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Harris Campaigns In Pennsylvania Ahead Of Democratic National Convention; Trump Attacks Harris, Veers Off Message At PA Rally; Two New Polls Show Harris Leading Trump Nationally For First Time; Interview With Former Republican Congresswoman Barbara Comstock; Right Now: Harris & Walz On Bus Tour Of Western Pennsylvania; Flash Floods: Thousands Left Without Power In Bermuda. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired August 18, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:39]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining us this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: And I'm Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now on the ground here in Israel where he will meet with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials tomorrow.

I'll have more on that and the progress of talks on a ceasefire coming up.

WHITFIELD: All right. We look forward to that, Jim.

Let's begin with a pretty busy week on the presidential campaign trail. In a little less than 17 hours from now, the Democratic National Convention opens at the United Center in Chicago, where delegates will celebrate their nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris and her vision for the future.

She comes into this pivotal week riding high. New national polls out today show Harris taking the lead over Republican Donald Trump for the very first time since she announced her candidacy less than a month ago.

Hoping to build off that momentum, today Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, are meeting voters in western Pennsylvania, trying to drum up support in the key battleground state.

CNN's Eva McKend and Kevin Liptak are tracking the latest on the campaign trail.

Eva let's begin with you there in Pittsburgh. While the vice president and her pick have arrived in Pittsburgh, they also boarded a bus, right, called the "A New Pathway Forward" emblazoned along the side of it?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the last couple of weeks, it's been all about these big rallies for the vice president.

But here in Pennsylvania, to the extent that she can, she's trying to have these more intimate events with voters. So think meeting voters at phone banks, canvassers, retail shops.

I caught up with a canvasser here, a volunteer. She was out on those doors yesterday in the Pittsburgh area trying to reach Republicans and Independents. And she was encouraged by what she saw. She told me that those voters that sort of leaned right at least expressed some openness to her to supporting the vice president.

Meanwhile, the vice president facing criticisms from the right for her economic plan. But here's what one voter told me. She actually lives abroad now, but still votes absentee in Pennsylvania.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY BEST, PENNSYLVANIA ABSENTEE VOTER: I have a 7-year-old son and part of the reason that I now live overseas in Europe is because it's just so much easier to raise a child there.

I receive their child tax benefit every month and the fact that the we used to have the child's -- the expanded child tax benefit really helped me a lot during the pandemic.

And so I know that many families were beneficially affected by that. And that sort of thing needs to come back and help families, i8 mean, with young children like mine to thrive in the U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So Fred, that woman living in Brussels, but she has never dropped her voting here in Pennsylvania. She's voting absentee. Her mother is as well.

Her mother telling me that her number one issue is reproductive rights. So the vice president or first stop here in Pittsburgh, then she heads to Rochester well as two other stops here in western Pennsylvania.

And this all comes as a new poll has the vice president leading the former president just narrowly for the first time. And then she's within the margin of error in several other polls, Fred.

All right. Eva McKend, thank you so much there in western Pennsylvania.

All right. Now to Kevin Liptak at the White House. So Kevin, Harris heads to Chicago later on tonight after, you know, canvassing parts of western Pennsylvania for the start of the Democratic National Convention, kicking off tomorrow.

So what more are you learning about the Democrats' plans for this primetime event? KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And there's no

question that this convention is looking very different from what Democrats are planning even a month ago when they expected President Biden to be on top of the ticket, they have had to rejigger and reprogram. And you see that in their slate of events.

[14:04:44]

LIPTAK: They really are looking to introduce Kamala Harris to the American public, many of whom have just not been paying attention until now, but also frame the stakes of this election and frame their warnings about former president Trump and a potential return to the White House.

And of course it will all kick off tomorrow night with this symbolic handing of the torch from President Biden to his Vice President Kamala Harris.

We do know that he is preparing his speech this weekend at Camp David hoping to frame Kamala Harris is the natural successor to the legacy that he started while he was in office.

Kamala Harris will also be on hand for this speech. We will also hear from Dr. Jill Biden, the first lady. After that, the Bidens will take their leave and essentially hand over the convention to Kamala Harris.

