Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

This Hour, Nation Pauses to Honor Those Lost 23 Years Ago; Harris and Trump in New York to Mark 23 Years Since 9/11; Harris Repeatedly Baits Trump During Fiery Debate. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired September 11, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. You are live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washihngton.

The presidential debate and the morning after, we will look at the impact on a deadlocked race in a moment. But, first, remembering 9/11, 23 years later. The families of those killed on 9/11 are coming together to honor their loved ones and the nation is joining them remembering the sacrifices of that day.

Let's not waste a moment here. Let's go live to CNN's Kate Bolduan. She is at the site of the World Trade Center Memorial. Kate, we are just seconds away from a moment of silence. What can you tell us?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Seconds away from that moment of silence. We're going to listen to that together. This will be the fourth moment of silence we have marked here on this day. 23 years since the horrible terror attacks on our nation. Let's listen to the moment.

[10:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And my grandfather, Richard J. O'Connor. We will always love and miss you.

BOLDUAN: That moment, 9:59 A.M., that is the moment that the South Tower. That is when the South Tower fell. This behind me is the South Tower Memorial where we've seen families since early this morning coming to lay the rose, a rose, lay flowers, lay flags, place them on the names of their loved ones, those lives lost 23 years ago today, nearly 3,000 victims.

And as we saw in some of that live picture we saw right there, Jim, we saw Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, standing next to Mike Bloomberg, former New York City mayor, I believe he's the chairman of the 9/11 Memorial as well. Attending still in attendance here, standing just moments -- minutes ago, standing next to Kamala Harris and President Biden to attend in a brief moment of unity, I think, we can say, to mark this moment in our nation's history.

ACOSTA: Yes, Kate. And I know you're just a few feet away from the 9 11 memorial site and those waterfalls that go into the earth where the towers once stood. You know, I remember being there covering the aftermath of 9/11 when those towers had collapsed and you would see the pile and everything that was going on at ground zero during that recovery process. And to be there today, it must -- every time it just takes my breath away being there on site.

BOLDUAN: It absolutely has. And to put it one way, it's all the things, right? Hearing the bagpipes, hearing the bustling, wild city that is New York City come to silence when the first moment of silence came about, it is so striking.

You do feel the weight of it. You do feel the weight of the moment with everyone that all of the security, everyone I've come across today, you do see it, you do feel it and you see it on the faces and hear it in the voices of the family members as they're reading their loved one's names aloud.

And John Miller noted earlier today, I mean, if you could look up with me, it is a blue bird day in New York City. And as John noted, it's exactly what it looked like on that day, on that beautiful -- what was the beginning of a beautiful morning on September 11th, 23 years ago now, the day that changed everything.

ACOSTA: It's a sad place, Kate, but it's an inspiring place. And, of course, we just remember the sacrifice as honor, the people who sacrificed everything that day. Kate, thank you so much. We'll get back to you in just a moment.

First, I want to go to Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Remind people of the tremendous heroism and sacrifice of United Airlines Flight 93. For those of us who are old enough to remember, we remember the 40 passengers and crew members who died when their plane slammed into the field. Their investigators believe the hijackers crash the plane in that location, rather their unknown target after those on board try to regain control of the cockpit. And, of course, they're now remembering those sacrifices. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: William Joseph Cashman.

My sister, Georgine Rose Corrigan Marisay.

Patricia Cushing.

ACOSTA: And that is a live look at the Flight 93 Memorial at Shanksville, Pennsylvania. And I've had the honor to cover ceremonies there as well. And unlike the fountains that you see down at Ground Zero in New York, you really just see an empty field there, as well as the memorial that they put in place at that site.

[10:05:02]

And it is equally breathtaking because it reminds you of this unbelievable act of bravery on the part of the passengers on that plane that they had. They not helped crash that plane into that field, who knows what might have happened here in Washington. So, of course, we honor what they did in Shanksville on that day.

I want to go back to ground zero in New York. A number of the nation's leaders, as Kate Bolduan was mentioning a few moments ago have gathered there this morning, including the two people competing to become the next president. Kate, you were just talking about this a few moments ago. It was remarkable to see the former president and Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden all within a few feet of one another. And it was just a very different scene there. Can you tell us about it?

