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Biden and Harris to Discuss Hostage Talks; Harris Leads Trump in New Poll; Harris and Trump's First Debate Next Week; College Football is Back. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired September 02, 2024 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:30:00]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: -- could impact this upcoming campaign? I mean, you and I both know, David knows this, sometimes outside forces, outside events can impact an election. What do you think?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, I think that's exactly right, especially in such a close race, right? Any little thing can affect the outcome. But we've seen historically that things that happen outside of the United States foreign policy issues, other than 9/11, don't really affect a domestic presidential campaign.
However, I do think that, you know, while President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are not looking at this through the lens of politics versus Donald Trump, I'm just trying to politicize and weaponize everything, they are 150 percent focused on trying to get this deal, right? And Netanyahu is in, I think, a world of hurt in Israel, in his home turf, and I do think extrapolating on the political, if there is a deal, I do think that helps Kamala Harris moving forward.
ACOSTA: Yes, and she spoke with the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin and told them that the nation mourns with them. I spoke to them during the DNC, and it just breaks your heart --
CARDONA: Yes.
ACOSTA: -- what that family is going through, our hearts go out to them as well. David Urban, let me go to you. I want to play this clip from Kamala Harris' CNN interview with Dana Bash last week. Let's listen to it and talk about it on the other side.
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST AND FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: Let me be very clear, I am unequivocal and unwavering in my commitment to Israel's defense and its ability to defend itself, and that's not going to change. Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. And we have got to get a deal done.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: Yes, David, what do you think?
URBAN: Yes, look, first of all, my heart goes out to Hersh's family, friends, right? This is an American citizen who was killed. This is not an Israeli -- this is not an Israel problem anymore, this is an American citizen who died at the hands of terrorists. Hamas, the group is terrorists. They're nothing more than terrorists. And nothing's going to change until they're stopped, until they're eradicated.
Just listen to -- you know, you had the ambassador on before talking about it. It is impossible to negotiate peace with somebody who is -- you know, who keeps chanting from the river to the sea. How are you going to negotiate with somebody who wants to deny your existence? It's very, very difficult.
And so, the Biden administration, I wish they'd let the Israelis go into Rafah, right and go in and get these folks. That's where they were killed, obviously, inside the territory there. And the notion somehow that we're going to -- that the Israelis are going to be able to negotiate a peace with someone who wants to eradicate them just for being who they are, just for being Jewish, just for being Zionists, it's mind blowing to me.
So, I agree with Maria that it probably will not have a large impact on our domestic political race here in America, whether, you know, one side wins or another, but it is just -- it's -- this is awful. This is a crime against humanity that this is allowed to continue on and this terrorist group is allowed to remain in power.
ACOSTA: Well, and I do want to turn the page and talk about the race and talk to both of you about this. There's this new ABC/Ipsos poll, Kamala Harris holding a narrow but sizable lead now over Donald Trump, 52 to 46. Not too different from the pre-convention numbers, but I think maybe just a slight bit more than what we were seeing before the convention. Maria, how are Democrats feeling right now?
CARDONA: Democrats are feeling very good, but they're taking nothing for granted. And that, I think, is the really important thing here, Jim. You know, I see this poll. Obviously, I like the numbers. You know, Harris has gone over the 50 percent mark. She's ahead by six.
ACOSTA: She's ahead by six, also, we should note, compared to where Biden was. I mean, this is --
CARDONA: Right. Absolutely.
ACOSTA: Yes.
CARDONA: And as I have always told you on this program, she needs to run like she's 10 points behind. That's why I think it's really smart that she -- everywhere she goes she is telling people that they need to come out and vote, they need to make a plan to vote, they need to get all of their friends and family to vote, because they are the underdogs.
And I think that is exactly right, going into this very, very narrow election, where things are going to be won on the margins. But I do think there are some really good things in this poll that I think indicate the momentum, and that's what you kind of see in the trends in the poll, right? This is why they say that there wasn't a huge convention bump, there was a little bit more, but the momentum is on her side, and that's where the positive movement is for her.
ACOSTA: Yes. And, David, the campaign memo is that she's the underdog and we have another poll number that we're going to put up there showing that a majority of Americans feel Kamala Harris is handling her campaign well, 15 points better than Donald Trump. These numbers worry you at all, David, what do you think?
[10:35:00]
URBAN: No, you know, Jim. So, listen, Maria is correct, you know, polls generally indicate trends. So, I like to look at those, you know, longitudinally, but interestingly, this poll, let me just point out some things that it didn't change. On the issues voters still have greatest concern about, they have the greatest trust for Trump to handle economy, Trump's up by eight points. On inflation, Trump's up by eight points. On immigration, Trump's up by nine points. And on the issue, we were just talking about, who's best to deal with the Israel war with Hamas, Trump's up by seven points.
