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CNN International: Obama Makes Case For Harris In Fiery Speech; Tonight: Speeches By Bill Clinton, VP Pick Tim Walz; Michelle Obama Defends Harris Against Trump's Attacks. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired August 21, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Good evening or good morning, depending on where you're watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
Ahead on CNN Newsroom --
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REP. NIKEMA WILLIAMS (D-GA): Mr. Secretary, the South got something to say.
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SOLOMON: The DNC roll call got turned up last night, as Georgia cast its votes in true Atlanta fashion. I will speak with the Chair of Georgia's Democratic Party. Plus, Antony Blinken leaves the Middle East without a Gaza ceasefire deal. We will look at what comes next now in the negotiations. And we're live in Sicily, as the search goes on for the missing passengers of a luxury yacht that sank in a storm.
Well, we begin in Chicago. That's where Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz will take center stage on day three of the DNC. Just hours from now, the Minnesota governor will step onto the spotlight just weeks after joining Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket. Tonight, he will formally accept the VP nomination. Also speaking will be former President Bill Clinton, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. They will have their work cut out for them, trying to match the energy from night two of the convention. That's where former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama fired up the crowd in their hometown of Chicago. Her speech actually got some of the biggest reactions of the night, as she targeted Harris' opponent, Donald Trump.
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MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY: His limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black. I want to know, I want to know, who is going to tell him that the job he is currently seeking might just be one of those "Black jobs"?
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SOLOMON: Then there was the night's final speaker. That would be former President Barack Obama, arriving to a raucous ovation.
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BARACK OBAMA, 44TH U.S. PRESIDENT: I don't know about you, but I'm feeling fired up.
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SOLOMON: The former President there energizing the United Center crowd as he made the case for Kamala Harris.
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B. OBAMA: We need a President who will stand up for their right, to bargain for better wages and working conditions. And Kamala will be that President. Yes, she can.
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SOLOMON: All right. Let's bring in CNN Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak, joining us now from the convention. So, Kevin, we just saw there the Obamas really wowing the DNC crowd, as they called on Democrats to act to get Harris elected. But, what do we know about how their message resonated with voters?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I think the reason the convention organizers wanted the Obamas to speak at this high-profile night last night was because they can speak to an audience outside of these convention halls. And of course, they received a raucous reception in this room. And I was here last night. It was deafening when Michelle Obama walked out on stage. The energy truly transformed in this room and extended all the way through to the President.
But certainly, the people in this room know who Donald Trump is, and there is no one in this room that doesn't plan to vote. Their message was really to people outside of the room who may not have been tuning into the election until now, who may not know what the stakes are, and really, the entire thrust of their remarks, both Mrs. Obama's and President Obama's, was offering something of a warning, which is that this election is not won yet. The work is yet to be done. And you heard that in Michelle Obama's entreaty to just do something to get out there and vote. Don't wait for someone to knock on your door or call your phone and ask you to go to the polls. You've got to get out there yourself and do it for yourself and cast a ballot.
And it's so interesting to listen to the remarks, compared to what we might have heard Joe Biden say at this convention. He has always talked about Donald Trump as a threat to democracy. What you heard from the Obamas was something a little different. It was a very cutting message about Donald Trump, essentially making fun of him when you're talking about former President Obama. And it's so interesting, because Michelle Obama is not someone you hear from very often in a political sphere. She is something of a reluctant political spouse. And so, when you do hear her, it really takes on an added degree of emphasis.
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And she has, in so many ways, kind of transcended the world of politics into something of a cultural figure. And so, when you hear her talking, particularly about some of the own assaults that she has withstood from Donald Trump, it takes on an added degree of significance. And hearing her talk, she was essentially describing things that she had experienced herself and that may be in store for Kamala Harris. Michelle Obama is someone who has said that she will never forgive Donald Trump for what she believes is putting her family at risk. And certainly, that anger was so palpable in her speech back last night, but her message was to channel that anger and channel that indignance into action and into work in the months ahead of November.
SOLOMON: Talk to us, Kevin, a little bit about tonight. I mean, her vice presidential pick, Tim Walz, will be the headliner. This will be his largest stage as of yet. I mean, as he is still trying to make a name for himself to a national audience, what can we expect to hear from him?
LIPTAK: Yeah. His task is very much going to be to introduce himself to the American people. He doesn't have much of a national profile at this point, or at least he didn't as of two weeks ago. Of all of the people that Kamala Harris was considering to choose as her Vice President, he was probably the least known. And it's been kind of funny, chatting up with some of the delegates in this hall. Even some of them were somewhat unfamiliar with Tim Walz before he was selected, and these are people who are pretty plugged in to Democratic politics. So, that will be his task.
