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New Drama Over Debate as Campaigns Battle Over Details; Today, Bipartisan Task Force Heads to Butler, Pennsylvania to Investigate Attempted Assassination of Trump; Israel, Hezbollah Exchange Attacks in Major Escalation. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired August 26, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Will Donald Trump show up? The former president's campaign is now casting fresh doubt on whether he will actually be it next month's debate.

Plus, investigating the Trump assassination attempt as we learn more about even more security lapses, a bipartisan task force will head to the scene of the shooting. The ranking member of that group, Congressman Jason Crow, will join me in just a few moments.

And later, stuck in space, what was supposed to be an eight day trip for two NASA astronauts will now last at least eight months. Former Astronaut Leroy Chao will be here to discuss.

Good morning, everybody. You are live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. We begin with the growing uncertainty over whether Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will actually debate next month on ABC. The two campaigns are at an impasse over the rules. Sources tell CNN that Trump's team wants microphones muted when a candidate is not speaking, but the Harris campaign wants the mics left on.

Trump posted some scathing remarks about ABC and some of its journalists over the weekend, asked, quote, why would I do the debate against Kamala Harris on that network?

Joining us now is Democratic Strategist and Senior Adviser to Bernie Sanders 2016 and 2020 campaigns Chuck Rocha and CNN Political Commentator and Republican Strategist Shermichael Singleton.

Shermichael, let me go to you first. Let's talk about, you know, this Truth Social post from Trump over the weekend hinting that he might pull out of the debate. He's done this before. We've had a lot of debates over debates, and he's, you know, made a lot of noise about debates over the years. What do you think? Do you think he's bluffing?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, look, you all had a bit of an impasse, Jim. And I think the former president's team requesting that the rules that they agreed to during the first debate where President Biden should persist for all subsequent debates, I don't disagree with that. I think it's smart to mute the microphones when one person isn't speaking while the other is. It appears that the Harris campaign does not want to agree to those rules, that they want to change those rules. I would not agree to that.

And so I think Republicans have agreed to pretty much everything Democrats have asked for as it pertains to these debates. I think it's time for Republicans to say, wait a minute here, we want to suggest some things and I think Democrats should be amendable to what the Trump campaign is requesting.

ACOSTA: Yes. Chuck, I mean, you know, during the last debate Biden wanted the mics muted. Now, Harris wants the opposite of that. But, you know, what's going on here?

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, it's like my grandmother used to say, my, my, my, how things have changed. I can remember not that long ago, we were talking about how we were demanding that they be muted because you don't know what kind of crazy stuff that Donald Trump's going to say. Now, Kamala Harris is going, go ahead, let him say all the crazy stuff that he wants. I think that's where we are today. It's just changed. The last 30 days on this program, you've covered it. Everything has changed. And so now it's a new time in debates and like if we want to talk, he wants to act crazy.

There's one thing in politics when you're up, opposition is digging a hole. Don't take the shovel away from them, and I think that's what we're seeing.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, Shermichael. I mean, one of the problems, though, is that during the Republican primaries, you, you remember this, Trump didn't want to do debates against the other candidates. And, you know, the Harris folks are saying, you know, this is because Donald Trump is afraid to debate Kamala Harris.

SINGLETON: Yes. I'm not actually sure that I would agree with that. I mean, from my understanding, the former president has actually taken the potential debate against the vice president pretty serious, I mean, bringing in Tulsi Gabbard and a host of other individuals to sort of help prep him, which is something that he doesn't typically do. So, that suggests to me that he realizes this would not be the same type of debate you had against someone like Joe Biden or maybe even many of the Republicans who ran in 2016, for example.

Again, though, I think the American people benefit when they're able to listen to each candidate put forth a cogent argument for what their positions would be or their plans would be to address some of the most critical issues that voters are concerned with. When you have microphones unmuted and someone can just jump in and interrupt whenever they would like, no one benefits from that. Keep the microphones muted the way it was during the first debate. I think that's beneficial to most people.

[10:05:000]

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean Chuck, are Republicans afraid of Trump being Trump, letting Trump be Trump? Is that what's going on here? ROCHA: I think a lot of that has to do with that. This is going to be a big debate if this debate in fact happens. There're lots of folks out there. Kamala Harris had to introduce herself to a lot of folks. This convention was a big help to her. Getting Tim Walz is another big help to her.