So, those numbers haven't changed from their last poll that ABC did and those numbers remain strong for Trump. And those are the issues that Americans care most about. We're told time and time again, if you look at every poll, what are the issues that Americans care most about? Those are the top issues. And Trump still continues to dominate on those top issues.
So, I'm not overly concerned, but Maria is correct again, this is going to be -- this is a game of inches. This is going to be won by tens of thousands of books --
CARDONA: He said I've been correct this whole time.
ACOSTA: It must be a holiday weekend. And Dave is in a good mood.
CARDONA: That's right.
ACOSTA: The chyron on the screen says he's in Nantucket. He's chilled. He's relaxed. That's why this is how -- all right. Stay with us. For folks who don't like the contributors fighting with one of those, stay with us.
CARDONA: There you go.
ACOSTA: Maria and David, we've got more to talk about. Coming up, George Clooney is now praising President Biden for dropping out of the White House race after the actor very publicly called for him to step aside. You'll remember that. We'll talk about that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:40:00] ACOSTA: We're about a week away from Kamala Harris and Donald Trump going head-to-head in their first presidential debate. The former president sat down with Fox over the weekend and called the vice president a, quote, nasty person for the way she treated Former Vice President Mike Pence during their debate in 2020. Trump also addressed the updated indictment in the federal election case against him. Let's listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's so crazy that my poll numbers go up. Whoever heard you get indicted for interfering with a presidential election where you have every right to do it, you get indicted and your poll numbers go up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And Maria and David are back with me. David, let me go to you first on this. Trump just says he has every right to interfere with a presidential election. What's your response to that?
URBAN: Well, Jim, he clearly felt he did or he wouldn't have been doing the things that he did, right? I mean, he feels that, you know, that the election was not conducted on a -- on the up and up. And so, he feels that he had the right and on behalf of himself and the American people to go out and push back on it. And look, a large extent -- a large --
ACOSTA: But didn't he admit the other day that --
URBAN: -- he feels the same way.
ACOSTA: He admitted the other day, that he came up short. He said that down on the border. Well, he came up a little short. And --
URBAN: Yes. Jim, listen --
ACOSTA: You know, which is it? Is it that there was a problem with the last election? Did he come up short? Is he ever going to give a straight answer on that?
URBAN: Listen, I think -- so, Jim, look, I've said that, you know, in the State of Pennsylvania, you know, my little universe, I think the president lost, and I've told him so. But look, that doesn't mean that the true things can't be true at the same time. That can't mean that there's still a voter irregularities, there are still problems with how the, you know, election was conducted in many states. So, look, we can always do better. We should be doing better in our elections.
Look, I think we should have Election Day, it should be a federal holiday. We should have voter ID. We should know on election night who the winner is American, the American people deserve to know.
ACOSTA: But the election -- yes.
URBAN: Listen, in Pennsylvania --
ACOSTA: It's a holiday and you're in a chill mood. I don't want to ruin that.
URBAN: No, no, no. But Jim --
ACOSTA: The election was just fine last time.
URBAN: No. But, Jim, listen, you can't --
ACOSTA: It was just fine.
URBAN: No, no, no.
ACOSTA: Why can't we dispense with that? It was -- the election was fine.
CARDONA: Yes, it was.
ACOSTA: But Trump lost, that's the deal.
URBAN: No. Listen, I admit he lost, but it was not just fine. That's the problem. And listen, in states like Pennsylvania, you can't -- the law doesn't allow you to start counting absentee ballots until 7:00 p.m. And so, people go to bed with one candidate ahead by 3 million votes, and they wake up the next morning and their candidate's behind by 3 million. It erodes --
ACOSTA: Yes. But, David --
CARDONA: That doesn't matter. Yes.
URBAN: Yes, it does matter, Maria.
CARDONA: No.
URBAN: Maria, it does matter because it erodes confidence.
CARDONA: Well, no. You know what erodes confidence, David? When the -- one of the heads of --
URBAN: OK. Everything's just fine, Maria.
CARDONA: When one of the heads of the party -- no, what erodes confidence is when one of the candidates, like Donald Trump, is actually breaking down the system by telling his voters that they should not have confidence in the system, OK? It doesn't just happen, it happens because Donald Trump says this election was stolen. That's what erodes confidence.
And so, I think that the more that the president -- the more that the former president does this, which is he's saying that he had every right to intervene, he didn't have a right to intervene. He had a right to have, you know, the -- his questions answered, to even go to court and he did all of that. And every single time the courts came back with there was no evidence to show that this election was not won fairly and squarely by Joe Biden, and he continues on this rant.
