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Kamala Harris Presidential Campaign Rolls Out New Effort to Mobilize Latino Voters; Donald Trump Touts Conspiracy Theories about Presidential Debate with Kamala Harris during Campaign Event; Aunt of Georgia School Shooter Called into Authorities During Shooting Fearing Her Nephew was Shooter; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Claims Israeli Control of Philadelphi Corridor between Egypt and Gaza Necessary for Ceasefire Agreement; Haitian Immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, React to Donald Trump's Claims about Their Stealing and Eating Pets; Former Pennsylvania Secretary of State Interviewed on Election Integrity in 2020 and Upcoming 2024 Elections; Lieutenant Colonel in New Hampshire National Guard Pleads Guilty to Sexual Harassment. Aired 2-3p ET.

Aired September 14, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: -- extra time.

CADY COLEMAN, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Absolutely. Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that is, that's on stream. I keep hearing that from all of you astronauts, that you are looking at it as, wait a minute, this is totally half glass full from their perspective. This is something that you are training for for a lifetime, and to have an opportunity to stay a little longer even though the circumstances may be a little odd, it's very generous.

COLEMAN: I like how Butch put it where he just said it's resilience is one of the values. And more than that, like, we might have to define the meaning of stranded. It just means if we're starting at, quote-unquote, stranded in space, we've got some really good work we can do while we're here.

WHITFIELD: Cool. All right, Colonel Cady Coleman, great to talk to you. Thank you so much.

COLEMAN: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: All right, the next hour starts right now.

Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And with just over 50 days now until the election, the race for the White House is heating up on the campaign trail. Today former President Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, are campaigning in key battleground states. But Trump is also spending a considerable amount of time lashing out at a series of grievances. He continues to claim with zero evidence that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating people's pets, and is now vowing a mass deportation in that city and others if he is elected in November. He is also baselessly claiming that immigrants are taking over the country from within.

Meantime, Kamala Harris just wrapped up two campaign stops in battleground Pennsylvania. And before she left, she sat down for an interview with a Philadelphia television station and blasted Trump's rhetoric, saying it's filled with hate and division.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In my heart, I know, in my soul, I know that the vast majority of us as Americans have so much more in common than what separates us. Most Americans want a leader who brings us together as Americans and not someone who professes to be a leader who is trying to have us point our fingers at each other. I think people are exhausted with that approach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: We've got a team of correspondents covering the campaigns. Alayna Treene is with the Trump team in Nevada, Kevin Liptak is at the White House. Let's begin with you, Kevin. As a Trump attacks immigrants, the Harris campaign is rolling out a new effort to mobilize Latino voters. What can you tell us about that?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, that's right. This is actually the largest efforts so far by the Harris campaign to target Latinos. Specifically, they're investing $3 million alone just in Spanish language radio. Those ads will air on football games, baseball games. And they're also dispatching some of their top surrogates to key events, including tonight's super middleweight fight in Las Vegas.

And so you do see them really trying to look for votes everywhere they possibly can in this final sprint towards November. The other place that they're trying to do that, and it's interesting, is in some red counties, in some more conservative leaning parts of the battleground states. And you saw Kamala Harris do that just yesterday in Pennsylvania, traveling to two counties in the concerted interior of the state that Donald Trump actually won back in 2020. And we saw her in Johnstown with the Democratic Senator John Fetterman talking to people at a small business.

Fetterman is someone who has tried to urgently tell Democrats, first Joe Biden and now Kamala Harris, that they will need to compete in these parts of his state if they are to hope to win its 19 electoral votes. And it does seem like the Harris campaign is taking that to heart in some ways. Of the 50 offices that they have opened in Pennsylvania, 16 of them are in rural parts of the state. And so you do see them very much trying to cut into some of Donald Trump's margins in that part of the state, looking to go after blue collar workers, rural voters. And you heard it in some of her remarks yesterday, really trying to appeal to that group of people, saying that as president and she would work to create jobs that don't require a college degree, and also ticking off some of the Republicans who have endorsed her for president. Of course, Pennsylvania remains a linchpin to any electoral strategy.

