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Erin Burnett Outfront

Exclusive Interview With Harris, Her First Since Topping Ticket; Report: Trump's Post-Presidency Profits At Mar-A-Lago Quadruple; Fears Grow South China Sea Skirmishes Could Spiral Out Of Control. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 29, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:45]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news, our exclusive interview with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Who she plans to put in her cabinet and how she defends her changing policy positions.

And Trump just speaking out, defending his photo-op at Arlington National Cemetery, as the Army issues a stark rebuke.

Plus, the price of admission. Trump's Mar-a-Lago is turning astonishing profits since he left the White House and is set to make even more as it will soon cost $1 million to get your foot in the door.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

Good evening. I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news, our exclusive interview with Kamala Harris. Dana Bash sat down with the Democratic presidential nominee today in her first interview since accepting the nomination, Harris making news on multiple fronts, including this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You had a lot of Republican speakers at the convention. Will you appoint a Republican to your cabinet?

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I would.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Dana also pushed the vice president on why she's changed her position on key issues and what President Biden said to Harris when he first told her he was going to step aside. We'll hear much more on all of that when Dana joins us here in a moment.

That interview with Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, took place today in Georgia during the candidate's bus tour of the state. Harris knows that Georgia will be key in this election. Here's how she put it moments ago at a rally in Savannah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Georgia, for the past two election cycles, voters in this very state, you who are here have delivered, you sent two extraordinary senators to Washington, D.C.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: You sent President Biden and me to the White House.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: You showed up. You knocked on doors. You registered folks to vote. And you made it happen. You did that. You did that.

And so, now, we are asking you to do it again.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: In 2020, Biden became the first Democratic presidential nominee to win Georgia since 1992, winning by the narrowest of margins, just 0.3 percent. And new polling shows Harris now has a small lead in Georgia, but still within the margin of error.

And nationally, Harris now has the narrowest of leads over for Trump, also within the margin of error in two new polls tonight, 49 to 47 percent in a new Quinnipiac University poll, and 48 to 47 percent in a new "Wall Street Journal" poll.

As promised, Dana Bash is with us now.

Dana, a fantastic interview with Harris are first sit down since becoming the nominee money and there had been so much discussion as to when she would do this big interview. She finally did it with you.

What did she tell you?

BASH: We talked about a lot of different things, Brianna, including and most importantly, the question that is on everybody's mind about the economy and particularly the crisis of affordability in this country right now. Obviously, the Kamala Harris and the Harris campaign previously, the Biden campaign talked a lot about the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration, particularly when it comes to the economy going back to the COVID pandemic and the economic problems there.

But now the question is, for a lot of people is, how do I buy my groceries? How do I afford a home? Never mind to buy, but even to rent? Those are things we talked about.

Also, Bri, we talked about the convention that she had. She talked about building bridges and she had a lot of Republican speakers, pretty much one every night. So the question that I asked is whether or not she planted to plan to incorporate people from the other side of the aisle in her administration should she win?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: You had a lot of Republican speakers at the convention.

[19:05:00]

Will you appoint a Republican to your cabinet?

HARRIS: Yes, I would. Yes, I would.

BASH: Anyone in mind?

HARRIS: No, no one in particular in mind. I got -- we got 68 days to go this election, so I'm not putting the cart before the horse, but I would. I think -- I think it's really important. I -- I have spent my career inviting diversity of opinion. I think it's important to have people at the table and when some of the most important decisions are being made that have different views, different experiences.

And I think it would be to the benefit of the American public to have a member of my cabinet and was a Republican.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And, Brianna, we talked about several issues that she has changed her position on. Republicans talk about them a lot, things that she supported in the Democratic primary that she ran in during the 2020 election cycle, on energy, for example, on the issue of fracking in which is huge in the must -- must-win state for her Pennsylvania.

She discussed the specifics of her change, why she changed, and then also beyond the policy, foreign policy, we talked about as well. But beyond that, Brianna, I did ask her about the phone call that she got from President Biden on that fateful day, July 21st, 2024, when she -- when he decided he was going to pull out of the race and she described to me what that conversation was like and you'll have to tune in tonight to hear what she said.

KEILAR: That is quite the tease for what is ahead, Dana.

