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CNN This Morning
Today: Harris To Announce Vice Presidential Pick; Japan Stocks Rebound Sharply After Historic Decline; Tropical Storm Debby Pummels Through Southeast U.S.; GOP Tries To Pin Immigration Crisis On "Border Czar" Harris. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired August 06, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:43]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Tuesday, August 6th.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:
Kamala Harris narrows her vice presidential candidates down to two and is poised to announce her choice in a matter of hours.
And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The border is broken. She was the border czar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The GOP trying to pin down the Harris campaign on immigration and the southern border.
The U.S. calling for calm in the Middle East as American troops are injured in Iraq, and fears of a wider war loomed.
(MUSIC)
HUNT: All right, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington. A live look at Capitol Hill on this Tuesday morning.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
Vice President Kamala Harris has now officially won the Democratic nomination for president. It comes just hours before she's expected to announce the biggest decision of her whirlwind campaign to date, her own vice presidential pick. CNN reporting the campaign plans to make the official announcement through a video online.
Later today, the duo set to appear together at a rally in Philadelphia. Sources telling CNN, it's down to two candidates, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. The former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke with CNN and tried to
offer some insight into at least what she thinks Harris should be looking for in a running mate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): It's a question of who she feels the most comfort level with in terms of governance. And people say, well, who can help us win, but it's about who can help us govern more than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Joining us now, "Axios" politics reporter Stef Kight, and "Atlanta Journal Constitution" Washington correspondent, Tia Mitchell.
Good morning to both of you.
A momentous day on the trail, of course. I'm heading up to Philadelphia later on this afternoon as Harris is set to announce her running mate.
Tia Mitchell, it seems like the wind is blowing toward Tim Walz this morning. But what do you expect as the day unfolds?
TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION: Well, you know, I think they've done a masterful job keeping this under wraps and having all of us guessing even hours before. But I do think the big thing will be the shelter well of unity, and I think they're going to try their best to have a positive message.
We've seen a lot of negative -- negativity, particularly from former President Donald Trump in the past few days. So I think they're going to try to contrast this, you know, with the very hopeful positive message. Of course, that unified front with the families together and all of those things to portray that they're having a good positive launch to this partnership that will be at least three months.
HUNT: Yes. At least three months, when you put it that way, 90 days or so. Stef Kight, what does it say to you that -- if you listen to the Pelosi comments that we heard there, they're talking about governing partner. That sort of indicates to me that they're looking -- Pelosi certainly seems to be on Tim Walz's aside in all this back- and-forth. There had been a sense that Shapiro perhaps was on a glide path that seems stripping interrupted in recent days.
What's your latest reporting on the thinking inside the Harris camp?
STEF KIGHT, POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: You know, there has been reporting that Pelosi favors Walz here. And of course, he was in the House, so she is a little bit of a bias there. She wants to see her former House colleagues in the White House.
But yeah, over the weekend, it seemed, you know, even just 24 hours ago, I would've said its still seeing that Shapiro was the top contender. I think the longer this goes, the more it seems to indicate that maybe Harris will ultimately choose Walz.
So, there's kind of a difference in strategy between the two of them. Walz is, of course, much more popular with the progressive wing of that Democratic Party, that many of the progressives have some concerns about Shapiro, especially where he stands when it comes to do Israel, Middle East. So there are some concerns there.
Meanwhile, Shapiro would signal more of an effort to bring in moderates, bringing in people across the aisle. And of course, doubled down on Pennsylvania, which has been, it's going to be the biggest state for this race.
HUNT: Yes. Certainly want I mean, the fact that they're putting this event in Philadelphia the first place says it -- says it all.
Tia, our Stephen Collinson this morning is taking a big picture view of this, right?
[05:05:05]
I mean, this is kind of the biggest decision Harris has to make right now. But there is so much that is out of her control, right? Her vice presidents in her control.
What we have seen going on with fears around a potential escalation in the Middle East, the conflict in the Middle East with anticipatory -- anticipating retaliatory strikes from Iran against Israel at any moment. Plus, yesterday, we saw a global sell-off of stocks. The Dow dropped over 1,000 points. That was a really rough day on Wall Street.
There are some signs that today its going to recover a little bit. But it doesn't obscure entirely these fears that we could head into a recession. These are major challenges for Kamala Harris and so far, she has enjoyed this kind of honeymoon period.
How do you see these potentially critical tests for her playing out?
