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Donald Trump Readies Himself for An All-Out Sprint Toward November; J.D. Vance Cites Trump would Veto a Bill that Establishes a Federal Abortion Ban; Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Endorses Donald Trump. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired August 26, 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 26th, right now on CNN THIS MORNING. Donald Trump readies himself for an all-out sprint toward November in a new approach to take on Vice President Harris. And --

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He would veto a federal abortion ban?

SEN. JAMES DAVID VANCE (R-OH) & U.S. REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he would, he said that explicitly that he would.

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HUNT: The Trump campaign trying to go on offense to control the narrative around abortion rights in the race for the White House. And --

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ROBERT FRANCIS KENNEDY JR., POLITICIAN: He invited me to form a unity government.

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HUNT: A shake-up here late in the race, RFK Jr. suspending his campaign, his endorsement of the former President. How it may change the race in the final weeks.

All right, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington, a live look at the nation's capital on this Monday morning. Good morning, everyone, I'm Kasie Hunt, it's wonderful to have you with us, we are just 71 days away from the 2024 election. Kamala Harris returning to the campaign trail along with her running mate Tim Walz to kick off a bus tour in Georgia on Wednesday.

Her campaign announcing over the weekend they've raised $540 million over half a billion since launching after President Biden's decision to drop out of the race. Donald Trump still getting used to the seismic shift in the race. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala mentioned my name, I think 21 times, she didn't mention the border. She didn't mention inflation. She didn't mention anything but my name over and over and over again. She blamed me for the border, I haven't been there in four years.

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HUNT: That was Trump on Friday reacting to Harris' speech at the DNC. He's also spending time in swing states this week with plans to visit both Michigan and Wisconsin. CNN reporting that Trump's campaign is looking to ramp up his own campaign schedule leading up to November, quote, "think Trump on steroids", end quote, one person said, adding, "it will be all hands on deck".

Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton noting over the weekend the race is just starting to heat up.

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SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): We know the race will probably come down to a few hundred thousand votes in a few states can -- President Trump has been campaigning hard and vigorously now for months, obviously that's going to increase in its pace as we get closer to the election. And President Trump is going to draw a sharp contrast with Kamala Harris.

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HUNT: All right, joining me now, national politics breaking news reporter for the "Washington Post", Mariana Alfaro, and national race and politics reporter for "The Associated Press", Matt Brown, welcome to both of you. Happy Monday. This of course, just a handful of days out from the beginning of early voting, which starts in less than two weeks in some states.

And of course, also pretty close to the September 10th, what we expect to be the first debate between Harris and Trump here. Mariana, we of course saw Trump in Arizona at this border state rally. Now, they clearly are feeling pressure to ramp up his campaigning there, saying he's going to be out in potentially two states a day.

Sometimes, how do you think this all kind of sets up the race as we head into -- I mean, labor day is a week away, right? A week from today. The typical kind of kick-start of the final Fall campaign sprint.

MARIANA ALFARO, NATIONAL POLITICS BREAKING NEWS REPORTER, WASHINGTON POST: Yes, I mean, I think what we've heard Democrats say is they are not claiming victory yet. They're saying that you know, they couldn't cook up a country, the flag, but they've got to keep going and keep the momentum going.

And I think that they're going to have to try to figure out a way to keep that and go -- like you know, extend out for the next few weeks. That being said that the Trump campaign is very much under the fence, and I think that we're hearing a little bit of that panic just coming out of the DNC.

I think we heard former President yesterday on social media say, oh, well, I don't know if he's going to be on the debate anymore. So, I think that that's going to be the conversation for the next few days is just, is he going to stick to that already commitment he made.

But I think that it's just going to be that continued reaction by Democrats to hold onto their momentum and Republicans to try to find a way to crack that Harris wall that they have seen rise up in the last few weeks.

HUNT: Yes, so, Matt, I mean, this is what Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, quote, "I watched "ABC" fake news this morning, he misspelled Jonathan Karl's name, called his interview with Tom Cotton ridiculous and biased."

[05:05:00]

But what we want to focus in on here is what the issue of whether or not he's going to do the debate. He said they're so-called panel of Trump haters, I ask, "why would I do the debate against Kamala Harris on that network?" He's raised issues about your -- raised complaints with "ABC News" in the past, but he did say yes, he was going to do this. What would the impact be of him potentially refusing to do it?

MATT BROWN, NATIONAL RACE & POLITICS REPORTER, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Yes, Kasie, so, as we saw over the last -- as you said, just now, Labor Day is generally speaking when everyday Americans begin to pay attention to the debate and issues with the candidates.

However, Kamala(ph), because of the last week, a month of news that we've seen from a potential assassination attempt of Donald Trump to the dropping out of Joe Biden to a very euphoric last week DNC. A lot of the strategies and euphoria, disorientation and determination that we've seen from both sides of the campaign has really gotten a lot of folks confused about how to run this race and how potentially the candidates should be responding.