And you also asked Harris about a photo, one that's gotten a lot of attention. This is it here. It's of Harris's grandniece watching her speak at the DNC. What was her reaction? And to this photo and all of the attention that it's getting.

BASH: She said that she saw the photo and she is well aware of the fact that it absolutely went viral she said that her grandniece and there were two of them there at the convention. They talked a lot about the speech and the moment afterwards with her. And I said, do you want me any -- any information that the intel on her hot takes? And she said she had a lot to say.

But even more importantly, the reason I asked about that image is because of the historic nature of her run. She did not talk about being the potential first female president. She did not talk about the potentially -- being the potentially first African American or Black woman or, the Asian woman to be president.

And she said the reason she did that is because she wants to be president for all of the people. Again, there will be more of that conversation in this special tonight at 9:00 p.m.

KEILAR: Some of the hottest takes or from the little ones, I'll say. I'm very curious about that myself.

BASH: They know their stuff.

KEILAR: They do. They keep it simple. Dana Bash, thank you so much. Really looking forward to the rest of the interview.

And let's talk about it so far.

Jamal Simmons is with us. You just saw part of it. What did you think?

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Oh, I thought it was really good interview for what we can tell so far. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest. Dana has some good teases in there.

I asked some of -- my former colleagues who are back in the vice president's world, what I thought about the event. They said they thought she was effective. They sought that she did what she set out to do. I think that's probably the high praise because when you set up one of these interviews, but you really want to do is make sure you know what your message is going to be when you get in there, you make sure she delivers that message.

And it sounds like that she did that pretty confidently. And I think he presented what the American public will probably see is somebody who's confident, who's capable. I think got a vision for the future, is ready to turn the page on the Trump era and get started with something new for the country.

So I think it was probably all round win for the vice president. We'll see how the rest of it goes at 9:00.

KEILAR: Yeah. Very curious to see how the rest of it goes.

Lulu Garcia Navarro, you heard Harris telling Dana she would pick a Republican to serve in her cabinet if she's elected. Do you think this winds for any voters that she didn't have before?

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, she said she would. She didn't say she will. So let's be clear there that she wasn't specific about exactly who she would welcome into her administration should she win. But listen, it's smart, right? What she's trying to do there is reach

out to potential Nikki Haley voters, other disaffected Republicans. You saw that during the Democratic convention where they really featured Republicans saying, hey, the waters warm in here, you are welcome in this party. And that's another way of doing that, sort of saying it's not true what they're saying about me. I'm not a radical leftist, I would welcome a difference of opinion in my own administration.

But again, she said she would. She didn't say she will.

KEILAR: Yeah. David Urban, what do you think? And we should note that there is still a lot for us to see here that we haven't. We'll see it at 9:00. What do you think?

[19:10:02]

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, yeah. So congratulations to Dana, right? Great, great get on the interview.

Look, I think it was -- obviously, Jamal and I are going to differ this. I think it was from the snippets I've seen, it's not great. You cannot fake authenticity and what we saw there was an inauthentic person. The vice president says, I -- my values haven't changed, and then subtext, however, every political position I've ever held to date has changed.

You can't -- you can't have it both ways. You can't say my values haven't changed and then but my political positions have changed. That smacks of political expediency.

SIMMONS: But, David --

URBAN: But maybe -- to specific, hold on, Jamal. Specifically, she talks about her road to conversion on fracking, on the Inflation Reduction Act. She says the Inflation Reduction Act, we passed that, and we put in these standards that it made me feel better about what we're doing.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: David, can I play that? No, no, no, no. Can I play it? Can I play it so that we can talk about it on the other side?

URBAN: Sure, absolutely.

KEILAR: Let's listen to this. This is -- this is Dana asking Harris about how her positions have changed on issues like the green new deal and immigration. Here's that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values, have not changed. You've mentioned the Green New Deal, I have always believed and I've worked on it that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time.

We did that with the Inflation Reduction Act. We have set goals for the United States of America, and by extension, the globe around when we should meet certain standards for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as an example. That value has not changed. My value around what we need to do to secure our border, that value has not changed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right. David, now you don't have to paraphrase it. Now, tell us what you think?

