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CNN This Morning

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman is Interviewed about Ukraine; Aaron Ford is Interviewed about Nevada Politics; Hurricanes and Politics Collide. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired September 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]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: CNN asks people in our polls to say whether or not increasing the number of races and ethnicities and nationalities, whether it is enriching or threatening to American culture. And just look at what they say. They said is - 33 percent say it is threatening, versus 66 percent who say it is enriching. That is a dramatic change from 2019 when we asked the question, when 11 percent said it was threatening an 82 percent said that diversity was enriching to our country. So that - that is the impact that this kind of rhetoric has on all of us.

All right, still to come here on CNN THIS MORNING, the partisan divide over Ukraine's war against Russia seems to be getting even wider. We're going to talk to Alexander Vindman, he was the whistleblower at the middle of Donald Trump's first impeachment, about where things stand in terms of U.S. support for Ukraine.

Plus, hot to go for Harris. The vice president picking up another popstar endorsement. That's in our morning roundup.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:45]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look at the war in Ukraine. And I think it's something we have to have a quick discussion about because the president of Ukraine is in our country and he's making little, nasty aspersions toward your favorite president.

Those cities are gone. They're gone. And we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal, Zelenskyy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be here in Washington today, just a day after his speech to the United Nations in New York, and President Biden's announcement of a $375 million aid package for the war-torn country. Donald Trump taking issue with Zelenskyy's appeals for funding from the U.S. The former president has a long history with the Ukrainian leader.

Our next guest knows a little something about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, I understand you have a long history of uncovering corruption.

LT. COL. ALEXANDER VINDMAN (RET.), U.S. ARMY: I reported President Donald Trump when he was a sitting president, and he attempted to extort, in a quid pro quo, President Zelenskyy, who's now fighting a war against Russia. And President Trump ended up being impeached.

I continue to expose corruption wherever I find it. And I will not tolerate corruption from Trump, Putin, or Larry David.

LARRY DAVID: Come on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump, Putin and Larry David. That's an unusual combination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: And joining us now is retired Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman.

Colonel, thank you so much for being here. We enjoyed - enjoyed seeing that cameo again.

But - but you're here for serious reasons. You have a new piece in "Foreign Affairs," and it's looking at the fate of Ukraine depending on the outcome of the U.S. election. You say it may ultimately depend on American voters choice in November.

Explain what you mean and what you think Zelenskyy should be doing about it?

LT. COL. ALEXANDER VINDMAN (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Thanks for having me on, Kasie. And I appreciate the - the light humor to start off.

But switching to a very serious topic. Look, I would - I would say that I tend to be probably a little bit critical of the current administration and some inadequacies in the kind of support that - that's being provided. My next book that's coming out in February actually lays out the failure of six administrations along the way, missed opportunities to warn off Putin, to harden Ukraine. And I think, you know, the Biden administration has probably fallen into that bag (ph) a little bit on the more effective side of that spectrum.

What I wanted to do to give - write is some - a piece that addresses two topics, a theory of victory for Ukraine because it's possible, it's within reach, a change in policy, a policy review for - from a Harris administration that recognizes the shortfalls, provides more fulsome support, does some key things, like better training for the Ukrainian military. The funding that we provide Ukraine almost all of it, every penny just about comes back to the U.S. defense sector. Some of it actually has to go into Ukraine to do things like build drones. They're doing - they're very well in that space. And we need to fix the things that we provided to the Ukrainians.

And the Ukrainians have some things to do themselves. They need to draw in more manpower to fight the war and they need to juice up their industrial base.

But all that really kind of pales in comparison to the alternative, which would be chaos and a spiral towards a broader confrontation. We see the outlines of that already. We see a coherence and a coalition of - forming between Russia, Iran, this discussion of providing cruise missiles to the Houthis - the Houthis, the proxies of Iran, advanced weapons kind of circulating around the world from - from Russia, the North Koreans pitching in, the Chinese trying to figure out if they should get off the sidelines. They are providing material support. And we have a scenario in which we would really kind of almost fall off a cliff in which the Trump administration would cater to our enemies and be an adversary to our allies, be threatening to our allies.

We saw that on display just within the past 24 hours in the way that Donald Trump talked to and referred to Russia as the good guy, the U.S. as somehow precipitating this confrontation, and then damned Ukraine and President Zelenskyy for doing what he needed to do in order to advocate for his country.

[06:40:10]

It is bizarre. Somehow, you know, we hold one side to a higher standard without recognizing that the utter chaos and the - and the really, you know, the brink of disaster that we would be - that we are on if we make the wrong choice on Election Day.

