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Jason Miller is Interviewed about the Trump Campaign; Liz Shuler is Interviewed about Union Endorsements; Surgeon General Says Parents are Overwhelmed. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 29, 2024 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:33:43]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, welcome back.

Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, set to debate on ABC for the first time September 10th. But how the debate will look still up in the air. Both campaigns have been accusing each other of not agreeing to the - to certain rules. This week, Donald Trump suggested he was open to some changes from the rules that were set for this CNN debate.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would - would you want the microphones muted in the debate whenever you're not speaking?

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We agreed to the same rules. I don't know. Doesn't matter to me. I'd rather have it probably on. But the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time. In that case, it was muted. I didn't like it the last time, but it worked out fine.

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HUNT: Now, a spokesman for the Harris campaign tells CNN that both candidates agreed on leaving the mics unmuted.

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MICHAEL TYLER, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN: Our preference, along with Donald Trump himself, is for unmuted microphones. I think the question that you'd have to ask is, did Donald Trump and his - and his team, are they in agreement between themselves on how we should approach this debate, because we are in agreement with Donald Trump, that these should be live and unmuted microphones.

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HUNT: All right, joining us now is Jason Miller. He's a senior adviser to the Trump campaign.

Jason, welcome back to CNN THIS MORNING. Thank you so much for being here.

Why do you want the mics muted?

JASON MILLER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: Well we've already agreed to the rules that we had with the CNN debate. And not only have we agreed, but the Harris camp has agreed as well.

[06:35:03]

We had the rules last week. Both sides agreed that we would stay with CNN format, which I thought both Jake and Dana did an excellent job. I think CNN, as a network, did a very good job, very fair job with the debate. And we hope that there's the same performance on ABC's end.

But then strangely, over the weekend, the Harris camp decided to change their minds and want to try to make an issue out of the already agreed to format. And, Kasie, I think really what was going on I think is a bit more minister. I think that the Harris camp was trying to come up with a distraction on the third anniversary of the horrific killing of 13 Americans at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan. Of course, Kamala Harris was the last one in the room for that decision with Joe Biden. And I think that that's what this was all about. They want to distract away from Kamala Harris' accountability on that issue because both sides had already agreed. We've agreed again -- the rules are locked in. They're the same as it was for CNN.

HUNT: Are you afraid that if you unmuted the mics, the debate would be worse for Mr. Trump?

MILLER: Well, President Trump is going to be fine regardless of what the format is, but it's already locked in. That's the whole point is that it was agreed to, the same as it was for CNN. The same as it will be for ABC. And both camps had already agreed to this. In fact, the Harris camp came back with a whole host of other changes that they wanted.

But let's put this distraction aside. This is about Kamala Harris finally being held accountable. She can't be talking about the future when she's the one who created the nightmare that we're currently living in. She created the problems with our economy, our border, the global chaos. And you can't be asking for a promotion when really voters should be voting you out of office.

HUNT: Jason, I also want to ask you about something else that we saw from your boss, Mr. Trump. He posted a pretty crude - reposted a pretty crude image or comment, I should say, about Kamala Harris, the sitting vice president, and also mentioned Hillary Clinton, who, of course, Mr. Trump ran against in 2016. What would you say to the vice president of the United States about the comment that he reposted?

MILLER: Well, I saw the social media post. I have not discussed that with the president. I don't know if the president even saw the comment that was on there or simply the picture.

But I would say with regard to Kamala Harris, the attacks that have been levied by Kamala Harris', both the campaign, by Harris allies against President Trump, not just recently, but over the past year- and-a-half, two years, ever since he came down the escalator, quite frankly, in the case of many left-of-center people have been quite horrific.

All of this, though, Kasie, is a distraction for the real issues that are going on right now.

HUNT: You think as horrific as what was reposted? I mean I - the - do you -

MILLER: Oh, 100 times worse, Kasie, 100 times worse. And here's the thing. They're social media posts. But we're talking about issues -

HUNT: But they haven't been sexual in nature in this way.

MILLER: Again, I haven't discussed that with the president. I don't know if the president even saw the comment that was on there. That's not something that I have asked.