URBAN: So. Yeah, so she cites that as the reason for her conversion, right? The problem is the green -- the Inflation Reduction Act was signed on August 16 of 2022, over two years ago. If she had this conversion and now believe somehow believed woke up on the 17th and believed that fracking was okay, why did she go do an event on oil and gas in Pennsylvania and say, you know what, now that we pass the Inflation Reduction Act, I feel really good about this, this technology and I'm here to support you in the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania.

No, she changed her position after she was nominated to be the nominee for the Democratic ticket. And it smacks of political expediency. People -- you can't fake authenticity. By the way, the other note, it's a little picayune, is a stagecraft that her seat is so low at that table. I don't know who advanced person did this, but Walz is towering over here. It looks terrible.

Fix the table next time, Madam Vice President, like it's not a great look for you.

SIMMONS: Well, we'll leave the looks to David Urban but --

URBAN: Jamal, this is your candidate. TV's a visual media.

SIMMONS: I gotcha. I gotcha. I don't think people are voting for her for that reason.

Listen, I think the reality when people, when were taking a look at where she is on the value, she's been very clear about this. And I'm somebody who's seen her. You know, I've tracked her career from when she was a D.A. all the way to she was a vice president. She holds bad actors accountable, Donald Trump's about the worst bad actor on the American stage right now.

But when you think about the issues of positions, her positions, which he's saying about her values is she's a fact-driven lawyer and she's leading a coalition right now that stretches from AOC and Bernie on the left all the way to Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney on the right. And so, sometimes when you're doing that, you're going to find the best position you can find that holds to your values. But that also enlarged your coalition.

And that's called governing. So if Donald Trump were interested in governing for the broad swath of the American people, he might look for some ways that also include people that aren't MAGA.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Look, can I just say --

(CROSSTALK)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I'm going to jump in here.

KEILAR: Lulu, please, please jump in.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I'm getting -- I'm going to jump in here and just say this. I mean, if were talking about people changing their positions, we know that Donald Trump just today changed his position on IVF and other things. I mean, it is something that candidates.

URBAN: Lulu, I don't think he did, Lulu. No, he didn't.

GARCIA: Hold on, they tack to the middle. They tried to appeal to the broadest audience that they can to get people to vote for them. That is what she's doing. She's completely allowed to do it.

I think what's interesting about what she said, the small portion that we did see is the fact that she was talking about her values. And the question I have about this is, is that really important to the American people? We know that when in polls, she beats Trump on the idea of who is more trustworthy, who has sort more leadership, who has more credibility.

I mean, Donald Trump is a serial liar in many cases. And so that is something that she is strong on, but it was -- as we saw in 2016, as we saw in 2020 when Donald Trump almost won, people know who Donald Trump is.

[19:15:07]

And they don't seem to care about the fact that he might not have these character traits that they embrace so much. They care about the economy. They care about immigration. They care about other things, abortion rights. And so, these are the issues that she's going to really have to speak to.

KEILAR: Well, Lulu, I do want to ask you because over and over again, Republicans have accused Harris of a being afraid to sit down for an interview like this. I think who she chose spoke volumes. She picked someone who is tough and who has covered Congress and politics extensively, who knows Harris's record, both on the campaign for Senate, for president, and her record when she was in Congress.

Does this change that criticism do you expect?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I think it was a good choice to have Dana do it. I mean, as you heard, former President Trump himself actually had to acknowledge that she was fair during the last debate and spoke well of her. So in that sense, it was a good choice.

And I think it does change the narrative but she's going to have to do more of these. I mean, the issue that happened here is that she waited too long. It became like this big event, this, you know, scarcity breeds this idea that, you know, what's going to happen, is she going to say something?

You know, the more she does of these, the less sort of important they're going to become. And she's going to be able to speak directly to the American people. Listen, we as journalists, we do an important job, which is we tried to ask questions that the people want answers to, and were informed about the issues. And so it is important for her to sit down and have these discussions as it is important for former President Trump to sit with maybe not so friendly media and have substantive debates on the regular.

KEILAR: Yeah, amen to that. Shout out for journalism there.

David, what do you say to that?

URBAN: Listen, I think it's great. Look, I would love for her to come to Pennsylvania and explain to Pennsylvania hunters how she's now not for -- she's no longer for mandatory gun buybacks. How she's no -- Pennsylvania insurance holders, how she no longer supports this single-payer health care system, doesn't take your health care way that the people in the oil and gas industry.