To do that, he is going to rely on his backstory and his biography. We're told by campaign officials that he'll talk about his upbringing in Nebraska and the values that were instilled in him there, and kind of draw a through line to his service as a teacher, as a coach, as a National Guardsman, as a congressman, and now as a governor. To put his name into nomination, we'll see some former football players who he coached. A student of his -- a former student of his will also be involved. So, this is sort of all an effort showing the American people who exactly this man is.
SOLOMON: OK. We will watch. Kevin Liptak, thank you.
I want to now welcome into the conversation Congresswoman Nikema Williams. She is the Chair of Georgia's Democratic Party, and joins us from Chicago. So much to get to, congresswoman. But, so great to have you today. Thank you for the time.
Before we talk about last night, and there is a lot to talk about, let's talk about tonight. As we just heard from Kevin Liptak --
WILLIAMS: So much to talk about. SOLOMON: So much to talk about. As we heard from Kevin there, Governor
Tim Walz is going to try to introduce himself to the audience. Talk a little bit about his biography. What do you hope he says? What are you hoping to hear?
WILLIAMS: So, what I have seen in my getting to know Governor Walz as well is that he is like the neighbor down the street. He is the dad's home that you went and hung out with your friends in high school. So, I am just looking forward to him showing his authentic personality to the world because he is going to be on the world stage. He is going to be our next Vice President, and we need to get to know him, but we're going to get to know him as that everyday Midwestern guy who you can picture living down the street, dropping the kids off at their afternoon activities, and you asking, can you pick mine up too, because he seems like he is that guy.
SOLOMON: OK. Let's talk about last night and the Obamas. And I want to ask you something specifically, as another woman of color. Michelle said something. I want to play for you and then ask your opinion on the other side.
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M. OBAMA: Folks, we cannot be our own worst enemies. No. See, because the minute something goes wrong, the minute a lie takes hold, folks, we cannot start wringing our hands. We cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right. We cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like Kamala instead of doing everything we can to get someone like Kamala elected.
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SOLOMON: And she is getting at this idea and this question about whether America as a nation will elect not just a woman, but a woman of color. And I'm curious if you think we're there yet, and what's different about this moment compared to eight years ago, when it was Hillary Clinton running against Donald Trump.
WILLIAMS: We are absolutely there, and we are ready for this moment. What we are feeling right now in the past month since Vice President Harris has been our Democratic nominee, this is not just a moment. This is a movement, and this is a country that is ready for change. We're tired of the divisiveness of the past that the Republican Party continues to bring us into, and our presidential nominee and Kamala Harris is bringing this country back together, bringing joy to the work. But, what I heard last night was she was alluded to as a joyful warrior, because she is ready to fight y'all, but she is also going to bring joy along the way.
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And as a black woman in politics, I fully understand that we are operating in a space that was not designed by or for people who look like us, but our new President will make sure that this system works for all of us, and that's what it's about, bringing this country together, not representing Democrats, Republicans or independents, but representing all Americans.
SOLOMON: Let me talk about your state's roll call. It's making the rounds this morning. Lil Jon's performance is a part of that. Let's listen to it together.
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So, what was the decision making behind that? Like, at what point did the party reach out with this idea to do the roll call in this way, which is normally, some might say, a more boring, routine affair?
WILLIAMS: Well, there has been nothing boring about what we're doing at the Democratic Party of Georgia. We had Lil Jon join us on Monday night for a party celebrating our Georgia delegation, and that was a whole vibe. But, if you look at the rallies that the Vice President has have been hosting across the country, with the thousands of people, it has been a whole vibe in all of the rallies. And we're bringing joy back to this, and we can have fun while doing the work at the same time. Lil Jon is an Atlanta native. I get to represent the culture that is hip hop, that is southern music, and music brings people together.
So, we thought it would be a great idea to bring a little of that rally feel onto the floor of the convention, and also give people a little taste of that the south has something to say, and keep them on notice that we might have won the roll call, but we're also going to win the election.
SOLOMON: OK. Let's go to the south. In fact, let's stay in Georgia. So, there have been some changes to how votes are certified in your state, in that state. So, these new rules state that county boards of election will now have the opportunity for a reasonable inquiry to ensure tabulation and canvassing of the election are complete and accurate before local election officials certify the results. Congresswoman, critics say that this is a recipe for chaos, or at the very least long delays in certifying the election results. What do you think is happening here?
WILLIAMS: Well, and that is exactly their intent. What we're seeing from Republicans on the board of elections is they are trying to set the stage to do exactly what Donald Trump did when he tried to overturn the will of the voters. Remember, in 2020, we only won Georgia by 11,780 votes, and Donald Trump tried to overturn the will of Georgia voters, but he did not have all of the rules in place quite that he needed to overturn those election results. And so now, Republicans are setting the stage to question the election results, sow doubt in the voters' minds and overturn the process.