So, he can do that because, as you know and I know, it helps with his own MAGA base, but it does not help to bring in the independent voters that he wants. And this shows in the ABC poll independence are now breaking for Kamala Harris, and I think this is part of the problem, David.
URBAN: Well, Jim and Maria, I would just push back on that and say during -- after the 2016 election, I had to suffer through four years of Russia collusion, which we now is all funded by the DNC that Steele dossier and everything. So, guys --
ACOSTA: David, David, David.
URBAN: -- come on.
[10:45:00]
ACOSTA: All right.
URBAN: Don't -- guys, come on, don't give it.
ACOSTA: Somebody give David another Bloody Mary out there in Nantucket. David --
URBAN: Don't give me it. Come on.
ACOSTA: -- the Russian collusion thing, if we're going to go down the rabbit hole we can go down the rabbit hole, but, you know, when Don Jr. and Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort are meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower in 2016, I mean, you know, come on.
CARDONA: Yes.
URBAN: But, Jim, the Steele dossier was faked.
ACOSTA: And Trump saying Russia --
URBAN: Jim --
ACOSTA: -- hack into Hillary Clinton's e-mails.
URBAN: Jim, the Steele dossier -- Jim, I'm talking about the facts here.
ACOSTA: Come on. We're going to do this?
URBAN: The Steele dossier was completely manufactured by the DNC. It was the basis upon which the FISA warrants were obtained.
ACOSTA: OK.
CARDONA: That's just not true.
URBAN: What, you can't stand the facts? Those are the facts, guys.
CARDONA: No, that's not true.
URBAN: Those are the facts.
ACOSTA: Why did the president's son and son-in-law and campaign manager meet with a Russian attorney at Trump Tower in 2016? You worked in the Trump campaign.
URBAN: Jim, that's not what the basis --
ACOSTA: Do you have a good answer for that? Did you ever ask Donald Trump, why did they do this?
URBAN: No, Jim, I didn't. I didn't.
ACOSTA: What campaign does that?
CARDONA: And let's be very clear that Mueller was very clear that one of the reasons that he did not move forward with this case is because Donald Trump was president and the DOJ wouldn't go there. So, let's be very clear about that.
URBAN: Guys, go back and check the receipts, guys. The reason the FISA warrants were issued weren't because of Don Jr.'s meeting, it was because of the Steele dossier. Go back and look.
ACOSTA: Let's talk about the Arlington Cemetery. We'll do that rabbit hole another time. We went down part of the way, but not the whole way. Arlington National Cemetery. Kamala Harris did tweet about this over the weekend. David, I do want to get your take on that. She's tweeted this, our veterans, military families, service members should be honored, never disparaged, and treated with nothing less than our highest respect and gratitude.
This is obviously in response to the controversy over Trump going to Arlington, his campaign pushing past a cemetery worker there to record a video of Trump there at Arlington. David, your assessment as to how this was all handled?
URBAN: Yes, Jim, look, they were invited. This is one where I think the Biden-Harris administration should have been better off just keeping their mouth shut and moving on. You know, many, many people in America believe that they're responsible for those 13 deaths at Abbey Gate. Many Americans feel offended, especially the families feel particularly offended that, you know, upon the return of the remains of Dover, you know, they have the famous photograph of Joe Biden looked down on his watch. They never really met with the families. They never reached out to them. Kamala Harris wasn't there in Dover.
And so, for them to be casting the --
ACOSTA: Yes, but David --
URBAN: -- families in --
ACOSTA: -- the cemetery worker
CARDONA: They did meet with the families.
ACOSTA: But when a cemetery --
CARDONA: They absolutely met with the families, David, that's just a lie.
ACOSTA: When a cemetery worker tells you, you can't --
URBAN: No, she didn't. Maria, she did not.
CARDONA: The president --
URBAN: No, wait, Jim, hold on.
CARDONA: President Biden -- when this happened and they came back, the bodies came back, President Biden met with the families and he sat there and he was there and listened to them and listened to them. So, when you say that President Biden and Kamala Harris hasn't meet with the families, that's just not true.
URBAN: It is true, Maria. Factually, it's true. Look at the ABC's fact check. They noted this morning, ABC screwed it up, so don't you screw it up. Learn from their mistake. Kamala Harris was not present. So, why don't you just say, I was mistaken in saying it, David? Kamala Harris was not president.
CARDONA: President --
URBAN: You could say it, I'll wait.
