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CNN This Morning

Vice President Harris Set to Wrap Up Her Whirlwind Search for a Running Mate; Trump Hashes Out at Kamala Harris; Hurricane Debby Strengthens to Category One Hurricane in the Gulf. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired August 05, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00]

KASIE HUNT, ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING: It's Monday, August 5th, right now on CNN THIS MORNING. Vice President Harris set to wrap up her whirlwind search for a running mate in just a matter of hours. Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. RESPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Crazy Kamala ultra-left, you know that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Donald Trump still hashing out how his campaign will attack Kamala Harris. And --

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TRUMP: It's very bad for the Republican Party. He wouldn't do anything.

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HUNT: The former President rekindles his feud with a GOP governor in a critical battleground state. All right, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington D.C., this is a live look at Tallahassee, Florida, rain pouring down as Hurricane Debby approaches the coast of Florida.

This Category One storm expected to make landfall any moment now there. We are going to continue to follow this throughout the morning. We'll have your forecasts for you coming up later on this hour. Good morning, everyone, I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

Vice President Kamala Harris' search for her own running mate, now, in its final hours. Over the weekend, she interviewed three contenders at the Naval Observatory in Washington D.C. They included Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Pennsylvania Governor, Josh Shapiro and the Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.

The process playing out under strict secrecy with plans to officially announce the choice ahead of a Tuesday night rally in Philadelphia. One of the options already facing scrutiny from the right and left, Governor Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman has been warning Harris' team not to pick Shapiro.

According to a "Politico" report, Fetterman reportedly told Harris that Shapiro is more focused on personal ambition. Harris' Republican rivals also attacking a potential Shapiro pick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think if she picked Shapiro, who happens to be Jewish, she loses her little Palestinian base because she has -- because they like me because they think I'm going to bring peace to the Middle East.

SEN. JAMES DAVID VANCE (R-OH) & REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There's a lot of talk -- is going to be this guy, Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania, who you know, I've seen this couple of clips of him talking, he talks like Barack Obama.

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HUNT: He talks like Barack Obama. Joining me now to discuss all this, Nick Johnston; he's the publisher of "Axios" and Kadia Goba; she's political reporter at "Semafor". Nick, I've got to start with you on --

NICHOLAS JOHNSTON, PUBLISHER, AXIOS: Yes, good morning --

HUNT: On the undertones there that we just heard from J.D. Vance --

JOHNSTON: They've got a company talking to Barack Obama.

HUNT: Yes, I mean, I had -- I had read the internet calls him Baruck(ph) Obama --

(LAUGHTER)

HUNT: A reference to his Jewish faith, but also that --

JOHNSTON: Right --

HUNT: He seems to be modeling himself on Barack Obama. But look, big picture. This is a big decision. It's going to be the biggest decision Harris has made so far --

JOHNSTON: Yes --

HUNT: For her presidential campaign. Shapiro had been seen as likely the frontrunner, but has really come under scrutiny here as we come into these final hours --

JOHNSTON: Yes, I think this is the moment where we see if all this good feeling begins to wear off. We talked a couple of weeks about the big momentum, the big mole, Democrats were so happy with this, there were not a lot of infighting. There was a lot of enthusiasm.

Now, this choice I think for Vice President is that where the cracks start to show, the Fetterman comments about "Politico" as far as some dissension there in the ranks, unions are a little unhappy, which appear -- look, the whole race comes down to Pennsylvania, right?

There was Florida in 2000, and 2024, it's Pennsylvania. Shapiro could maybe move the needle on that. So, I think he's the clear frontrunner now, but like when a choice is about to be made, folks who aren't unhappy with that will start to come out and would work. And thus, I think the noise we're hearing here.

I think the question is, how much does that really build, does that change the sense of enthusiasm, excitement about -- the Democrats have with this ticket right now or is that where the cracks?