HUNT: Sir, yes, I mean, I think you - you may be referring in part to what Donald Trump had to say about Russia.

Let's watch that briefly and then I'll ask you about it on the other side. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Biden says, we will not leave until we win. What happens if they win? That's what they do is they fight wars. As somebody told me the other day, they beat Hitler. They beat Napoleon. That's what they do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So when he's saying "they," he means the Russians there.

Do you think Ukraine will cease to exist if Donald Trump is reelected?

VINDMAN: First, I have to address, you know, this - this commentary. I mean just the other day somebody told him about World War II. I mean, how preposterous is this? It is - it is embarrassing that a former president would say - even use that kind of language, that he just learned about World War II and - and, you know, his false impressions of how the records of the Soviet Union performed really at the backbone was support from the west and massive casualties that they took.

But I think I would say that the - that we would be facing a different kind of disaster. It wouldn't be a complete collapse of the Ukrainians. The fact is that the Europeans are spending more money on Ukraine. They're putting more resources into Ukraine. But they don't have that defense industrial base to really provide the adequate support for Ukraine to gain ground.

So, what we'd probably see is a shift to the Russians being more effective in their offensive operations, slowly grinding down the Ukrainian military and making, you know, incremental gains. But that would result in the Europeans recognizing that there is no longer U.S. support, doubling down and providing more aid, including troops. Why? Because they'd have to send a message to Russia that a Russian attack - more Russian aggression against Europe will not be tolerated. And the only way they could do that is by ramping up. They cannot be - they couldn't be weak-kneed at that point because they know that Europe would be the next target.

So, it's a recipe for a spillover. And that's what Donald Trump would be creating. He would be creating a larger war. It's a war that's already expanding in different hybrid spaces, including like I said, these cruise missiles, these coastal defense missiles that are being (INAUDIBLE) for the movies (ph). And Donald Trump would oversee that. He would oversee a much more dangerous world that should not be underestimated. The threat would not just remain overseas, it would migrate over to the United States and we would be in a precarious situation, but without allies.

HUNT: Yes.

VINDMAN: We can - cannot allow something like this happen. I can't underscore this enough at a time to make that decision will be November 5th. Everything kind of revolves around the outcomes in our election that will drive the consequences both domestically and overseas.

HUNT: All right, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, thanks very much for your time today. I really appreciate your insights. I hope you'll come back.

VINDMAN: Thank you. Definitely.

HUNT: All right, coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, a powerful and dangerous storm. The Florida coast bracing for a direct hit from Hurricane Helene in just hours.

Plus, we're going to take you to battleground Nevada. Kamala Harris heads there this weekend, focused on a core group of voters that could win her the state. And how natural disasters can create some very interesting political bedfellows, potentially define a presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: When you see neighbors helping neighbors, then you're reminded about what America is all about. You know, we go through tough times, but we bounced back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:04]

HUNT: All right, 47 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.

Hurricane Helene racing towards Florida's gulf coast. The storm forecast to make landfall as a major won later today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): There is a runway for this to rapidly intensify. That's just a fact. You're going to have impacts far beyond the eye of the storm. That's just a fact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Officials urging residents to finish preparing for the storm's arrival within the next few hours.

And this. One of the summer's biggest pop sensations, Chappell Roan, weighing in on the presidential election, but she says she's not making an endorsement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAPPELL ROAN: So, yes, I'm voting for (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Kamala, but I'm not settling for what has been offered because that's questionable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: OK, there you have it.

Let's turn now to our battleground beat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The big story at this moment, Nevada. With all the votes now tallied, Senator Bill O'Brien's lead over President Selina Meyer is now less than half a percent, which by Nevada state law would allow for a possible recount.

JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, ACTRESS, "VEEP": Do we actually have a chance in Nevada?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nevada.

LOUIS-DREYFUS: Oh, my God, I get to be president. I don't have to move! What do we do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, ma'am, we need to be sure that when we get on the ground -

LOUIS-DREYFUS: No, shut up, Kent (ph). You already lost Nevada for me once.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nevada.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: A recount in Nevada, maybe not totally off the table in this election year given how tight the race is in that state. Kamala Harris is returning to Nevada this weekend for another campaign rally. It's a key place to court the Latino vote. Some of Nevada's Hispanic voters telling CNN's John King what they're looking for this election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGELIO REGALADO, HISPANIC NEVADA VOTER: I see people on social media, Hispanics, sharing that poster, "I'm not with her." I'm like, well, I - even people that I know that they don't have a legal status in this country are doing that.

[06:50:00]

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They think he'll make the economy better.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.

REGALADO: That's exactly what it is. That's exactly what it is.

KING: It's all that?

