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Trump And Harris Battle For Must-Win Pennsylvania; Alice Tapper's New Book Inspired By Medical Misdiagnosis; MLB History: Danny Jansen Plays For Two Teams In Same Game. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired August 27, 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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[05:31:54]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, 5:31 a.m. here on the East Coast. A live look at Detroit. I've got to love it. Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us on this Tuesday morning.

With Election Day just nine more Tuesdays away -- we have nine Tuesdays until Election Day if you can believe that -- we're going to start taking a closer look at where things stand in critical swing states.

A make or break case for both of these campaigns is Pennsylvania where Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz just went on an extended bus tour. Donald Trump and J.D. Vance both plan to be in Pennsylvania this week with stops in Erie and Johnstown.

Polling shows, of course, an incredibly tight race. A recent New York Times/Siena poll has Harris with a 50-46 edge in a head-to-head matchup with Donald Trump among likely voters. It's a reverse from where Biden found himself in July.

Pennsylvania's governor and almost Harris running mate Josh Shapiro says voters are curious about the new Democratic ticket.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: When I'm out in rural communities in those areas around Pennsylvania where maybe a voter voted for Obama and then Trump, and moved to Biden -- voters who shift around -- they're really curious about Kamala Harris. They'll say to me hey, what do you think of her? What do you think she's going to do on this, that, or the other thing? I think that curiosity is important. It means they're open to casting a vote for Kamala Harris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right, and joining us now to talk about battleground Pennsylvania, two people who spend their time on the ground there. Stephen Caruso is Capitol reporter for Spotlight PA, and Isaac Avilucea is a reporter for Axios based in Philadelphia. Gentlemen, good morning to you. Thank you both so much for being here.

So you guys are based, or your backgrounds are, I should say -- one of you has a background in Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania, the other based in Philadelphia. These, of course, the two critical population centers. And then there are these questions about margins in the rural parts of the state.

So, Isaac, why don't I start with you because, of course, the Philadelphia suburbs are the place -- is the place where the Harris campaign really wants to try to run up the score, especially among suburban women.

Can you just explain what you've seen in the weeks since she came to the top of the ticket and how you see the challenges that they face in that region?

ISAAC AVILUCEA, REPORTER, AXIOS PHILADELPHIA (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah. You know, I think that it's really important that they spend not only a lot of time in Philadelphia. It's already a Democratic stronghold but I think -- you know, I was talking to one political pundit, and he was saying they have to really not ignore the rural counties.

Philadelphia is important but Philadelphia, by and large, is kind of already solidified. It's an urban center. It's a Democratic stronghold. And really, what you have to focus on is going to some of those more rural -- the redder counties where she's going to face a little bit more stiff opposition from voters where the demographics are a little bit wider -- a little bit more conservative maybe. A little bit more leaning toward deference toward law enforcement. And so I feel like something -- that's something that she's going to have to tap into.

[05:35:00]

And then maybe that 'Kamala is a cop' narrative that plagued her presidential run four years ago is something that she can kind of tap into with some of those rural voters that do tend to be more deferential to police officers. And really kind of focus in on her past record as a prosecutor, prosecuting transnational gangs --

HUNT: Sure.

AVILUCEA: -- and of the like. Focus in on that issue.

HUNT: Yeah, fair enough.

And, in fact, Stephen, here's what Sen. John Fetterman had to say in an interview over the weekend talking a little bit about the redder counties in the state -- watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): You have red county Dems and they are doing the hard work, and it's not necessarily the sexy kind of job. But they are dedicated. They are true believers. They are not here in this business to turn, like, a deep red county blue. It's about to jam things up and to blunt the kinds of margins that allow Trump to possibly (PH) win here in Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, Stephen, you obviously cover the Statehouse now, so you're based in Harrisburg, but you've got this deep background in the Pittsburgh area -- a lot of these counties. Fetterman is from western Pennsylvania. These are places where, as he says, they're going to need to blunt the margins. These are places where you had a lot of Obama to Trump voters, right?

What are you picking up on the ground about the job that they're doing around that, and how much hope the Trump campaign potentially has of actually winning the state?

STEPHEN CARUSO, CAPITOL REPORTER, SPOTLIGHT PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah. Well, I think that Democrats are always -- are really energized right now after having Kamala Harris be put on the ticket. I know that there were some concerns about Biden kind of near the end.

