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Walz Called Controversial Imam A "Master Teacher" In 2018; Schools Taking Action To Protect Kids From Social Media; New Twist In Jordan Chiles Bronze Medal Controversy. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired August 14, 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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[05:31:05]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Five-thirty a.m. here on the East Coast. A live look at New York City on this Wednesday morning. That's a pretty sunrise across the horizon there. Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz making a pitch to union workers in his first solo campaign stop since Kamala Harris tapped him as her running mate. Walz's message -- he tried to make it clear he thinks working-class voters, which Democrats, frankly, have lost a lot of ground with to Republicans, have much more in common with the Democratic ticket than they do with Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.
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GOV. TIM WALZ, (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The only thing those two guys knows about working people is how to work to take advantage of them. That's what they know about it. Every single chance they've gotten, they've waged war on workers.
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HUNT: Walz touted the fact that he is the first union member to be on a presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan and shared this about his running mate.
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WALZ: You knew Vice President Harris grew up in a middle class family. Picked up shifts at that McDonald's as a student. Can you simply picture Donald Trump working at a McDonald's trying to make a McFlurry or something? It's -- oh yeah, he knows this. He knows this. He couldn't run that damn Flurry -- McFlurry machine if it cost (PH) him anything, so --
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HUNT: On the other side, Trump also zeroing in on the economy, and that's what he's expected to focus on when he delivers a speech to voters in North Carolina later on today. His campaign saying in a statement, "Hardworking Americans are suffering because of the Harris- Biden administration's dangerously liberal policies."
Joining me now, congressional reporter for The Hill, Mychael Schnell. And Washington correspondent for NY1, Kevin Frey. Welcome to both of you. Thank you for being here.
I have to say, look, Democrats have really struggled to figure out how to criticize Donald Trump on this working class. I mean, it is very clear Trump's populist policies have pulled a lot of working class voters, especially white working class voters, but increasingly, also voters of color into the Republican camp.
That way of putting it was a little bit sharper than I've seen some Democrats do in the past because yeah, imagining Donald Trump making a McFlurry is an image that, you know, it's pointed.
Mychael, how do you view him -- I mean, he does seem like a decent messenger on this topic.
MYCHAEL SCHNELL, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE HILL: Yeah. I think that that's also one of the reasons why Harris ultimately went with Tim Walz as her running mate. He was one of the dark horse candidates until -- up until the end when he sort of emerged as one of these top contenders for the job is because something that folks like about him is he's able to talk not in politic talk, not in jargon. He talks straight to the voters. Democrats have referred to him as America's coach, America's uncle, and things like that.
He has this ability to talk straight to the voters in a way that they can understand, especially working class voters. He mentioned his experience being a member of a union. I think that could be very effective for Democrats and help them potentially pick up ground in this area. But we have this look back on the veepstakes era and why Harris ultimately went with Walz. We're seeing some more indications of his strengths of things that he brings to the ticket.
HUNT: Well, and Kevin, we can also put up how the electorate seems to be moving --
KEVIN FREY, WASHINGTON REPORTER, NY1: Yeah.
HUNT: -- since Harris took over the ticket. Among non-college white voters -- this is specifically in the Rust Belt -- Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.
Back in May, Trump was up 25 points with these voters. Now he still has a significant advantage. Fourteen points in a closely divided country is no small thing --
FREY: No.
HUNT: -- but it is notably considerably less than it was with Biden.
FREY: Yeah. And, I mean, look, this is, in some essence, both the Harris team trying to rebuild the Biden coalition from a few years ago and there was some concerns, it seems, with Biden about the idea of dropping out that he -- that Harris would not be able to necessarily recoup that message that he fostered in Scranton as being "Scranton Joe," the man of the people -- the man of the union workers. It seems she's able to make some inroads with those white voters that maybe was not fully expected.
[05:35:03]
HUNT: Yeah.
So stick with me for a second. We've obviously -- this is -- we've looked at some of the positives Walz brings to the ticket here. We're also, of course, learning more about each -- Tim Walz and J.D. Vance as well -- their records as they both have kind of stepped into the national spotlight for the first time.
And Walz, this morning, is facing criticism for praising a Muslim cleric who shared antisemitic propaganda. Walz has called him a "master teacher."
Here was Walz in 2018 when he was first running for governor in Minnesota.
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WALZ: I would like to, first of all, say thank you to Imam. I am a teacher, so when I see a master teacher, I know it. And over the time we've spent together one of the things -- one of the things I've had the privilege of is seeing the things in life through the eye of a master teacher to try and get the understanding listening today to the stories and what it means.
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HUNT: Walz's appearance alongside the cleric, Imam Asad Zaman, came after Zaman shared a link to neo-Nazi propaganda film in 2015. And since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, after his appearance with Walz, Zaman has amplified anti-Israel posts on social media.
