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Taylor Swift Endorses Kamala Harris For President; Nation Marks 23 Years Since September 11 Attacks; Teen Gunman's Mother Apologizes To Victim's Families In Open Letter. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired September 11, 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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[13:34:08]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: There will not be a blank space. It's going to happen.
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KEILAR: It's going to happen, Boris.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Yes.
KEILAR: There will not be a blank space in Taylor Swift's ballot this year. The mega pop star is down bad for Vice President Kamala Harris, endorsing Harris last night.
In an Instagram post, right after the debate, Swift advocated for abortion access, LGBTIQ-plus rights and IVF access.
The photo you see here, this is the one that she posted, along with her message, is one of her -- with her cat, one of her three cats. She has many cats. This is Benjamin Button.
And then she signed her message, "Childless Cat Lady," which of course, is a reference to comments that J.D. Vance made, former President Trump's running mate.
SANCHEZ: Within 15 minutes, the post hit over one million likes. It now has nearly nine million.
Trump, who had previously shared fake A.I.-generated images of Taylor Swift endorsing him, went on FOX News this morning to dismiss this as "bad blood."
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Actually, like Miss Mahomes, much better if you want to know the truth. She's -- she's a big Trump fan.
I was not a Taylor Swift fan. It was just a question of time. She couldn't -- you couldn't possibly endorse Biden. You look at Biden, you couldn't possibly endorse him.
But she's a very liberal person. She seems to always endorse a Democrat. And she will probably pay a price for it at the -- in the marketplace.
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SANCHEZ: Joining us now to discuss this is the political director for "Swifties for Kamala," April Glick Pulito.
April, thank you so much for being with us.
Why do you think this endorsement was timed to come out right after the debate?
APRIL GLICK PULITO, POLITICAL DIRECTOR, "SWIFTIES FOR KAMALA": Thank you so much for having me.
I think it was -- you know, she's a master mind, to continue with the Taylor lyric references. I think, you know, Swifties for Kamala has rallied around like our community and the movement of the fandom.
But we've always known that Taylor's values align with President Harris -- Vice President Harris. We're already thinking ahead here.
But we know that her values align and so we had a lot of faith in the community that she would eventually use her voice and stand up. And the timing has just been incredible.
I think -- you know, we were all just so pleased with the debate last night that the endorsement kind of set everything into overdrive.
KEILAR: So let's talk about some of the dirt on this because some people are saying, why now? I personally have a theory that Brittany Mahomes may have forced the issue here.
This of course is one of Taylor Swifts friends. She's the wife of NFL star, Patrick Mahomes, who plays on the Chiefs with Travis Kelce, Taylor Swifts boyfriend. And she has liked a lot of Donald Trump's posts lately.
Do you think that had anything to do with it, that Taylor Swift facing some criticism for being friends with someone who is a fan of Trump, that she felt the need to get out there and say something?
PULITO: You know, I think -- you know, I think Taylor knows that she uses her voice strategically.
I think, given everything that just happened in Vienna with the terror threats around her concert, you know, she made clear that she's going to use her voice strategically in a way that is not going to do more harm than good.
She's very protective of her fan base. She's very protective of like the whole movement, I think, and especially of the way that she uses her voice. So I do think it was strategic as far as timing. But I couldn't say
that it was a response to a friendship. I mean, I think that it was a response to the debate.
It was a response to the momentum and the energy that we've already felt inside the Swifties for Kamala movement and really in the whole movement behind Vice President Harris to get her elected.
I think -- it feels much more strategic in relation to where we're at in the campaign. You know, we like to keep our eyes on the ball here because any distraction is a distraction.
Certainly, there were people using their voices, I think, especially Swifties, for marginalized communities, really wanted to see that representation taken to the next level to kind of stand up against Trump's policies.
But I don't -- I don't know necessarily if it was related to that.
SANCHEZ: There was a clear message sent by the sign-off, though "childless cat lady" with a picture of adorable Benjamin Button there. What did you make of that?
PULITO: I mean, you know, we joke a lot. I personally am a cat lady myself, but I, as you can see, I'm a mom. So, you know, there's a whole range.
So these are not a monolith but there are plenty of childless cat ladies within our ranks. And there's nothing wrong with that. You know, cats are great and aunts are great and family is great.
And I think it's just really saying there's nothing wrong with our identity. There's nothing wrong with being these things that the other side is really trying to vilify and make us -- like otherize us.
I think that there's something about this Swiftie movement that is really inclusive. And I think her signing it off that way is a shout out to say like there's nothing wrong with you for being like this. Your voices are just as important because I'm one of you.
So I think that was really a call and response to her fans and especially fans of Benjamin Button.
SANCHEZ: April, thank you so much for joining us today.
PULITO: Thank you so much for having me, guys.
[13:39:43]
Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We're back in just moments.