HUNT: Right, well, I mean, that might be the risk that she runs. The nerves about Shapiro might be in, OK, we're risking this excitement that we're feeling from Democrats --

JOHNSTON: Right --

HUNT: Going that way. Kadia Goba, one of the other things of course, that Harris is facing have been repeated criticism you're seeing from the right on immigration in particular. This is a place where Republicans feel they have an advantage over where Democrats stand generally, and then Harris specifically has made some comments in the past that are coming under scrutiny.

[05:05:00]

Mark Kelly, from a border state, from Arizona, someone who has learned how to talk about this issue from frankly, more conservative perspective than some of his other Democratic colleagues in the Senate or here in Washington. I know you've been doing some reporting on Harris' position here, some of the pressure she's facing from the left on this issue as well.

How does that -- this all play into the VP search?

KADIA GOBA, POLITICAL REPORTER, SEMAFOR: You know, in terms of the whole Shapiro thing, knives are out, right? This is a very competitive position. So, I'm not surprised to see a

lot of attacks at the last hour. But you're right, all three of these candidates, the top three, which I keep hearing crop up.

Mark Kelly, Senator Mark Kelly, Josh Shapiro and Tim Walz all have really good qualities. But at the same time, they all have disadvantages. And I think at this point, I do have reporting to say that, you know, the campaign is really considering very seriously some of the criticisms around Josh Shapiro.

It's not clear whether that's going to be a determining factor. It's really up in the air, but I do know that these -- the last -- the latest reporting is that Shapiro and Walz are the top runners.

HUNT: Yes, well, and Nick Johnston, we're reporting here at CNN actually, my colleagues hear that Tim Walz is kind of --

JOHNSTON: Yes -- HUNT: Getting another look here. This is coming as -- I mean, again,

you mentioned, there's this high, right? Now, we're kind of getting a chance to see --

JOHNSTON: Reality is sinking in.

HUNT: Right, you've got this new, you know, Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman acknowledge that he had an affair during his first marriage. The dirt is kind of flying, and then there's this question for Harris about OK, who might -- who might be looking at VP wise, my colleagues reporting Tim Walz is getting another look.

He sort of got this mid-western dad, like super clean --

JOHNSTON: Yes --

HUNT: Cut five --

JOHNSTON: Everybody likes Tim --

HUNT: Right --

JOHNSTON: Walz, right?

HUNT: Yes --

(CROSSTALK)

HUNT: What's going on there?

JOHNSTON: I tell the Tim Walz story. When I was a Hillary reporter and he had just come to Congress from the Iraq war. I did a story about him joining in, was a freshman class. We heard he orders office for pizza, I think you can't beat that. And I think there's a lot of stories about that.

I think he's like really bubbling up a lot. Look, everyone has a little bit of controversy in that. And I think that's where the real question is. If Tim Walz is certainly the frontrunner, we're going to start digging through a bunch of his records, some of the stuff he's done as governor, some of the -- the one bill he vetoed regarding Uber in the state of Minnesota, there will only be complaints about that, and I think how we navigate, this is the first big test of the Harris campaign.

HUNT: Yes, Kadia, the other, of course, thing that we're following this morning is this new "AP" poll from "CBS News", that really does show a reset of the race, they're now within, you know, one point of each other according to this poll compared to Biden, was 5 points behind Trump.

He had no point, Biden had no point-led in these national polls. Now, again, this is a national poll, is not a swing state poll. They're, of course, applying a likely voter screen, we're at that phase in the race that the Trump campaign is kind of complaining about. But this really does underscore kind of the different environment that we're in now, compared to where we were two weeks ago.

GOBA: Yes, it's an incredible reset, but you're right. It's a national poll. But I would say when I talk to lawmakers, they say that all those swing districts throughout the country, that will determine whether or not Republicans keep the House or flip the Senate are all -- they're also having a reset.

This is at a -- is a really interesting time and Republicans who felt really bullish about three weeks ago on taking the Senate and keeping the House, don't feel that way at all. When I spoke to them as early as last night.

HUNT: Yes, sure. Nick.