BOLDUAN: It really was. And when you think of, you know, let's just call it 12 -- before last night, 12 hours ago, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump had never met face to face. They meet on a debate stage for what was a hugely contentious and hugely consequential moment when they faced off on the debate stage in this election. And then less than 12 hours later, they're standing side by side essentially for a second time, even closer than when they were on the debate stage. Only in between them really was, as you can see in this video, is Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg and Donald Trump.

And it did appear as we watched it and you can see in the video seem to Mike Bloomberg really facilitated and brought about a moment that everyone, I would say, meeting, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump shaking hands. I would say, coming into this morning it was a thought in my mind, Jim, probably yours as well, is knowing if they came across each other, what that was going to look like in a place that politics should be nowhere near in a place that this is about the families and remembering today and seeing them take a moment to shake those shake hands. It was a good thing. Albeit, a brief moment of unity, if you will, it was a good thing.

ACOSTA: Whenever we can have a moment of unity And perhaps it's being there at ground zero. It just shakes you to the core all these years later. I remember -- we all remember President Bush when he stood there at ground zero and called this country to unify. It can still be that way again.

Kate, thank you so much. We'll come back to you for that next moment of silence in about 20 minutes to mark the collapse of the North Tower. We're going to continue our coverage. Stay with us right after a short break. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:10:00]

ACOSTA: Welcome back. For the second time in less than 12 hours, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump crossed paths. This time it was in New York ahead of the 9/11 ceremony there, a quick handshake after a stunning showdown in Philadelphia at that debate, what began with a handshake ended with both sides claiming victory last night. But the question remains, will it shake up a race that's essentially been a toss-up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Kamala Harris, let's have a good debate.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Good see you. Have fun. HARRIS: Thank you.

Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people, so let's be clear about that. And, clearly, he is having a very difficult time processing that.

I have traveled the world as vice president of the United States, and world leaders are laughing at Donald Trump. I have talked with military leaders, some of whom worked with you, and they say you're a disgrace.

TRUMP: Let me just tell you about world leaders. Viktor Orban, prime minister of Hungary, they said, why is the whole world blowing up? Three years ago, it wasn't. Why is it blowing up? He said, because you need Trump back as president. They were afraid of him.

HARRIS: One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government and Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.

TRUMP: What I did is something for 52 years they've been trying to get Roe v. Wade into the states. And through the genius and heart and strength of six Supreme Court justices, we were able to do that.

Now, I believe in the exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.

Crime in this country is through the roof. And we have a new form of crime. It's called migrant crime. And it's happening at levels that nobody thought possible.

HARRIS: I think this is so rich coming from someone who has been prosecuted for national security crimes, economic crimes, election interference, has been found liable for sexual assault, and his next big court appearance is in November at his own criminal sentencing.

TRUMP: She did things that nobody would ever think of. Now she wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison. This is a radical left liberal.

What they have done to our country by allowing these millions and millions of people to come into our country, and look at what's happening to the towns.

In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there.

HARRIS: I'm going to actually do something really unusual, and I'm going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump's rallies, because it's a really interesting thing to watch. You will see during the course of his rallies, he talks about fictional characters, like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about wind mills cause cancer.

[10:15:00]

And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.

TRUMP: She said people start leaving, people don't go to her rallies. There's no reason to go. And the people that do go, she's busing them in and paying them to be there and then showing them in a different light. So, she can't talk about that. People don't leave my rallies.

They're destroying our economy. They have no idea what a good economy is.

And remember this, she is Biden. You know, she's trying to get away from Biden. I don't know the gentleman, she says. She is Biden.

HARRIS: Clearly, I am not Joe Biden and I am certainly not Donald Trump. And what I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: This morning, the campaigns are offering their takes on last night's debate. Vice President Kamala Harris calling the showdown a great day while also saying she's still the underdog in the race. Last night, she immediately called for a second round.

The debate with Trump, for his part, the former president says he doesn't know if he wants to face Harris again. He's now arguing without evidence that the debate was rigged.

Let's discuss with former senior adviser for President Biden's 2020 campaign, Alencia Johnson, and former deputy communications director for Trump's 2016 campaign, Bryan Lanza.

