Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Harris Lays Out Vision For America In First Interview; Israel Agrees to Pauses In Fighting In Gaza for Polio Vaccine; Sources: Ukraine to Present Russian Targets to U.S.; Trump Looks To Delay Sentencing In New York Hush Money Case. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired August 30, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:41]

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR: It's Friday, August 30th.

Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up. That's what's at stake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: The first interview with the new Democratic ticket. Kamala Harris facing questions on her past positions and how she may handle her future role.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My record speaks for itself, but I think people are coming to get to know me. I speak like they do. I speak candidly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Tim Walz for the first time pressed on the criticism he has misrepresented his past.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've been seeing a lot of IVF and I kept hearing that I'm against it. I'm actually very much for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And Donald Trump out on the trail trying to fend off Democratic criticism over reproductive rights, laying out his plan to protect access to IVF treatments.

(MUSIC) RAJU: All right, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington.

Here's a live look at Capitol Hill.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Manu Raju, in for Kasie Hunt. It's great to be with you this morning.

The first interview in the books. Kamala Harris tries to convince voters that she's ready to lead the nation as the America's 47th president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: I believe that I am the best person to do this job at this moment for all Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And the vice president fielding key policy questions from CNN's Dana Bash with a running mate, Tim Walz, by her side, including over her reversal on issues like fracking and defending her record on immigration and the economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Day one, it's going to be about, one, implementing my plan for what I call an opportunity economy. Ive already laid out a number of proposals in that regard which include what we're going to do to bring down the cost of everyday goods, where we're going to do to invest in America's small businesses, what we're going to do to invest in families, for example, extending the child tax credit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And the vice president went on to say she would offer $25,000 in down-payment assistance to force first-time homebuyers and will consider appointing a Republican tour cabinet, insisting Americans want to move on from Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: I think, sadly, in the last decade, we have had in the former president, someone who is really been pushing an agenda, and in an environment that is about diminishing the character and the strength of who we are as Americans, really dividing our nation. And I think people are ready to turn the page on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And Trump hosted a rally in Wisconsin yesterday in trying to make the case that Harris is not ready to lead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The only good thing that she's flip-flopping -- she's the greatest flip-flopper, things that she never even thought of. She's probably goes back to her room and gets sick to her stomach when she says what she has to say,

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: All right. Let's bring in our great panel to break this all down.

Matt Brown, national race and politics reporter for "The Associated Press". Meghan Hays, former director of message planning for the Biden administration, and Matt Gorman, former senior adviser to Tim Scott's presidential campaign.

Good morning. Bright and early, quick turnaround from the late night interview last night.

Now that we're here, we've been waiting for this moment. She's finally sat down and answered questions. Matt, you're a Republican strategist. You look at what happened here.

Does -- her answers, does it change the race at all?

MATT GORMAN, FORMER TIM SCOTT PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: No. I mean, it reinforced what I thought going in is when she looks, you can give a very good speech when she can control the variables and she's prepared. But when she gets any spontaneous interactions, these spontaneous scenarios, she has on her feet and it gets a little harder for. I thought she had better answer on the fracking and the flip- flops. And I thought she had better answer --

RAJU: That she would have a better answer --

GORMAN: I thought she would have a better answer. We knew these questions were coming a month ago where there's a flip-flopping on fracking, flip-flopping on immigration. I thought Walz would have a better answer on the question around his military service, blaming on grammar. So I was surprised that there wasn't a better form of answers, questions we knew were coming a month ago.

RAJU: What about you?

[05:05:01]

MEGHAN HAYS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, I think they did great. I think that for their first interview, I think they sat down, they did great. She would wait out her issues. She laid out some things.

And I think that what people should understand in some of these flip- flopping instances is governing is different than having a stance on something and she knows she has to compromise to govern and to get things done. And I think that's what she was laying out there.

And I think on Governor Walz, I think his point after a shooting is saying that these are weapons that are used in war and whether he used them in war, and someone else is using them in war, it does not change the fact these are not weapons that should be in the hands of people at school shooting. RAJU: In talking about the issue of fracking, of course, this is a

big issue in Pennsylvania. We're talking about more about that as you involving energy extraction and really pushed back against environmentalist, want to crack down on it. Harris back in when she was running for president in the 2020 Democratic primary, said she would ban that procedure, then she decided -- she sided with Joe Biden.

She became his running mates, said that she was no longer in favor of that, and she was asked about this yesterday about this issue, about what why she has changed her position and what that says to voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you still want to ban fracking?

HARRIS: No, and I made that clear on the debate stage in 2020, that I would not ban fracking.

BASH: And I believe in a town hall, you said -- you were asked, would you commit to implementing a federal ban on fracking on your first day in office, and you said, there's no question I'm in favor of banning fracking. So yes.

So it changed in -- in that campaign?

