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Trump Facing Backlash over Abortion; RFK Jr. Suspends Campaign; Larry Sabato is Interviewed about His Election Forecast. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 26, 2024 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Is pulling away from the Hawaiian islands as we speak.

Kasie.

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, sounds good.

Derek Van Dam for us this morning. Derek, thank you. I appreciate it.

VAN DAM: All right.

HUNT: Coming up after the break, Donald Trump's latest campaign promise. This time a focus on abortion policy.

Plus, the latest southern state that could be up for grabs this election. Larry Sabato joins us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:34]

HUNT: All right, welcome back.

Former President Donald Trump is facing criticism from some in his conservative base over his position on abortion. He posted on Truth Social on Friday, he declared this, that his administration would, quote, "protect reproductive rights," end quote. Running mate J.D. Vance also told NBC News that Trump would veto a national abortion ban.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS": If such a piece of legislation landed on Donald Trump's desk, would he veto it?

J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he'd be very clear, he would not support it. I mean he said that explicitly.

WELKER: But would he veto it?

VANCE: Yes, I mean, if you're not supporting it as the president of the United States, you fundamentally have to veto it.

WELKER: So, he would veto a federal abortion ban?

VANCE: I think he worked. He said that explicitly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Anti-abortion activists now calling out the campaign. The leader of Students for Life of America Organization said in response to Vance's interview, quote, "it's like they're giving a class on how to lose a presidential election," end quote. Another activist went even further on her podcast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LILA ROSE, PRESIDENT, LIVE ACTION: Trump is trying to somehow, I guess, ingratiate himself with those that are pro-abortion. When you say you support abortion, all that J.D. Vance and Trump are doing when they say we support abortion pills (ph), when they've said this, they are just alienating their base. Why are you doing this?

Trump campaign, if you're listening, we're - we're saying loud and clear, if you want to have a shot at winning, you've got to fix this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: The panel's back.

Alex, clearly Trump has said very explicitly the opposite in terms of winning elections then what Lila Rose, who's a, you know, followed abortion - anti-abortion activist said there. But clearly they're not pleased about this.

What are the dynamics at play?

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, in some ways it's the - similar to immigration with the Democrats we were talking about in that Trump is right in between the base and the center of America, what she's trying to go to. But by every single time he goes to the center, he's going to get more and more fire from his base. And similar to the immigration issue, you know, Donald Trump can say he's going to protect reproductive rights, but will voters really believed that the guy that appointed the justices responsible for the repeal of Roe v. Wade is really going to defend abortion rights in a serious way?

The - Donald Trump also still hasn't even answered the question about how he's going to vote in the Florida referendum that is on abortion rights this November.

So, Donald Trump basically has no good political answer here. And if this race is much more about abortion rights than immigration or other issues, he's probably going to lose.

HUNT: Yes.

Matt, did you think - I mean J.D. Vance seems to have gotten out ahead of the president a little bit.

MATT GORMAN, FORMER TIM SCOTT PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: A little bit. I mean I think the way we always answer that in a primary is that you just - you kind of dismiss the hypothetical. But like I don't - that being said, I don't think it's a bad thing that he said that. And I think I wouldn't - I would expect if Trump gets that question at the next press conference, he'd probably follow right along.

I - look, what I'd be interested in is some of the bigger organizations on the - kind of the pro-life side, whether its Susan B. Anthony's List, you know, Marjorie Dannenfelser is - who is the head of that organization, is a really influential voice, especially in the primary with a lot of these folks. She was notably silent. I'd be interested to see what she thinks about that.

But, yes, I mean, look, this was always at play in the primary. This was one of the few issues my old boss, Tim Scott, criticize Trump on. And this was one of the ways you could find white-space with the president on - the former president on because he was kind of aware of both sides of this.

HUNT: Yes.

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: Yes, I - I think that he - nobody's going to believe, after he takes - he's taken responsibility for the Dobbs decision so many times over and over again, no one's going to believe that all of a sudden now he's going to change. But I do think it's a matter of how they continue to message it and how their base reacts to it, because if you can lose votes from your base, if that's their single issue, just like Democrats can for immigration.

THOMPSON: Well, and Matt's right, you know, I still remember during the primary, Trump really was already aware of the political venerability here and really kept Susan B. Anthony and some of those other groups at arm's length. He brought them down in Mar-a-Lago, tried to court them, but on a - did not embrace the 20 and 15 week ban that they thought, you know, should have been the standard for all the candidates.

HUNT: All right, let's turn now to this.

RFK Junior is out of the presidential race. He has put his support behind Donald Trump. CNN now reporting Donald Trump advisors see a potential opening with some of Kennedy's supporters. Kennedy says he is going to continue to be out on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. (I), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I'm going to be campaigning actively I - the - I think. President Trump is going to make a series of announcements of other Democrats who are joining his campaign.