But we have real people who are struggling with inflation that is hurting this country, with the border crisis. And President Trump was just at the border this past week honoring those who've been killed by this migrant invasion. Jocelyn Nungaray and Rachel Mourn and Laken Riley, three names. I do not hear - I do not believe we'll hear from Kamala Harris at the debate on the 10th. That's assuming that Kamala Harris shows up to the debate, which I imagine that she will because Americans deserve to hear why Kamala Harris has been in hiding for 39 days. Of course, we'll hear from Kamala Harris and Tim Walz when they sit down with Dana to air this evening on CNN.

And, look, Dana's one of the best in the business, if not the best in the business. I don't think Dana will allow Kamala Harris to hide behind Tim Walz. I think Dana will ask Kamala Harris why she thinks she deserves a promotion and why she hasn't done any of the things over the past three-and-a-half years that she says that she'll do in the future.

HUNT: Jason, before I let you go, I want to ask you about one other issue, one story that - there was a "Politico" story about a - a new book that's set to be published next week from - from your boss, the former president, that says that Mark Zuckerberg, the head of Meta, plotted against him during the 2020 election. And that the Meta chief executive would, quote, "spend the rest of his life in prison," end quote. We also, of course, saw Zuckerberg send a letter to Congress expressing regret about some of the things Facebook did during the last election around misinformation.

Does the president - does the former president feel this way about Mark Zuckerberg? Does he believe that he should go to jail?

MILLER: Well, President Trumps certainly had a right to be angry at the time, and especially looking back at this - excuse me, the censorship that went on in 2020. I mean they used this guise of Russian misinformation to outright sensor a story that turned out to be very true with the Hunter Biden laptop. And it did manipulate the election. In fact, a post-election study for the Media Research Center said that one out of every seven Biden voter would have looked to go a different way, possibly to President Trump, if they knew about the truth of the foreign business dealings and everything else on Hunter Biden's laptop specific to Joe Biden and the international - what we would say is corruption.

[06:40:14]

HUNT: And is that - is this a jailable offense, in your view? In the - in the president - in the former president's view?

MILLER: I'm not a lawyer. I'll leave that up to the lawyers to go and decide on that. But I do think that there was blatant election interference and there should be some accountability to that. It can't just be a talking point from the left. There actually - people have to be held responsible, especially those 51 intelligence officers for intentionally. very specifically knowing that that was a lie and pushing this Russian disinformation hoax.

But again, the important thing here is it's not back in 2020. We're talking about the future. But a future where we're going to have record low inflation, a secure border. We're not going to have these wars popping up everywhere. And that's where I think the difference is in this campaign is that President Trump's going to put more money back in people's pockets, but he's going to - he's telling them exactly how he's going to do it. We don't know from Kamala Harris, maybe we'll find out from Dana tonight, how she's going to pay for any of her plans.

HUNT: All right, Jason Miller, thank you very much for coming on today. I appreciate your time. Hope you'll come back.

MILLER: Thank you so much.

HUNT: All right, still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, a battle of the VPs. Both Tim Walz and J.D. Vance speaking at this same convention, vying for the same union to support their ticket.

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[06:45:49]

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GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Game seven of the World Series. We're down a couple runs, but we got the rally hats on. We got runners on base, and our heavy hitters are on deck. We got the hometown going wild. Sisters and brothers in labor, it's time for you to step up to the plate. We've got 69 days to win this thing.

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HUNT: Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz trying to secure support from a key labor union. Yesterday, he met with the International Association of Firefighters. That's one of the largest labor unions in the country. Walz is the first union member on a presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan. Speaking to that group in Boston, he appealed by focusing on Kamala Harris as a pro-union candidate.

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GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: When we're in office, we'll make sure you have all the resources and protections you need to do your jobs and your service is respected and that you come home safe every night. We know exactly who built this country. It's people like the folks in this room, firefighters, police officers, construction trades, teachers, and nurses, and veterans, who contributed their contributions to our nations long after they got out of military service. It was you who built the middle class. And we know that when unions are strong, America is strong.

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HUNT: The firefighters union has yet to endorse in the presidential race. So, today, J.D. Vance heading to speak before that same convention.

