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Erin Burnett Outfront
McCain's Son Endorses Harris, Rebukes Trump For Arlington Incident; Sources: Trump Campaign Effectively Pulling Out of NH; Former Top Aide To NY Govs Charged With Acting As Chinese Agent. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired September 03, 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]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
McCain backs Harris. The late Senator John McCain's son who's been serving in the military for 17 years, is a very private figure, is blasting Trump's visit to Arlington National Cemetery, as Democrats are outspending Republicans in a massive way in swing states.
Plus, giving up. New reporting into OUTFRONT that the Trump campaign is all but deserting a state that Trump once thought he could win. And we'll tell you which one and why this matters tonight.
And a former top aide to two New York governors charged with acting as an agent of the Chinese government. Who is she?
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, an endorsement for Kamala Harris driving headlines tonight and it comes from someone named McCain, Jim McCain, who has served in the military for 17 years. He is the son of the late Senator John McCain.
And Jim McCain is speaking out against Trump's altercation the campaigns altercation with an Arlington Cemetery staffer who attempted to stop Trump's team from filming in the area of the cemetery where recent U.S. casualties are buried. And McCain, who has just returned from a seven-month deployment to the Middle East, minced no words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM MCCAIN, SON OF SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: It's a violation because these rules are set in place. They're joining the military because they feel it's the right thing. And the least we can do is when they're gone, if they -- you know, when they're in Arlington, is to respect the rules and regulations that are in place, like not politicizing the fact that these men and women are there. Go, show respect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)(
BURNETT: Now, McCain's endorsement stands out because he is not a public figure, and because an endorsement of Harris is not the same thing as saying you can't vote for Trump in the case of McCain, his sister Meghan McCain, who is a public figure, when Meghan speaks out against Trump regularly, but she insists that she wont ever actually endorse Harris.
So, while Trump and John McCain's mutual disdain and disrespect resulted in the McCain family not inviting Trump to John McCain's funeral, McCain son, who Americans never hear from, speaking out to endorse Harris is an important step.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I think -- I feel that Kamala Harris and Tim Waltz embody a group of people that will help make this country better, that will take us forward. And that's really what matters at the end of the day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: As for Trump, he is still pounding the table on his event at Arlington Cemetery, which was eight days ago. He still wants people to talk about it. Here he is moments ago.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: With no conflict. There was no fight. It was no anything and I get home that night and I get like a call that -- from one of the people that is press, sir, there's a story that your people got into a tremendous fight with people representing the cemetery. Do you notice that the person represents now doesn't want to talk because he doesn't want to speak or talk.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: And that was just in podcasts just a moment ago, the former president speaking.
And today, the Harris campaign bus stop making a stop in Trump's backyard.
And this was a moment, and Harris wasn't actually at this particular step. This is where some of her staunchest supporters were rallying the crowd. Listen to what they said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL): You cant trust a damn word out of that liar's mouth, no matter what he says. Florida is ground zero for his extreme anti-reproductive freedom agenda, and he wants to keep it that way.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): We are just ten miles from Mar-a-Lago, home of one Donald J. Trump. He is the one who got us into this mess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. High-profile surrogates like that speaking on behalf of Harris.
So far, it has been working not just in polls and money, which can indicate the future for polls, Harris has a lot more money than Trump, so much in fact that we've learned she's spending $25 million to fund other Democrats across the country that are right now an incredibly tight races for the House and Senate.
And when you look at it in these swing states, Democrats spending it just, it's unbelievable. You can't even compare some of these numbers, hundreds of millions of dollars in ads to the election. The majority of them in the seven battleground states on your screen.
For example, Pennsylvania $75 million this is the plan Democratic spend. It's $71 million for Republicans.
[19:05:01]
So that's the closest, right? That's the closest.
Now, look at some of these others. Michigan, $56 million for Democrats, $50 million more than Republicans. In Georgia, $39 million that one's tied.
But then look at Wisconsin, $34 million to not even $4 million. Well, North Carolina, $30 million to not even $3 million. I mean, that is -- that is not competitive. You just have to call it like it is.
Kayla Tausche is OUTFRONT live to begin our coverage outside the White House tonight.
And, Kayla, as all of this is happening, Harris is trying to talk more about policy. I know she's got a big announcement coming out tomorrow, an economic plan. What are you learning?
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Erin, we're learning that Vice President Harris is going to be hitting back at Donald Trump directly on policy in that economic speech that she's going to be making in New Hampshire tomorrow, we've learned from a campaign official that Harris will be unveiling a new slate of economic proposals, this time is specifically targeted at small business, suggesting that they could increase their tax deductions in their first year of operating by tenfold.