But, we have volunteer attorneys in every county in our state. Our Democratic Party of Georgia has a voter protection team. That was the first year-round program in any state party in the country, and we're continuing to push back against this. What we know is that when we tell voters to show up and turn out to vote, we need to be able to ensure them that their votes are counted, and that's exactly what we're doing. And so, we had Donald Trump in Atlanta at a rally where he was
alluding to the rule changes of a board of election. What presidential candidate is watching the minutiae of a state board of elections? Donald Trump is, because he has a plan. We need to notice what he is doing right now. We need to believe him. When he is telling us these things, he likes to virtue signal. Donald Trump has a plan to try and overturn the will of the voters, and we need to put this on notice. We need to continue to elevate this in the media so that we can stop this before it starts.
SOLOMON: Congresswoman, I know I have to let you go, but really quickly, I mean, what do you say to those who watch this and say, listen, I think I might want to vote for her, but joy is great, vibes are great, but why doesn't she sit down and speak with a member of the press? Why doesn't she face tough questions? Why -- what's the holdup? What do you say to those people?
WILLIAMS: Kamala Harris has been on the scene for a long time and has sat down with the press. This campaign is only one month old. She will get to the press. She will get to the media. This campaign is one month old. She had to secure the nomination. She will accept the nomination on tomorrow night, on the largest stage of her life. And I'm sure you will get to ask all of the questions that you want, because in the next 77 days, we've got a job to do, and that is to make Kamala Harris the next President of the United States. She'll sit down with you. I'll sit down with you, and we will answer all of your questions.
SOLOMON: Well, congresswoman, we appreciate you being with us today. Thank you very much. That's Nikema Williams. Thank you for the time. Good to see you.
WILLIAMS: Thank you.
SOLOMON: All right. Still ahead for us, an urgent mission to the Middle East ends with no apparent breakthrough. We're going to have the latest on the U.S. Secretary of State's efforts to secure a Gaza ceasefire. Plus, crews in Italy seen carrying a body bag, as they search for people still missing from a yacht that sank off Sicily. We're live in Italy with the latest.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has just returned home from his Middle East trip with the prospects for a Gaza ceasefire deal highly unclear. Blinken visited Qatar, Egypt, and Israel to push a proposal that was aimed at closing the gaps between Israel and Hamas. He insists that Israel has accepted it, including provisions requiring the withdrawal of forces from Gaza. But, a forum of hostage families says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told them that Israel would not take its troops out of the Philadelphi Corridor, this strip of land on the Gaza-Egypt border. Here is what Blinken had to say.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States does not accept any long-term occupation of Gaza by Israel, more specifically, the agreement is very clear on the schedule and the locations of IDF withdrawals from Gaza, and Israel has agreed to that.
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SOLOMON: Meantime, a new attack in Lebanon is intensifying fears of a wider conflict. Israel targeted and killed a senior Fatah official there for the first time since the Gaza war began. The IDF says that he was involved in directing terrorist attacks and was acting on behalf of Iran. Fatah says that Israel is trying to ignite a regional war.
We have team coverage for you. Let's bring in our Jim Sciutto, who is live for us in Tel Aviv. We also have Frederik Pleitgen, who is in Tehran.
Jim, let me start with you. I mean, we've heard Antony Blinken talk about how urgent a ceasefire is, but it still seems like there a way to go. I mean, what's the status of things now?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: There is definitely a way to go, Rahel, and the change in the public rhetoric about the state of negotiations has been notable from over the weekend, cautious optimism expressed by Israeli officials to that frustration that you heard muted, perhaps diplomatic frustration, but frustration from the U.S. Secretary of State there in describing what appears to be a difference between the U.S. position, or the U.S. understanding of that bridging proposal, and the Israeli understanding of it. There was a State Department official who went even further, speaking to reporters on the Secretary of State's plane, saying that a maximalist position by Israel, that's how this official described it, in terms of an Israeli presence along that Gaza-Egypt border, was not constructive for the negotiation.
So, there appears to be some daylight opening between the U.S. and its own allies understanding of this agreement, that being Israel, of course, and then you have what appears to be a wider gap with Hamas. Hamas from Sunday was saying that they feel that the U.S. proposal from several months ago presented by President Biden and approved at the UN that what's being discussed now has departed from that. That creates quite a problem and that you need all those parties to have not just the same understanding but to look at this as a path forward, as a middle ground here, and it's not clear that they are at that point.
