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Ohio Officials Refute Pet-Eating Rumor Spread By Trump; Soon: SpaceX Crew Embarks On Historic Spacewalk; Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) On Trump-Harris Debate. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired September 12, 2024 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, 5:29 a.m. on the East Coast, but we're going to take a live at outer space where in just moments SpaceX astronauts are planning to attempt the first civilian spacewalk in human history. We're going to keep an eye on it and we'll show you it all live as the mission unfolds this morning.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

Let's do some politics first. There is no truth to any of this. That is the word from Ohio officials after Trump's repeated false claims that Haitian migrants are eating residents' pets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In Springfield they're eating the dogs -- the people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating -- they're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country, and it's a shame.

As far as rallies are concerned -- as far as -- the reason they go is they like what I say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Local city officials in Springfield say that there is no evidence to support this claim. The state's Republican governor backing up those city leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE DEWINE, (R) OHIO: This is something that came up on the internet, and the internet can be quite crazy sometimes. And look, the mayor -- Mayor Rue of Springfield says no, there's no truth in that. They have no evidence of that at all. So I think we go with what the mayor says. He knows his city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Clip and save that piece of that -- "the internet can be quite crazy sometimes." Joining us now to talk about this, Reese Gorman, political reporter at NOTUS. Reese, good morning to you. Wonderful to see --

REESE GORMAN, POLITICAL REPORTER, NOTUS: Good morning.

HUNT: -- you here.

This is the second day that we are talking about this because, of course, we heard from these Springfield officials who said this is bad for their city -- that this is what has happened here. They say that this is not what has happened.

Donald Trump went to this part of it even though as many Republicans who've come and sat at this table have pointed out there are legitimate issues that have been caused my migration in the city of Springfield. Republicans are more trusted on the issue of immigration. And yet, the way that Donald Trump talked about it means that here we are instead.

GORMAN: Yeah. I mean, this is just classic Trump, right? He sees something and he runs with it. And despite advice of advisers and the advice of allies he just can't help himself. And this is one of those things.

It's just way too online. It's also something that if you're not online you probably didn't know at all before Trump said this at the debate. And now here we are and you're looking at it like what is going on? What is he talking about?

And it just completely derailed the message, too, because he could have made kind of an argument -- objective argument that his administration would be better on immigration than what the Harris administration would be. But instead, he took it to an extreme and now this is all that he wants to talk about.

We're not talking about illegal immigration. We're not talking about immigration policy. We're talking about whether or not migrants are eating pets, and that was because Trump went there.

HUNT: Yeah.

So, J.D. Vance is also -- and I suppose this is why they hired him, right, in the role of defender in chief of Donald Trump. This is what he had to say about it on Fox. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know which one of the full spate of animals that are being consumed there in Springfield, but I know the geese are certainly among them. And we've heard reports from a number of constituents on the ground that they have had pets abducted by some of the immigrants there. We're, of course, looking into this stuff.

But look, the fundamental issue here is whether they were eating geese or dogs, is that really what we're going to hang our hat on? The problem is that this small town in Ohio has been flooded with 20,000 migrants thanks to Kamala Harris' policies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: That was actually Vance in the spin room on Tuesday night after the debate again making this point that we were talking about, right? Like, the issue is that this small town in Ohio --

GORMAN: Yeah.

HUNT: -- he says at the end, has been overwhelmed by migrants because of Harris' policies.

GORMAN: Yeah.

HUNT: That is, in theory, the message. But again, I'm not sure. He says the fundamental issue here is whether they were eating geese or dogs.

His --

GORMAN: Yeah.

HUNT: The top of the ticket -- was going there.

GORMAN: Yeah. And see, and that's the point, right, is like he can't come out and just go against what Trump's saying so he has to kind of double down here on this -- in this -- on this standpoint.

But, I mean, the last part is kind of what the message that the campaign wanted them to get out where it was like regardless of what's happening, the Kamala Harris administration would be terrible on immigration, and this would be -- what would be happening. The cities -- yada, yada, yada.

HUNT: It could happen to you.

GORMAN: Exactly.

HUNT: Yeah.

GORMAN: But instead, all they're asking him is about whether or not migrants are eating animals and -- because that's what they're saying and that's what they're doing there. So now this is the message that they're going to -- I mean, they could try to change it, but this is what resonated with people from the debate. And it's just -- this is just exactly what Trump's advisers did not want him to do.

HUNT: All right.

Well, Reese Gorman, thank you very much. We'll see what the topic is for you next time -- next time you roll through our set.

GORMAN: Yeah, we'll see. Thank you.

HUNT: Thank you very much. All right, let's go down to this. We're about to witness history 435 miles above the surface of Earth. In just a matter of moments members of the SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew are expected to attempt a risky spacewalk, the first in history by private citizens. The spacewalk was supposed to take place more than three hours ago and we don't have an explanation for the delay at this point.