So, Bryan, how did Trump do last night, in your view?

BRYAN LANZA, FORMER DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, TRUMP 2016 CAMPAIGN: Well, first of all, thank you for having me, Jim. Listen, I think the debate achieved a couple of things for President Trump. I think if you look at the polling data, the country is moving in the direction of believing that Kamala Harris was an extreme liberal. I think the debate last night did nothing to move course from that. She's clearly moving in the direction of people believing she's an extreme liberal from San Francisco that's dangerous for America. So, I think from that standpoint, he did really, really well. He established that.

I think from the standpoint of, you know, not insulting, I think everybody was anticipating, you know, he was going to be baited into insulting. We're sort of moving with the line of baited was and they said he's going to call her nasty things, that didn't happen as well. I think, you know, the debate was sort of short on policy. I would have liked to have more of Donald Trump executing the case or prosecuting the case against Kamala Harris being this co-pilot in this horrible economy, but we didn't get to that. And that's coming up short, but we'll continue to do that.

But I think overall, if you're sort of looking at it from the Trump campaign, you know, you had the trend line showing that Kamala Harris was leaning in the extreme liberal direction. I think this debate pushed her over, specifically with her and this bizarre sort of San Francisco liberal position, where she wants to sex changes for illegal immigrants. That's not where the country is. Pennsylvania is not there, Michigan is not there, neither is Wisconsin. So, she helped paint herself as an extreme liberal even further.

ACOSTA: Yes. Bryan, where is that coming from?

LANZA: Well, it's coming from her position. I mean, she took a position as the attorney general -- I'm sorry, she took a position as the D.A. of San Francisco, where she demanded and she pushed jails to offer transgender operations to prisoners who were there. I mean, that was a priority of her when she was the District Attorney of San Francisco. She sent letters to the jails saying this needed to be done. And when she became attorney general of San California, where my home state, this became a signature issue of hers that she wanted to bring, you know, the transgender operations into our prisons and they need to be taxpayer funded. I mean, these are four positions, Jim.

ACOSTA: Bryan, and what about eating cats and dogs?

LANZA: Yes, listen --

ACOSTA: Where did he get that one from?

LANZA: You know, I saw Jason, my friend of mine, my colleague on this morning, and they pointed to the Federalist Society, so I actually did what he asked. I went to the website, I looked at what they were saying, and I saw the video. I think that's where it came from. They were talking about eating ducks and other birds. I don't think it was necessarily dogs and cats, but I think there is evidence and there is video.

I mean, I saw the video myself. I'm glad to show you the video, Jim, but there is video of people in the area saying that that their pets are being taken. We have to take people at their face value when they go to you and make a complaint, especially when J.D. is a senator. And say, hey, we have a problem with this. J.D. has a responsibility to bring it forward to people. And it's going to be investigated. And it looks like the city manager has.

ACOSTA: Yes. I think you're barking up the wrong tree there, pal. But let me have you jump in on this.

ALENCIA JOHNSON, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, BIDEN-HARRIS 2020 CAMPAIGN: Well, he's going to keep, he's going to keep filibustering this with the same lies that Donald Trump perpetuated last night. That is not true on Kamala Harris D.A. record. That is not true when it comes to what happened in Ohio. And they were fact-checking that in real time.

The reality is Vice President Harris looked presidential last night, and the moderators did a great job in fact-checking Donald Trump. And I don't think they're liberal policies when she's talking about an opportunity economy, one that would give first time homeowners a benefit in order to buy their, purchase their first home for startup businesses. You know, Donald Trump even brought up student loans, and we didn't even have a chance for her to get to that when the fact that one in ten borrowers have had their loans forgiven.

So, I think Vice President Harris did an amazing job. She obviously baited him into a lot of this crazy rhetoric that, unfortunately, Bryan is feeling as well, about eating dogs and cats and this transgender aliens sex change. These are not the things that American people want from a president, whether Republican or Democrat.

[10:20:02]

So, she showed herself to be presidential last night and Donald Trump showed us who he is, this older man who is out of touch, who is not fit for the highest office in the land.

