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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Will Vote To Keep Florida Abortion Ban He Called A "Mistake"; Trump About To Headline Event For Controversial "Moms For Liberty"; Ukraine Presses U.S. To Allow Strikes Deep Inside Russia. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 30, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:39]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, Trump now says he will vote to back Florida's six-week abortion ban. It is a major about face from his stance on the issue, just 24 hours ago. And Harris tonight responding, ripping into Trump.
And Trump's speaking tonight to a controversial group known for anti- LGBTQ rhetoric. They also have ties to Project 2025, which he's trying to disown. So what's the upside?
Plus, a CNN exclusive, Ukrainian soldiers coming under fire as they enter Putin's backyard.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
(MUSIC)
KEILAR: Good evening. I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news: Donald Trump now says he will vote no on a Florida ballot measure to overturn the state's six-week abortion ban despite saying six weeks is too restrictive, and criticizing Governor Ron DeSantis for signing the ban into law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Are you voting yes or no on Amendment 4 in Florida?
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So I think six weeks, you need more time than six weeks. I've disagreed with that right from the early primaries when I heard about it. I disagreed with it.
At the same time, the Democrats are radical because the nine months is just a ridiculous situation, that you can do an abortion in the ninth month. And, you know, some of the states like Minnesota and other states have it where you could actually execute the baby after birth. And all of that stuff is unacceptable.
So I'll be voting no for that reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now, that is just not true. Trump is wrong about that, especially the last part, killing a baby after its born is illegal in every state.
Also, just 24 hours ago, Trump told a reporter, I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks. Tonight, he says he'll vote to keep the six-week ban. Trump is trying to walk a very fine line between not offending anti-abortion rights voters who are backing his campaign and trying to gain support among women who he's lagging with, which is a major reason why he made this giant campaign promise just one day ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Under the Trump administration, your government will pay for or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for all costs associated with IVF treatment, fertilization for women.
Because we want more babies to put it very nicely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: The Harris campaign though appears eager to engage on the issue, getting ready to kick off a bus tour in swing states focusing on reproductive rights and Trump's role in overturning Roe v. Wade.
Trump maybe promising to cover IVF treatments for all, but all except two Senate Republicans recently voted against a bill that would provide IVF coverage. And his own running mate, J.D. Vance, is unable to say who would pay for those treatments or how.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Is it fair to say the details on IVF haven't been worked out yet, how either the government insurers would be forced to pay it work?
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, John, of course, all details get worked out in the legislative process and we're not in the legislative process because we haven't won yet. But I think that President Trump again just believes that we want women to have access to these fertility treatments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Worth noting the average cost of an IVF cycle is $15,000 according to HHS, and patients need on average 2.5 cycles for a total of $40,000.
Steve Contorno is now OUTFRONT.
Steve, yesterday, Trump was pushing universal coverage for IVF today. He says he's voting to allow a six-week abortion ban in Florida. Just how much of a tight rope is he walking here? STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Brianna, Donald Trump has been straining
to navigate this issue really, ever since the three Supreme Court justices, he put on the Supreme Court helped to overturn Roe v. Wade, and he has been on every side of this issue over the course of his political career, and most certainly over the past two years.
Just take a look at what's happened in the last 24 hours. As you said, you put out that statement yesterday where he was suggesting that he might actually vote for this referendum in Florida, that comment was so confounding to anti-abortion advocates that they sounded the alarm on social media. Some of them suggesting that they might sit this election out, that they wouldn't help knock doors for Donald Trump, that they wouldn't vote for him at all, potentially.
[19:05:07]
And so, you saw it today, a response from the Trump campaign, Trump coming out and saying that he would actually vote against that referendum, but that, of course, gets him immediately in trouble with Democratic voters and moderates don't want to see -- who want to see an expansion of abortion rights and who blamed Donald Trump or the current state of abortion access in this country.
But, of course, Donald Trump over the course of his career has been on every side of this issue. We went back over the summer and looked at his various statements. We found 15 times where Donald Trump had switched positions on abortion.
I guess, Brianna, now, we have 16. That is a big number.
Steve Contorno, thank you for the report.
Now, let's go to Priscilla Alvarez.
Priscilla, the Harris campaign, just responding to Trump's comments, what's the vice president saying?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this is a statement from the vice president herself that we got only minutes ago and she is saying here that Donald Trump made his position clear. Let me read it to you.