I'll happily -- I'll take her around and introduces people in Westmoreland County, Cambria County, so people work in the oil and gas industry, to see if she can convince them that she now supports their industry. It's not weather I believe her or Lulu believes her or Jamal believes her. It's whether those people in those counties believe her. And I think that she rings inauthentic and she's going to have to prove it on the stump.

(CROSSTALK)

SIMMONS: Well, I like to say one thing -- one thing very quickly. I think she'll go around some of those people, some people will be women, and those women care about having autonomy over their bodies and their right to have abortions and that's something that Republicans, Donald Trump doesn't want to talk about.

KEILAR: We'll be talking a little bit more on --

URBAN: The one -- the one value that one value that changed. She values Pennsylvania voters a lot more that she used to.

KEILAR: All right. Gentlemen, hang with me if you can, please. We do have more ahead, so don't miss the full interview with CNN's Dana Bash, sitting down with Vice President Harris and Governor Walz tonight at nine OUTFRONT.

Next, it's a rare rebuke. The United States army hitting back at Trump's campaign over photo-op incident at Arlington National Cemetery. The campaign's response, calling the army secretary's office, quote, hacks.

And dead heat, both campaigns barnstorming the crucial blue wall state of Michigan as the race remains, neck and neck there, who has the edge?

Plus, new and alarming clashes in the South China Sea, boats rammed and sailors armed with axes is trying to -- trying to pull the U.S. a new war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:23:02]

KEILAR: You're looking at live pictures out of Wisconsin. That is where former President Trump is about to take the stage for a town hall moderated by former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard, who endorsed him this week.

And this comes as Trump just made his first public comments, pushing back against the controversy surrounding his visit to Arlington National Cemetery. The Army releasing a statement today saying that one of its employees was, quote, abruptly pushed aside when they tried to enforce the rules prohibiting political activities on cemetery grounds.

Here's how Trump is responding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOANLD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: While we were there, they said, could you take pictures over the grave of my son, my sister, my brother, would you take pictures with us, sir? I said absolutely, I did and then I said farewell. I said goodbye.

And last night, I read that I was using the site to politics, that I use it to politics.

Joe Biden killed their children by incompetence, should never happen. Kamala killed their children just as though they had a gun in hand by gross incompetence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Omar Jimenez is OUTFRONT live from Trump's event in Wisconsin.

Omar, what more is Trump saying about this?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you played a little bit of there, he's essentially while he has addressed it as part his rally in central Michigan today, he's essentially saying he was asked by families of some of those that were killed in the line of duty to take pictures and that's all it was.

Well, a video posted to his TikTok showed parts of the Arlington National Cemetery honoring and him visiting these grave sites with audio though of him criticizing the Biden administrations Afghanistan withdrawal. And as we understand from the Army, it was an employee that tried to stop what they perceived as political activity from happening and because that would be illegal.

[19:25:04]

Well, that is where the controversy lies, because Trump's campaign manager described that the person as a despicable person and then posted on social media or essentially reposted saying that re-posting this video for the -- and I'm quoting here, re-posting this, hoping to trigger the hacks and then he tagged the secretary of the army account.

Now, look, this issue happened in a section of our international cemetery that's reserved largely for those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. And in a rare pushback, the army said in a statement, participants in the August 26, ceremony and the subsequent section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, army regulations, and Department of Defense policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.

An Arlington National Cemetery employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside. Consistent with the decorum expected at ANC, this employee acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption.

Now, look, it's unclear if he's going to address it again at this Wisconsin rally, but we do know that he has typically addressed stories about him in the news in this particular format. This one will be happening in a town hall format moderated by Tulsi Gabbard, again, former Democrat, independent, who as endorsed the former president. But we're expecting his arrival at any point now and we'll see what he says.

KEILAR: Omar Jimenez live for us in Wisconsin, thank you. We'll be watching.

Everyone is back with me now.

David, Trump defending his trip to Arlington National Cemetery after you heard this Army saying that the employee was abruptly pushed aside, trying to enforce these protocols. You're proud Army vet. You're West Point grad.

