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Taylor Swift Endorses Harris After Presidential Debate; Speaker Johnson Pulls Vote On Government Funding Plan Amid GOP Divisions; Harris Repeatedly Baits Trump During Fiery Debate. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired September 11, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:31]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The candidates throw down. Now, how are the voters reacting one day after Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump go head to head on the debate stage? It is not clear if another matchup will happen before Election Day. But have Americans seen enough anyway?

Plus, America's top diplomat is in Ukraine as the White House considers letting Kyiv use U.S. provided weapons to strike deeper inside of Russia. The Kremlin already issuing a warning if the U.S. gives Ukraine the green light.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And NFL Star Tyreek Hill is now calling for the firing of the officer at the center of his controversial traffic stop. Ahead, how police officials are responding to growing calls for action. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

KEILAR: Right now, we are tracking the latest developments after Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump's contentious debate in Philadelphia. Today., the former president casting doubt on a future face to face, saying he doesn't know if he wants to participate.

He's also making baseless claims about last night's debate being rigged. That's after the Vice President repeatedly baited him into veering off course. And as the Harris campaign challenges Trump to a second round, it does prompt the question, how would a second debate impact the race between these two? With a lot of folks saying they were unmoved by last night's showdown.

We have CNN Senior Political Analysts Mark Preston with us now. And Mark, CNN has what is called flash polling where we are actually able to get in some new polling data directly after the debate. What did it show.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYSTS: Well, let's take a look at these numbers right here because it shows you that if you watched last night's debate, this is who won. Of course, we saw that. It's Kamala Harris right no, who clearly, if you watched debate last night, you saw that Kamala Harris clearly outpaced Donald Trump. But, you know, if you think about it, about 51 million people times

that by two, about 102 million people probably saw the CNN debate back in June. If you think about how many people are voting, how many people live in the United States, then you realize that, okay, she did okay with those people who watched it. But the race hasn't necessarily changed.

KEILAR: Yeah. And for all the high marks that she received for her debate performance, she still has a lot of work to do.

PRESTON: Yeah. She absolutely does. And if you take a look at these numbers right here, these are from debate watchers. Now, they didn't agree with her economic plan or they didn't necessarily think that they heard enough from her.

Look at Donald Trump went up a couple points when he focused in on the economy. Clearly, people who watched the debate last night, again, these are the debate watchers. These are the ones who thought that she won the debate, thinks it needs to do some work on her economic plan.

KEILAR: That is really interesting there for such an important issue. So it's not only the economic message where you think that she missed an opportunity last time.

PRESTON: I mean, look, from a strategic standpoint, she did very well. I have prepped a lot of people for presidential debates. I know how the process goes. She was on fire last night, certainly laser-focused, except I do believe that she missed an opportunity when this was discussed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country. And it's a shame.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: Look, anytime you do not capitalize on your opponent talking about pets being eaten by immigrants in Ohio for a story that is not even true, then you failed to try to move the needle on that issue. Why it's important, though, all kidding aside, it's important because it's the undecided voters in these three Midwestern states, right? Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin. We're also looking at the Sunbelt, Georgia, Arizona.

When you look at the small group of people who are going to decide this election, Kamala Harris did a really good job last night. She could have pushed it a little farther.

KEILAR: It would have been interesting if she had capitalized on that. Mark, thank you so much. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Let's dig deeper now with a surrogate from the Harris-Walz campaign. Joining us is Congressman Robert Garcia of California. He's the campaign's national co-chair.

Congressman, thank you so much for being with us. I want to start where Mark picked up on that economy number because CNN polled folks that watched the debate and Donald Trump got a 20 point advantage on handling the economy from folks who watched 55% to 35%, a bigger lead than he went into the debate with.

[14:05:10]

Do you think her message on the economy needs to be tweaked? Why do you think that those voters felt that way after her debate performance?

REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): I mean, look, the numbers were almost identical going into the debate and coming out on that one question. And in that same survey, you saw that a vast majority of voters believe that Kamala Harris won the debate. And so I think that's what's really important. You look at not just your CNN poll, the focus groups that have happened at other media organizations, and the clear winner was Kamala Harris.