But, you know, I think that politics is always a game of margins. If you are going to win a big state like Pennsylvania, every county is a little battleground. And the difference between Republicans winning 40 percent of the vote and -- or 40 percent lead in the vote in Elk County on western Pennsylvania and winning 30 percent could be the difference in this election. So, you know, I think that's why places that Sen. Fetterman is from matter.

I'd also point to central Pennsylvania where I spend a lot of time. Lancaster County -- you know, Amish country but also the city of Lancaster, a thriving metropolis of its own. You know, that's a place where, in 2022, Gov. Josh Shapiro brought that county within about five points. And that's a place where Republicans normally get about 20 points.

So it's not even just about east-west or anything like that. It's -- you know, the rural counties I think Republicans have to really get margins out of are places they traditionally took for granted, like central Pennsylvania. And Democrats are making inroads as they get more and more suburban.

So I think from all across the state we're going to see this, like, margin fight in a lot of key places from Allegheny County to Lancaster County to even Philadelphia.

HUNT: Yeah. That's actually -- that's fascinating.

Stephen, what else are you seeing on the ground -- threads that you're picking up or places -- anything that you feel like we in the national media who are inside the Beltway or based in New York can't see from our vantage points that you think we should be paying attention to?

CARUSO: I definitely -- I'd point to central Pennsylvania -- south central Pennsylvania. I mean, we're talking about the area around Harrisburg, Lancaster, Carlisle.

Cumberland County outside of the capital of Harrisburg is one -- is the fastest growing county in Pennsylvania. It started flipping blue in recent elections. Shapiro won in 2022. A State Supreme Court candidate, a Democrat, won it in 2023. If that keeps happening, Republicans' chances of winning Pennsylvania get lower and lower and lower. So I'm expecting to see a lot of interest in that part of the state.

Western Pennsylvania obviously matters. You know, that's where my alma mater is. But the population has been shrinking there. It's going to -- it has a lot of I think traditional value, prestige value.

But Trump's first visit I think since Harris was announced was to Harrisburg, I believe. Remember, he had a visit there. The NRA has a big convention there.

So I'm looking to see how much energy do people put into that constellation of small cities and growing suburbs around Harrisburg.

HUNT: And Isaac, let me put the same question to you since you're based in Philly. What are you seeing on the ground that you think deserves more attention?

AVILUCEA: Well, my eyes are focused and fixated on Bucks County, in particular. We're talking about a county that Hillary, in 2016 -- she carried it, but she struggled there a little bit. Carried it by very slim margins. And then, in 2020, Biden obviously won Bucks County.

But what we're seeing on the ground here is that for the first time in 15 years Bucks County is actually red. It's typically a purple county but for the first time in 15 years we have more registered Republicans than Democrats. So that's kind of an interesting thing on our end and it's something that we're really keeping tabs on.

You've got to really carry not only Philadelphia but many of the collar counties to really win Pennsylvania.

HUNT: Yeah, for sure.

[05:40:00]

Isaac Avilucea, Stephen Caruso, thank you so much for joining us this morning. I really appreciate your reporting. We rely on it every day to help us understand things better. And, of course, I'm from Chester County originally, so very close to my heart to have you both on. I hope you'll come back.

AVILUCEA: Thank you.

HUNT: All right. Coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING, Jake Tapper's daughter, Alice Paul Tapper, is here. She has written a new book that could save lives after she nearly lost her own because of a medical misdiagnosis. This very brave woman is going to join us next.

Plus, to mute or not to mute? We're not talking about Zoom. The debate about the debate coming up.

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[05:45:00]

HUNT: All right, welcome back to CNN THIS MORNING.

"Use Your Voice." That is the title of a new children's book written by best-selling authority Alice Paul Tapper. She also happens to be the daughter of CNN's very own Jake Tapper.

The book was inspired by a near-fatal health emergency that Alice endured in 2021. She was 14. She was suffering from stomach pains and chills. She was misdiagnosed. They thought she had a viral infection. But it turned out she had a perforated appendix that was leaking poisonous bacteria.

The purpose of the book is to encourage everyone, especially kids, to speak up and advocate for themselves when it comes to their own health because really, it can save your life.

And Alice Paul Tapper joins us now this morning on her 17th birthday. Alice, happy birthday.

ALICE PAUL TAPPER, AUTHOR, "USE YOUR VOICE": Hi. Thank you so much for having me.

HUNT: Congratulations on the book.