It says, quote, Donald Trump just made his position on abortion very clear. He will vote to uphold an abortion ban, so extreme, it applies before many women even know they are pregnant. It goes on to say -- and, understand, he is not done. As a part of Donald Trump's project 2025 agenda, he and his allies would limit access to birth control, threatened access to fertility treatments and ban abortion nationwide with or without Congress. And it concludes by saying, the choice in this election is clear.
Of course, this vice president had coined the term Trump abortion ban while on the road earlier this year. And that is exactly what this campaign is leaning on, especially with the foreign president's remarks earlier today. Now, the campaign is going to be taking this on the road, too. Next week. They are launching their reproductive rights tour, and the first stop is on Tuesday in Florida. Of course, that state that we're talking about abortion on the ballot with the six- week ban.
Now, Senator Klobuchar will be there, as well as the campaign manager, and its going to include at least 50 stops.
Now this is going to be primarily surrogates, including the campaign says elected officials, and celebrities. But what this tells us, Brianna, is they're certainly not shying away from this. This is an issue that Democrats think is a galvanizing one with voters and they think that they can get at some momentum here, make inroads among certain blocks of women voters. And so that is what they are clearly trying to do here, both with the vice president herself putting out a statement and then two with the tour to follow next week.
KEILAR: Yeah. She pulls well on this issue and she certainly wants to own it.
Priscilla Alvarez, thank you very much.
Everyone is here with me now.
Karen Finney, to you first, how do Trump's maneuvers on this issue play with female voters specifically and independence?
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, good evening. Brianna.
You know, we've seen this movie before. In 2016, we saw Donald Trump tried to do the same thing and try to say different things in different venues, let his campaign then try to, quote/unquote, correct it so that basically everybody gets to hear a little bit of what they wanted here. And so I think the most important thing and what women voters know, and we've seen this time and time again when the opportunity has gone to the voters and they've gone to the polls they vote for reproductive freedom.
And so what's most important is to remind voters that Donald Trump is the person who put in place the justices that overturned Roe v. Wade. He brags about it. He's very proud of that fact and he actually has a record when he was president of undermining women's health, for starters, by saying he wanted to overturn the Affordable Care Act.
So he's got a record now, so it doesn't really matter what he said. His or how he keeps trying to shift positions or the way he says he now has to -- well, now you have to win elections. We know what his record is.
KEILAR: Yeah, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty with us now.
Sixteen shifts our Steve Contorno and team were able to count there. In that same Fox interview, Trump also refused to commit to vetoing federal abortion ban even when told that his running mate, J.D. Vance, said that he would. Let's listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: What's happening is you're never going to have to do it because it's being done by the states. The states are voting, and the people are now getting a chance to vote. And this is everybody wanted it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And to be clear, this is what Vance said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: Well, I think, to be very clear, he would not support that. I mean, he said that.
INTERVIEWER: But would he veto it?
VANCE: Yeah. I mean, if you're not supporting it as a president of the United States, you fundamentally have to veto it.
INTERVIEWER: So, he would veto a federal abortion ban.
VANCE: I think he would.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Governor, what do you make of that?
TIM PAWLENTY (R), FORMER MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: Well, when your values are clear, your decisions are easy. And pretty clearly, President Trump and vice president candidate Vance are struggling with this issue for all the reasons that your lead in suggested, that he's been all over the map throughout his career on the abortion issue.
[19:10:06]
Republicans know that in swing states with persuadable voters, a disproportionate number of those voters are women, especially suburban women and being overly harsh or restrictive on abortion hurts them from a political standpoint.
So he's trying to scramble. He's trying to duck, bob and weave, and he's saying, you know, as much as he can on both sides of it to keep everybody happy. And that's a tough place to be.
KEILAR: Yeah. And, Philip Bump, you see on this IVF promise, which is a huge promise that he's making, there's reason for voters to be skeptical that he'd followed through. Why?
PHILIP BUMP, NATIONAL COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: Yeah. Well, I mean, in general one sort of point to the past nine years, but specifically on this. We saw him do this in the late stages of both 2016 and 2020, 2016, over the course of the campaign, you repeatedly said, oh, I'm going to have the best health care plan, I'll roll it out, yada, yada, yada. Of course, that didn't happen.
In 2020, people may forget, in October, right after he himself got COVID, he promised he was going to have this miracle drug. He called it a cure from Regeneron that he's going to make available to everyone who is going to be free and everyone's going to be cured of COVID, of course, COVID was a disaster after, you know?
