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Iran Suspected as Latest Threat to U.S. Election; UAW Files Labor Charges Against Trump and Musk; Trump Allies Concerned on His Inability to Stay on Message; Republicans Slam Harris for Not Giving Interviews; Tim Walz Hitting Back at Those Attacking His Military Service; Walz: "I Am Damn Proud" of My Military Service; How to Lower Dementia Risk. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired August 14, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST AND FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: We risk kind of underestimating Iran because this particular hack wasn't very sophisticated, but it can have outsized effects.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And it's -- Miles, it sounds like they're trying it again. And federal investigators say -- you know, and Miles, you and I have talked about this. We've seen this playbook before in the 2016 presidential election. Investigators say Russia, of course, infiltrated both campaigns to try to help Donald Trump in 2020. Russian, Chinese, and Iranian hackers targeted both campaigns.

And just weeks ago, the feds warned that Russia, China, and Iran are again seeking to influence this upcoming election. I mean, you would think by now we would be ready for this sort of thing, but it just goes to show you these foreign actors are going to continue to try to do this and find vulnerabilities.

MILES TAYLOR, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY NIELSEN: Well, I have to agree with Beth that the phishing attacks are a relatively simple tactic, but we know from past history, as you note, Jim, that they can have extraordinary effects. I mean, the Russian interference in U.S. elections in 2016 began with phishing attacks that resulted in information that was then hacked and leaked. And here we are, eight years later, we are still dealing with the fallout, the political fallout of that interference.

So, I think it's too early to say what the repercussions will be from this Iran intervention. But I think we can be confident in knowing that this is not the end of it. And I think the bigger data point here is that interference in U.S. elections has really become a sport that a lot more countries are starting to play in. I mean, in 2016, we saw our biggest foreign adversary -- one of our biggest foreign adversaries, Russia, interfering in our elections. But more and more countries are getting into the fold. This is something that we had been warning about for a number of years, and I would not suspect that this election it stops with Iran.

Now, behind the scenes, Jim, the conversation in the White House Situation Room is what to do next. And we had these conversations in the last administration about what to do when you get this information. Do you investigate it? Do you keep the details quiet? Do you declassify some of the information? And you can expect the Biden administration right now, given the sensitivity, is in a deep debate and discussion about the appropriate next steps.

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Beth, I mean, one of the things that, I mean, these foreign actors are doing is they're trying to exploit polarization.

SANNER: Completely.

ACOSTA: I mean, that's part of the game plan. Yes.

SANNER: It's a huge part of the game plan, right? Especially for countries that may not have decided which candidate is better. I mean, I think that we know Russia has decided that Trump would be better for them, and Iran has decided that Harris would be better for them. So, you know, we have that. But the disruptive effect of this is what I think is the most concerning and what voters need to pay attention to.

I'm less worried about them being influenced in some way by this kind of media and disinformation than I am a message that comes out that looks very authentic, that's targeted and tell someone their polling station has been moved or closed, or that creates real doubt about whether the votes were counted correctly. And we should expect that A.I. generated images, fake newscasters, these kinds of things can make someone look like they're cheating in terms of counting.

And so, that is what I am most worried about is, you know, right around the election and right after the election, can these actors disrupt and make Americans believe that the votes weren't correct?

ACOSTA: Yes, Miles, I mean, how big of a concern is that for you, given what we saw take place on January 6th, and you see Trump is already out there on the campaign trail making all sorts of claims that the election this time around might be rigged? A foreign actor, a foreign operative, a, a hostile nation to the United States, obviously would see opportunity in that.

TAYLOR: Yes, Jim, I'm less worried about the October surprise this go around. I'm more worried about the November surprise. We know things are going to happen in October. We know foreign adversaries are going to engage in nefarious activity to sow discord. But now they've seen, from our past election cycle in 2020, that chaos can be sowed after the election by casting doubt on the legitimacy.