I honestly was -- I was reading this book again in one of our commercial breaks and I was tearing up a little bit thinking about the prospect of my own children or children that I love facing what you -- what you faced, which was -- you know, take us back to that day. Walk us through what happened that led you to the hospital and how you realized it was worse than what doctors originally told you.

TAPPER: So it started as a normal -- the night before, I was hanging out with friends and I was at my first freshman year football game. And then that night I just started getting stomachaches and I threw up. And it progressively got worse, so my mom took me to the E.R. And they had sent me to a hospital that declared a had a viral infection. And --

HUNT: So, like the stomach flu or something --

TAPPER: Exactly.

HUNT: -- that would be normal.

TAPPER: Exactly.

So, obviously, as a 14-year-old, I was listening to the doctors, and I was like OK --

HUNT: Right.

TAPPER: -- I trust them. Obviously, as a kid you trust adults 100 percent. So -- but I just felt like something was wrong.

And I was in so much pain I couldn't straighten my legs when I was laying in the hospital bed because everything just felt so tight and painful. And I just kept telling them my pain -- I'm in so much pain and they were dismissing my pain.

HUNT: Right. So you knew it wasn't normal, but they were telling you that it was.

So eventually, your dad helped step in and also you talked to -- you communicated to them what was going on with you. Explain what your dad did and what happened next.

TAPPER: My dad called the head of the hospital and within nine minutes I was getting a CT -- a sonogram and an x-ray, and I hadn't gotten any imaging before. And they came into my room afterwards and immediately said something is seriously wrong with your appendix.

And everything changed from thereon -- my care. I was in so much pain still, but my appendix had ruptured because it had been so long -- 32 hours. And everything was just -- I became in septic shock -- hypovolemic shock, and I had to be rushed to the ICU.

HUNT: Yeah. So what had happened was that you had gotten progressively sicker and sicker to the point that your life was actually in danger --

TAPPER: Yes.

HUNT: -- right? Because --

TAPPER: And everyone knows what appendicitis is.

HUNT: Yeah.

TAPPER: I mean, I've heard of people who've had it. And I just was so confused as to wondering, like, what could I have done possibly this wrong that they missed appendicitis?

HUNT: So you use, in the book, a pain scale. And you've worked with a really brilliant illustrator who has drawn the little faces of all of these different little animals -- you can see them there -- from zero -- from no pain with happy face all the way up to 10. And for you, number nine becomes the character in the book.

And I -- this is so important because this is often how doctors will talk to kids about or people about how their pain is. And you talk about how you have to say what -- how much it really hurts.

What did you learn in that experience, and why do you use these little guys to help explain to kids how they can help themselves?

TAPPER: Well, in the hospital, the pain scales really stood out to me because every hour nurses were coming into my room and showing me a pain scale and I never really knew what to say. I knew -- I was just saying I'm in the worst pain I've ever been in my life, which is a 10.

But I -- you really have to use your voice. And something I learned in the hospital is that you are your best advocate and speaking up for yourself is sometimes the only way you're going to be able to take care of yourself and get the help that you need.

HUNT: So what would you say to kids who are feeling or they're in a situation like this, especially kids -- you know, not everyone is so lucky to have such amazing parents like you do who can get the head of the hospital on the phone? I mean, what would you say to people who are fighting back against systems that they've run into. And maybe it's no fault of the people that they're working with but they need something that they're not getting.

[05:50:00]

TAPPER: Yes, and this is why I'm so passionate about that is not everyone has a dad that can just call the head of the hospital and get an x-ray to find out what's wrong with them. My life was on the line and if I had waited any longer it would have gotten so much worse for me, and who knows if I could have even recovered.

And I want to just let kids know that you really have to speak your mind and use your voice. And that's really the point of the book is to just advocate for yourself and push yourself.

HUNT: Yeah, it's -- I mean, it's amazing, Alice. I'm so sorry, of course, that you actually had to go through this but being able to use the voice that you have to help other people is really amazing. So congratulations on the book.

TAPPER: Thank you so much.

HUNT: Happy birthday.

TAPPER: Thank you.

HUNT: Thank you so much for being here. The book is "Use Your Voice" by Alice Paul Tapper. It's out now.

All right, time now for sports. Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen makes baseball history becoming the first player to play for two teams in the same game. This is kind of wild.

Andy Scholes has this morning's Bleacher Report.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah.

HUNT: Andy, good morning.

SCHOLES: Yeah, good morning, Kasie.