And I think it's important remember, too, that even the promises that he kept in stuck with, things like, I'm going to build a wall and U.S.-Mexico border, even then, it's not as though he came to it with a plan for how it's going to be done. He never was able to secure funding for that either, had to declare a state of emergency that allowed them to do it.
So it's not -- even if he intended to do this, which there's no indication that he does beyond to the former governors point, that he wants to vacuum up these votes even if he wanted to do it, its not as though he's going to come forward with a plan and how it's going to be done anyway. So the whole thing is just a flight of fancy.
KEILAR: Some big promises, unfulfilled there.
Karen?
FINNEY: Yeah. Well, I just wanted to point out that the venue where the former president is speaking tonight is very meaningful to this conversation, Moms for Liberty. They put forward, I believe it was sound $50 million. I wrote a piece for CNN.com about women as reproductive freedom specifically around first control, Project 2025, and the president -- and former president's record, you have groups like Moms for Liberty who are in a very different place when it comes to issues around IVF, when it comes to issues around access to certain forms of birth control and abortion.
So part of the very reason that the president, the former president can't change his position is the people who are he's speaking to tonight. He can't win without their votes. He knows that.
So again, you know, you don't have to take him at this word, take him at his record.
KEILAR: Governor, what about the cost here? I mean, this is something that would normally stop a lot of Republicans in their tracks. Certainly a fiscally conservative ones, even once were very supportive of IVF because of the considerable expenses that I laid out. What do you make of that?
PAWLENTY: Well, on the politics, I think it's smart for President Trump to support funding for IVF, especially for women and families who are socio-economically challenged. That makes good sense for all the reasons that I think everybody would understand.
How you pay for it, he said was one of two ways you can mandate insurance companies to provide the coverage, which if they do, they shift the cost of add to the premiums of other people in the plan or the group, or you can have a government pay for it and as you know, of course, the government is well into deficit and debt already, but nobody in Washington seems to care about that.
But I do think its smart politics is proposal on IVF and it's also something that I think a majority of the Congress would support. He's trying to obviously on all these issues, trying to moderate the Republican Party on abortion for obvious reasons and it's a struggle because of the reasons that were noted earlier.
He's got a base that's very pro-life and he's got swing voters in swing states who aren't so much in that camp. So it's a tough -- again, a tough place for him to be.
KEILAR: Phil, I want to listen to something that J.D. Vance said today. He was also asked about a vulgar post that Donald Trump shared, the denigrated both Harris and Hillary Clinton. Here's what he said in Trump's defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: What you see is two things, a guy with an agenda to lower prices and bring back American prosperity and a political candidate who isn't stodgy, who likes to have some fun and likes to tell some jokes. I'd much rather have a candidate who's willing to go off script, who's willing to give every interview and is willing to tell some jokes. I do think that's how you lift people up, a politics of boring scolds telling people they can't laugh, that is not lifting Americans out. That's how to tear us down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Then, let's compare that though. These are comments from Vance that are interesting considering what he just said about, you know, not being fun.
These were comments he said just a few weeks ago about Kamala Harris.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: She says she's having fun, but while she's having fun, Americans are suffering under her policies. When she last during a speech, remember, that there are American families crying this very day because they cannot afford groceries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:15:06]
KEILAR: Phil, how do you see J.D. Vance's messaging here? Is -- he's clearly talking to an audience of one, but it's very much muddling any sort of cohesive message, even as he's defending Donald Trump.
BUMP: I mean, to some extent that's what you sign up for when you agree to be Donald Trump's vice presidential pick, right? You're going to have to constantly, you know, have to make a good faith effort to talk to the media in a way that your running mate might undermine.
You know, I think the key point here, and I think that I would really isolate is that what Donald Trump was doing wasn't funny, right? It was funny to his supporters, but it was funny in the way that bullies are funny to the people that agree with the bully, right? Like, you know, you grabbed the kids' fist and say, stop hitting
yourself, stop hitting yourself. That's not funny to the kid. It's funny to the bully and it's funny to the people around the bully, but it's not a joke. It's not a -- it's not a humorous thing, it's something that's -- that's intentionally trying to get a rise out of someone and it's something that is intentionally trying to be mean.
So I think that's an important distinction here as well, beyond just J.D. Vance not being consistent, which, of course, there's no way for him to be because he's Donald Trump's running mate.
KEILAR: Laughing with someone versus laughing at someone. We're very clear with kids about that, aren't we?