[06:40:08] And, you know, I want to - I want to make America healthy again. And so does President Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, Kennedy is officially suspending, not ending his campaign, but he is withdrawing his name from appearing on the ballot in key swing states. He told Fox News there wasn't a realistic path to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. (I), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It became clear to me that I did not have a path to victory. Sixteen months of censorship, of not being able to get on the - any network really accept for Fox. He invited me to form a unity government. We agreed that we'd be able to continue to criticize each other on issues on which we don't agree.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right, the panel is back.

I have to say, Matt Gorman, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his campaign has kind of given us a very long list of, quite frankly, disturbing fodder. I mean there was - we know about the bear in Central Park. Then now Kick Kennedy, who is the daughter of Bobby Kennedy Jr., spoke with "Town and Country" and she said this. "When she was six word got out that a dead whale had washed up on Squaw Island in Hyannis Port. Bobby, who likes to study animal skulls and skeletons, ran down to the beach with a chain saw, cut off the whale's head and then bungee- corded it to the roof of the family minivan for the five-hour haul back to Mount Kisco, New York. Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet, Kick recalls. We all had plastic bags over our heads with mouth holes cut out, and people on the highway were giving us the finger. But that was just normal day-to-day stuff for us."

So, this has become apparently normal. I mean this is a guy who was, you know, polling up at, you know, 12 percent in some polls at one point.

GORMAN: Yes, it - that's a very weird story. And it's - you know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of this, the whole Mitt Romney with the dog on the roof of his car.

That was told by his son in an anecdote. Like, I think, tagged, didn't mean any harm by I thought it would be a funny thing. The kids bringing out stuff with animals in the presidential candidates always kind of gets them in trouble.

HUNT: I mean, Seamus the dog, I have to say, like was a -

GORMAN: Very different.

HUNT: It's very different.

GORMAN: Yes. No, very different. That was -

HUNT: I mean a dead - a dead whale with a chain saw, just in - to be - to be - to be fair to Mitt Romney.

GORMAN: I was only - only talking about like this - the offspring telling stories.

No, look, I was - yes, I will say this, I have no idea what the heck is going on with that. He's a very odd individual. The family has a lot of oddities and issues to begin with. And he is certainly chief among them.

I - yes, I also think too, my other reaction, stepping back from this too is, you had this big, long tweet from a bunch of Kennedy - a lot of his siblings talking about portraying family values. It was a - it was a little hogwash if you ask me. I think - I just find it very distasteful also that the family equates supporting another - another person politically with the betrayal of dead relatives and betrayal of core family values. I think no matter who that is, what family it is, I find it extremely distasteful. That's my other hot take on the Kennedys right now.

HUNT: Yes.

What impact do you think it actually has on the race, Alex?

THOMPSON: Well, he is going to very much struggle with the PETA vote, I think. So - and, you know, I do think, you know, at the end of the day, RFK Junior, the Democrats did a very effective job here, both in terms of this sort of legal war that they were - that they had encountered in trying to kick him off ballots. And it really drained his resources to the point when he didn't think there was really any path forward.

Now that being said, now they've driven him out of the race. You know, he probably is only going to have a marginal impact. But if it's a marginal race, he could matter.

And, you know, the other thing, it's an interesting - that you see both candidates now trying to define themselves as the change candidate. You know, Kamala Harris and the candidate of the future, I'm trying to turn the page. You know, RFK Junior is also - has a change message of sorts in which he's basically like the whole system is corrupt, the whole thing is influenced by big corporations and big pharma and they are trying to double down on that sort of message.

So, it's going to be - maybe help Trump on the margins, but we don't know yet.

HUNT: All right.

Straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, he's back. Donald Trump making a return to Twitter. Can't seem to stop posting.

Plus, an eight-day mission turning into an eight month ordeal for two stranded astronauts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home uncrewed is a result of a commitment to safety.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:49:05]

HUNT: All right, 48 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL HERZOG, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: I believe that our - the success of our operation yesterday prevented escalation to a major war. This threat is still there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Israel launching so-called preemptive strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon as the militant group said it launched its own set of attacks in response to the killing of a top commander. Those strikes, some of the most serious yet, raising concerns about a wider regional conflict.

A statue honoring the late civil rights hero and U.S. Congressman John Lewis unveiled outside of Atlanta. It replaces a confederate monument that stood on that spot for more than a century.

And this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with Crew-9 next February.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: It was supposed to be an eight-day mission to the International Space Station, but it will now last until 2025.

[06:50:02]

Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will not return to earth on Boeing's Starliner capsule. Instead, SpaceX will step in to help get the astronauts home.

