Return to Transcripts main page
Erin Burnett Outfront
Vance's Close Law School Friend Shares 80+ Emails With Outfront; Source: NC Governor Cooper Bows Out Of Harris VP Consideration; Kim Jong Un's Young Daughter In Secret Succession Training. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired July 29, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:38]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
An exclusive interview with J.D. Vance's former Yale law school classmate and close friend, Sofia Nelson, who Vance refers to as "Sofs", sharing more than 80 emails with OUTFRONT. Vance in those emails taking on Trump, the police, and MAGA voters. We'll share them with you.
Plus, Kamala Harris's momentum raising record cash, doubling down on calling Trump and Vance flat-out weird. That's the word they're using. Now Republicans are trying to turn the tables. Will it work?
And Kim Jong-un tonight preparing his daughter, his young daughter, to take over the country. This daughter is not even a teenager yet, and it comes as new details emerge about just how poor Kim's health is.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight: Will the real J.D. Vance, please stand up?
Tonight, an exclusive interview with J.D. Vance's former classmate and close friend, Sofia Nelson, someone Vance refers to lovingly as "Sofs" in some of the more than 80 emails they wrote each other, that Nelson has shared with OUTFRONT.
Now, most of these emails have never been seen before, and their emails in which Vance rights openly about hating Trump, he goes after some Trump supporters as racist and even go so far as to say he hates police.
We're going to dive into these emails along with are many questions for Sofia Nelson in just a moment.
But these revelations come as Vice President Kamala Harris and potential running mates see an opening when it comes to J.D. Vance. Here's the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, just moments ago at Harris rally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D), MICHIGAN: He's scared of us because Democrats, we want everyone to have a seat at the table.
(CHEERING)
WHITMER: I mean, even cat lovers and dog lovers alike.
My grandma always said I needed to find at least one good thing about every person. So I'll give J.D. this -- he is efficient. In one sentence, he insulted women, Black people, and Jewish people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. Vance's big debut as Trump's running mate has been off to a rocky start, as people are questioning what he really believes and what he really stands for.
In one of the emails that Sofia Nelson shares with us from 2014, Vance writes, quote: I hate the police. Given the number of negative -- negative experiences I've had in the past few years, I can't imagine what a Black guy goes through.
Yet after being selected as Trump's running mate, this is what Vance has to say about police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They are our protectors and we back the blue in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And then there's another email. This ones from 2016, it's never been made public before J.D. Vance writes this about Trump. Quote: I hate him and what he represents. Well, of course, that we now know to be very different from how Vance speaks about Trump now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: President Trump represents America's last best hope to restore what if lost, may never be found again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And Vance has also spoken disparagingly of Trump's supporters.
So this is a 2016 email that he writes to Sofia saying that, quote: disproportionate number of Trump's supporters have, quote, racially offensive views. Those are the same suborders, of course, he is now courting himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: I you guys. I love you. I wouldn't be here without you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. OUTFRONT now, Sofia Nelson, Vance's former Yale classmate, and a close friend, and this is Sofia's first national television interview and an OUTFRONT exclusive.
Sofia, I really appreciate your taking the time here to share these things and I know that, you know, it took a lot of thought to decide to do this. You and J.D. Vance, of course, were friends, close friends.
So I understand you're a transgender public defender in Detroit. Vance now is one of the Republican Party's staunchest culture warriors.
So when you look at what you're seeing now, Sofia, J.D. Vance running as Trump's vice president. Do you see any of the same person that you knew in law school?
SOFIA NELSON, J.D. VANCE'S FORMER YALE CLASSMATE AND FRIEND: First of all, thanks for having me tonight, Erin. No, I don't see any of the man that I got to know and care about. It's really heartbreaking to see him become so callous and divisive.
BURNETT: So I wanted to go to some of these emails that we're grateful you shared with me.
[19:05:05]
And it's important for people to understand Sofia, you know, who he is and who he was. So, one of your emails from him this never before published, Vance says in November of 2016 and I quote, I really see the racially offensive views of Trump's supporters, not all of them, of course, but it certainly disproportionate, as co-existing rather than driving his support.
I guess, let me just ask the question to you this way, Sofia, then, because this is an email and you had many conversations with him. Did Vance believe that Donald Trump himself was racist?
NELSON: My understanding is that he certainly did, yes.
BURNETT: And so, you know, do you recall any of the conversations you had, the two of you, on topics like that? I mean, in a series of emails that I've shared with you, he's called Trump morally reprehensible, a very bad man. And he indicated that he wishes Trump would tone down the racism, that all indicates to me that Vance was well aware that Trump traffic in racism and that certainly not all, I agree with J.D. there, not all of the people that voted for Donald Trump are racist.