Philip Bump, Governor Pawlenty, Karen Finney, thank you so much to all of you. I really appreciate the conversation.
And OUTFRONT next, Trump's set to appear in front of a group that is closely connected to Project 2025, something that he's tried to distance himself from, but can he?
And deadline, a crucial filing in Trump's January 6 case expected any minute. It could determine how soon the case goes to trial.
Plus, a CNN exclusive. We'll show you never before seen video of Ukrainian troops charging into Russia. We'll take you live to Ukraine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:21:10]
KEILAR: You're looking at live pictures out of Washington, D.C. where Trump is about to speak at the National Summit for Moms for Liberty.
This is a conservative group. It's on the forefront of the culture war over parents rights in schools, pushing back against so-called woke ideology, even advocating for book bans. Trump's appearance tonight comes as a new poll shows him losing support with women by 21 points to Kamala Harris.
OUTFRONT now, we have Democratic governor of Colorado, Jared Polis.
Governor Polis, I do want to note, you were the first openly gay parent in Congress, the first openly gay man elected governor, you also have a background in education. What do you make of Trump's appearance before this group?
GOV. JARED POLIS (D-CO): Look, this is a radical group, but it shows where he stands. I mean, when, you know, Project 2025 as Tim Walz says, if you put that much effort into a playbook, you're going to use it, and then that's exactly what they're doing.
Not only did Donald Trump architecture repeal of Roe versus Wade, which, of course, he appointed the justices that did that by a 5-4 vote, but yes, same-sex marriage is hanging by a thread. And if he has another term, its certainly possible that enough justices could be replaced where the ability to people to marry who they love is removed for many Americans.
KEILAR: You warned as you just did against Project 2025 at the DNC, Trump has disavowed it, but Moms for Liberty is on the advisory board for Project 2025. As an author of the blueprint that's teaching a strategy session at the summit today, Moms for Liberty candidates also just performs pretty poorly this week in local Florida elections, including in deep red areas. Florida, of course, is where it got its start.
Do you think that Trump is miscalculating?
POLIS: Well, you know, this is not -- this radical agenda that removes the ability to marry who you love, that bans books, burns books, tries to have government take control of the uterus of women, this is not a popular agenda and the more that we can shine the light on that, the more people are turning to Kamala Harris, who is the only candidate we can trust to protect our reproductive freedom, to protect the right to marry who we love. That's really what it's about, you know?
And I think frankly falling into this trap here, the more Donald Trump is talking about this issue, that bigger a whole that he's digging, because the closer that people will examine the record and find that he's responsible for the repeal of Roe versus Wade, and the removal of the protection over reproductive choice for millions of Americans.
KEILAR: I do want to get your reaction to a story that is getting a lot of national attention now in your state. Local officials near Denver say Venezuelan gang members are taking over apartment complexes in the area.
They're calling on you to act. They're criticizing your office for dismissing the story is, quote, imagination.
OUTFRONT obtaining this video from a residence Cindy Romero, showing gunman including with a semiautomatic weapon outside of her door. Romero says that she called police when she saw the gunman, but they said they couldn't do anything unless something happened. There was actually a shootout at one point bullet holes ripped through her and her husband's cars.
Local police confirmed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is committing, quote, isolated crimes in the area as they put it.
Is this something that you need to take more seriously?
POLIS: Oh, we've taken it very seriously. Weeks ago, I convened the city of Aurora with the state and federal government. Look, it is completely illegal in Colorado to take over and occupy a building and Aurora police departments on the front lines, if they need our help, I've told the mayor, I've told the police department the state is ready to assist your police department if its above and below beyond, your capabilities to do that.
If the people alleging this have more evidence, please bring it forward. Give it to aurora police department, the state of Colorado takes these kinds of threats very seriously. KEILAR: Then looking back on this statement about according to police intelligence, this purported invasion is largely a feature of a particular councilwoman's imagination.
[19:25:04]
How are you reflecting on that?
POLIS: Oh, there was a building that was taken over by gangs. The state would assist the Aurora police department and taking it back within moments. So all we await is a call from Aurora and saying there's any building in the control of any gang, and we are ready to help take it back.
That call has not happened because Aurora police does not currently believe or they haven't told us that there's any buildings in control of gangs, but we stand by -- it is illegal in Colorado to have armed occupation of any facilities. It is illegal in all 50 states. And Colorado has a zero tolerance policy, and I hope that the city of Aurora, which is controlled by Republicans, Republican mayor, Republican city council, I hope they also have a zero tolerance policy to this kind of lawbreaking if it's occurring within their borders.