And they have listed out sort of list of themes for the rest of the week. I won't go through them in extensive detail, but I'll tell you on Tuesday, it's called "A Bold Vision for America's Future". We'll hear that evening from the former President Barack Obama and his wife, the former first lady, Michelle Obama.

On Wednesday, the theme is "A Fight for Our Freedoms". We'll hear then from the vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota.

And then on Thursday, the theme is "For Our Future" and that will, of course, feature that incredibly important speech from Kamala Harris accepting the Democrats' nomination.

Of course, her team hopes that will propel her into the heat of the election in the fall. And that really is the goal here to try and maintain this enormous swell of momentum that Kamala Harris has been enjoying.

Of course, the polls now show her taking a slight lead, but make no mistake. This is still a very close race. Her advisers do acknowledge that this will be a tight election all the way up until November.

That's part of the reason they've already reserved $370 million in ad space in the Fall, really hoping to put Kamala Harris in front of Americans all the way up to the election. And certainly when you talk to her advisors, they acknowledged the hard part is yet to come, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Indeed. All right. Kevin Liptak, Eva McKend -- thank you so much.

All right. Former president Donald Trump also spending part of this weekend campaigning in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. On Saturday, Trump held a rally in Wilkes-Barre in the northeast part of the state.

And once again, Trump had trouble staying on message as he shifted between criticism of Harris' economic policy and launching numerous personal attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Yesterday, Kamala laid out her so-called economic plan.

She says she's going to lower the cost of food and housing starting on day one but day one for Kamala was three-and-a-half years ago. So why didn't she do it then?

What they're doing is a communist takeover of our country. Her plan is very dangerous because it may sound good politically and that's the problem with four more years of Kamala your finances will never recover.

They deposed a president -- it was a coup of a precedent. Joe Biden hates -- this was an overthrow of a president.

Have you heard her laugh? That is the laugh of a crazy person. That is the laugh of a crazy. The laugh of a lunatic.

Because as soon as she laughs, the election's over.

I say that I am much better look can that her. I think I'm much better looking, much better. I'm a better-looking person than Kamala.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right.

Two new major polls out today showing Vice President Harris with narrow leads over former president Donald Trump in nationwide head-to- head matchups.

A Washington Post/ABCNews poll among registered voters has Harris leading Trump 49 percent to 45 percent. A CBS/YouGov poll just out today has Harris leading Trump among likely voters that poll has Harris at 51 percent to Trump's 48 percent.

And in both of these new polls is the first time Harris has a lead outside the margin of error.

I'm joined now by Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst and a historian and professor at Princeton University.

Julian, great to see you. JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. So these polls, I mean really underscoring how much things have changed since Harris entered the race. She's got a lot of momentum right now.

What do you see Democrats doing? How are they seizing upon this heading into the convention?

ZELIZER: Look, so far they've capitalize on this post-Biden nominee moment. I think it's more than vibes. It's more than energy. It's real polling now, nationally as well as in all those things, states and we have competitive states that were not competitive before.

The convention's important explaining who she is and what her vision now of the presidency would be. And to set up the next stage, which is about mobilization, organization and advertising.

14:09:46]

WHITFIELD: This is a historic week, you know, on many levels and you write recently, even in "The Atlantic", trying to make parallels and reminding people of 1964 at that time. And during that DNC convention that would happen later.

And you're seeing actually some parallels, perhaps to civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer and her words. I mean "Aren't I a woman", everyone recalls, you know, the messaging brought by that. How do you see this as either a full circle moment or a continuation?

ZELIZER: Well, when Fannie Lou Hamer spoke at the convention in '64, she was part of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. She was calling on Democrats to seat the civil rights activists instead of the all-white delegation.

In the end, the Democrats didn't do that and they offered something that was not satisfactory. And I think this campaign today is shaping up to ask similar questions about what is the character of the United States? Where do American voters see the trajectory of race relations and social justice? And what kind of politics do they want? And what is America?

And so I think in some ways the same debates, different version but similar debates are on the table today.

WHITFIELD: President Biden will be delivering the keynote speech tomorrow, opening night of the Democratic convention, where he is expected to make a forceful appeal for Kamala Harris' candidacy, you know, as they also will be appearing together on Thursday, of course, she has her big night of her speech accepting the nomination.