HARRIS: In 2020, I made very clear where I stand. We are in 2024 and I've not changed their position or will going I forward. Let's be clear. My values have not changed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Yeah. I mean, that's an interesting is she's trying to explain her reversal on this issue, saying that she's -- she's -- her values have not changed, but her position has changed. Does that -- how does that play in some of these states?

MATT BROWN, NATIONAL RACE AND POLITICS REPORTER, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: It's an interesting thread that she's trying to -- needle that she's trying to -- the needle that she's trying to thread there, where she is -- claiming that, you know, some of the policy position that she adopted 2020, where obviously the Democratic Party was in a different place. The country was in a different place in 2019, are not necessarily reflective of how she feels at the moment.

I think that in a lot of these places a lot of people realize that five years ago was definitely different time in the country. And a lot of people would have felt the country has transitioned to a different place, but is that a large enough place that for instance, in swing state, Pennsylvania, where fracking has a very top-of-mind issue. Is it something that are going to forgive her on?

I'm not sure that voters are that willing to, you know, have a goldfish memory shall we say, when it comes to a certain policies. RAJU: Yeah, and, you know, its interesting because she's trying to represent a change from the current administration might also defending the policies of the current administration.

How did she walk that? How she -- that's a complicated thing to balance.

GORMAN: I was also surprised when things she really I think went out of her way to really tie herself to Joe Biden and maybe it was hard because she was obviously asked about him in certain circumstances, by taking over him and the likes she was asked about, you know, from Dana, well, why didn't you do some of the things you're proposing over the last three and a half years as vice president? That was one of the other things I was very struck by, and it was hard for her to walk that line, portraying himself as the candidate change, yet also defending the president and his unpopular economic policies for the last 3-1/2 years.

RAJU: Should she distance herself more from Joe Biden?

HAYS: No, I mean, they've had an extremely successful legislative four years in office and they've accomplished a lot out of things. I think she -- when you were the vice president, you are not setting policy. You were there to execute policies, so she's not getting to be like, we're going to do this and go out and do it -- that's the president makes those decisions and she is there to back him up. So, we've now she can make change and she can refine things on the margins and do things that she wants to do to move it forward and to go an extra step or however she feels necessary.

But I think that's what she's laying out on campaign trail through different policies is the things she would do differently in what Joe Biden has done.

RAJU: And just to button this up, is that a problem do you think politically for her if she's tied to closely to Joe Biden?

BROWN: I think that Joe Biden had an entire night of the Democratic national convention basically as a sendoff for him. So it's clear that the party has not moved on from Joe Biden, and this is a party that, you know, has all of its former presidents very much still involved in minute, showing some of the diversity of it, but then also potentially where Harris can take it. That's in stark contrast to the Republican Party where Donald Trump is the most dominant force in the party and I think that's going to be the question going forward is which version of a -- of a political party do Americans prefer in this day and age?

RAJU: All right. We're going to discuss. My panel will be back later in this hour.

And don't forget, in just a few hours, Senator J.D. Vance, Donald Trump's running mate, will join CNN live responding to Harris and Walz's first interview. You can watch that on "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" in the 8:00 a.m. hour.

Now, coming up on CNN THIS MORNING: the top issue for voters, the economy. Kamala Harris talks up her plan to tackle inflation in the high stakes first interview.

Plus, the ascension from a relative unknown to Harris's running mate has been a bit bumpy. Tim Walz addresses the scrutiny over some of his past claims.

And Donald Trump makes his pitch and how his administration would handle IVF treatments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're pro-family. Nobody's ever said that before. But the IVF treatments are expensive.

[05: 10:00]

It's very hard for many people to do it and to get it. But I've been in favor of IVF right from the beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: Kamala Harris defending the Biden administration's Israel policy. In Harris' sit down interview with CNN's Dana Bash, the Democratic presidential nominee shared a similar message to the one she spoke about at the Democratic National Convention, Israel has a right to defend itself while also acknowledging the suffering of Palestinians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Let me be very clear. I'm unequivocal, and unwavering in my commitment to Israel's defense and its ability to defend itself.

[05:15:01]

And that's not going to change. Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed and we have got to get a deal done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now on the ground in Gaza, Israel agrees to pause fighting during certain time periods in September to allow for children to get vaccinated for polio.

CNN is reporting the vaccination campaign will start this Sunday and a United Nations official tells CNN that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, pushed Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on this issue during a meeting last week.

Joining me now from London, CNN international anchor Max Foster. Max, nice to see you this morning here on the east.

Max, what can you tell us about this new vaccination effort that's happening on the ground? MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, polio is a vicious virus that affects mainly young children. It can cause paralysis and even death and it's highly contagious. And we have a situation now in Gaza where there was no polio, everyone is near universal vaccination.

But the vaccination, those who are immunized currently young children, is at a rate of 80 percent. So it's starting to spread. You need to get that immunization rate up to 90 percent in order to stop the spread. So this is a desperate and vital situation. And the Israelis are now going to agree to this pause in fighting.

