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Today, Harris in Battleground Arizona, Trump Stumps in Montana; Feds Concerned About Potential Attack at DNC in Chicago; Calls Grow Louder for Illinois Sheriff to Step Down After Deputy Killed Sonya Massey. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired August 09, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. You are live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

Today, Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz are taking their surging campaign out west with a rally and another crucial swing state, Arizona. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump is back with a campaign event in Montana, which is not really a battleground state in the race for the White House. And that rally is happening five days after his last one. Yesterday, he said he hasn't gone to a single swing state this week because he is, quote, leading by a lot. That is not true. In fact, Harris is ahead in many of the most recent polls.

The vice president's momentum has Trump changing course and now agreeing to debate her in September after saying for five days that the matchup was, quote, terminated. It's a challenge Harris is welcoming enthusiastically.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm glad that he's finally agreed to a debate on September 10th. I'm looking forward to it and hope he shows up.

REPORTER: In debating Trump, are you confident in Vice President Harris?

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Yes, I am, as long as you keep him talking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Trump's offered to debate Harris two more times this fall came during a rambling, rant-filled news conference featuring familiar falsehoods. At times, it turned abrasive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: What a stupid question.

She picked a radical left, man, heavy into the transgender world, heavy into lots of different worlds.

There'll be a peaceful transfer. And there was last time.

Nobody was killed on January 6th.

We're very close to a world war.

Kim Jong-un liked me a lot.

They wanted to get rid of Roe v. Wade. And that's Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, and everybody.

It's possible that I won't do as well with black women.

White males, way up. White males have gone through the roof. White males, way up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: All right. Let's break some of this down. Joining me now, CNN Political Reporter Daniel Strauss and CNN Senior Reporter Isaac Dovere.

Isaac, we just learned that the political arm of the League of United Latin American Citizens, known as LULAC, has endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket. It's the group's first presidential endorsement, if we have this right, in its 95-year history. The Latino vote has not gotten a whole lot of press in recent weeks, but it's one of the keys to the election. How big is this for the Harris campaign and how is she hoping to maintain this momentum that she's enjoying right now, because it's certainly swung in her direction?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes. Look, when it comes to the Latino vote, this is an area of voters that has been hotly contested by both Republicans and Democrats, where Trump was making a lot of inroads against Biden and Harris hoping to and the campaign is win Arizona and Nevada herself, as Joe Biden did in 2020. Latino votes key there as it is another place, by the way, in Georgia, too, a lot of Latino voters.

But for the Harris campaign, it's trying to figure out how to bring her message across to them. Let's take a look at an ad from the campaign. This week is one of their first ads targeted at Latino voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you're raised by an immigrant mother, you learn what's possible with determination.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And determination is how Kamala Harris --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- went from working in McDonald's to -- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- prosecutor --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- state attorney general --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- U.S. senator --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- and our vice president --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- in only one generation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And with that same determination --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- she always defended us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOVERE: Now, look, Kamala Harris, obviously not an immigrant herself, but the child of two immigrants, and it's linking her to that immigrant story and the success of it, the kind of dream of what it is to be an immigrant in America, that she can go from one generation to now running for president.

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Daniel, I mean, we saw the former president yesterday trying to deal with this question of, you know, what is happening with this campaign. The ground has shifted under his feet, he doesn't seem as steady on his feet as he was when he was facing Joe Biden. What's going on?

DANIEL STRAUSS, CNN REPORTER: Yes. Look, I think the press conference yesterday was an irony for Trump, that it was supposed to stabilize and regain the momentum and the attention he had in the national spotlight, but it also really put on display how he's searching for a message, he's searching for a parry, he's searching for a response to the fact that he's not running against Joe Biden anymore. He's running against Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

So, he's running against two people who are younger.

[10:05:00]

He's running against a vice presidential nominee who is new on the stage and very dynamic in a surprising way and has the backing of the liberal wing of the internet, I guess you'd say. And what we're going to see going forward is him trying to go back and play his hits from 2016, these long press conferences. I don't know if that's going to play the same way it did back then.

ACOSTA: Yes, it's certainly trying to go back to the golden oldies, and it's worked in the past. It's not clear that it's working this time around, certainly not yesterday. Isaac and Daniel, thank you very much.

The Trump campaign is brushing off Kamala Harris' surge in the polls as just a honeymoon phase, but when Trump was asked a question about the enthusiasm behind his Democratic rival, he tried to compare his own crowd on January 6th, the day of the attack on the Capitol, and that to the massive gathering on hand for civil rights icon Martin Luther King when he delivered his I Have a Dream speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Are you worried at all about the size of Harris' crowds?

