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Harris and Walz Sit for Exclusive Joint Interview with CNN; Trump Bashes Harris at Wisconsin Town Hall; W.H.O. to Fight Polio Outbreak in Gaza; Israel Carries Out Major Operations in Occupied West Bank. Aired 4:00-4:30a ET

Aired August 30, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Let's be clear. My values have not changed.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: In between a whirlwind series of stops, I sat down with the Democratic candidate for president and her running mate, responding to her critics and answering our questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This will likely be a location that the former president, but also the Kamala Harris campaign, will return to.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And she didn't look like a leader to me, I'll be honest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Accusations of war crimes from Jordan to Israel, saying the Israelis are carrying out war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza as well as the West Bank.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The current outbreak in Gaza is a stark reminder of how quickly infectious diseases can reemerge where health systems are compromised.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, a warm welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Max Foster. It's Friday, August the 30th, 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in the U.S. state of Georgia, where Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, sat down with CNN's Dana Bash for their first in-depth on-the-record interview since becoming the Democratic ticket.

That wide-ranging interview came as Harris and Walz wrapped up a two- day bus tour of the critical battleground state of Georgia. Harris said serving with President Joe Biden was one of the greatest honors of her career and shared details about how he broke the news that he was exiting the race. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: When he called you and said he was pulling out of the race, what was that like? And did he offer to endorse you right away, or did you ask for it?

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We were going to sit -- we were sitting down to do a puzzle. And the phone rang, and it was Joe Biden. And he told me what he had decided to do. And I asked him, are you sure? And he said yes. And that's how I learned about it.

BASH: And what about the endorsement? Did you ask for it?

HARRIS: He was very clear that he was going to support me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, during that exclusive interview, Harris was asked about the economy. She defended the administration's handling of what will undoubtedly be a key issue for voters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: One of your campaign themes is we're not going back. But I wonder what you say to voters who do want to go back when it comes to the economy specifically, because their groceries were less expensive, housing was more affordable when Donald Trump was president?

HARRIS: Well, let's start with the fact that when Joe Biden and I came in office, during the height of a pandemic, we saw over 10 million jobs were lost. People -- I mean, literally, we were all tracking the numbers.

Hundreds of people a day were dying because of COVID. The economy had crashed. In large part, all of that because of mismanagement by Donald Trump of that crisis.

When we came in, our highest priority was to do what we could to rescue America. And today, we know that we have inflation at under 3 percent. A lot of our policies have led to the reality that America recovered faster than any wealthy nation around the world.

But you are right. Prices, in particular for groceries, are still too high. The American people know it, I know it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, the Democratic presidential nominee also defended her record on immigration and blamed Donald Trump for killing a bipartisan bill that would have addressed the situation at the southern border.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: The root causes work that I did as vice president, that I was asked to do by the president, has actually resulted in a number of benefits, including historic investments by American businesses in that region. The number of immigrants coming from that region has actually reduced since we began that work. But I will say this, that Joe Biden and I and our administration worked with members of the United States Congress on an immigration issue that is very significant to the American people and to our security, which is the border.

And through bipartisan work, including some of the most conservative members of the United States Congress, a bill was crafted, which we supported, which I support.

[04:05:00]

And Donald Trump got word of this bill that would have contributed to securing our border, and because he believes that it would not have helped him politically, he told his folks in Congress, don't put it forward, he killed the bill. A border security bill that would have put 1,500 more agents on the border.

And let me tell you something, the Border Patrol endorsed the bill. And I'm sure in large part because they knew they were working around the clock and 1,500 more agents would help them. That bill would have allowed us to increase seizures of fentanyl.

Ask any community in America that has been devastated by fentanyl what passing that bill would have done to address their concern and the pain that they've experienced.

BASH: So you would push that legislation again?

HARRIS: Not only push it, I will make sure that it comes to my desk and I would sign it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, Harris argued that Trump doesn't have the judgment or the disposition that the American people deserve in their president. She also addressed previous policy shifts on issues like fracking.

HARRIS: Let's be clear, my values have not changed. I believe it is very important that we take seriously what we must do to guard against what is a clear crisis in terms of the climate. And to do that, we can do what we have accomplished thus far.