What do you think about this?

URBAN: Look, I think the whole situation is tragic. I think that the reason it's tragic that President Trump had to be there to visit the graves of 13 young men and women who died unnecessarily because of a really bad policy decision made by the Biden-Harris administration. So that's beginning -- it should have never happened.

KEILAR: But can you separate that, separate that, David? That's separate from what we're talking about.

URBAN: No, I can't -- I can't. So, yeah. No, I can and it's tragic that had to be there.

I you know, the president went former president went there to honor these families. They requested him to come. They requested actually a videographer. They asked the videos to be taken. They wanted to have it memorialized for their families.

And so, you know, the letter of the law does say I'm certain it says to use these for political activities and so you're not allowed to post them in political campaigns. And so I don't -- I don't know if there was a tussle or not, but its just unfortunate that we would turn was a really good thing has now turned into this political sideshow.

You know, President Trump went there to honor these families and I'm sure the family feel very strongly.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But is it a political sideshow? But, David --

URBAN: It is a political sideshow, Lulu. Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Let me -- let me, well, you know, as someone who spent almost a decade in Iraq and who saw so many, you know, terrible events there and soldiers who lost their lives and were maimed and injured, I know how important it is to have the families honored when they are in their final resting place. There is no more sacred place than Arlington National Cemetery.

And to have this become a political event where there was apparently some sort of altercation with someone who is literally doing their job and then to have them vilified and to be trolled on social media I think just an enormous disservice for the sacrifices of the people who laid their lives down for this country.

And so we can talk about it as a sideshow. But if you want to be commander in chief of this country, certainly, how you treat people in the armed forces, both alive and dead, should be central to the job requirement.

URBAN: So, Lulu -- yeah, Lulu, who was who was disrespected there? I'm not quite for following your logic. The families of the dead servicemen, I've seen plenty of pictures online --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: David, let me -- let me -- let me answer that. The family of one of the fallen soldiers, Green Beret Andrew Marckesano, who you know, his grave is in one of those pictures.

URBAN: Yeah.

KEILAR: His family has put a statement out. They've not actually been, you see this highlighted --

URBAN: Yeah, I saw that today. Yeah, I saw that today.

KEILAR: They haven't been is actually forward, I think is as they could have been if they really wanted to be super public about this, they could be.

I tried to speak with them. They didn't want to go on camera. But there are clearly hurting, right, their loved one served eight deployments, Silver Star recipient, died by suicide after suffering from PTSD, after a lot of time in combat zones.

[19:30:07]

And they feel disrespected.

URBAN: Yeah. And I apologize for that family. I don't -- I don't believe that was the president's intent or anybody there that day or the families -- the other fallen servicemen who were standing in that photo, I don't believe -- servicemen, and women. I don't believe it was any of their intentions to disrespect anybody there.

I believe they went there to honor those who had fallen and not disrespect them in anyway. And so it's -- it's a tragedy and it's sad that its turned into this right now.

KEILAR: Jamal, what do you think?

SIMMONS: I think, first of all, any family member -- family who's lost member of their family in combat has the right to say whatever they want to say about the commander in chief, about the -- about the war that they lost their family and brand because they, whatever they want to say, none of us really ought to get in the way of that.

I think the problem here is not just Donald Trump honoring them. The problem here is Donald Trump feeling like he sort of trampling over the rules and bringing in cameras that maybe they weren't supposed to be there. And clearly they're going to use them for campaign purposes. They're already up with some of this stuff.

And there's a history here. There's a history of former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski who was accused of manhandling someone back in that campaign in the beginning. There's a history here of Donald Trump saying vile things about men and women in the military and saying that he thinks honoring civilians is more important than honoring people in the military who've lost limbs and lost their lives.

So I just think this is about Donald Trump. It's not about these families.

KEILAR: You guys, thank you so much for the conversation. I will say we've seen a number of commanders in chief struggle with how they relate to Gold Star families who disagree with them. It's probably one of the most important things and it's certainly incumbent on the commander in chief to figure out that difficult relationship. But that's just the way it is.

Jamal, Lulu, David, thank you all.

SIMMONS: Thank you.

URBAN: Thanks.