Now, she talked about her home ownership. She talked about small business support. Those are the issues she's continued to talk about in the campaign. It's important to note that she's been running now. I mean, it hasn't even been, what, two months. So she's been able to get out and actually talk about her issues.

And every week, we're seeing her consolidate more support, get more people on board, put out more policies. The economy will be central to this campaign. And when she focuses on middle class voters and middle class issues, she's going to win.

SANCHEZ: She was asked the question that I've actually asked you before. And it has to do with the Administration's handling of immigration. She was specifically asked by the moderators why the Administration waited six months before the election to try to pass immigration reform?

She pointed to the Senate bill, a bipartisan Senate bill, and pointed out that former President Trump effectively tanked it. But debate watchers gave Trump a 23 point advantage on immigration, believing that he would be better capable of handling that issue. Do you think she can do more to try to close that gap? Because aside from the economy, immigration is going to be a critical issue for voters.

GARCIA: And she is going to work to close the rest of that gap. I mean, first, let's be clear. Kamala Harris and President Biden actually introduced an immigration reform bill on their first day in office. Republicans rejected it. Then they worked on a bipartisan bill that had support from Republicans and Democrats. Donald Trump tanked it because he didn't want to advantage the Biden-Harris administration. And Kamala Harris has been clear. She wants a secure border, but also to treat people humanely and to have a process that is fair and it aligns with our values here as Americans.

Look, she is still a new candidate. She is getting out there, going across the country. But the bottom line is Donald Trump was a disaster last night. Issue of immigration. He's talking about immigrants eating pets, eating cats. I mean, this is someone that was completely unhinged last night, couldn't put together rational thoughts. She kept on the defensive every single time.

And the one thing that for me stuck with me the most in that debate, he couldn't even look at her. Not once did he look at her because why? He's scared of her. In my opinion, he showed that he was a coward last night and couldn't even respect her or look at her in her direction while she, of course, engaged him the whole time.

SANCHEZ: There was a moment where he attacked her for something that CNN reported on earlier this week. It was a position that she previously held when she was running for president in 2019.

CNN's KFILE found that she wrote on this ACLU questionnaire that she supported taxpayer funding of gender transition surgeries for detained immigrants and federal prisoners. The campaign declined to answer CNN's questions about that. They have since said that she's not running on that, that that's not a part of her platform.

Do you think she needs to clarify her position on that to neutralize it as an attack line?

GARCIA: Look, I mean, I think she's -- I think the campaign has been clear. It's not a central issue or an issue that she's really focused on in this election. She's focused on lowering the price of insulin, you know, a safe process along the border for immigration, on working class families and on ensuring that we don't have tax cuts to the Uber wealthy, which is what Donald Trump wants. So that is a non-issue.

What we do know about Vice President Harris is she's actually a person, though, of values that represents and actually supports everyone. And I think she spoke directly to the American people on that.

SANCHEZ: Does it make it harder for her to fight attacks from him as an incumbent in an administration that broadly speaking, isn't that popular? Because one of the attack lines he gave at the end that I spoke to folks who said that it resonated with them, Republicans, I should point out, was that she's been in office three and a half years and yet, these problems on the economy, on immigration have lingered. And he -- they felt that he should have been more disciplined and gone to that sooner. Does that make it harder for her to run, sort of being the incumbent?

GARCIA: Well, I think first she kept him on the defensive all night. So no, I don't think there's an issue there. But one thing she did say last night on this issue, which I think is important, is look at what her administration actually inherited. They inherited an economy in free fall. Unemployment was in a terrible position.

We were facing an incredible economic collapse. We had a pandemic where over 1 million Americans had died. We had a health crisis. We had the country that was not united, but instead in a very difficult place as it relates to both jobs and people's health. And they came in and now things have been improving.

[14:10:00]

So there has been a recovery. But she understands that's not enough. She directly wants to help middle class families, working families, take on price gouging, take on the price of food and make sure that everyone has access to an affordable home and being able to take care of their family and child care. That's who she is.