The Inflation Reduction Act. What we have done to invest by my calculation over probably a trillion dollars over the next ten years. Investing in a clean energy economy.

What we've already done, creating over 300,000 new clean energy jobs. That tells me, from my experience as Vice President, we can do it without banning fracking.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: While Kamala Harris toured Georgia by bus and took on her first extensive interview as a current presidential candidate, Donald Trump campaigned in the key swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin. He touched upon, amongst other things, the border, the economy, reproductive rights. He also commented on Kamala Harris's interview with CNN.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: But she was sitting behind that desk, this massive desk, and she didn't look like a leader to me, I'll be honest. I don't see her negotiating with President Xi of China. I don't see her with Kim Jong-un like we did with Kim Jong-un.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: While Trump also made what many consider to be a surprising proposal about in vitro fertilization, despite earlier Republican threats to ban or curtail it. CNN's Omar Jimenez is traveling with the former president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a short appearance here in western Wisconsin where, from the time that he took the stage to when he wrapped up, essentially, to when you're seeing the scenes behind me, it was about 35 minutes or so. And over the course of those 35 minutes, he answered questions from voters in a town hall format, one that was moderated by Tulsi Gabbard, who formerly ran for president as a Democrat, is now an independent, and has endorsed the former president. And over the course of the answering to these questions, the former president touched on some of the familiar themes we've heard throughout this campaign cycle.

Him railing against the situation at the border, railing against the economy under the Biden administration as well. But we also heard him touch largely, in many different aspects, on the reproductive rights issues.

For example, the way this town hall began was with Tulsi Gabbard talking about her struggles to conceive using IVF. And that opened up a conversation where the former president said that he is putting forward a proposal that would essentially make the government or insurance companies pay for IVF. That is something that he unveiled over the course of Thursday.

Now, Wisconsin wasn't the only place he went to. He also went to Michigan earlier in the day Thursday. But what's critical about both of those stops is these are two battleground states that will likely be essential to whoever takes the White House. Wisconsin in particular, or actually both of them, I should say, were states that Trump won in 2016, then Biden won back in 2020.

Wisconsin, by just the slimmest of margins, 20,000 votes or so. And so this will likely be a location that the former president, but also the Kamala Harris campaign, will return to as they try to lock up the amount of votes they will need for one of those two to make it into the White House.

Omar Jimenez, CNN, La Crosse, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Joining me from London, Leslie Vinjamuri, the head of the U.S. and America's program at Chatham House. Thank you so much for joining us. This interview with Harris was a long time coming, wasn't it?

A big test for her. The whole world was watching. How do you think she came out of it?

LESLIE VINJAMURI, U.S. AND THE AMERICAS PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: I think it was a strong interview. It was, you know, she and her vice presidential candidate, which I think is significant, but not unsurprising.

[04:10:00]

She spoke clearly and plainly.

I don't think it's going to move the needle, but she hit the main issue. She really -- you know, what we could see is that she's very much going to focus on the economy, on rebuilding America's middle class. She's hitting all the major issues when it comes to immigration. And a lot of the strategy seems to be to say, you know, we've done -- we, as in she and President Biden, have made these positive measures, these steps forward, reviving the economy from a COVID economy that they inherited from Donald Trump.

But also pointing out the very concrete ways in which the former president has blocked their abilities. So I think it was a strong interview. She's clearly not going to travel the road of making this a campaign that's about her identity or identity politics.

And, you know, that's a very specific choice. She may have missed a trick to really make a powerful case for her own identity. And given that this election is going to come down to turnout in those swing states, and a big part of that turnout that will matter for the Democrats will be minority voters.

But still, I think it was a strong interview. Lots for those who oppose her to be negative about. And it's really sort of, you know, the first step, what we're all sort of going to be waiting for is that September 10th presidential debate where, you know, the pressure is going to be on, the focus on issues will be both serious. But also undoubtedly, Donald Trump will, you know, play fast and loose with the facts and really try to attack her on multiple accounts.

Inflation, prices, immigration, flip-flopping, and she did tackle, as you know, as we've just heard, that flip-flopping issue very squarely, which I thought was important.