You only have to look at her calendar over the last eight days or so to get a sign of that. All or part of seven of those days have been spent and Pennsylvania, and she will be returning to Pennsylvania next Tuesday. She'll be in Philadelphia. That's part of another blue wall swing. She'll also be in Michigan and Wisconsin, very much focused on that blue wall as she heads towards Election Day.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kevin Liptak at the White House, thanks so much.

Let me bring in now Alayna Treene in Las Vegas where she's covering the Trump campaign. So tell us more, Alayna, about Trump's strategy out west and how he's answering questions about a controversial supporter that's also riding his plane?

[14:05:05]

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Right. Well, Fred, Donald Trump has made a series of stops out west. He started on Thursday when he held a rally in Tucson, Arizona. Then he went to Los Angeles where he had two major fundraisers. He also gave a press conference, and then last night he had this speech in Las Vegas.

Now that speech here in Nevada was billed by his campaign as an economic speech. However, at multiple points during his speech, he veered off script. It was actually really interesting. A lot of his economic policy proposals are geared toward Nevada specifically, particularly the talk about no tax on tips are no tax on overtime pay, which he just announced yesterday. He barely talked about those policies. Instead, he spent a lot of time rehashing Tuesday night's debate with Harris. And at one point, he mocked Harris's performance, he attacked the moderates. And he also promoted this conspiracy theory that is circulating on far-right corners of the Internet about Harris wearing an earpiece, something that has no evidence to support that claim. He also baselessly claimed that perhaps she had received the questions in advance. I want you to take a listen to exactly what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She can't talk. She can't talk without maybe getting the answers. What's the story with that? Did she get the questions? So I hear she got the questions, and I also heard she had something in the ear, a little something in the ear. No Kamala, do this. Say it this way, Kamala. OK, be quiet. Too many people watching.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now Fred, again, just to be very clear, there is no evidence to support any of what you just heard. But the reason I'm bringing it up, bringing it up, is because it comes as Donald Trump has increasingly been sharing some of these unseemly conspiracy theories of late, particularly ever since Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden at the top of the ticket. It's also notable because this is a conspiracy theory that has been

shared previously by Laura Loomer. Now, she herself is a far-right conspiracy theorist. She has claimed, for example, that 9/11 was an inside job. And she's been traveling with Donald Trump this week. She actually went with him to the debate, flew with him on his private plane, and then continued on with him to New York.

And this matters because I've been hearing a lot in my conversations with Republicans, with Trump allies, even people within Donald Trump's own campaign, that they are concerned about her growing influence with Donald Trump, particularly as he continues to promote some of these conspiracy theories that his team does not necessarily want him talking about.

Now, we did see Donald Trump yesterday post on social media trying to distance himself from Laura Loomer. He said that he doesn't agree with some of what she has said. It wasn't clear what exactly he was referring to. But again, they have a close relationship. I want to be clear, she does not work for the Trump campaign. It's something that Laura Loomer herself has emphasized to me in a phone interview. But there's no question that a lot of people around Donald Trump believe that she is influencing some of what he has been saying on the trail. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Alayna Treene, thank you so much, and Kevin Liptak in Washington as well. Thank you.

All right, today, the Winder, Georgia, community will gather to remember 14-year-old student Mason Schermerhorn and teacher Cristina Irimie in separate funeral services. They were among the four people killed in a shooting at Apalachee High School just 10 days ago. And we're getting a clearer picture now of the police response in the moments after the shooting yesterday. Barrow county officials released the police 911 calls and more than 500 radio messages between emergency personnel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a shooter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Active shooter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have an active shooter at Apalachee High School.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One suspect in custody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the status of the shooter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In custody and uninjured.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Rafael Romo is joining me right now with more on this. So in the trove of recordings was a tearful call from the suspect's aunt, who said she was worried that it was her nephew. RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: That's right.

She was almost positive that it was. And in the end, it turns out like it was indeed. And we had also heard from the mother and from the paternal grandfather saying similar things. So these newly obtained emergency recordings and dispatch records from the Barrow County Sheriff's Office captured the chaos and panic that unfolded both inside and outside the Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.