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In fact, it looks like those differences are hardening. So, the question now is, what happens next? There have been some discussion of a broader meeting later this week to discuss the next steps, and even meeting of technical groups. But, you can't get those technical groups to meet together to handle it -- to hammer out the details, if there isn't big picture agreement on the big picture issues, and there seems to be lingering disagreement on those big picture issues. SOLOMON: Wow, incredible. And Jim, I mean, you have to think about --
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
SOLOMON: -- also the families and so many people who, obviously, whose fate sort of --
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
SOLOMON: -- is at stake here. Talk to us a little bit about the families of the hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza earlier this week, with some even holding funerals. I mean, how much they had to say, if at all?
SCIUTTO: That's right. Well, this gives you a sense of the very real time pressure on negotiators, not just for a ceasefire, but the release of hostages. So, here were six Israeli hostages found dead by the Israeli military, hostages taken alive on October 7, we should note. Now, prior to this recovery operation, Israel did believe that five of them were dead, and it turns out that a sixth was dead as well. And you have the IDF saying that they're investigating now whether these deaths were the result of Israeli military action in the area. That's, of course, a tragedy for those six families involved, but adds to the fear, adds to the impatience of the other families here, and there are more than 100 hostages still held in Gaza, will they ever see their loved ones again? And an agreement is pushed further and further out, how many more will
lose their lives?
That's a tremendous source of understandable pressure on these negotiators and some of those victims' families, those hostages' families, rather, have been applying some of the most -- the harshest criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu's approach to these talks as well.
SOLOMON: Yeah, just unimaginable agony. Jim, thank you.
Let me bring in Fred. I mean, Fred, you've been given rare access inside Iran's parliament, as we think about perhaps some sort of escalation or retaliation. What's the feeling there in terms of a potential response to Israel?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. We spent the better part of the day inside Iran's parliament. It was a big day there, actually, because the new government of the newly elected President, Masoud Pezeshkian, was confirmed by Iran's parliaments. The transition of power here in this country is now complete, of course, at this very key moment for Iran, but then also for the entire region. Of course, the thing that was first and foremost on the minds of the parliamentarians and of the new ministers was the volatile situation right now in the Middle East.
And there is a lot of developments actually that have come out of Iran, Rahel, in the past, I would say, sort of 20 to 24 hours, where the Iranians are still saying that they will retaliate against Israel. However, they are saying that the waiting period until that happens could be considerable. And they say that they believe that that is also part of what they call their punishment against Israel. However, the Iranians are continuing to say that they believe they need to strike back hard as a form of deterrent.
The other thing that people are talking about there that I spoke to, lawmakers there, about, was that possible ceasefire? Because the Iranians are saying that they believe a ceasefire is necessary, but they're quite pessimistic that a ceasefire can be achieved. I managed to speak to the head of the Foreign Relations Committee of Iran's Parliament, and here is what he had to say.
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EBRAHIM AZIZI, HEAD OF IRAN'S NATIONAL SECURITY COMMITTEE (Interpreted): I believe the Israeli regime will not accept a permanent ceasefire. They will not feel committed to any principles, rules or decisions. We wish that the U.S. would not support a regime that violates international principles and does not feel bound by commitments and agreements.
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PLEITGEN: And that's something that we've heard from other Iranian officials over the past couple of days, that they simply don't believe that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is really serious about achieving a ceasefire, Rahel.
SOLOMON: OK. Fred Pleitgen live for us there. Thank you. Jim Sciutto, live for us as well. Thank you as well.
All right. Let's turn to Sicily, where emergency crews have been removing and have been seen removing two body bags, as divers continue to search for six people missing after a luxury yacht sank on Monday. Here is some live pictures from the site where divers have been trying to get inside the wreck of the yacht. 22 people were on board when the yacht was hit by a tornado. This happened early Monday morning. Now, we don't yet know if the bodies found today are male or female. But, this security camera footage recorded early on Monday does show the storm raging around the yacht, and despite the grainy image, you can just make out the yacht in the moments before it sank.
Joining us now from Sicily is CNN's Barbie Nadeau. Barbie, what more do we know about the search, now that it's in its third day?
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah. I mean, this is really the grim reality of these sorts of situations. We were able to witness these two body bags being taken here to the port behind me.
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And in a way that Italians, I think, do very well, they all stood with the -- in their uniform, standing near the fire brigade, the various officers, while they very ceremoniously paid respect to these. Then the ambulance was escorted away with sirens and Carabinieri police cars around it. There are four more missing people, and we're expecting to have a little bit more progress. Obviously, they've been able to get inside the boat now. We're not getting a lot of information about what they're doing behind us at this moment, but all of the divers came in to deliver those two body bags, and they've gone back out now, presumably to search. We'll wait and see if they found the rest of the four remaining people. Rahel.
SOLOMON: And Barbie, will a local -- talk to us about the investigation, and will local authorities open a comprehensive investigation into what exactly happened here?