JOHNSTON: This was the big mole we talked about three weeks ago. Like, does this translate into number, now we're seeing it translate in numbers, the lead story of "Axios", admitting inbox probably in the next 35 minutes will be about --

HUNT: Keep your eye out --

JOHNSTON: The standing map, Democrats being much more excited about George, about North Carolina, which has voted twice, I think for Democrats. And so, I think those polling --

HUNT: Yes --

JOHNSTON: Numbers that reset has happened. This is a different race now, and I think the becks(ph) -- the next big inflection point in the next 24 hours is who that VP pick is.

HUNT: Yes, I mean, look, this conversation is totally different than the one we were having when Biden after that debate, Republicans suddenly wanted to talk about Minnesota and New Mexico and all these places on the map --

JOHNSTON: Yes --

HUNT: For Trump. Now, we've got the reverse going on, Nick, thank you very much. Kadia Goba, thank you to you as well. All right, coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING, Debby strengthens into a hurricane, set to make landfall looming off the coast of Florida. We're going to bring you the forecast in the latest this hour. Plus --

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TRUMP: He's a disloyal guy, and he's a very average governor.

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HUNT: Donald Trump on the campaign stage, repeatedly attacks a Republican swing state governor. And Asia marks its crash. Japan saw its worst day since 1987's black Monday. It's escalating fears of a recession here in the U.S., we'll bring you the latest.

[05:10:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNT: All right, welcome back. Far-right rioters in England behind the country's worst unrest in years.

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(RIOT)

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HUNT: This house, house of asylum seekers now up in flames after rioters targeted the shelters and what they say is a response to last week's Southport stabbing where three children were killed.

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(RIOT)

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[05:15:00]

HUNT: The rioters falsely claimed the 17-year-old suspect is a migrant in a rally in an effort to rally anti-immigrant protests. Officials say the suspect was born in Britain. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying rioters will be met with the full force of the law.

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KEIR STARMER, PRIME MINISTER, UNITED KINGDOM: People in this country have a right to be safe, and yet we've seen Muslim communities targeted, attacks on Mosques. Other minority communities singled out Nazi salutes in the street. Attacks on the police wanting violence alongside racist rhetoric. So, no, I won't shy away from calling it what it is, far-right thuggery.

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HUNT: All right, joining me now from London is CNN international anchor Max Foster. Max, good morning to you. This is the worst unrest the country has seen in years. How are you looking at this as we're seeing law enforcement respond?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Well, it just looks really out-of-control. I mean, we have to say these are very isolated incidents. They don't -- you know, they're not representative of the wider community as Keir Starmer was saying there, far right thugs, as he calls them, really exploiting a situation to try to spread fear about asylum seekers, about Muslims, about diversity effectively, where the scenes are very dramatic.

And police in South Yorkshire, where one of these hotels is that they've never seen violence like it. And in terms of numbers, they were really shocked about the amount of activists that were out, and you know, we see a fire outside the hotel. I mean, they're literally trying to set fire to a hotel where asylum seekers are housed, and they have nowhere to go, but the one in Rotherham, there were 240 asylum-seekers inside.

They had to be sneaked out of the back and evacuated from the hotel. And these are obviously some of the most vulnerable people in society, that's how they class, that's how they get asylum. But it's getting out of control because it's spreading to more and more cities every day.

And they've tapped into something here in terms of, you know, this one element, who have a very big voice.

HUNT: Max, what's the role that disinformation is playing here in terms of, you know, questions around this suspect and what people think is going on versus what's actually happening?

FOSTER: Well, the misinformation was who he was and where he came from, and you know, the reaction has been against Muslims and asylum seekers. He wasn't an immigrant. The suspect in this case involving young girls who were stabbed. He was born in Cardiff in Wales, and as far as we know, we don't -- you know, it hasn't been confirmed that he was a Muslim either, because his parents are from Rwanda, which is a mainly Christian country.

So, the misinformation was, you know, effectively that he was a Muslim asylum seeker, and therefore, people should go out and attack Muslim asylum seekers. It just -- it's just got a voice of its own, and you know, the two other elements of this is that the rioters were attacking police who were, you know, they were seen as heroes on the day of that stabbing attack.