We now know the first call for the shooting came in a 10:22 a.m. eastern time according to dispatch reports obtained from the Barrow County Sheriff's Office through a Freedom of Information request made by CNN. Two minutes later at 10:24 a.m. authorities had the suspect's name as Colt, and one student was dead according to the reports. At 10:30 a.m., the suspect was in custody, not injured.

[14:10:00]

And then at 11:45, a woman who identified herself as Colt's aunt made a tearful 911 calls saying she was afraid her nephew was involved in the shooting. This is part of what she told a dispatcher.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNIE BROWN, COLT GAY'S AUNT: Hey, my mom just texted me and said that my nephew texted his mom and dad this morning and told them that he was really sorry, and he goes to the high school Apalachee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And as we previously reported, Fred, Colt Gray sent his mother an alarming cryptic text message before the shooting that only said, "I'm sorry, mom." That text message prompted Marcee Gray to call the school, asking administrators to check on her son. The aunt also shared that information with the dispatcher, as we will hear next OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, and you said that you got a message from your nephew?

ANNIE BROWN, COLT GAY'S AUNT: No, my mom just called me and said that Colt texted mom, my sister, and his dad that he was sorry. And they called the school and told the counselor to go get him immediately. And then she said she saw there's been, there's been a shooting, and I just worry it was him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: The Barrow County sheriff said after Marcee Gray's warning call, authorities were actively looking for Colt Gray, but there was a mix-up and they weren't able to get to him fast enough.

Colt Gray, who authorities say confessed to the Winder high school attack, is charged with four counts of felony murder and will be tried as an adult. His attorney, Alfonso Kraft Jr., declined to comment Wednesday when reached by phone. But again, piece by piece, we're learning more about how disturbing this really was, especially on a day like today, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, very sad. All right, Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

All right, still ahead this hour, quote, "hostility, maltreatment, and retaliation," the CNN exclusive investigation revealing how the New Hampshire National Guard failed to protect women in its ranks.

Plus, CNN takes you inside the disputed corridor between Gaza and Egypt for a rare look at the border zone which has become a major sticking point in the ongoing ceasefire negotiations, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:16:53]

WHITFIELD: New today, Israel says it carried out a second airstrike on Gaza City. The Israel Defense Forces say they targeted a former school compound that was being used as a Hamas command center. As the war rages on, CNN is getting a very rare glimpse inside Gaza at a disputed corridor that is a major sticking point in ceasefire negotiations. CNN's Matthew Chance went to the Philadelphi Corridor, and he joins us now from Tel Aviv. Matthew, what did you learn on this remarkable trip inside Gaza?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was eye-opening, and it was remarkable. The Israeli military took us there because they wanted to show us how much in control they were of this very contentious area of the southern Gaza Strip. They wanted to show us they were in full operational control. And that did indeed seem to be the case.

But what was most striking is the complete lack of any civilians there. We didn't see anyone else apart from Israeli soldiers in the whole sort of many hours we were there. And also the complete and utter destruction that has taken place of the area in the months since the Israeli military operation began.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CHANCE: We're being taken by the Israeli military into the Gaza Strip. They've loaded us all, as you can see, into this metal-sided truck. We're going into the south bit of the Gaza Strip, which the Israeli military say they have under full operational control. But it's not entirely secure.

They brought us to this place called the Philadelphi Corridor. It has emerged as a sticking point in the negotiations to get a ceasefire, to get the hostages released. As you can see, it's right up against the Egyptian border. And it's important because the Israelis say this is an area which has been used over the years as a way of smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip. Some of the smuggling has taken place overland through, presumably holes in the fence and through other border crossings. But a lot of it has been taking place right under our feet.

OK, well, this is one of those tunnels. It's right on the border with Egypt. And you can see it is absolutely huge, wide enough to drive a car right the way through it. The Israeli military say that this tunnel, because it's so close to the Egyptian frontier, has been used by Hamas and other militants to store weapons in and to fire rockets from. You can see here that the back of the wall, it's completely collapsed down. Apparently, it was closed for some time now.

We're driving through the neighborhood of Telceltan (ph). Every one of the buildings here has been totally destroyed. This was obviously a residential area with many people living in it. And the Israeli military say those people have moved, for the most part to safe zones, humanitarian areas not far from here. But look what they've left behind me. Look what's happening to Gaza.