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Alencia, I mean, one of the things that I noticed last night, I think a lot of you picked up on, was the way, you know, she tried to command the stage from the very first moment, walking up to Trump, basically forcing him really to shake hands. And then throughout the debate, you know, the mics were muted at times, sometimes they weren't. But the facial expressions that she was putting on display, basically, you know, looking at him quizzically when he would say things about eating dogs and so on.

JOHNSON: Oh, she owned the debate, right? She also showed that she is unafraid of Donald Trump, and that shows that she is unafraid of world leaders as they, you know, have threats to the American people. Also, those facial expressions, listen, I'm a communications professional. I do a lot of media training. Majority of your communication is actually nonverbal. We know that being here on television. And she knew the American people were watching and she also knew that she had to react to his blatant lies with that two-screen.

But this isn't new for Kamala Harris, right? She is going to make sure that people know what he says is factually inaccurate and out there, but she's not going to spend her time, and she didn't last night. She's not going to spend her time responding to him. She was talking to the American people last night. And so the facial expression said, well, this is crazy. He's lying. But I'm going to talk about the policies that I have for the American people.

ACOSTA: Yes. Bryan, I mean, you're talking about how Trump was basically taking the bait last night. I mean, here was one trap that he fell into. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: I'm going to actually do something really unusual and I'm going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump's rallies, because it's a really interesting thing to watch. You will see during the course of his rallies, he talks about fictional characters, like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about wind mills cause cancer. And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. And I will tell you the one thing you will not hear him talk about is you.

TRUMP: People don't go to her rallies. There's no reason to go. So, she can't talk about that. People don't leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes. Bryan, I mean, this came after a question about immigration. I mean, that's an issue that he, you know, wants to talk about and he gets caught up in the crowd size thing.

LANZA: You know, listen, he gets distracted. Sure, everybody gets distracted. But I think, like I said, at the end of the day, when we left the debate last night, we left achieving the one goal. The trend line was that the American people thought Kamala Harris was an extreme liberal outside the mainstream of America. And when they left that debate, they felt even further. And, you know, she's amnesty. She's all these things that President Trump could.

I don't think people care about the crowd size. I wish President Trump would have bring it. Obviously, Kamala Harris cares about it more than President Trump for her to bring it up. But at the end of the day, what's going to matter is going to be people's pockets, because what's going to matter is going to be the southern border. What's going to matter is these two wars that are starting abroad. You know, Alencia talks about world leaders sort of holding Kamala Harris with respect. Well, let me tell you something. Benjamin Netanyahu doesn't hold him with respect, and so does President Zelenskyy. Both of them have turned to President Trump for leadership at these critical moments, and they're not turning to the Biden-Harris administration. That's because they don't trust him on the world stage.

ACOSTA: Yes. All right, well -- but there was another moment where he wouldn't even say whether, you know, he wants to see Ukraine win the war with Russia. I mean, that obviously sends that -- that sends shockwaves through our NATO allies.

LANZA: (INAUDIBLE).

ACOSTA: We'll talk about this a bit more later on the hour. Alencia, Bryan, stay with me. We'll continue this conversation in just a short time from now.

But we have to go back to New York in just a few moments, as our nation honors those who lost their lives 23 years ago today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:00]

ACOSTA: And back to remembering 9/11 on this day 23 years ago, the planes hit the World Trade Center in New York. That's where Kate Bolduan is at the site of the World Trade Center Memorial. Kate, another timely remembrance is just moments away.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. We're about to come upon 10:28. This is the final moment of silence, the moment that the North Tower of the World Trade Center fell.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I see Boy Scouts, Marines, police officers or firefighters, my thoughts go to you and your life of service.

BOLDUAN: 10:28, that is the moment the North Tower fell. That is the sixth and final moment of silence that they honor and mark every year on this anniversary. 10:28, the moment the North Tower fell. That is more than an hour after the first plane, hijacked plane, struck the World Trade Center.

And with that tower falling, it left the 16 acres of the World Trade Center site in ruins. And as we've discussed, Jim, changed the world forever.

ACOSTA: Yes, it really did, Kate.

[10:30:01]

And we should tell our viewers, if they're just tuning in or dipping out of the coverage that we're providing this morning, when you see the folks on screen with Kate.