TRUMP: Listen, I had 107,000 people in New Jersey. You didn't record it. What did she have yesterday? 2,000 people?

I have 10 times, 20 times, 30 times the crowd size in history. For any country, nobody's had crowds like I have.

Nobody's spoken to crowds bigger than me. If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours, same real estate, same everything, we actually had more people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: For the record, MLK's I Have a Dream speech was 25 times larger than the crowd Trump was referencing on January 6th.

Let's discuss with CNN Political Commentators Paul Begala and Scott Jennings. And, Scott, let me start with you first. I mean, is Trump just going for the gold in the B.S. Olympics? I mean, are you concerned that he's not well when he's talking about his crowd size on January 6th and comparing it to Martin Luther King?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning to you, Jim. Hello, Paul. If I might just filibuster for another eight minutes here, no. Look, the reality is they got to get on message. They got to get on message. They were on message against Biden. They're off message against Harris. The frame against Biden was obvious, strength versus weakness. They were prosecuting it in a ruthless way, and they were winning. The framing against Harris is obvious. We've got common sense conservative versus radical liberals. It's very obvious what they ought to do. None of what you just played, none of what was said has anything to do with any of that. And so they're either going to get on message or they're not.

Harris has no policies on her website. She won't take questions. She's renouncing all of her past positions. She's all over the place. This is a time when they could be defining her and trying to get back into this -- some offensive posture here. But they're not doing it yet, and they need to.

ACOSTA: Yes, Paul, I mean Trump, you know, when he was making that comparison to MLK, it's not good when MLK's family has to respond. MLK's daughter tweeted, we put this up on screen, that she wishes people would stop using her father to support fallacy. How is it that we're hearing, you know, from Trump in this fashion, do you think? What's going on? Because, I mean, for a while there, all the questions, and, Scott, you and I talked about this as well, the questions were about Joe Biden's age, his mental acuity, his sharpness, is he all there? And when you're talking about your crowd -- to Martin Luther King, I just think, you know, you don't have to be a beltway -- from Kokomo would scratch his head at that. PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, that's all they're talking about at the tractor supply store in Baraboo, Wisconsin. It's like, whose crowd is bigger than MLK's. I watched that presser yesterday, Jim. And here's what I thought, honestly. You know what came to mind? Signal 30.

This is what Signal 30 is. My sister Kathleen got me a job when we were in high school working at Astroworld, which was this, you know, amusement park in Houston, and she was on the grounds crew, and I worked on the rides. And one of the rides was this great roller coaster, Texas Cyclone, and every single day in those hot Houston summers, some kid would get off the Texas Cyclone roller coaster and lose his lunch, and the grounds crew had a code for that on the radio. It was Signal 30.

And I watched that. I wanted to call Kathleen and say, Kathleen, Signal 30 at Mar-a-Lago, because it just meant you'd lost it and literally lost your lunch. And I think that's what Mr. Trump was doing yesterday. It was really kind of sad. I kind of felt sorry for him.

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Scott, I mean, I was looking at Peggy Noonan's piece in The Wall Street Journal and, you know, she was taking note of the press conference yesterday. She wrote this, for the first time this week, I thought people were wondering about the impact of Mr. Trump's age. He is 78. He hasn't been able to focus, make his case. Is he in another irony of 2024 turning into Joe Biden? You know, that isn't from the Huffington Post or the Daily Kos. I mean, that's Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal.

JENNINGS: Yes, I don't think it's that stark. I mean, Joe Biden is rarely seen in public when he does. It's weird. I mean, he was --

ACOSTA: He was just in an interview on CBS, but, yes, go ahead.

[10:10:02]

JENNINGS: Okay. Yes. And it was super weird. I mean, a lot of mumbling, a lot of weird statements, a lot of misstatements.

I mean, look, I think Trump is capable. He's competent to go out there and campaign. He is going to campaign, you know, more vigorously than Biden ever was. To me, the core question is what are you saying? I mean, whether you're doing it in a rally or in an interview or whatever you're doing, what are you saying? And the American people have to know what he's running on versus what she's running on. She's not running on anything. She's running on, you know, running away from her past positions.

But he has to make the case. He had it down against Biden, strength versus weakness. It was simple. Everybody got it. Everybody knew it. In this case, Harris is just running on, I'm not Trump. Trump has to run on something better than that and define her as something worse than that. And that's really where the campaign has to figure it out this week.

And so I think people -- yes, he's older than her, but I don't think he's anywhere near the levels of problematic age issues that Joe Biden had when he got run out of his own party.

