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CNN International: Biden Struggles As Trump Spews Falsehoods At CNN Debate; Democrats Concerned After Biden's Halting Debate Performance; Biden Returning To The Campaign Trail After CNN Debate. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired June 28, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Law of the land again. Were you convinced by that statement?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely not.
COATES: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The action is in the pudding.
COATES: Show of hands, how many of you feel that abortion and reproductive rights is a big consideration for you going into this election?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there are bigger issues in this country that need to be addressed.
COATES: As you can see, a lot of different opinions tonight and reaction to this debate that was happening, a really consequential moment. I'm in a swing state with so many voters who know what the stakes are.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and this is the CNN Newsroom.
Just ahead, where do we go from here? President Biden is back to campaigning after what supporters and critics alike call a dismal debate performance last night. This as Trump's supporters are rallying around their candidates. So, who is going to be the next President of Iran? Voters are casting their ballots as we speak and we will be live in Tehran. And an act of mercy in a time of war. More than 16 sick and injured children from Gaza are evacuated for medical treatment.
Prominent Democrats all across America are today waking up with one question on their mind. What do we do now? Political pundits say the party is in what can only be described as panic, after a poor performance by President Joe Biden in the CNN presidential debate against Donald Trump. While Trump released an avalanche of falsehoods, Biden's inability to counter the former President and his halting sometimes confusing answers have Democrats now fearing for his chances in November.
We get more from CNN's Jeff Zeleny.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A former President --
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This place, the whole world is blowing up under him.
ZELENY (voice-over): -- confronting the sitting President.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Never heard so much malarkey in my whole life.
ZELENY (voice-over): But, Joe Biden setting off alarm across the Democratic Party after a shaky performance against Donald Trump at the CNN debate in Atlanta.
TRUMP: Joe, our country is being destroyed as you and I sit up here and waste a lot of time on this debate.
ZELENY (voice-over): In their first face-to-face encounter in four years, Trump struck a far different tone than he often does at rallies, rarely raising his voice.
TRUMP: I really don't know what he said at the end of this sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either.
ZELENY (voice-over): One of Biden's chief goals was to project an air of strength. On that score, he struggled.
BIDEN: Making sure that we're able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I've been able to do with the -- with -- with the COVID -- excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with.
ZELENY (voice-over): After a week of debate practice, he arrived on stage with a hoarse voice and often looked down or away. And on key policy issues for Democrats like abortion --
BIDEN: And if I'm elected, I'm going to restore Roe v. Wade.
TRUMP: He is willing to, as we say, rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and kill the baby.
BIDEN: That is simply not true. We are not for late-term abortion. Period. Period. Period.
ZELENY (voice-over): -- it was Trump who tried catering to the middle. TRUMP: Like Ronald Reagan, I believe in the exceptions. I believe in the exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. I think it's very important. Some people don't. Follow your heart, but you have to get elected also.
ZELENY (voice-over): But, Biden did go after Trump on his treatment of Veterans.
BIDEN: My son was not a loser. He was not a sucker. You're the sucker. You're the loser.
TRUMP: He made up the suckers and losers. So, he should apologize to me right now.
BIDEN: A four-star general standing your side was on your staff who said you said it, period. That's number one. And number two, the idea, the idea that I have to apologize to you for anything along the line, we've done more for Veterans than any President has in American history.
ZELENY (voice-over): And on Trump's recent felony convictions in New York --
BIDEN: The only person on this stage is a convicted felon. He is the man I'm looking at right now.
ZELENY (voice-over): -- causing Trump to fire back.
TRUMP: When he talks about a convicted felon, his son is a convicted felon at a very high level, but he could be a convicted felon as soon as he gets out of office. Joe could be a convicted felon.
BIDEN: The idea that I did anything wrong relative to what you're talking about is outrageous. The crimes that you are still charged with, and think of all the civil penalties you got. How many billions of dollars do you owe in civil penalties for molesting a woman in public, for doing a whole range of things, of having sex with a porn star on the night while your wife was pregnant? I mean, what are you talking about? You have the morals of an alley cat.
TRUMP: I didn't have sex with a porn star, number one.
ZELENY (voice-over): And on one of the biggest questions facing voters, the candidates' age.
BIDEN: This guy is three years younger and a lot less competent.
TRUMP: He challenged me to a golf match. He can't hit a ball 50 yards. I think I'm in very good shape. I feel that I'm in good shape as I was 25, 30 years ago. Actually, I'm probably a little bit lighter, but I'm as good as shape as I was years ago.
[08:05:00]
I feel very good. I feel the same.
ZELENY (voice-over): The argument devolved into taunts.
BIDEN: I told you before, I'm happy to play golf if you carry your own bag.
TRUMP: Let's not act like children.
DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Do you have a specific --
ZELENY (voice-over): Trump continuing to downplay his role in the January 6 insurrection --
TRUMP: I said peacefully and patriotically. They asked me to go make a speech. I could see what was happening. Everybody was saying they're going to be there on January 6, and I said they got to have some national guard or whatever.
BIDEN: -- to do a damn thing and now he says, if he loses it again, such a whiner that he is, that it could be a bloodbath.
ZELENY (voice-over): -- and only answering if he would accept the 2024 election results after being pressed by CNN's Dana Bash three times.
TRUMP: It's a fair and legal and good election, absolutely. I would have much rather accepted these. But, the fraud.
BIDEN: You continue to provoke this lie about somehow there is all this misrepresentation, all this stealing. There is no evidence of that at all. And I tell you what, I doubt whether you will accept it because you're such a whiner.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And this morning, nearly 12 hours after the debate, Biden's allies are trying to move the narrative along, but voters say Biden's debate performance was underwhelming, if not concerning. A CNN instant poll of registered voters not only found that Trump won the debate by two to one margin, but 57 percent of debate watchers said they had no confidence in Biden's ability to lead the country.
And just a short time ago, CNN spoke to Mitch Landrieu, the National Biden Campaign Co-Chair and the former mayor of New Orleans, who acknowledged Biden's shortcomings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITCH LANDRIEU, NATIONAL BIDEN CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIR: The President might have lost the debate on style, but he won it on facts. He won it on decency, and he won it on the ideas that people think are important in the country. I don't think that you can color the debate as a great time for President Biden. I think he had a rough time last night. There is no question about it. But, throughout the debate, trying to listen to Donald Trump talk was painful for me because there was no fact-checking that went on. And literally, he doubled down on everything that made people think that he was a terrible President the first time he was in office. KASIE HUNT, HOST, "CNN THIS MORNING": Sir, do you feel at all misled by Democrats very close to President Biden who have insisted that there has been no change in this man over the course of the last two years that would impact his ability to serve another four years?
LANDRIEU: No. Not at all. As a matter of fact, I served with President Biden for two years and I saw him on a regular basis. And the Joe Biden that I saw, the Joe Biden that I worked with, and the Joe Biden that is still with us today, is a guy that gets up every day, thinking about how to help other people. He is 81-years-old. Donald Trump is 77. So, you had a guy last night that was 81 that had a difficult time, and you had a guy that was 77 that lied, and when he spoke the truth, he was speaking malevolent truth. That's the choice that the country has.
And so, you can judge the debate on style, if you want. I think when people get a little bit clearer from this, they're going to see that Donald Trump last night actually was unhinged as he has indicated that he is going to be and he is going to double down on the policies he had when he was President four years ago, which were not good for the country.
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WHITFIELD: All right. Let's now bring in Margaret Talev. She is the Director of the Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship at Syracuse University, and she is a Senior Contributor for Axios. Great to see you. Good morning, Margaret. I think many of us are operating on very little sleep, after staying up to all of it, even the postgame show. All right. So, Landrieu says no need to worry. This was a style difference between Biden and Trump. Landrieu says that Biden may have been a bit wobbly, but he underscores that Trump was wrong a lot. So, what can Biden and the White House and his surrogates do to recover now?
MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, AXIOS, & DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY, JOURNALISM & CITIZENSHIP AT SYRACUSE UNIV.: Well, Fred, I think it is Mitch Landrieu's job this morning to try to calm down all the voices in his party that are in a real panic after last night's performance, because last night's performance was problematic for President Biden on so many levels. On one, he really had one role, one job last night, and that was to try to alleviate any American's concerns that his age may mean he is not up to the task for another four years. And I think he came out with a deficit on that last night, instead of closing the gap or alleviate anyone's concerns.
And the other is that this was -- should have been an opportunity for him to hold former President Trump accountable on elements around January 6 and other aspects of Trump's record, and he just missed a lot of those opportunities like, yes, the moderators do not do fact- checking in real time, but President Biden could have done the fact- checking in real time. That was his opportunity in a debate format where he can respond and the questions can be redirected.
[08:10:00] And so, I think right now, there are sort of two camps inside the Democratic Party, from conversations I've had over the last many hours while we all weren't sleeping and reacting and watching, and one of those groups says they're still five or six weeks until the Democratic Convention, maybe the President needs to think about stepping aside. And the other group of Democrats is like that's ridiculous. Why are Democrats in a panic? You can lose the debate and still win an election. And Trump is problematic enough himself that Biden can repair this. I don't think any decisions are going to emerge in like the next few days. But, I do think over the next few weeks, we're going to see voter sentiment settle to some degree, and if Joe Biden were 30 points ahead in this race, it wouldn't matter.