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SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We want you to have safe jobs. We want you to be able to do what you can and do what you need to do without being destroyed by our public leadership. And we want you to have good wages for a fair day's work. That's true for the union workers, and that's true for the non-union workers too.

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HUNT: All right, Joining me now, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.

Liz, thank you so much for being on the show today. I appreciate your time.

LIZ SHULER, PRESIDENT, AFL-CIO: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

HUNT: So, you - the AFL-CIO has, of course, endorsed the Harris ticket. I want to say that up front. We're also a couple days away from Labor Day where we'll be marking the contributions of all of the people who work hard every day for a living.

The reality is, you have lost some ground among union - rank and file union members, Democrats have lost some ground. When I talked to Debbie Dingell about going a union halls, you know, outside Detroit, she will say, there's a lot of work to do.

Why is that - why is that happening considering that the leadership of many of the unions are on the Democratic side?

SHULER: Well, we're still, of course getting information out about what this administration has done because as you know, often there's a disconnect between what happens in Washington and what happens in communities.

And I think people are still getting to know Kamala Harris and connecting the dots with that record of the past three-and-a-half years that she and Joe Biden have, you know, made all these investments in infrastructure and created new union jobs in manufacturing. And I think sometimes the narrative doesn't match up with what people's experience is. And so I think that's our job, as - as unions to make sure that that information gets out on the ground.

HUNT: What do you want to hear from - Harris is sitting down with her - with Tim Walz, her vice presidential pick, tonight with Dana Bash. And one question that's relevant for I know a lot of your members, especially in the Midwest, is this mandate around electric vehicles, the way that the Biden administration has pushed a set of rules, basically, that will accelerate the EV market, potentially at the expense of the market for gas cars. And that's something that a lot of people are very invested in.

Do you want to see her continue the Biden administration policy? Do you want her to tell - to say tonight that that's where she is, or do you want to see her change and make a break from where the Biden administration is on this?

SHULER: Well, we don't see it - it's often set up as a false choice. We don't see it as that. We think you can have a clean environment and good union jobs. And you've seen this investment that the Biden administration has made. It is - you know, we have labor standards in these investments and were seeing electric school buses picking up children now that schools getting started because of these investments. And they are creating good union jobs in Georgia. So, I think we can do both. And I think it is -

HUNT: But do you want Kamala Harris to do anything differently compared to where the Biden administration has been?

[06:50:04]

SHULER: She has been - she has a strong record in the environment and clean energy, and that has been emblematic of this administration. I believe she will continue on that path in creating good union jobs in clean energy.

HUNT: All right, Liz Shuler, the president of the AFL-CIO, thank you so much for your time today.

SHULER: Yes.

HUNT: I hope you'll come back on the show.

SHULER: I hope so too. Thank you.

HUNT: Appreciate it.

All right, coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING, overwhelmed and burned out. Why the U.S. surgeon general says parental stress has become a significant public health issue.

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HUNT: So right now, as in 6:54 a.m. on the East Coast right now, one of the most stressful times in any parent's day, getting everybody ready, out the door, on time.

[06:55:00]

I want to thank my husband for doing that every morning for both of us. Thank you, darling.

If you are feeling burned out or overwhelmed, you are not alone. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says that parental stress is a growing public health issue.

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VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: This intensified culture of comparison that we're all living in that's really potentiated and fed by social media and the online environment, where parents are looking around them and - and comparing themselves to sometimes hundreds of other parents, some of whom they know, some of whom they don't know, but they often come away feeling worse about themselves and like they're falling short as parents.

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HUNT: So, according to Dr. Murthy, who is a father of two, the U.S. needs a shift in policy and cultural norms because mothers and fathers who work many more hours than they did decades ago, and they also spend many more hours every week on primary child care.

Our panel is back.

I think this might be the one thing that we are all in unanimity on today, which is that we're all parents at this table. And, unfortunately, I'm told from the parents of the empty nesters that like - mine are little, five and 18 months, it apparently doesn't -

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: It never ends. It never ends. If they're going to take away phones in schools, they should take it away from parents as well. Because if he's saying this is a growing crisis - this has been a crisis for centuries raising little kids. And, you know, just get rid - the social media and the fear of missing out or the whatever that all is, you're good parents. Take care of your children. That's all you need to know.