She's also proposing fewer regulations for these businesses and also that some small banks could get new funding to cover interest on their loans, interest rates, of course, for businesses have been high just as they have been for consumers. But what's interesting, Erin, is that Harris is now embracing cutting red tape and cutting taxes, principles that have traditionally been espoused by Republicans. And this, of course, is coming just weeks after the right it has been subjecting her to broadsides that her first economic rollout where she called for more government involvement in the housing market and in grocery pricing was too populist, including critiques from former President Trump himself on Truth Social called her policies soviet style and urged his supporters to vote for him if they wanted more cash and less tax. Now, advisers to Harris that I've spoken with say that she does
believe that some Trump era tax cuts on the wealthy and corporations should be allowed to lapse and that money should be used instead to fund other more targeted programs for average Americans. But Erin, of course, this all comes against the backdrop of that high stakes conversation next week with Harris hunkering down in Pittsburgh, during the later part of this week, to prepare for that debate, which is now just one week away -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Kayla.
And here with our panel now. Astead, I want to get to Kayla's new reporting in a moment. I want to start though with Jim McCain, John McCain's son, endorsing Harris. And as I pointed out, I think it is important because obviously there is real anger between those two families and understandably so.
But having that anger and frustration is different than an endorsement. Meghan McCain has said she will not endorse Harris, but her brother, who is not a public figure, has come out and actually done that. So, does this -- does this help Harris?
ASTEAD HERNDON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think what Jim McCain is doing here is representative of a larger argument that though Harris campaign is trying to make to Republicans, this is -- this was true even back when Joe Biden was the nominee. Remember back in the midterms, he making a clear case that this version of the Republican Party is different than your parent's Republican Party.
That's targeted, that kind of McCain lane of voter who they're trying to say, we represent American values, we represent kind of stability in a different way than the kind of Donald Trump's Republican Party does. And they've seen some success with that. There was success in the 2022 midterms with that, we also saw this as a specific message of the DNC in Chicago, an appeal to military and appeal to patriotism.
BURNETT: Right.
HERNDON: That's clearly what they're trying to do here. I mean, I think the open question is whether that's going to be representative largely, but I think this is a good step. They don't need the whole -- even if you just take the McCain family, they will need all the members, they need folks to be able to peel off and the kind of targeted micro sense. And that's why they're investing this big money.
BURNETT: And, Aisha, I should say when, when John McCain talk to Jake Tapper today and did this, he also was clear, you know, he had been lifelong independent, right? So he was, you know, I want to be clear on all this had registered as a Democrat a few weeks ago, okay? So that predates the Arlington incident, but he didn't decide to speak out until that incident, right?
It was that incident that made him say, I'm going to go from being a private person to a public person. He's active duty military.
AISHA MILLS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, this issue to your point about being active duty military, this issue around veterans issues, around how Trump views military service generally really transcends partisanship. And that's what I think were seeing.
Just remember a couple of weeks ago, 1,000 veterans create -- wrote a letter in support of Tim Walz and saying, wait a minute, Donald Trump has spent his entire life bashing people who have served our country. He himself dodged draft, as some people say, but essentially he didn't have to serve because he had some medical issue.
He has said nasty things about Gold Star families. He has called John McCain himself, who was a prisoner of war. He said nasty things about him. He suggested that, that our military personnel are weak if they get shot or if they get captured.
I mean, he has an -- and the other thing is if you look at and what Project 2025 is going to do, it is literally an attack on veterans. It's slashing veterans benefits. It's treating people who served our country horribly and taking health care away from them and limiting their housing subsidies.
[19:10:08]
And so, what this is doing is it's taking, I think, some of the partisanship out of the conversation and just looking at who is the candidate that's going to be the best for our military personnel and our veteran.
BURNETT: All right. And I will say on that, obviously there are people from the Trump campaign involved in Project 2025. Trump has said that he does not agree with much of what is in that. So I just -- just putting that out there, although your point on veterans is important.
Kristen, you know, on -- when you look at how people feel about this issue, obviously, Trump's probably not surprised by the McCain endorsement or an endorsement coming from the McCain family, but it's interesting that I believe you think Trump is actually probably happy about this and he wants to keep this Arlington news story alive.
Why would that be?
KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, people already know if they liked Donald Trump or if they don't like Donald Trump (AUDIO GAP) the military and with veterans are also not, you know, you may remember it. The Hillary Clinton's convention back in 2016, she had a Gold Star family there speaking. And yet Donald Trump's still retains the support of a lot of folks in the middle military, a lot of veterans' families.