KEILAR: And OUTFRONT next, Trump making a very bold claim about IVF, saying he will make the government or insurance companies by mandate pay the full cost of IVF treatments. He didn't say how, but he did say why?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And the cost of joining Mar-a-Lago was going up to $1 million. New reporting tonight on how Trump is making tens of millions off his private club.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:36:49]

KEILAR: Breaking news, Vice President Kamala Harris on her way back to Washington about to head into intensive preparations for her upcoming presidential debate with former President Trump before heading back out on the campaign trail.

And this all comes as we're about to hear from Harris who just sat down with our Dana Bash for Harris's first in-depth interview since President Biden dropped out of the race, and she became the Democratic presidential candidate.

Priscilla Alvarez is OUTFRONT in Georgia where Harris just ended a two day bus tour of that crucial swing state.

Priscilla, what more are we learning about Harris's schedule?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sources tell me that the vice president is going to hunker down on debate prep. She is known for preparing for just about anything extensively and intensely, and that's certainly the case with this presidential debate where she will have the opportunity to go toe to toe in the same room with former President Donald Trump.

But she does have some more travel programmed before that debate to two other critical states, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Now in Pennsylvania, she'll be campaigning for the first time with President Biden since she became the Democratic nominee. Of course, the campaign officials are looking to see how he can continue to help the vice president win in some of these states. And then, she'll also head to Michigan and other states that President Joe Biden narrowly won in 2020.

Now, what we can expect as an extension of what she said today in her rally here in Georgia, in front of thousands of supporters, and that is what she calls the opportunity economy. But what that looks like is still being flushed out. Of course, this is a compressed race for the vice president, but that still means that vice -- that voters are looking for those additional details about these policies.

She even a little glimpse of that during one of her stops on her bus tour today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO LCIP)

HARRIS: I'm trying. This is one of my singular priorities is to invest and grow our small businesses. So what I'm going to be rolling out next week is basically a tax credit for starting -- for small businesses who are starting now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: So, we still don't have all the details as to what that rollout is going to look like or what exactly it's going to include. But clearly, the economy is top of mind for this campaign because it's top of mind for voters.

And polls -- the vice president is often behind former President Donald Trump on this issue and immigration. So more to come on all of this, but, of course, she will be heading Michigan and Pennsylvania next week in addition to those debate preparations.

KEILAR: All right. We'll be looking to that.

Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.

And OUTFRONT now, Lavora Barnes, the chair of the Michigan Democratic Party.

Thank you for being with us.

And, Lavora, it is a dead heat in Michigan, as you know, both campaigns are just blitzing the state. Trump was there today in last week, Doug Emhoff, campaigned there today, J.D. Vance was in Michigan on Tuesday, Harris is going to be in Detroit on Monday, her second trip to Motor City since Biden dropped out. Biden himself will be there next week.

What is your read on the race there right now? What are you seeing on the ground?

LAVORA BARNES, MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR: We always knew that Michigan was going to be tight. It was going to be tough. That's why we've built the infrastructure we've built here to make sure we've got the ground game to win.

[19:40:00]

We take nothing for granted. We never have. So we are working hard, running like we're behind even if polls pretend like we are close.

We don't believe the polls. We believe Election Day results and were thrilled that the vice president is coming back to Michigan. It makes a lot of sense for her to be here on Labor Day to talk to Michiganders. And, of course, you know, unions built that middle crap class here in Michigan and it's a perfect place for her to spend her Labor Day. So we're excited to have her. KEILAR: There's a new "Wall Street Journal" poll out and it shows that Harris versus getting 15 points more support from Black voters than Biden did earlier this year, 83 percent compared to Biden 68 percent. That's quite the jump, but "The Journal" notes, Harris is still below the 91 percent support the Biden got in the 2020 exit polls.

Are you concerned at all about Black voter enthusiasm for Democrats in Michigan and beyond?

BARNES: You know, we're working hard on reaching the Black vote. We've got great events happening even as we speak right now tonight. We've got some terrific events. Maxwell Frost is here talking to young Black voters. We're going to continue doing that work in that sort of outreach.

We know we've got work to do to make sure folks understand the importance of this election and the importance of making sure we don't let Donald Trump anywhere near that White House again. And particularly in the Black community, we've got conversations we need to have to continue to have to talk about the importance of this election and to make sure we bring Kamala Harris home.

