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Erin Burnett Outfront
Harris Campaign Calls Trump's New Conference A "Public Meltdown"; Harris Defends Walz's Military Service As GOP Attacks; Police: Suspect Planned Suicide Attack At Taylor Swift Concert. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 08, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:48]
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Trump's tirade. The former president attacking Kamala Harris's intelligence, bragging about his crowd size on January 6 and telling multiple lies. Harris tonight hitting back.
New reporting tonight as well from our KFILE. As Republicans unleash more attacks on Walz over his military service, it turns out it's not the first time he's had to defend his record. How he responded in the past.
Plus, the president of one of the largest unions in the country is all in on this Harris-Walz ticket, but are the rank-and-file union members on that same page? UAW president joins me live.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
HILL: And good evening. I'm Erica Hill, in for Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight: Trump's, quote, public meltdown. That is how the Harris campaign is characterizing Trump's rambling insult and live- filled one-hour, four-minute news conference today.
The Harris campaign sending out this statement, take a look at it, we'll put it on the screen for you. As you can see, it reads: Donald Trump took a break from taking a break to put on some pants and host a press conference. You see there that they actually did cross out press conference and then followed it with public meltdown.
The statement goes on to say, quote, he hasn't campaigned all week. He isn't going to a single swing state this week, but he sure is mad Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are getting big crowds across the battlegrounds.
Democrats clearly not shy in their assessment of what they saw this afternoon, but was it really a public meltdown? Donald Trump at the podium arguing that his news conference was more important than campaigning. You can judge for yourself.
Here's some of this afternoon's event.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's not doing any news conference. You know why she's not doing it? Because she can't do a news conference. She doesn't know how to do a news conference. She's not smart enough to do a news conference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: So that was also just one of the many times the former president question of the vice president's intelligence today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Kamala, who by the way, is worse than Biden. And she's actually not as smart. Okay? She's actually not as smart. That's hard to believe.
Yes, please?
REPORTER: You just said, you think Kamala Harris is worse than President Biden?
TRUMP: On what?
REPORTER: I know you said there you think you're very far ahead.
TRUMP: No, I think she's actually not as smart as he is.
REPORTER: Well, you said you think you're very far ahead in the polls --
TRUMP: I don't think he's very smart either, by the way. I'm not a big fan of his brain, but I think that she's actually not as smart as he is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Trump wasn't just hurling insults and mispronouncing again Kamala Harris's name. He also presented a steady stream of lies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Nobody was killed on January 6.
I had 1 percent inflation. I had actually no inflations.
Nobody spoken to crowds bigger than me. If you look at Martin Luther King when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours, same real estate, same everything, same number of people, if not, we had more.
Why is it that millions of people were allowed to come into our country from prisons, from jails, from mental institutions, insane asylums, even insane -- that's a -- it's a mental institution on steroids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: It's important to note all of that is completely false. One thing though that is true tonight, there's new poll showing Harris now leading Trump by four points. Now that's just within the margin of error.
Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT in West Palm Beach.
So, Kristen, you were at that Trump news conference today. These polling numbers, I would imagine not making the campaign very happy, but how were they feeling after today's news conference?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, part of their goal with this news conference was to raise attention to the fact that Kamala Harris has not sat down for an interview since she became the nominee, has not answered questions from the press. I do believe that later this afternoon, she did take a couple of questions from the traveling press.
And if that was your ultimate goal, then they were successful, only in the fact that Donald Trump was able to repeat this over and over and over again, as he was live on multiple TV networks.
But when you talk about those polling numbers -- no, of course they're not happy with those polling numbers. Now they maintain a lot of optimism and positivity. I'd spoken to a number of campaign senior advisors earlier in the day about this, and they acknowledged that the race has changed. They acknowledge that there is more enthusiasm around Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
But they say that at the end of the day, they do believe fundamentally the race is going to be the same because it's going to be around these specific issues like crime inflation, and the economy -- things that Donald Trump has pulled higher than Joe Biden on, and they believe will pull higher than Kamala Harris on because she is an extension of Joe Biden being the head of the administration.
[19:05:20]
Obviously, we don't know what is going to happen in this race. They maintain that it's still in a honeymoon phase of this honeymoon -- Harris honeymoon as they call it, but it does seem to be lasting longer than they expected, or would have liked it to last.