So what do you expect from the messaging of Biden tomorrow? Because this moment is as much about her as it is about him and his legacy. But, you know, I guess if there's a percentage, you know, of the kind of message that he's going to be delivering, is it more really about her? ZELIZER: Yes. I mean, he will defend what he has done and he will

defend what the Biden legacy is. That helps her.

He doesn't want former president Trump to define the terms of what his residency was about. So I think he will talk about that but then he wants to show unity. He will not only endorse her, but he'll talk about her virtues as a possible president.

And I think that show of unity is going to be very important if there are some Democrats upset about how this all unfolded.

WHITFIELD: Ok. And you know, this is another passing of the torch moment, but there still might be many more, right? I mean this one perhaps, maybe one of the more symbolic ones.

While that's a very pivotal, important thing, what do you also make of the fact that there are Republicans who are vociferously saying they are all about Harris.

I mean former representative Adam Kinzinger is going to be a speaker on the same night. What do you see? I mean, this is a powerful moment for politics, for democracy, for the coming up -- coming together for a particular candidate.

ZELIZER: Very interesting. And I think relevant. I mean I don't think it's going to persuade many Republicans to vote for the Democrats. But many moderates or many Independent voters, I think will be impacted by seeing Republicans speak in favor of the Democratic nominee, and I'm sure not have very good words about the former president.

So I do think it's important. It's not a moment of bipartisanship, but I do think for those moderates in those swing states, this is going to be an important message.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julian Zelizer, so glad to have your voice today. Thanks so much.

All right. The U.S. Secretary of State is now back in Israel and is set to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

We'll go live to Tel Aviv to hear why this could prove to be a very crucial meeting for a potential ceasefire in Gaza.

[14:13:47]

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SCIUTTO: Hello. I'm Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv.

In the latest instance of shuttle diplomacy, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now here in Israel again. Here for what could prove to be a critical meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set for tomorrow along with other senior Israeli officials.

The U.S. is calling this an inflection point in an urgent pursuit of a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza. But even as talks are expected to resume this week, Israel and Hamas

may not have the same urgency and their own timetables for a deal.

With me here, CNN's international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson. Nic, you hear from Israeli officials, you hear from U.S. officials this read of cautious optimism.

When I speak to Palestinian contacts I know, they don't express that same optimism. Is there a divide between the sides here?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: There is. I hear exactly the same thing from Palestinian sources as well. And it's because they don't trust Prime Minister Netanyahu and its very clear that Secretary of State Antony Blinken is going to have a tough time on his hands here.

And I say that because we heard from Prime Minister Netanyahu speaking today and he said, look, there are things that Israel can be flexible on, and there are things that we cannot be flexible on. And we will insist upon those.

[14:19:50]

ROBERTSON: And he added to that and here's the crux of it, because we all know that Secretary Blinken has to tell Prime Minister Netanyahu, we'd like to see some softening here, right, on certain issues. Prime Minister Netanyahu said in that statement the pressure should be put on Hamas indicating not him.

So this is why, you know, Palestinians we hear from are not as optimistic because they don't think that this is going to go in their favor.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And you often hear them say that the U.S. is not applying enough pressure on Israel to move on its own demands.

That dynamic you just described could have described any moment in these talks going back ten months in these various attempts to produce a ceasefire there.

Is there anything different in your view from this moment? Has there been some progress from the Hamas side and the Israeli side that gives a practical hope that they could bring the two together.

ROBERTSON: Well, there's been so much work done already and some measure of agreement. And Hamas has said they agreed to the framework that was put forward by President Biden or articulated by President Biden and put into a U.N. Security Council resolution.

So at that level, there's an agreement on the framework, but I think we all understand that that framework is a -- is not a precise document. The devil is always in the detail.

I think the place to look for optimism is there's a bridging proposal from the United States and typically in these scenarios and you'll be familiar as me with this that it may address some of the issues. But some of the thorniest of issues Hamas wants to have control over

its southern border, over Gaza's border with Egypt. And that's a red line at the moment for Israel.

Israel wants to be able to control the movement of displaced people back from the south of Gaza to the north.

It doesn't want them to have weapons. This is a red line at the moment for Hamas.