I know this -- as I talked to Black folks around Michigan, they are fired up and they know their job right now is to make sure they talk to all the friends, all their neighbors, and other family members about the importance of participating in this election and they're going to show up.

KEILAR: Trump did make some policy news about IVF at his event in Michigan earlier.

BARNES: Yeah.

KEILAR: Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Under the Trump administration, your government will pay for -- all your insurance company will be mandated to pay for all costs associated with IVF treatment, fertilization for women, IVF treatment, because we want more babies, to put it very nicely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Do you support that?

BARNES: Here's the thing: we know better than to fall for Donald Trump's empty promises. He comes to Michigan and he lies every time he comes. He says things, he makes promises, and then he backs out of those promises. Michiganders have seen it before, and we're seeing again here.

Let's remember who Donald Trump is. This is the man who bragged about being the reason Roe v. Wade fell. This is the man who's going to sign a national abortion ban. Don't believe him. KEILAR: When you say empty promises because of the cost of something

like this?

BARNES: Empty promises because he will say just about anything that he feels like he needs to say to try to convince voters to support him. And in this moment, he feels like he's seeing some slippage because of the extreme position they've taken on abortion. And he's trying to reel it back in.

But he can't. We know who he is. We know exactly who Donald Trump is and exactly what he'll do if he's president again.

KEILAR: Lavora Barnes, thank you for being with us. We do appreciate it.

OUTFRONT next, just how much money is Trump making off of Mar-a-Lago. I'll ask a reporter who knows the answer to that.

And China accused of instigating wild collisions like this one in South China Sea and the U.S. says, it may have to step in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:45]

KEILAR: Tonight, Donald Trump cashing in on his latest presidential run. "Forbes" reporting tonight that his Mar-a-Lago beach club is making record profits. We're talking tens of millions of dollars. His profits have quadrupled since he left office, and it appears that Trump is on pace to push it even higher.

Dan Alexander, senior editor at "Forbes", contributed to this report, did a lot of the legwork on it and he's with us now.

Dan, you have combed through years and years of Mar-a-Lago's finances you've tracked how his profits have changed, especially after he left office. What did you find?

DAN ALEXANDER, SENIOR EDITOR, FORBES: Yeah, that's right.

You know, if you go back to before Trump got into politics, Mar-a-Lago was basically a trophy for a rich guy. You know, sure, you threw off a couple of million dollars of profit a year, but it wasn't a significant contributor to the bottom line of the overall Trump Organization. That started to change in 2015 during his first presidential run and then continue to change throughout the presidency and it grew year after year -- $2 million, $4 $4 million, $6 million, $8 million.

Then, of course, Donald Trump lost the presidency in 2020 and he took a direct flight from Washington, D.C. to Palm Beach, Florida, and basically established Mar-a-Lago as a bunker from which the Republican Party would try to reclaim the presidency. That proved to be the sort of thing that would attract a lot of people to the club, and profits absolutely surge. We're ere now at the point where profits are at roughly $23 million

per year. And that's four times more than they were from before he left the White House and it's about ten times more than they were before he got into politics.

KEILAR: Trump is actually -- he's complained, we've heard him, right, many times about how being president has hurt his bottom line. Let's listen to some of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm the only president that ever lost money while serving in office.

I lost a number of billions.

I could have made a fortune.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Of course, when it comes to Mar-a-Lago, it seems Trump has really benefited from the clientele that been president has to Mar-a- Lago. And can you tell us a little bit about the clientele?

ALEXANDER: That's exactly right. You know, Mar-a-Lago used to be a place that was a spot for well-heeled people of Palm Beach to come and enjoy each others company and enjoy a beautiful property.

[19:50:02]

But it's transformed.

Now, Mar-a-Lago is a spectacle. I was just talking to somebody today who is no longer a member of Mar-a-Lago, and he said that the reason that he left is that it's just all Trump all the time, pure politics, not sort of the social club that it once was.

As people like that guy leave, Trump can bring in more people, many of them from out of state and many of them willing to pay much, much more than people were before he was in politics and so that's jumped the initiation fee revenue. And much of that money has fallen on the bottom line.

