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Harris-Walz Campaign Launches Bus Tour for Reproductive Rights; Ex-Aide to New York Governors Accused of Acting as Agent for China; Pontiff in Indonesia, Warning Against Religious Extremism; McCain's Son Rebukes Trump, Backs Kamala Harris. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired September 04, 2024 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. With about two months to go in the U.S. presidential race, the Harris/Walz campaign has launched a bus tour focused on reproductive health care and it kicked off Tuesday right in Donald Trump's backyard, not far from his Mar-a- Lago home in South Florida. The Democrats and Florida campaign surrogates spoke on the opening day.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL): You can't trust a damn word out of that liar's mouth, no matter what he says. Florida is ground zero for his extreme anti-reproductive freedom agenda, and he wants to keep it that way.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): We are just 10 miles from Mar-a-Lago, home of one Donald J. Trump. He is the one who got us into this mess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, the tour will make at least 50 stops across the country before Election Day. CNN's Julia Benbrook has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Harris campaign is launching the Fighting for Reproductive Freedom bus tour.
KLOBUCHAR: This tour is going to go to over 50 stops across the country.
BENBROOK (voice-over): And it's kicking off just miles away from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, a state where most abortions after six weeks are illegal.
SCHULTZ: We are the poster child for the MAGA extremism that has ripped women's reproductive health care decisions from them, a ban so extreme that it is likely that most women don't even know that they're pregnant at six weeks.
[04:35:05]
BENBROOK (voice-over): In the fall, voters in the state will decide on the future of abortion access through a ballot measure that would make abortion legal in the state up to the point of viability, which many experts believe is around 23 or 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Polling shows abortion is a top issue this election, and it's one where Trump has struggled to define his position. His suggestion that he might support the Florida referendum that would undo the state's current ban angered some religious conservatives.
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There has to be more time. And so that's and I've told them that I want more weeks.
BENBROOK: So you'll vote in favor of the amendment?
TRUMP: I'm voting that I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks.
BENBROOK (voice-over): The next day, Trump clarified that he plans to vote no. Florida is just one of several states where voters will have the chance to weigh in on abortion rights in November.
Reporting in Washington, I'm Julia Benbrook.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well, voters will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana in several states this November, including Florida. This weekend, Trump said he thinks adults in Florida should not be arrested for carrying personal amounts of marijuana. And he repeated his support for the ballot initiative on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Medical marijuana has been amazing. We can live with the marijuana. It's got to be a certain age, got to be a certain age to buy it. It's got to be done in a very concerted, lawful way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: But according to a poll earlier this year, an overwhelming 88 percent of American adults think marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(Song Hold On, Sam and Dave)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, the song you're hearing is Hold On, I'm Coming, sung by the duo Sam and Dave. It's a popular R&B song from the 1960s, and Trump's team have been ordered to stop using it on the campaign trail, at least for now. The estate of Isaac Hayes, one of the song's late co-writers, claims Trump's team doesn't have approval to play it at his events. A federal judge ruled the song can't be used again without a proper license, a ruling the Hayes estate was grateful for.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISAAC HAYES III, PLAINTIFF: We are very grateful and happy for the decision by Judge Thrash. Donald Trump has been barred from ever playing the music of Isaac Hayes again. You know, I couldn't ask for a better decision.
I want this to serve as an opportunity for other artists to come forward that don't want their music used by Donald Trump or other political entities and continue to fight for music, artist rights and copyright.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, the case is still ongoing, but a number of artists have publicly complained about Trump's use of their songs at his campaign events. The Hayes estate is the first to take their complaints to court.
And we have major updates on two of the many legal issues facing Donald Trump.
Lawyers for the former U.S. president have entered a not guilty plea to the revised January 6th election subversion charges. Special counsel Jack Smith updated his instant -- indictment last month after a Supreme Court ruling granted immunity for some of Trump's conduct, which fell within his presidential powers. Judge Tanya Chutkan has scheduled a hearing for Thursday to decide how to proceed with the case.
Meanwhile, a judge rejected Trump's request to have his hush money trial moved to federal court. A jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts back in May. The federal judge says there's nothing in the Supreme Court's immunity ruling that would change his view of the fact the payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels were private, unofficial acts. Trump's attorneys have also asked to postpone his September 18th sentencing.