Republicans are just sick and tired of seeing all the big help going to the Democrats. And they see this as another opportunity for that possibly to happen. Look, I agree with my friend, Shermichael, that we should debate the issues, but I don't think that debating the issues actually happens when you try to debate Donald Trump.

We've just seen it over and over again. You've covered him for a long time. It's hard to get facts and policy out of that man no matter what microphone you stick in his face.

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Shermichael, obviously the Trump campaign -- yes, go ahead. Yes, jump in.

SINGLETON: Yes, just one objection to Chuck and I agree with everything he said for the most part. But I would also push back and say that Vice President Harris also has some weaknesses on the economy and immigration. Those are two points that even her campaign has acknowledged. The data suggests that Trump is believed by most voters to be stronger on those issues. We have yet to see the vice president sit down with a journalist of the press to sort of push back against some of her transformations on the economic front and the immigration front.

And so while one could make the case that the former president is not the most verbose individual in terms of policy nuance, I would also say that the vice president has some challenges in that arena as well.

ACOSTA: You know, both campaigns are going to try to make their mark here in the coming days. Kamala Harris is coming out of a very successful convention. Now, the Trump campaign wants to aggressively ramp things up, get his schedule up and running the way it was before that convention, and perhaps even more so. And for the Harris campaign's part, Harris and Tim Walz will kick off a bus tour in Georgia this week, travel ahead of Michigan and Wisconsin. I mean, this is it. We're getting down to the nitty-gritty here. Once Labor Day rolls around, it's a sprint.

ROCHA: Yes. And that's what you see, because what we've seen in campaigns, and we've talked about this year in and year out, is that when Labor Day hits, normally that's when everything focuses. But everything has moved forward, but this all changed with Kamala Harris getting here at the end. So, she's introducing herself. If you look at the ad buys and the spin that was announced by both campaigns, hundreds of millions of dollars in just these states because they want voters to know as they tune in and more importantly, Jim, in Arizona and Nevada. They're starting to get ballots in 28 days. They arrive in mailbox. So, time is off the essence. That's why you see everything --

ACOSTA: This is going to happen quickly, yes. And, Shermichael, I'm going to ask you about this. H.R. McMaster, who served as Trump's national security adviser, is giving a pretty blistering account of the Trump White House in a new book, even describing meetings in the Oval Office as, quote, exercises and competitive sycophancy. Let's listen to what he said on CBS. Let's listen to this.

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LT. GEN. H.R. MCMASTER (RET.), AUTHOR, AT WAR WITH OURSELVES: Also, the story in the book is how difficult it was for him at times to keep that decision, in part because people know how to kind of push his buttons. You know, this will make you look weak to your political base. This will, you know -- so I think that in writing the story, I'm hoping to, if he's re-elected to inoculate him a little bit, you know, so he's not that easy, you know, to manipulate, you know, and to appeal to, you know, maybe some of his insecurities and some of his predilections.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes. Shermichael, I mean, this is a continuation of what we saw at the DNC, former Trump officials coming out and saying that Trump is not fit for the presidency. What's your response to McMaster here?

SINGLETON: You know, I take those quotes to be that Lieutenant General McMaster is someone that if Trump were to win this election and go back to the White House, you want aides and advisers like that. Individuals who are going to inoculate you from people with their own vanity, their own personal interests to advise the principle on the best decisions possible as he has to make tough decisions to move the country forward. And here, you have a guy who said, look, if I were to go back, I want to sort of protect him from some of those individuals who are going to play into some of the worst instincts he may have.

You want advisers like that versus the latter who only care about themselves. You only care about their own interests. You only care about their own objectives because it's not about them. It's about the American people. And I think you sort of saw that with Lieutenant General McMaster.

ACOSTA: Chuck, I think what McMaster is also saying is that Trump's pretty susceptible to that kind of stuff, flattery, fawning. I mean, we saw those, they were called the dear leader, you know, sort of cabinet meetings during the Trump presidency where he would go around the room and different officials would praise him.

ROCHA: I think this reminds voters as well of what Kamala Harris said, don't go back. You don't want to go back to the sycophants who are just around him who just want to not be McMaster, but tell him what he wants to hear, especially when we're at war around the country, when the economy is what it's doing like you want an adult and somebody who takes the presidency very seriously. So, I think that what this does is remind them that they don't want to go back to those days.

ACOSTA: Yes. All right, Chuck and Shermichael, I suspect we might have more books coming before Election Day. [10:10:03]

What were you going to say, Shermichael?