(CROSSTALKING)

SCIUTTO: Sounds a lot like Israeli security control inside Gaza, right, which is something that even U.S. Officials have said --

ROBERTSON: It's not something that they would support. You know, that people have talked about mechanisms to provide this security.

But the reality would be, and this is certainly how Hamas views it, you'd be dividing Gaza in half. And that's hard to imagine how they would ever begin to accept that.

SCIUTTO: The one on the good side, we were on a rooftop in Tel Aviv and there are not missiles flying over our head and had we been speaking even just a few days ago, there was quite severe concern that there was about to be an escalation in the region with potential attacks from Hezbollah in the north and -- and Iran. That has dissipated somewhat but not disappeared.

ROBERTSON: No. And that's because of what we're hearing from Palestinian sources it's because of Hamas' position and very much because of what we're hearing from the Iranians as well that they view the U.S. is not -- is not an adequate broker in this because it sides with Israel.

So, you know when Secretary Blinken comes here and says that the stakes are high, or the messaging is that the stakes are high, and he's pressing to get a solution faster for the stability of the whole region.

That's a narrative he's undoubtedly use with Prime Minister Netanyahu, this is not just this issue of Gaza, it's stability of the whole region and stability for Israel over the longer term.

But at the moment, you know, we're in a sort of a slight dip and a pause in that tension. But I think it quite -- it quite realistically can come back.

SCIUTTO: And listen, they will at least be at the table again later this week and that talking is something in this environment.

ROBERTSON: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Nic Robertson, thanks so much.

Fred, we'll keep watching closely. Back to you. WHITFIELD: Please do. All right. Jim, we'll get back to you. Thank you

so much.

All right. Still ahead, the same night Vice President Kamala Harris is set to speak at the DNC, a former Republican congressman will also take the stage. More on that after this.

[14:23:43]

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WHITFIELD: A source tells CNN, former president Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance are planning to hold a series of campaign events to counter the Democratic National Convention.

Tomorrow, Trump holds a campaign event in Pennsylvania, the same day the DNC kicks off in Chicago. On Tuesday, Trump travels to Michigan to talk about crime and justice while his running mate holds a rally in Wisconsin. And the following day, Trump and Vance will deliver remarks on national security in North Carolina. Trump wraps up his week of counter-programming with a rally in Arizona on Friday.

Among the people set to speak at this week's Democratic National Convention former President Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and former first lady Michelle Obama and former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger.

Sources say Kinzinger is slated to speak on Thursday night, the same evening that Vice President Kamala Harris will address the convention delegates.

Kinzinger, who is now a CNN political commentator, was one of ten House Republicans to vote for former President Donald Trump's impeachment for his role during the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

I'm joined now by former Republican congresswoman for Virginia, Barbara Comstock. Congresswoman, great to see you.

BARBARA COMSTOCK, FORMER REPUBLICAN CONGRESSWOMAN FOR VIRGINIA: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So this is remarkable, if not unusual. I mean, what important or signaling do you see in fellow Republican Kinzinger speaking at the convention and on the same night as the Democratic nominee.

[14:29:48]

COMSTOCK: Well, Adam has been very clear and I support him in saying that Donald Trump could never be near the Oval Office again.

He was on the January 6 committee and highlighting, you know, all of the details on how Donald Trump is unfit for office and what he did on that day.

He's also been -- you know, he's now a felon. He's also been adjudicated, you know, in sexual assault. His misogyny, he reproves daily.

And just this week, his attacks -- you know, what he said about veterans and veterans of foreign wars, called him out on that. But we all also know from Donald Trump's former chief of staff that he's called, you know, our fallen heroes, suckers and losers.

So I think Adam, as somebody who's been in the military himself and who's done attacked by Donald Trump, who has gotten death threats because standing up to Trump and what he did for the country in the January 6th hearings, he is a perfect person to make the case that while he might disagree with the vice president on some of her policy issues, he agrees on democracy, he agrees on things like supporting our allies in NATO.

He supports obviously the war in Ukraine and supporting President Zelenskyy and he supports those fundamental principles that I think they share and the importance of keeping Donald Trump out of the Oval Office.