But, all the polls tell us that for months, even despite all of the legal charges that Donald Trump is facing, that for months this has been a margin of error rates where Trump is consistently ahead by two or three points within the margin of error, but having the edge in all of these key battleground states. It's hard to see how last night's debate would flip that dynamic, and while there were a lot of folks who were concerned about Donald Trump's responses, kind of revisionist history on January 6, revisionist history on Roe v. Wade, it is not going to be what people remember. They're going to remember, if you remember anything about the debate, they're going to remember President Biden's performance.
WHITFIELD: Do you see potentially Vice President Kamala Harris getting out there more, especially as a result of the criticism of Biden's performance in that debate that perhaps she had a more face time publicly, more than they had scheduled for the next four months, that that is going to be an adequate response?
TALEV: I think Vice President Harris is really effective with some segments of their base, of the Biden-Harris ticket's base, and not with other segments. So, I think they'll continue to use her tactically. We saw her kind of do the rounds last night. But, there are a number of surrogates that already have been sort of in the bullpen and would have, even if he'd had a stellar debate performance, would have been out there in the coming weeks. I think they're going to lean on those people more.
But, I think if Biden himself -- the top of the ticket for both of these teams really is what voters are voting for. And they think, in Trump's case, a lot of speculation about his running mate, his VP, what that's going to mean, people are going to vote for Donald Trump or they're not going to vote for Donald Trump. It's not really going to matter who his VP is. And I think in this case, President Biden could not, if he wanted to, count on his running mate or any other surrogate to help boost voters' confidence in him. He has to do that himself. He kind of has to own the performance and explain it to people and then show a different President Biden in the weeks to come. And I think that's going to be the real test of between now and the convention.
WHITFIELD: All right. Margaret Talev, thank you so much. Hopefully, you can get a little mid-morning nap before you got to keep that engine running once again. All right. Appreciate it. All right. For his part, President Biden gave himself good marks for
his performance last night. After the debate, he stopped by at a waffle house and chatted with customers at the Atlanta-based restaurant. Take a listen to his assessment of how the night went.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, how do you think you performed today?
BIDEN: I think we did well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any concerns about your performance?
BIDEN: No. It's hard to debate a liar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. And then, later on today, President Biden returns to the campaign trail in North Carolina. He was greeted by supporters at the airport there when he arrived in Raleigh in the early morning hours.
Joining me right now is CNN Senior White House Correspondent Kayla Tausche. She live from Raleigh, North Carolina. All right. So, Kayla, what's the latest reporting from the Biden campaign after last night, and what his stamina is like today back on the campaign trail?
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the Biden campaign is hoping that the President that shows up today is one that is vivacious, gregarious, presenting essentially a different version of himself to voters than the one that was on stage last night to sort of reinvent the perception from what voters took away from last night's primetime debate when he appears at today's rally here in Raleigh, North Carolina. You just saw his immediate reaction to his debate performance last night, brushing it off, saying that it was Trump who was lying over and over again. That should be the focus of everyone's takeaways.
But, there were still quite a few Democrats who were not happy that the Democratic Party universally panning Biden's performance, both behind the scenes and on the record, in opinion pieces throughout the papers in the country.
[08:15:00]
But, when pushed directly on President Biden's lackluster performance last night, Vice President Harris, who now is increasingly seen by voters as one heartbeat away from the presidency, gave a forceful defense and said that voters should be judging him not on the 90 minutes he was on stage, but in the three and a half years he has been in office. Here was what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, there was a slow start, but it was a strong finish. People can debate on style points. But, ultimately, this election and who is the President of the United States has to be about substance, and the contrast is clear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAUSCHE: Now, on the substance, the Biden campaign feels that there were a few moments that resonated against the backdrop of a fairly turbulent event for the President. And there are some frustrations about the fact that Biden ended up being on the defensive for much of the debate, finding himself in a fact-checking role of Trump because of the falsehoods that he promoted while he was on stage. But, even so, given multiple opportunities to drill down on messaging that's central to the campaign on some of the divisions in this country, on democracy, on January 6, President Biden appeared to miss some of those marks, which certainly would have gone a long way to quell some of that frustration.
So, we'll see how the President appears today when he comes to Raleigh. He arrived late in the evening last night, attempting to course correct, shaking hands with supporters here for roughly 30 minutes, and proving by actions that he has the stamina, even if the performance on the debate stage gave the appearance otherwise. Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Kayla Tausche in Raleigh, North Carolina, thank you so much.
All right. Donald Trump, well, he is waking up at his golf club in Virginia, fresh off what Trump campaign officials described as a strong showing in the CNN debate. He'll hold a rally in Chesapeake, Virginia. And on the legal side, Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida is giving Trump's lawyers more chances to challenge key evidence in his classified documents case. The judge is pushing back on the idea that more hearings would delay Trump's trial.