I know, you know, certainly, there are many people who voted for Barack Obama and then voted for Donald Trump. However, there is extreme undertones of prejudice, racism transphobia, homophobia, Islamophobia that drive the MAGA movement and is now something that J.D. Vance himself is trafficking in.
BURNETT: And I want to ask you about some of that in a moment. First though, on the issue of race, I know that Vance expressed to you an openness on the issue of reparations, which obviously is anathema to the Trump position, the MAGA position. He also expressed sympathy for the Black Lives Matter movement.
And in one exchange with you in these emails you shared with us, Sofia, he was reacting to the killing of Michael Brown, the 18-year- old Black man who was shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. So, this is an email, all the way back from 2014, October. Vance writes you, quote: I hate the police. Given the number of negative experiences, I've had in the past few years, I can't imagine what a black guy goes through. And we just heard a moment ago, Vance call police are protectors and we back the blue in this country.
But, Sofia, for you, how passionate was he on the issue of police bias and brutality?
NELSON: I mean, at the time I believe J.D. was genuine in the email that you just quoted, and it certainly reflects my experience as a public defender here in Detroit. I watched body-worn cameras every day and represent people who the police treat with callous disregard and excessive force. And I think it's a huge problem in this country and we see it regularly young woman was just murdered in her own home. There has been rallies around that recently.
I knew J.D. to be a genuine, thoughtful person who is compassionate towards people who are different from him. And that email, I believe at the time, genuine reflected his views.
BURNETT: So, let me ask you about this because when you talk about the kind of person that you believed him to be, we did reach out to Vance's office for a comment on your decision to publicly share your correspondence with him with us. And here's what a spokesperson for Vance says, Sofia.
They say, quote: It's unfortunate this individual chose to leak decade-old private conversation patients between friends. Senator Vance values his friendships with individuals across the political spectrum. He has been open about the fact that some of his views from a decade ago began to change after becoming a dad and starting a family. And he is thoroughly explained why he changed his mind on President Trump.
Despite their disagreements, Senator Vance cares for Sofia and wishes Sofia the very best.
Now, I want to ask you about that last sentence in just a moment. Sofia, if I may, but first, what he's saying here is that these issues of which we've touched on some from reparations to the police to racism, that this all change because he had a family, because he became a dad.
Do you think that that could be the case?
NELSON: I mean, I'm not -- I don't live in J.D. Vance's head, obviously, but what I've seen is a chameleon, someone who is able to change their positions and their values depending on what will amass them, political power and wealth.
And I think that's really unfortunate because it reflects a lack of integrity. This isn't someone who evolved on one or two issues. And with new information, this is someone who's change their opinion on literally every imaginable issue that affects everyday Americans in this country. And change the way they speak about people.
So the J.D. Vance that I was friends with for over a decade was compassionate and, you know, we've frequently disagree.
[19:10:03]
That's reflected in the emails but he always approached conversations with respect and kindness, which I think is so essential. And what we've seen with Donald Trump, it's a callousness and cruelty and the way he talks about people. A bully, right? He's a bully and he calls people names.
And when J.D. decided to run for the Senate in 2022, he started adopting that similar persona. So anathema to who he used to be and you've reflected in his Twitter, so obviously reflected in the cat ladies comment, and it was reflected in our interpersonal communications and the end of our friendship.
He just started talking in this divisive, dismissive, and cruel way about people who are different from him. And that is just not the person that I used to know.
BURNETT: So, I want to ask you about that. You know, first, I just want to say he wrote about you. He did feel a deep connection with you. I just want to emphasize, you're talking about a ten year friendship.
Ten years is a long time to have a deep friendship with a person. You would think you know them well. He wrote about you, Sofia, in "Hillbilly Elegy". He says -- he's talking about a class.
And he says one of those classes, a constitutional law seminar of 16 students became a kind of family for me. We called ourselves the island of misfit toys, as there was no real unifying force to our team, a conservative hillbilly from Appalachia, the super smart daughter of Indian immigrants, a black Canadian with decades worth of street smarts, a neuroscientist from Phoenix, and aspiring civil rights attorney born a few minutes from Yale's campus and an extremely progressive lesbian with a fantastic sense of humor among others. But we became excellent friends.
Now, just to be clear here, Sofia, the last friend he describes is you, all right? He describes you as extremely progressive lesbian and a day after his book was published he writes to you, he calls you Sofs, which I guess was his nickname for you, and apologizes for referring to you in that way. And he goes on to say, I recognize this may not accurately reflect how you think of yourself, and for that, I'm really sorry.
I hope you recognize that description came from a place of ignorance, when I first started writing years ago. I hope you're not offended, but if you are, I'm sorry. Love you, J.D.
So, you know, when you think about that, what does that say about the person that you knew and this support that he -- I don't know. Was it explicit or implicitly gave to members of the LGBT community?