WHITFIELD: Does this potentially -- yeah. I'm wondering, does this potentially create an opening for other Republicans who have been critical of Trump as well, but have been reluctant to say that they would vote for anybody other than Trump?

COMSTOCK: Well, no, I think since President Biden has dropped out and I think since really the vice president has had sort of a flawless, you know, rollout here over the past month, I think you've had a consolidation, not only of the Democratic Party, but of that anti- Trump coalition that has been out there, that has been sort of re- energized, that there's going to be that I think that's why you're seeing the polls, the ABC poll that was out today, that among likely voters, vice president Harris is ahead by six.

She has ahead on things like that. She is smarter she has more mentally able to do the job, I think by nine points physically, 30 points, that she's more likable person where Donald Trump is -- I think it's like 22 points on unfavorability.

So I think all of these things, these petty attacks that Donald Trump makes always talking about himself I think the idea of having candidates on the other side that are talking about the American people. But more importantly, you know, shoring up support for democracy will go on I think that gives confidence for those of us in the middle who want to turn the page on Trump.

You know, nobody -- you know, so many people did not want to have this rematch of Trump and Biden and as Nikki Haley famously said, the first party that ditches the 80-year-old is going to win. And somebody who did support on Nikki Haley in the Republican primaries, I think Ambassador Haley was right.

And I think that's why you're seeing this shift over to Vice President Harris because it is an optimistic, forward-looking coalition while Donald Trump seems to continue to focus on himself and be negative. And even with Republicans who are pleading to him, please stop talking about yourself and Hannibal Lecter, and how many -- ridiculously talking about he's the more attractive person, you know, nobody would ever consider that to be true, but there he goes again.

WHITFIELD: Okay. And you've not endorsed Harris, but you do say that you are voting for her. I'm wondering, what is the difference?

COMSTOCK: Oh, certainly yes. Well, I don't know that there's really a difference there id said I would vote for President Biden. I never I didn't vote for Donald Trump in '16, I didn't vote for him in '20. I actually wrote in those times.

But this time, I think it's very important, you know, after January 6, after what Donald Trump has refused for four years to acknowledge that he lost and his threats, you know, against democracy, I think it's important to, you know, turn the page and that's why I will be voting for the vice president.

WHITFIELD: You mentioned Nikki Haley and it sounds like -- I mean, you mentioned like you all are calling son friends. And I wonder, has there been any encouragements to her to say something or give some direction for those who've been supporting her along the way. She was very critical of Trump and then to a lot of people surprised, she then still said shed still be voting for Trump.

Has there been any pressure or encouragement that she tried to direct people who had been in support of her where they should best put their votes?

[14:35:06]

COMSTOCK: You know, so much of the vote, even after Nikki Haley dropped out, you saw so many people were voting for her anyway, because it was an anti-Trump vote. So that anti-Trump vote continued because really since January 6, even people, I mean, I didn't vote for Trump in '16 or '20. But even people who did realize that the party has suffered under Trump, and we need to move -- turn the page and move on.

And I actually think as a Republican who's supporting set people like Governor Hogan in Maryland, I supported my own Governor Youngkin in Virginia, but I think this party is not going to heal until Donald -- I mean, this is the most misogynist ticket we've ever had.

It's not just Donald Trump. You have J.D. Vance with the attacks on childless cat ladies and post-menopausal grandmas, you know, just offending everybody. You know, now attacking the Irish and immigrants and things like that.

You know, there's just no ending of this misogyny on this other side. I mean, Donald Trump was introduced by a man at the convention who was on cameras slapping his own wife. So this is just not acceptable as, you know, I'm a grandmother to four granddaughters.

This is not something that my party should accept, not to mention he's a felon. Not to mention, you know, we still have cases where he took classified documents. He is always a bad word about Putin, but constantly trashing America saying we're a third world country, nothing good to say about our own contrary, that's just unacceptable. And we as Republicans need to turn the page.

WHITFIELD: Reminding people about the litany of things and then as you and I are talking, we're now looking at live pictures, Congresswoman, of Kamala Harris, Doug Emhoff. You see Tim Walz.

They're on the phone there smiling. They're having a very spontaneous -- seemingly spontaneous conversations with supporters there as they continue their four-city bus stop -- bus tour in western Pennsylvania. Here, there in Rochester, Pennsylvania.