KEILAR: And you're "Forbes" is reporting that all 500 memberships spots at Mar-a-Lago are full. There's now a wait list and come October, it's going to cost $1 million to join. That's just to join. There's, of course, other fees associated with it.

How do those initiation fees play into the bottom line?

ALEXANDER: There is no greater contributor to this surge in profits than the run-up in initiation fees. So before he got into politics, you know, Mar-a-Lago is charging roughly $100,000 for an initiation fee. Now, Trump is talking about boosting that up to $1 million.

So it doesn't take a complicated math to figure out that you can bring in a lot fewer people and make a whole heck of a lot more money. He used to bring in less than $1 million in initiation fees. Now he's bringing over ten per year.

KEILAR: Yeah, it's quite the increase.

Dan, really fascinating reporting that you all did. Thank you, Dan Alexander. We appreciate it.

ALEXANDER: Thank you.

KEILAR: OUTFRONT next: China ramping up aggression in the South China Sea. The U.S. saying knock it off or else.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:56:19]

KEILAR: Tonight, growing fears of a conflict with China. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan meeting today with Chinese President Xi Jinping as his military is escalating clashes in the South China Sea. Sullivan today warning the U.S. will intervene if necessary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The PRC well understands the longstanding commitment the United States has under its mutual defense treaty to the Philippines, and the Philippines well understands that we have an ironclad commitment to support them in there lawful exercise of their rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: But will China back down?

Ivan Watson is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Collisions, water cannons, and screaming matches involving sailors armed with a knife and axis. A spree of incidents and collisions in the last several days adding new tensions, two months of skirmishes between China and close U.S. ally, the Philippines, in contested waters of the South China Sea.

A David and Goliath struggle CNN witnessed firsthand earlier this year.

And as you may see, there is a large Chinese coast guard ship directly in front of this Philippines Coast Guard vessel.

Growing concerns that one of these confrontations in the South China Sea -- could spiral out of control.

DR. RAHMAN YAACOB, SOUTHEAST ASIA SECURIYT EXPERT, LOWY INSTITUTE: Are we going to see a military conflict between the Philippines and Chinese? Could be.

WATSON: The confrontations revolve around several contested reefs and shoals. Most of them are located well within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines and as you can clearly see, much further away from mainland China.

Beijing places the blame squarely on the Philippines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We urge certain individuals in the Philippines to start going further down the path of stirring up trouble and making provocations.

WATSON: Meanwhile, the Philippine president issued this warning back in May.

FERDINAND MARCOS JR., PHILLIPINES' PRESIDENT: If a Filipino citizen is killed by a willful that is, I think very, very close to what we define as an act of war. And therefore, we will respond accordingly.

WATSON: Washington has a mutual defense treaty with Manila.

At a meeting with the Philippine armed forces chief this week, a U.S. Navy commander suggested U.S. ships could get directly involved in the maritime dispute.

SAMUEL PAPARO, U.S. INDO-PACIFIC COMMAND COMMANDER: Escort of one vessel to the other is an entirely reasonable option within our mutual defense treaty among this close alliance between what -- between the two -- the two U.S.

WATSON: However, during a visit to Beijing on Thursday, President Biden's National Security Council advisor called for a de-escalation with the People's Republic of China.

SULLIVAN: Nobody is looking for a crisis, not the Philippines, not the United States and we hope not the PRC.

WATSON: But things can get very unpredictable very quickly when large ships play a dangerous game of chicken on the high seas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: And, Ivan, you have been at sea in the middle of one of these confrontations. Tell us what it's like.

WATSON: Right. I was aboard a Philippine Coast Guard ship, part of a small convoy that was swarmed by much larger fleet of Chinese coast guard ships and maritime militia ships.

And they veered very close to our vessel. They physically blocked it getting in front of it. They fired water cannons at one of the smaller Philippine boats, hurting some Philippine personnel.

Strangely, neither the Philippine nor Chinese sailors were like yelling, or cursing at each other. They were all very professional, but tense during this confrontation. By all accounts, the tactics have gotten much more aggressive since then, with more -- with more injuries and boats damaged. But so far, experts say, China is stopping short of direct military to military confrontation -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Ivan Watson, thank you.

And thank you for joining us.

"AC360" starts now.