NELSON: Well, again, the J.D. Vance that I was friends with, he might not have always agreed with me. We certainly again, had our differences, and I didn't always agree with him, but we knew how to talk to each other respectfully with kindness and compassion.
We were both raised in the Midwest and from a small town in west Michigan. And I was taught, we treat others how we want to be treated. And so you don't have to share a faith or a racial background or a political background with your neighbors to treat them with respect and dignity and J.D. reflected that and our relationship.
And, you know, the J.D. Vance that I knew was supportive of marriage equality and had LGBTQ friends, myself included. And when I had gender affirming surgery in 2012, J.D. delivered me baked goods when I was going through my recovery. Again, he didn't necessarily fully understand a transgender identity, and that's fine. I don't need everyone to do that.
What I need from people is a sense of decency and respect, which is consistent with the Midwestern values that I was raised with and why I returned to the Midwest. I've lived here since 2013. This is where I was raised.
And the Rust Belt is filled with diverse group of working class people who again, we don't always agree on tax policy, on whether we're cat or dog people. But we know how to treat everyone with kindness.
BURNETT: And so, when you talk about that, he brought you baked goods when you went through gender affirming surgery and I know, Sofia, you're saying that was 2012. So then you had a long time of being friends.
My understanding is when Vance came out in support of a state law banning gender affirming care in 2021, which is my is when he did that and he's now since proposed a national ban. He's calling it a -- call that surgery that you went through, gruesome.
Can you share with us how you ended the friendship with him?
NELSON: I mean, I never explicitly said we're not friends anymore, and I want to be clear, I still care about J.D. and Usha and their family, you know, deep down part of me, he's hopeful that he'll snap out of it or something. I don't know.
But that was incredibly hurtful and I communicated that to him. I communicated that I was disappointed, that I was hurt and that I was scared because I remember what it's like to be a kid and think there's something wrong with me that terribly scary.
[19:15:05] And I thought I've never going to be able to be my authentic self because it won't be safe. I won't be accepted. I won't be able to get a job and I tried to explain that to him.
You know, I told him what I went through as a child in response to his public support of criminalizing access to gender affirming care. And he was very dismissive and again, the tone that I had been the basis of our friendship across political differences, had completely shifted.
He had gone from a compassionate thoughtful, kind person to mimicking Donald Trump's derisive cruelty. And, you know, I have many family members and friends who are independents, who are Republicans. But here in the Rust Belt, we treat everyone with kindness, and that's just, I think a core value, and it's a core value that J.D. Vance has turned his back on in order to amass money and power.
BURNETT: So you mentioned the family and that you wish J.D. and Usha well. I know you know her well. You attended their wedding, right?
She was super smart person. He is referring to in the book. She was one of the registered Democrat recently worked at a San Francisco law firm as you well know, Sofia, but describes its culture as, quote, radically progressive. She did clerk though for more conservative Supreme Court justices.
I mean, there's just so many people who are so curious about her and who she really is and what she really thinks. And she's being subjected to all the things women are subjected to, you know, whether she colors her hair and makeup and all those things that people do.
What -- what can you tell us about her? Do you think she believes in what her husband is currently saying?
NELSON: Well, I don't think anyone knows what J.D. or Usha believe because they have literally changed their principles in every imaginable issue. However, I was never as close with Usha as I was with J.D. I will say that the woman that I knew was also incredibly kind and brilliant, a really hard worker, and someone I understood to be kind of a central technocrat and leaning left of center, I would say, someone who -- it's come out publicly was very upset and frightened by the events of January 6, as was J.D. at the time.
And so, what I think is reflected in both of their changing of their principles on every single issue is that their core value is amassing money and power, not the integrity and kindness that I think our core values of everyone in the Rust Belt.
BURNETT: Sofia, thank you very much for sharing all of this with us. I know you did it after great consideration and I appreciate it. And everyone watching does too. So thanks.
NELSON: Thank you for your time, Erin. Yeah, absolutely. This was a difficult decision for me because again, I do care about J.D. and I'm a private person. I'm not -- I've never been on national TV before. I didn't as is not comfortable for me. But I thought the American people had a right to know and I thought
trans kids needed to know that these MAGA people, they're not actually scared of you. They don't think there's anything wrong with you. They're engaged in political opportunism and you're going to be all right.
BURNETT: All right, Sofia, thank you.
NELSON: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, we do have some breaking news, we are just learning that one of the people who said to be on Kamala Harris, his shortlist for the VP has just taken himself out of the running. So we're going to tell you who. This is literally just coming in here as Sofia and I were speaking.
Plus, Biden making his first major trip and speech since dropping out and telling the nation he is dropping out. The daughter of Lyndon B. Johnson, president who also chose not to run for reelection, was by Biden's side today and she's my guess.
