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CNN K-File: J.D. Vance Has A History Of Disparaging People Without Kids; U.S. Not Planning To Evacuate Citizens From Lebanon; Men's Triathlon Postponed Due To Poor Water Quality. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired July 30, 2024 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:31:00]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Five-thirty a.m. now here in Washington. Here's a live look at my hometown, New York -- beautiful this morning. Good morning, everyone. I'm Jim Sciutto in for Kasie Hunt. Great to be here with you.
Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance catching understandable heat for comments like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're effectively run in this country via the Democrats be it via our corporate oligarchs by a bunch of childless cat ladies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: That one's not hitting well. Vance has since called those remarks sarcastic.
But a CNN K-File review shows this is not the only time he's made similar disparaging remarks about Americans who happen not to have kids.
In 2021, Vance tweeted, "Our country's low birth rates have made many elites sociopaths." And "The cat ladies, man. They must be stopped."
And if you go back to November of 2020, he said this on a conservative podcast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: You know, I've been on the past couple of years on this kick where I just am terrified about America's fertility trends. There are just these basic cadences of life that I think are really powerful and really valuable when you have kids in your life. And the fact that so many people, especially in America's leadership class, just don't have that in their lives -- you know, I worry that it makes people more sociopathic and ultimately, our whole country a little bit less mentally stable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: You heard right -- he said sociopathic for people who don't have kids.
While Vance's stance on childbearing seems to have stayed consistent over the years, many of his other views have not. According to one of his former Yale Law School classmates, they had this to say about Vance on CNN last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOFIA NELSON, J.D. VANCE'S FORMER YALE CLASSMATE: What I have seen is a chameleon. Someone who is able to change their positions and their values depending on what will amass them, political power, and wealth. And I think that's really unfortunate because it reflects a lack of integrity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCUITTO: Joining me now to discuss, Shira Stein, Washington correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle. And Sophia Cai, politics reporter for Axios.
Sophia, I mean, this is clearly problematic for Vance because it's, first of all, that one 'childless cat ladies' comment has gone viral and, of course, the Harris campaign is hitting on it, but it's not the only time. And let's be frank. There is a view in the right wing that encompasses this, right? I mean, he's not on an island, which is problematic I imagine for Republicans.
SOPHIA CAI, POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: I would say he's the only right-wing person who has had this very specific remark. It's very catchy. It makes it very easy --
SCIUTTO: Um-hum.
CAI: -- for not just Democratic politicians but other celebrity figures --
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
CAI: -- to really get in on this.
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
CAI: And that's significant and it's forced him to be on defense on not just this but also comments that he is weird.
SCIUTTO: Hmm.
CAI: I mean, other comments throughout his career in the Senate and also previously. And I think that's something that Trump, this campaign cycle, has not really been in a place of having to try to outmaneuver the news cycle --
SCIUTTO: Yeah. CAI: -- in a sense.
SCIUTTO: So, Shira, I mean, listen, the Harris campaign is already jumping on this. I mean, how do they -- how do they plan to use this going forward?
SHIRA STEIN, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: I think they're going to let their surrogates do a lot of the work. They're -- they've been using the word "weird" which vice presidential potential nominee Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, said --
SCIUTTO: Hmm.
STEIN: -- and has sort of popularized it now.
I think the other thing to remember about this sort of 'childless cat ladies' comment is it's hitting negatively with people who have had issues conceiving --
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
STEIN: -- and that is a huge swath of the electorate. And that is not going to play well for J.D. Vance.
SCIUTTO: It's not always by choice, right? Of course --
STEIN: Exactly.
SCIUTTO: -- some folks may -- by the way, that's their right to choose not to have kids, but some try, or they get married later. I mean, this has been some of the pushback you've been seeing.
I mean, the other criticism here is this former Yale classmate speaking about how he's not the same person that he was prior and shared several emails and text messages with The New York Times showing his shifting views.