KEILAR: I do want to make a turn. This is a very different topic I think one that is light, but also there's something serious about it because you made it clear in your DNC speech, you're a major Swiftie, the groups Swifties for Kamala says it raised over $140,000 for her campaign in its virtual rally this week. There was -- no Taylor Swift was there.
Trump though is claiming the pop star supports him. He reposted A.I. generated images. You can see them here.
His spokesperson told us Swifties for Trump is a massive movement that grows bigger every single day.
This is actually an influential voting bloc, you know, these fans. What -- what do you say to what you're hearing from the Trump campaign?
POLIS: Well, it's another reason why people can't trust Donald Trump with our reproductive freedom, with same-sex marriage, with any of these issues. I mean, if you lies about the small things like Taylor Swift supporting him, he's also lying about his positions on the big issues and misleading people.
The truth is, there's one candidate that will have protect the right to marry who we love protect our border, and keep us safe. And of course, protect a woman's right for reproductive choice. And that's Kamala Harris and Donald Trump can pretend that Taylor swift supports him every day of the week, but it won't disguise those simple facts.
KEILAR: Governor Polis, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us this evening. We appreciate it.
POLIS: Thank you, Brianna. KEILAR: OUTFRONT next, special counsel Jack Smith facing a critical
deadline just hours away that could determine when the January 6 case goes to trial. Plus, top Ukrainian officials pleading with the U.S. for permission to fire American missiles deep inside Russia. Will they get the okay?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:31:50]
KEILAR: Tonight, a key filing in the January 6 case against former President Trump could come at any minute. Both sides facing a midnight deadline to come to an agreement on a joint report to Judge Tanya Chutkan. It will determine how quickly this case will proceed after the special counsel resurrected the January 6 case against Trump with its new superseding indictment this week.
Evan Perez is OUTFRONT.
And, Evan, you've been reporting about the last minute haggling between the special counsel's office and Trump's lawyers to hash out the details of this filing. What's the latest here?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Brianna, look, they haggling is going on as we speak. The filing can come anytime between now and 11:59 and lawyers being lawyers, it looks like that's what they're going to do. They're going to go right up to the deadline.
But look, what we know is happening is that this filing is going to lay out from both sides how they think this case can go forward if they think this case can go forward. Now, from the special counsel's point of view, you know, obviously, the government he has a quiet period. They usually have about 60 days before the election and so we don't anticipate that Jack Smith, the special counsels office, is going to ask for any major public hearings between now and the election. They're going to leave this up to the judge.
Donald Trump, of course, believes this entire case should go away. The he believes that the Supreme Court ruling means that they can't go forward with this case or at a minimum, they should pause it until the election.
Now, this sets up, of course, a hearing next Thursday before Judge Chutkan, who will be the one that decides how we move forward with this case.
KEILAR: What's at stake at the hearing? Is she trying to get a trial started before the election?
PEREZ: Look, everything looked like that's what she was doing until, of course, the Supreme Court made that ruling limiting what the government can use in its evidence. And, of course, on the president's immunity. So we don't expect, Brianna, that we are going to have a trial between now and the election simply because Donald Trump is going to do everything he can to try to interfere with that. We know, for instance, that he will try to go to the appeals court on
this latest -- on this latest indictment, right, because he certainly believes that this new indictment does not meet the test that was set up by the Supreme Court. Again, this here hearing next Thursday is going to be certainly a big clash of those ideas going forward.
KEILAR: All right, Evan Perez, thank you so much for that.
Our OUTFRONT legal analyst Ryan Goodman is with us now.
Ryan, tell us why the two sides are having such a tough time coming to an agreement here?
RYAN GOODMAN, FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL AT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: I think they might have irreconcilable differences, essentially, that the special counsel would like to move forward, would also like to move forward with a determination by Judge Chutkan as to whether or not the case can proceed under the new superseding indictment.
I think Donald Trump would have reasons to delay. And I think he also has some good arguments for delay, such as you just handed me a new indictment. I need time to consider this, research it, come up with our position and you just came out of the blue a couple of days ago. So let's postpone things.
KEILAR: All right, so let's say the differences are things they cannot reconcile. What happens?
GOODMAN: In that instance, then the judge has to decide and she will take both sides opinions as to what they think should happen next but I think she also might differ more to the defendant in this case because a defendant is claiming that this is being rushed too quickly given that he just got the indicted a second time and he needs more time to deal with it. And that's a constitutional right.