Now, you talk about the fact that he hasn't been on the campaign trail. I actually asked him specifically about that and he said that he didn't need to be on the campaign trail because he was leading in all the polls. Obviously, we know that's not true. He knows that's not true.
And I've spoken to a number of allies and these are people outside of the campaign who say that they are concerned, they are concerned about him not being out there on the campaign drill specifically or particularly on a week like this one where you see Kamala Harris unveiling Tim Walz as her running mate and then hitting the ground running to several battleground states, drawing these massive crowds.
You talk about those crowd numbers. Donald Trump was also asked about of that and that's when he appeared to get very irritated saying that she wasn't really drawing that big of crowds. We know, of course, from our Jeff Zeleny that she is, but also saying that was the media's fault for the way they are portraying the numbers.
Overall, there was one piece of big news that was made out of this and that is the fact that we will see a debate on September 10th between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. That was agreed to by Donald Trump or at least re-agreed to by Donald Trump. Kamala Harris has already signed off on that on ABC.
So, we'll at least have one debate. He has asked for three. She has not committed to anything other than that one. We know they will be on the stage at least once.
HILL: Well, we know -- I know exactly what you and I will be doing then on September 10th, my friend.
I appreciate it, Kristen. Thank you.
HOLMES: Exactly.
HILL: Joining me now to discuss, we have our panel tonight and, boy, is there a lot to get to.
Stephanie Grisham, I want to start with you.
You noted ahead of this, right, you tweeted out that he was going to speak to the press because Donald Trump was panicked. You believe he was upset with his campaign team, that he wanted to take control of the situation. So, did he?
STEPHANIE GRISHAM, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY; ENDORSED HARRIS: Yeah, I think he did. I think he did for an hour. I mean, everybody was watching and as Kristen said, he was on all of the networks and we're talking about it tonight. So, certainly, that's coverage that could be going to the Harris campaign and it's not.
Now, the substance wasn't there. You know, I know that his campaign is saying that, by and large, they think with immigration and crime and whatnot, that they're going to win on the policies. And the problem with that is he rarely talked about the policy. It was the same old tired Donald Trump spewing lies and just talking about, you know, what a victim he is.
HILL: So, Shermichael, to that point, it may have been a win in terms of Stephanie's right. We're here. We're talking about it. Plenty of coverage on multiple TVs this afternoon. But in terms of hitting the real substance of the campaign, did you see any wins there today?
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, look, I think that's probably going to have to come talking to voters. I mean, I think the primary objective today was probably to disrupt the news cycle as much as possible, a little recalibration, if you will, for the campaign. For the past two weeks, we've seen a considerable amount of coverage for Vice President Harris, then with the announcement of Waltz, that coverage has continued.
And so if you're on the Trump side, you look at this and you're trying to figure out, how do we get ourselves back on an equal playing field in terms of overall media coverage to talk about our policy positions such as the economy, immigration, foreign policy? You got to first disrupt, then you can penetrate, then you can begin the process of having the conversations on the policy. That's the way I would view this as a strategist.
HILL: Mark, you just heard Kristen's reporting. There are Trump allies, Trump supporters who were concerned about all of this enthusiasm around Harris. More so than just punching through, right? As Shermichael is noting.
Within the campaign itself, how much concern is there tonight?
MARC CAPUTO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE BULWARK: I wouldn't say there's concern that they're expressing, but Donald Trump didn't get up today and do what he did because they're not concerned. The reality is the body language of Donald Trump is communicating that he feels as if he's losing. That doesn't mean he's lost, that doesn't mean he will lose.
But not only have the dynamics changed, but the trajectory of Kamala Harris is up, and Donald Trumps poll numbers haven't fallen, but they flatlined. He's sort of topped out in this ballot share. And so, what he needs to do and what he displayed today is to try to really drag down Kamala Harris.
Now, as Stephanie just pointed out, the problem that he is having, whether it's in this press conference or at his rallies is Donald Trump is no longer delivering a message that could be charitably described as cogent. He's not sticking to the issues. He's not saying immigration, inflation, Kamala Harris, immigration, inflation, Kamala Harris.
[19:10:02]
It's all over the map. And when your speeches wind up being about everything, they can be about nothing, except the few things that become news are things you don't want to become news, like for instance, when he was in Atlanta, he decided to haul off and attack a fellow Republican, Brian Kemp, a popular governor of a swing state of Georgia. And that brought him absolutely no benefit and increasingly, we're not seeing Donald Trump like the old Donald Trump where he's really able to drive a clear message.