A jersey worn by the baseball legend Babe Ruth, when he belted his called home run shot in game three of the 1932 World Series, selling for an astounding $24.1 million at auction. That is a record for the most expensive sports collectible ever. It make sense, I guess, right? What else is going to be worth more collecting in sports?

All right, let's turn now back to the 2024 campaign. The elections forecaster, Larry Sabato's crystal ball now rates North Carolina as a toss-up in November, making it the second southern state, in addition to Georgia, that might be in reach for Democrats. Fresh off the DNC, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are going to focus their efforts on the peach state this week with a bus tour through Georgia, giving the vice president another chance to address voters who had some concerns about her before - these were recorded just before she became the Democratic nominee a little bit - a little over a month ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBYN GIBSON, GEORGIA VOTER: I feel as though Kamala - the only thing I know her for is, we did it, Joe. Like, I don't know hurt for really anything else.

She hasn't proven. It's been four years and I haven't seen anything.

JAYLA KORLYAN, GEORGIA VOTER: I haven't seen her bring it, not in like a campaign, not any - in any initiatives, like just really stepping up.

KEVIN BURDETTE, GEORGIA VOTER: Kamala has done her best, but I just haven't seen a lot of strong leadership from her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right, joining me now to discuss is Larry Sabato. He's the creator of "Sabato's Crystal Ball," director at the University of Virginia Center for Politics and the author of "A Return to Normalcy? The 2020 Election that Almost Broke America."

Larry, wonderful to have you. Thank you very much for being here.

Let's talk about North Carolina, why you decided to move it here. And how much do you think that has to do with the governor's race, where Republicans have a candidate who candidly has said a lot of things that are out of step with more moderate voters, certainly with even many conservative Republicans. A lot of things that people say are just downright offensive.

LARRY SABATO, EDITOR, "A RETURN TO NORMALCY?: THE 2020 ELECTION THAT ALMOST BROKE AMERICA": Yes, the Republican nominee, Mark Robinson, is pretty much at war with the spirit of the age. But he fits Republicans in North Carolina and, frankly, many other states quite well.

The problem is, North Carolina is a very divided state. It's closely divided. It has leaned Republican and voted Republican fairly consistently. 2008 for Obama being the major exception. And governors. They'll elect Democratic governors.

But this particular Republican candidate has said so many outrageous things. And I don't want to get into the specifics. That will take the rest of your time. But it has alienated not just Democrats and independents, but also a slice of the Republicans. As a result, you actually have a situation that we often call reverse coattails. We think of coattails as coming from the top down, that a president can provide - presidential candidate can provide an extra point or two for the members of his party on the ticket below the presidential race.

Well, occasionally, a lower level race becomes so hot, so controversial that it results in lower turnout for one party, higher turnout for the other, and it has a kind of reverse coattails effect. It can reduce the support for a presidential candidate of the party of the very controversial gubernatorial nominee. That may or may not happen here, but it - the elements are sure in place for it to happen.

HUNT: Larry, I also want to ask you about Virginia since, you know, your - your home state. You spend a lot of time there. You understand it well.

It seems as though since Harris - you know, this is the top of the ticket, the Democratic ticket was flipped, Harris has -- you know, there's - there's not the kind of level of concern among Democrats that might have been brewing when Biden was still at the top of the ticket.

But I am curious to just kind of get your sort of understanding of why this state seems to be closer than it has been in past years, and what was going on. Was it just Biden? Is it some other set of forces that we should be keeping an eye on?

SABATO: It was primarily Biden, with all due respect to the - to the president. But he had become very unpopular in Virginia. In fact, he's been unpopular consistently since Afghanistan, in his first year in office. And damage to, for example, Terry McAuliffe campaign for governor, which he lost in 2021.

Now, with Kamala Harris, it's just like it is everywhere else, at least in the swing states or the kind of in-between states, like Virginia. The fact that she is as dynamic and enthusiastic as she is, and her supporters feel the same way, it has reinforced Democratic hopes and I think the likelihood that Virginia will vote by some substantial margin.

[06:55:10]

And I don't - I can't put a number on it yet, but there were a number of polls that had it tied between Biden and Trump, which is incredible because Trump lost to Hillary Clinton by five points in Virginia and ten points in 2020 to Biden. I don't think that that's - I don't think we're going to hit ten points, but this is not going to be essentially close either.

HUNT: All right, Larry Sabato, thank you very much for your time this morning. I really appreciate it.

See you soon.

SABATO: Thank you.

HUNT: All right, a new debate this morning about the debate. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have both agreed to a debate on ABC News on September 10th. That's just two weeks away. But now Trump is giving an impression he may have changed his mind. In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump attacked ABC News for a segment he didn't like and asked, quote, "why would I do the debate against Kamala Harris on that network?"