ACOSTA: And, Paul, I mean, does the Trump campaign have something right here in that they're saying that Kamala Harris is enjoying a honeymoon phase that the hard questions are going to begin? She did agree to a debate with Trump in September. Those questions are not all going to be easy. At some point, she's going to have to put out an economic plan. She's going to have to put out plans that folks will have to go through and pore over and so on. I mean, this phase that she's in right now with Tim Walz, that ain't going to last forever.

BEGALA: No, I guess honeymoons don't last forever. I just had my 35th wedding anniversary and so I'm still on mine. It can last and it will, because she's got so much talent. Look, I've done a lot of campaigns. One of my rules is politicians make 75 percent of their mistakes in a campaign in the first 25 percent of that campaign, right, because it's like drag racing on gravel. You know, you just throw in a lot of rocks and then you get traction and take off. This woman hasn't slipped yet.

She'll make mistakes. I don't want to hold her to a standard of perfection, but I have been so impressed. Her campaign this morning released a new ad that I loved. It is a tough on border security ad, something Democrats have not been talking about. It is a great ad. It shows folks in uniform. It talks about her being a border state prosecutor and prosecuting drug gangs and prosecuting fentanyl. She is taking the fight on Trump's very best issue, border security, right to him with real strength and with a terrific message. So, I actually think she's obviously got a ton of substance. I'm not worried about that.

What she is doing is taking and she's confused Trump. For Trump, don't know whether to -- what's the saying? He doesn't know whether to scratch his watch or wind his butt.

ACOSTA: Yes. Well, guys, I'm sure we'll have plenty of conversations like this in the days to come. Good to have you both on. I really appreciate it.

JENNINGS: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: Thank you.

BEGALA: Thank you.

ACOSTA: The Trump assassination attempt is now fueling concerns of a retaliatory attack at the Democratic Convention in Chicago. CNN's Josh Campbell has some new reporting on this. Josh, what can you tell us?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim. Security preparations have been underway for months for the DNC, but in a new intelligence bulletin obtained by CNN, we're getting new insight on a new type of threat after that attempted assassination. It has law enforcement on alert. That's coming up.

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[10:15:00] ACOSTA: We have gotten some new dramatic body cam video showing the chaotic scene during the attempted assassination of former President Trump. If you haven't seen it yet, you have to take a look at this. CNN obtain the footage from Butler Police in Pennsylvania, it shows a local officer saying he warned the Secret Service about the roof where the shooter was perched. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I (BLEEP) told them they need to post the (BLEEP) guys over here. I told him that (BLEEP) the Secret Service. I told him that (BLEEP) Tuesday. I told him to post (BLEEP) guys over here.

What? No, we're inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alpha one Bravo one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (BLEEP) I told him to post guys over here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Secret Service has acknowledged its failure to secure the building the shooter accessed and said it is reviewing the newly released body cam video as a result of the assassination attempt. The feds are now on high alert for potential retaliatory attacks at the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

CNN's Josh Campbell joins us now. Josh, this is very concerning. The DNC is just a little more than a week from now. What more are you learning about this potential threat that has officials concerned?

CAMPBELL: Yes, Jim. It's important to note at the outset that there's no indication that Trump's shooter was motivated by politics. He appeared to have divergent political views, but nevertheless, we saw after that attempted, assassination all these conspiracy theories start to spread online, that this was the work of Democrats. That now has authorities concerned.

In a new intelligence assessment for the Democratic National Convention, authorities warned of this new type of threat that they are concerned about. I'll read you part of that bulletin. They say that the FBI and DHS remain concerned about the potential for follow on or retaliatory attacks of violence following the 13th July, 2024 assassination attempt on Trump, particularly given that individuals in some online communities that threatened, encouraged or referenced acts of violence in response to the attempted assassination.

Now, DHS tells me that there is no specific or credible threat associated with the convention but they are certainly on alert. And it's worth pointing out that it's not just domestic extremists. We've been reporting on this uptick in concerns about foreign terrorists as well. You just look at the Taylor Swift concert targeted in Europe. That shows us that groups like ISIS are very much still plotting and planning. Law enforcement will have a lot to grapple with, Jim, when they greet these 50,000 visitors in Chicago in just over a week.

[10:20:03]

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, Josh, it's interesting that you point out it's the misinformation, it's some of the framing by those intentional, you know, trolls on the far right and how they've tried to frame all of this that has law enforcement officials concerned about. And how are they preparing for this massive event, because the Secret Service had that failure during the Trump assassination attempt? I mean, I have to think that they're going to go into overdrive along with local Chicago police for the DNC.