He was very pleased this weekend to see Kamala Harris kind of engage on this because he immediately followed it up by posting statements from a variety of the Gold Star families involved who had lost loved ones in Afghanistan. He believes, and I think this is not an incorrect strategy to say, look, people have already decided if they liked me or they don't like me, who I need to win are the people that don't like me personally, but think I'm better on policy. They think I would have been better if I had been president when it came to something like Afghanistan.
And so, if he believes he can remind people of these policy issues, he thinks that he can hang on to those folks like those moderate Republicans who go -- I just can't with Donald Trump at a personal or character level, but they think that he'll be better on the policies that they care about.
BURNETT: All right. So on the policies, Astead, in NPR this morning had a really interesting story that caught my attention is young voters who are going to either be 17 now, just turning 18, or this is their first time voting, right? That's the bottom line.
And there was one young woman who stood out to me, her name is Shreeya Thakur. She's 17. She's going to be 18. She's going to vote on Election Day.
Here's what she said.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SHREEYA THAKUR, UNDECIDED VOTER: What matters to me for -- at least for my first time voting getting proper information rather than memes. Kamala Harris was recently put in Joe Biden's place, and despite focusing more on her accomplishments, or downfall or weaknesses, many of the younger generation have been rooting for her for one simple reason, and that's because she is trending.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: I stopped in my tracks when I heard that and I should note the person who said that is 17-years-old. That's because she's trending. What does that say to you?
HERNDON: I mean, it says a couple of things. One is a recognition of the momentum that Kamala Harris has. I mean, well, whether the reasons are ones the voter agrees with or not, there's a recognition that she's made more inroads among folks, among her community the end to even the point of all, we're talking about with Republicans, there's a larger permission structure that's been put in place for young people to vote for Kamala Harris rather than Joe Biden.
The memes were working in the opposite direction against Joe Biden.
BURNETT: Right.
HERNDON: They were telling young people over and over and over, this is a choice you cannot make. One thing that has happening with Harris is that incentive has flipped and you're seeing people of -- really respond to that.
But to the voter's point, I think she's putting her thumb on something that is true across the electorate. There is a sense of energy, there is a sense of momentum, but there's not necessarily to this point, at least in my reporting, I think the data shows us a sense of connection with Kamala Harris about what she would do in terms of policy, what priorities would be what her legislative agenda would be, how she would defer than either generic Democrat or Joe Biden before her.
BURNETT: Yeah.
HERNDON: She's not really made that clear. In the interview and the opportunity she's had to kind of lay that out, she's tried to be both, and she's tried to be the change candidate who represents something that's different than Joe Biden but also not making specific what those policies shifts are.
And so what I think I hear from that person is a desire to know what am I getting into? What is the specifics that I'm going to try to understand.
BURNETT: Right. What does really stand for?
HERNDON: And I think that's the burden that remains on Harris, whether it's in the debate are going forward is to say how would a Kamala Harris-led Democratic Party and country be different than we've seen previously.
BURNETT: And, Aisha, it may not matter. I mean, if you win because you're trending, a win is a win, then you get what you get, but does it trouble you that there is some truth in what she said?
MILLS: It actually doesn't because the thing that is encouraging, you put up the numbers of the ad spend and showing how the Harris campaign is outspending the Trump campaign, this is an unprecedented season right now because the Harris campaign is also spending comparable numbers on social media, on TikTok, through influencers, to actually get the message out specifically to myth bust around what her agenda is, what she stands for, what she's done before, and its the messengers that this young person is following on those social media channels that are actually telling facts and information and dispelling myths about what Kamala Harris is --
[19:15:05]
BURNETT: So when it comes to policy, we are going to hear more about it tomorrow.
And, Kristen, I want to ask you about something actually that Astead, talk to voters on in swing states on your podcast, Astead. And it was very interesting because this was about the economy, which is the top issue. And what voters had to say, you know, kind of into the zeitgeist of trending, it actually didn't fit it all.
Let me just play what a couple of people told Astead, Kristen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
JOHN: I'm a slave labor.
HERNDON: What do you mean by that?
JOHN: I just work. It doesn't matter what the government does, it doesn't change my world. It doesn't really matter who's president because my world is flat, no
matter what. I don't make any more money I don't spend any more money. I just live day-to-day.
KATRINA: Well, look at the way everything is right now. It's a big (EXPLETIVE DELETED) show, you know? Groceries are double what they were. Gas prices are doubled what they were. There's no job security.