And also more breaking news, we have new text messages and bodycam footage from the day Trump was nearly assassinated. And it reveals some new things.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:23:18]
BURNETT: Breaking news, we are learning one of the men viewed as a top contender to become Harris's running mate has taken himself out of consideration. A source telling CNN that the North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper expressed concern about going through the vetting process at the age of 67 at about the state's lieutenant governor performing his duties if he was pulled out of the state.
Jeff Zeleny is OUTFRONT live from the key swing state of Michigan.
So, Jeff, obviously, this is a development some had pointed to North Carolina as you're changing the map and that the governor there on the ticket could have assisted with that, but now, he's making it clear that that will not happen. What are you learning about the veepstakes tonight?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Erin, we know that this is just one more example. This is a very accelerated search process. I am told tonight that this decision could come within the week or certainly before August 7.
My colleague, MJ Lee, and I are reporting that North Carolina governor is no longer in consideration withdrawing his name, I am told because he simply was not at the top of the list. Age has been a concern I'm told from some in the Harris campaign, he's 67 years old. Of course, she is trying to turn the page and look toward a more vigorous campaign, a more youthful campaign, perhaps. This does not mean that North Carolina is not still a battleground state in the eyes of the Harris campaign that absolutely is. It does not change there the relationship. Sort of ironically, the governor and Vice President Harris had the longest and closest relationship, we are told, of any of the contenders on the list. They served as attorneys general together and their respective states.
But look, every choice of a running mate is based on a variety of factors. It's based on comfort level, of course, but it's also based on what can help in this campaign.
[19:25:02]
I'm told that extensive research is being done around Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, as well as Arizona Senator Mark Kelley, as well as potentially other people on that list. But those two are among the contenders who are getting the closest look tonight.
Of course, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is also been in the mix and the Harris campaign has been very watching with interest at how he has been performing and what really has been sort of a rolling set of auditions.
We saw that in Pennsylvania tonight as well. The governor there, Josh Shapiro, he said Vice President Harris is not only ready, she's damn ready. So, he has been outperforming, really showing what a running mate could be.
But, Erin, this all comes as Republicans clearly have been knocked off balance a bit by J.D. Vance and some things in his history, what he has said before. That is one of the reasons that even though this surge is accelerated, I'm told that everything is being looked at very carefully. What all these candidates have potentially said, because as we know, anything that you said previously can certainly be used against you in the coming race -- Erin.
BURNETT: Absolutely. All right, as you stand in Michigan now on the latest AP poll, I know tied, and obviously, Biden, but down significantly their prior to that.
Thanks to Jeff Zeleny.
Okay. Panel here. Max Rose, let me start with you. I'm just going to take a pause here and say, we've really gotten a new world. We're now 67 is too old. I mean, I think we can just back off that a little bit here, but okay.
But Roy Cooper now is out. He doesn't want to be considered so here we know significant betting around Kelly from Arizona and Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania among possibly others. That could be Tim Walz, Pritzker, we don't know.
So who do you think that she should choose?
MAX ROSE, FORMER REP. (D-NY): Look, I think she needs to think about the electoral map and Governor Shapiro stands out in that regard. Here's the interesting thing about the vice presidential decision. It
is -- it's an opportunity for Kamala Harris to show her stature as the future president United States, and to make a decision of extraordinary significance and what everyone says, who is around two, who has seen her make very important decisions if she's going to be ruthlessly pragmatic, she's going to focus on winning and she's going to focus on the necessity for leadership in the future.
And all I've collected if you heard is that she's -- she's ready to make a great decision.
I know that you've got nothing against Josh Shapiro. In fact, quite the contrary, but that brings you to a very different conclusion, Aisha.
AISHA MILLS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It does. So let me just start off by saying any of these folks that are being vetted would be great vice presidents. For me though, as a Democrat who thinks about the long- term implications of picking at our bench. We need Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania. We need Mike Kelly in the Senate from Arizona. What happens when they're gone and now we've got to replace them?
I got to tell you, I'm actually team Pete. I think that Pete Buttigieg would really invigorates the base create a historic ticket in a way that would be impossible to beat because the Democrats always win when we are animated and excited. And to me, having a younger, brilliant person on the ticket who can speak about every issue who has experience as a mayor, who can galvanize the future of the party as a gay man, and who is also a parent of toddlers, fills and checks a lot of the boxes for people that we need to get off the couch and go to the polls.
BURNETT: And I will note, by the way, right, Mark Kelly, as the senator, you have to replace him. That's a swing state Josh Shapiro is the governor of the only split legislature in the country that is no, no, no guarantee which way Pennsylvania would go.