CAMPBELL: Yes, that will certainly be front of mind for law enforcement in Chicago. This has been deemed a national special security event by the DHS secretary, which means that there will be a host of law enforcement resources on hand.

Again, they've been preparing for months and months. You'll have hundreds of officers, not just from Chicago, but agents brought in from around the country, from various different federal agencies. There will be a security posture that you see as officers are out in full force, protecting the venue, but there'll be a lot that you won't see, including anti-drone technology and cyber infrastructure protection resources that will certainly be on alert for any type of cyber threat, so a lot that will be going on.

But, you know, law enforcement tells us that they can only do so much. In a recent press conference, officials spoke about security preparations, and they said a lot of this comes down to the public. They need members of the public to reach out to law enforcement and provide any tips that could help prevent any threats. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUCAS ROTHAAR, FBI ACTING SPECIAL AGENT: The public is a key partnership in disrupting all the threats that we endeavor to fight.

There is no such thing as something too insignificant to report. I would encourage everybody, if you see something suspicious, if something you feel is threatening, whether it's an online threat or comment, or it's whether you see something in person, please report it to law enforcement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: And finally, it's worth pointing out that it's not just threats that law enforcement will be on alert for, but they're also will be engaged in crowd control. We're expecting a lot of protests there, particularly with tensions in the Middle East that have resulted in heated protests here in the U.S., you know, a lot of work for police when this thing starts in just over a week.

ACOSTA: Yes, they've got a big task on their hands. Josh Campbell, thank you very much, a very important report, we appreciate it.

From Simone Biles opening up about her therapy sessions during the Paris games to Noah Lyles revealing he has anxiety and depression, the message From Olympic athletes is clear. Mental health is very important and should not be a taboo subject. Coming up, I'll be joined by Aly Raisman to discuss all of this, the Olympic champion herself. We'll talk to her in just a few moments.

Stay with us.

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[10:25:00]

ACOSTA: It is now more than a month since Sonya Massey was gunned down in her Illinois home by a sheriff's deputy and calls continue to grow louder for the resignation of embattled Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell. Critics have accused Campbell of mishandling the fallout from that incident and ignoring red flags when he hired now former Deputy Sean Grayson who shot Massey. Grayson now faces charges including first degree murder, and he has pled not guilty.

Perhaps the highest profile call for Campbell's resignation came this week from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): This isn't about politics. It's about bringing people together in Sangamon County and making people feel safe. And the sheriff -- it's the sheriff's job to make people feel safe. And he's done the opposite of that by not answering questions by going to a church and beginning, you know, his remarks by saying, I'm not resigning, like as if that's the first thing people want to hear. And then there are signs that have been put up about saving him, not doing something about the murder of Sonya Massey, but about saving his political career. So, I think he's the one that's played politics. It's time for him to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Joining me now is the mayor of Springfield, Misty Buscher. Mayor Buscher, thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate it. What do you think about what the governor had to say there? Should Sheriff Campbell resign?

MAYOR MISTY BUSCHER (D-SPRINGFIELD, IL): Good morning. I actually spent some time with the governor yesterday morning. We had a ribbon- cutting ceremony to kick off the Illinois State Fair. And some of the media asked the governor about his opinion about Sheriff Campbell and should he resign during that ceremony. And the governor repeated what you've just played that people are frustrated and people feel like, as an elected official, that the sheriff should be answering some questions. And I personally believe that's why the governor has requested that the sheriff resign, is because citizens want questions answered.

And from my perception as mayor, when I talk to citizens in my community, stakeholders in my community and the Massey-Wilburn family, what people want to know is the hiring process at the county level, how did Sean Grayson get hired and the training process at the county level, what is the training process? And I feel like even though Sheriff Campbell is a friend of mine on a personal level, I feel that that's where the community is frustrated and thinks that they are not getting their answers, it's where was the hiring process, how did this happen, and what was the training process?

And as elected officials, sometimes the answers we give aren't our favorite answer because sometimes the honest truth isn't what's best for us as an elected official that we did our best job, but that's what needs to be said, if that's the case. I don't know that's the case, but that's what needs to be said, if that's the case.

ACOSTA: And so, Mayor, if you don't mind me pressing you just a little bit, so do you think he should step down? You said he's a friend of yours. Is that why you're holding back and calling for his resignation?

BUSCHER: No. I think that, as an elected official, we have a responsibility to the people that we serve, not just the community, but the employees we represent. And I take --

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