But we don't want to bring in Kristin Fisher, CNN space and defense correspondent. Kristin, good morning. Wonderful to have you back.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

HUNT: So walk us through what we're going to see here because there are a -- there's a lot of ground about to be broken.

[05:35:03]

FISHER: There is. And, you know, I can't stress this enough because we've gotten so used to seeing NASA astronauts -- government astronauts doing spacewalks up at the International Space Station for quite some time now.

This is the first time that regular civilians have ever attempted a spacewalk. And they're going to be using a spacesuit that's never been worn in space before designed by a private company, and it's the first time that any private company has ever tried to attempt something like this.

And a spacewalk is truly, like, one of the riskiest things that you can do in space. I mean, forget about launch and landing. That's, of course, risky. But once you're in orbit this is as risky and as tricky as it gets.

So what we're going to see is -- in just about under 25 minutes we're going to see the hatch on the Dragon capsule open up and you're going to see two of the four crew members float outside of the spacecraft. And what they're going to be doing is -- the way it's described is it's going to look like a dance because they said they're going to be moving like caterpillars is the way it looks. So to us it may not look --

HUNT: Dancing like caterpillars, OK.

FISHER: Dancing caterpillars was -- I went down and I interviewed the crew before they launched and that's how the commander, Jared Isaacman, described it to me. He was like I'm going to look like a dancing caterpillar, so bear with me.

But that has a purpose. What they're doing is they're testing out how the suit moves, how it works, how it functions in the vacuum of space. And, you know, it -- you think oh, in space you're weightless. Everything is really easy to move. But this is a pressurized suit and so it's actually just doing something like closing your hand into a fist is really, really difficult to do.

So that's the purpose of today's spacewalk, to test these suits out for the first time and get the data back to SpaceX engineers on the ground. And then all of this has the ultimate goal of having this be the first generation suit and hopefully, a fourth or fifth generation suit is going to be the ones that the first humans on Mars will wear.

HUNT: Fascinating.

So, Kristin, have they tested these suits other -- I mean, did they send them up by themselves previously? Like, if I'm an astronaut inside the suit I may be a little nervous.

FISHER: Sure. No. I mean, this is it. This is the first time that they have ever been tested in the vacuum of space. Now, they have tested them in vacuum chambers here on Earth, so it has been tested in a vacuum. But, you know, that's here on Earth where if something goes wrong you can easily get these astronauts or whose ever -- whoever is wearing them out.

If something goes wrong in space, there's really nothing you can do.

And one of the riskiest moments of this whole thing is not going to be the spacewalk itself, it's going to be after the spacewalk is over because Kasie, they're going to have to close the hatch. And what happens if you can't close that hatch? And what happens if then, once the hatch is closed, you can't repressurize the spacecraft? Then you're in a situation where it would be very difficult to get back to Earth alive.

So the next two hours really fraught with risk but these guys have spent two years training for this. They say they feel really confident in their teams on the ground. And two of the people that are part of this crew -- two of these private astronauts -- they're actually SpaceX employees. The first time any SpaceX employee has actually been in space. So --

HUNT: Wow.

FISHER: -- they've never done it before but they're experienced.

HUNT: All right. Well, we'll see you at the top of the hour when we're --

FISHER: OK.

HUNT: -- set to have this all unfold. Kristin Fisher, thank you very much.

FISHER: Thanks.

HUNT: All right, stay with CNN THIS MORNING. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are heading back out on the campaign trail. Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell will be here with her take on Tuesday night's debate and whether that might move the needle in her critical swing state.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:43:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Her vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth -- it's an execution, no longer abortion, because the baby is born -- is OK. And that's not OK with me.

LINSEY DAVIS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR, DEBATE MODERATOR: There is not state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think the American people believe that certain freedoms -- in particular, the freedom to make decisions about one's own body -- should not be made by the government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Abortion access front and center at Tuesday night's debate both on and off the stage. Republicans still trying to figure out how to message on the issue. Democrats, of course, are leaning in, and that includes in the battleground state of Michigan where in 2022, voters approved a message -- a measure to establish the right to an abortion in the state constitution.

Despite that being law, Democratic Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin is campaigning on the issue. Her opponent, Republican Mike Rogers says this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELISSA SLOTKIN CAMPAIGN AD: The facts: Mike Rogers said, "I support all restrictions on abortion," just like his anti-abortion backers. No exceptions for rape or incest. They even supported a nationwide abortion ban and laws that could eliminate IVF and birth control.

MIKE ROGERS CAMPAIGN AD: I'm Mike Rogers. I know that a decision about a pregnancy is one of the most difficult and personal decisions a woman will make. Michigan voters have already decided the issue and I respect that decision. In the Senate, I won't do anything to change it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Of course, what you saw there first was an ad attacking Rogers before seeing his current message.