[05:35:09]
I wonder -- and some of this is public already, right, because J.D. Vance, in the last cycle or two cycles ago was very anti-Trump and called himself anti-Trumper. How does that play inside the Republican voting place? I mean -- base. Do they forgive him for that flip and kind of take his explanation that well, I learned more about Donald Trump and now I think he's a good guy?
CAI: Yeah. I think the thing about J.D. Vance is that he's really good about articulating whatever position he's had, and so he's tried to kind of use his past views. I mean, I've heard him on the campaign trail in Iowa and New Hampshire and I'm sure he'll say that more now that because he used to be anti-Trump --
SCIUTTO: Um-hum.
CAI: -- and now he is very much for Trump because X and Y reasons. But I think the emails that were shared with The New York Times
perhaps give a pretty nuanced view of this person who is able to have cordial conversations with someone on the other side. But the question is: is the Republican Party of today a party that wants that?
SCIUTTO: Yeah, no question.
The Washington Post has new audio recordings of Vance speaking about something else, which is the switch at the top --
STEIN: Um-hum.
SCIUTTO: -- of the Democratic ticket. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: All of were hit with a little bit of a political sucker punch. The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden because whatever we might say, Kamala Harris is a lot younger. And Kamala Harris is obviously not struggling in the same ways that Joe Biden did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: So, I mean, Shira, an admission of vulnerability there, perhaps, from Vance?
STEIN: It definitely counteracted what former President Trump said earlier in the week.
SCIUTTO: Um-hum.
STEIN: It was an interesting admission. It was in an environment that J.D. Vance feels comfortable. He spent time in Silicon Valley with the type of people who he was with at this fundraiser. Maybe he let something slip that he should not have around people that he felt comfortable.
SCIUTTO: I mean, it's also an obvious point. If their central -- if part of their central message was going to be that Biden was too old and she's much younger -- I mean, what are you going to do? I mean, it's a -- it's just a fact.
I do want to talk about Trump himself. He gave an interview to Fox News and, of course, you're familiar with. You may have heard his comment over the weekend saying that -- to Christian voters that if you vote this time around you don't have to vote again.
He was asked about that by Laura Ingraham last night. Listen to his explanation.
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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Christians are not known as a big voting group. They don't vote -- and I'm explaining that to them. You never vote. LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST, "THE INGRAHAM ANGLE": Is that why --
TRUMP: Christians are known -- you know who else doesn't vote? Gun owners don't vote. I said to the Christians in the room -- thousands of them -- I said typically, Christians do not vote. Why it is, I don't know. You're rebellious. Something's going on.
Don't worry about the future. Vote on -- you have to vote on November 5. After that, you don't have to worry about voting anymore -- I don't care -- because we're going to fix that. The country will be fixed, and we won't even need your vote anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: I mean, he was asked a simple question. Was he saying you only have to vote once because well, you know, I'm going to change the rules, right, or stick around? He didn't say that. He gave a somewhat meandering answer.
Do you understand what his point was there?
CAI: Yeah. I mean, look, this is a guy who -- previously, he said I want Election Day to be Christian visibility day.
SCIUTTO: Hmm.
CAI: I mean, this is someone who -- you know, I think a part of the contrast he's trying to make is the contrast of conservative, perhaps, Christian values --
SCIUTTO: Right.
CAI: -- and Kamala Harris' liberal policy. I don't think that's a fair contrast to make by any means. But he's kind of grasping for anything he can hang onto at this point.
SCIUTTO: No question.
And as with so many things -- as with so many things, he -- you know, he couldn't give a simple answer to that question. A simple direct no, but he didn't give that answer.
Just briefly, you've been covering Harris for some time and have been reporting on the similarity between Obama's "Hope" message and Harris' 2024 message.
STEIN: Yeah. I think it's really key to look at the message that Harris is bringing forward right now. The message that President Biden has been using on the campaign trail has not been working. It has not been resonating with voters. He's spoken about freedom in his speeches --
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
STEIN: -- but Harris is really hammering it home. It was the theme of her first ad campaign. It's the song by Beyonce, featuring Kendrick Lamar, that is her walkout song.