Donald Trump has basically made clear in a lot of ways though, that he is going to be running the campaign that he wanted to run this entire time. And part of that was not debating Joe Biden. So, even though the polls have changed and even though there's a lot of questions over how he needs to get his message out to potential swing voters now, a lot of folks are looking at basically, Trump in his heart of hearts.

And as he's posting on Truth Social, is making very clear that he still does not believe that channels like "ABC News", which he has long despised and disparaged are not places where he wants to be getting his message out, even though some of the dynamics of the race against Vice President Kamala Harris have clearly changed from when he felt confident against President Joe Biden.

HUNT: Well, certainly, there was also the specter of her getting unanswered airtime on "ABC" for several hours. So, that's still potentially something that he would have to worry about if he decided not to do this. One other thing over the weekend, Mariana, is that Donald Trump is fully back on Twitter, the platform formerly known as Twitter, I guess I should say, X.

He had been, you know, starting to get into that with this interview that he did with Elon Musk, but now, he's clearly trying to flood the zone in that way as well, and we can put up some of the things that he was tweeting about. And of course, he has settled on a nickname for Harris, it seems, "there'll be no future under comrade Kamala Harris."

There -- was saying that she's going to take us into a nuclear world war three. Why get back on Twitter now if you're Trump?

ALFARO: I mean, he's definitely just not hitting the right audience just to be on Truth Social. You know, he's really trying to expand his reach, and now you think, again, it's kind of that part of the strategy here. You know, how do you get back that momentum?

How do you go back to where he was doing the RNC when he really thought that this was in the bag for him. And I think that Twitter is just like the platform that's responded to him. You know, he's been able to gather not only so many followers, but just like everything he says there becomes news.

Again, I think that the media is kind of being different about the way we tackle this system around, but it doesn't mean that we don't have notifications on everything, but I think that he knows that the following there is way more significant than it is on Truth Social.

HUNT: Yes, I hadn't almost forgotten I had my Trump notifications turned on and my phone started blowing up over the weekend, it's like all right, all right, I had that turned on. Matt, before we -- before we go, for Harris, what are the challenges that she has here? Because she hasn't done a major interview yet with -- since she became the presumptive nominee.

She has struggled sometimes in settings like that where she's not reading from a teleprompter or she's not, you know, prepared for whatever the situation may be in front of her. Do you think the pressure on that is going to continue to grow?

BROWN: Yes, Kasie. So, I think that over the next couple of weeks, this is going to be a complete mad dash for both campaigns. Kamala Harris has a lot of wind at her back. She has a lot of energy in the party and a lot of determination across. You know, I mean, the number of surrogates have just come out of the wood work in the Democratic Party for her is very notable.

That said, even though this is a bit of a -- you know, super friends coming together on the left -- in left-of-center politics, but the leader of this -- of this party is still Kamala Harris, and she needs to be showing the American people what her vision is, and it cannot simply be we are not going back or a new way forward.

People want policy. People want to be, you know, very clearly understanding what she -- where she actually wants to take the country --

HUNT: They seem to disagree at this point. I think that people want policy, but I guess we will see what happens.

BROWN: Yes --

HUNT: Matt Brown, Mariana Alfaro, thank you both very much for being here. I appreciate it. All right, coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, Israel and Hezbollah trade fire in a major flare-up of tensions in the region, heightening concerns in all-out war in the Middle East.

Plus, Donald Trump making a push to hit a new tone on abortion as reproductive rights is of course, a central issue in the race. And RFK Jr. suspending his long-shot campaign, throwing his support behind former President Trump.

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KENNEDYJR.: It became clear to me that I did not have a path to victory. I met with President Trump, with his family, with his closest advisors, and we just spent a general commitment that we're going to work together.

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HUNT: All right, welcome back. Israel and Hezbollah exchanging attacks over the weekend in a major escalation of hostilities in the region.

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HUNT: Israel carrying out a wave of pre-emptive strikes across southern Lebanon to try to neutralize a large scale rocket and drone attack. The Israeli military says its jets destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers Sunday morning. The Iran-backed terrorist organization claims they were still able to fire 320 rockets and drones at Israel, even though most were intercepted.

[05:15:00]

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HASSAN NASRALLAH, LEADER, HEZBOLLAH (through translator): The result is satisfactory and achieved the intended goal. And if the result is not enough from our point of view then we retain the right to respond another time.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL (through translator): The Israeli army destroyed thousands of short-range rockets, all of which were intended to harm our civilians and forces in the Galilee. Additionally, the Israeli Army intercepted all of the drones that Hezbollah launched at a strategic target in central Israel.

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HUNT: The U.S. provided Intelligence for Israel's pre-emptive strikes. Meanwhile, Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks are continuing in Egypt with Hamas insisting there's only one deal they'll accept. CNN's Max Foster joins us live now from London. Max, good morning to you, always wonderful to see you.