WOMAN 1: I'm afraid I'm going to lose my house. I'm afraid I'm going to lose my car and everything just because things are so expensive, you go to the grocery store, you spend our box, you get like one bag of groceries.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, Kristen, the most recent polling right now and this is with Harris in the race. So this has had time to percolate, Trump beats Harris on the economy, 46 to 38 percent. On inflation, 44 to 36.
Are those numbers fully baked or canned? All the announcements that were going to get from Harris tomorrow on small businesses and taxes. Do you think that she can significantly move the needle?
ANDERSON: I think Harris has a big challenge to demonstrate that she is going to be different than the current administration. Back before you had the switch up at the top of the ticket, Donald Trump was way out ahead of Joe Biden on who voters trusted more to handle the economy. And so, even though right now Kamala Harris is still trailing Trump, it's actually not by as much as Biden was trailing.
So she's made a little bit of progress. There are some voters going, okay, she's more of an unknown. I want to see what she's all about.
It's really interesting to me, by the way, that even though she took a lot of positions that were pretty far to the left back when she ran for president in 2020, she's really tried, I think, on economic policy to have a couple of things that are these signals to the center. I want to cut red tape. I want to cut taxes. It's really interesting.
And I think that speaks to that permission structure that Astead was talking about earlier, trying to give sort of fiscally conservative Republicans faith. Look if you don't like Donald Trump, I promise if you vote for me, I'll have some policies you like.
Whether those voters in the center find that credible is a separate question, but she certainly is undefined to a lot of people and is trying to make herself really palatable to those moderates in the middle.
BURNETT: All right. All, thank you very much.
And next, we've got new reporting about how Harris is preparing for next weeks debate. Will voters see a lot more of this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I want to add -- Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking.
MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: I have to weigh in.
HARRIS: I'm speaking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And sources telling CNN the Trump campaign has all but giving up on a state that former President had high hopes of winning.
Plus, who is Maya Harris, the younger sister of Kamala Harris? And just how much influence does she have?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: New tonight, we are learning that Harris is doing her debate prep this week in the must-win state of Pennsylvania. In her first debate of the election, Harris hoping to score memorable moments, like she did the last time she faced off against a Republican rival and debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: When that was exposed, the vice president said, when asked, well, why didn't you all tell anybody? He said, because the president wanted people to remain calm.
MODERATOR: Well, let's get to --
HARRIS: No, but, Susan, I -- this is important.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: And I want to add -- Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking.
PENCE: I have to weigh in.
HARRIS: I'm speaking.
Joe Biden has been very clear. He will not raise taxes on anybody who makes less than 400,000 a year.
PENCE: He said he's going to repeal the Trump tax cuts.
HARRIS: Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking.
PENCE: Well --
HARRIS: I'm speaking.
PENCE: Is he only going to repeal part of the Trump tax cuts?
HARRIS: If you don't mind letting me finish -- PENCE: Please?
HARRIS: -- we can then have a conversation. Okay?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, two people who know all about big presidential debates, David Axelrod, Stuart Stevens, who have been in every debate prep room, pretty much everyone that there's been.
All right. You were on opposite sides during the 2012 campaign with Barack Obama and Mitt Romney but there's a lot of mutual respect between the two of you, as we know.
So, David, you know, when you watched those clips and they are clips, right? So, you know, when you put the totality of a conversation around it, it may come off different, but obviously the strategy there with Pence was you know, anytime you overtopped her to call it out. Will that -- will that play well, if that's what happens on Tuesday?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I wouldn't necessarily advise that strategy. You know, it's interesting, there's been this big debate within the debate about whether the microphones will be muted when your time is up. And it is the Harris people who wanted the microphones unmuted and it's the Trump people who have asked that they remain muted.
And I think that's a recognition on the part of his team that it doesn't necessarily help him when he's hectoring his opponent. We saw that in 2020. In that first horrendous debate for him when he tried to talk over Joe Biden the entire debate, I think that, you know, this -- the strategy here may be best to jujitsu like use his negative energy against him.
I think that a majority of Americans don't want to vote for Donald Trump. He's not particularly popular. A lot of it has to do with his behavior. And so I would let him act out and I would just talk to the country and I have some humorous jabs ready to go and asides ready to go.
[19:25:05]
But I'd primarily be talking to the country who wants to hear about Kamala Harris and where shed lead because they're looking for an alternative to Donald Trump.
BURNETT: That's interesting is that argument is instead of, instead of saying someone can't talk over you and the mics muted may impact that, but to in a sense ignore it.