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
STEIN: It is going to be the theme of this campaign. And freedom is a word that Republicans have traditionally used, and Democrats have tried to take it back for years. But I think it is something that we're seeing the same energy that we saw with the "Hope" campaign of Barack Obama in 2008. Using the word freedom is something that could resonate with voters across the political spectrum, not just coastal elites.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. And I also think it seems deliberately a more hopeful message as opposed to the end of democracy. I mean, that still is --
[05:40:03]
STEIN: Exactly.
SCIUTTO: -- part of it but there's definitely a more hopeful spin it seems. And I --
STEIN: It's also more tangible because people don't really understand what does the future of democracy mean, but they understand the freedom to be able to do what they want -- for their families to be able to do what they want.
SCIUTTO: Right.
STEIN: It's just -- it's a -- it's a message that hits home for regular people.
SCIUTTO: And certainly, women voters when it comes to reproductive rights.
Shira Stein, Sophia Cai, thanks so much. Good to have you. Thanks for coming this morning.
Overseas, fears of a wider war between Israel and Hezbollah after an exchange of airstrikes on Monday. The U.S. is not currently planning to evacuate American citizens from Lebanon despite a growing number of airlines canceling flights to and from Beirut. The State Department has issued a level three travel advisory to Lebanon. That means U.S. citizens should reconsider travel there.
Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin is traveling abroad in the Philippines. He was asked about his concerns about a wider conflict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LLOYD AUSTIN, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: While we've seen a lot of activity on Israel's northern border, we remain concerned about the potential of this escalating into a full-blown fight. And I don't believe that a fight is inevitable. I think that we'd like to see things resolved in a diplomatic fashion.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SCIUTTO: CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Abu Dhabi with the latest. You know, it's interesting because the administration position -- and I've heard the same from the White House here and Lloyd Austin -- is they do not see the elements -- the circumstances right now for a -- for a broad escalation.
I wonder, have there been developments overnight in the conflict, and are there fears that there will be a further tit-for-tat from the two sides?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, I mean, overnight, U.S. time, we've certainly seen more of a tit-for-tat from both sides, but nothing beyond what we have been seeing recently. We still haven't, we believe, seen this Israeli response to that deadly rocket attack on Saturday, which killed 12 children.
And so, what we're looking at, at this point, is what Israel is going to do. The Israeli prime minister has said that there would be severe consequences. We know that the security cabinet -- the emergency security cabinet in Israel has given him the greenlight, and his defense minister, to decide themselves what the nature of this response would be and what the timing of the response would be. So that's really the key at this point.
We have heard though from Lebanon's acting foreign minister telling CNN that they have assurances from a third party that this response would be limited. Also, hinting that those assurances could have come from the U.S. and France, to name two countries involved, assuming that there would not be, for example, an attack on Beirut airport or on southern Lebanon -- southern Beirut, excuse me, which is a Hezbollah stronghold.
So certainly from the Lebanese government point of view there hoping and being told that this is going to be a limited response, but we simply don't know --
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
HANCOCKS: -- at this point. That is up to Israel and that is really the key here -- Jim.
SCIUTTO: No question. Reuters reporting Israeli officials say they want to avoid and all-out war. But as you say, listen, one person's red line could be another person's step too far.
Paula Hancocks, thanks so much.
Coming up, pollution levels in the River Siene postponing the men's triathlon in Paris. That's too bad.
Plus, the voters Kamala Harris is trying to win over during his visit to Georgia today.
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MEGAN THEE STALLION, RAPPER: Singing "Her." (END VIDEO CLIP)
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[05:48:00]
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hey, everybody. So today, Iowa put in place a Trump abortion ban, which makes Iowa the 22nd state in our country to have a Trump abortion ban. And this ban is going to take effect before many women even know they're pregnant. And what this means is that one in three women of reproductive age in America lives in a state with Trump abortion ban.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Note that phrasing there, "Trump Abortion Ban."
