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Harris Campaign Seeing Momentum Amid Democratic Enthusiasm, Fundraising; Trump Defends Vance's 'Childless Cat Lady' Remarks; Temperatures Fall Across Western U.S. Amid Wildlife Battle. Aired 6- 6:30a ET
Aired July 30, 2024 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: It's Tuesday, July 30. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING, Vice President Harris looking to seize the momentum as she heads to the battleground state of Georgia for the first time as the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Plus --
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DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He's not against anything. But he -- he loves family.
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SCIUTTO: Donald Trump comes to the defense of his running mate after a week of bitter backlash.
And CNN's exclusive new reporting on how the Supreme Court came to its controversial decision in the former president's immunity case.
And Trump agreeing to meet with the FBI in their investigation of the attempt on his life.
It is just past 6 a.m. here in Washington. Here's a live look at the White House, looking pretty this morning. Good morning. I'm Jim Sciutto in for Kasie Hunt. Great to be with you this morning.
In just hours. Kamala Harris will head to Atlanta for her first rally in Georgia as the presumptive Democratic nominee. Traveling with her: a wave of momentum and a staggering pile of campaign cash.
The vice president is trying to reenergize, in particular, black and Hispanic voters. Her campaign eyeing not just the Blue Wall states, but also the Sun Belt on its hoped-for path to 270 electoral votes.
President Biden won Georgia, you'll remember, by less than 12,000 votes four years ago. Harris, looking to build on that. Last night, she got a boot [SIC] -- boost from a White Dudes for Harris Zoom fund raiser: a $4 million boost, to be exact. A three-and- a-half-hour call attracted more than 180,000 participants including the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, who is a potential Harris V.P. pick.
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GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): How often, in 100 days, do you get to change the trajectory of the world? How often, in 100 days, do you get to do something that's going to impact generations to come? And how often in the world, do you make that bastard wake up afterwards and know that a black woman kicked his (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and sent him on the road?
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SCIUTTO: Making his case.
The Trump campaign is still trying to find a way to slow Harris's momentum. The former president appearing last night on FOX, trying out a wide array of attack lines.
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TRUMP: I would rather run against her than him. I think she's easier than he is.
She got rid of the laugh. I noticed haven't seen that crazy laugh that she gets. She's crazy. That laugh. That's a laugh of a crazy person.
She's 60 [SIC] years old. A lot of people -- I didn't realize she was 60 [SIC]. I thought she was a little younger, but she's 60 [SIC].
Everybody knows who I am. And now people know who she is. She's a radical left lunatic. She'll destroy our country.
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SCIUTTO: She's 59, by the way.
Joining me now to discuss all that, Saleha Mohsin, senior Washington correspondent for Bloomberg News; former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield; and David Polyansky, Republican strategist, former chief of staff to Senator Ted Cruz.
David, if I could begin with you.
You know, laugh of a crazy person. I mean, why is this necessary? I know it's not new for Trump. But why is this necessarily to attack a female candidate for president in such a way?
DAVID POLYANSKY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO SENATOR TED CRUZ: Well, look, I've been a part of two campaigns against Donald Trump, and it's not exclusive to this race. It's how he campaigns. He's unpredictable. He's hard to pin down. And sometimes, what seems like an erratic measure on his part is sometimes pretty effective with voters. So, I think we all just have to recognize that sometimes it's Donald
Trump being Donald Trump. But at the same time, I think the Harris campaign is mindful that, you know, sometimes his erratic behavior can be effective and land with voters. So --
SCIUTTO: Yes, but I mean come I mean. I mean, listen to Senator -- Senator Kennedy. He was a sitting U.S. senator speaking on FOX News. Listen to the language he used. Have a listen.
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SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): The polling that I've seen shows that many Americans think that the vice president is not a serious person. As I said, that she's bit of a ding-dong.
NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I'm just wondering how you think that will resonate with women when she is called nasty and crazy and a dingdong.
Why call her a ding-dong? Then why call her a ding-dong?
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KENNEDY: And -- I'm telling you what the polling shows. I'm telling you what the polling shows.
CAVUTO: All right. All right.
KENNEDY: And it does. And I'll be glad to sit down with you and -- and walk you through polling.
CAVUTO: Yes, please --
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SCIUTTO: I'm not aware of a poll that used the language "ding-dong."
But to Neil Cavuto's point there, is that an opportunity for Democrats and for women voters?
KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I -- look, I think it certainly energizes Democrats. It energizes women when -- you know, when Trump, when Republicans talk about her in this way.
I mean, it's also -- look, she's, you know, certain -- I would argue the most qualified person in the race. She's, you know, been vice president for four years. She was in the Senate. She was a prosecutor. She was A.G.