Now, maybe all of this messaging stuff doesn't really matter. Maybe the race will sort and settle back out the way they say it will, but for the time being, the Trump campaign had thought Biden was going to be in this, and that if he wasn't going to be in this, that Kamala Harris was going to be easy meet. And both of those things have been proven to be very wrong, another coping with the fact that they were wrong and their guy, right now, is not performing. HILL: It was interesting to hear him talk about the debates today, especially on the heels of, Aisha, Donald Trump saying, I'm only doing a debate with Kamala Harris on September 4th on Fox, right? And then we saw the pushback from the Harris campaign, but it's interesting to even in that moment, how he uses an opportunity to call out Harris. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: She's not doing any news conference. You know why she's not doing it? Because she can't do a news conference. She doesn't know how to do a news conference. She's not smart enough to do a news conference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: So she told reporters tonight, she's working to get an interview scheduled by the end of the month. Look, we have all been pushing for some everybody would like to sit down with her. She doesn't need until the end of the month. She could get that scheduled in about three seconds, but then he reporter in this country.
And I know you say she needs to sit down with someone. I'm curious, from that perspective, he makes an interesting point.
Does she need to sit down for a substantive interview before the DNC?
AISHA MILLS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I don't necessarily think so. And again, I don't work for the campaign, but I deeply believe in this campaign, in the strategists of this campaign know exactly what they're doing.
Let's not forget, Erica, that this campaign really just launched a little over two weeks ago. And the matter of 15 in days, Kamala Harris picked a vice presidential running mate, got the DNC to vote for her by ballot, virtually, which is also unprecedented, to make sure that she was going to be at the top of that ticket and is now going into a big convention, and is now moving around the country, having massive rallies with constituents.
At this point, there's a lot on her plate and so, it is not surprising to me and I'm not disappointed that she didn't decide that her top priority was to sit down with the press.
Now, of course, she needs to be asked questions and she should come prepared to the answer tough questions and have the press be able to have that forum with her. But the fact that it hasn't happened yet, it's going to happen, is not something that concerns me. And in fact, I think that, you know, it's great that Donald Trump, just because the stand over there and blubber because the more he talks, the more America gets to know him. And it doesn't -- it doesn't look good for him at all.
HILL: If she did take a couple of questions today, we should point out, but should she we take more even if it's not to sit -- in a sit down interview, be a little bit more open to those moments with reporters who were covering her?
MILLS: Sure. I don't see any reason why she wouldn't be other than the fact that she is doing something that no one else has done before in history, which is literally jumped into a presidential race right now, what is 89 days left in this thing? I mean, it is -- there so much on her plate that she's doing and, by the way, she's killing it, which is why you see the poll numbers going up for her, why you see millions of dollars being raised, and why you see the enthusiasm that's happening all around the country coalescing around her. That's why they're mad on the other side.
HILL: I was fascinated today that this came up again, and the way that it was handled. So, Shermichael, Donald Trump tried to argue that he was not the one who raised the question when he was questioning Kamala Harris's ethnicity. And take a listen to this exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Because she's the one that said it. I didn't say it. So you'll have to ask her.
To me, it doesn't matter but to her -- from her standpoint, I think it's very disrespectful to both really, whether it's Indian or Black, I think is very disrespectful to both. To me, it doesn't matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Well, despite saying in part eight days ago that Harris, quote, happened to turn black in his words, and now, she wants to be known as black, Donald Trump now saying its Harris who's being disrespectful as you just heard.
Shermichael, how do you work with that if you were advising the campaign?
(LAUGHTER)
SINGLETON: Erica, if I had the answer to that question, I'd be the richest guy on this panel right now.
Look, I think like Senator Lindsey Graham was right when he said, I think on this network, a couple of days ago that this stuff isn't helpful. From a campaign perspective, you want to be able to pivot and draw the contrast from your opponent.
I mean, you just talked with Aisha about why the Vice President hasn't really sit with any journalist. If I were advising the principal, I would say, look, we need to bring the contrast about previous positions in the past to the flip-flop of new moderation today and continue to talk about those the issues from police officers, from immigration, to health care, on and on.
If you constantly bring that message before journalists, eventually, the journalists going to say, you know what?
[19:15:02] That's a good question. We probably should ask the vice president, why are you changed your position? Why are you moderating? What's different now compared to before?