FOSTER: Yes, fracking, I think you're referring to there. But, you know, the first thing you mentioned was the economy. You talk about Donald Trump attacking her on the economy, arguably her biggest vulnerability because she's, you know, been in part charge of the economy over recent years.

Her, you know, her role in Bidenomics, if you like, and certainly many people being polled are putting Trump stronger on the economy. Let's just hear what she said about Bidenomics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: So you have been vice president for three and a half years.

HARRIS: Yes.

BASH: The steps that you're talking about now, why haven't you done them already?

HARRIS: Well, first of all, we had to recover as an economy, and we have done that. I'm very proud of the work that we have done that has brought inflation down to less than 3 percent.

BASH: You maintain Bidenomics is a success.

HARRIS: I maintain that when we do the work of bringing down prescription medication for the American people, including capping the cost of the annual cost of prescription medication for seniors at $2,000, what we have done to improve the supply chain so we're not relying on foreign governments to supply American families with their basic needs. I'll say that that's good work. There's more to do, but that's good work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: I mean, the issue here is always how people feel going into the polling booth, and she admitted that people felt that grocery prices, for example, were too high, and that's an issue. Isn't the challenge here whether or not they think Donald Trump could turn that around more quickly?

VINJAMURI: It is, and, you know, she has -- he has managed to frame himself through his voters and to many people as somebody who's stronger on the economy, and there was a strong economy until, of course, COVID hit, at which point it was not a strong economy.

I think Harris is going to really have to answer this question about, you know, food prices, and referring back I think is important, talking about the successes, but at the end of the day, Americans do want to see what the plan is. There is great skepticism, quite frankly, even among some in the Democratic Party about Bidenomics.

I think the problem now is it's very hard to have a rigorous policy debate about government intervention when basically Donald Trump is going to label and has labeled her as what the line is, Comrade Harris, as a communist. And that sells with an American public, many of whom are skeptical about government intervention. And the puzzling thing here is that even people who will benefit, who

are benefiting from those policies that the Biden-Harris team have put in place are still, many of them, skeptical about whether the government can actually succeed in this.

The other really interesting story that's sort of, you know, there, waiting for us to focus more on, 120,000 Indian American voters in the swing state of Pennsylvania, they need to, you know, get behind Harris if she's going to succeed in that state, it would really help her.

[04:15:00]

But many of them also will probably be skeptical of some of the policies because they're successful, they're working hard. Do people want to see an American that redistributes some of that success to other people who aren't doing as well?

That's, you know, again, there is a lot of skepticism about, you know, whether it's the right strategy, whether it could work. And Harris is defending that. She needs to put forward policies for next steps.

But again, when she's head-on-head talking to the former president about these issues, it's going to get much trickier.

FOSTER: He suggested, you know, sitting behind that desk, she didn't look like a president, but she doesn't look presidential. You can't imagine her being up against other world leaders. Is that something he might have some success with?

VINJAMURI: Sure. I mean there's going to be all sorts of prejudice against the possibility of a female president, of a female who is Asian, who is Black. All of these things will certainly play.

Again, I think we have to focus on which votes will matter. If you look at the three key swing states, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, 80 percent more, give or take, eligible voters are white voters. That vote is split. It's biased, certainly, in favor of the Republicans. And it is a new step for the United States to be putting forward a woman. It shouldn't be. It is.

And so I think it would be powerful for Kamala Harris to also talk about why that's where we are and where we should be and why it's important. I think probably the one moment where she could have made a more powerful and persuasive statement was in response to that question from Dana Bash about, you know, Trump pushing back against her prevarication or swinging on her question of her Black identity.

She's got to nail that. It's important to many voters who wish to vote for her. She's got to defend it. It doesn't mean she has to have a campaign that's about identity politics, but it is there and it's not going to go away.

FOSTER: Leslie, really appreciate your time, as ever, on the show. Thank you for joining us.

VINJAMURI: Thank you. FOSTER: We're learning new details about the first presidential debate, as well, between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, set to take place in less than two weeks' time. According to a copy of the formal rules, ABC News plans to mute the microphones of the nominees whilst their opponent speaks, but the Harris campaign continues to push back on that final sticking point and says it remains in discussion with the network about the microphone issue.

Hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza will soon be getting the polio vaccine. Details on how the life-saving vaccinations will be carried out.

Plus, Israel is in the midst of its largest assault on the occupied West Bank in years. The IDF says it's targeting terrorists, but civilians are paying the toll.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Polio vaccinations will begin in Gaza on Sunday. An Israeli official confirms to CNN there'll be humanitarian pauses in the fighting for about seven hours as the vaccines are delivered over three days. A representative of the World Health Organization says about 640,000 children under 10 years old are scheduled to get the vaccine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MIKE RYAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, W.H.O. HEALTH EMERGENCIES PROGRAMME: The current outbreak in Gaza is a stark reminder of how quickly infectious diseases can reemerge where health systems are compromised. Many other diseases are spreading while our collective capacities to prevent, detect, and respond to them continue to be hindered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, a member of the Hamas political bureau says the group welcomes the U.N. request for a humanitarian pause and they're ready to cooperate to secure the vaccination campaign.

Meanwhile, Israel is carrying out one of its largest military operations in the occupied West Bank in years with raids in multiple cities. Ongoing since Wednesday, Jordan's foreign minister accuses Israel of committing war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank now.

Let's bring in H.A. Hellyer. He's a Middle East studies scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He's with us here in London. Thank you for joining us.

H.A. HELLYER, MIDDLE EAST SCHOLAR, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: My pleasure.

FOSTER: What do you think is going on in the West Bank?

HELLYER: I think that what we've seen in the West Bank over not just the last few weeks, but over the last 10 months, is an escalation of activity from the Israelis. When you look at how settler activity in the West Bank has just increased tremendously, exponentially, actually, over the last few months in comparison to the last few decades. So there's a lot of territory that has been taken, of course, by force.

And this happens at the same time that it's been reconfirmed by the International Court of Justice that the occupation in the West Bank is illegal, that it is Palestinian territory, and that the Israelis are the occupying power.

In response to that, at least partially in response to that, I think that the Israeli authorities are trying to make it very clear that, no, this is ours. This is quote-unquote Judean Samaria. It isn't Palestinian territory. At the very least, it's disputed.

But in reality, the military authorities that are governing the West Bank are making it very clear that, no, the Israeli settler activity is not only here to stay, but will be widened, will be strengthened, which, you know, calls into question the very notion of having a peace process at the present moment in time, while you have this continual expansion of Israeli settlements and the forced expulsion of Palestinians from their land in the West Bank.

FOSTER: Where are Israel's allies on this? Because they've been very clear on these settlements. And as you say, they're expanding.

HELLYER: So here's the thing. I don't think there's anyone, with the exception, of course, being the Israeli government, that argues that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are legal. I think everybody agrees that they are illegal, including the United States.

I think the issue then becomes, so what are we going to do about it? And very little seems to have taken place. You've seen the EU High Representative Josep Borrell actually argue for sanctions against not only, you know, a settler here or a settler there, but including Israeli ministers who have been, you know, really ramping up the rhetoric in terms of not just the West Bank, but more generally vis-a- vis the Palestinians. And he's been pushing for that in the European Union.

You had certain foreign ministers in different governments in the EU agree. But, of course, when it comes to the EU, there needs to be consensus.

You also have the U.K. government sanction particular individuals and groups with regards to Israeli settlement activity. And, of course, in British law, there's no question these settlements are illegal. And there ought to be sanctions that are applied when it comes to engaging with those settlements.

But this has been the problem for quite some time, that allies of the Israeli state have made it clear this is illegal, this is illegitimate, but are not using to use the leverage that would be required in order to actually force a change in behavior in that regard. FOSTER: We heard from Kamala Harris on CNN last night that, you know, she was asked about what's going on in the Middle East. And she said, we need a peace deal. We've heard this from America so many times.

They've said a couple of times that we're almost there.

HELLYER: Yes.

FOSTER: Hasn't happened. They're the one country with leverage over Israel. Are they at fault here? Are they failing here?

HELLYER: So one thing that a lot of people have argued over the past nine months is that you can move for, quote, unquote, pressure when it comes to the Israelis in order to get a ceasefire or opposing the fighting or so on.