And a former aide to two New York governors has been charged with acting as an agent for the Chinese government. Current Governor Kathy Hochul says she's furious and outraged at what she calls brazen behavior by her former deputy chief of staff, Linda Sun.
Sun was arrested Tuesday and charged with charges including violating the Foreign Agents Restriction Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy. CNN's Gloria Pazmino has more now on this from New York.
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GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what prosecutors are alleging essentially amounts to the successful infiltration by a Chinese government agent to the highest levels of New York state government for more than 10 years.
Earlier on Tuesday, federal prosecutors charged Linda Sun and her husband, Chris Hu. Linda is a former aide to Governor Kathy Hochul, and she also worked for former Governor Andrew Cuomo, as well as other state agencies.
Now federal officials say that Linda and her husband enriched themselves and received a series of payoffs in exchange for actions that ultimately benefited the Chinese government and the Communist Party.
[04:40:00]
Specifically, they say that they laundered money, received tickets to special events, helped to promote their friends' businesses, and at one point even received a special delivery of specialty duck, which had been prepared by a Chinese official's personal chef.
Now, we have gotten a response from Governor Hochul's office, which said that they are cooperating with the investigation. They said that they terminated Linda Sun's employment in March of 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct and immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process.
One of the more shocking allegations that the government has made in this case is that Linda Sun at one point used her influence to get former Governor Andrew Cuomo to publicly thank Chinese officials for donating medical equipment.
This was at the height of the pandemic, and as New York was trying to respond, Linda Sun was allegedly using her position to make sure that Chinese officials were being publicly recognized. Then Governor Cuomo went on to thank them publicly during a briefing, and he even wrote out a tweet naming some of the officials and thanking them for the donation.
Now, as part of her role, part of what the government alleges Linda Sun did, she specifically worked to block Taiwanese officials from having access to New York state government officials, even blocked sort of trivial things like the Taiwanese community being able to get a recognition for Taiwanese cultural week.
All of this she did at the behest of the Communist Party and the Chinese government, according to federal prosecutors.
Now Linda Sun and her husband did appear in court with their lawyers. They have pleaded not guilty, and their lawyers said that the allegations are all the result of an overly aggressive investigation by the federal officials.
If it's all true, it will be that the state government here in New York was brazenly manipulated for nearly a decade at the highest levels, and certainly raises questions just about how the government here in New York hires its staffers, and whether or not there may be other Chinese government officials and agents working on behalf of the Communist Party and the government here in New York.
Reporting in New York, Gloria Pazmino, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Pope Francis is warning political leaders in Indonesia to be on guard against religious extremism. It's his first address on a 12-day tour of Southeast Asia promoting interfaith dialogue. Indonesia is notably the most populated Muslim-majority country in the world.
The Pope met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo prior to his remarks. In the coming days, he will also visit Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore. It's one of the longest foreign trips any Pope has taken on, and the furthest distance Pope Francis has travelled since his election in 2013.
Now still ahead, the son of late Senator John McCain is speaking out against Donald Trump, promising to campaign and vote for Kamala Harris.
[04:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Welcome back. U.S. military recruitment will continue to suffer if Kamala Harris wins the White House in November, at least according to Republican vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance. Vance slammed her platform, suggesting a push for equality can't exist alongside patriotism.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), U.S. REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We really are on the brink of serious readiness issues because nobody wants to put on a uniform and serve in Kamala Harris's military. This is a person who wants the United States Army to be about gender inclusion, ridiculous diversity politics instead of about serving your country.
If you're a person thinking about joining the military, you're probably not going to want to sign up if Kamala Harris is the potential commander in chief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Donald Trump is once again defending his recent visits to Arlington National Cemetery. He has come under criticism for taking pictures and videos in the restricted area and denies his staff got into a dispute with cemetery officials.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We went to the graves and they asked me if I could have pictures taken. And I said, yes, I certainly can. We took pictures.
There was no conflict. There was no fight. There was no anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Meanwhile, the son of the late Senator John McCain is speaking out against Trump and his appearance at Arlington National Cemetery. The 17-year military veteran says he's now a registered Democrat and plans to vote for Kamala Harris. CNN's Natasha Bertrand has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jim McCain, the youngest son of the late Senator John McCain, is speaking out for the first time exclusively to CNN about Donald Trump and his conduct last week at Arlington National Cemetery.