So I think she might err on the side of President Trump in this instance.
KEILAR: What are you looking for in the filing or filings when we do get them?
GOODMAN: The biggest thing I'm looking for is regardless of what the Justice Department asks for, does it set up a situation in which Judge Chutkan herself thinks I'm not going to have a huge public hearing on all of the evidence, but at least want to hear from somebody like Mike Pence because the allegations were related to the former vice president are different than all the other allegations in the indictment in which he's not totally considered an communications with the president as private action. It is official action that's presumptively immune, and then the government can rebut the presumption.
She might say, okay, for me to figure that one out, and then to hear from the witness to see what were those communications about? If that's in the filing, that would be a big deal because that could happen before the election. KEILAR: Jack Smith made that case in the superseding indictment. Judge
Chutkan may see it that way, but ultimately, could that be challenged?
GOODMAN: One hundred percent. If she rules against Donald Trump, he will appeal. It will go to the court of appeals and probably will go to the Supreme Court again. So we're a long way off from a trial starting even if at the end of the day the Supreme Court upholds the Justice Department's view that this set of conduct is not immune and they can try him for sure.
And I do think that will be the final outcome, but that's, you know, a year from now before it ever gets to a trial, even under that circumstance.
KEILAR: Yeah. There is another Trump case that I want to ask you about, and that is the New York hush money case. Trump was found guilty at the end of May, but he hasn't yet been sentenced and since then you had this Supreme Court decision on immunity on official acts versus on official acts.
Today, a federal judge rejected Trump's attempt to move the case to federal court, did give him the option to refile his request. What's going on here and can Trump likely succeed in getting the case moved?
GOODMAN: I think he has a possibility of it working. It's -- his arguments are not trivial. So he's basically going to say, and he's saying this in part of his filing, some of the evidence that was used against me at trial, like Hope Hicks's testimony when she was White House communications director, is official communications. And now we know from the Supreme Court this is new, but now we know that that's official conduct. And so, if that's so, maybe this should have been in federal court. That's his argument.
So I think it now goes to Judge Merchan. He has to determine whether or not he wants to give Donald Trump leave, which means allowing him to refile in federal court. So all eyes on Judge Merchan, and I think he might grant it.
KEILAR: Very interesting. We'll be looking for that.
Ryan Goodman, thank you.
GOODMAN: Thank you.
KEILAR: And OUTFRONT next, incredible new video into CNN of Ukrainian soldiers battling with Putin's army as they stormed into Russia.
And seeing double. An uncanny Kamala Harris impersonator goes viral.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: When we fight, we win.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we vote, we win.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:42:48]
KEILAR: Breaking news, Ukraine pleading for the green light to fire U.S. provided weapons deep inside Russia. The Ukrainian defense minister speaking just now on CNN, sending this urgent message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSTEM UMEROV, UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: We want to stop this terror against our cities. They are killing our citizens. That's why we want to deter them. We want to stop them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now, this comes as Ukraine says it's seizing more territory inside Russia, three weeks after a surprise incursion began.
Fred Pleitgen is OUTFRONT on the ground in Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Never before seen footage of some of the first Ukrainian troops entering Russian territory in early August. This video, given exclusively to CNN by one of the assault units spearheading the charge.
We just crossed the border, one soldier says and then glory to Ukraine.
Soldiers from the same unit also provided us this video showing them coming under fire as they advanced deeper into Russia. The incursion into Russia is one of Ukraine's made in building blocks for what the country's president says is his plan to force Moscow to the negotiating table.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I will present this plan to the president of the U.S. The success of this plan depends on him. Will they give what we have in this plan or not? Will we be free to use what we have in this plan or not?
PLEITGEN: The Ukrainians want a lot more U.S. weapons and they want Washington to allow them to use those weapons to strike deep into Russian territory. So far the Ukrainians are only allowed to use missiles the ground launched ATACMS to strike in Ukrainian areas occupied by Russia and Russian territory close to the border.
Kyiv's air force saying they recently used U.S. provided guided bombs to take out bridges in the Kursk area.
Ukraine's defense minister meeting U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon to present a list of targets deeper inside Russia, the Ukrainians want permission to hit. UMEROV: During today's meeting, we will engage in detail discussions about the situation on the frontline, including our vision, objectives and plans.
[19:45:06]
We'll also address Ukraine's critical needs, including necessary arms, equipment and training.