CARDONA: President Biden met -- you were saying that President Biden didn't meet with the families. President Biden met with the families when he --
URBAN: He was there --
CARDONA: When he was there receiving the bodies. Absolutely. Absolutely.
ACOSTA: But, David -- listen, aren't you also skirting past the issue?
URBAN: Jim, Maria, I'm not --
ACOSTA: Hold on, hold on. Wait a minute, David, aren't you skirting past the issue? The cemetery told the Trump people at the cemetery, and this is Arlington, I have relatives buried there, it is a bright red line, you follow the rules at Arlington. Full stop. And when the cemetery worker says, you are not to go back into Section 60 and take pictures and do videos and so on, you respect that.
CARDONA: Yes.
ACOSTA: Why hasn't the campaign done something about this? Why haven't they fired whoever that Trump campaign staffer, why do they still have a job right now? URBAN: Jim, because they were invited back by those families. I'm just watching the videos of the families who were there. I'm listening to their words, Jim. I -- you know, we could put up the video of all those different family members who are there that said we invited Donald Trump. We wanted to record this for posterity. We wanted this for our families. That's what they're saying. OK, Jim. So, I'm not talking about --
ACOSTA: Right. But what about the graves next to --
URBAN: I'm not talking about GS 13 (ph).
ACOSTA: But what about the grays next to the grave they were visiting, where they were not getting permission and Donald Trump is giving a thumbs up sign?
URBAN: I understand there was one family member that said that they were offended by it. I'm sorry that their loved one's grave was photographed there. That's obviously something that, you know, was regrettable.
ACOSTA: That's why you follow the cemetery's rules. That's why it's the cemetery.
URBAN: Jim, what's not regrettable is Donald Trump going there to pay respect to those families. Those family members, one of them there. They're suffering inside.
ACOSTA: OK.
URBAN: And if Donald Trump and his team could give them some comfort, I'm all for it.
ACOSTA: Yes, but --
[10:50:00]
CARDONA: And you know what? I think that's fine. But I think the underlying story here is that Donald Trump didn't do this for these families. Donald Trump did it for Donald Trump and the campaign. That's why he then filmed it and he put it on TikTok and he put it on social media for his own benefit, not because he fell for the family.
ACOSTA: We'll do this conversation --
URBAN: Guys, you're just on the wrong side of this one. I'm sorry.
ACOSTA: All right. Well -- all right, David, well, appreciate the thoughts that.
CARDONA: Donald Trump is on the wrong side of rules, regulations, the law, and that's a problem.
ACOSTA: You got to follow the rules at Arlington. Maria, David, thanks. We'll be right back.
URBAN: Dead soldiers, Maria.
ACOSTA: All right. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:55:00]
ACOSTA: College football is back and fans were treated to a thrilling opening weekend. USC delivered one for the highlight reels. Coy Wire joins us now. Coy some great games this weekend. USC being one of them.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Awesome baby. Nearly 64,000 fans were there at Allegiance Stadium. That's a record in Vegas to see 23rd ranked USC take on the number 13 LSU Tigers. That's more than the Super Bowl that was there. Any Raiders game or concert? The Trojans back with a revamped defense. And some highlight real plays, Jim.
New quarterback Miller Moss throwing for 378 yards, including these to Kyron Hudson. An out of this world catch, reaching the lower stratosphere for that one hander. Moss completing 75 percent of his passes. My goodness, look at that. He also orchestrated the game when he drive.
Tie game, 13 seconds left. Woody Marks leaving his mark with a 13-yard run, 27-20 is the final. Coach Lincoln Riley's USC Trojans in their first game as a member of the big 10 taken down in SCC power. And afterwards, LSU coach Brian Kelly leaving his mark with a table pounding presser.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN KELLY, LSU HEAD COACH: Some guys played their butts off tonight. And we're sitting here again, we're sitting here again talking about the same things, about not finishing when you have an opponent in a position to put them away. But what we're doing on the sideline is feeling like the game's over. It's unacceptable for us not to have found a way to win this football game. It's ridiculous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Been an awesome weekend of college football. You still got more tonight. 10th rate Florida State taking on Boston College. And, Jim, I'm going to give you a table, pound, bam, for those James Madison Dukes, baby, on Saturday --
ACOSTA: Yes.
WIRE: -- winning their opener over Charlotte, 30 to 7. Look out.
ACOSTA: Look out. And you see that flop that they had, the quarterback flopped during that game. If you haven't seen it, go check it out. It was hilarious. Coy Wire, great weekend of college football. I can't wait for the next. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
WIRE: Got it.
ACOSTA: Coming up, out of the hospital one day after he was shot in the chest. What's next for 49ers rookie, Pearsall, Ricky Pearsall. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:00:00]