And those a very substantive questions that I think a lot of voters would be the interested in finding the answers to. But when you're not focused on those sorts of things, we're talking about this and it's not helpful because it doesn't necessarily add to the voter pool. And that's always what you're attempting to do an electoral politics. You want to add, not subtract.
HILL: Well, in terms of adding, not subtracting, I'm not sure this is additive, but, Stephanie, Donald Trump quite animated when talking about crowd sizes today. As we heard a little earlier, comparing them even with crowds for Martin Luther King Jr. Just let me remind you of that moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I've spoken to the biggest crowds. Nobody's spoken to crowds bigger than me. If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours, same real estate, same everything same number of people, if not, we had more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: It always comes back to the crowd size, Stephanie, which -- which amazes me. I'm curious, especially based on your time and knowing and knowing the former president, what was your reaction when you heard that?
GRISHAM: I mean, I shook my head. It was so typical. It reminded me of when we very first took office and then he forced Sean Spicer, who was press secretary at the time, and all of us on the comms team to come in on a weekend and he made Sean go out and say that it was the biggest crowd in history ever before, ever, ever, ever.
So it reminded me of that. You know, it's -- again, it's the same tired stuff and we're going on a decade now with Donald Trump, and it's not changing, and it's not going to change. And, you know, I for one, I'm kind of getting tired of hearing about his crowd sizes, I would also kind of get tired of hearing about our country being in such bad shape and that our country is so bad, bad, bad.
I think that the reason there the excitement that there is for Kamala is because of the hope that there is. And I'm not trying to be, you know, cheesy here with hope, but she's actually somebody who is giving people hope right now, other than saying, beating us over the head, saying how bad the country is and only he can fix it. People are just smarter than that. And I think there's real fatigue.
HILL: Marc, quickly, last word in terms of that fatigue -- how much does he get it? His campaign might, but does he?
CAPUTO: I don't think he necessarily cares about that. Donald Trump is going to be who Donald Trump is. And in Donald Trump's mind, everyone told him he was going to lose in 2016, and he won. And then everyone told him he'd get slaughtered in 2020, and he barely lost.
And so, he figures that if he does what he needs to do and what he wants to do is what he needs to do, he's going to win. And so far, that belief is at least carried him across the finish line in a Republican primary right after numerous criminal problems, a criminal trial, as well as major civil trials where he has been found liable. So we'll have to see if he's going to be right in November. But one thing is certain, is that Donald Trump is certain that Donald Trump is right, and that the courses on his right.
Now, whether the voters agree with them or not, you know, we'll see.
HILL: We'll know in 89 days. Hopefully, we'll know in 89 days, you know, give or take a little bit. There's imbalance after that.
Thank you all. Good to see you all tonight.
OUTFRONT next, Governor Walz facing criticism over his military record, our KFILE tonight, discovering just how strongly Walz responded when he faced the same attacks years ago.
Plus, terrifying new details of what investigators say they found at the home of a teenager who was allegedly plotting a terror attack at a Taylor Swift concert, machetes, ISIS propaganda, stockpile of chemicals to make a bomb.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:23:07]
HILL: Breaking news: Vice President Kamala Harris just moments ago defending the military service of her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, as he faces increased scrutiny over his military service record.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Listen, I praise to anyone who has presented themselves to serve our country. And I think that we all should.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Republicans tonight questioning both Walz's characterization of his time in uniform, as well as his departure from service.
CNN's KFILE uncovering similar accusations that were made in 2006.
And OUTFRONT now is Andrew Kaczynski, senior editor of CNN's KFILE.
So as I note, it's not the first time that there have been questions about his military record, accusations that he may have embellished that record.
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN'S KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Well, that's right. He faced similar accusations during his first race for Congress in 2006 when people, critics allege that the way that his campaign talked about his service gave a misleading impression that he had served in the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. Walz served in Italy supporting the operation in Afghanistan.
Now, Walz to had to put out multiple statements to newspapers responding to basically letters to the editor that people wrote accusing him of misleading his service. And I'm going to read a couple of the quotes for people of what people were saying about Walz at the time. One of them said it strongly suggest that he fought in Iraq or Afghanistan, but does not say which country. And another read, quote, through artful admission, Walz is leaving the impression that he served in combat zones or the current conflict.
Now, what were they responding to? They were responding to the language on his web site at the time and they were responding to his ads. I'm going to read -- lay out the website language so people can make us what to make up their own minds here. And this is what the website said.