You know, the whole situation though actually is amazing because there's a report in "The Washington Post" that J.D. Vance actually says that he describes Harris's campaign as a, quote, sucker punch. So he's in a private fundraiser over the weekend, apparently tells donors, quote, all of us were hit with a little bit of a political soccer punch. The bad news is that Kamala Harris is not have the same baggage just Joe Biden, because whatever we might have to say, Kamala is a lot younger and Kamala Harris is obviously not struggling in the same ways that Joe Biden did.
Obviously, fund raiser those moments where sometimes people can be a little -- maybe too honest, but, Lulu, he's admitting there that it's a political sucker punch.
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOIR: Yeah, saying the quiet part out loud, which has been something that the GOP campaign has been doing quite a lot of recently. I mean, it's the truth. What we know about this electorate is that they did not want by enlarge these two men to run against each other, Biden and former President Trump, and the teams, so to speak, made the switch, were the Democrats and now you see Kamala Harris with a lot of enthusiasm.
These numbers of enthusiasm are really important because it is going to get people off the couch. It is going to get people to, you know, enthusiastically support the Democratic ticket.
The base certainly, and the big question is, can she bring in those voters that perhaps were on the fence? They're not that many of them. We must say, but there are some. And that's what I think the VP does really matter.
[19:30:03]
I don't think the VP matters as much for former President Trump because he is the central figure of the Republican Party. He is the sun throughout which everything rotates, but I think for the Democrats, it's going to be interesting who she chooses and who she chooses will say something about where she thinks for vulnerabilities are.
Does she think that immigration as a big vulnerability? She might go for a Kelly. Is it the white working class? She might go for a Josh Shapiro, or does she want to animate people and inspire them than it is indeed a Pete Buttigieg.
So who she chooses will say a lot about where she thinks his campaign is headed.
BURNETT: You know, Scott Trump has had a gift for coming up for of nicknames with people, right, from Little Marco to crooked Hillary, that stick and somehow get at just the one -- the one wound that you have that you didn't know until the salt was thrown on it, right?
And Democrats have never been successful going the other way. Until now, they've been trying something completely different and completely on like the Democratic Party, which is to just throw word out there.
And they're -- the word that they're throwing out there about Trump and J.D. Vance is weird. That's it. Weird.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some of what he and his running mate are saying -- well, it's just plain weird.
GOV. TIM WALZ (D), MINNESOTA: These guys are just weird, that's what they are.
GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D), PENNSYLVANIA: I mean, it's like weird what he does, right? I mean, on the other side, they're just weird.
DOUG EMHOFF, SECOND GENTLEMAN: No matter what kind of weird stuff they keep saying.
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D), KENTUCKY: What was weird was him joking about racism today, and then talking about Diet Mountain Dew.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
BURNETT: Okay. So they've got the talking point, Scott, they've got it. And then you chuckle. But, you know, it's the kind of word that if it sticks in peoples minds, can make whoever you're talking about look kind of silly and small. Are you worried about it?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, because I think any Republican would say, I think the Democrats are weird. I mean, I think it's weird that Kamala Harris is in the process right now of trying to repudiate every single position she ever took when she ran for president. I think it's weird that they're currently engaged in massive racial segregation of all their supporters.
I mean, you could go on and on and on about all the weird things that Kamala Harris is doing, all the weird thing she's done. I think it's weird that these phrases she uses in her speeches all the time. So I don't think the campaign is going to be fought on who's more weird, who's seen as more weird. I think it's going to be fought on one thing and it's going to be on who can do the best job as president.
And "The Wall Street Journal" poll this week Donald Trump at 51 percent job approval, the Biden-Harris ticket is still down in the mid 30s. It's going to be fought on cost of living. It's going to be fought on immigration and who can make my life better?
These semantics about weird and that, that's not the issue for swing voters. It's why is my life so expensive and why is my community unsafe and overrun with illegal immigration? That's it.
BURNETT: OK. Matt -- Congressman Rose, can I just ask you a question because Scott touched something important, the 51 percent approval rating for Trump.
ROSE: Uh-huh.
BURNETT: I mean, that's really amazing for Trump. That is a really high approval rating. So just take everything else out of it, she surged in the polls, her approval rate.
Do you see that as something Democrats should be concerned about?
ROSE: Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's why they're going to spend an exorbitant amount of resources actually reminding the American people what life was like under Trump. The hysteria, the constant chaos, the utter in competency.
And look, he still has an understandable bump from what happened at several weeks ago, an understandable bump from officially becoming his party's nominee. That is all going to change. There is no question that the momentum is on the vice president's side right now.
BURNETT: Yeah.
ROSE: And no one sees that changing for quite some time. BURNETT: Well, and there's we're only 99 days. So I mean, in a sense,
you want to run out the clock, right, Aisha?
I want to ask about Sofia Nelson, who I just had on, J.D. Vance's friends. They were friends for ten years. She is transgender, a public defender in Detroit, and he was supportive of her and she went through her surgery and then he describes -- she describes him as changing and she describes it as cruelty, describes him -- describes him as a chameleon that he and his wife she believes are now motivated by money and power.