Joining me now to discuss, Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell. Congresswoman, wonderful to see you. Thank you so much for being here.

So look, you have been talking to people on the ground in Michigan. It's a critical swing state. We saw the debate play out on Tuesday night. Do you think it changed the race?

[05:45:00] REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): So I was ecstatic, like every other Democrat, as I watched the debate. I thought he -- she got under his skin. He showed -- reminded much of America about who he was and what he was. She showed people she could be the commander in chief.

At 6:50 yesterday morning one of my township supervisors called me and wanted to know what I thought. And I said, "Well, what did you think?" And that discussion brought me right back down to Earth.

I want to get home. I've been in Washington for the chaos here. I want to get in those union halls. I want to get to those farmer's markets, those VFWs, and hear what people are saying.

But I want to remind people -- people know who Donald Trump is. They -- he was the Donald Trump we all know. And I think she is defining who she is and reassuring people she is capable of being commander in chief -- strong, confident.

But these polls still show how close it is. It's still a race between now and November. And I am not on a sugar high. I am Debbie-determined (PH) that we've got a lot of work to do if we're going to win in November.

HUNT: Congresswoman, right before the debate there was that New York Times/Siena College poll that came out that had a lot of Democrats sort of biting their fingernails and some nervousness. It was a national number and plenty of reasons to potentially cast out on this single poll. But it did seem to show some -- a little bit of a different story than kind of what the summer had brought for Kamala Harris.

Do you think that sense of the race that poll generated -- the way people reacted to it is the accurate one, or do you think she is -- that she has many paths to 270 electoral votes, shall I say? Let me put it that way.

DINGELL: I think that this -- that there are paths -- many -- you know, there are various different states that are battleground states.

I will tell you I think that poll is an accurate poll. With all due respect, I think the CNN poll that showed her four points up was not accurate. There had been two other polls in Michigan that I trust and know the pollsters that both showed that she -- a statistical dead heat. She was down a point and a little fraction in each of them.

I think Michigan is a dead heat. That's before I left last weekend. I want to get home and see after the debate.

But there's a lot of competitiveness. His base is energized. Now, you've certainly seen her base -- our base -- the Democratic base become far more energized -- people know. But there's just a lot of people in the middle. I don't understand at times what people see in Donald Trump. They know what will happen to this country if he's president again, but they believe strongly. And I -- it's just -- it's just closer than people realize. HUNT: In that conversation you had in the wake of the debate -- the one that you say brought you back down to Earth, do you have any clues from that conversation --

DINGELL: I do.

HUNT: -- to explain it?

DINGELL: Because it -- so somebody I'm very close to, and I'm sure she'll call me as soon as a leave this set -- and immigration -- he kept going to immigration, immigration, immigration. And I sincerely hope that the American people know that people are -- Haitians are not eating dogs and cats, and I hate that that's what we're reduced to.

And I think the family was very powerful that talked - asked him to please stop talking about their son that --

HUNT: Aiden Clark who was killed with --

DINGELL: Correct.

HUNT: There was an immigrant driving the bus he was in, yeah.

DINGELL: But he stayed on message on immigration, and immigration is a powerful -- it leads to insecurity, fear, both in economics, the job market. Total lies about what is being -- you know, how much money is being spent. But they're also worried about safety, security, fentanyl, and all of that. He stays on message and that resonates with some people.

HUNT: Yeah. So that sort of wraps up all of the concerns into one. Very interesting.

All right, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell. So grateful to have you. Come back after you've been home for a couple of days. Let us know.

DINGELL: Four days.

HUNT: We'll check back in.

DINGELL: I'll be everywhere.

HUNT: All right, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell. So grateful to have you. '

All right, time now for sports. Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson makes WNBA history breaking the league's single-season scoring record.

Andy Scholes has this morning's Bleacher Report. Andy, good morning.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Good morning, Kasie.

So A'ja Wilson, one of the most dominant players the WNBA has ever seen. And last night she added yet another record to her already storied career. The two-time MVP getting this bucket near the end of the first half to give her 941 points. It's the most ever in a WNBA season. Wilson would finish with 27, just 44 points away from the first-ever 1,000-point season.

And after the game, Wilson gave all the credit to her teammates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

A'JA WILSON, CENTER, LAS VEGAS ACES: I don't get any of that without every single teammate along the way. And I'm so grateful to be able to play with just -- and I said it on the broadcast before -- just selfless women. They give it their all every single day and they are their pure selves, and that's what I love the most. And I'm trying not to get emotional.

[05:50:07]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, cause you know I'm going to cry.

WILSON: But, like, my teammates are the ones -- they're the heartbeat. They get me going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And Wilson and the Aces, they were taking on the Fever in that one.