But also the mainstream media, which is this upside-down world that we live in, where the mainstream media are calling out the misinformation, and then, the writers are attacking the mainstream media to try to get back to the false lies that have been spreading on social.

HUNT: All right, Max Foster for us this morning, Max, very grateful to have you as always. Thank you so much. All right, coming up next here, North Korea moving hundreds of nuclear-capable missile launchers to the border with South Korea. Plus, the potential for a historic flooding, we're watching Hurricane Debby, they're nearing landfall in Florida, we'll get your latest forecast next.

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[05:20:00]

HUNT: All right, 22 minutes past the hour, here's your morning roundup. Asian markets plunging overnight, Japan's stock markets suffering its biggest ever one day loss, falling more than 12 percent of global sell-off intensifying after weak U.S. job data -- jobs data. The downward trend continuing here in the U.S. The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all sharply lower this morning in pre premarket trading. Ukraine's long wait for F-16 fighter jets is now over. Ukrainian

President Zelenskyy confirming the jets are finally in the country. This is the first shipment of jets since the U.S. and other key allies approved the transfer last year. North Korea claims 250 new missile launchers are heading to the South Korean border.

There have been multiple incidents. South Korea firing warning shots since May after North Korean military personnel crossed the military demarcation line. All right, this other big story that we're following this morning. Hurricane Debby strengthened to a Category One hurricane, gaining strength at this hour, bearing down on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

The storm has the potential to bring historic catastrophic flooding to the northeast, with parts of Georgia and South Carolina bracing for up to two-and-a-half feet of rain over 100,000 customers already without power in Florida. Let's get straight to our meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Derek, good morning. What are we seeing here?

DEREK VAN DAM, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, tough to see that video coming out of Fort Myers beach there, Kasie, considering what they contended with back in September of 2022 with Hurricane Ian still cleaning up after that now, getting submerged by more storm surge from a storm system that's well to its north and west.

This is Hurricane Debby, latest 5:00 a.m., update from the National Hurricane Center is in, not quite making landfall just yet, wins holding steady, but the storm has definitely consolidated overnight. There's the eye-wall, remember, it needs to be halfway over land for landfall to be called.

[05:25:00]

So, Keaton Beach, the Steinhatchee region, the big bend, we call that, basically the Catcher's Mitt of Florida, that is where that eye-wall will make landfall here within the upcoming hours. There's a tornado threat on that right quadrant. You can see some of those bands moving through the central portions of the Florida Peninsula.

But the big story as the history books are written here with this particular storm will certainly be the potential of flash flooding from this storm. There's a lot of moisture associated with Debby, and you can already see that in this radar accumulation, some areas approaching a foot of rain over the west coast of the Florida Peninsula.

That's why those flash flood warnings in effect for that area. And then flash flood watches that's inclusive of southeastern Georgia and portions of South Carolina. They know what's coming, and this forecast trend shows it all, and why. Let's take you through it. You can see the forecast track from the National Hurricane Center Monday afternoon into south Georgia.

But then it re-emerges into the Atlantic Ocean, potentially re- intensifying, but not enough to become a significant wind-maker. Again, the rain is going to be the big threat here, notice the difference. We've got a 48-hour time span between these two forecast points, and that storm system is still located over South Carolina.

That's why the flood threat will be so large because this is a slow- moving storm, the steering winds meant to push the storm away just will not be there. We call that a collapsing steering currents.

And so, some of our computer models pulling upwards of 20 inches of rain between Savannah and Charleston, where that exactly plays out, that's going to be determined, but that low coastal plain here, that's where we're concerned about the potential of historic flash flooding, and this could rival some of the largest rainfall totals from a tropical system for these states. Kasie?

HUNT: All right, our meteorologist Derek Van Dam for us this morning. Derek, I'm sure you've got some busy days ahead. Thank you very much.

VAN DAM: We do.

HUNT: All right, still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, even members of Donald Trump's own party not safe from his wrath. Plus, the latest polling showing this race coming down to the wire much closer than it was when Joe Biden was atop the ticket.

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