So, you know, there was a Blue Jays-Red Sox game back in June. They got halted due to rain in the second inning. And they said you know what? We're going to pick that game back up when the Blue Jays come back to town in August. Well, in between then there was a trade deadline and on July 27, Danny Jansen was traded from the Blue Jays to the Red Sox.

Now, in that game back in June, Jansen was actually at the plate. He fouled off a pitch before they stopped the game due to rain. So when they resumed yesterday, Jansen -- he was supposed to be at the plate for Toronto but instead, he was catching for the Red Sox.

Jansen the first player ever to appear for two teams in the same game and it's likely he will forever be the only person to catch the at-bat that he started.

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DANNY JANSEN, CATCHER, BOSTON RED SOX: I guess it hasn't fully hit me yet. I don't know. It's -- I'll tell you what, I was surprised when I found out I was the first one to do it a little bit. So it's cool. It's -- you know, it's -- you know, leaving a stamp like that on the game, it's interesting and it's strange, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to have that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yeah. The Baseball Hall of Fame grabbed the jersey and Jansen's gear for a display in Cooperstown. They also got the scorecard from the official scorer to illustrate the history.

All right. Elsewhere, Aaron Judge surprisingly did not hit a home run last night, but he did rob one. Check him out here skying it for this ball in the fourth inning to rob the home run. Then he fired it back into the infield for the double play. Nice play there from Judge.

Then in the ninth, Judge would come up to the plate and he would hit a single to right field, and it would be the 1,000th hit of his career.

The Yankees won that one for the fifth time in six games 5-2 over the Nationals.

All right, the Astros, meanwhile, playing in Philly for the first time since beating them in the 2022 World Series. The game would go to the 10th tied at two. Bryce Harper with the RBI single off Josh Hader. That would be a walk-off.

The Phillies win 3-2. Game two of that series is going to be tonight at 6:40 Eastern on TBS.

All right, it was another night, another record for Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark. She tied the all-time WNBA rookie three-point record last night with a step-back three in the fourth quarter over Atlanta Dream's Rhyne Howard. Fun fact. Howard was the previous recordholder with 85 back in 2022.

Clark would finish the game with 19 points. The Fever would win 84-79 in front of a crowd of more than 17,000 in Atlanta.

All right, this year's last tennis major is underway, and Coco Gauff's U.S. Open title defense was off to an easy start. It took her just over an hour to beat France's Varvara Gracheva in straight sets. Gauff is looking to become the first woman to repeat a champion since Serena Williams back in 2014.

All right, and finally, the Dallas Cowboys and All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb -- they have reportedly agreed on a record four-year, $136 million deal, making him the second-highest paid non-QB in NFL history. According to multiple sources, the contract includes $100 million guaranteed and a $38 million signing bonus, the highest ever for a wide receiver.

Kasie, we're getting to that time of year. The NFL regular season kicks off a week from Thursday. We've got big-time college football games coming our way Saturday. I love it. Love this time of year.

HUNT: I am so excited, I have to say. I love football season. I love fall. I'm a back-to-school -- I loved going back to school when I was a kid, you know. It's all amazing.

SCHOLES: Pumpkin cream cold brews every day.

HUNT: Cold brew. The only thing I don't like about it is the pumpkin spice latte which apparently, now you can buy, like, in August or July, which is also insane. But that's a separate topic.

SCHOLES: I love it.

HUNT: Andy, thank you.

SCHOLES: All right.

HUNT: I really appreciate it.

All right. Coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING, we are 14 days away from the first presidential debate, we think, as the Trump and Harris campaigns taunt each other over the specifics of the big night.

Plus, three years since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, prompting the former president to attack the Biden-Harris handling of the exit on the campaign trail.

[05:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our country will never be safe again until we have fired those responsible for this disaster. In my opinion, the most embarrassing day in the history of our country.

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HUNT: It's Tuesday, August 27. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING --

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TRUMP: Now, all of a sudden, they want to make a change in the rules because she can't answer questions. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: The debate over the debate. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris' teams clashing over muted microphones.

Plus, more than 200 Republicans reaching across the aisle to support Harris for president. We'll dig into that.

And this --

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GEN. H.R. MCMASTER, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER, TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: He couldn't stick with the decision. He didn't stick with the decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: The blame game as Donald Trump uses the anniversary of the withdrawal from Afghanistan to pin the blame on the Biden-Harris administration. His former national security adviser says Trump should take some, too.