[14:20:03]

Thank you. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari is chief spokesperson for the Israeli military. How can you justify causing so much damage, devastation, destruction in pursuit of your objectives?

REAR ADMIRAL DANEIL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON: The only reason is Because Hamas has built its military capabilities in that way that there is no other possibility. There is, there is a town underneath Rafah. If you don't demolish it, then Hamas will go back and have a stronghold, a military stronghold. It is using the population, embedding in the population. He is creating this destruction and also the deaths of the population.

CHANCE: Well, this has been a very tightly controlled bit of access into Gaza with the Israeli military. There's such a lot we haven't been able to see, but it's incredible. They've showed us what they have. It's definitely a narrow view, but it is also the only view right now that we can get firsthand.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CHANCE (on camera): Well, Fred, it was interesting to see the Philadelphi Corridor because Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has insisted that Israeli troops stay there if there's to be a ceasefire and a hostage deal with Hamas. And that's proven to be very contentious indeed. Others in Israel, of course, want the hostages out first, and for the Israeli troops, if they have to come out, then so be it.

But I tried to press the Israeli military officers that we were with on the ground about which they thought was the best option. They said it's just a political question. It's not for them to take a point of view.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's an extraordinary view. And kudos to you and your crew for being able to bring that perspective to us. Thank you so much there in Tel Aviv.

All right, let's get some analysis now on this with me as Aaron David Miller, he is a former State Department Middle East negotiator and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. And I wonder, Aaron, if you could first just give me your point of view of what we just saw.

AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: My assessment, Fred, -- thanks for having me -- is there's no doubt to Philadelphi Corridor is an important, arguably a vital piece to the demilitarization of Gaza and any semblance of security that might evolve in a post conflict environment between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, or whoever rules Gaza.

The real question, Fred, in negotiations, and that's really what we're talking about now, is whether or not there's an alternative to a physical Israeli presence. Israeli Defense Forces and your Matthew Chance basically say that the IDF is prepared to do whatever the political establishment feels necessary that it can do. The minister of defense has already said that there are any number of alternatives, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, to a physical Israeli presence. Previous Israeli security officials, Shin Bet, Mossad, have also worked on the same point of view.

And between 2005 in 2007, two years between Israeli disengagement with Gaza and the Hamas coup in 07, which pushed Fatah out of the Gaza Strip, those two years, Philadelphi Corridor was monitored by a European border assistance mission, participation of the Palestinian Authority, and Egypt. So there is an alternative.

And again, you wanted my personal view. My personal view is that right now, yes, Philadelphi is important. But even more important right now is the redemption of the living and the hostages that remain under Hamas's control. Every day that goes by without an agreement to free those people is a day closer to the possibility that in the end there may not be any hostages.

So governing is about choosing. And that's the choice that the current prime minister has made.

One last point, I do think there are negotiations underway between the Israelis to try to figure out whether or not they can reach an agreement on an alternative, and then that would be sold to Hamas by the Qataris. We'll see if it happens.

WHITFIELD: So are you now more convinced or less convinced that that is a priority for Netanyahu?

MILLER: I think clearly, again, I'm just evaluating based on the period over the last seven or eight months, Philadelphi Corridor emerged in July at a time when Israelis and Hamas were actually pretty close to an agreement. I think the prime minister, frankly, is prioritizing his own political career over the immediate return of the hostages and introduced the Philadelphi Corridor as if it was now the fulcrum of western civilization.

[14:25:02]

And I don't want to underestimate -- I live in Chevy Chase, Maryland. I'm not responsible for Israeli security. I don't want to underestimate the importance of the Philadelphi Corridor. But there are and there have alternatives to an Israeli physical presence.

WHITFIELD: There are only a few months left to this Biden administration. Is there time to influence the outcome here?

MILLER: I do believe, yes, I do believe it's still possible. But I think we have to be realistic about what we're actually talking about. I don't think there's a way to implement a three-phase stage agreement that would ultimately result in a comprehensive cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. I think there is the possibility of getting through phase one, limited exchange of hostages, the women, the elderly, the infirm, in exchange for a large number of Palestinian prisoners and a six-week ceasefire.