And now there is new uncertainty behind the scenes too. In a statement this morning, Brian Fallon, with Kamala Harris, tells me this. Quote, "we have told ABC and other networks seeking to host a possible October debate that we believe both candidates microphones should be live throughout the full broadcast. Our understanding is that Trump's handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don't think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own. We suspect Trump's team has not even told their boss about this dispute because it would be too embarrassing to admit that they don't think he can handle himself against Vice President Harris without the benefit of a mute button."

Now, of course, let's remember that Harris has used hot microphones to her own advantage in debates past.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This isn't - this is important.

MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Susan, I - I have to weigh in here.

HARRIS: And I want to add - but, Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking.

PENCE: I have to weigh in

HARRIS: I'm speaking.

PENCE: Appeal (ph) the Trump tax cuts.

HARRIS: Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking.

PENCE: Well -

HARRIS: I'm speaking.

If you don't mind letting me finish, we can then have a conversation.

PENCE: Please.

HARRIS: OK.

PENCE: Please.

HARRIS: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: And that, of course, Alex, became a sort of iconic moment for her. Like, it was plastered on t-shirts, et cetera. But very interesting back-and-forth here in the final - I mean that Fallon statement is clearly written to get a rise out of Donald Trump himself, right?

THOMPSON: Yes. I mean after this summer, let no one ever say again that debates do not matter, which is why - which is why you are having this fight over these small details.

And what's also really interesting is not just that she's used the hot mic to great effect in the past, but also you have to remember, Joe Biden wanted the mute button for the first debate. They set those rules for that first debate. And - because they were - because they didn't want a repeat of the first debate from 2020, when Trump just sort of ranted and raved. So, this was the - the - Joe Biden's idea. The problem was that then the Trump campaign was like, OK, we're actually going to like make him as - as Fallon in - indicated, disciplined. And it actually made him seem more sober than he often comes across.

HUNT: Yes.

What do you think?

GORMAN: I mean, look, when Kamala took over the ticket, the - they - they trying to have it both ways because, remember, when Kamala took over the ticket, they told the Trump camp, we've already agreed to the ABC debate on September 10th. And they were saying, well, we can renegotiate a little bit what the debate is. Now, they're flipping it and saying, well, just because you agreed to the debate didn't - doesn't mean we agreed to the rules.

Look, this - she wants the hot mic moment because what she's had, if you remember the first debate with Joe Biden, the I'm speaking, she loves to create these little memable (ph) moments that, you know, are kind of - based off stock lines that she's practiced and kind of her team's prepared for her. They already have the t-shirts printed up. So, she's trying to draw out Trump with some of this stuff.

HAYS: Yes, at the end of the day, though, does this really matter? Does - that they - when they go to the debate, that's what - I mean the American people deserve a debate. They deserve to hear the issues being fought - to have a discussion. So, I don't think, at the end of the day, this matters. I think it's just more political insider baseball stuff.

GORMAN: Yes.

HAYS: It's funny to talk about all the things -

GORMAN: It's - yes, it's in three weeks.

HAYS: Yes, It's - yes. Well, we're going to talk about it the next week. But at the end of the day it really doesn't matter. I think the important thing is to have a debate and to have them have a discussion about the issues.

HUNT: All right, I guess we'll see.

All right, I'll leave you with this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Buddy!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Nothing beats a dog's love. You saw it all right there. And that is why there is a National Dog Day, which is today. It was created to get people to think actually about adopting dogs.

So, here's an excuse for you to all see Radar. He is a miniature labradoodle. He's about to turn seven. He is - I don't know what I would do without him. Apparently, that makes me one of 65 million Americans who have a dog. Making, of course, dogs the country's most popular pet.

Let's play, show us your dog.

Matt Gorman.

GORMAN: This is Molly.

HUNT: We have Matt Gorman's dog, Molly.

GORMAN: Right. You'll note, it doesn't look like me right now because this is from 1996.

HUNT: Oh, look at that.

GORMAN: Winner of the cutest dog competition in Torrington, Connecticut, that I'll have you know. But, yes, 1996.

[07:00:05]

HUNT: Oh. What kind of dog?

GORMAN: That's a golden retriever. A little puppy. Yes.

HUNT: Yes, of course.

All right, Alex, we have a picture of your dog too, I think. Tell us about your dog. There he is. She.

THOMPSON: Ah, so that - that is Miley (ph), who sadly is not with us, but she is very - she was very well loved. And my sister, she has two golden retrievers. They had puppies. Charlie, Massie (ph), Sage, and they had puppies and my brother ended up getting one of the puppies. And so they're - there's a whole family of goldens.

HUNT: Very cute.

Well, happy National Dog Day to all of them and to you.

Thanks to our panel. Thanks to you for joining us. I'm Kasie Hunt. Don't go anywhere. "CNN NEW CENTRAL" starts right now.