SANCHEZ: There has been some back and forth over whether or not there will be a third debate or originally there, was talk of one in late September on NBC. Her campaign has talked about a third one in October. Do you think there will be one? Should it be in late September? What do you think?

GARCIA: I don't think it matters when it is. I think the campaign wants to have a debate in October or a next debate between the Vice President and Donald Trump. But he apparently is too scared to agree. I mean, he's telling folks that he won the debate, which is a joke. I mean, most Republicans will tell you that, of course, it was a bad night for him, but he doesn't want to debate her again.

He couldn't even glance her way because he's so nervous to engage her. So I'm not surprised he doesn't want to debate her. He lost huge. He was incoherent. And I think she showed the country that she's ready to be president of the United States, and she's ready to debate him whenever he'd like.

SANCHEZ: We'll see what kind of impact the debate has on polls and whether it makes a difference on Election Day. Congressman Robert Garcia, we do appreciate. We'll leave the conversation there.

GARCIA: Thanks much.

SANCHEZ: Brianna?

KEILAR: The 2024 race could rank among the tightest presidential matchups in modern history. And swing voters are expected to play a significant role in deciding who will win. They will decide who will win.

A CNN instant poll showing 69% of independents believe Kamala Harris won the debate. So let's turn now to longtime political scientist, Larry Sabato. He's the Founder and Director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. Larry, tell us how history, what it can instruct for us when it comes to debate wins, translating or not to votes, especially in this case where we may not see another debate between these two.

LARRY SABATO, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Yes. And we're all wondering whether there will be another debate. History does tell us the answer to that. There's only an extra debate or the final debate goes forward if both candidates think they need it or if one is so far ahead, he or she doesn't care what happens at that debate. But generally, both candidates have to want it for one reason or another. And like the Congressman who was just on, I rather suspect that Donald Trump won't want it. But we'll all see together.

For the undecideds, this is really interesting. This is where we don't have much of a precedent. In fact, the best precedent is way back to the first set of debates, four debates in 1960.

Even though John F. Kennedy had been around in the Congress for 14 years and the name was well known, people really didn't know him at all. He was more of a backbencher because he'd had serious back problems and operations in the 50s. And so they wanted to learn more about him. People don't watch the conventions. They ought to, but they'll watch little bits of it here and there.

So the debates back then, and I think the one last night, were essential to people getting their, if not first impression, then their foundational impression of Kamala Harris. Donald Trump, I don't know what Donald Trump could say. Well, maybe the dogs and cats getting eaten. I don't think most people expected that. But there's very little he can say that would be new, that would strike people as being worth remembering. And she absolutely cleaned his clock. And she actually, I think, laid the foundation for the rest of her campaign. I'm sure her team is working on that today and will continue to.

So it was well-worth her time. Nay not have been wise for Donald Trump, but Kamala Harris has a pathway now to actually winning, which still, as she has said, was hard quite to believe. She was still the underdog. She may still be the underdog, but not by very much.

KEILAR: Did you see any vulnerabilities with her? Because looking at some of the flash polling, she still has quite a distance to go on the economy. She dodged a couple questions on economic implementation of policies as vice president on Afghanistan. Donald Trump, I should mention very clearly. yes, he also dodged questions. But when it comes to her, just because we've seen people win debates and then not win the election, do you see any vulnerabilities in her answers?

SABATO: Yes. And by the way, the examples of candidates who won debates and didn't win the election. I think Mitt Romney, for example, in 2012, was because they didn't capitalize on their performance. They maybe became overconfident. I'm not really sure. In Romney's case, it was because the Gallup poll more or less declared him the winner of the election in mid-October. So I think he -- that took the pressure off.

But for Kamala Harris, does she have room to improve?

[14:15:03]

Oh, absolutely. Right in the beginning, the first few minutes, she was clearly very nervous. And that came across to anyone watching. You don't have to be a debate expert to see that she was nervous, but she overcame it quickly. If there are any further debates, I think she'll start in a more confident position. And how she can capitalize on this beyond debates? Go out there and do an interview in every network, even Fox. Show that you're unafraid of people who will try to bring you down.