So, it starts on Sunday we understand it. Seven hour pauses in fighting over three days to get hundreds of thousands of young children vaccinated, but it won't just be one phase. They need to vaccinations. So in a few weeks time, they'll have to be another one as well.

So we'll see how that goes, but it's a huge effort for the aid agencies.

RAJU: Yeah. And, Max and turning to the war in Ukraine, CNN is reporting that two top Ukrainian officials will present a list of Russian targets to the Biden administration as part of its efforts to encourage the U.S. to lift restrictions on the U.S. of American weapons against Russia.

So what are you learning about this risky decision that's facing the United States?

FOSTER: The U.S. defense secretary meeting his Ukrainian counterpart, that Ukrainian counterpart, the Ukraine has been pretty clear about what they want going into this. They have got a list of targets within Russia. They want to strike with U.S. weapons.

It's a huge question for the United States because the argument up until now is that Ukraine has a right to defend itself. As soon as you start being the aggressor, then the war changes dynamic. But we've seen, haven't we, recently how Ukraine has moved into Kursk, an area of Russia. There wasn't a major backlash from Russia. They continue to fight into Ukraine.

So I think the Ukrainian argument today will be to America saying, look, we did this, it didn't provoke, it didn't escalate. We want to do more of it. Can we please use your weapons?

The broad argument really from the Ukrainians is that they can't defend themselves if they cant go into Russian airspace or aim at Russian military targets.

RAJU: Yeah, huge questions for the United States and the days ahead here.

Max Foster, live from London, thank you so much.

FOSTER: Thanks for having me.

RAJU: And coming up on CNN THIS MORNING: Donald Trump hoping to delay his sentencing in New York. Why he is asking for a change of venue.

Plus, Harris's day one promise. She says she would tackle that economy if elected.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:22:55]

RAJU: All right, 22 minutes past the hour. So, here's your morning roundup.

Donald Trump is once again looking to move his New York hush money case into federal court. His legal team filed a motion to delay his sentencing on the felony convictions in the case, while the appeals are ongoing. Right now, Trump is set to be sentenced September 18.

The man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in 2022 is trying to get his trial moved. Bryan Kohberger's lawyer arguing he cannot get a fair trial because of a, quote, mob mentality in the area. Kohberger faces the death penalty. His trial begins next summer.

A Greek vessel blown up by Houthi rebels appears to be leaking oil in the Red Sea. The Pentagon now warning of a potential environmental catastrophe. The Houthis targeting the tanker is part of a months-long offensive on ships along the waterway in a position to Israel has continued attacks on Gaza.

And the unofficial end of summer is here. Labor Day weekend bringing a much needed cool down in some parts of the country, but across the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys, record heat still in the forecast.

So let's go to meteorologist Derek Van Dam with the latest.

So, Derek, what should our viewers expect ahead of this holiday weekend?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Unofficial end of summer, say it ain't so, Manu, no. It's my favorite season, come on.

RAJU: I know, I'm sad.

VAN DAM: Although fall is welcomed, and especially after living through a long hot summer across the deep south -- the heat that's where it's going to continue through this holiday weekend, but if you're looking for that, a taste of fall, you're really in luck across the Northeast, so cooler air has settled in with this transition in the air masses, there's a few showers and thunderstorms that could become severe today. Large hail and damaging winds, the possibility across parts of the Midwest and into the Great Lakes, otherwise, just a few hit or miss showers and thunderstorms across the nation's midsection.

But there still has been a lot of heat to talk about. A record high temperatures yesterday. Look at Nashville, Tennessee, 102 degrees, that's breaking in over a century-year-old daily record high temperature. That's incredible. Still heat across the Ohio River Valley as Manu just mentioned.

[05:25:02]

But there's the cooldown, New York, Boston, all the way to Burlington in the 70s, and we'll see the below average temperatures slide into much of the eastern half of the country as we work look our way through the holiday weekend.

And a few showers and thunderstorms associated with that cold front as well. So prepare for that, plan your outdoor barbecues accordingly, here's the chance of severe weather on Saturday across parts of northern New England.

In terms of weather forecast, looks warm for D.C. to New York, warming up, I should say, heat continues for the Deep South. This is the real winner, Seattle. This is the place that I want to be, Manu. I've seen pictures there, per -- picture perfect blue skies and really just a wonderful Pacific Northwest weekend.

RAJU: Yeah, I could take low 70s. I guess we'll take the cooler fall temperatures, particularly here in D.C.

And I'm fine with fall. With football season, hey, it's okay. Summer was fun, but fall's here, I will embrace it.

Derek -- Derek Van Dam, thank you for that.

And still ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, the economy is one of the leading issues for voters in the election, and Kamala Harris is defending her record and laying out what the next four years will look like.

Plus, Governor Tim Walz addressing some of the attacks Republicans have thrown his way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALZ: But again, if it's not this, it's an attack on my children for showing love for me or it's attack on my dog. I'm not going to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)