My fear is that foreign adversaries want to get into that game with a November surprise, regardless of who loses, to try to sow doubt about the legitimacy of the election. And that could happen, as Beth noted, with deepfakes. There's not enough being done to help state, federal, local election officials with deep (INAUDIBLE).

But really, Jim, this comes down to attribution and consequences. We've gotten better the past few years at attribution about knowing which bad guys are doing what, what we are not good at as a country right now is consequences. And if we were, we wouldn't have these adversaries meddling because if we had delivered consequences to Russia and China and Iran for meddling in previous elections, they would be deterred from doing it.

[10:35:00]

So, that's something that certainly the Biden administration and others on Capitol Hill are thinking about is how do we deliver swift consequences against these meddling activities to prevent countries to deter them from doing it in the future?

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, that's a great point. I mean, it's almost been a consequence for the environment for these malicious actors out there trying to influence our elections. Beth Sanner, Miles Taylor, we could go on, but that's all the time we have for this particular segment. We'll get back to it. We will definitely talk about this again. Thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

Still ahead, Tim Walz is hitting back at those attacking his military service.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am damn proud of my service to this country. And I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person's service record.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

ACOSTA: This morning, more backlash against Donald Trump praising the world's richest man for firing workers on strike.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But you, you're the greatest cutter. I mean, I look at what you do, you walk in, and you just say you want to quit. They go on strike. They -- I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike, and you say, that's OK, you're all gone. You're all gone.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Vice President Harris and I have both had the privilege of joining workers on the picket line. Donald Trump and J. D. Vance, they see the world very differently than we do. They've waged war on workers. And their ability to collectively bargain, to take that away from them, all's we're asking for is better wages, better benefits, better lives, and dignity in the work that we do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, in response to those comments from Trump, the United Auto Workers Union filed federal labor charges against former president and Elon Musk, and notably, Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, who spoke at the RNC, told Politico that, quote, firing workers for organizing, striking, and exercising their rights as Americans is economic terrorism.

Let's discuss with CNN commentators Paul Begala, Ana Navarro, and former press secretary for Governor Doug Burgum's presidential campaign, Lance Trover.

Lance, let me start with you first. I mean, if you were writing out Trump's talking points, would you have had him praise Elon Musk for firing workers who go on strike?

LANCE TROVER, FORMER SPOKESPERSON FOR GOVERNOR BURGUM'S 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Well, look, Donald Trump says a lot of things when he's on TV, when he's in these things. Look, the union filing a complaint, no one has done better with union workers and blue-collar workers than Donald Trump has. He's rewritten the book over the course of the last eight years.

And I think if you talk to a lot of workers out there, they know that he's been with them and that he is -- they're really focused on the economy. They're really focused on the cost of living and they'll tell you that they -- what the leadership does doesn't always reflect what they do. And that's where Donald Trump has rewritten the book.

I think if you talk to a lot of those union workers out there, they're really focused on the cost of living, which is up over 20 percent since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came into office. So, I think at the end of the day, when the dust settles, that's what union workers are going to be focused on.

ACOSTA: Paul, how quickly would you have written a TV ad after Trump made those comments to Elon Musk?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Oh, man. And as they say in Texas, in a New York minute, you know, this is where the Democratic Party needs to be. I have for years been complaining that the Democrats talk more of the language of the faculty lounge than the factory floor. And Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, Joe Biden too, by the way, brings the Democrats right back to that middle class economic sweet spot.

And look, who better to run against than a billionaire who's in it for himself, you know? And so, I think this is exactly the economic contrast that Democrats want. And Lance speaks good point, Trump did make inroads with those union workers in the last election. Can he sustain it now when he's openly attacking unions and calling for firing people who try to organize? That -- as we say in Texas, again, that dog don't hunt.