NADEAU: Yeah. I mean, this is fairly standard in terms of Italian accidents like this. They will open an investigation, and that gives them access to all of the information on that foreign-flagged boat. It gives them more access than they would have normally. We do know that the captain was interrogated for a couple of hours this morning. We know that all of the 15 survivors, except, of course, the one-year-old baby, will be questioned about what they saw, what they knew, what they heard, what sort of circumstances were going on before that ship sank.
Obviously, this was a freak storm that hit the boat. But, they're going to be looking at whether something could have been done or could have been done differently that led to the sinking of this -- the luxury yacht. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Still a lot of questions. Barbie Nadeau live for us there. Barbie, thank you.
And still ahead, the Democrats may be having their big leap, but Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are trying their best to spoil the party. Coming up, their attempts at counterprogramming. Plus, hope makes a comeback. We will break down the biggest moments from last night's speeches, as Barack and Michelle Obama rocked the DNC. And last night's roll call wasn't the first time we saw delegates dancing on the floor. The last time the DNC was in Chicago was 1996, and that's when the dance craze, the Macarena, remember that, gripped the United Center crowd. Look.
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OK. So, on that night, Vice President Al Gore accepted his party's nomination, and even he was swept up in it, sort of he used the dance to poke fun of his reputation for being stiff. Listen.
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AL GORE, THEN-U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: This is some crowd. I've been watching you doing that Macarena on television. And if I could have your silence, I would like to demonstrate for you the Al Gore version of the Macarena. Would you like to see it again?
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) B. OBAMA: It's been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that's
actually been gotten worse now that he is afraid of losing to Kamala. There is the childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theories, this weird obsession with crowd sizes, it --
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
That was an electrifying night in Chicago. That's where Barack and Michelle Obama closed out the second night of the DNC with back-to- back speeches, urging American voters to reject the Republican nominee. The former First Lady greeted with one of the loudest, longest rounds of applause, Michelle Obama throwing parallels between the lessons both she and Kamala Harris learned from the example set by their mothers. Then the former U.S. President at the stage, making many references to his own campaign slogans, the familiar, yes, we can chants. Well, they returned, but as yes, she can.
Democrats not the only ones hyping their nominee this week. A number of anti-Trump Republicans are joining the ranks, making the case for why they plan to support Harris this November.
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STEPHANIE GRISHAM, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth.
JOHN GILES, MAYOR OF MESA, ARIZONA: John McCain's Republican Party is gone, and we don't own a damn thing to what's been left behind.
KYLE SWEETSER, FORMER TRUMP SUPPORTER: I believe our leaders should bring out the best in us, not the worst. That's why I'm voting for Kamala Harris.
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SOLOMON: All right. Let's go to our panel today. We have Natasha Alford. She is the Senior Correspondent for TheGrio. That's a news organization geared toward the African American and black community. We are also joined by Maura Gillespie, who is the Founder and Principal of Bluestack Strategies, a communications consulting firm. Good to see you both ladies.
Natasha, let me start with you. Former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle trying to thread this needle to not only make the case that Harris is different than Trump, but in a sense, she should be considered different and distinct from Biden, that she is actually the change agent. Take a listen.
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B. OBAMA: And he wants you to think that you'll be richer and safer if you will just give him the power to put those other people back in their place. It is one of the oldest tricks in politics, from a guy whose act has, let's face, gotten pretty stale. We've seen that movie before and we all know that the sequel is usually worse.
M. OBAMA: Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn't it? Yeah. We're feeling it here in this arena, but it's spreading all across this country we love. A familiar feeling that's been buried too deep for far too long. You know what I'm talking about. It's the contagious power of hope.
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SOLOMON: Natasha, do you think it was effective outside of the walls of the convention with voters?
NATASHA ALFORD, HOST, THEGRIO WEEKLY: Rahel, I think it was electrifying. I think that people were at home nodding their heads. They were saying, this is what common sense sounds like. I'm sure that people were comparing and contrasting and saying, how refreshing is it to see American leaders not just standing up there, spewing insults, tearing people down, demonizing the other, but really opening up their arms and saying that all are welcome. I really was struck by the message that said, even if we disagree, there is still some space for common ground. And I think that is what was so different. It was so refreshing from what we have been hearing over the past year with this very partisan and divisive campaign.
But, what I heard also in both of the speeches is that Kamala Harris is ready. She is not only qualified but she has the character to do the job. She knows what it means to work hard for something and notice the themes of not whining about losing, not trying to undermine democracy in order to win.
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I think all of those things were effective, and they resonated with so many Americans who just wanted somebody to say, let's return to common sense and a sense of common decency.