Fred, maybe you can then build on that six weeks of quiet to think about how to deescalate and finally end the war. So yes, there is still a possibility of a phase one agreement.

WHITFIELD: All right, Aaron David Miller, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much.

MILLER: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Donald Trump, well, he's doubling down on his unfounded attacks about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. And now the community he is speaking out about the real-life toll that the former president's words are causing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:30:57]

WHITFIELD: All right, there's turmoil in an Ohio community after Donald Trump and J.D. Vance continue to spread false, baseless claims that Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating pets. Springfield's Mayor, Rob Rue, tells CNN these rumors are damaging his community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ROB RUE, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO: We have to focus on making sure this rhetoric is dispelled, that these rumors are just, they're just not true. We have a beautiful city, and we need, we need the national stage to pay attention to what their words are doing to cities like ours, legacy cities in Ohio, legacy cities in the Midwest that are working hard to be significant. And we are doing well at that. We don't need this pushback that is hurting our citizens and hurting our community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Omar Jimenez got more reaction from migrants living in Springfield about the impact these rumors are having.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): When you hear allegations of Haitians eating dogs and cats and taking them off the street and stealing them in people's yards, what is your reaction when you hear that?

VILES DORSAINVIL, RUNS HAITIAN COMMUNITY CENTER IN SPRINGFIELD, OHIO: It was shocking to me, honestly, because the first question I asked myself, where in the world are people eating pets?

JIMENEZ (voice over): Vilas Dorsainvil is the head of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center in Springfield, Ohio. He came to the United States about four years ago from Haiti, and he hasn't just questioned the nature of the recent rumors. He has questioned what they will do to his community.

VILES DORSAINVIL: It's just like xenophobia, it's just like bigotry, discrimination, and racist. And they do not normally take time to see the impact that can have on the mental health of the immigrants fleeing their country from all kinds of chaos.

JIMENEZ (voice over): To be clear, former President Donald Trump's claims are not supported by evidence. In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for the city of Springfield said, "There have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community."

But all of this has also come as part of a very real surge in Haitian population in Springfield.

MAYOR ROB RUE, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO: We have realistically been saying 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants is what we have, counted through the Health Department and other agencies.

JIMENEZ (voice over): And they are here legally under the Immigration Parole Program. Once here, immigrants are then eligible to apply for Temporary Protected Status. Haitian Temporary Protected Status was recently extended and redesignated for Haiti mainly due to violent anarchy in the country.

But the total population of Springfield is around 58,000. So, that's around 25 percent Haitian. And the growing pains in the community have not always been easy. State officials say it is stressing resources.

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): That, obviously, represents a massive increase based upon percentage of the population in Springfield. It is unprecedented in such a short period of time. So, the government simply has to be part of the solution. They have to step up. It is their policies that have created these surges.

JIMENEZ (voice over): The influx of Haitians has also manifested itself in other ways, including a tragedy, specifically in 2023 when 11-year-old Aiden Clark was killed and a Springfield bus crash, one that involved a Haitian immigrant who had a driver's license that was not valid in Ohio, as reported by "The New York Times". Aiden's father declined to speak on camera, but as others have posted about the tragedy recently, he told CNN in a statement, "We just want our family out of the news and for Aiden to not be mentioned in regards to politics."

Putting aside any unverified theories about cats and dogs, Vilbrun Dorsainvil, also a Haitian, says he understands the criticisms about the strain on resources caused by the influx of immigrants.

VILBRUN DORSAINVIL, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, RESIDENT: I agree with these people.

JIMENEZ (voice over): But he also painted a harsh reality.

[14:35:00]

VILBRUN DORSAINVIL: If it was not for a matter of death or life in my country, it would be better to get back.

JIMENEZ: Omar Jimenez, CNN, Springfield, Ohio.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, next week, an important milestone in one of the most highly sought after swing states in this year's presidential election. On Monday, Pennsylvania begins processing mail-in ballot applications. Early in-person voting is set to start in just a few weeks. Pennsylvania is seen as a critical battleground to win the White House for both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump's campaigns. The latest polls show them locked in a dead heat as voting kicks off.