ACOSTA: And Anna, I do want to switch gears and talk about this tweet from the Trump campaign. It's racist. There's just no other way to put it. Contrasting what they see as America under Trump versus America under Kamala Harris. It says your neighborhood under Trump white picket fence, American flag, your neighborhood under Kamala. This is -- I'm just looking at the Trump War Room tweet and it shows black and Latino migrants. What was your response when you saw that?

Ana Navarro, You know, it's more of what we already know about Donald Trump, that he peddles in racism. He likes to divide us. He likes to bring up. racial issues. I mean, this is a guy who we've heard now over and over again questioning Kamala Harris' race, refusing to pronounce her name correctly, trying to bring up that she is the child of immigrants. And I said, that is something bad.

This is a guy who has told us that Latino immigrants come here to take black jobs, whatever that means. Hopefully, a black job come November will be a president of the United States. So, you know, I just think it's -- Trump emphasizing who he is, reminding us who he is. For anybody who has had Trump amnesia after the last three and a half years of Joe Biden as president, I think Donald Trump is doing his own bidding of reminding America exactly what he represents, the division, the outrageous comments.

You know, there was something so repulsive about hearing those two very wealthy guys laughing about firing people, doing it in such a kind of a callous manner, right? It's not just what they said, it's how they said it. And I think that's part of, again, Donald Trump reminding us that it's all about Donald Trump. He's a callous man who likes to divide, whether it's racism, whether it's classism, you name it.

[10:45:00]

ACOSTA: And, Lance, are you part of that chorus of Republican allies of Trump saying, hey, get back on message, get back on script, talk about these issues that motivate your voters?

TROVER: I think if you look at what's going on, the campaign is relatively focused on issues. If you look at the advertising that's going on in the swing states they are laser focused on the issues out there. And look, the media likes to focus on --

ACOSTA: Well, no. I mean, the candidate, not the -- candidate, I mean, not the, not the campaign. The candidate though.

TROVER: Understood. Look, and again, that's what I was getting to. The media likes to parse and go apart -- pull apart every single thing that Donald Trump says out there. But if -- also in the Elon Musk interview, there was a substantive portion to that. We can debate all the things they talked about, but in terms of the campaign as well, its issue focused.

But I read in Axios this morning that Kamala Harris is looking to redefine herself. Jim, her spokesperson couldn't even say whether she would do a press conference to you by the end of the month. So, I think really where voters are looking for are to get answers from Kamala Harris and where she stands on the issues.

As far as the campaign itself, Donald Trump, they're laser focused on the issues. It's the Harris campaign that wants to do a bunch of rallies, as you heard her spokesperson say, and not take real questions from reporters and define herself because what we know is the record that we have to go on is one of the most far dangerously left records we've seen in this country, and that's who's running.

So, if she's going to redefine herself, which, by the way, I look at as rewriting history, she needs to come out and tell us where she sees the future of this country going.

ACOSTA: Yes. Ana, what do you think of this press conference thing? Does she need to do one?

NAVARRO: I do think she needs to do one. I do think she needs to sit down for interviews. I think she's been busy. Listen, we forget, but it's only been eight days since she became the presumptive Democratic nominee. I mean, this has been lightning speed. And what has she done in that time? She's been trying to vet and pick her vice-presidential candidate, which has been greatly successful. And she's been out in the swing states speaking to voters.

So, it's not like she's been running for nine months. It's not like she's been running for a year or four years like Donald Trump has. She's been running for weeks and has been with her hands full, but I am sure she's going to give interviews and of course, she needs to do that.

ACOSTA: And, Paul, I do want to ask you --

TROVER: -- end of the month. Not before the end of the month.

ACOSTA: Yes, I mean, we'll find out. Paul, feel free to weigh in on that.

BEGALA: (INAUDIBLE) question about that?

ACOSTA: Yes, go ahead.

BEGALA: Just one question.

ACOSTA: Sure.