And it was a rough night for Caitlin Clark. She went just six for 22 shooting, including only one for 10 from three-point land. She finished with 16 points.

The Aces win easily 86-75. Las Vegas beating Indiana for the 14th straight time and they're going to play again tomorrow.

All right, to baseball where Shohei Ohtani edged closer to a historic season. The Dodgers' slugger homering in the first inning. That was his 47th of the season. L.A. actually hit four home runs in the first off Cubs starter Jordan Wicks.

Then in the second inning, Ohtani would come to the plate again and then he'd get on base, and he'd steal second for his 48th stolen base. He's now three home runs and two stolen bases away from the first-ever 50-50 season in baseball history.

The Dodgers beat the Cubs 10-8.

All right, week two of the NFL season kicks off tonight with an AFC East showdown in Miami as the Dolphins are going to host the Bills. Both teams winning in week one.

The Dolphins -- they haven't won the division since 2008, and one of the reasons is they just can't beat the Bills. Buffalo has won 13 of their last 15 matchups.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUA TAGOVAILO, QUARTERBACK, MIAMI DOLPHINS: That's going to be what's written out there until we do something about that. That's going to be the narrative that we can't beat the Bills. And until we do beat them and we beat them consistently, like, none of that's going to change. And we have an opportunity to do that this year. We have an opportunity to do that this Thursday.

JOSH ALLEN, QUARTERBACK, BUFFALO BILLS: To win this division you've got to -- you've got to beat your in-division teams and rivals. And that's how we see it so we've got to just try to find a way to go 1-0 -- whatever way that may be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And all you Fantasy Football players out there make sure to check your lineups because Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert is out for tonight, Kasie, and Achane is also questionable. So don't want to have those guys in your lineup.

HUNT: OK, fair enough.

SCHOLES: Yeah.

HUNT: I will say I know absolutely nothing about Fantasy Football, so I am going to have to cage on this. I appreciate the tip though.

SCHOLES: All right.

HUNT: Andy, thank you very much.

All right. Coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING we are set to witness history in just a matter of moments. It's going to unfold live here as members of SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission are about to attempt the first spacewalk by civilians.

Plus, how did Tuesday night's debate land among the coveted undecided voters? Longtime pollster Frank Luntz is going to join us to discuss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): Most people didn't know here terribly well other than a few clips that were not flattering that you might see on the internet. And people saw oh, actually, she's an intelligent, capable person who has a point of view on issues, and she demonstrated that time and again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:57:00]

HUNT: It's Thursday, September 12.

Right now on CNN THIS MORNING a daring mission in outer space. The world's first commercial spacewalk about to begin any minute now. We're going to show you that live.

And as Democrats urge caution, Republicans trying to do some damage control. We'll have all the fallout from the debate. Plus, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They're eating the pets of the people that live there.

HARRIS: It's opposed to a conversation that is --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: It was one of the more bizarre moments in the debate. Now city and state leaders in Ohio are trying to set the record straight.

And later --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR SWIFT, SINGER-SONGWRITER: If you are over 18, please register to vote for something else --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Taylor Swift asking her millions of fans to speak now after dropping her key endorsement for Kamala Harris. The Trump campaign trying to brush off its impact.

All right, we are coming up on 6:00 a.m. here on the East Coast. We're up a little before the top of the hour because we want to go live to outer space where any moment now a historic and daring mission about to get underway. A SpaceX crew is about to try to carry out the world's first commercial spacewalk.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

SpaceX's Polaris Dawn team about to begin the elaborate process to prepare themselves for the void of space. The first step, preparing their spacesuits and getting into position before they open the hatch on their Dragon capsule.

Two of the four crew members will then exit the capital -- the capsule. They will be outside for about 20 minutes. The entire process expected to last about two hours.

Let's bring in Kristin Fisher. She is CNN space and defense correspondent. Kristin, good morning to you.

FISHER: Good morning.

HUNT: Really fun to be able to do this live with you on set. Walk us through -- here at the top of the hour we're just about to see the preparations get underway. By the half-hour though things should start to get really interesting.

FISHER: That's something that should get really exciting. If all goes according to plan, at around 6:30 -- that's when the hatch should actually open.

But right now the crew has donned their brand new SpaceX spacesuits -- never been worn before or tested in the vacuum of space.

They've also been securing the Dragon spacecraft and preparing it to enter the vacuum of space because Kasie, think about it. When a -- when an airplane takes off or lands all the things you have to do to prepare it for landing and takeoff. This is even more extreme because anything that's not secured down is just going to float away.

HUNT: Is gone.

FISHER: Yeah, it's gone forever.

But not just that. I mean, in addition to the astronauts themselves having to protect themselves from the vacuum of space, the spacecraft has to be hardened as well.