Let's bring in now our Alayna Treene at Donald Trump's golf club in Sterling, Virginia. Good morning to you. So, any word from the Trump campaign about how the debate will affect his campaigning moving forward?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, first of all, I will just start with his rally later today in Virginia. Yes, Donald Trump is waking up. He will soon be waking up in this club behind me and then will travel to Chesapeake, Virginia. And part of that is, in recent months, Donald Trump's campaign, both privately and publicly, has been stating that they think Donald Trump can be competitive in this state. They think that it will turn red in November despite Donald Trump having lost the state in the past two presidential elections. And I can tell you from my conversations, Fred, with Trump's advisors last night, they think that he is going into this rally today buoyed by his debate performance. They also think that it's only going to help him in Virginia after seeing what transpired on the stage.
Now, as you also mentioned, Fred, Donald Trump's team is very much celebrating what happened at the debate. They argue -- I mean, they -- going into last night, they actually were pretty nervous about what was going to take place on the stage. They weren't sure which version of Joe Biden they would see. They actually anticipated he would be a much stronger debater than what he did last night.
But, for Trump's part, he did a very good job of staying on message. His advisors had prepped him extensively and really urged him to move away from personal attacks and try to come off more presidential, not to be as aggressive with his rhetoric, which is often the type of Donald Trump we see at his political rallies and campaign stops. But, he was remarkably reserved, I'd argue, on the debate stage, especially if you compare it, again, to the type of personality we see from Donald Trump, normally when he is out there campaigning.
The other part of this as well is that they were really relishing the reaction from many Democrats. You just heard Kayla lay out for you that there was a lot of panic on the Democratic side about Joe Biden's performance, about whether he is up for the job for a second term. And they were sharing those posts on social media. They were privately, I know, texting me and our colleagues, saying that it showed that they think that they won the debate and that others thought they did too. Now, of course, I think it's still early to argue that Donald Trump was -- had a complete victory last night. I think we do need to wait and see how the polls take this, how other voters respond to this over the next week.
But, by and large, Donald Trump's team was very happy with how it went down. Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Alayna Treene, thank you so much, in Sterling, Virginia, this morning.
All right. Still to come, Iran's Supreme Leader is urging fellow citizens to get out and vote.
[08:20:00]
Why the Middle East, the U.S. and Russia are all watching Iran's high- stakes ballot? Plus, why France is set for its most consequential election in decades? What you need to know, coming up.
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WHITFIELD: All right. Voters in Iran are casting their ballot for a new President. They're choosing a successor to Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month. It may take a couple of days before the results are announced, and there could be a second round with Iran's polls open for another four hours or so. The country's Supreme Leader is urging Iranians to get out and vote. Three conservatives are vying with a single reformist candidate for the top elected post.
We're on the ground in Tehran, where we join CNN's Fred Pleitgen. A good day two you, Fred. So, why are these elections so high stakes?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A good day to you as well, Fredricka. They certainly are high stakes, because of course, this is the first election since the death of Ebrahim Raisi, but also because there are a lot of conservative candidates who are still in the running but also one moderate candidate as well. And we do see that a lot of people appear to be turning out to the polls. One thing I do have to show you, though, because we do get to see some
pretty remarkable places sometimes, this polling station that I'm in is actually inside a very famous shrine here in Tehran. It's the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine. And as you can see, it's a really stunning building that we are in front of, and that is where the polling station is. A lot of polling stations here in this country that are in mosques, are in shrines, like this one. You can see behind me a little bit of the voting process, where this is the women's section because we are inside a shrine, of course, where they get their ID, you get registered and you get your ballot papers. And then, if we pan a little further, you can see there the ballot box.
And actually you can see behind me, if we can take a look at this, there are quite a lot of people right now who are lining up to go out and vote. And one of the reasons, is the one that you mentioned, is that a lot of people that we've been speaking to here on the ground do believe that this could be a pivotal election, where also the choices that are pretty different between the conservative candidates and of course the one moderate candidate who is still in the race as well.
Now, as is customary here in Iran, the Supreme Leader of this country, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he was the first to cast his ballot. We were there, and I want to have a look at a little bit of what we saw there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: As this customary, the Supreme Leader is the first to cast his ballot in Iran's presidential election, and he has called for high voter turnout. But, this time, the Supreme Leader has also warned Iranians not to trust politicians who are too keen on better relations with the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: So, Fredricka, there are still four candidates who are in the running here in this election. On the conservative side, there are two who are considered to be frontrunners. One is the speaker of parliament and other one who is the former nuclear negotiator for Iran. But, on the moderates' side, there is also a candidate, left, called Masoud Pezeshkian.
[08:25:00]
And we've been speaking to a lot of voters here on the ground, who did feel emboldened to come and vote because there was still that conservative politician in the race. He is someone who actually wants better relations with countries here in the region, better relations with the West as well, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: OK. And Fred, what might the outcome of this election mean for international relations?