REGALADO: It's - it's 100 percent that.

TONY MUNOZ, HISPANIC NEVADA VOTER: We need a different plan to get over the hump with this inflation that has caused severe damage to a lot of businesses.

ZOILA SANCHEZ, HISPANIC NEVADA VOTER: I had heard about, you know, that we, immigrants, are the worst, that we're coming from mental institutions and jails and everything else. It is very insulting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right, joining us now is Nevada's Democratic attorney general, Aaron Ford.

Sir, thank you so much for being on the program this morning. I really appreciate it.

We, of course, have talked so much about Latino/Hispanic voters. Such a critical piece of the electorate for Kamala Harris in your state. She's clearly doing better in the state than Joe Biden was when he was at the top of the ticket.

But you heard one of those voters there talk, especially about inflation, and that has really hit a lot of these communities so hard. In your state, hospitality workers, et cetera. Donald Trump has been talking about not taxing tips, for example.

What does Harris need to do to convince those voters that they should stick with her after the years that they've been fighting with inflation?

AARON FORD, NEVADA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, good morning from Las Vegas, Nevada. I'm glad to hear you pronounce it correctly. It is 3:45 out here. Never to early to be on the phone to talk about the importance of Nevada this election cycle.

But to your question, I think Kamala Harris is doing exactly what she needs to be doing, and that's talking about what she calls the opportunity economy. One that does more than just allow people to make it. It allows them to get ahead. Focusing on things like inflation, that she's talking about, ensuring that price gouging has taken - is under control, ensuring that people are given $25,000 for first-time homebuyers, talking about things that are important for everybody to move to the next level, the next session (ph) in their lives is one of the most important things that she could be doing and that she is doing here in Las Vegas, Nevada. And that's what's going to help sway this election in her favor.

HUNT: Mr. Attorney General, do you believe that she is leading in Nevada right now? How concerned are you that Trump might carry the state?

FORD: I do believe she is leading. I think we've seen a swing from Mr. Biden, unfortunately, being a little bit out - you know, below in the polls, but in margin of error, to Kamala Harris being ahead in the polls within margin of error to be sure.

We're a purple state, and you have to run purple. So, you have to ensure that, as Kamala Harris has been doing, you pay attention to our state. She's been here more than a half a dozen times, is coming here on Sunday to continue talking to us. And I think that, again, that's going to push this election into her - into her - the win bracket for her.

HUNT: Sir, the Senate race is also getting considerable attention in your state and polling seems to show a much wider gap between the Senate candidates. It's not clear how much credibility that polling has necessarily.

Are you confident Jacky Rosen is going to win this race, and is she running ahead of Kamala Harris? FORD: So, you are correct that polling in Nevada is notoriously and historically difficult to do and it's difficult to believe oftentimes. But I do believe, as do most folks here, that Jacky Rosen is indeed running ahead of the ticket. She will be prevailing. Jacky has done a tremendous job for the people in the state of Nevada, and she's being rewarded for that by the numbers in the polls as they are showing. She's leading, again, a top of the ticket. She's leading more - by more over Sam Brown than Kamala Harris is right now over Mr. Trump. I do think those numbers are going to tighten. But at the end of the day, Jacky Rosen will return as our U.S. senator.

HUNT: And finally, sir, before I let you go, are you confident in the infrastructure that Nevada has set up in a situation where we've already had Donald Trump talking about the potential for rigged contests. He, in a very close election, he is - there are clear signs that he may be challenging results. Are you ready for that?

FORD: Absolutely. You know, I'm known to say that we stay ready so we don't have to get ready. My office the last go around, in 2020, had to fend off and defend against no less than half a dozen frivolous, meritless lawsuits that were filed against the state of Nevada, arguing that the integrity of our elections have been undermined. And at the end of the day, again, we were able to prevail in those lawsuits because they were wrong. And we view that as a test run for 2024. And we were correct about that. They've been suing us for months now and they've been losing in court again. They will continue to lose in court because my lawyers, again, understand the importance of what the law says. We understand the facts here on the ground. We have some of the freest, fairest, most open and secure elections in the nation. And we will continue to support that, along with my secretary of state, who's my client (ph), Francisco Aguilar. We work very hard to ensure that people can trust and believe in the outcomes of this election. And we will defend that in lawsuits - these frivolous lawsuits that the GOP continued to file.

HUNT: All right, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford.

Sir, thanks very much for being on the program. Really appreciate the very early wakeup call.

[05:55:03]

And I do hope it wasn't too bad and you'll come back and join us again down the road. Thank you.

FORD: Any time. Thank you.

HUNT: Cares (ph).