The Harris campaign in a statement to CNN says this. "The governor and Zaman do not have a personal relationship. Governor Walz strongly condemns Hamas terrorism."
CNN also reached out to Zaman about the post that he shared, and he responded. "People, myself included, will sometimes pass along social media items without fully looking at them. I support organizations, leaders, and efforts to bring greater justice, equality, and well- being to all people, whether Muslim or Jewish, Christian or Hindu, believer or atheist. Desiring harm to people is against my faith and my personal convictions."
Mychael, this is a very tricky situation here. Obviously, some of the things that were noted and how this Imam has conducted himself publicly really reach into difficult places. And then politically, this is also a tough place for the Democratic ticket to be.
SCHNELL: Right, and we saw the Harris campaign respond in that manner. I'm curious to see if both Walz and Harris will receive more pressure on this matter because, of course, the Israel-Hamas war and the situation in the Middle East has been a really hot-button issue for Democrats. It's one that has strongly divided them. Staunchly pro- Israel Democrats up against pro-Palestinian liberals who are concerned about the mounting humanitarian deaths in the Gaza Strip.
This has really become a large matter for the Democratic Party, one that they've had issues working through during this election. Of course, antisemitism should not be tolerated under any circumstances.
I'm curious to see, though, if Walz is going to receive more pressure on this. If he's going to be pushed into a place where he has to disavow this. But, of course, important to mention that this happened back in 2018 before he was in this position where he is right now on the ticket and before the October 7 attack, which really changed a lot in terms of Middle East relations and Israel and Palestine.
HUNT: Well, and Kevin, we've also seen obviously, Harris grappling with how to handle voters who are really unhappy with President Biden's positions --
FREY: Right.
HUNT: -- on the Israel-Hamas war.
This uncommitted vote in Michigan -- it's a particular issue. She did go backstage after one of her rallies to meet with these uncommitted folks --
FREY: Right.
HUNT: -- and took a picture with them. There does seem to be some more willingness from them to support this ticket.
But on the other hand, swing voters are also pretty clear about where they stand in terms of support for Israel.
FREY: Right. I mean, to use the oldest cliche in the book, it's a balancing act for the Harris campaign. Because in one regard, you have the Republicans, like Mike Lawler in New York, for example, and others that really latched on to this antisemitism message to go after the Democratic ticket and try to essentially hold on to these swing counties and swing districts that are going to be make-or-break for control of the U.S. House.
At the same time, you have seen Harris at least verbally make entrees to those progressives. The question is will there be sufficient action that will actually make it palatable for them.
HUNT: All right, Mychael Schnell and Kevin Frey. Thank you, guys, both very much for being here this morning. I really appreciate it.
FREY: Thank you (PH).
HUNT: All right. Straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, schools trying to take action to protect our children's mental health, but will students put up with no-phone zones? Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL LEVIS, QUARTERBACK, TENNESSEE TITANS: Smell like greatness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: An NFL quarterback launching a new fragrance for men that smells like mayonnaise? Um, thanks, but no thanks. Our Bleacher Report is up next.
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[05:44:05]
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DR. VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: When it comes to social media, we are not doing well. We are failing. But we have a chance to get it right and that's why I believe that to put kids first means passing the kind of legislation that would protect them from the harms of social media now because our kids cannot wait.
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HUNT: U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warning about social media's impact on the mental health of our kids. And as kids head back to the classroom, California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent letters to local schools this week urging them to restrict students' use of smartphones on campus.
In Broward County, Florida, students are welcomed back with metal detector searches and no-phone zones, but the kids feel there should be exceptions.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At lunch, you're not really doing anything educational. Like, you're just with your friends and stuff. So I think you should be able to use your phones.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, but in class?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In class, I think when you finish your work. When you have nothing to do, I think it should be OK to use your phone.
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[05:45:03]
HUNT: All right, let's bring in Sara Fischer. She is senior media reporter for Axios. Sara, good morning to you.
SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST, SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER, AXIOS: Good morning. HUNT: Thank you for being here.
I have so many thoughts about this. This is something that all of my friends are talking about with their kids. I have to say I was a little bit floored to learn that most schools allow kids to have their phones in classrooms. Like, I'm sorry, what? But there we are.
What has changed here to have the -- there is clearly a groundswell of this policy. Some of it seems to go to Jonathan Haidt's book, "The Anxious Generation."
FISCHER: Right.
HUNT: How do you understand the shift that's going on here?
FISCHER: Yeah. So first of all, classrooms in schools are different now than they were. When we went to school, we had payphones everywhere. That doesn't exist anymore, right?
HUNT: We did.