[19:25:01]
It said: Prior to retiring, Walz served overseas with his battalion in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. And now, take a listen to how his campaign ads talked about his service.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AD NARRATOR: Sometimes and everyday person comes along and helps put the impossible within our reach. The coach who could see a championship three years before the big game, the teacher who inspired generations of one by one, the soldier who served for two decades, but ready when they attacked, command sergeant major, retiree four years late after a tour, supporting the war in Afghanistan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: So we have all of these moments back in 2006 that you've just laid out. What was the response then from Governor Walz?
KACZYNSKI: So these letters and these claims that he was misrepresenting his service in 2006, they received a lot of pushback from both him supporters and himself. In fact, he took these allegations so seriously that he responded in both local papers. And I'm going to read what he said in both instances.
And here's what he said in July 2006. He said: On Saturday, the free press printed a letter which implied, I embellish my military record. The details of my record can be easily found in numerous articles by the free pass and other newspapers. Therefore, I must assume that this letter is meant to slander my good name. And for the record, I served 24 years in the Army National Guard, and retired as a command sergeant major. In May of 2005, I served in three NATO missions, the Arctic, deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, serving Italy in 2003 and 2004.
Using innuendo to defame candidate's character has no place in this debate. This nation must do better because we have many important issues to face.
That was how he responded to one of those editorials.
And then in November of 2006, there was another editorial that made a similar claim and he responded by saying, if you were confused about my service, you could have checked. My website simply had the decency to call me and ask. And when you dishonor a veteran, you dishonor all soldiers and veterans, you own apology to all those who served honorably.
And I think something that is important for us to note here, too, is people sort -- even if people took away from those ads that they thought he was leaving open, that he served in Iraq or Afghanistan, in interviews that we looked he did describe his service accurately, including saying in one, I did ten months with Operation Enduring Freedom where by the luck of the draw, I served in Italy.
HILL: Right. So, he wasn't saying that he that he was there. Important to continue digging on this, as I know, you're going to be doing. We have a busy three months ahead here, my friend.
Yeah. Thank you. Good to see you.
And just to note that coming up tonight here on CNN, the command sergeant major who oversaw Walz and the National Guard and says he let his troops down is set to join Laura Coates at 11:00. Be sure to tune in.
OUTFRONT here next, Vice President Harris zeroing in on the union vote in Detroit, appearing today with the president of one of the country's largest unions. He's my guest.
Plus, Republicans attacking Governor Walz over his handling of the protests after George Floyd's murder, an issue for some voters in his state.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:32:45]
HILL: Tonight, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz that making their case directly to union workers in Detroit where they address members of the United Auto Workers Union. Harris, of course, is making a point to draw a sharp contrast that she sees between her team and Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You know, there's perversion that's happened in our country in the last several years, where there's a suggestion that somehow strength is about making people feel small, making people feel alone. But isn't that the very opposite of what we know unions know to be strength?
It's about the collective. It's about understanding no one should ever be made to fight alone. That we are all in this together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: You saw Harris there with, of course, not only Tim Walz but the president of the UAW, who will join me in just a moment.
First, though, I do want to bring in my colleague, Arlette Saenz. She's OUTFRONT in Detroit.
What else did we hear today from the vice president and Governor Walz on the trail?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, Vice President Kamala Harris sought to rally support from union members as she's looking to that key constituency here in the critical battleground state of Michigan to help her in November.
Harris has earned the support of UAW leadership and the members who were here at this union hall this afternoon, that we spoke with were largely supportive of Harris's candidacy, but she is still facing the difficult task of trying to earn the support of rank and file union members across the board at a time when former President Donald Trump is also trying to make appeals to that key group.
Now, her new running -- Harris's new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, really tried to drive home the contrast between Harris and Trump on labor policies as they spoke here today. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We know -- we know that unions built the middle-class, the rest of America has to. You know who doesn't believe that? Donald Trump. This guy doesn't know the first thing about unity or service. He's too busy serving himself.
Again and again and again, you've seen it. He put himself above us. He weakened our country to strengthen his own hand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:35:04]
SAENZ: Now support from the UAW and other unions will be key for Harris heading into November's election, especially in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all as part of that critical blue wall where they are looking to appeal to working class voters.
Now, in addition to her appearance here for at this union hall, Harris also addressed the debate over the debate that's been playing out. She said that she has committed to a debate with ABC News on September 10th, and then told reporters she's happy to talk about other debates that could potentially take place after that debate.