I'm not saying Sean Hannity, for God's sake, but take one of the more moderate members at Fox, a Bret Baier or Neil Cavuto, or someone like that.

KEILAR: The Taylor Swift effect. What do you think this endorsement may or may not do?

SABATO: It's not going to do very much unless she follows through. I mean, I think it's terrific. I think celebrities should use their power as celebrities to influence people about public issues and about politics. It's terrific that she got involved. Too many celebrities are afraid of making an enemy and losing somebody buying a movie ticket or something. So that's great.

But she is -- I know this will shock you, but I've heard she's very wealthy. And as a result, she could have her own super PAC. A number of conservatives have these massive super PACs. Why not have a super PAC aimed at young people getting them to turn out, to register, to vote, and to turn out? That would really have an impact. And she could focus on the seven swing states.

KEILAR: We'll see. I wonder what it would be called. she's got a lot of options because of those song titles, you know, Larry? Larry Sabato, thank you so much.

SABATO: I know them all.

KEILAR: You know them all. Yeah, you do. All right. Thanks, Larry. Boris?

SANCHEZ: We have breaking news into CNN. Speaker Mike Johnson says he's pulled a House floor vote on a short-term government funding bill. This after significant affections from -- within his own party. CNN's Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill for us. And you just caught up with Speaker Johnson. What did he share with you?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the speaker has had a really hard time getting his conference to unite behind this plan to pass a six month short-term spending bill that would go into March and would include what is known as the SAVE Act. This is legislation that would bar illegal immigrants from being able to vote in U.S. elections. That is something that is already illegal. And Democrats have largely been opposed to it. Democrats have been whipping against it.

But Johnson was dealing with the fact that he had at least eight members who had publicly said that they were planning to vote against this short-term bill because they just don't believe in continuing government funding. They wanted to pass these individual spending bills. That was never going to happen.

And despite the fact that they have been working for the last several days, House Republicans were supposed to vote tonight and they realized this morning they were not going to have the votes to advance this legislation. So here's what Speaker Johnson told me just a short time ago.

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MIKE JOHNSON, SPEAKER OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: No, no vote today because we're in the consensus building business here in Congress with small majorities, that's what you do. That's what I've been doing since I became speaker. We're having thoughtful conversations, family conversations within the Republican conference, and I believe we'll get there. So people have concerns about all sorts of things. That's how the process works. And sometimes, it takes a little more time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And what you hear there from Speaker Johnson is they are not voting tonight, but he does not say they are abandoning this approach. In fact, he sort of is doubling down, saying that they just need more time. Again, it's really unclear to me right now, Boris, what dynamic is going to change given the fact that he just has these conservatives who are a hard no on any short-term spending bill.

The way this has always played out in the past is you negotiate with Democrats, you work with the Senate, you pass something and get it signed by the President. Of course, now they are starting to get close to that September 30th deadline. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Lauren Fox, thanks so much for the update. Still ahead, we're going to be joined by the former Republican Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, Jeff Duncan, who now supports Vice President Harris. How he thinks VP performed and if she convinced any hesitant Republicans to vote for her.

Plus, Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today. What we're learning about his response to Trump not answering if he wants Ukraine to win the war against Russia. And SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission just made history, breaking a NASA record. The riskiest part of this journey, though, still to come. We're breaking down what's next for the four person civilian crew.

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[14:24:27]

KEILAR: The first and what may be the only presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is now in the books. Trump and some of his allies insist that he won the face-off, but CNN polls show Vice President Harris soundly defeated the former President.

SANCHEZ: Now let's discuss with former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan. He's part of Republicans for Harris. Jeff, thanks so much for being with us. What are you hearing from Republicans and independents that you've spoken to that went into last night open to hearing the VP's pitch?

GEOFF DUNCAN, FORMER GEORGIA LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: Well, in its simplest form, Kamala Harris had a really good night. Donald Trump had a really bad night. And her upward trajectory is going to continue.

