin - actually, I don't know what's going on there. But whatever is going on, it's not OK. That's like a nightmare that I've had. I don't know which one that burrito is.

SIDNER: (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: I guess there's a napkin or a delivery bag.

SIDNER: OK.

BERMAN: What I mostly see is really tight outfits that may not be flattering and are a big grabby (ph).

Sara.

SIDNER: Which one would you - if you had not choose -

BERMAN: None. None. None. That would get me thrown in prison. SIDNER: I want - I want the silver one with the Chipotle over - I'd wear that to work. So, I'm - because I love me some Chipotle.

BERMAN: Yes. Yes.

SIDNER: So, I'm - you know.

BERMAN: HR is on the other line if you wear something like that to work.

SIDNER: Looks like a speed suit or some - wow, there's a lot going on there. OK, Chipotle, I see you.

All right, new this morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin says he's supporting Kamala Harris to become the next president. His comments came one day after the DOJ announced plans to counter Russia's influence on the upcoming elections.

CNN's Sean Lyngaas and Clare Sebastian joining us now.

All right, Clare, was this said in sarcastic jest?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think, Sara, I think this was not, obviously, something we should interpret as an actual endorsement of Kamala Harris. It was said with a sort of a wry smile in front of a domestic audience that also frankly laughed when he said it. And he said, look, we have said that we, you know, preferred Biden. Now Biden, he said, has been removed from the race and he has advised everyone to support Kamala Harris. So, of course, Russia is going to do the same. Trolling, I think, in some sense. Putin, obviously, never misses an opportunity to try to discredit the U.S., and especially its democratic processes.

He may also be aware that it is not exactly in Kamala Harris' interests to gain the support of Putin, that it might actually be negative PR for her as well. So that is something to bear in mind.

And, look, while we have heard Putin say before, he said back in February that he preferred Biden because he was more predictable and experience than Trump. He has since then made comments that are more supportive of Trump, for example, criticizing the U.S. justice system over the criminal conviction of Trump. He then said that he supported Trump's plan to quickly end the war in Ukraine, even though Trump hasn't really provided any details over how he would do that.

And of course, as you say, this came one day after the FBI and the DOJ revealed these allegations of widespread disinformation, some of which coming directly from the Kremlin itself, and some of which seems to be designed to benefit Trump. So, I think that is the context in which we should see those comments.

SIDNER: Yes. Thank you for that. I'm just sort of clarifying exactly what happened.

Sean, you have been looking into this for a very long time, just the election interference, not just by Iran, also by Russia. We have seen this before.

What is the White House doing to try to combat this? Because clearly there are some - some moves by Russia just to destabilized, just to make people not believe that elections are going to be free and fair.

SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: That's right, Sara. And we're seeing something similar that we saw from the Biden administration in the run-up to Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine, where the intelligence community is unveiling a trove of information that they say points directly to the Kremlin in terms of their efforts to undermine U.S. democracy.

We knew this was happening in terms of Russia's activity. We just didn't know the full extent or how is was happening. And yesterday DOJ laid out their evidence for what they have in terms of these Russian companies, three of them that are - appear to be doing the direct work of the Kremlin in terms of spreading viral memes are trying to make them viral, divisive messaging, targeting swing states, targeting, you know, some of the same ways that - or some of the same demographics that candidates in the U.S. try to appeal to, the Russian trolls are trying to also reach - reach them in a very different way.

So, we saw the mocking tone from President Putin. We also saw mocking comments from Russia Today, or RT, formerly known as Russia Today, the state television network, dismissing the allegations that their employees were Russian agents. But we're seeing very much an airing of the disinformation that the U.S. government is seeing from Russia.

[09:00:01]

And Attorney General Merrick Garland, yesterday, was pretty clear about what - how he sees this threat.