I mean, Stuart, you know, Harris has had -- I mean, there's been some very strong moments. That was one though, that when we were looking through, stood out, this was an exchange with Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, you know, who obviously had rent for as a Democrat back in the day now, obviously, is endorsed Trump, and she had called out Harris for negatively affecting people, minorities, and people who are socio-economically challenged as a prosecutor.
Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORMER REP. TULSI GABBARD (D-HI): Senator Harris says she's proud of her record as a prosecutor and that shell be a prosecutor president, but I'm deeply concerned about this record.
HARRIS: As the elected attorney general of California I did the work of significantly reforming the criminal justice system of the state of 40 million people, which became a national model for the work that needs to be done. And I am proud of that work.
GABBARD: The bottom line is, Senator Harris, when you are in a position to make a difference and an impact in these peoples lives. You did not. And the people who suffered under your reign as a prosecutor owe -- you owe them an apology.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN MODERATOR: Senator Harris?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: You know, so you see her -- you know, Gabbard got under Harris's skin in that particular exchange and, you know, should -- should Harris be worried about this? I mean, Gabbard is actually preparing Trump for this debate. That's why I mentioned. She is fully on board with this.
STUART STEVENS, FORMER ROMNEY PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN CHIEF STRATEGIST: Well, you know, it's a very different position being one and large, crowded primary debate. When you're only going to get a few chances to speak and you're trying to stand out.
He goes into this race very confidently into this debate, very confidently. She has a lead. She hasn't a message. She seems to be running a campaign that has tremendous energy.
So I think that all of these advantages played to her being very calm in this debate. David and I, you know, we talked about it before, I think kind of disagree a little on this. I believe that she should set up the dynamic that the first time in history, I'm up on stage with a criminal and a presidential debate. I'm a prosecutor and I would prosecute Donald Trump, and I think that that will bother him tremendously.
That's not to say she shouldn't talk about what she wants to do. But the number one difference between these two above everything is one doesn't believe in the rule of law, and one does. And I think that transcends ideology and really sets up the framework for who is in the most reliable candidate and can do more for the future.
BURNETT: So, you know, I mean, I mean that's very interesting when you point that out, right? The prosecutor and Trump, who of course, is a convicted felon. You know, did we also though, remember how Trump is interacted with women on the debate stage, right? The most infamous moment was this one with Hillary Clinton, right,
where he's just sort of standing behind her and he came off like some malevolent lurking there, and then went ahead and said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think my strongest asset maybe by far is by temperament. I have a winning temperament. I know how to win. She does not have.
MODERATOR: Secretary Clinton --
TRUMP: Wait, I don't know who you were talking to Secretary Clinton but you was totally out of control. I said this a person with a temperament, that's got a problem.
MODERATOR: Secretary Clinton?
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Okay.
MODERATOR: Earlier this month, you said she doesn't have, quote, a presidential look. She's standing here right now. What did you mean by that?
TRUMP: She doesn't have the luck. She doesn't have the stamina. I said she doesn't have the stamina.
CLINTON: My Social Security payroll contribution will go up as well Donald's, assuming he can't figure out how to get out of it but what we want to do is to replenish the Social Security trust fund.
TRUMP: Such a nasty woman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Such a nasty woman, of course, which became the bestselling t-shirt for so many, David. Do you expect a moment like this? And what -- what should Harris do if there is one?
AXELROD: Let me say two things. One is, it is striking how much he has aged in these last eight years. I mean, he sounds younger and more energetic than he did then. And you listen to some of his speeches over the last five weeks when he's really sort of come unglued since Harris became the nominee. And they are really out there.
So I don't know what he's going to say. I do disagree a little bit with Stuart though. I don't -- I think people know that he's a convicted felon, you know? They will come up that she's a prosecutor. She should raise it.
[19:30:01]
But really what people are interested in is their own lives and who's going to fight for them in this economy, who's going to fight for those people who, and your last segment, were talking to Astead who feel like they're working harder and harder, not getting ahead. If she persuades people that she's that person, she's going to win this election.
BURNETT: So, Stuart, you know, just -- I want to give you a chance to quickly respond though what the stakes are for Donald Trump and if anyone does watch what he said recently, I understand what you're saying, David. Stuart, I said Stuart, that Trump has said specifically that this is the way he tells a story that he weaves and it kind of goes here and it goes there and it goes there and its actually, you a genius thing and it comes together in the end. So he owns it, but that's how he describes it.
What are the stakes for him in a debate when he is the one who is now 20 years older than the other person on the stage with him?
STEVENS: Yeah. You know, we should not forget, Donald Trump had won debate in his life and that was against Joe Biden, and that was primarily because the president had a terrible debate. I think he lost all three debates against Hillary Clinton. He didn't go up after them.