SINGLETON: I mean, look, he could win. And if he does win, the American people want more people like McMaster, not the latter. That's all I'm simply arguing here, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. All right, well, there's been a lot of talk, Shermichael, that if he gets back into office, there won't be people like H.R. McMaster, that Trump and some of the folks that are around him these days are going to make absolutely certain that there aren't those types of folks. The adults in the room won't be there. I'm sure you've heard that.

SINGLETON: I take that point. I know I have -- I take that point. But, Jim, I got to tell you something. You got to govern. It's a tough and difficult job and you want people with experience to do the job and again advise the principle on making the best decisions for the country.

ACOSTA: All right, guys, thank you very much. It's a Monday. We're going to keep things moving here. I always appreciate it though, Chuck and Shermichael. Thanks so much.

In the meantime, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is about to head to Butler, Pennsylvania. They're trying to learn more about the security failures that led up to Donald Trump's near assassination. The group's top Democrat joins me next.

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ACOSTA: Today, a congressional task force investigating the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump is set to visit the scene of the shooting in Pennsylvania, and we're learning more about the security failures at the rally. One day before the event, local police had set aside radios for the Secret Service to communicate with other law enforcement agencies. But investigators say those radios were never picked up, meaning a warning from local police before the shooting that a man was on a nearby roof, never made it to the Secret Service. And that led to this moment after the gunman was killed.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dude, that's all I was (BLEEP) calling out, bro. (BLEEP) on top of the roof. (BLEEP) we're not -- are we on the same frequency?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: All right, let's discuss with the top Democrat on the task force, Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado. Congressman, thank you very much. Good morning to you. What are you going to be looking for at the scene of this shooting? REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Well, I learned as an Army Ranger when I served in Iraq and Afghanistan, that there's really no substitute for being on site, looking at the ground where all of this happens. We're going to look at the security perimeter, the buildings where the shooter was, where the podium and platform were. We're going to look at the whole site and then that's going to help us inform our comprehensive investigations.

This is going to be a full, thorough congressional investigation. We're going to start from the very beginning, look at site selection, command and control, perimeter security, whether or not the Secret Service had adequate resources that day, and also look at decision- making. You know, in situations like this, is it the campaign that ultimately has authority over site selection, or do the Secret Service and local law enforcement have a say in it as well? So, we're going to do a thorough look at everything that happened and all the security protocols.

ACOSTA: And, I guess, Congressman, I mean, the big question kind of looming over everything is how did that shooter get up on that roof without anybody knowing about it, you know, in the minutes before this took place.

CROW: That's right. There was a time gap between when that shooter was initially identified by law enforcement and was able to get up on the roof. So, questions like why was the roof not secured? I mean, it's an obvious line of sight. You know, I'm a former Army Ranger. So, I look at things both at a tactical level as well as such as a strategic level, so very obvious questions here.

And, listen, all of this has to do with making sure that during an election cycle we answer really important questions and we help restore trust of the American people in our law enforcement and security agencies, because whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, or an unaffiliated voter, you need to have total confidence that your candidates and your elected officials will be secure. And right now, Americans have really important questions and don't really have that confidence.

So, a big part of what we're trying to do is restore that confidence and make sure that everybody, regardless of their political affiliation, has security.

ACOSTA: And have we gotten anywhere in terms of the motive of the shooter?

CROW: Well, that's another thing that we're looking at as well. We've received briefings by the FBI who have looked into motive. That is an ongoing investigation. That's something that the FBI itself is really looking at. That is a criminal investigation. So, we have a congressional investigation. And I will note that something really significant happened last month when we voted to create this task force in the House of Representatives.

Every single voting member that day was, all 416 voting members, voted to create this. So, every Democrat, every Republican, all 416 voted to proceed with this task force. So, we are doing the congressional investigation, but there are I.G., inspector general investigations, and there's also a criminal FBI investigation going on simultaneous to our investigation.

ACOSTA: And, Congressman, I do want to jump to the campaign a little bit. This morning, former President Trump was at Arlington National Cemetery, where he marked the three-year anniversary of the bombing that killed 13 service members during the Afghanistan withdrawal. This is someone who, according to his own former chief of staff, said Americans who died in war are, quote, suckers and losers. Trump denies that, although John Kelly confirms that Trump did say that. He more recently set a civilian award is, quote, better than the Medal of Honor.

You're a former Army Ranger. Is he politicizing these soldiers' deaths? Should he even be at Arlington National Cemetery if he's going to make some politics out of this?

