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Louisiana Flooding; Interview With Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR); Interview With Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired September 12, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:38]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We're following major developing stories right now, the two candidates today back in critical battleground states, as one top Democrat is now warning his party is not -- should not get complacent.

Also happening this hour, the attorney general of the United States, Merrick Garland, is set to push back on Trump's escalating rhetoric. He will give a fiery speech this hour. We will bring it to you live.

And a daring and historic feat hundreds of miles above Earth, a four- person crew of civilians completing the first ever commercial space walk.

Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington, and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Today, the candidates are back out there on the campaign trail stumping in key battleground states. Vice President Kamala Harris is delivering remarks in North Carolina, a state that hasn't voted for a Democrat at the top of the ticket since 2008.

Donald Trump is in Arizona fresh off what he says was his best debate yet. But many of his top allies say otherwise. Today, they're in damage control, telling CNN that his performance was at best a wash and at worst a loss. And they're also trying to downplay what could be a key voter turnout issue, Taylor Swift endorsing Kamala Harris.

Trump's running mate is claiming the pop superstar is -- quote -- "fundamentally disconnected from the problems of most Americans." But rather than respond to those attacks, Taylor Swift is encouraging her fans to get out and vote.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR SWIFT, MUSICIAN: This is a fan-voted award. And you voted for this. I appreciate it so much. And if you are over 18, please register to vote for something else that's very important for America...

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

SWIFT: ... the 2024 presidential election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: For more on what we can expect from Trump's first rally since the debate, CNN's Alayna Treene is with me here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Alayna, walk us through. What are you learning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Right.

So, today, we're going to see Donald Trump in Tucson, Arizona, as you mentioned, his first rally since that debate. The event is being billed by his campaign it's focusing on Latino voters. We know, tomorrow, he's also going to have an event in Las Vegas which is supposed to be geared toward his messaging on the economy.

We will see if he sticks to it. But, look, these are two issues from my conversations with people behind the scenes, Trump's advisers, his allies, that they say they wish he talked about more and messaged better on Tuesday night on that debate stage.

When -- even though you're hearing -- and you mentioned this -- Donald Trump, what, publicly saying that he had the best date debate performance of his life that he thought he won the debate, people within his orbit do not agree. They have been arguing to me that he -- she clearly won delivery and style, but also that they're frustrated that he did not deliver on many of the talking points that they had spent weeks preparing.

Our own Kaitlan Collins had even reported he did more preparation for this debate than he did for the debate in June against Joe Biden. Now, when I talk to these advisers, they say, look, it was clear he was distracted, he got derailed.

But that was exactly what they did not want him to do. And so I think these events are trying to get him back on message and talking about the things that they wanted him to talk about, again, the economy, immigration, crime, all things they think he got thrown off on, on Tuesday.

Now, we did hear directly from one of these people, RFK Jr. Ever since his endorsement of Donald Trump, he's become a top Trump campaign surrogate. I want you to take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Vice President Harris clearly won the debate in terms of her delivery, her polish, her organization, and her preparation.

I think, on substance, President Trump wins in terms of his governance. And -- but he didn't tell that story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Wolf, he also went on to say, RFK Jr., that he thinks Trump got successfully distracted by Harris, something he called unfortunate.

Again, what RFK Jr. said publicly is exactly what I'm hearing from people behind the scenes. And one of the clear things that just is underlying all of this, I have been told, is that they think there were missed opportunities. And so I think that's something they're currently reconciling.

BLITZER: I'm sure they're all pretty disappointed with what happened during the course of that debate.

Alayna, thank you very, very much.

Alayna Treene reporting for us.

[11:05:02]

Meanwhile, the vice presidential nominee, Tim Walz, is headed to the city of Grand Rapids in Michigan later today. It's his first campaign stop since Tuesday's presidential debate. And his visit to that key battleground state comes less than three weeks before he is set to debate his Republican counterpart, Senator J.D. Vance.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes is joining us right now.

Thanks so much for joining us, Lavora.

What should be Tim Walz's priority as he appeals to Michigan voters, who are, of course, a pivotal constituency in this entire election, Michigan, a key, key battleground state?

LAVORA BARNES, CHAIR, MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY: We're so excited to have Governor Walz here in Michigan, and on the west side of the state, from Grand Rapids to East Lansing.

He's going to be talking to our folks about the issues that are important to them, about good Midwestern values. He's going to remind people about the hard work we have to get done. He's going to fire up our volunteers to make sure that we're out there knocking the doors and making the phone calls and doing the work and sort of running through the tape of this election.

No complacency here in Michigan. We're working hard right up through the end, and Governor Walz is going to help us do that today and tomorrow here in Michigan. We're excited.

BLITZER: Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, a woman I'm sure you know well, gave a reality check to Democrats after Kamala Harris' very strong debate performance. Listen to what she told CNN earlier today, earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): I think Michigan is a dead heat. There's just a lot of people in the middle. It's just closer than people realize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: What do you think? Do you agree? What does Kamala Harris need to do to get ahead in Michigan?