PLEITGEN: While Ukraine is advancing in some areas, they're on the back foot on the eastern front with Russian troops are making slow but steady progress. But Kyiv hopes a massive arms package from the U.S. could help them turn the tide, a senior Ukrainian official tells me in Kyiv.
MYKHAILO PODOLYAK, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR (through translator): Russia can be forced through a proper military strategies, through military strikes to increasing the cost of war for the Russian federation increasing the cost of war the war will be fought on Russian territory.
PLEITGEN: But as the war grinds on, the toll among Ukrainian civilians continues to rise. A massive missile strike on the northeastern city of Kharkiv on Friday, killing several people and wounding dozens.
Still, Moscow are lashing out at the U.S. its allies over even just the talk of possibly lifting restrictions on the use of Western weapons.
SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): This is an attempt to pretend that the West wants to avoid excessive escalation. But in truth, this is not so. The West does not want to avoid escalation. The West, how we say it in Russia, is looking for trouble.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Fred, how tough is the fight in the East Right now for Ukraine?
PLEITGEN: Well, it was extremely tough for the Ukrainians in the East right now, Brianna, the Ukrainians are saying that the Russians, there are making slow but steady progress, but those are some really tough battles that are going on there.
The biggest problems the Ukrainians have is not just that they're outgunned anymore, but they're also outmanned by the Russian. Some of the figures that we're hearing is eight to one or even ten to one in terms of Russian troops that are on the ground compared to Ukrainian troops that are on the ground. But there's a second big element to this as well. And that the Ukrainians are saying that they're getting hit by a lot of those Russian glide bombs that the Russians have been using with their air force recently, which allows them to use their jets much more effectively. And the Ukrainian say that is why they need those longer-distance U.S. weapons and need to be allowed to use those to strike deeper into Russian territory to try and hit some of the airfields from which the Russian jets are taking off that are then attacking the Ukrainian positions with some really heavy munitions, Brianna.
KEILAR: All right. Fred Pleitgen, live for us from Kyiv, thank you.
And OUTFRONT now, retired Army Major General James "Spider" Marks. General Marks, Ukraine, pushing hard to get the U.S. to allow it to use these American provided weapons to strike deep inside Russia.
Do you think the U.S. this should give Ukraine the green light to do this. Why?
JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Brianna, they should have given the greenlight at the outset. If you're going to use the piece of equipment, you want to use it to your maximum effectiveness. So you ensure that the training is there, that the preparation to receive that piece of equipment is there, that the organization, the logistics to support it, and most importantly, the intelligence necessary to achieve all those great targets, all of that should be in place.
And the United States should not have given some incredibly capable pieces of kit the Ukrainians without saying unleashed these bad boys, use them to the maximum effectiveness, go after military targets like fuel depots, ammunition, those lines of communications -- communications centers, headquarters, all those things that the Russians need to bring forces to the fight.
If you can attrite those capabilities further away from the front, you make a decision, you make the Russians make a decision. I either engage with an attrited, reduced force or I decided not to engage. That's what the Ukrainians need to achieve.
The United States should give the Ukrainians the authorization to use these capabilities very precisely against military enabling targets that the Russians have.
KEILAR: How do you see that changing the war's trajectory?
MARKS: Well, it's very important. If Ukrainians can use these capabilities, they then have the opportunity to achieve what's known as an operational opportunity to really tie together these tactical engagements that they've been able to achieve. You can tie them together with all those other enablers that I described, intelligence, logistics, maneuver as a result of infantry fighting vehicles and tanks, et cetera. You use all things together to include air support, great intelligence.
Now you can -- you really have an opportunity to dislocate the Russian forces. In other words, put them at such a disadvantage. They have no choice either. I mean, other than to put their hands up or to disappear in a fight. These capabilities synchronized like that, could work to the Ukrainians great advantage to achieve that objective, which is operational in nature.
[19:50:02] KEILAR: We just showed video of some of the first Ukrainian soldiers to enter Russia as part of that surprise incursion that started more than three weeks ago. Ukraine says it holds more than 500 square miles of Russian territory.
But at the same time, Russia keeps pressing forward in eastern Ukraine. It's very tough going in there. What does it tell you that Putin hasn't made a big push to drive the Ukrainians out?
MARKS: Well, a couple of things. If you go back to the map that you showed early on, you could see that the Kursk invasion where they are right now is geographically separated by a pretty good distance from where the significant fighting is going on in the Donbas region. That's a vulnerability. It's a vulnerability to the Russians and the Ukrainians. It could be exploited. Forces are not there.