He's not a good debater. I thought that he had terrible debate when he debated President Biden. And I think that -- we -- what has to be drawn here are just the contrast between a normal politician, someone who is a leader, who has a sense of what the future will be versus this guy who was completely out of the American mainstream, that the Republican Party should be ashamed of.
And one of the things that works and most effectively in the Lincoln project is to hold Donald Trump and say, is this who you are? This is not a area of American life where people say you should be like Donald Trump is not a scout scoutmaster, a teacher, a coach, a minister that isn't a person that you want to be a role model.
And more than anything else, when we worked on the 2000 Bush campaign, that work better than anything else, was restoring honor and dignity to the White House, and I think that that applies now tremendously. And Harris should make that contrast.
BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate both of you very much and thank you, Stuart and David.
Next, Trump is doubling down on a policy issue that is new for him, loosening marijuana laws.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We can live with the marijuana. It's got to be a certain age. It's going to be a certain age to buy it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Could it help him peel away votes that could go Democratic?
Plus, a former top aide to two New York governors tonight facing charges of acting as a secret agent of the communist Chinese government?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:37:00]
BURNETT: Breaking news tonight, Donald Trump is all but abandoning New Hampshire. We have new reporting into OUTFRONT about the Trump campaign's hopes, which now appear to be dashed, for a win in the state. And it comes as Trump is striking out ahead of Kamala Harris's visit to New Hampshire tomorrow, posting on social media and I quote: Comrade Kamala Harris sees there are problems for her campaign in New Hampshire. To my friends in New Hampshire, get out and vote Trump.
He may be saying that, but his campaign appears to be giving up.
Steve Contorno is OUTFRONT.
And, Steve, you know, here's the reality. New Hampshire, they thought they could win it. They really thought they had it at one point for the Trump campaign how have the tides turned?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Erin, very quickly, you know, New Hampshire is a state with a bit of an independent streak. It has voted Democrat in most presidential elections lately, but it has a Republican governor and Trump came within 3,000 votes of winning -- winning it in 2016.
But a top volunteer to his campaign in the area put out an email recently that said he has -- he is, it's his understanding that the campaign has all but given up on New Hampshire, noting that it has no more surrogates coming there. It doesn't have any advertising and an internal polling seems to suggest that Trump could actually lose the state by more than he did in 2020.
Now, the Trump campaign says that this person is speaking out of turn, that the Trump campaign has a robust operation in New Hampshire and they intend to fight there. But when I talked to other Republican operatives in the state, they said that this volunteer is painting a pretty clear picture that's really illustrated of what's happening there.
One of them, Mike Dennehy, he's a longtime Republican operative there. He has been a strategist, the presidential campaigns. He told me quotes, if the election were held today, Trump would lose by six to eight points. He's got to win the race. So you have to shift resources and I can absolutely fully understand that point of view. It's just hard to make the case for him to spend his resources there.
Now, Mike and others have said that there are still two weeks to months left in this race that has already had a lot of twists and turns. So the momentum could shift again. But, Erin, he's running out of time and I will point out that the he has no advertising reserved for the fall.
BURNETT: Which is incredible, and we were looking at other swing states, right, where they do have advertising. And it's still just a fraction, a fraction of the Democratic anticipated spend.
Steve, thank you very much with that new reporting. So I want to go OUTFRONT now on the back of Steve's reporting to the Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear.
And, Governor, it's great to talk to you again. And when you hear Steve lay this out, that the Trump campaign is essentially giving up on New Hampshire after when it was Biden they thought they could possibly win it and now, looking at losing it by even more than Trump lost it last time around. What does that tell you about the current state of this race?
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): It tells me that all of the momentum is with Vice President Harris when she became the nominee, which she won not through a coronation, but through acclamation. She created so much energy, so much fundraising, so many new volunteers.
[19:40:04]
It carried through the Democratic National Convention, which was pure joy, one of the most exciting conventions that I think many people have ever seen. And now you see it continuing after.
You see a focus campaign where the vice president is focused on peoples everyday lives, tax cuts for the middle-class, more affordable housing looking at everyone and saying, I care about you, and then you see former President Trump, who is reeling, who is for an issue and then against it, and then for it, then against it again. Yeah and now you start seeing the political ramifications of that.
BURNETT: I want to talk about one of those issues in a moment, but first when you talk about Harris and you didn't use the word setting a new agenda. But when you talk about the enthusiasm, that enthusiasm did not exist when Biden was at the top of the ticket. And of course, they are the president and vice president for the very policies that voters did not seem excited about when they were Biden's.