MITCHELL: So I do think that the honeymoon people given her a lot of grace to have to ramp up a campaign literally overnight. And it's only been about two weeks. As you've noted, but I think after she rolls out this vice president goals, on the tour this week, there will be questions about when will she sit down for a major interviews? When will she start answering policy questions more directly from journalists those independent of folks that want to drill down on her -- her thoughts about where she wants to take the country.
There also will be the question of a debate. We know that former President Trump has put out some different scenarios out there. But at the end of the day, I think that there -- I think Harris should debate. She should want to work out some type of agreement with again, the former president.
It will be time, I think, to drill down on her vision. People have given her time to get it started, lots of goodwill, lots of money raised, lots of enthusiasm, lots of volunteers. But, you know, she hasn't had to answer the tough questions yet. And I
think the media is going to start getting impatient and I think her -- her critics, quite frankly, are going to start saying she's getting too much of a honeymoon. It's time to hold her feet for the fire.
And, Stef, of course, Donald Trump trying to take advantage of what we saw in the economy yesterday, calling it the great depression of 2024, you can't play games with markets, calling it the Kamala crash. That, of course, is pretty par for the course for him.
And, again, it's looking like based on some of the data out of the Asian markets overnight, that we're going to get a rebound here but how do you view this test for Harris?
KIGHT: Yeah. I mean, obviously, the Trump campaign is trying to run this as if Harris is the incumbent and they're going to blame every crisis on her and look, you don't want to be going into an election this late in the game and having the country afraid of war and a recession, whether or not those play out, those that's not a sense you want to be running on, you know?
And I would agree with Tia, I do think were at a point in this campaign where were going to start to see the conversation shift. You know, the excitement over the Harris, which is starting to wane, and she does have some real policy comments that she's made in the past, during the primary several years ago, that her campaign is trying to moderate on, but we need to hear from her herself and I think its a really, really critical moment for her campaign.
HUNT: Stef Kight, Tia Mitchell, thank you both very much for getting us started this morning. I really appreciate it.
All right. Coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, violent anti-immigrant riots sweep across Britain as the U.K. government tries to get it under control.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're pouring into the United States and they're hurting and damaging our country and they're killing our people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Donald Trump, the Republican Party, trying to make immigration a central issue in the 2024 race.
Plus, Israel readies itself for retaliatory attacks by Iran in a week that may decide the future of the Gaza War.
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[05:13:20]
HUNT: All right. Welcome back.
A robust rebound for Japanese stocks overnight after they had seen the worst single day market plunge on Monday since 1987. That sent Wall Street down with the Japanese markets on fears of a potential U.S. recession.
Today, though, the Nikkei clawing back, posting a 10 percent gain overnight and Dow futures also pointing higher this morning after that rough start to the week.
Joining me now, CNN international correspondent Hanako Montgomery.
Hanako, good morning to you. Bring us up to speed on the crash, the rebound, and what people are looking to next.
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kasie. It's good to see you.
Asia stock markets and the Japanese stock market specifically have recovered somewhat after the massive losses that we saw on Monday. But experts are warning that we could see a lot more volatility in the markets until at least September when the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to make rate cuts.
Now, the reason why Asia stock markets and the Japanese stock market in particular, which was the hardest hit, have recovered so quickly is really twofold. The first is we received better than expected service sector data for the month of July from the United States. Now, that's ease some concerns about the possibility of a recession in the world's largest economy.
Now, the second reason is the value of the yen has dipped a little bit and it looks as though it's beginning to stabilize. Monday, we saw the yen surge against the greenback, which really caused some concerns among traders, and among hedge funders because they were selling very, very quickly.
[05:15:01]
But again, as it looks to stabilize, it's now trading at about 145 or 146 to the dollar. So that's eased some concerns. Now, we also know that European stock markets have also opened higher and the U.S. stock markets will likely open higher as well. Well, in the next couple of hours following Asia trends.
But again, Kasie, we're not quite out of the woods, just yet as a lot of stock markets around the world, watch with bated breath what the U.S. Federal Reserve will do in September -- Kasie.
HUNT: Yeah. All right. Hanako Montgomery for us this morning -- Hanako, thank you very much.
All right. Coming up next here, the Middle East on edge as Israel awaits retaliation from Iran and U.S. troops are left injured by a rocket attack.
Plus, Tropical Storm Debby is tearing through the Southeast. We'll bring you up to speed on what's next.
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[05:20:13]
HUNT: All right. Nineteen minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.