BARNES: We always knew it was going to be close, Wolf.

This is a state where you work hard for every vote, and that's what we do. We have been doing it for years, and we're going to keep doing it in the field talking to voters. And I think Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are doing exactly what they need to do. They're coming back to Michigan. They're sending surrogates to Michigan. They're supporting the work we're doing here on the ground.

And they're talking about the issues that matter to Michiganders. They're reminding people who Donald Trump is, who he was as president, and who he will be if we let him back in the White House.

And we know that things like refusing to say he won't veto a national abortion ban and other things that he said at that debate are not the things that people of Michigan want to hear. And what we're doing is making sure that we're telling the true story about who Donald Trump is and reminding people that Kamala Harris is ready on day one to be commander in chief and not an incoherent babbler, like the president -- the former president was at that debate.

BLITZER: Despite some promising and encouraging inflation numbers that were officially released by the government this week, Kamala Harris continues to lag behind Trump with voters on who would better handle the U.S. economy.

With just over 50 days until Election Day, is Kamala Harris running out of time to change voters' perceptions on this truly critical, crucial issue?

BARNES: No.

While time is short, we are very close, we are not out of time. There's plenty of time to continue these conversations. The vice president does a terrific job of talking about the realities of where we are in terms of the economy, and she will continue to do that.

She is from a middle-class background. She understands the struggles of middle class in this nation and has a very clear plan for making sure that she's supporting the middle class, making sure folks have availability of health care, availability of childcare, which she absolutely understands what it is and why it's important, and making sure that we are taking control of pricing.

She's working on these things, and she's going to keep talking about them all the way through to the finish line.

BLITZER: And we will be watching every step of the way.

Lavora Barnes, the chair of the Democratic Party in Michigan.

Thanks, Lavora, for joining us.

BARNES: Thanks.

BLITZER: And this just in, another important story we're just getting right now.

We're learning a magnitude-4.7 earthquake has just been detected in Southern California, that according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake was centered about four miles north of Malibu. Our colleagues in the CNN Los Angeles bureau report shaking could be felt in the city's downtown area. We're talking about Los Angeles.

We will continue to monitor this developing story and bring you updates as we get them.

Still ahead this hour: another giant leap for mankind. Two civilians just completed the world's first commercial space walk. We're going to show you the incredible video.

Plus, the U.S. is under more pressure right now to allow Ukraine to use even more American weaponry. I will ask Senator Jeff Merkley what happens next.

Stay with us. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:13:49]

BLITZER: This morning, President Biden is facing more pressure to loosen restrictions on how Ukraine uses long-term long-range weapons that are provided by the United States.

Democrat -- Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen is the latest lawmaker calling on the White House to approve Ukraine's launching its missiles deep into Russian territory.

Joining us now, fellow Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

You sit on the Foreign Relations Committee, along with Senator Shaheen. Where do you stand on this very, very sensitive issue as to how -- what kind of range U.S. missiles provided to Ukraine can have?

SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-OR): Well, these are missiles, Wolf, that can go several hundred miles into Russia. They create a risk of escalation, which is why we have not provided, America has not provided permission to use them in the past.

So it's a difficult decision that the Pentagon faces as they wrestle with that issue of escalation. But here's what's not a difficult decision. As we look at the upcoming election, we have one candidate who fully supports Ukraine, a bastion of democracy that believes in freedom of expression and freedom of voting and freedom of speech, versus Putin.

[11:15:00]

And we have Trump, who is proceeding to pander to Putin now, as he did when he was president before. Ukraine would be in grave difficulty with Trump's approach, both because Trump hasn't supported military aid to Ukraine, and because he hasn't supported the partnership with NATO that has enabled the countries to come together to absolutely provide the materials Ukraine has needed to conduct this battle.

BLITZER: Senator, as you know, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met again recently with President Zelenskyy in Ukraine and says the U.S. will adapt -- adapt, his word -- as the war changes.

Do you believe President Biden is inching closer and closer to granting Ukraine that permission to hit Russian targets deeper inside Russia?

MERKLEY: Yes, everything I'm hearing is that the executive branch is leaning in that direction.

But until they make that final decision, it's not a guaranteed thing, because it is a weighty question with a risk of further escalation.

BLITZER: Russia has warned, as you know, that allowing Ukraine to strike deeper into its own -- into Russian territory could escalate the conflict in a major way.

Sources tell CNN that Iran is supplying short-range ballistic missiles to Russia. Senator, has the war already escalated? And where do you stand specifically? Should the U.S. allow Ukraine to use U.S. missiles to hit various targets inside Russia, targets from which the Russians are launching attacks against civilian targets in Ukraine?

MERKLEY: Clearly, the war has already escalated. Of course, Ukraine has now taken without U.S. weapons and long-range missiles and moved inside Russia, which is a very significant develop that few anticipated.

The missiles coming from Iran are a big additional factor being weighed here. We have seen an evolution in warfare in terms of the critical use of drones. So the battlefield is constantly changing in this regard.