PLEITGEN: Yeah. I think that they could have big repercussions for international relations. Of course, Iran plays a huge role here in the greater Middle East. We saw that just a couple of weeks ago or a couple of months ago when Iran and Israel almost went to war with one another, which, of course, could have had huge consequences for the United States as well, and for the United States assets here in the Middle East. So, this is definitely an election with big repercussions, and definitely in the realm of foreign policy. Of course, you do have a lot of institutions here, like the military in Iran that do play a very large role.
But, the President and his government can certainly shape things as well. And we have heard some policy differences between the conservatives and the moderate who are left in this race, where the conservatives, both of the frontrunners, are saying that they want to continue the policies of Ebrahim Raisi, which is very combative towards the United States, of course, also very combative towards Israel as well, whereas Masoud Pezeshkian, the moderate who is still in this race, he is calling especially for better relations with countries here in the regions to try and get some sort of detente going. That is one of the things that is actually a pretty key issue here for voters on the ground, for voters here in Iran.
The biggest issue, though, I would say for them is, of course, the sanctions that are on Iran and the economic situation of this country as well, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Great job. Thank you so much, Fred Pleitgen, there in Tehran.
And then there is France, where voters will be going to the polls on Sunday for a snap parliamentary election. They'll decide whether they want to keep President Emmanuel Macron and his centrist government in power, or choose the far-right National Rally party and its longtime leader Marine Le Pen. If no one gets a majority on Sunday, a second round of voting will be held a week later. Macron called the snap national election after his party came in a distant second to Le Pen's far-right group in the recent European parliamentary elections.
More now from CNN's Melissa Bell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was for France's National Rally a historic win. The European elections marked the first time the hard right had won a poll nationally. Now, the party is campaigning for seats in France's parliament and a shot at government.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): The party was long demonized. That's the work that Marine Le Pen and her team have managed to do to show that we are a party capable of governing and a party that is democratic.
BELL (voice-over): No mean feat for a woman who inherited the party from her father, the Holocaust denier Jean-Marie Le Pen, who founded the National Rally or National Front, as it was known, with former French members with Hitler's SS, a history steeped in fascism that was credited with long keeping the party from power, even when it got close. France is a country, after all, heavily marked by the horrors of Nazi Germany. BELL: Amongst those atrocities what happened here at Oradour-sur-Glane
eight years ago, when an entire village was rounded up by the SS and killed in cold blood.
BELL (voice-over): The village frozen in time, left exactly as it was on that fateful day 80 years ago in order for the world to remember. But, in the new village rebuilt after the war, the European elections saw the National Rally come first here too.
PHILIPPE LACROIX, MAYOR OF ORADOUR-SUR-GLANE, FRANCE (Interpreted): Here, the National Rally did a big score like in other rural communities. Times have changed. The means of communication are no longer the same. Societal issues have evolved too, and there has been a detoxification of the extremes of the far-right.
BELL (voice-over): The key also for the National Rally, the young, who voted massively in favor of the party that few in the past would have admitted voting for, but that has now gained something that longer you did it.
UNIDEITIFIED MALE (Interpreted): Legitimacy. That's it. We are no longer ostracized. We've taken seriously. They say that the 30 percent of French voted for us, French people who love the country, who don't want to see change and get eaten by globalization.
BELL (voice-over): A message that looks set to resonate in a parliamentary poll that could see the National Rally gain not just legitimacy, but power itself.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Oradour-sur-Glane.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Still to come, back in this country, Donald Trump blaming Nancy Pelosi for the January 6 insurrection during the CNN presidential debate, and he falsely claimed that some Capitol rioters were ushered in by police.
[08:30:00]
A look at that and other misleading statements, when we come back. Then, nervous U.S. allies are weighing in after last night's debate, with one Israeli newspaper calling Biden "meandering" and Trump "pathological." Ahead, we'll take a look at international reaction and some of the foreign policy issues discussed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Turning back now to our top story, the CNN presidential debate, the day-after reaction among Democrats is swift and it's clear, Joe Biden's performance was concerning. The President and his Republican rival Donald Trump sparred over issues ranging from immigration to the economy during their first showdown of the 2024 election cycle. But, it was Mr. Biden's low, shaky voice and his demeanor that has many supporters alarmed. Trump's performance, meanwhile, was filled with misleading statements, and he downplayed his role in the January 6 insurrection, minimizing his efforts to overturn the election.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: My question was, what do you say to those voters who believe that you violated your constitutional oath through your actions and inaction on January 6, 2021 and worry that you'll do it again?
TRUMP: Well, I didn't say that to anybody. I said peacefully and patriotically. And Nancy Pelosi, if you just watched the news from two days ago, on tape to her daughter, who is a documentary filmmaker, they say, what she is saying, oh, no, it's my responsibility. I was responsible for this, because I offered her 10,000 soldiers or National Guard and she turned them down.