So, the idea that we're going to have a debate between, you know, J.D. Vance and Kamala Harris and Donald Trump about who's more qualified to be president, that seems a little ludicrous.
But yes, I think attacking her in this personal way is certainly motivating to Democrats. It's motivating to women, especially in the context of the larger problems that this Republican ticket has with women and the comments that J.D. Vance has made about women's families. Obviously, what they're trying to do in taking away a woman's right to make a medical decision for herself.
So, you know, taken within the context of what, substantively, this ticket's trying to do, to limit women's rights, yes. I think it is -- it is absolutely going to light a fire under -- under Democrats and moderate women, suburban voters.
SCIUTTO: Saleha, to that point, you hear Tim Walz. I mean, and by the way, when you see these V.P. potential picks on television, they're making their case, right, to be vice president. Part of which is to be, I suppose, an attack dog.
But I mean, he's -- he's calling the former president a bastard. Which strikes me as slightly different from the -- you know, the Harris campaign approach has been, let's make it less apocalyptic about Trump and more well, they're just kind of weird.
So, I mean, is that a smart tack for Democrats to take, to kind of hit back with similar language and attacks?
SALEHA MOHSIN, SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT FOR BLOOMBERG NEWS: I think it might be something that resonates with some parts of the electorate.
What we're seeing in the Trump campaign is they're on the backfoot. They did not expect Kamala Harris to become the presumptive nominee, but when there was all this talk about Biden stepping off the ticket -- should he, will he, can he -- they were out there saying no, no. The primary process showed that Biden is the candidate.
They wanted to go against him, not Kamala Harris. Now, they're having to figure out how do we attack this person and maintain our support among the black constituents and white women and all women?
SCIUTTO: Yes, listen -- and by the way, we're in a shorter timeframe, right. I mean, you've got 98 days until -- until election day, shorter than usual to frame a candidate. And they had done all this work on -- on Joe Biden.
POLYANSKY: And to be framed, yes.
SCIUTTO: What's that?
POLYANSKY: And to be framed.
SCIUTTO: And to be framed. You're absolutely right.
I mean, where is your sense? I mean, from the Republican, Democratic point of view, of where the race stands right now? I mean, if it were held today, would Kamala Harris win?
POLYANSKY: I think -- unbelievably in a week, we were just talking about being in Milwaukee, just you know, about ten days ago. Look, the race has changed in historic ways, not just fundamental ways. You know, with President Biden, look, he met the Article II requirements to be president, but I don't think he met that next threshold, which was did people feel he was competent and up to the job?
She clearly crosses that hurdle. And now we're back into a campaign. Which candidate should lead the country forward for the next four years?
And over the last week, she's done a very effective job making her case. The opportunity ahead of her to pick a vice president and head into the DNC convention, all of that plays in her favor. And I think it's a transformed race that is a jump ball at the moment.
BEDINGFIELD: Yes, I agree. I mean, I think we're back into a dogfight here. I think she has expanded the map in a way that, you know, Biden's -- Biden's map was clearly narrowing. She's expanded it. I think that's -- you see evidence of that in her going to Georgia today.
And she's also reenergized the Democratic coalition in a way that, you know, has really infused a lot of energy here. Now, the challenge for her campaign is to take that energy, to take some of what we've seen in this last week, which has been unprecedented and incredible, and channel it into getting these people out, you know, knocking doors as we move toward September, when people start early voting and then into November.
I think, you know, one thing I will say, having worked with a lot of the people who are now running her campaign, I do think they have put in place a terrific field operation. I think they have the infrastructure to take this energy and channel it. That will be sort of the next step for their campaign, which I know they are very, very focused on.
SCIUTTO: I mean, listen, they're chalking up volunteers by the -- by the thousands.
BEDINGFIELD: Absolutely.
SCIUTTO: Let's go to you. You might have been heard the segment with Ron Brownstein earlier about how the numbers for Biden on the abortion issue were not as positive this cycle as they were in 2022 and 2020; not as clear cut between him -- him and Trump.
Clearly, with Harris -- by the way, she's a woman, you know, more credible, you might argue, spokesperson on this issue. Is this going to be an even more central message to the Democratic presidential campaign?
MOHSIN: It might be something that will resonate with voters. Democrats have been looking for a white space where they can kind of move in and really combat Trump.
[06:10:02] And now what we're seeing with J.D. Vance, he's kind of petering out. He has not had the best 10, 12 days. Kamala Harris has had a fantastic 10, 12 days. Absolute sugar-high; honeymoon is there.
I would just caution that it's just the beginning.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
MOHSIN: There's a couple of concerns about Kamala Harris: how she performs in that broader stage, if she can bring the charismatic approach to it.