FISCHER: So parents are sometimes worried if you were to completely ban cell phones, how am I going to get in touch with my kid just to pick them up or in an emergency if there were to be a school shooting or something like that.
You also have a ton of kids now in this digital era who are relying on their phones for things like translation. If English is your second language, sometimes kids say having the phone in the classroom can be helpful.
But, of course, the big concern is social media and mental health distractions in the classroom.
And a big thing I should note here is that we saw during COVID a huge push into digitization earlier with kids. So it used to be that kids were getting cell phones -- you know, 12, maybe 13 or 14. Now that age is much, much earlier. You're talking 10 or 11 years old.
And so more teachers, more schools, right -- that lifts you from going from middle school into, sometimes, elementary even -- are having to deal with this problem. And that's why I think lawmakers are paying attention. It's more widespread.
HUNT: Sara, one of the things -- I mean, I was listening to that student there say look -- like, I should be able to have my phone at lunch. Like, we're not actually learning. Fair enough.
But one of the things that students are learning throughout high school and certainly in lower grades in middle school is how to be a person in relation to other people, right? How to read body language, facial expressions. Kind of interact with people in a way that is kind of fundamental to our humanity.
It seems like if we're talking about their mental health, that's actually a critical part of it, right? Like, forcing a kid to say like, no -- like, sit and talk to your friends to their face at lunch is actually educational compared to being on your phone.
FISCHER: I completely agree with that.
There is the other side of this argument, which is if a kid is being bullied and that they are isolated. Sometimes having a phone to be able to look at, at lunch, when they're not sitting with other kids makes them feel better and makes them feel comforted. Is that a way to deal with is? I mean, I would argue no, but that is the counter-side to this argument here.
And then the other thing is like --
HUNT: Because a lot of the bullying goes on on the phones.
FISCHER: It's true, but you can select if your kid -- you can opt into what you're going to be tuning into on your phone.
There's also a little bit of a legal component to this. So if you're doing things -- activity on your phone that you shouldn't be doing and it's occurring on school grounds, then the school can get caught up in any of the activity that you're doing on your phone. So that's another reason why they would want to ban it.
But the big thing is this is really hard to enforce. Like, you might say that cell phones are banned in some schools. There's metal detectors forcing you to give up your phone. But at the end of the day, teachers -- there's fewer of them, right, and classrooms are being overwhelmed. Sometimes you're looking out at a classroom of 20 or 30 kids, and they've got phones on their laps. It's really hard to say put that phone away. Sometimes you can't even see it.
HUNT: I feel like I should buy stock in Yondr, that company that makes those pouches that forces people to put their phones away.
Let's hear a little bit from some of these California parents who were being asked about this. We heard from a student. Here's how some parents answered questions about this -- watch.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're hoping that the students maybe not embrace the policy but at least understand it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now she's worried that she can't contact me if she's having a bad day or people are bullying her, which she did last year, and I could come pick her up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just think it's a good idea for the school to help reinforce interpersonal relationships instead of just using phones all the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: So a little bit of what you had to say about the bullying there. How much of this also is -- really comes down to the parents? Because
I have to say that's sort of something I encounter in -- my kids are too little for this, thank the Lord. I'm hoping that some of this gets resolved a little bit more by the time we get there. It will probably be something totally new and different by then.
But there does seem to be a resistance from parents on this.
FISCHER: Yes. So one of the reasons is because there's such better technology for parents to have control over what is going on on the kid's cell phone. So there are a lot of apps now that if you're a kid you can't even get them downloaded onto your phone without getting your parent's permission. There are also a lot of guardrails you can put on the phone.
So if you're a parent, the way that you're seeing this is look, I've souped my kid's phone up to be perfect for school, right? I have it so that it's limited in the apps they can use. That they can download the hours they could use them. So why should I be punished in not being able to contact my kid if I've taken the necessary measures?
HUNT: Yeah. I would just say I think your view of what is possible versus what is possible for kids may not be informed by actually having a teenager that can blow through everything that you just outlined as a possibility.
FISCHER: Yeah. And by the way, good distinction, right? There's a huge difference between cell phones in classrooms for younger kids, right, in between the ages of eight and 11 versus kids who are in high school who are much more digitally literate and that's what they do all day and night.
[05:50:00]
HUNT: Right. Well, and that limit is 14. And that's another piece of this we haven't really dug into, which is parent's kind of movement to -- if every parent in the school delays until 14, then it's a lot easier for everybody.
FISCHER: Which would never happen.
HUNT: But it's a -- it is actually -- it is something that you are going to see more of, I think.
FISCHER: Um-hum.
HUNT: It is certainly something that I hear about from people in these communities. This is -- I think this issue is moving pretty fast.
Sara Fischer, thank you.
FISCHER: Yeah, thank you.