I am neutral on this question about the long-range missiles being used further into Russia. Russia has talked about using more dangerous weapons and an allusion to the possibility of nuclear weapons. I do not think they would go there, but we have to weigh this very carefully, as I know the Pentagon is doing.

BLITZER: I want to play a clip for you -- Senator, you alluded to this -- from Tuesday's presidential debate, which all of us, of course, watched. The former President Donald Trump refused to say he wants Ukraine to win this war. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's the U.S.' best interest to get this war finished and just get it done, negotiate a deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He was repeatedly asked: Do you want Ukraine to win? And he repeatedly answered: I just want this war to end.

What's your reaction to that?

MERKLEY: It's an affirmation of the position he's taken that let's just get out of there and let what happen is going to happen, which means letting Russia roll over the top of Ukraine.

I mean, this is the difference between Ukraine, which had the Orange Revolution, threw out a president who was trying to put them under the thumb of Putin, who has stood for the liberties that we hold near and dear to our heart, versus a dictator in Russia, a former KGB agent, Putin, who wants to see a restoration of something equivalent to the former Soviet Union.

This really is democracy versus autocracy, and we have Kamala Harris on the side of democracy, and we have Trump pandering to Putin on the side of a dictatorship. This is a clear distinction between a candidate who values American values and one who doesn't.

BLITZER: Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, thanks so much for joining us.

MERKLEY: Thank you. Good to be with you.

BLITZER: And thank you.

And still ahead: Look at this video right now, the floodwaters from Hurricane Francine engulfing one man's pickup truck in Louisiana. A good samaritan breaks the window to rescue him.

The worst may be over, but CNN's Derek Van Dam is seeing the destruction left behind.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Wolf, even though Hurricane Francine has moved on from Southern Louisiana, the remnants of flooding still remain.

I will have a live on--he ground report coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:23:52] BLITZER: Thousands of people remain without power right now in Louisiana after Hurricane Francine pummeled the area with very heavy rain and wind on Wednesday.

The storm has been downgraded now to a tropical depression, and it threatens parts of the southeast.

CNN's Derek Van Dam was on a beach -- on the beach of a lake in Louisiana yesterday, where he experienced some of the storm's harshest conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN DAM: Every time I get one of those strong bands, it feels like you're getting the backwash, I have said it before, the backwash of a jet engine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Derek's joining us now live.

Derek, a very different picture today from what we saw yesterday. That was a live shot that you were doing for my show "THE SITUATION ROOM."

What's the status of this storm right now?

VAN DAM: What a difference a day makes, right, Wolf?

Twenty-four hours ago, we were in the thick of it. Now Southern Louisiana is cleaning up the pieces from what was a Category 2 Hurricane Francine as it made its final landfall. And you can see some of the residual flooding left over within this location.

[11:25:00]

Even in New Orleans, they received over a month's worth of rainfall in that short duration of time, overtaking some of the pumping capabilities within the city. We saw some swift water rescues within that area.

But us too, our team, my photojournalists and producers, we experienced quite a situation yesterday where we had to leave our live shot location, which you saw just a moment ago, because of the extreme winds and the flooding rain that occurred.

We started to see some water overtopping the sand berm that was protecting our live location. So we had predetermined that we would leave if we saw that. We did, and good thing we did because the water that filled in this area got quite high. And as we tried to traverse the roads in Morgan City, it was virtually impossible.

And so people had to contend with that flash flooding that occurred from Morgan City all the way to New Orleans. Now the cleanup effort is beginning, and people here are warned to stay vigilant, because you don't know what's into this water. There could be downed power lines. There could be chemicals. There could be alligators, for instance, as well.

Now, the storm isn't done just yet because it continues to move inland. It's still a tropical depression. You could see on the map here it's centered right over the state of Mississippi, but it's drawing in a lot of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, and that is going to bring the potential for flooding rainfall into places like Birmingham.

We have got about 14 million Americans under a flash flood threat for the day today, centered across Jackson, Mississippi, all the way to Birmingham, but also the potential for tornadoes. You see that tornado watch box, that shading of red, including Panama City?

It doesn't take much for these little bands that move in across the shoreline. They interact with the land, they spin up, and they create these short-lived tornadoes. So that is the threats going forward today as the system moves in, kind of wrings itself out, and brings in still an ongoing threat of wind that could down some power lines, take down tree branches, and also cause some delays over at the airports.

I am happy, Wolf, to report that Louis Armstrong Airport, the international airport in New Orleans, which canceled flights yesterday, back to normal operations today, and they will start to clean up the pieces there in that city.

BLITZER: Yes, as soon as I always hear a hurricane, a Category 2 hurricane in this particular case, moving towards Louisiana, I always start to worry about the folks in New Orleans, given the history of what happened in 2005 with Hurricane Katrina.

VAN DAM: Without a doubt.

BLITZER: Fortunately, it didn't happen this time. All right, thanks very much, Derek Van Dam, on the scene for us. Good work.

In just moments, the nation's top prosecutor could give his strongest rebuke yet of former President Trump. We're going to take you live to the attorney general's remarks as they get under way, a major speech coming up.

We will have live coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)