And also, her staffing in the past. There's been issues. Can she manage her staff appropriately, which will reveal can she govern? Lessons can be learned.
And there is so much enthusiasm and energy behind it that, hopefully, she can overcome that and give Americans many -- two options for to vote.
BEDINGFIELD: I do think the fact, by the way, that Donald Trump is having to defend J.D. Vance -- he's sitting down with Laura Ingraham having to defend J.D. Vance on -- particularly, on this issue of family and women, you know, it shows you that there is massive opportunity here.
I think there already was for Democrats, given the Dobbs decision, but there's huge opportunity here for Democrats to -- you know, to push forward on these issues that are particularly relevant for women who, by the way, are going to be a very decisive cohort.
SCIUTTO: That's not a conversation, I'm sure, the president [SIC] wanted to be having, right now?
BEDINGFIELD: Yes, I'm sure he's --
SCIUTTO: Or the defense he wanted to be making.
BEDINGFIELD: I'm sure he was thrilled about that.
SCIUTTO: All right. Stay with us. Much more to come. Coming up on CNN, the growing scrutiny, as we were just talking, about J.D. Vance as more questionable comments from his past -- more of them -- surface.
Plus, CNN's exclusive reporting on the key role of Chief Justice John Roberts in the Supreme Court's decision on broad presidential immunity.
And Republican Congressman David Joyce will join me live to discuss the assassination attempt of Donald Trump and the ongoing investigation.
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TRUMP: He made a statement having to do with families. That doesn't mean that people that aren't a member of a big and beautiful family, with 400 children around and everything else.
It doesn't mean that a person doesn't have -- he's not against anything. But he -- he loves family. It's very important to him.
All he said is he -- he does like -- I mean, for him, he likes family.
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SCIUTTO: "He likes family."
Donald Trump defending his running mate, J.D. Vance, as he continues to face backlash over his now viral remarks, aimed at Kamala Harris and supporters of her.
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SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We're effectively run in this country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies.
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SCIUTTO: New reporting this morning by CNN's KFILE indicates that Vance has a history of making disparaging remarks about people who happen not to have children, including this comment he made in an interview in 2020.
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VANCE: There's just these basic cadences of life that I think are really powerful and really, 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 -- less mentally stable.
And of course, you talk about going on Twitter. Final point I'll make is, you go on Twitter, and almost always, the people who are most deranged and most psychotic are people who don't have kids at home.
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SCIUTTO: I mean, all right. My panel is back.
David, sociopathic if you choose not to have kids or can't have kids, or happen not to have kids. Explain.
POLYANSKY: Well, I can't. I -- I want to go to the politics of it, first, is easy. I don't think people are going to vote on either of the vice-presidential picks. I think this is going to be a race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. That being said, I think as a party, we need to reassess how we talk
about issues. And look, that's out of line. It's not how we should approach these issues. It's -- by the way, not just from a voting standpoint, an electoral standpoint; from a common-sense standpoint.
And I think, hopefully, as a party, we learn lessons from watching, you know, these types of hits, especially in conservative media, where we tend to get loose and relaxed, to take a more nuanced approach and, frankly, focus on the issues that matter.
And right now, the issues that matter in this country are immigration. It's the economy. And it doesn't matter whether you have kids or you don't; whether you're a Democrat, independent or Republican. We should talk about those issues in the way that we view it -- them from a philosophical standpoint, not from more radicalized language.
SCIUTTO: OK, is it loose and relaxed and honest?
BEDINGFIELD: It's just honest, right? I mean, that's when you're loose and relaxed. You're, like, conveying what you really think.
And I mean, that's -- and also, I mean, this is not, like, a one-off. He made a sarcastic comment and then he was, like, that's not really what I meant. I mean, we've seen this repeatedly. He has continued to make these -- these comments.
He also, you know, in his first attempt to sort of clean this up after he became the vice-presidential nominee, he apologized to the cats that he offended.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
BEDINGFIELD: But not the women.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
BEDINGFIELD: So, I think that was pretty telling.
So, you know, it is -- look, it is incredibly divisive. It is, as I was saying earlier, I mean, I think it is part of a larger problem that this ticket has with women, as they should, in my opinion.
But it's also going to continue to drive the conversation. And, you know, to David's point, it's going to prevent the Republicans from being able to get to the issues they want to get to.
SCIUTTO: Right.
BEDINGFIELD: Which I have to imagine is driving Donald Trump crazy.
SCIUTTO: So, I mean, the other point is -- he's even made the case, right, that people with kids should have more votes and be able to vote for the kids. So, there's a policy element to that, as well.
[06:20:00] I mean, Saleha, the other issue for Vance is his past very, very strong criticism of the former president and current president -- current candidate for president. I'll give you a couple of these, come from "The New York Times," excerpts from J.D. Vance's emails to a classmate of his from Yale's Law School.