CROW: Well, I also mourn the death of those 13 service members.

[10:20:00]

You know, every death of a service member is a tragedy. At the same time, I mourn the deaths of the over 2,400 service members who died during the 20 years we were at war. And I just look at President Biden, under whose leadership we actually ended and made the tough decision to end our nation's longest war. It became very clear to me years ago that this war was not winnable through military means. And sitting here today, we are honoring the death of those who died in service to our country. And at the same time, we are not at war in Afghanistan, and that was the right decision by President Biden.

ACOSTA: And as you know, the former president is now suggesting he may skip that debate next month with Vice President Harris. When we say next month, it is coming up very quickly. It's in the next couple of weeks. And a post on a Truth Social account he says, why would I do the debate against Kamala Harris on that network, going after ABC, saying, stay tuned. Any thoughts on that?

CROW: Well, I'm somebody that believes there should be debates, you know. And this actually goes to what I'm doing here today in Pennsylvania, right? America should condemn political violence. There's no room for it, period, in our discourse and our political system. At the same time, we're going to have a political campaign. And there's nothing wrong with that. America has to learn how to disagree again, how to have tough debates, sometimes fierce debates, and we're going to have those debates.

So, you know, Vice President Harris has been really clear. She's ready. She's ready to debate, to get this on. And I hope Donald Trump is willing to step up and also have those debates because there's really important issues for the American public to see the differences in those candidates.

ACOSTA: And does it matter to you if the mics are hot or if the mics are muted? What do you make of that whole back and forth over that? CROW: You know, I haven't been following that in the last couple of days. I've been very focused on this investigation. But, you know, listen, I'm somebody that likes debates, likes to make sure that America can see the contrast between the two. And there are very two starkly different visions for America between Vice President Harris and Donald Trump. I, of course, wholeheartedly support Vice President Harris and think that it's important for America to see that.

ACOSTA: All right. Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado, thanks very much for your time. Good luck with the investigation.

CROW: Thank you.

ACOSTA: All right, coming up, Israel's conflicts with Hezbollah and Hamas show no signs of stopping after some of the heaviest cross- border strikes since the war began. What this means for ceasefire talks, that's coming up.

And breaking overnight, Russia launches a deadly air assault on Ukraine, targeting power grids across the country. What we're learning about that, next.

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ACOSTA: Today, a U.S. official says progress was made over the weekend in ceasefire and hostage release talks, but Hamas says it will only accept a plan based on the framework put forward by President Biden. In a major escalation, Israel and Hezbollah exchanged heavy fire over the weekend.

Israel struck across the border into Southern Lebanon in what it calls preemptive strikes, targeting Hezbollah's rocket launchers. The Iranian-backed terror group says it still fired 320 rockets toward Israel.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Haifa. Jeremy, both Israel and Hezbollah are claiming victory. What can you tell us?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, this is a sign, frankly, that in a region where perception matters more than anything, both Israel and Hezbollah are trying to claim at least short-term victories to be able to step down from this ladder of escalation that we have been witnessing over the course of the last month as this region has been on edge. And now it appears that both sides are inclined to de-escalate this conflict, at least in the short-term.

But to be clear, yesterday's exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah was among the most intense barrages of fire between the two sides since the beginning of this war, Hezbollah firing hundreds of rockets and drones towards Northern and Central Israel, but Israel says it was able to intercept all of the drones that Hezbollah fired, and it said that none of the rockets actually hit Israeli military bases in Central or Northern Israel. The Israeli military partially crediting a preemptive strike that they said they carried out early yesterday morning, striking thousands of Hezbollah rocket launch barrels at dozens of different rocket launch sites in Southern Lebanon. The Israeli military says they believe they were able to thwart a much larger planned attack by Hezbollah, ultimately rendering it relatively ineffective.

But for now, Hezbollah appears to want to still claim that its strikes were successful and that it achieved what it sought to carry out yesterday. Of course, this doesn't mean that the threat of Iranian retaliation for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' political leader, in the Iranian capital, that is certainly not off the table. So, there is still tension in this region. And, of course, we expect those low-simmering exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah to certainly continue. Jim?

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Jeremy, does the escalation over the weekend impact the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas? What do we know?

DIAMOND: Well, what was really interesting was that even as we saw this very intense exchange of fire yesterday, the party still met in Cairo to try and push forward these ceasefire negotiations.

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