Of course, Trump himself today said that he had committed to three debates. So far, Harris has not signed on to all of those plans.
HILL: Yeah, on that first one he says he committed to is before the ABC ones. So we'll see what happens there. Arlette, appreciate it as always. Thank you.
The president of the UAW, Shawn Fain, joining me now. Great to have you with me tonight.
As I understand it, you had the chance to speak with both vice president Harris and Governor Walz today. So I'm curious, what are some of the issues that you raised with them?
SHAWN FAIN, UNITED AUTO WORKERS PRESIDENT: Look, it's just talking about the mission here. I mean, look, the mission is, you know, to win this election. You know, we have one or two options with this election. It's either going backwards under Donald Trump or its continuing go forward for the working class people this country under a Harris-Walz administration.
And you know, it's an easy decision for us because, you know, it's a very clear picture when you look at both sides in their work -- in their own words, in her own actions, it's a very telling picture who stands with workers and who doesn't give a about workers. And, you know, it's very evident by Donald Trump, who he serves.
He serves a billionaire class. He's a lapdog for Elon Musk or whoever all throw money at him and the U.S. was for sale under Donald Trump.
So, you know, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz spent a lifetime serving others and Donald Trumps spent a lifetime serving himself.
HILL: I know you've been pretty forceful in your support for Kamala Harris, campaigning with her over the last couple of days. You were also a strong proponent of Walz being her VP pick. You said he was one of your two picks that he was an awesome guy for labor.
When it comes to though, the UAW's own internal polling, what does it show you about where your members stand going into November?
FAIN: Look, go and -- go and clear back to 2008. You know, we've looked at our polling and are polling has been consistent. It's typically always been 65-35. 65, you know, 32.
So, you know, it's in the same ballpark. We've been polling. It's were getting the same numbers again, and, you know, it's -- you know, that's typical. I mean, it's -- so, you know, we're not seeing any drastic change and I know. I mean, I know in talking to our members and I've been going to conferences weekly. An overwhelming majority of our members will vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
HILL: So as for that 30-some odd percent, as you note, is pretty consistent even based on prior elections, what do you think the reservations are for that 30-some-odd percent in 2024?
FAIN: Look, it can be a plethora of issues. I mean -- look, I mean, there's people that vote strictly just about guns or whatever the issue and that's -- it's their right. And that's what's great about this country. We live in a democracy. You know, we don't tell people how to vote. We give people the tools we give them the information of who stands up with working class people and who's going to make life harder for us.
And so that's our job to educate our members and let them make the decisions. So, you know, I think that's a lot of it, but --
HILL: Do you think -- when we look at some of the numbers just in terms of a support Democrats have been steadily losing support and losing an edge, I should say with union voters to Republicans, going back, say five years.
But if you look at 62-point edge in 1948, 31 points in '92, down to 22 points in 2020. I know you blamed that loss and what you've called the GOP billionaire our class strategy to divide people.
What about the Democratic party itself though? Do you think they have done enough to win over some of those votes or to try to bring some people back?
FAIN: Yeah, look, I think Democratic Party has to get back to our roots. I mean, the roots of the Democrat Party were rooted in taking care of working class people in labor. I mean, obviously, because our governments been sold to the highest bidder, thanks to Citizens United, you know, which is a Supreme Court decision, again, put in under a conservative Supreme Court, you know, basically our politicians have to -- obviously, there's unlimited amounts of money going into our campaigns and both sides are trying to raise funds to be able to run good campaigns and working class people get left behind in that equation.
But, you know, the Democrat party is definitely getting back to its roots, I know Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are 100 percent working class focused and union or not, they care about workers. They're one of us, they are working class people and they know what its like to live, paycheck to paycheck.
Donald Trump, he's never worked a day in his life for a paycheck. He has no idea what it's like. He's been given everything in his life he doesn't know what work is. He doesn't know what sacrifices because the only serves himself.
[19:40:05]
HILL: Shawn Fain, appreciate you joining us tonight. Thank you.
FAIN: No, thank you.
OUTFRONT next, J.D. Vance attacking Governor Walz, saying he left Minneapolis -- let it burn during the protests surrounding George Floyd's murder. So what did the people in Minneapolis itself think? We asked them.