October 23, 2014: "I hate the police. Given the number of negative experience I've had in the past few years, I can't imagine what a black guy goes through."
October 4, 2016, speaking of Trump here: "He's a bad man, a morally reprehensible human being."
That, by the way, not a singular comment. I mean, he referred to Trump as "America's Hitler" here.
How does this play for him among republic -- Republican voters here, right? Because I mean, to the extent that FOX News is playing this kind of stuff. I mean, some of them are going to see this.
MOHSIN: I think what we're seeing here, the fact that Trump came out and cleaned that up shows how uncomfortable members of the party are. But I also think that we don't know this party very well as it is now.
In 2016, the Trump -- the party that Trump took was one that was against him, and he was constantly fighting the forces of the establishment and traditional side of the party.
And now he kind of owns it, but even he does not know exactly what does that mean and how far can I and my men go in making these kinds of attacks? And they're finding that those lines are interesting.
But also, we have no polling right now of how you will do against Kamala and how these kinds of comments, when you have a woman running for president, how those resonate.
I think it's really interesting. It's 98 days out. We don't actually know from just data how this is playing out.
SCIUTTO: Yes, and I mean, as you see Trump struggle there to explain some of these comments, you get a sense that even he sees the political sensitivity, potential damage from this.
Stay with us. Much more to discuss.
Coming up next on CNN THIS MORNING, protests in Venezuela after President Maduro is re-elected, the government claims. One of the five things you have to see this morning.
Plus, relief for the West after just record-breaking heat and a massive wildfire.
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SCIUTTO: Twenty-five minutes past the hour, five things you have to see this morning.
Protests heating up across Venezuela as Nicolas Maduro claims an election victory. The strongman says he won 51 percent of the vote, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he has, quote, "serious concerns" about those numbers.
Maduro's opponent claims he has proof the vote tallies were rigged in Maduro's favor.
Torrential rain temporarily turning Dollywood into a waterpark, Storms shut down Dolly Parton's theme park on Sunday. It caused flash flooding across Eastern Tennessee.
And this.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At first there was -- you know, there were a lot of dragonflies, and then there was millions.
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SCIUTTO: That's funny. I've seen a lot of dragonflies, too.
An invasion of dragonflies at a Rhode Island beach sending everyone running for cover this weekend. Witnesses say they vanished just three minutes later.
Scientists believe the unusually warm water temperatures and strong winds may have steered the dragonflies ashore. That looks pretty scary.
At least 24 people killed by landslides in Southern India, dozens more are feared trapped after heavy rains in the state of Kerala -- Kerala. Rescue operations hindered by more rain and the collapse of a crucial bridge.
Hundreds of firefighters still battling California's enormous Park Fire, the state's sixth largest fire ever. It's destroyed more than 111 structures, forced evacuations across four counties.
Ronnie Dean Stout is facing multiple charges of arson. He's going to be back in court on Thursday.
And some good news out West. Cooler weather on the horizon after record heat and those wildfires. Meteorologist Derek van Dam joins us.
Derek, where and when are we going to see some relief out there?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Well, it's coming. It's here today.
But I first want to show you just this erratic fire behavior that these firefighters have been dealing with on the ground. I mean, this is just a heroic effort by this particular firefighter with some of this newly obtained video footage from CAL FIRE here at CNN. Now, the reason we're experiencing this brief break in the fire
conditions is because of a cold front. So, this is moving through, cooling the temperatures, but it's doing a number of things to the weather.
Not only is it picking up the wind ahead of the cold fronts, so making fire weather a bit more erratic; behind it, though, a rush of higher humidity levels will actually come help -- at least help the firefighters contain the wildfires that are ongoing.
You could see the cooler weather across the Pacific Northwest. It doesn't last long. We heat up into the rest of the week.
A lot of the heat has shifted Eastward. We have 50 million Americans across the central parts of the U.S. under heat alerts, triple-digit for many locations. You factor in the humidity levels: downright unbearable.
And then I want to point your attention to what's happened overnight across Northeastern sections of Vermont. A flash flood emergency for St. Johnsbury. This is in Northeastern Vermont, where up to five to eight inches of rain has fallen, leading to multiple swift-water rescues.
There aren't many ways to really put this, but Vermont has hit -- been hit particularly hard by flooding this year. This type of rain does not happen in such a short period that often -- Jim.
SCIUTTO: Yes, eight inches in six hours, that's crazy. Derek van Dam, thanks so much.
VAN DAM: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, new CNN reporting about exactly how the Supreme Court came to its broad presidential immunity decision.
Plus, we're tracking critical primaries in key swing states that could alter the makeup of the Senate.
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