SOLOMON: So, Maura, if you were advising the Trump camp, I mean, what do you do in this moment? I mean, obviously, the Obamas tend to be brought in as the party heavy hitters. What's the response?
MAURA GILLESPIE, FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL, BLUESTACK STRATEGIES: Really, it's a matter of, can they get Trump to stay on message? And they've been trying recently to get him to stay on message and to read from the teleprompter and to read the speeches as written for him. And he still, time and again, diverts off and goes back on to tangents that do not help Republicans down ballot.
And if I'm a Republican congressman or a Senator running for reelection or running for office, I'm going to really try and distance myself from the Trump orbit and focus on policy, focus on areas that -- it's important to highlight the Biden-Harris administration failures. As a candidate, you're running on the economy. You're running on safety and security, and you're encouraging Republicans to come out to vote down ballot, because I think that's really -- for the Trump campaign, at their convention, there were so many opportunities to open up the arms and say, like, Republicans who have -- maybe didn't love Trump, come back into the fold. Here is why. Here is how we can get you back in. And they didn't do that.
And unfortunately, I think that that's really where they're losing. And what Harris -- Harris-Walz campaign is seeing is this opportunity to appeal to those voters. And I agree with Natasha that what President -- former President Obama said, don't let one disagreement or one issue detract you. You're not going to agree with somebody 100 percent of the time. That's just not reality. But, if you can find some ways to get there, 80 percent of the way, that's where you're going to be. And again, when you face the choice of democracy, for somebody who is really pushed against our Constitution, that choice seems pretty clear then.
SOLOMON: Well, Maura, let me stick with you for just a moment more. I'm struck by the number of Republicans, and we showed a few of them there who are at the DNC, not just at the DNC, but speaking at the DNC, working to get Kamala Harris elected. I'm just wondering if you can say more about what this says about the GOP right now and what opportunity there may be, whether now or in the future, to reunite, and what they would need to do to do that.
GILLESPIE: Well, I think it sends a strong message that things are not great -- going great in the Republican Party because they left these Nikki Haley voters will call them, but really it's the moderate Republicans who are not here for the Trump tangents, the juvenile behavior, but also his refusal to conduct a peaceful transfer of power. I mean, there are some serious flaws that we could go at length about when it comes to Donald Trump.
But, what I would say for the Republican Party and for those voters who don't want to vote for either Trump or Harris, you don't have to. The split ticket option is there. But also, if you chose to vote for Harris, that doesn't negate the fact that you're still a Republican. You can vote for Republicans down ballot, for your House, for your Senate, for your local school board, your mayor. Look down ballot, the things that are going to impact your day-to-day life directly, that's great. It's OK to vote for somebody else at the top of the ticket. It doesn't stop you from being a Republican. We're not going to -- unfortunately, Donald Trump did say, if you're not supporting me, you should be kicked out of the party.
Well, here is the fun fact. That's not how that works. He can't do that. So, you're still a Republican. I'm still going to be a Republican. You don't have to vote for Donald Trump to maintain that status.
SOLOMON: Well, let's end on a more humorous note, the roll call. This is usually a pretty routine event. Some might even call it boring. But, take a look at this year's DNC roll call.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On behalf of the great State of Delaware, home of our beloved 46th President --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The current governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The great State of Tennessee, birthplace of rock
and roll.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here because I jazz as hell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the great state of Nancy Pelosi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is our honor to unanimously cast our 34 votes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 178 votes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 72 votes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 94 votes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: California, we proudly cast our 482 votes for the next President, Kamala Harris.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: The Dr. Dre at the end there is what gets me.
Natasha, first to you, just your reaction to what Dems are trying to do here, beyond just obviously put on a lively show.
ALFORD: Look, how can you not smile at that? Right? The millennial in me has so many good memories of dancing to Lil Jon in cafeterias and dorm rooms. But, those are the aspects of joy that we're talking about. Joy is not just a campaign slogan. Joy is these things that, as Americans, we can connect on, right? And I think that that's what they did last night with the roll call, with the roll call showing that from state to state, even with our differences, even with the little cultural nuances, there are things that we love and we share, and that is the uniqueness and the beauty of America, is our diversity.
[11:40:00]
So, I thought it was brilliant. Shout out to Georgia. Lil Jon just really shut down the house again. There is nothing like that. But, this is what we talk about. Contrast that with the RNC, right? It was not as diverse. Many of the people who were brought out, who were supposed to represent diversity, didn't actually have deep ties to the communities that they were supposed to be representing, right? So, it just felt authentic. It felt real. And again, the larger message of the Obamas' speeches last night are that democracy is not just about one person. There is no one hero or perfect person who is going to come in and save everything. We all have to come together as citizens of this country to make it the great country that it can and should be.