BEGALA: Who cares? Come on, guys. Get in the real world. I care. Acosta cares. We have press passes. OK. So, we care. It's a media issue. But there's nobody at the tractor supply shop who's saying, gee, I like the Kamala wants to raise the minimum wage. I like that she wants to cut the cost of my prescription drugs. I like that she's going to protect my sister's right to choose, but she hasn't done enough interviews with Acosta. I think she should, OK.

But let's just put this into perspective. There's real pain in this county.

ACOSTA: Bring it on. Let's go.

BEGALA: Harris is talking about it.

ACOSTA: Both candidates.

BEGALA: And (INAUDIBLE) is not. ACOSTA: Yes. No, I appreciate that. Thanks for standing up for the free press, Paul. We appreciate that. No, but I mean, she should, she should, there's just no question about it. And I think she will. And if not, Lance is going to keep going after her for it. No question about it.

And I did want to ask you what did you make of Tim Walz defending his military record? Let's listen to this real quick. Talk about on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALS: I am damn proud of my service to this country. And I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person's service record. To anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words, thank you for your service and sacrifice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: What do you think, Ana?

NAVARRO: I think it's very effective when he says that. I mean, let's be clear that when he's talking about his opponent, he's talking about J. D. Vance, who served four years in the Marine Corps, and who, like Tim Walz, also did not see combat. He was sent to Iraq, but he was sent in the role of a journalist, and he himself wrote in "Hillbilly Elegy," his own memoir, that he had been lucky enough to avoid real fighting.

But let us remember who the principal opponent is, Donald Trump, a man who used his rich daddy's connections to get him a note from a doctor making up bone spurs. How do we know they're made up? Because when he has been asked what foot the bone spurs are on, he doesn't remember. And I'd like to think that if you have excruciatingly painful bone spurs that kept you from serving while all your friends and contemporaries were going out to Vietnam, you would remember what freaking foot it was on.

And let us remember that this is the same Donald Trump who said his personal Vietnam was avoiding STDs, sexually transmitted diseases while he played around as a playboy in New York. Well, again, his friends and contemporaries were out risking their lives. So, if you want to go on military records, if you want to question Tim Walz, I'd say bring it on, bring it on, Donald Trump.

[10:50:00]

ACOSTA: Well, and I think we can all agree when somebody serves in the military, you take your hat off, you salute that service and thank them for what they've done for this country. It means so much to all of us. Paul, Ana, Lance, thanks so much. Really appreciate it. Thanks for the time.

Still ahead, what you can do right now to greatly lower your dementia risk. Some important health news coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: New study finds that an anti-inflammatory diet can reduce the risk of dementia. Let's bring in CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell. Meg, tell us more.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, this was a study of more than 84,000 adults over the age of 60 in the U.K. And they looked at a subsection of these folks who have cardiometabolic disease. So, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, or stroke. And they asked them about their diets. They followed them for more than a decade.

[10:55:00]

And what they found is that for people who are eating a more anti- inflammatory diet, they had a 31 percent lower risk of dementia over that period of time than people who are eating a more pro-inflammatory diet.

The study also found differences in areas of the brain, indicating people eating a less inflammatory diet, had less neurodegeneration and vascular injury or damage to the blood vessels in the brain. They also found that among those people who did develop dementia, eating an anti-inflammatory diet meant that they developed it two years later than people eating a more inflammatory diet.

So, this adds to a growing body of research, looking at the links between chronic inflammation and dementia. And so, you might be wondering, what are the foods that are associated with an anti- inflammatory diet? Probably not a surprise to anybody, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fatty fish, nuts and seeds and legumes are among them, avoiding things we typically associate with the western diet. Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes, I don't eat enough of that. I will try to do that now that you've said this. Meg Tirrell, always appreciate it. Thanks so much.

And thanks to everybody for joining us this morning. I'm Jim Acosta. Our next hour of Newsroom with Wolf Blitzer starts right after a quick break. Have a great day.

[11:00:00]