And yesterday, we saw Harris and Biden side-by-side. It was their first joint campaign appearance since she officially became the nominee. He's expected we understand to be out on the trail more often, Democratic strategist James Carville writes a new op-ed governor. He says that Harris will be in a stronger position to beat Trump if she breaks with Biden on policy.
He says: For Ms. Harris to break from Biden more explicitly and she has done so far not being insult. Rather, it shows even more sharply that she's passionate about her own ideas and represents change rather than more of the same.
Do you think that she needs to break with the president of the United States, with whom she has been a partner for the past three-and-a-half years and say that her ideas are different as Carville writes out.
BESHEAR: Well, James Carville is a great friend and a great strategist. What I think he's saying is that when you are vice president, you have to support the president's agenda, but she's not going to be the vice president anymore. She is running the president of the United States. And I think it's as simple as letting Kamala be Kamala. She has her
own views. We are all different, even if we'd been a part of an administration. Even if we're in the same political parties, we all have different nuances, different ways that we were raised, different things that we feel more passionately about.
I think it could even be just an issue of, say, focus when you look at President Biden's economic plan, it was about long-term sustainability. There was about chips, and it was about EVs places. We know the economy is going. It was about reshoring our supply chain, things that need to happen for our long-term economic viability.
BURNETT: Yeah.
BESHEAR: You look at Vice President Harris's plan and its more about right now, how can we help you get by right now to take advantage of that growing economy?
BURNETT: Right, right. Even though of course, chips and the threat from China on that is a massive issue as I know the vice president believes, as does Trump.
In a new interview, he spoke out on an issue and I wanted to bring this up to governor because it's an issue that matters a lot to voters. A lot of independent voters, and certainly a lot of center left voters, and this is marijuana. He wants to loosen restrictions on it. He says now, and he is praising the benefits of medical marijuana.
Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Medical marijuana has been amazing.
We can live with the marijuana. It's got to be a certain age, have to be a certain age to buy it. It's got to be done in a very concerted, lawful way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, Governor, he's talking about medical marijuana, but then recently, I don't know if you saw this, but he signaled support for state laws that allow adults to carry, quote, personal amounts of marijuana, personal. Now, that fits with 88 percent of adults in the U.S. who think marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use. That's the latest Pew poll from fair this year.
Look, I know you support medical marijuana. I don't know where you stand, governor on personal amounts of marijuana, but he says he supports it. Do you think that that's an issue where he could peel votes away from Democrats?
BESHEAR: Well, I don't think he can because the vice president has been a leader on this issue. She has been out there on rescheduling, which is the decriminalization of marijuana, so much so that I've joined her for a couple of events, who would have ever thought that the vice president, the governor of Kentucky, and Fat Joe would be in the same press conference, talking about this issue and where the American people are and what they deserve.
But listen, Donald Trump doesn't have any real views on issues. He's for whatever he thinks can get him back into power. And that gives him power. So just like on his ever-shifting position on abortion, they'll probably come out for this.
Then he'll get pushed back. He'll be against it. Then maybe he'll be half for it. And then he'll probably be against it again.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Governor Beshear, I appreciate your time. Thanks for being with me again.
BESHEAR: Thank you.
[19:45:009]
BURNETT: All right. And Kamala Harris's sister has been by her side for decades. So who is she? And how much sway does she really have?
Plus breaking news, a former high ranking aide, you to New York governors, financial capital of America, is now in custody facing charges she acted as a foreign agent for the Chinese government.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, Vice President Kamala Harris's sister is making a huge splash and a lot of it started at the DNC.
Maya Harris's granddaughter is the one in that photo, that iconic photo now it appears it will be, watching Kamala Harris gave her acceptance speech. And it comes as we are learning more about who Maya Harris is, and just how close she is to her sister.
[19:50:02]
Sunlen Serfaty is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAYA HARRIS, KAMALA HARRIS'S SISTER: When she was elected attorney general, she actually said, you realize you're going to start calling me General Harris. So --
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are sisters --
M. HARRIS: That when she's president of the United States --
K. HARRIS: Oh, stop it, stop.
M. HARRIS: -- I will call her Ms. President, but until then, you're just Kamala.
SERFATY: With a deep life-long bond. K. HARRIS: I'm big sister.
(LAUGHTER)
K. HARRIS: Big sister general.
(LAUGHTER)
SERFATY: Maya, like her sister, is a lawyer with deep roots in political activism.
M. HARRIS: Today is the day we have been working for.
SERFATY: Working for the ACLU and foundation centered on democracy and justice.