You see a lot of smiles. You've heard the word joy being used with this campaign and as we close out this segment, I wonder if you have any quick comments on this approach to campaigning, you know, sans the press conferences that are being urged or the sit-down interviews. But instead, this kind of, you know, mano-a-mano kind of interaction.

COMSTOCK: Well, I think they're going directly to the people and I understand that you have 15 field offices in Pennsylvania. I've got family in Pennsylvania. Most of them used to vote Republican.

They are voting for Vice President Harris and voting for this ticket because, you know, of all the reasons that I've just mentioned and so, I think, you know, you already had that infrastructure that the Biden campaign added. That's now been energized, whereas Donald Trump is, I think they only have one office and they are dividing people and turning people away.

And this is the problem that that side has. And why I think you're going to continue. I mean, we know it's going to be a close race, but I think the energy is on the side of optimism in the future.

And people who want to bring the country together, and people who want to focus on America. And our problems, not denigrate our military or women or immigrants and, you know, really focus on our issues, not focus on Donald Trump, who apparently thinks he's going to be in the swimsuit competition to beauty contest.

WHITFIELD: Okay.

Barbara Comstock, I gotcha. I appreciate it. Thank you so much and thanks for rolling with us as we look at these live pictures from the four-city bus stop tour of the Kamala Harris and Tim Walz campaign. Thank you so much.

All right. And also, everyone, join us tonight for a preview of the Democratic National convention. Our special live coverage kicks off at 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

All right. How Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket now translates in polls among women voters. We'll run the numbers next.

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[14:44:07] WHITFIELD: All right. New polling shows Vice President Kamala Harris is gaining momentum in key battleground states due to a growing gender gap among voters. More women are likely supporting Harris, while more men are likely supporting former President Donald Trump.

CNN senior political data reporter Harry Enten has more.

Hi, Harry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Fred, we're on the eve of the Democratic National Convention and Kamala Harris has some clear momentum in the polls. The question is, why does Kamala Harris have that momentum?

Well, she's the beneficiary of a growing gender gap in American politics right now, since you jumped in the race, substituting in for President Joe Biden.

What do I mean by that? Let's take a look at the national polls. This is the trend line. This is Democrat versus Donald Trump, and this is across the same pollsters.

I want you to look right here, Biden versus Trump. What do we see? We see that Donald Trump benefiting from a gender gap.

[14:45:00]

Look at that. He leads or led by nine points among men, Joe Biden lead just by four points among women.

Now, let's jump over to this side of the screen. Let's take a look at Kamala Harris versus Donald Trump. Look at this. Kamala Harris up by 11 points among women that's a clear jump from just a four-point advantage that Joe Biden had.

You see down here, you see Donald Trump is holding that nine-point advantage among men, the same as he had when he was facing off against Donald Trump. So men haven't moved. It is women. It is women voters who are energized by Kamala Harris being on the ticket, moving towards the Democrats very much so since Kamala Harris got in the race.

Of course, this is just national polls. Let's dig deep lets go into those key battleground states, specifically those in the Great Lakes region.

And what do we see here? All right. We're looking at the exact same matchup, the Democrat versus Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. These were these "New York Times"/Siena College polls that came out a little bit earlier in the week or early last week.

Take a look here. We got Biden versus Trump. We've got Harris versus Trump. What do we see?

All right. Biden versus Trump among women voters, you see Joe Biden has a clear advantage here by ten points. But again, that is significantly smaller than the advantage that Donald Trump had among men voters, 17 points.

Now let's jump back over to this side of the screen. What do we see? We see Kamala Harris expanding that advantage that Joe Biden had among female, women voters.

Look at that, a 17-point lead compared to the 10-point advantage that Joe Biden had. Men voters really haven\t shifted very much at all. Very similar to what we see nationally.

They're basically holding in Donald Trump's corner, Donald Trump's had that 17-point advantage which back when it was Joe Biden being the Democratic nominee. Now, you see a 15-point advantage for Donald Trump when Harris is the Democratic nominee. Again, not much movement among men. It is a women voters, again, in these key Great Lake battleground states who are energized, moving towards the Democratic column.