What was your reaction to hearing Sofia?
MILLS: Well, it was the ultimate shame on you J.D. Vance, right? Shame on you for being such a hypocrite and a flip-flopper and doing that on the backs of vulnerable people, right, because, you know, public defender been to Yale, she actually has the agency to be able to have this conversation and reveal the truth. But there are so many young trans kids who are under assault right now in their schools and their families in their churches, all because of Donald Trump, and now J.D. Vance, the flip-flopper, who is saying really horrible things that's putting their lives that's at risk.
And so I'm glad that, you know, it's come out that he's a hypocrite, which we all knew. Because think about all the stuff that he said about Donald Trump. And now is Donald Trump's best friend. But it really gives me pause that you have someone who can so quickly turn on a friend because what that says about their character, that this isn't just ideology. This is someone that you have known for over a decade that you probably loved and cared about and came to the hospital, right?
[19:35:01]
BURNETT: Clearly. Yeah, clearly.
MILLS: And for you to turn your back on someone who is your friend, what are you going to do to us as Americans?
BURNETT: Scott, you know, what -- what is the significance of this? I mean, we went through at emails that Sofia chose just share with us and her conversation she had with J.D. Vance over that time and you heard it, right? He wrote about hating Trump and you knew that he had that point of view.
He talks about some Trump supporters is racist, and in one of them, Scott, he says, I hate the police given the number of negative experiences, I've had in the past few years, I can't imagine what a Black guy goes through.
I'm just curious, Scott, whether you can believe as genuine his point of view now, on issue after issue because Sofia is correct that what he presents in these emails on issue after issue is now really the polar opposite of where he is.
JENNINGS: Well, I don't think there's anything different in these emails and what J.D. Vance had said on CNN when he worked here several years ago and what he now says is a change of opinion about a number of things including Donald Trump. I mean, my impression is that it's kind of weird for somebody to be your friend and to say, I care about this person. But if you don't adhere to all my political views, I'm going to release all of our correspondence to "The New York Times".
I mean, what kind of a friend is that? I mean, I get it. Everybody's motivated and emotional about politics right now. But Lord have mercy. Does any of us on this panel have a friend that you're worried was going to release 10-year-old emails to "The New York Times" --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Go ahead, Lulu.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: No, I mean, I think what's important here is that he's now running to be the vice president United States. And so, what his opinions were, his character, what he believes is, of course, incredibly important.
And frankly, what J.D. Vance wrote is there in black and white. This isn't Sofia's views. This isn't her oppressions. People can read for themselves what J.D. Vance once believed and compared to what he espouses now.
And those are very, very different opinions and he might have had a conversion, he might have become a true believer, but it's in a very short space of time. And frankly, this is incredibly damaging.
And it's -- J.D. Vance is the gift that keeps on giving to Democrats.
BURNETT: I mean, go ahead, Aisha.
MILLS: Well, we don't need J.D. Vance as a gift because here's the thing that I want to remind us of, the Democrats have a very clear path to victory. And now multiple paths to 270 in a way that the Republicans have a very, very narrow one in terms of who their constituency is.
And so, I -- we can not at all overplay the fact that in just the last week, we have seen Black women and Black men and LGBTQ people, the whole queer communities come out, Latinos, Native folks into spirit folks, as well as white women answering the call. And tonight right now, as we sit here, you got white dudes for --
(CROSSTALK)
JENNINGS: Can I -- can I ask a question?
MILLS: -- coming out in support of this candidate and you win an American when you get all the people behind you, not just a small faction of them.
BURNETT: Quickly, Scott.
JENNINGS: Can I -- yeah, just I am -- I am mystified by the newfound Democrat obsession with racial segregation. I find all this racial segregation mean, I guess the party is getting back to its roots, but I mean, I find this crazy. I mean, that you are principally organizing all of your supporters by race, enforcing them all to get on these calls, and you have to be a certain race or gender to get on the calls? I find this to be completely bizarre behavior?
MILLS: Absolutely, Scott, and we don't need you to understand it because here's the thing. We know that we win when we bring together people and have a big tent coalition --
JENNINGS: But you're not for separating. You're dividing them.
MILLS: No, we're actually bringing them together and by the way, just look at the numbers. We don't need to debate this. Look at the cash and look at the support, right?
This momentum that you see in just seven days is greater than any other presidential campaign in history.
So say what you will, bringing people together, who we can be proud of who we are, whether we're Black, or queer or otherwise, is the winning strategy.
BURNETT: All right. We're going to leave it there. A lot more to come out with it --
ROSE: I got to go to the white guy, the white guy zoom.
BURNETT: It's the white dude zoom.
ROSE: White dude zoom, excuse me.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you all.