Vice President Kamala Harris vowing to protect reproductive rights after Iowa's six-week abortion ban went into effect on Monday. This week, the Harris campaign is launching what they call a "Fight for Reproductive Freedom" week of action. Tonight Harris will hold a rally in Atlanta and one of her top themes will be abortion access.
CNN's Ron Brownstein writes, "The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has been a much more comfortable and cogent messenger on the issue than President Biden who wasn't winning nearly as much support in 2024 as he did in 2020.
Joining me now, CNN political analyst, Ron Brownstein. And it's notable, that phrasing -- "Trump Abortion Ban" and obviously placing the --
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah.
SCIUTTO: -- responsibility. He is the one, after all, who appointed those two Supreme Court justices who overturned it.
But this was going to be a central part of the Democratic messaging even with Biden at the top of the ticket. But clearly, she and her team believe she is a better messenger on this topic.
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. You know, it really hasn't -- good morning, Jim. First of all, it really hasn't been discussed much. But I was able to collect data from a number of public polls -- previously unpublished data -- that showed President Biden, before he got out of the race, was not winning nearly as much support among voters who support legal -- as he did in 2020 or as the major Democratic candidates in '22.
In both of those races, pro-choice abortion rights voters were critical to Democratic success. Biden, in 2020, won about three- quarters of voters who said abortion should always or mostly be legal. In 2022, Democrats won about three-quarters of voters again in that camp in the House races and governors' races, like Arizona and Wisconsin.
[05:50:04]
They won about three-quarters of them in Michigan. Gretchen Whitmer won over four-fifths of abortion rights voters. And Josh Shapiro, in Pennsylvania, likewise -- won over four-fifths of voters who support abortion rights.
Generally, Biden was winning somewhere between 55 and 65 percent of them this time. And it seems to be a critical pool of voters where Harris has a very clear opportunity to bring back some of the support that had drifted away --
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
BROWNSTEIN: -- from Biden in his -- in his punitive re-election bid.
SCIUTTO: Well, to your point, let's bring up the more recent polling on voters who disapprove of Dobbs and their support -- Biden versus Trump --
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
SCIUTTO: -- dropping from a margin 74 percent in 2020; 73 percent in 2022; down to 60 percent.
I mean, listen --
BROWNSTEIN: (INAUDIBLE).
SCIUTTO: -- in a close race, I imagine the point here is Democrats have to win that group handily --
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
SCIUTTO: -- and I imagine they perceive they have a better chance of doing so under Kamala Harris.
BROWNSTEIN: Well look, the critical question is what was the erosion, right? Why did the erosion happen?
SCIUTTO: Right.
BROWNSTEIN: Democrats believe that it happened largely for two reasons.
One, voters who support abortion rights were not immune to all of the other issues that were driving people away from Biden. In fact, as I show in the -- in the polling -- national Marquette Law School polling -- 75-80 percent of voters who support abortion rights also thought Biden was too old.
And secondly, Harris is clearly a better messenger on this issue. You know, Biden, a devout Catholic, started as a critic of Roe v. Wade way back in the '70s and was reluctant often to even use the word abortion.
She is just much more comfortable and forceful -- SCIUTTO: Yeah.
BROWNSTEIN: -- on the issue. She's been talking about it. It's been really her main job to talk about the erosion of rights and freedom as you mentioned --
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
BROWNSTEIN: -- in the last segment -- since Dobbs in '22.
But there's a third factor here, which is what Republicans believe. That another reason why Biden wasn't polling as well among people who support legal abortion is that other issues matter more in the general election than they did in '22. Inflation and immigration, particularly.
They also believe Trump is less vulnerable on the issue because he has said he will not sign a national --
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
BROWNSTEIN: -- abortion ban.
Democrats reject that. They believe that with a stronger messenger they can focus more voters on this again. But this is going to be a critical tug-of-war in the next few weeks.
SCIUTTO: And let's be honest. A woman is fundamentally going to -- going to have a better ability to convey this issue and be seen as a --
BROWNSTEIN: Passion.