[04:25:00]

But pressure doesn't mean rhetoric. Pressure doesn't mean talk. Pressure doesn't mean private discussions or even public discussion. Pressure means leverage.

And the United States has leverage at the United Nations Security Council that it has not used. It has leverage in terms of arms transfers, in terms of offensive arms transfers that it has not used, in terms of financial aid that it has not used. And I think that the Israelis know that.

I think that Benjamin Netanyahu is fully aware that over the past nine months, he has crossed numerous red lines that the Biden administration has placed in front of him. And there haven't been consequences. And as long as he is sure that there won't be consequences, then I think that he will escalate or at the very least, he will allow others in his government to escalate, which unfortunately is what has happened not only in Gaza, but now also in the West Bank.

FOSTER: In terms of what happens with the peace process now, where does it go? I know you're very pessimistic.

HELLYER: Well I don't really know how we can talk about a peace process where we have the Israelis expanding their settlements in the West Bank. We have a reduction of territory in Gaza in terms of the security zones that they've been creating, the split of Gaza into north and south with the Netzarim Corridor that is militarized by the Israelis.

In terms of insisting that there be a heavily armed presence along the Philadelphi corridor, which is frankly an abrogation of the Camp David agreements with Egypt that is, you know, the main bedrock of security architecture in the region going back for decades.

So until there's an external mediator that is willing to actually apply genuine leverage, not simply on one side, but on both, I don't know how we can move forward. FOSTER: Well, the leverage obviously has to be on the other side as well. So who's going to, who's going to, you know, those other Middle Eastern states, they should be playing a role on the Hamas side.

HELLYER: I think that's absolutely true. But I do think that when it comes to Hamas, you've had Egypt and Qatar play actually a very strong role in insisting, no, you need to move on this, you need to move on this. And they seem to have been quite successful.

I think when you saw the Biden plan come through in May, you had Hamas agree to that. And I think that over the last six to nine months in particular, you've had the Egyptians and the Qataris really push Hamas hard. And I think that they've been quite successful in that regard.

FOSTER: OK, H.A. Hellyer, thank you very much for coming in today.

HELLYER: Thank you.

FOSTER: Paula Hancocks live for us from Abu Dhabi with more of the detail about what she knows about what's happening in the West Bank. And are there fears that that operation is now going to expand even further?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, I mean, this started in the early hours of Wednesday morning, we're now on day three of this operation. And there's no indication from the Israeli side as to how much longer it could go on.

So it is focusing on three particular areas in the northern part of the West Bank and the Ministry of Health in the in the occupied West Bank has given a death toll of 16 Palestinians at this point.

Now the militant groups themselves have admitted that eight of theirs have been killed. But we don't have confirmation of exactly how many civilians are involved in this. We do see though from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society that they say they have concerns about a lack of clean drinking water.

In some cases in some of these areas where the Israeli military has been operating, we can see from the images that have been military bulldozers that have dug up certain parts of the infrastructure, the roads, we've seen images as well of sewers running through the streets. So that's a concern that the Red Crescent Society has from the civilian point of view.

We also know that there are a couple of curfews that have been ongoing in different areas.

Now from the Israeli side, they say that this is necessary to curtail the operations that they say have been concocted and directed from these different areas in the West Bank linked to Iran, they say. And we've even heard from the foreign minister, Israel Katz, saying that that there could potentially be evacuations of Palestinian civilians dealing with these threats, saying that he's calling for a Gaza-style operation in the West Bank. Now we've just heard in the last few hours the Israeli military saying

that they did kill the Hamas head in Jenin and two others, this from the IDF itself, saying that it is a pinpointed operation in the West Bank.

But at this point it is affecting a number of residents in those three areas of Jenin, of Tubas, of Tulkarem, and certainly there are concerns as to how long this may continue.

[04:30:00]

The U.N. Secretary General himself saying that this has to end, and the Palestinian Authority saying that this is an escalation -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Paula Hancocks live in Abu Dhabi, thank you.

After the break, Kamala Harris goes after Donald Trump and his same old tired playbook in her first major interview since clinching her party's nomination.

END