All right, let's turn now to Hurricane Helene because it's bearing down on Florida and it's just weeks out from an election day. It's another reminder about how politics and hurricanes, weather, natural disasters can collide to create some presidency defining moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Again, I want to thank you all for - and, Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job. The FEMA directors is working 24 -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: You may remember that clip of President George W. Bush praising his FEMA administrator, Michael Brown, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina two decades ago. For many critics of FEMA's response, Brown was not doing a heck of a job. He resigned from that post just ten days after those comments from Bush.

Donald Trump had his own post-storm moment, including this visit to Puerto Rico, where he tossed paper towels waiting for - to people waiting for assistance after Hurricane Maria.

And, of course, hurricane responses can be - they can remain one of the last events that can cut through divisive politics and bridge partisan divides. Just two years ago another Florida storm brought together President Joe Biden and Governor Ron DeSantis, who was just a few months away from announcing his campaign for the Republican nomination.

And, of course, President Obama had this notable election year moment just days before his bid for re-election, visiting New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy. The Republican governor at the time, Chris Christie, putting aside election politics to praise the federal response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: This is so much bigger than an election. This is the livelihood of the people in my state. And what they expect me to do is get the job done. And when someone asks me an honest question, I give an honest answer. How's the president been to deal with? He's been outstanding to deal with on this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Very interesting set of old footage that sets up - of course, we're not sure yet how bad the storm is going to be, Elliot, but, I mean - I mean I cover - I was covering the Romney campaign when that was happening, when Super Storm Sandy was happening. They could not have been angrier at Chris Christie for literally embracing President Obama.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. And - and I say this as a proud son of the great garden state of New Jersey, universally Chris Christie was praised for his conduct and management following Hurricane Sandy. Every - on all political sides. And - but he got skewered for that hug. You know, it was called a hug, a warm embrace, of Barack Obama. And I think particularly as it seems we're a little more polarized now than we were even back in 2012, it remains to seen what happens if a - if a governor of one party and a President Biden or President Harris, President Trump, whatever else were to be seen embracing or whatever. It just - ANNIE LINSKEY, REPORTER, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Yes. Well, Brian Kemp. I mean right now this hurricane is barreling towards Florida, towards Georgia. Georgia, of course, a swing state. There's a Republican governor in charge. And you could sort of - the political dynamics are somewhat similar to that.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

LINSKEY: That. But, you know, I - it - it's interesting that you showed Katrina because George - that was in 2005. In 2004, when George W. Bush was facing re-election, he sent his chief of staff, Andy Card, down to Florida and said, make sure that this doesn't get f-ed up. And we - we don't talk about the 2004 hurricane.

So, in a political year, I think perhaps it gives leaders a little bit more incentive to get their act together with these.

WILLIAMS: And Bush was doing quite well up until that point.

LINSKEY: Right.

HUNT: Yes.

WILLIAMS: And it just sort of - that was the - the - the turning point, Katrina.

LINSKEY: Katrina, yes. Yes.

HUNT: All right, I do want to wrap up our show - a very interesting conversation, but I want to wrap up our show on this because it's kind of a unique thing that we don't see every day.

So, we do talk about political polarization all the time on this show. We were just talking about it. And it is natural to wonder whether the partisan divide among adults is affecting the next generation of voters. So, CNN partnered with a political scientist from Stanford and a psychologist from Arizona State University to conduct a study looking at polarization among, get this, fourth graders.

So, with permission from their parents, CNN spoke to children at schools in New Jersey, Texas, and Arizona. And as children often do, if you have them you know, they offered their brutally honest opinions of the candidates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the first word that pops into your head when you hear the name Kamala Harris?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Liar.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the first word that pops into your head when you hear Donald Trump?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pure evil.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think all he does is like complain and, like, yell.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump, he's given his life and his heart.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which one of these two candidates do you think is more likely to do bad things?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, convicted felon against a liar. Oh, who do I pick?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would be good for us to have a black woman as president for the first time in history.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But my vote's kind of still on Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fact that she's a woman and she's black, that could help kids feel - who are like her, or are different, feel a lot more accepted.

[07:00:05]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just feel like boys would probably be better as president, but she's pretty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Wow. Wow. Wow.

Parents, your children are listening. As if we didn't already know, right? I mean they - they listen to us. They imitate us. And the impact of our politics on them, like, let's not forget, I mean, they're fourth graders and these are the words that they're using about the people that - one of them is going to lead the country. Just a good reminder and a pretty stunning - pretty stunning clips there.

All right, panel, thank you very much.

And thanks to all of you for joining us.

I'm Kasie Hunt. Don't go anywhere "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.