So, what will Hamas accept here? Let's just start on this -- the ceasefire talks. What are they demanding and what is standing in the way right now?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, there's so much different language coming out from all the different parties involved here is really hard to get precise information, but we are getting these positive words every so often, aren't we? From the U.S. saying we're close to a deal, then it just doesn't happen.

And then Hamas now specifically targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blaming him for changing the rules as they go along. But I think the fundamental part of this is really this idea that Hamas wants all Israeli troops to leave Gaza Strip isn't something that Israel finds acceptable.

So, that has been the common sticking point throughout all of this, I suspect is still one of the sticking points. But there's also a lot of question about who is really committed to this peace deal and getting to it as quickly as, you know, the Americans are suggesting it, we should be getting their criticism of the Americans as well, frankly, that they haven't handled this negotiation very well, because we just haven't got there yet.

HUNT: Yes, for sure. So, Max, let's talk about the escalation of violence between Israel and Hezbollah. How is that impacting these talks?

FOSTER: Well, you know, the skirmishes across the border between Israel and Lebanon have been going on since, you know, this war with Hamas began. So, there is a link Hamas and Hezbollah support each other as does Iran. So, it raises tensions if there's this other front, and you know, the motivation behind these walls are linked.

So, they do affect each other. But what we have seen, the positive news, if I can call it that out of all of this, is that both sides, Hezbollah and Israel claiming victory following both their attacks over the weekend. So, that does suggest a de-escalation are not as big an escalation that the world was worrying about, so, that hopefully calms things down across the region.

But certainly, a peace deal in Gaza will certainly help relief tensions across all of those opponents of Israel there.

HUNT: All right, Max Foster for us this morning. Max, glad to have you back. Thank you so much for being here.

FOSTER: Good to be back.

HUNT: All right, still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING. Two astronauts are going to need a new ride home from the International Space Station. How a test flight turned into a very extended stay in space. Plus, Trump's campaign now trying to thread the needle on abortion, but will his core supporters go along with it?

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[05:20:00]

HUNT: All right, 22 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup. Two astronauts stranded in space will come home in a SpaceX capsule in February eight months later than planned. Boeing's beleaguered Starliner was supposed to bring them back from an eight- day mission. It's going to come back to earth empty instead.

Telegram's CEO Pavel Durov was detained at an airport outside Paris on Saturday. Durov was wanted under a French arrest warrant for the lack of moderation on the messaging app. He leads -- that led to Telegram being used for money laundering and drug trafficking. European Union regulators are cracking down on online platforms to try to combat disinformation and illegal content.

A new statue of late congressman John Lewis has been unveiled in Georgia. The civil rights icon will now stand 12th feet tall outside of Atlanta. He replaced a more-than century old confederate monument. All right, time now for weather. Hawaii dealing with some soaking rain from a tropical storm as the storm passes south of the Big Island in Midwest dealing with some searing heat and severe storm threats.

Let's get to our meteorologist Derek Van Dam this morning. Derek, what are you seeing out there?

DEREK VAN DAM, METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Kasie, hope you had a great weekend. It was a rainy and wet weekend for residents of Hawaii, Tropical Storm Hone, which was a hurricane at this time yesterday, brushing just south of the Big Island, 70-mile per hour sustained winds. And there's still a lot of rain, especially on that eastern facing slopes of the Big Island.

So, Mauna Loa, for instance, so, flash flood warnings still in effect as a system pulls away, there's a lot of wind associated with this as well. So, any residents or perhaps tourists visiting the island chain will feel the impacts of this tropical storm as it pulls away. But I want to give you the broader picture here because there are several tropical systems that are lining up across the central and eastern Pacific. Gilma, there's Hector, there's Hone moving away from Hawaii, so, something we want to monitor for the next several days.

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Now, back here in the lower 48, the big story, the excessive heat, we have excessive heat warnings for Chicago in the greater suburbs, heat watch to the south and east just outside of the Indianapolis region. Check out these afternoon temperatures, 94 in the Windy City, 98 for the day tomorrow.

Of course, you factor in the humidity, it will feel downright uncomfortable, and this is actually dangerous heat as well. So, we have to take the extra precautions. We have 80 million Americans under some sort of severe weather threat. So, when you get this kind of heat, doesn't take much for the atmosphere to break.

We have an enhanced risk of severe storms from Minneapolis all the way to Pier(ph). And you can see those thunderstorms firing up with the daytime heating from the sun. Kasie, back to you.

HUNT: All right, Derek Van Dam for us this morning, Derek, thank you, I appreciate it.

VAN DAM: I appreciate you.

HUNT: Still to come here on CNN THIS MORNING, RFK Jr. dropping out of the presidential race, putting his weight behind another candidate. How deep former independent presidential candidate still plans to hit the campaign trail. Plus, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance's latest campaign promise, this time on the issue of abortion.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you and Donald Trump are elected, that you will not impose a federal ban on abortion.

VANCE: I can absolutely commit that, Kristina(ph). Donald Trump has been as clear about that as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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