(LAUGHTER)
BURNETT: I like the screen grab right now.
All right. Up next, Biden fired up and on the attack in his first major speech since stepping aside. The daughter of Lyndon B. Johnson was with the president today and she's next. Her father, of course, you may remember also chose not to run for reelection.
Plus, Kim Jong-un now preparing his young daughter to assume control of the country as we are learning tonight, some really important new details about Kim Jong-un's health.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:40:55]
BURNETT: Breaking news, President Biden just moments ago at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, saying that Americans must strengthen the guardrails of democracy and calling Kamala Harris an incredible partner and champion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've made clear how I feel about Kamala and she's been incredible partner to me, a champion throughout her career, and she'll continue to be an inspiring leader and project a very idea of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. That comes as President Biden tonight is pushing for seismic changes to the Supreme Court.
Arlette Saenz is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Joe Biden hit the road for the first time since leaving the 2024 race, issuing an urgent plea to the country.
BIDEN: We can and must strengthen guardrails of democracy.
SAENZ: Biden now in a new phase of his presidency, growing reflective about serving alongside the first Black president and first woman vice president.
BIDEN: I've made clear how I feel about Kamala and she's been an incredible partner to me, a champion throughout her career.
SAENZ: Though he won't appear on the Democratic ticket, the president is pushing forward with plans that could motivate the progressive base of his party.
[19:45:06]
With the backing of Harris, Biden is proposing changes to the nation's highest court, including an enforceable code of conduct and 18-year term limits.
BIDEN: We can and must prevent the abuse of presidential power and restore faith in the Supreme Court.
SAENZ: The president also calling for a constitutional amendment to limit the broad presidential immunity granted by the court's conservative majority last month, in a controversial ruling involving former President Donald Trump.
BIDEN: The president is now a king above the law, just imagine what a president could do and trampling civil rights and liberties given such immunity.
SAENZ: The reforms have virtually no chance of passing in this divided Congress. House Speaker Mike Johnson declaring the president's moves dead on arrival.
Biden delivering his message at the LBJ presidential library in Austin, Texas, a site offering historical parallels between the two Democratic presidents. Before Biden, President Lyndon B. Johnson was the last president to abandon a reelection bid in an election year.
LYNDON B. JOHNSON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president.
SAENZ: Today, the presidents celebrating Johnson's landmark Civil Rights Act, outlawing segregation and discrimination on the basis of race signed 60 years ago.
BIDEN: These three acts have made this nation fundamentally more fair, fundamentally more just, and most importantly, fundamentally more consistent with our founding principles.
SAENZ: Biden now hoping to leave his own imprint on the country as his time in office winds down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAENZ (on camera): Now, Vice President Kamala Harris was off the campaign trail today, but she did fully endorse that proposal from President Biden. In a statement this morning, she wrote that she said that the Supreme Court is facing a crisis of confidence at this moment in time. The White House said that the vice president was closely consulted on these proposals that Biden rolled out.
It will be an interesting dynamic to watch going forward as so far Harris has run in lockstep with Biden's agenda -- Erin.
BURNETT: Arlette, thank you.
And now, Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of the former President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was with President Biden at the LBJ Presidential Library tonight.
And, Luci, I really appreciate your time. It's really nice to speak to you and in the context of the time were in now, such an important moment.
And Biden tonight said his words: We must strengthen the guardrails of democracy.
You were with him before and after the speech. You had a chance to speak with him personally. You've known him for a long time, for decades. So what was your conversation like tonight, Luci? Do you think he -- he truly is at peace with his decision?
LUCI BAINES JOHNSON, PRESIDENT LYNDON B. JOHNSON'S DAUGHTER: Well, I can't speak for President Biden, but I can speak the reaction of everyone who was in the audience. We felt a little bit like the Lin- Manuel Miranda's wonderful music that said, we were in the room when it happened.
And I think that being in the room where it happened when President Biden made his first speech, having conceded that he was not going to run for reelection, was just a magical moment. We all were pinching ourselves because as he had said to us, he cared a lot about the office but he cared most about his country.
Well, my father made a similar kind of decision because he cared so much about his country and both of them cared tremendously about civil rights, and the importance of it.
The 1964 Civil Rights Act was signed on my 17th birthday and my sweet father didn't have time to come down to drugstore and pick up a card. So he wrote me and love letter on why they're stationary and even noted the time of day. I think with the hope that one day, I would realize just what an incredible birthday gift I have gotten, that they end of what was really legalized apartheid in the United States.
Years later, I got to walk over the Pettus Bridge with President Biden, then Vice President Biden, and we held John Lewis's hand and we went with the force and determination to continue this fight, which is not over.