So the fact that the Russians have not gone aggressively against the Kursk invasion is because they've got most of their forces engaged where they are right now in the Donbas, in the east. And it also tells you they lacked the flexibility to make that maneuver to hold in one location, to hold in the east, and then to maneuver against the Ukrainians where they are in Russia.
The Russian military doesn't have that flexibility. Their leadership essentially doesn't exist. And when confronted with a crisis like this, they freeze. There is no initiative at the lowest levels and that's the problem with the Russians right now.
They can't respond to this. They can't see it. They can't detect it. They can't sense what's going to happen next. They really don't have a sense of how this is going to unfold. And they freeze in place.
KEILAR: Very interesting.
General Marks, thank you so much for your analysis.
MARKS: Thanks, Brianna.
KEILAR: OUTFRONT next, Kamala Harris meets her match.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I fall in a coconut tree every morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:56:37]
KEILAR: Breaking news, Elon Musk lashing out at the Brazilian government after a Supreme Court justice their suspended X, formerly Twitter. Musk writing, quote, the oppressive regime in Brazil is so afraid of the people learning the truth that they will bankrupt anyone who tries. It's the latest development in a months-long saga after Musk's company refused to name a legal representative in the country, something Brazilian law requires a foreign company so they can be notified when legal action is taken against them.
Brazil is a major market for X, roughly 40 million people or one-fifth of the population are active on the platform.
And also tonight, you can hear it a mile away, Kamala Harris's distinctive laugh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: But she is not the only one laughing. Comedian Allison Reese brought her viral impression of the vice president to the DNC.
Elizabeth Wagmeister is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: When we fight, we win.
ALLISON REESE, COMEDIAN: When we vote, we win.
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Allison Reese, it felt like life imitating art at the Democratic National Convention.
REESE: Hey, I'm Kamala Harris.
WAGMEISTER: Meeting and greeting the delegates and other DNC attendees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I kept greeting MVP herself.
REESE: Yes. That's what the MVP is about. It's madam vice president.
(LAUGHTER)
REESE: It's Kamala.
(LAUGHTER)
REESE: I'm Kamala Harris.
(LAUGHTER)
WAGMEISTER: After her impressions of Harris exploded on Instagram and TikTok, she says the Harris campaign invited her to Chicago to play her favorite role, ones she's been perfecting since 2019.
REESE: Today's brat, tomorrow's brat.
HARRIS: You think you just fell out of a coconut tree country?
REESE: I fall out of a coconut tree every morning.
WAGMEISTER: She says she's just a small player in this role, but it's one that's growing every day.
MAYA RUDOLPH, COMEDIAN: Tonight, I'm not going to worry about the polling numbers.
WAGMEISTER: Even for the legendary Maya Rudolph, who was played Harris on Saturday Night Live.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please welcome the next president the United States, Maya Rudolph.
WAGMEISTER: Rudolph saying, even though she's played Harris for years as veep --
RUDOLPH: Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking./
WAGMEISTER: -- the experience is now more meaningful than she could have ever imagined.
RUDOLPH: I spent so many years on SNL, you know watching other people play presidential candidates and thinking, you know, there's no one that resembles me in the race to think that were here now and to think that I would ever be close by association is so incredible.
WAGMEISTER: For Harris, the feeling is mutual.
HARRIS: I grew up watching Saturday Night Live.
HOST: Yeah.
HARRIS: So the thought that anyone would be in any way depicting me on Saturday Night Live was just -- I was a bit overwhelmed.
WAGMEISTER: Pop culture center stage at the DNC.
But for Allison Reese, it's so much more.
REESE: As a Black woman in the comedy space, I don't normally have a lot of opportunity to impersonate somebody in the political sphere. I was like, all right. When I going to get this chance again.
WAGMEISTER: Have you heard from Kamala?
REESE: I would love to. That would be so wild that unlike just doing a silly video and then the vice president is aware of it. That'd be crazy.
WAGMEISTER: But crazier things have happened. Even Kamala Harris seemed awestruck by the trajectory her life has taken.
HARRIS: The most extraordinary story ever told.
WAGMEISTER: And for Reese --
REESE: Can you believe? It's only been a month. This has been a month. I'm killng it.
WAGMEISTER: Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: All right. Not too bad there.
Elizabeth Wagmeister, thank you for that report.
And that is it for us. Thank you so much for joining us.
"AC360" starts now.