M. HARRIS: Everyone deserves justice in the courtroom.
SERFATY: In 2016, she was a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton, advising her on domestic policy.
Hillary really trusted my as instincts, Clinton's campaign chairman later said. Maya would cut through the BS, brief her quickly and give her something think about.
After having a brief stint as a political analyst --
M. HARRIS: What he said was outrageous.
SERFATY: -- Maya became chair of her sister's failed 2020 presidential bid.
K. HARRIS: My sister Maya is here.
SERFATY: A campaign marked by messaging woes and staff infighting.
K. HARRIS: I am suspending our campaign today.
SERFATY: Unlike in 2020, Maya does not have an official title with the Harris campaign this time, but she remains a close confidant.
M. HARRIS: I so wish that mommy could be here tonight. I can just see her smiling saying, how proud she is of Kamala. And then without missing a beat, she'd say that's enough. You've got work to do.
SERFATY: The two were raised by a single mother in Berkeley, California.
M. HARRIS: Growing up, heave help the poor kid who picked on me because my big sister would be there in a flash ready to have my back.
SERFATY: Maya becoming a young single mother herself at age 17.
M. HARRIS: Juggling work, juggling school, you know, wanting to be the math mom and drive on the, you know, field trip.
SERFATY: Leaning on the women in her family for support, something her daughter, Meena, spoke to at the DNC.
MEENA HARRIS, NIECE OF KAMALA HARRIS: My mom, my grandma and my auntie, who showed me the meaning of service, helping her sister a 17- year-old single mom.
SERFATY: With Vice President Harris's great-nieces, Maya's granddaughters having their own moment.
AMARA: First, you say Kamala like a comma in a sentence.
LEELA: Then you say, la like la, la, la, la, la.
KERRY WASHINGTON, ACTRESS: Put it together and it's one, two, three. Kamala.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: Meantime, Maya Harris's husband, Tony West, he has an increasingly important role in this campaign.
Now he does not have a former role in the campaign, but he has a lot of influences turn into something of a key informal adviser for her. He was previously a former associate attorney general during the Obama administration and just recently he took a leave of absence from that job as Uber's chief legal counsel in order to show up on the campaign trail for his sister-in-law.
Now, West, certainly, Erin, is one of the voices in the vice president's inner circle that has her ear -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Sunlen, thank you very much. It's really fascinating. I think the family dynamics to anyone.
OUTFRONT next, breaking news, a top aide to New York governors is now being accused of living a double life as a secret Chinese agent. New York's governor is now finally responding.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:58:06]
BURNETT: Breaking news, a former top aide to two New York governors charged with acting as an agent of the Chinese government hugely important in New York, financial capital of the U.S.
Governor Kathy Hochul, just reacting after that former aide, Linda Sun, and her husband were arrested and pleaded not guilty in court today. The FBI says Sun acted as a, quote, undisclosed agent of the Chinese government, while her husband facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars in kickbacks for personal gain. And the couple allegedly used that money to buy real estate in New York, a mansion on Long Island and in Hawaii, valued at more than $6 million, along with luxury vehicles, including a 2024 Ferrari.
Gloria Pazmino is OUTFRONT. I mean, Gloria, this is incredible and this is not some new aide in
the governor's office. This is a person who has been there a very long time. What more can you tell us about Linda Sun, who I know worked for Governors Hochul and Cuomo, and her alleged ties to the Chinese government.
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erin, this went on for allegedly a ten years and not only did she worked both for Governor Kathy Hochul and former Governor Andrew Cuomo, but she also worked at several state agencies.
And what prosecutors are alleging basically amounts to this successful infiltration by a Chinese government agent to the top levels of New York state government for over ten years. Prosecutors, as you said, alleging that Sun used for prison position in government to influence and to help work on behalf of the communist party and the Chinese government. Even at one point, helping to direct messaging and blocking Taiwanese officials from having access to the New York state governor.
Now, one of the things that Sun is accused of is directing Cuomo to publicly thank the Chinese officials for donating medical equipment. Cuomo did exactly just that during a public briefing, he also said in a tweet that the Chinese government has helped facilitate a donation of that of 1,000 ventilators. And he thanked the Chinese government for doing that.
Erin, also, in this indictment, there are some pretty shocking allegations about the perks that they collected, millions of dollars, tickets to special events, and even a special delivery of a specialty duck. That duck was prepared by the chef of a Chinese government agent and delivered to her parents' home -- Erin.
BURNETT: So really incredible to think about how many years, again, in New York, think about the New York Stock Exchange and New York City.
Thanks so much to all of you for joining us.
"AC360" starts now.