BURNETT: So, you know, your father was dealing with some health issues I know when he made his decision and obviously was the turbulent time, Vietnam war, there were a lot of things playing into the moment for him as there are for President Biden. Of course, for president Biden though, it is age, first and foremost, Luci, as we all know. It is age that is the reason he is not running. And it is other peoples perception of his age specifically.
[19:50:02]
Do you see parallels? We look in history the last time that someone walked away from that second term was your father, how many similarities do you see between President Johnson and President Biden?
JOHNSON: Well, I see a great love and passion and long service in the Senate and in the vice presidency, and in the presidency. That's the first thing I see. I see a commitment to social justice that both felt fervently, and gave their last breaths for.
I see the president's willingness to say whatever it takes to give the best service to this country. I will do. And if indeed my time to pass the baton has come, I do so gladly. I saw that in my father. I see that in President Biden.
And it was a moment where you felt you were in front of a great American hero, the room was electric and I was in the room where it happened.
BURNETT: And, Luci, you know, you were when this -- when President Biden decides to step aside, you were very quick. You were among the first to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. Now I know you have known President Biden for much of your life obviously and through his relationship with your father and then your own relationship.
Do -- are you surprised how quickly Democrats have fallen in line and do you know Kamala Harris, you know, what -- personally?
JOHNSON: Well, I was thrilled and I am thrilled the way the Democratic Party has come together because when we come together, we can make great things happen. We've done it before, and I believe we can do it now. I have had the privilege of getting to meet Vice President Harris on a couple of occasions.
The one that was most moving is really one that correlates with today's events. I went to Washington, D.C. on the Poor People's March. And, of course, that is so much about social justice for all of us, Black and White and ethnic -- ethnicities of all kinds.
People need basic food. They need basic nutrition. They need basic health care. They need basic education, that should be a right of all Americans.
And Vice President Harris was kind enough to welcome me into our office to say that she was proud of what I was doing and that she was with me every step of the way. And I'm going to be with her every step of the way.
BURNETT: Well, Luci, thank you very much. I appreciate your taking the time to speak with me and all of us. Thanks.
JOHNSON: Thank you. The honor was all mine. Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, Kim Jong-un's mysterious daughter, very young now being prepped to take over for her father. And there may be a reason why this is happening so quickly. We have a special report and an update tonight on some crucial information.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:23]
BURNETT: Tonight, North Korea is next in line. There is new intelligence revealing that Kim Jong-un's daughter is secretly undergoing succession training and so little is known about her. But the United States can only estimate her age. They say that she is between 10 and 12 years old.
So, why the push to get her ready to take over?
Well, it comes as the extent of Kim's poor health is coming into sharper focus. We understand that the dictator now tops 308 pounds and his lifestyle, which includes heavy drinking and smoking is raising new alarms.
Will Ripley is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the flood ravaged North Korean, along a swollen river near the Chinese border, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, overseeing the evacuation of thousands.
Noticeably absent from state media coverage, Kim's young daughter, Kim Ju-ae, now undergoing secret succession training, South Korean lawmakers say, suggesting the elementary age girl is being groomed as the next North Korean leader.
Two lawmakers in Seoul briefed by the national intelligence service say Kim Jong-un's health may be deteriorating. His doctors searching for new medications to treat Kim.
He has a family history of heart for disease, weighs more than 300 pounds, a dangerously high body mass index in the mid-forties, high stress, smoking and drinking, all putting the 40-year-old Kim at high risk lawmakers say. They add succession plans could change, but right now, all signs point to Kim Ju-ae, who could become the first female and fourth generation leader of the ruling Kim family.
Kim Il Sung died in 1994. Kim Jong Il died in 2011, the year Kim Jong- un came to power in his 20s.
His second child believed to be 10 to 12-years-old, bearing a striking resemblance to her father, a fixture by his side since her debut in late 2022 at missile launches, military banquets, massive parades.
South Korean intelligence says, she's now engaging in non-public activities. Pyongyang aware of reaction to her young age, adjusting propaganda, reducing public appearances, as her father consolidates the Kim family's power, bolstering ties with Russian strong man Vladimir Putin, building up his military spy satellite program, and South Korea says stepping up training for a successor to someday take control of North Koreas growing nuclear arsenal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (on camera): Kim Jong-un is actually the third son of the late Kim Jong-il. He was reportedly chosen as the successor on his eighth birthday, but the outside world didn't know about it until many years later, Erin.
This very public reveal of Kim Ju-ae, just a year-and-a-half ago, maybe the beginning experts say they have a personality cult for Kim's daughter, his health, one reason experts believe this might be happening now, but many people now know her that the crucial challenges for her to build credibility, especially with the military, Erin, that is crucial to maintaining the Kim family's power.
BURNETT: Incredible, especially when you consider, I know it's a long process, but to pick a female and she is a girl. She's a child.
All right. Thank you very much.
And thanks to all of you for joining us.
"AC360" starts now.