JIMMY MCCAIN, SON OF LATE REPUBLICAN SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: The people who are buried there don't have an opinion. The point of Arlington Cemetery is to go and show respect for the men and women who have given their lives to this country. When you make it political, you take away the respect of the people who are there.
BERTRAND (voice-over): The former president and his campaign have denied reports that they pushed aside an Arlington Cemetery staffer who tried to prevent them from filming in Section 60, where recent U.S. casualties are buried. The cemetery cited rules that prohibit political activity on the sacred grounds.
TRUMP: And then they took over, that disaster, the leaving of Afghanistan.
BERTRAND (voice-over): The Trump campaign releasing this video and pictures of the former president posing with Gold Star families whose loved ones were killed in the Abbey Gate bombing during the Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021.
Trump posted on Truth Social calling it a quote: Made up story.
After Vice President Kamala Harris weighed in on the controversy with a lengthy statement on X saying Trump quote: Disrespected sacred ground all for the sake of a political stunt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vice President Harris.
BERTRAND (voice-over): Some of the Gold Star families who accompanied Trump again defended the visit in a video.
DARIN HOOVER, FATHER OF STAFF SGT. TAYLOR HOOVER: The events that happened on August 26, 2024, with President Trump at Arlington National Cemetery were solemn and in keeping with the reverence and respect that is given to all members of our military that are buried there, we invited President Trump.
BERTRAND (voice-over): Jim McCain, who enlisted in the Marine Corps at the age of 17, had already been moving away from the Republican Party before Trump's visit to Arlington. He recently changed his voter registration to Democrat and says he plans to vote for Kamala Harris in November.
MCCAIN: I feel that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz embody a group of people that will help make this country better, that will take us forward.
[04:50:00]
BERTRAND (voice-over): It's a significant move for the son of a former GOP presidential candidate and it follows years of attacks by Trump on his late father.
TRUMP: He's not a war hero.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a war hero.
TRUMP: He's a war hero --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have to hear --
TRUMP: He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK? I hate to tell you.
BERTRAND (voice-over): McCain now telling CNN he still hasn't gotten over those comments.
MCCAIN: To hear those things said about him, I could never forgive. You know, the one thing about John McCain is that he cared about his country.
BERTRAND (voice-over): There are several generations of McCain's buried at Arlington. McCain points out that not every service member whose gravestone is visible in the video that Trump posted gave consent to being used in a political ad.
MCCAIN: The least we can do is when they're gone, when they're in Arlington, is to respect the rules and regulations that are in place, like not politicizing the fact that these men and women are there.
BERTRAND: Jim McCain now says that he is willing to get involved with the Harris-Walz campaign in any way that he can leading up to the November election. And he says that as soon as he got back from a recent deployment just about a week ago from the Middle East, he changed his voter registration from independent to Democrat.
Because, quote, he said that he wanted to do what he believes in at this point.
And we should note also that the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz campaign has already begun sending out campaign emails highlighting Jim McCain's support for their campaign and how it shows that current Republicans, former members of the party, many of them are throwing their weight behind the Democratic nominee.
Natasha Bertrand, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: We're following the latest results from the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. Next, where three American players are through to the semifinals. Details on that just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:55:10]
MACFARLANE: We're back where the field is narrowing at Flushing Meadows as the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament approaches this weekend's finals and a trio of Americans are making their mark. 13th seed Emma Navarro is through to her first career Grand Slam semifinal. She beats Spain's Paula Badosa 6-2, 7-5 on Tuesday.
And on the men's side, American Taylor Fritz will also appear in his first Grand Slam semifinal. The 12th seed outlasted Germany's Alexander Zverev in four sets. Fritz will take on France's Tiafoe on Friday, guaranteeing an American player in the men's final for the first time actually since 2009, would you believe? Incredible stuff.
And the other big winner at the U.S. Open is the tournament's signature cocktail. It's called the Honey Juice, a mixture of vodka, lemonade and raspberry liqueur garnished with melon balls you can see there on the top. How delicious does that sound? The drink gets more expenses every year, they're now selling for $23 a glass, but fans really don't seem to care. It's expected to top $10 million in sales before the tournament ends and even has the endorsement of the great Serena Williams. Who was seen trying it yesterday and loved it so much, she wanted to rebrand it to the Honey Ace.
I'm going to have to try it, right? We're all going to have to try it. Roll on the weekend for that one.
Thanks for joining me here at CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London, CNN "THIS MORNING" is up next after this quick break. Stay with us.
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