SCIUTTO: -- as a -- as a -- exactly -- a passionate defender than a man.
But before we go, quickly, I'm not going to ask you who you think her vice presidential nominee is -- we don't know -- but what do you believe the focus of that decision will be on? Will it be about a swing state, or will it be about something broader?
BROWNSTEIN: I think -- you know, look, the opportunity to do something broader was Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, which would be kind of a double down on your strengths. Like Bill Clinton picking Al Gore, another brainy centrist southern baby boomer.
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
BROWNSTEIN: I think they are looking for a candidate to balance the ticket. To kind of shore up your weaknesses is another way of thinking about it. And that would point me toward a white male from a -- elected official from a swing state. It's hard to get past Josh Shapiro because Pennsylvania is so critical to Democratic hopes. Mark Kelly would seem to be a good option as well.
But the difference is Vice President Harris can win Arizona and still lose. If you win Pennsylvania, you're obviously in a much stronger position overall.
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
BROWNSTEIN: And that's why I would think by most calculation, Shapiro would rise to the head of pack. But it's easy to imagine Kelly as well.
SCIUTTO: And listen, he's done with -- done well with Trump voters in that state, too -- critical to turning it -- or keeping it blue.
Ron Brownstein, good to have you on.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: The 2024 Paris Olympics was supposed to play out today, but it's been postponed due to poor water quality in the Siene.
CNN international sports anchor Amanda Davies is in Paris with the latest. And, boy, this is a shame, right, because there's been a lot of concern about this. They've done their best to clean up the river. The mayor swam in the river. Now you've had all this rain. I mean, is there any way out of this?
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, it seems bizarre, doesn't it, with the weather as it is today. But, I mean, the triathlon course here has been described as insane. The problem we've got is that the athletes are not being allowed in the River Seine to test it out.
And you can only imagine, as you already said, the feeling of those athletes this morning waking up for what is meant to be the big day that they've been working towards the last three years -- their entire lives, in many cases -- to discover that the event isn't taking place as scheduled.
It's what's happened to the men's triathletes as things stand after an early morning water test showed, once again, pollution levels in the river are just too high for them to swim in it. It is not safe.
We do have this heat wave starting today, but it's the heavy rain that happened on Friday and Saturday that's being blamed for the levels.
[05:55:00]
But there is hope it will be able to take place tomorrow, Wednesday, after the women's race. We shall wait and see. Worryingly, we've just got some thunderstorm warnings for later today.
Thankfully, though, no such problems in the pool, which meant on Monday night we saw a stunning women's 400 individual medley. The U.S. pair of Katie Grimes and Emma Weyant took silver and bronze.
But it was the one the swimming world has been talking about since she made her Olympic debut at 14 years of age in Tokyo -- the world record holder in this even, now-17-year-old Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh, who blew the rest away to get her hands on gold. I love the fact she's got a tabby cat named Mikey after Michael Phelps.
Just time to tell you about a really emotional first medal though for Ukraine here in Paris, with their athletes making it here to the games with their country now 2 1/2 years into their war against Russia. Six- time world champion Olga Kharlan, whose family in Mykola have spent months living in their basement under Russian attack -- she won bronze in fencing's individual saber.
Afterwards, she said it is a message to all the world that Ukraine will never give up.
Jim, I've been fortunate enough to spend a bit of time in Kyiv and Lviv in the last month also speaking to a number of these athletes. They really see this as their moment to get their flag --
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
DAVIES: -- back in the public domain. And people talking about what they're going through again.
SCIUTTO: And the sad fact is several Ukrainian athletes died -- Olympic athletes died at -- died in the war.
Amanda Davies, good to have you there in Paris. Thanks so much.
Coming up next, new exclusive reporting just into CNN about the Supreme Court came to its decision on presidential immunity. Plus, Rep. David Joyce joins me live to discuss what he wants to hear from the acting director of the Secret Service during today's hearing on the Trump assassination attempt.
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