BIDEN: She sat there for three hours, three hours, watching, begging, being begged by his Vice President and a number of his colleagues and Republicans out as well to do something, to call for a stop, to end it. Instead, he talked there, talked about if it'd be patriots and great patrons of America. And he didn't do a damn thing. And these people should be in jail, and he should be the ones are being held accountable. And he wants to let them all out. And now he says if he loses again, such a whiner that he is, that it could be a bloodbath.
TAPPER: Thank you, President Biden. President Trump.
[08:35:00]
TRUMP: What they've done to some people that are so innocent, you ought to be ashamed of yourself, what you have done, how you've destroyed the lives of so many people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. There were a lot of things said at the debate. Some of them were less than accurate and some were outright lies. Most of the false claims came from former President Donald Trump.
CNN's Daniel Dale fact checks some of the claims made by the two candidates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: I counted at least 30, 30 false claims. Now, President Biden also made false claims, at least nine false or misleading statements on first count, and I'll give you some of them. He said he is the only President in a while who didn't have any troops dying anywhere in the world. Troops have, of course, died on his watch. He said he is putting in a $15 per shot cap on insulin and Medicare. It's a $35 a month cap. He said it's a $200 cap on overall drug spending and Medicare. It's $2,000 a year.
He said the border now has fewer crossings than when Trump was in office. That's generally not true. He said or at least strongly suggested unemployment was at 15 percent when he took office. It was actually 6.4 percent. He said Trump wants to get rid of Social Security. Trump doesn't. He said billionaires pay 8.2 percent in taxes. It's much higher. He said Trump told Americans to inject bleach amid COVID. We know Trump made foolish comments about scientists studying disinfectant injection, but didn't frame it as advice to people. And Biden said the Border Patrol endorsed him. No. Its unions supported the border bill. He had supported. Never endorsed him himself. In fairness, the President did appear to clarify that one.
Now, the Trump list, it is way, way longer. So, deep breath, he said some Democratic states allow people to execute babies after birth, an egregious lie that is illegal in every state. He said everybody, even Democrats, wanted Roe v. Wade overturned. Roe was supported by two thirds of Americans, even more Democrats. He said every legal scholar wanted Roe overturned, abortion to return to the states. Legal scholars have told me directly this is not true. He said the U.S. currently has the biggest budget deficit ever. No. That happened under Trump in 2020. He said the U.S. currently has a record trade deficit with China. That also happened under Trump in 2018.
He said Biden personally gets a lot of money from China. Zero evidence of this. He said there were no terror attacks during his presidency. In fact, there were multiple attacks. He said Iran didn't fund Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terror groups under his presidency. Iran, in fact, did. He said Biden wants to quadruple people's taxes. That is pure fiction. He said the U.S. has provided way more aid to Ukraine than Europe had. It's actually the opposite. He said the U.S. has provided about $200 billion in Ukraine aid. It's closer to $110 billion.
He said 18 or 19 million people have crossed the border under Biden. That is millions too high. He said many of these migrants are from prisons or mental institutions. His own campaign cannot corroborate this. He said Biden has only created jobs for illegal immigrants, total nonsense. He said Nancy Pelosi turned down his offer of 10,000 National Guard troops on January 6. There is no evidence she even got such an offer. It was the President not Pelosi who had the power to deploy the D.C. guard. He said Pelosi now acknowledges she turned down the troops. Her office tells me this claim is still a lie. He said he deployed the National Guard to Minneapolis in 2020. Actually, that was the Democratic governor.
He spoke of quote, "ridiculous fraud in the 2020 election". Zero evidence of any widespread fraud. He said NATO was going out of business before he took office. Completely, clearly absurd. He said the U.S. was paying 100 percent of NATO before he came along. The U.S. made up about 71 percent of NATO. Defense spending not 100 percent. He said he, not Biden, is the one who lowered insulin prices and Medicare. He did it for some seniors. But, Biden did it for far more.
He said Biden indicted him again. No evidence Biden has had a personal role at any of these four prosecutions. He said Europe takes no U.S. cars. Just not true. He spoke of food prices quadrupling under Biden. That's a wild exaggeration, though they are up. He said Biden made up the idea he called dead service members "suckers and losers". Note, The Atlantic magazine reported that, and then former Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly corroborated it. He said Biden called Black people quote, "super predators" for 10 years. Biden never once deployed that phrase, let alone for 10 years, though he did at least one speak of quote "predators" without specifying is about black people.
He said his Trump tax cut was the largest in U.S. history. Not true, though, in fairness, Biden also said this. Trump said China and others stopped buying from Iran under him. China never stopped. He revived his pet lie, I don't know how many times I've done it that he signed the Veterans Choice Program into law. Barack Obama did that in 2014. Trump signed an expanded version in 2018. And finally, Trump said Biden got rid of that Veterans Program. Biden has not done that.