Joining us right now, former secretary of state for the commonwealth Pennsylvania, and now president of Athena Strategies Election Integrity Consultants, Kathy Boockvar. Good to see you, Kathy.

KATHY BOOCKVAR, PRESIDENT, ATHENA STRATEGIES: Good to see you, too. Thanks for having me on.

WHITFIELD: Well, should anyone be questioning how secure our elections are today?

BOOCKVAR: You know, look, I think everybody should feel free to question, but the truth is, we haven't incredible -- incredibly secure processes that go into literally every elections. We are, we are run by, at the local level, our neighbors, our friends, the people who are coaching our kids on our soccer fields. Those are the ones who are running or alleged in every one of our 67 counties in the commonwealth.

We've got the highest -- the highest levels of security that go into every part of the process. We've got cyber security strength. We have security in every voting system and every part of the process. And then we've got math. We've got two different audits that make sure that after the election we confirm that the results of the election are accurate and secure.

So everyone could really have faith thanks to the people, the science, and the math that go into elections. WHITFIELD: So you were secretary of state during the 2020 election, and when then President Trump openly questioned results in many states he lost, including Pennsylvania, has that rhetoric, is it still having an impact in voters confidence in this upcoming election?

BOOCKVAR: Yes, I wish I could say it wasn't, but I have to say, you know, that really -- that really changed things drastically starting in 2020. And not only did this sort of proliferation of mis and disinformation spread like wildfire, but that also translated into increased threats against election officials, intimidation of election officials. And I think a lot of us who were in those positions in 2020, we were all going through the same thing at the same time, and we really hoped that it would die down after the election of 2020. And instead, sadly, we've seen it get worse rather than the better.

So I really want to encourage folks, check your information. There's a lot of accurate information that's available. You could go to your county election office website, you could go to your state election office website, lots of places where you can confirm actually what's true and what's not. Don't buy what you're seeing but social media.

WHITFIELD: You probably know this, but I'll underscore and inform those who don't. The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, it mentions you as then secretary of state as part of their section on election integrity, saying this, I'm quoting now, "Given the Pennsylvania Secretary of State's use of guidance to circumvent state law, the Pennsylvania Secretary of State should have been and still should be investigated and prosecuted for potential violations." Former President Trump has publicly distanced himself from Project 2025. However, how do you receive this? Do you consider this a direct threat to you?

BOOCKVAR: So look, the former president is saying a lot of rhetoric, as are his cronies. And, as I mentioned before, this is not just rhetoric that results in false information being spread. It's also resulting in threats against election officials. And it's got to stop, because it is anti-American. This is the kind of rhetoric that we expect to hear in dictatorships in other countries. This is not what we expect in America. And what I will say is Project 2025 is filled with all kinds of false information, including the section on the Department of Justice, which you're referring to. They were seeking to, again, they're spreading false information. The processes that were followed in Pennsylvania in 2020 -- in 2020, 2022, and now in 2024, are all fully legal, have been heard by courts, and will continue to be legal.

[14:40:01]

So I think people have to stop, again, ignore the rhetoric and really focus on where you can get accurate information.

WHITFIELD: Right, no fraud was substantiated. I mean, all of those cases that were investigated --

BOOCKVAR: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: -- from the court system said this was a free and fair election.

So now we're talking about mail-in voting. It's beginning. A bipartisan group of election officials are sounding the alarm about significant problems with the U.S. Postal Service, writing a letter to the head of the agency, Louis DeJoy, this week, saying "Election officials across the country have raised serious questions about processing facility operations, lost or delayed election mail, and frontline training deficiencies. We have not seen improvement or concerted efforts to remediate our concerns." Are you concerned about the tardiness, the lateness about problems within the U.S. Postal Service, and in many cities across the country?

BOOCKVAR: Yes, I am. And look, this was again, this was something that we started to -- there's always been a concern, right. But then in 2020, it became increasingly more of a concern, between COVID-19, which was driving more people to vote by mail, and then also COVID-19 was causing postal delays at a level that we had not seen before. And I think, again, this is one of those areas that we thought, we hoped would get better. And instead, as the National Associations of Secretaries of State and Election Directors said, we're seeing these delays, we're seeing these errors in the postal processes.