SOLOMON: Now, let me just correct myself, because actually that was Tupac at the end, not Dr. Dre. I heard Dr. Dre earlier. So, before somebody calls me out on Twitter, I know it was Tupac. I know. I know.
Natasha Alford, Maura Gillespie, good to see you both. Thank you.
ALFORD: Thank you.
GILLESPIE: Thanks.
SOLOMON: All right. On the Republican side of things, Donald Trump is taking the campaign show to North Carolina, as he continues to offer counterprogramming to the Democratic Convention. In a couple of hours from now, he will be making an appearance with his running mate, J.D. Vance, and they're expected to talk on the subject of national security. And how about this. If Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ends his presidential campaign, Trump says, well, he may just give him a job in his administration. RFK's running mate says, definitely a possibility.
Let's bring in CNN's Alayna Treene, who joins us from Washington, D.C., with the latest on the Trump campaign. Alayna, talk to us a little bit more about what Donald Trump's team is focusing on, as they try to take some momentum away from Chicago and the DNC.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Now, that's right, Rahel. They're trying to steal some of the limelight away from Harris. However, I will tell you that, in my conversations with Donald Trump's senior advisors, they also recognize that that's going to be very hard to do, to try to steal some of the attention, given that this is such a big week for the Harris campaign. That's actually why you're seeing him hold these events at 03:00 p.m. Donald Trump normally likes to headline rallies at 07:00 p.m. or sometime in the prime time hour. But, they also know that that's when a lot of the high-profile speakers are going to be on stage in Chicago. And so, they've moved those events earlier in the day.
But, today, Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, will be in Asheboro, North Carolina. As you mentioned, Rahel, they're going to be talking about national security. That to me, when I talk to the Trump campaign, really means talking more about crime and the border, but also Joe Biden and the Biden administration overall, their handling of some of the wars in the Middle East, between Israel and Gaza, but then also between Ukraine and Russia, and trying to tie Kamala Harris to that as well. We know that's been a big goal of theirs is to try and argue that she is some sort of mastermind for a lot of the Biden administration's policies, even though, of course, we know she is Vice President. She doesn't call the shots for Joe Biden. But, that is their goal.
Now, this is part of a week-long counterprogramming blitz that the Trump campaign has been doing. You saw on Monday, he was in Pennsylvania, talking about the economy. Yesterday, he was in a suburb of Detroit and Michigan, talking about crime. Today, national security in North Carolina. Tomorrow, he'll be at the border in Arizona, talking about, of course, immigration, and then he is also in Las Vegas, Nevada, another, of course, battleground state, before going back to Arizona Friday evening.
Now, all of these are being dubbed by the Trump campaign as quote, unquote "messaging events." They're in smaller venues. They're not really rallies, smaller crowd sizes, but the goal is to really try to keep Donald Trump on message, particularly on those issues that I just laid out, where they do think he polls better than Democrats and specifically better than Harris. Now, to answer the other part of your question, just about RFK Jr., this was a fascinating exchange between our own Kristen Holmes and Donald Trump yesterday. Take a listen to what he told her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would love that endorsement, because I've always liked him.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Would you also consider putting him in the administration?
TRUMP: You're asking me a very unusual question. I haven't been asked that question yet. I like him a lot. I respect him a lot. I probably would, if something like that would happen. He is a very different kind of a guy, very smart guy, and yeah, I would be honored by that endorsement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TREENE: So, Rahel, this is actually the first time we've really heard Donald Trump say this, that he would potentially consider RFK Jr. for a role in his future administration. Of course, it comes after Nicole Shanahan, RFK Jr.'s running mate, had said on a podcast earlier in the day that he would consider doing that. But also, mind you, the RFK Jr. campaign had also said they would consider dropping out and endorsing Harris and seeking a role in the Democratic administration. So, kind of playing both sides there. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. It was interesting, though. It seemed like Trump was maybe surprised by the question, and so really, really curious to see his response there and his reaction.
[11:45:00]
Alayna Treene live for us in Washington. Alayna, thank you.
And still to come for us on the show, the numbers are in, and we have brand new data on the U.S. job market. We'll have the details. Plus, retail chain Target rebounding from a year of slumping sales. So, what's behind the surge? We'll tell you straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Welcome back. U.S. job market not quite as rosy as government reports had us believe. That's the message from, yes, another government report. Number crunchers at the Bureau of Labor Statistics routinely go back to check their month-by-month estimates, and this time, they say that they likely overcounted the number of jobs created in the year by the fairly significant figure of 818,000 jobs.