Plus, investigators revealing additional details tonight about that foiled terror plot targeting Taylor Swift's concert. The suspects were apparently eying people outside the stadium. That's where tens of thousands of fans gathered before these shows.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:45:03]
HILL: Tonight, Governor Tim Walz really getting a crash course in life as a vice presidential candidate, the spotlight is harsh. It is unforgiving.
Among the Republican attacks, his handling of the riots that broke out in Minnesota after George Floyd's murder.
So what do the voters have to say about how Walz responded at the time?
CNN's Jason Carroll is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a city in crisis. May 25, 2020, George Floyd is killed by a Minneapolis police officer. The outrage over his death spilling onto the streets, some peaceful protests devolved into riots.
There were fires, looting and violence over the course of three days.
Lisa Sutton remembers what it was like to live in fear.
LISA SUTTON, MINNEAPOLIS RESIDENT: I lived in the city at that time. It's very scary.
CARROLL: Sutton is a Democrat and says what leaves her unsettled even now is how her Democratic Governor Tim Walz responded to the riots years ago.
SUTTON: I do have some serious problems with how our governor dealt with the riots.
CARROLL: Walz has faced bipartisan criticism from some voters in Minnesota who say waiting three days was too long to fully activate the National Guard.
He said some of the criticism is valid said he worried sending in additional reinforcement could inflame an already volatile situation.
JENNIFER, INDEPENDENT/LEANS REPUBLICAN: I think that was a failure on his part. I don't know why he waited. I don't know why he left the city burn, but I think it's horrible and people shouldn't forget that.
CARROLL: It certainly has not been forgotten by former President Donald Trump his vice presidential running mate, Senator J.D. Vance.
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tim Walz allowed rioters to burn down Minneapolis in the summer of 2020, and then the few who got caught Kamala Harris helped bail them out of jail. TRUMP: When the violent mobs of anarchists and looters and Marxists came to burn down Minneapolis four years ago, remember me, I couldn't get your governor to act.
CARROLL: But the then president actually praised Walz for activating the National Guard on a call in June of 2020.
TRUMP: I know Governor Walz is on the phone and, we spoke and, I fully agree with the way he handled it the last couple of days.
CARROLL: A senior Trump campaign adviser said the former president was complementing Walz only, quote, after days of madness, and he quote had finally done something.
RON LATZ (D), MINNESOTA STATE SENATORI think it's really a cynical wedge issue that the GOP is using as they have in the past to try to inflame passions about crime. For President Trump now to claim that Governor Walz responded effectively and appropriately, is complete reversal of his position.
WARREN LIMMER (R), MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR: Reflective of his delay in reacting to calamity, the riot, I have to consider whether or not he would respond the same way if it was on a national scale.
CARROLL: But for Peter Thelen, a self-described moderate, the issue is no longer relevant.
PETER THELEN, MINNESOTA MODERATE VOTER: Guy speaks to me a little bit more of a guy like to go get a beer with, not to be too cliche, but --
CARROLL: Okay.
THELEN: Yeah. I mean, he seems a great guy, great choice.
CARROLL: Lisa Sutton says she is not so sure.
Do you think he's up to the job? I guess that's the question.
SUTTON: I don't know.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: So, Jason, we know Walz had his critics, still has some critics as we just saw there, clearly, though a lot of supporters. He won reelection by eight points in 2022.
CARROLL: Right, true. And, Erica, even some of those folks that we spoke to out here who clearly had issues with the governor also acknowledged that he's a great speaker, they say, someone who has this sort of friendly aura around him. So, that clearly appeals to a number of voters here in Minnesota. The big question, of course, now is, will he have that kind of appeal on the national stage? Erica?
HILL: We'll be watching. Jason, appreciate it. Thank you.
OUTFRONT next, shocking new details in the foiled plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert. The plan and just how close it came to carrying it out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:54:01]
HILL: Tonight, CNN learning the U.S. government warned Austria about that foiled terror plot at Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna. Three teenage suspects are being questioned right now. Among them, this 19- year-old.
Austrian officials say he was radicalized by ISIS just last month and told investigators he planned to kill himself at a large number of people during one of the shows.
Nick Paton Walsh is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three nights of record-breaking teen-ish revelry halted by unprecedented teen horror.
Austrian police Thursday outlined how this 19-year-old man had planned a suicide attack with knives and a bomb doting crowd and the periphery of Taylor Swift's three concerts in Vienna tonight, Friday and Saturday.