And so it's really critical that the Postal Service make these corrections, right, really invest in ensuring that the ballots get through. But let me take a step away from that and actually say, the message actually should be to voters, don't wait. Don't wait until the last second to apply for your ballot. As I'm sure we're probably going to talk about, Pennsylvania, you can apply for your ballot now. You could start, you could apply for your mail ballot. If you want to vote by mail, as soon as the ballots have -- as soon as the state has heard all the challenges about what third party candidates are going to be on the ballot, the ballots will be printed. You could, you'll get your ballot either later in September or early October. Don't wait until the last day to apply. That's the key here.

And you can deliver it in person. You can go in-person, and I'm happy -- Pennsylvanians have three different ways we can vote now. You can vote in-person on Election Day. You could vote by mail. Or you could vote in-person early by mail, which you'll be able to do at your own schedule ahead of time, several weeks before Election Day. So we have lots of choices. Don't wait until the last minute to do so.

WHITFIELD: All right, lots of options. Have a plan, as they say. All right, Kathy Boockvar, thank you so much.

BOOCKVAR: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:30]

WHITFIELD: All right, CNN has exclusive reporting on the New Hampshire National Guard and how it became a hotbed for sexual harassment and assault according to interviews with current and former members of the Guard. Excuse me. They describe a culture of retaliation.

Haley Britzky is with us now. Haley, I'm losing my voice.

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, so I'll just jump right in then. What multiple current and former servicemembers from the New Hampshire National Guard told me is that this behavior has become incredibly normalized within the unit, that for years leaders had been sweeping this kind of behavior under the rug. And this is particularly present with one case in particular, a lieutenant colonel down at the southern border who has pleaded guilty to sexual harassment and other offenses.

In this investigation, more than 50 soldiers spoke with investigators, many of them saying that this person, this lieutenant colonel at the border had bragged about beating multiple investigations in the past, that he'd been investigated as many as six or seven times, which really impacted the trust these servicemembers had for leadership taking this seriously.

And we should note that his lawyer, when asked about this behavior, said that Colonel Patterson felt that the women under his command were simply being friendly, that he had erred in letting this familiarity go too far.

And I'll add in that there's some systemic issues here within the National Guard that contribute to this, part of this being that there's really a gray area as far as who actually oversees these units. The National Guard reports to the states' governors, and they also report to the National Guard Bureau in Washington. And there really seems to be some lack of clarity here as to who is supposed to be overseeing these and ensuring that this -- that this -- these issues do not bubble up any further with leadership.

And so with that, I think we're going to head to break, Fredricka.

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ELISA RAFFA, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: I'm CNN meteorologist Elisa Raffa in the CNN Newsroom.

We've been watching Francine for a couple of days now. It made landfall earlier this week, but we still have this remnant rain that's been swirling around the southeast, still dumping some heavy rain and the threat of some flash flooding. Look at the amount of rain that we've already seen from Francine. Of course, some heavy totals near where it made landfall in southern Louisiana. Some of these rainfall totals over six inches. Another cluster of some heavy rain along the Florida panhandle as well. And then look at some of this rain stretching into Alabama, Tennessee, some totals widespread over four inches, which again could cause some flash flooding problems if at all squeezes out too quickly.

Here is what's left of the flood watches in effect for some four states from Tennessee through Alabama over into Georgia as we go through the day today. Now, a lot of this area is seeing some drought conditions so it can use some rain.

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But the problem is again, when it just comes down all to once, all too fast, you could still get an additional three to four inches of rain, even some totals up to six inches possible in some of the heaviest downpours across the southeast.

We are also watching this other area of development in the Atlantic that will bring some heavy rain to the Carolinas as we go into Monday. We could see some flooding rains possible there, and then it stretches way up the east coast through Wednesday and Thursday. Now again, that could cause some problems with some flash flooding for the eastern Carolinas from Greenville down towards Wilmington. It could get a name. It could develop into something tropical. There's a medium chance of that happening. But even if it doesn't, it still will dump some of that heavier rain.

When you look farther off to the east there, we've got Gordon, that is also a tropical storm right now. It's got winds at 45 miles per hour expected to just meander in the Atlantic. For now, no threat to land.

CNN Newsroom, we'll be right back.

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