HUNT: I really appreciate it.
All right, time now for sports.
And yet another twist in the Olympic-sized drama over American gymnast Jordan Chiles.
Andy Scholes has this morning's Bleacher Report. Andy, good morning.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, good morning, Kasie.
So this latest twist kind of makes you turn your head and think everything may not be on the up and up here. We're not learning that the head of the Court of Arbitration for Sports panel that ruled against Chiles ultimately awarding third place to Romania's Ana Barbosu has actually represented Romania in legal cases for almost a decade.
So, Dr. Hamid Gharavi was one of the people on the three-member panel that voided an on-floor appeal from Chiles' coach, saying it came four seconds beyond the one-minute deadline for scoring inquiries. USA Gymnastics disputed that ruling and even presented timestamped evidence that the appeal came in 47 seconds. But Gharavi and the panel said rules do not allow them to reconsider their initial ruling.
When asked for comment on a possible conflict of interest in the decision, Gharavi told CNN he was not in a position to comment and referred CNN to the court. CNN has reached out to the court but has not heard back.
USA Gymnastics said they will be appealing to the Swiss Tribunal for Chiles to keep her bronze medal.
Meanwhile, rapper and Olympics hype man Flavor Flav -- well, he's stepping in to help. He posted a video of a bronze clock on X with the caption "I gots yo back, Jordan Chiles." And Chiles' mom responding, saying it means the world, adding, well, her daughter is not on social media right now, as you can imagine.
All right, to baseball where Juan Soto had himself a night in Chicago. The 25-year-old homered not once, not twice, but three times against the White Sox. It was the first time in Soto's career he's hit three homers in a game. He's now got 33 on the season. The Yankees won that one 4-1.
The Dallas Cowboys, meanwhile, haven't won a Super Bowl in nearly 30 years but that hasn't stopped their value from just continuing to skyrocket. According to the sports website -- business website Sportico, the team is now valued at a staggering $10.32 billion. The Cowboys are the world's most valuable sports franchise and the first to be valued at over $10 billion.
All right. And finally, you know, people love their condiments. Do you perhaps love one so much that you want to smell like it? Well, thanks to Titans quarterback Will Levis and Hellmann's you now can.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEVIS: They try to define you, but you are the ingredient to your own success. Luscious, eggy. Smell like greatness.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will Levis, No. 8 Parfum de Mayonnaise.
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SCHOLES: Kasie, can you imagine just being out on a Saturday night and then someone is like oh, it smells like mayonnaise. And you're like, yeah, that's Parfum de Mayonnaise. Do you like it?
HUNT: Andy, is this real? Like, is this a real thing?
SCHOLES: It is real. They're selling it on the website. It sold out yesterday, Kasie. At 10:00 Eastern, though, they're going to do a little reload if you wanted to get it. Eight dollars a bottle. I'm -- you know --
HUNT: Eight bucks?
SCHOLES: I might try it, yeah.
HUNT: I feel like they could charge more if that's -- if that's the deal. Like --
SCHOLES: I think it's a tiny bottle. But, you know, hey, maybe this takes off. Maybe this takes -- it might could be $100 a bottle by next year. You never know.
HUNT: I mean, I appreciate the gozzy shots in that -- in that advertisement, but I will say it's --
SCHOLES: Well done, right?
HUNT: -- like a little bit like when you watch him just eat the bread with just the mayonnaise. OK, I'm sorry. That's enough of that.
Andy, thank you.
SCHOLES: All right.
HUNT: I really appreciate it.
SCHOLES: Yeah.
HUNT: OK, straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, no more mayonnaise perfume. We're going to talk about a key issue on the ballot this November, reproductive rights, as a new study shows two-thirds of women worry that abortion bans could put them or a loved one in danger.
Plus, Kamala Harris' running mate tries to find his footing honing his attacks on opponents.
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WALZ: Who do you know who is asking to cut taxes on billionaires while stiffing working people? I don't know anybody. (END VIDEO CLIP)
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[05:59:08]
HUNT: It's Wednesday, August 14. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING --
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WALZ: I know I'm preaching to the choir a little bit today, but the choir needs to sing.
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HUNT: Tim Walz makes his first solo campaign stop a week after joining the Democratic ticket.
Plus --
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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have -- it could be 20 million people in here and we have to get them out of here, and we're going to get them out fast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Donald Trump touting his immigration plans to Univision as calls for his campaign to stick to policy get louder.
And two more states place abortion on the ballot in November as abortion rights solidify as a cornerstone issue this election cycle.
Plus, what was supposed to be an eight-day mission now leaves two astronauts stuck in space for more than 70 days -- that's months -- and there is no end in sight.
All right, 6:00 a.m. here in Washington. A live look at the White House on this Wednesday morning.