Here, where he lived an hour south, police found 21,000 euros fake cash, chemical, bomb precursors and detonators, clearing nearly 60 homes in case of a blast and troublingly, a police car, blue light, perhaps meant to ease his vehicle into the crowd so he could attack.
[19:55:06]
He quit his job two weeks ago, changing his appearance, saying he planned something big.
Another teenager, 17, was detained Thursday, just outside the stadium where police say he'd been hard to work and a third team, just 15- years-old, was also questioned.
Radicalized online by ISIS the teenagers are Austrian born.
It left Swift fans 65,000 disappointed per night about as distraught as they can get.
Some in tears, but police very clear about how close they got.
GERHARD KARNER, AUSTRIAN INTERIOR MINISTER: We also have to say more specifically to the current events that major concerts are often a favorite target of Islamist attackers.
WALSH: Echoes of a horrific bombing in Manchester at an Ariana Grande concert in 2017 that killed 22 fans after which Swift herself said in 2019, I was completely terrified to go on all this time because I didn't know how we were going to keep 3 million fans safe over seven months.
Police clear ISIS radicalized the teens online, where they also got their bomb instructions we can see that in Austria.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have very young guys that are radicalized due to the fact that they are using online propaganda.
WALSH: The arrest adds to a litany of teen ISIS plots, tracks back in a landmark study by researchers Peter Neumann, nearly two thirds of ISIS related arrests in Europe in the past nine months have been of teenagers.
PETER NEUMANN, TERRORISM EXPERT: They may mess up, they may change their mind, but at the end of the day, some of them may actually be quite useful, not least, because they are less suspicious. Who would think of a 13-year-old as a terrorist?
WALSH: Nobody surely, but now the threat is evolving, radicalized online in days and younger.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: OUTFRONT now, Seth Jones, national security expert and senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Seth, it's good to see you. I know you have been in touch with your counter-terror sources in Vienna. Just give me a sense of we know this was close, but just how prepared were these suspects and how close they actually were to pulling this off?
SETH JONES, AUTHOR, "THREE DANGEROUS MEN": Well, Erica, this looks like it was a really serious plot, everything from the intent to conduct an attack against Taylor Swift concert either inside of the stadium or outside. And we've seen that congregation the people that have been at Taylor Swift concerts, me among them.
In addition, we see all the precursor chemicals, including importantly, TATP, which is generally called the mother of Satan. It's been used in a lot of terrorist attacks. So we see the intent and the capability to conduct an attack and also and importantly, this was the Islamic State, which has perpetrated attacks this year in Russia, in Iran, there's a big plot in Belgium.
So, this organization and its affiliates have been involved in a range of attacks and plots as well.
HILL: It is really something especially as you lay all that out and as you noted, right, because you saw yourself being a Swifty, in all seriousness though, outside of these concerts, I mean, you have sometimes tens of thousands of fans who will show up. They don't have tickets, but they are there to be a part of the experience.
Is there a sense that it was also perhaps not just inside the stadium, but outside that stadium in Vienna each night. That was vulnerable, right? That, that could have been a target in and of itself.
JONES: Yeah, it's not clear right now whether they were trying to get inside. We saw in the Manchester attack in 2017 at the Ariana Grande concert that the terrorist waited after the concert as people came out and they came onto him, then he detonated his explosive device, killed himself because it was a suicide attack, and then a range of people around him.
But he didn't -- he didn't need -- the 19-year-old here, did not need to do that in this case, he could easily have done it outside of the concert with the large congregation of people there. So there were multiple targets really for this series of concerts.
HILL: You know, the next stop, five nights at Wembley Stadium in London to close out this European tour for Taylor Swift, the mayor of London saying we're going to carry on.
I mean, what's your assessment? People who have tickets to go to those shows, would it give you pause if you had those tickets?
JONES: Look if -- if people don't want to go to the concert, ill take the tickets so ill give him to my daughters. I mean, I feel that comfortable. The British, including British intelligence, MI-5, and British police, I think are all over this right now. I think be very difficult frankly, in this high alert to get somebody in and around Wembley stadium. So I would go.
HILL: All right. Good to know. Seth, appreciate it as always. Thank you.
JONES: Thank you.
HILL: Thanks to all of you for joining us tonight. I'm Erica Hill, in for Erin Burnett.
Be sure to stay tuned. The news continues right here on CNN.
"AC360" starts now.