Now I am a student of history, Fred, I love to look at history. I like to put things in historical perspective. So let's do that here in these Great Lake battleground states, I want you to look again. It's Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.

2024, we're looking at those "New York Times"/Siena College poll, and then just look back at the exit polls from 2020 and 2016. Look at the women margin. Look at this, look at the margin that the Democrats are getting among women voters.

Back in 2016 when Hillary Clinton was the Democratic nominee, it was 11 points. You jump forward to 2020. Look at that at 13-point margin.

Look at how well Kamala Harris though is doing among women voters. My goodness, gracious a 17-point margin consider a little bit considerably better than Hillary Clinton did eight years ago, and even better than Joe Biden did just four years ago.

You'll look over at men, though, Kamala Harris isn't doing so hot among men. You see this, you see Donald Trump having this 15-point lead among men voters according to the New York Times-Siena College polls, if that help, that would be better than he did four years ago when it was just ten points. That's even slightly better though within the margin of error, how we did in 2016 when he won men voters by 14 points.

Again, what are we seeing here? We're seeing a growing gender gap in American politics. A growing gender gap the growing gender gap seems to be working for Kamala Harris because although Donald Trump is doing very well with men voters, Kamala Harris is even doing better with women voters. And that is allowing her to lead in states. The key battleground states that Joe Biden was trailing in when he left the race a month ago, Kamala Harris is now leading there and she's leading there because of women voters.

Fred, it's quite the story. We'll see if it holds in the final months of this campaign. But for now, back to you. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Harry Enten, thanks for that breakdown of numbers.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:52:56]

WHITFIELD: Tropical storm Ernesto is set to create dangerous conditions through the beginning of this week. Swells are bringing life-threatening rip currents to the East Coast today and Monday, closing some New York City beaches. The storm most recently swept through Bermuda on Saturday as a category one hurricane resulting in flash flooding and leaving thousands without power. Ernesto is expected to regain some strength as it heads towards Canada now.

All right. Greece's worst wildfire of the year has now been going on for a week ripping through the Attica region outside Athens. The fire has burned thousands of acres. Local volunteers share with CNN how they are helping the community recover.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today, we've been out on patrol and were trying to find out where the wild animals are going because of the area has burned. We're also looking out for stray animals. Actually we rescued one today. The dog was blind and burned.

We have food supplies for the animals. We also have food for the fire rescuers and for everybody who's helping it depends on the needs if a fire starts now. We're going to go help.

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WHITFIELD: All right, even though the flames have eased, threat levels remain high as Greece just experienced its hottest June and July on record.

An estimated 100 people were treated for heat related illnesses at an air-show in Colorado Springs yesterday, at least ten of those individuals were taken to the hospital while others were treated at the event. Organizers are encouraging people who plan on attending the event today to bring plenty of water, sunscreen, and umbrellas.

All right. Some sports news. Patrick Mahomes has thrown quite a few amazing passes in his career, but he may have outdone himself in Saturday preseason game against the Detroit Lions. Mahomes roles to his right and realize that the tight end Travis Kelce, had run the wrong way. So what do you do? The two-time league MVP improvises, throws it behind his back to pick up a first down.

After the game, Mahomes said the plate just happened after the mix-up.

[14:55:04]

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PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: I knew it was kind of on target and this was low. Like I said, it wasn't like I -- I didn't do it to like, look cool. I literally did it as I was like pissed. I was like why didn't you run that route like that? It just worked out.

TRAVIS KELCE, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS TIGHT END: You know, he's got the voice thing, so he kind of mumbled out the play. I couldn't' hear it. I was walking up to the line. I was like trying to decipher what he was saying.

Before I knew it, he snapped the ball and by the time I looked over there, he was already in mid form, like a photo sports car throwing the ball to me it was just I guess right place at the right time.

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WHITFIELD: Plus, a little trash talking among friends there.

All right. Well, watch out Bears because the Chiefs faced them at home on Thursday. Old Bears at home, Chicago.

All right. So, just one day ahead of the Democratic National Convention, speaking of Chicago, Vice President Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz are actually right now touring the key swing state of Pennsylvania and they're doing so on a bus tour.

Stay with us.

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