Let's bring in CNN's Matt Egan in New York, who can shed some more light on all this. Matt, give us a sense of what we learned in this report. MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Rahel, it turns out that the jobs
market was a little bit cooler than we previously thought, 818,000 fewer jobs created between April of 2023 and March of this year. That works out on a monthly basis to show that the economy is still adding jobs, was still adding about 150,000 jobs per month, but that is down from the previous estimate of around 219,000 jobs. Now, I know these sound like really big numbers, right, 818,000, and that is on the high end of the estimates. But, you got to remember, this is an economy that employs almost 160 million people. So, this only works out to about half of a percentage point difference. Now, that is the biggest percentage point difference in total employment since 2009, and I don't think that's a coincidence, right?
In 2009, the economy was also going through a lot of turmoil. Right back then, it was the Great Recession, massive job loss. Now, of course, it was the COVID shutdown and rapid reopening of the economy. And I talked to Joe Brusuelas, Chief Economist at RSM, he told me that, look, when the economy goes through shocks like this, there are massive adjustments to the numbers. So, he is not surprised at all here. When you look at the sectors, some sectors lost more than 100,000 jobs in terms of how many they had versus the previous estimates. You look at this, leisure and hospitality, 150,000, manufacturing, 115,000 in revisions, and more than 300,000 for professional and business services. But,
But, big picture, this is still a labor market that is strong. It's just not as strong as we previously thought. I talked to Torsten Slok, the top Economist at Apollo Global Management, and he said this is really more of a measurement issue than it is a red flag. And so, I think that's why we're not seeing a massive reaction from the stock market to this backwards-looking report, because it doesn't really change the situation all that much, although it does support the idea that the Fed is going to be able to start cutting interest rates at the next meeting in September, because clearly, this is a jobs market that is not as strong as we once though.
[11:50:00]
And there is room for the Fed to start cutting rates. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. It's interesting. I was just looking at the markets, Matt. It's sort of -- they're sort of taking this as a snooze fest. It's barely a reaction at all.
EGAN: Yeah.
SOLOMON: But, great context. Good to know. Matt Egan, thank you for that perspective.
EGAN: Thanks, Rahel.
SOLOMON: And turning to corporate earnings, after a year of sluggish sales, American retail chain Target is making a comeback, and the news sent shares of Target surging on a snooze fest for target investors on Wednesday.
Let's bring in CNN Business Reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn. So, how did they do last quarter, Nathaniel?
NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Well, yeah, Rahel, certainly not a snooze fest, up 12 percent, and that was driven by the sales increase. Sales up about two percent last quarter. And this is the first time we've seen Target's quarterly sales rise in more than a year. And the reason that sales rose is because Target cut prices. Target cut prices over the summer on about 5,000 items. And so, that got customers into stores, got them spending online.
And if you take a look at Target's stock chart, it's really been a roller coaster the past several years. You see there, they boomed during the pandemic. People were flushed with cash, and Target was an essential retailer. So, people stocking up there. But look, Rahel, Target sells more discretionary merchandise than its rival Walmart. So, you think of Target, it is more clothing, home goods, and people have pulled back on discretionary merchandise because of inflation, because of higher interest rates. And so, that has hurt Target. It sent its sales down. But, now that it's slashing prices, we're seeing a nice little comeback here for Target.
SOLOMON: Also discretionary companies, you think about Macy's, you think about TJ Maxx, also reporting earnings. What did they say and how did they do?
MEYERSOHN: So, Rahel, Macy's and TJ Maxx are really heading in different directions here, and this is what we've seen in the last several years. So, there on your screen, Macy's sales down four percent last quarter. TJ Maxx sales up four percent last quarter. The reason has everything to do with value, Rahel. TJ Maxx and Macy's, they sell very similar stuff, but you're just finding more deals, more discounts on designer clothing at TJ Maxx than Macy's. And it's -- we've seen department stores really get pressured on the lower end by discount chains like TJ Maxx, Ross Stores, Marshalls. So, that's really where the growth is right now. So, more tough times for Macy's, just kind of a continuation of the pattern we've seen over the past several years.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And even you think about the impact of E-commerce, it's a tough time to be a retailer.
Nathaniel Meyersohn, thank you. Good time to be a retail reporter, though, Nathaniel. Good to have you.
MEYERSOHN: Always a good time.
SOLOMON: Good to have you.
All right. And it's apparently their last act. The duet is over for Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. Coming up, we will tell you what went wrong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Before we go, one more thing. Bennifer is breaking up again. Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from actor Ben Affleck in Los Angeles on Tuesday, two years after their wedding ceremony, and months after reports that the couple had fallen out and were living separately, Lopez canceled a concert tour earlier this year to focus on her family.
[11:55:00]
The two first met on the set of the movie Gigli in 2002, had a brief engagement soon after, and then rekindled their relationship in 2021. OK.
Well, thanks for being with me today. We know your time is money. So, thanks for spending some time with me today. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next.
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