[14:25:07]

It's going to be interesting to watch how much worse Donald Trump makes this situation or the fallout from the debate, how he reacts to getting punched in the face in the public square. I think he -- we're watching him kind of grasp at straws. But certainly, this only helped one candidate, and that's Kamala Harris.

And for me, as a Republican who's trying to play a bank shot here of electing a Democrat so we can actually get our party back by defeating Donald Trump permanently, this was a good night last night, but work to be done and minds to be convinced, still. I do think there's this growing sense of encouragement, a sense of responsibility amongst Republicans to do the right thing in this race. So I do think we're starting to see a groundswell.

KEILAR: What did you think about looking at, say, these flash polling numbers where Trump actually grew his advantage over Harris on the economy with voters? This is still a considerable disadvantage for her. And she did dodge a question about implementing, or why she did not implement some of these economic policies that she's proposing, considering she has been a part of this current administration for almost four years.

DUNCAN: Yeah, certainly. I mean, there's some staggering, you know, there's a staggering delta between his polling numbers on the economy and hers. And certainly, that's a difficult spot for her. But I do think that the economy is so complex right now, right?

I mean, if you're an individual who's trying to find a way to retire in the next few years, you're really happy with this economy. Your 401(k) is strong, your investments are strong, your house is worth more than it's ever been. If you're somebody trying to buy a house for the first time, it's difficult. So I do think it is a blurred message across with the economy.

But if you think about some of the easier subject matters that he could have probably landed some big punches on, like Afghanistan and flip flopping on some of the issues and inflation as a whole, I just felt like every time they got to that precipice, she baited him in or launched into a little bit of an angle and he just took the bait. And he never really amplified really what he should have taken her to task for. That was his fault, not hers.

SANCHEZ: Jeff, what did you make of his line about people eating dogs?

DUNCAN: Yeah. I'm confused, right? I got three teenage kids, so, I mean, they kind of keep me up to date. I had no idea what was going on until I started Googling. But look, we're trying to elect the Commander in Chief to help us figure out a way to navigate through difficult situations globally, domestically, the border. Certainly, if he wants to play that game, and look, that's really kind of been the schtick he's played. Just try to be, you know, off-target and impromptu. And unfortunately, he didn't get to some of the big issues. I do think one of the most damning things that he did the entire night

is not commit to defending Ukraine. I think that spooks so many different angles in this world. Could you imagine being in Ukraine or Poland and thinking that somebody is going to walk in day one? What did Vladimir Putin do when he said that? I'm sure he had a smirk on his face and leaned up in his chair when Donald Trump made those awful, you know, assumptions that he wasn't going to support Ukraine.

KEILAR: You know, the risk of asking you a question that may appear superficial, but I actually would argue, I think is substantive because I think people do make a decision on how people interact. I am curious what you thought about the handshake at the beginning and also the fact that Trump did not look at Harris through the entire debate? And this is -- this was the first time that we have seen them together. So this was a chance for voters to have this first chance to see them together. What did you think of those moments?

DUNCAN: I thought the handshake was a brilliant move. And not only was it the handshake, it was the initiation by her, which was obviously, his subtle reluctance to want to get there. But she did it in front of his podium. She took the handshake right to his podium. And so I thought that was a brilliant move as they went forward.

And the whole optics of staring, I mean, he just was staring out into space, you know, just getting punched after punch after punch. And, you know, certainly, we got to see the ramifications in the Biden debate where he was kind of staring off into the abyss in some of those questions where he wasn't necessarily coached up on the fact that the camera was going to be on with a split screen.

So I thought she not only handled the substance of the debate very, very well, I do think she handled the optics of the debate even well -- very well, too.

SANCHEZ: Jeff Duncan, thank you so much. Appreciate the perspective.

DUNCAN: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, what happens if the U.S. lets Ukraine use American long range weapons for deeper strikes within Russia? The Kremlin now offering a warning should U.S. policy change? What we're hearing from Secretary of State Antony Blinken today in Kyiv.

KEILAR: Plus the new demands from NFL star Tyree kill after a controversial traffic stop ended with Hill handcuffed on the ground with a police officer's knee in his back.

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