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KEILAR: Right now, the nation is pausing to reflect on one of the darkest moments in American history, the 9/11 attacks 23 years ago today. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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KEILAR: A moment of silence this morning at Ground Zero to remember the nearly 3,000 people killed when al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in rural Pennsylvania.
In a rare show of unity, the presidential candidates, putting politics aside to attend this morning's solemn service in New York.
Commemorations are also being held at the Pentagon, where Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told attendees that, quote, "No amount of time can make sense of the worst terrorist attack in American history."
[13:45:04]
And respects also been paid in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United flight 93 crashed after passengers fought back against the hijackers.
CNN's John Miller is in New York.
John, tell us what it was like there this morning.
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT & INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, this morning, you know, you look up in the sky and you see a clear blue sky, not a cloud in it, a pleasant breeze, not too cold, not too hot.
And it just made me remember that was exactly how I woke up driving the same route on September 11, 2001. It seemed like it was going to be the perfect day and then the world changed.
So that was then. As for now, the ceremony is always moving. We now see children who were babies at the time who are grown. Some of them have become policemen and firemen, follow their parents career.
And as you pointed out, it was a time of solemnity when so little is solemn these days. It was a time of remembrance when things in this media age of things and messages going so fast are so rarely remembered this way.
And a time of reverence, even between politicians who are not often reverential. It was a hard day, but a good day.
KEILAR: And, John, in the 23 years since the attacks, how has agency communication changed and adapted to the terror threats that still exists today?
Because this was one of the problems that was identified when people asked the valid question of could this have been prevented.
MILLER: You know, Brianna, as you know, this is something the 9/11 Commission said could have been preventable. It was a failure of imagination on the part of the intelligence community, not a failure of imagination on the part of bin Laden or al-Qaeda.
But it was also, quite frankly, a failure of information sharing because it would have been easier to imagine if all of the agencies had the information that the other agency was holding back.
We've come a long way in that regard. In the 18 years since 9/11, that I spent in either law enforcement or intelligence, the information sharing has become extraordinarily better, closer, more intimate sometimes seamless.
Which is the way you need it to be if you're going to not be solving these cases but preventing them before they happen.
KEILAR: That's right.
John Miller, thank you so much. We do appreciate it.
And well be right back.
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[13:52:43]
SANCHEZ: The mother of the 14-year-old who shot and killed four people at a Georgia high school last week is apologizing to the victims' families.
In an open letter, Marcee Gray says that she'll never forgive herself for what happened. But insists her son is, quote, "not a monster."
She is expected to meet with investigators tomorrow.
Let's get right to CNN's Isabel Rosales, who is following the latest.
Isabel, what are you learning about the investigation?
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Boris. There's still so many questions into what efforts were taken to prevent this attack at Apalachee High School.
Now, you'll remember that Marcee Gray, the mother of Colt Gray, called the school that morning, warning of an extreme emergency. But then, 30 minutes later, her son shot and killed two teachers and two students.
Today, she is penning an open letter to the community saying, "I will never be able to forgive myself for what happened."
And also this, in part, "To the parents and families of those affected by the tragic events at Apalachee High School, I want to say that I am sorry from the bottom of my heart.
"We are all in a living nightmare right now. And I will personally never forgive myself for what has happened. My son, Colt, is not a monster." CNN has checked in with the families of the victims to see if they
would like to respond to that open letter from Marcee Gray.
Meanwhile, CNN also obtained this video, a video that could be very important, as Colt Gray's access to firearms is being highly scrutinized here.
We know, from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, they are looking into this video dated January of 2023. It's a screen recording off of the Instagram account of Marcee Gray that appears to be Colt posing with a rifle and a dead deer during a hunt with his father.
His father called willing that, "the greatest day," praising his shooting skills.
Now, Colt's maternal grandfather, I spoke with him just yesterday. He criticized Colin, the father, for buying Colt an A.R.-15-style rifle just a couple of months after that hunt. Our reporting indicated that that was a gift for the holidays.
Here's what Charles Polhamus had to say about that.
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CHARLES POLHAMUS, GRANDFATHER OF COLT GRAY: It shouldn't have been bought in the first place, but his dad's the one who bought it. Colt didn't buy it.
Hunting rifles are all right. Everybody buys hunting rifles.
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[13:55:01]
ROSALES: You're saying he shouldn't have bought him an A.R.-15. Like that's not the right --
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POLHAMUS: No question about that. That's an absolute.
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ROSALES: Yes, and we have this new reporting from the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice that the admitted shooter, Colt Gray, has been segregated from other youth while he is in custody.
We've checked in with his attorney, with his father's attorney for comment. We have not heard back -- Boris?
SANCHEZ: Isabel Rosales, thank you so much for that update.
Some new reaction from both the Trump and Harris campaigns after last night's debate. Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. That story and more straight ahead.
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