In the United Kingdom, nearly 400 people arrested following violence cause just in part by anti-immigrant misinformation. Police caught in the middle with counter-protesters, also filling the streets. The rioters have targeted migrant housing centers based on the false belief that the suspect in last weeks stabbing of three young girls is a migrant.
The National Transportation Safety Boards starting a two day fact- finding hearing today after a door plug blew out of a Boeing 737 jet in January. The Alaskan Airlines jet door plug ripped off way while the plane was 16,000 feet in the air.
Bangladesh's former prime minister is now in India after fleeing the country. She resigned following deadly anti-government protests. Protesters then stormed her residence and the search is now on for an interim government there.
A federal judge ruling that Google violated U.S. antitrust law with its search business. The ruling is in connection with the billions of dollars Google spends on contracts that allow it to block out rivals. The decision is a major rebuke for Google's most important business.
All right. Time now for weather. Tropical storm Debby slowly making its way through the Southeast United States, creating three consecutive days of rare high rainfall in the region. It's got the potential to generate more than two feet of rain in Charleston, South Carolina, in just five days.
Plus, overnight, two tornadoes were confirmed here Charleston. Lets get straight to our weatherman, Derek Van Dam.
Derek good morning to you.
Very tough for these folks to ride this out. What are -- what should they expect for the next few days?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is -- it's going to be a difficult day for Charleston and much of the Southeast. That tornado threat continues this morning. There's a tornado watch, including Charleston, but I want you to take note of this heavy band of rain that's about to enter the greater Charleston metropolitan area. This is a feeder band around the leftovers of Debby that's just drawing in moisture from the Atlantic Ocean.
A lot of rain has fallen already and there certainly more to come. You can see this is kind of maxing out our scales here in terms of the color code. This is feeding and moisture all the way along the eastern seaboard and its going to interact with a cold front today across portions of the northeast including Philadelphia and New York. And it's going to enhance rainfall there as well.
So a flood watch in place for major metropolitans of the Northeast, but focusing our attention across the Southeast, this is where we have the consecutive rare level four of four high-risk from the Weather Prediction Center for excessive rain that will lead to flash flooding. There it is, potential for 15 to 20 inches of rain called rainfall across the Lowcountry of South Carolina, southeastern Georgia.
And then as we take this through the entire weekend, this is the amount of moisture that is streaming into the Northeast. Again, this is through Saturday, so that will certainly bring flood potentials to the Northeast. In terms of today, Weather Prediction Center has upped this to a moderate risk of flash flooding. New York, Philadelphia, your included in that. So we want to get that on your radar as well. You can just see how much more waste your has been thrown at the East Coast, this entire week before the system finally exits north America by Sunday of this week.
So we've got a long way to go, Kasie.
HUNT: All right. So if you're trying to travel in the Northeast corridor at today, maybe to the vice president announcement.
VAN DAM: It's going to be difficult.
HUNT: We should all --
(CROSSTALK)
VAN DAM: That's right, in Philadelphia. Exactly.
HUNT: All right. Derek Van Dam for us, Derek, always grateful to have you. Thank you so much.
Coming up next, how politics are complicating attempts to solve the crisis at the southern border. An evergreen story.
Plus, Israel on high alert, bracing for retaliation from Iran.
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[05:28:47]
HUNT: Five-twenty-eight a.m. here in Washington.
Here's a live look at the nation's capital on this Tuesday morning.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
We know that immigration is a top issue for voters in 2024, and we know that they tell us in polls that they trust Republicans more than Democrats to solve it. Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly referred to Kamala Harris as President Biden's border czar.
Our next guest has done a lot of investigative journalism on the border generally, and she's writing now about the use of the term border czar.
This from Caitlin Dickerson of "The Atlantic", according to Republicans in Congress, Vice President Kamala Harris is to blame for this. They've labeled her the Biden administration's border czar. But Harris is not a border czar. The position doesn't exist.
The people calling her that are doubling down on a misconception that's persisted ever since Donald Trump brought it into the mainstream that a single person could stop the largest global migration crisis in history.
And Caitlin Dickerson joins us live now from New York.
Caitlin, good morning. Very grateful to have you on the program.
I -- you obviously wrote about this. I know you also have been engaged in a massive new investigation that follows up on some significant reporting that you have done on immigration. The bottom line here is that Kamala Harris was named as the person that should address the root causes of migration at the beginning of the Biden administration.