HUNT: Well, I think that the - what he seems to be saying here, Sarah, is that the way our modern life has evolved, has it made - has made it harder for parents. Parents is - parenting is more intensive than it ever was from the primary caregivers, from the primary - from - from parents. There's less input from extended family. And there's not a lot of support out there for - in terms of, you know, whether it's - it's, you know, your extended family being round, but also from society itself.

SARAH LONGWELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, REPUBLICAN ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT: Yes, I don't know. I mean, look, I do think it has to do some with social media, although you could take that social media frame and apply it to just about any part of life in the way that it amplifies things. I do think it has actually a lot more to do with this idea of not

having extended family around. I mean it just used to be that there were grandparents living in the house, or your family was all nearby. I know for us, like, you know, we all live far away from our families. And both - both sets of grandparents are hours away. And so there's not somebody who you can just be like, hey, just grabbed the kid, you know, and you find yourself having to do pick-up, drop-off, breakfast, get them out the door, and then everybody's working from, you know, the moment you wake up because you've got your phone now. So, it's just - it is just a modern thing that we're all trying to figure out how to navigate.

HUNT: Right. Well, and especially post-pandemic and the pandemic period was so stressful for parents as well.

KENDRA BARKOFF, FORMER PRESS SECRETARY TO JOE BIDEN: It was. But I also think that there are certain policies that we have in place in the United States that don't help us, right? Our paid leave isn't what it should be. Our childcare isn't what it should be. And so, there are policies that need to be put in place to move our country in a way that I think will help parents to achieve what they need, which is a less stressful life. It's really hard.

And so I think that there's some stuff that the Senate and Congress and the president should be doing on that issue too.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes. I think it's especially a problem for low-income families. And this is where it plays into the politics. It's not just a social issue. What do you do with the kids in the summer during the long, you know, school vacation if you don't have the money to put them in camps and everything else. This is part of the pressure -

HUNT: And they're not getting lunch at school anymore.

COLLINSON: Right. On working Americans, this is part of the pressure that's playing into this election.

Having said that, I think, in my 20 odd years of being a parent, I think there's more consciousness about this issue now. And especially with the working from home from the pandemic, that has many bad aspects to it, but it has allowed, I think, some more flexibility for parents -

HUNT: Yes.

COLLINSON: To leave early to go and get the kids, or if the kid's sick, to stay at home and work. So, that has changed a little bit.

HUNT: Fair enough.

All right, this morning I'll leave you with this.

Ten years ago President Barack Obama wore a tan suit to a daily press briefing. And the reaction, well, it was a lot.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Think about this picture. When was the last time you saw President Obamas suave in beige and earth tones for crying out loud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I thought the suit was a metaphor for his lack of seriousness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And only the Democrats and only the liberals could actually elect a guy with a tan suit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wear a dark color suit when you're a dude. It's real simple.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, he doesn't - we haven't seen him -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Or go for all out seersucker. I wore the - I -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seersucker? You want him to talk about fighting domestic terrorism looking like Mark Twain?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God. I can't - come on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Simpler times? The former president marked the anniversary with a tweet praising the tan suit worn by Kamala Harris on the opening night of the DNC. Obama insisting it's still a good look.

[07:00:05]

Mike Dubke, where do you come down on this?

DUBKE: I wish I had known we were doing this. I would have worn my tan suit today.

I do think -

HUNT: I - I - this was an accident, to be clear, I wore tan.

DUBKE: I do. I have (INAUDIBLE). I do think it's a good look. I'm - I'm for it. But, you know, Nixon was against a brown suit back in the day. Said, you know, real politicians don't wear brown suits. So.

COLLINSON: Can we go back to arguing about suits?

LONGWELL: Please.

COLLINSON: Yes. Those were the days.

HUNT: Simpler times.

All right, thanks guys for joining us this morning.

Thanks to all of you for being with us this morning. I'm Kasie Hunt.

And, don't forget, tonight on CNN, one of the most anticipated interviews of this election cycle. Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, will sit down with Dana Bash for the first interview. Harris and Walz, a CNN exclusive, begins tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

Don't go anywhere. CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.