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WHITFIELD: Daniel Dale, thanks so much.
All right. So, it's not just in the U.S. President Biden is facing a torrent of bad reviews worldwide following his debate performance. Here is how one British tabloid described the night, "Biden Bombs". While foreign policy was not the main topic of discussion, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza did prompt a lengthy exchange.
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TRUMP: Just getting back to Ukraine for one second. We have an ocean separating us. The European nations together have spent $100 billion or maybe more than that, less than us. Why doesn't he call them and say you got to put up your money like I did with NATO?
[08:40:00]
I got them to put up hundreds of billions of dollars. The Secretary General of NATO said Trump did the most incredible job I've ever seen. You wouldn't -- they wouldn't have any. They were going out of business. We were spending -- almost 100 percent of the money was paid by us. He didn't do that. He is getting old. You got to ask these people to put up the money. We're over $100 billion more spent, and it has a bigger impact on them because of location, because we have an ocean in between.
You got to ask him, as far as Israel and Hamas, Israel is the one that wants to go. He said the only one who wants to keep going is Hamas. Actually, Israel is the one. And you should let them go and let them finish the job. He doesn't want to do it. He has become like a Palestinian. But, they don't like him because he is a very bad Palestinian. He is a weak one.
BASH: President Biden, you have a minute.
BIDEN: I've never heard so much foolishness. This a guy who wants to get out of NATO. You're going to stay in NATO? He is going to pull out of NATO. The idea that we have -- our strength lies on our alliances as well. It may be a big ocean, but we're never able to avoid a war in Europe, a major war in Europe. What happens if in fact you have Putin continue to go into NATO? We have an Article Five agreement, attack on one is attack on all. You want to start a nuclear war, he keeps talking about. Go ahead. Let Putin go in, control Ukraine, and then move on to Poland and other places. See what happens then. He has no idea what the hell he is talking about. (END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Nic Robertson joining me now live from London. Hello to you, Nic. So, the prospect of Trump returning to the White House is alarming for a lot of U.S. allies. Just how concerned are they after last night?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think if you look at the press headlines, it really voices what we're not hearing from leaders. You wouldn't really expect leaders to weigh in at the moment, whether it's a British newspapers you mentioned there, or the Italians or the French or the Greek. They were all talking about the panic in the Democrats and Biden running out of gas. Interestingly, the Russian state TV, one of their primary primetime shows, if you will, the anchor there really parodying Biden and talking about the whole debate as being a show for pensioners. And I mentioned there, of course, that President Putin himself is of pensionable age.
But, the point being that Russia essentially laughing at Biden and Biden's performance. Now, we heard from the Kremlin spokesman saying that President Putin didn't watch the debate and they wouldn't comment on internal affairs in the United States. But, I think if you stand back and look at who are the winners and who the losers, if you will, at a very simplistic level, Putin is a winner. President Zelenskyy is not. The European Union, NATO, not China, maybe not because of the threat of tariffs. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel, a winner, United States, Saudi allies or other Gulf partners, maybe losers in that because President -- former President Trump refused to answer the question about a Palestinian state, which really is the off ramp for all those Gulf States who are looking for a way out of the Gaza war at the moment.
And as far as Donald Trump's comments that the Israelis should be able to continue with what they're doing, will that be read by Prime Minister Netanyahu was a green light from Donald Trump to go into Lebanon? Is he just talking about Gaza, or is he talking about the concerns that the Israelis have about Hezbollah in Lebanon?
So, I think, there is a lot there for allies to worry about, because they see a greater likelihood of Trump coming back and they see Trump has not changed. The world has. It's more dangerous. And he may well be leading the United States into that.
WHITFIELD: You mentioned Putin not watching the debate, but there are also other autocratic governments seeking to upend the U.S.-led global world order. Has there been any reaction from some of those other countries?
ROBERTSON: Not seeing that at the moment. But, for example, China, right, China now recognizes that, like the others, likely Trump is coming back, that he is going to put up trade tariffs. He is going to do it on China. He said he would because he wants to reset the trade balance with the United States and also because of opioids, fentanyl, and those sorts of things as a punishment to China. So, China can see that coming. OK. Hold that thought about China. And remember that countries like Saudi Arabia, who are very important allies of the United States and were a big friend of Donald Trump when he was President, the first country he visited, signing big military deals with Saudi Arabia, the Saudis also looking towards China as well.
But, China is becoming a bigger interlocutor in the Middle East for bringing peace in the Middle East, this rapprochement between the Saudis and the Iranians, China helps -- China help bring that into being.
[08:45:00]
So, if Trump is effectively shutting down avenues for strengthening United States' relationship in the Gulf, the two-state solution being a key part of that for Gulf allies, he is opening the door to China, and China is looking at the United States, thinking oh, higher trade tariffs, oh, a more aggressive precedent set against us and our rightful economic place in the world, these things all have interconnecting confluences and interactions. And so, the whole effect here, I think, when you look at China, is one that is going to leave them, a, worried, and b, thinking that they have opportunities to expand their influence.
WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson in London, good to see you. Thank you so much.
All right. Still to come, some welcome news for some sick and wounded children in Gaza who have been evacuated to Egypt. Details, straight ahead.
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WHITFIELD: Israeli forces are pushing deeper into southern and northern Gaza. Reuters cites Palestinian health officials who say several people were killed in shelling in Rafah. Meanwhile, 68 sick and injured children in Gaza were evacuated to Egypt. Israel says they'll receive medical treatment in Egypt or elsewhere. Gaza's healthcare system has largely collapsed after months of relentless fighting. The World Health Organization says more than 10,000 patients still need to be evacuated for medical reasons.
CNN's Nada Bashir is tracking the developments, and joining us now from London. Good to see you. So, tell us more about the evacuation of children.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, we have seen evacuations like this in the past. The Israeli government and authorities cooperating with the Egyptian authorities and United Nations to allow those in need of urgent medical care to be evacuated into Egypt. But, this is the first medical evacuation of this sort that we have seen in weeks since the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza was closed. This actual crossing took place at the Kerem Shalom or Karem Abu Salem crossing into Egypt, according to our stringer on the ground there.
On the Egyptian side of the border, there were Egyptian ambulances waiting on standby to take those patients to nearby medical facilities, many of them, of course, being taken to Cairo, the capital, where they will receive medical treatment. But, as we know, there are a number of field hospitals that have also been set up in Egypt. We actually had the opportunity to visit a floating field hospital just off the coast of North Sinai being operated by the French military. So, there is certainly a lot of international cooperation going on here. This particular evacuation, according to Israeli authorities, took place with the cooperation of both the Egyptian authorities and the United States, and that again another crucial partner in all this.
[08:50:00]
But, as you mentioned, Fredricka, there is a growing need for more people to be evacuated. Gaza's healthcare infrastructure has entirely collapsed. There are few hospitals left that are able to cope with the capacity of the sick and injured in Gaza. And of course, this was particularly focuses -- evacuation focused on children. There are many adults, of course, who are in desperate need of medical attention. As you mentioned, more than 10,000, according to the World Health Organization, children still need to be evacuated from the Gaza Strip in desperate need of medical attention.
Of course, what we have also seen on the ground in Gaza is not only the destruction of the healthcare infrastructure there, but what we've seen is international medical organizations and NGOs coming into the Gaza Strip, but that is growing more and more challenging because of the security situation on the ground. We've seen medical workers, of course, coming under attack, being killed in Israeli airstrikes. And this has made it extremely difficult for humanitarian organizations to actually operate safely on the grounds. That is having a significant effect.
And as these airstrikes continue, as the military operation deepens into Gaza, it is of course civilians on the ground that are paying the highest price, including those -- including children desperately in need of medical attention. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Nada Bashir from London, thank you so much.
All right. Turning now to Kenya, where renewed anti-government protests led to clashes between demonstrators and police on Thursday. Police could be seen firing tear gas canisters at protesters, who once again took to the streets of Nairobi, demanding justice for demonstrators killed in earlier protest and calling for the resignation of President Ruto. These protests come after a controversial tax bill sparked clashes that killed at least 23 people, a local organization reports. Kenya's President scrapped the legislation after the deadly demonstrations.
All right. More news after this.
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WHITFIELD: OK. So, we've spent much of this hour reviewing the CNN presidential debate. At one point, Biden and Trump squabbling over which of them as the better golfer, and they spent time insulting each other, including this exchange where they debated who was the worst President in U.S. history.
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TRUMP: Joe, our country is being destroyed, as you and I sit up here and waste a lot of time on this debate. This shouldn't be a debate. He is the worst President. He just said about me because they said it.
BIDEN: The idea that we're talking about worst presidents, I wasn't joking. Look it up or go online. 159 or 158, I don't know the exact are presidential historians. They've had meetings and they voted who was the worst President in American history, best to worst. They said he was the worst in all of American history. That's a fact. That's not conjecture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: President Biden and former President Trump are scheduled to debate a second time, September 10.
And finally, like father like son, LeBron James' eldest son Bronny is now poised to play alongside his superstar dad after he was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers as the 55th pick in the NBA draft on Thursday.
[08:55:00]
They could become the first father-son duo to hit the NBA court at the same time. LeBron has spoken of his desire to play with his son, saying he would do whatever it takes to make it happen. Meanwhile, Bronny says on social media that he is quote "beyond blessed". Last summer, the 19-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest and missed part of the season while in recovery. Good luck to them both.
All right. Thank you so much for joining me here in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Connect the World with Becky Anderson is up next.
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