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Inside Politics

Economy Picks Up Steam, Grew At Brisk 2.8 Percent Rate In 2nd Quarter; Trump Attacks Harris As "Ultra Liberal" And "Radical" While Harris Ad Draws Contrast Between "Chaos" And "Freedom"; Jennifer Aniston Slams J.D. Vance's "Childless Cat Ladies" Comment. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired July 25, 2024 - 12:30   ET

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

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[12:32:18]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: New evidence that the economy is bouncing back. It grew at a 2.8 percent rate in the second quarter, despite high interest rates. President Biden took a moment to tout the news saying, quote, "When I took office, we were in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Today's GDP report makes clear we now have the strongest economy in the world."

CNN's Matt Egan is here to break this all down. And Matt, you know, I said, despite the high interest rates. But you tell me, I think maybe the best way to say it is because of the high interest rates. Even though a lot of people who want to buy houses don't really love that, and that's an understatement.

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Well, Dana, look, there's a lot to celebrate in this report. The economy just continues to chug along and continues to prove naysayers wrong. We're talking about GDP. It's the broadest measure of the economy. And it shows that the economy grew at twice the pace of the first quarter. A lot of good news in this report.

If my four-year-old brought home a report card like this, I'd take him to go get ice cream and to the toy store, stimulating the economy along the way. As far as why this is happening, well, two big factors. One, Americans continue to spend money, not like they were a few years ago, but they're still shopping. They're still going out to eat. They're still traveling.

And you know what? Businesses are spending too. They are investing in technology and they're investing in artificial intelligence. Now, I do think it's worth taking a step back and thinking about where we are and where we could have been. Because remember, two years ago, investors and CEOs and economists were freaking out about a potential recession.

And a recession, it would have been disastrous for millions of Americans. It would have been politically disastrous for Democrats in Washington. Thankfully, we are not in a recession, but it is worth remembering the economy is not just what these national statistics show. It's how people are feeling.

We had a CNN poll out earlier this week showing that 39 percent of adults say they worry some or all of the time that their income will not meet expenses. That's up from late 2021, right in line with what people were saying in mid-2008. So, Dana, hopefully this economy continues to grow and wages keep going up and inflation cools so people start to feel better about this economy.

BASH: Yes. I mean, it is particularly in an election year. So a little more than 100 days away, it is all about how people feel and how people believe that they can live despite what numbers show them. And these are good numbers. No question about that.

Matt, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

EGAN: Thanks, Dana.

BASH: And ahead, 12 days after the attempt on his life, Donald Trump seems to be feeling like his old self.

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[12:35:08]

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala, you've done a terrible job. You've been terrible at everything you've done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Veteran strategists Paul Begala and Sarah Longwell are here to talk about the next 100 or so days of the topsy-turvy campaign. Maybe the most topsy-turvy campaign we have covered in our lifetimes.

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[12:40:04]

BASH: Vice President Kamala Harris has been a presidential candidate for four days, but the race to define her is already on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Lying Kamala Harris has been the ultra-liberal driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe. Kamala threw open our borders. She cast the tie-breaking votes that created the worst inflation in a half a century.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are some people who think we should be a country of chaos, of fear, of hate. We choose freedom. The freedom not just to get by, but get ahead. The freedom to be safe from gun violence. The freedom to make decisions about your own body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So who is winning that race? Very short race so far to introduce her to voters. I'm going to talk to my friends Paul Begala, former adviser to Bill Clinton and CNN analyst, and Sarah Longwell, the publisher of "The Bulwark," a never-Trump Republican, and host of The Focus Group podcast.

Sarah, I want to talk about your latest focus group in a second, but Paul, I want to start with you because you've seen many rodeos. You've been in many rodeos. Do you like the way I'm using Texas --

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I love it.

BASH: -- metaphors here? But I just want you to kind of give us a sense of where you really think the race is right now, particularly, obviously, from the perspective of Democrats.

BEGALA: Well, Kamala Harris is consolidating her base, where Biden had been hemorrhaging. That's the first step. You've got to get back in the game, and I think she'll take it to a dead-even race within days, which is amazing. Young people, black voters, Hispanic voters, where Biden was really collapsing.

She'll earn them back, I think. And she's driving distinctions. You know, an election's a choice, and she's driving three key distinctions. First, most importantly, for the people versus for himself. Second, prosecutor versus a perpetrator. And then third, future versus a past.

Those are three dynamics that really play well to her, that frame up the race in the eyes of voters. And look, let's face it, even Trump's most ardent supporters would admit he sometimes can be a little self- interested. He kind of is in it for himself. And every time Kamala says, I'm for the people, he's for himself, she's pushing on an open door.

BASH: And that is the opposite, of course, of the argument, Sarah, that Donald Trump makes over and over again. And he -- all he says is, you know, the weaponization of the government. Fact check, you know, no evidence to show that's true. They're going after me, and I am sort of a vehicle for you. And name your issue, he does that over and over again.

I want to get to your focus group, your latest focus group. You talk to Trump 2016, Biden 2020 voters. And I just want to let our viewers know what they said in the last couple days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't, I can't say anything. I forgot that she was the vice president for a while.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like I just don't know her well enough. The positive part is, I assume, her being a woman, she's going to be looking out for women's rights. She's not going to be throwing women under the bus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: What does that tell you, Sarah?

SARAH LONGWELL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, look, I've been asking about Kamala Harris for years from these voters, especially these swing voters. And they do tend to have a bit of a negative impression of her, but it is rooted in the fact that they feel like they don't see her. They feel like they don't know her. They feel like they don't have a sense of what she does.

But that's where all the upside is, because it means right now in this moment, she gets to reintroduce herself to the American people. And I think for a lot of the swing voters that I've been listening to, they're open to her making a pitch to them. I mean, the fact is, these voters, they were this double haters, right, the people who didn't want to vote for Trump or Biden.

And now they've got a new choice, and they're interested. And so I think for her, she's just got to come out now, prosecute a case against Trump, but also show people that she is capable of running the country because people are giving her a fresh look. And that's exactly what this race needed right now.

BASH: And Paul, the other thing that we are hearing Donald Trump do in addition to she's a liberal and, you know, kind of some of the more classic Republican attacks on Democrats is she's just the same. She's part of the Biden administration. She's going to do the same kinds of things.

So, if she called you and said, how do I handle that? How do I separate myself from the president, or should I?

BEGALA: She's change incarnate. OK, you look at her and you know she's changed.

BASH: Like it doesn't matter what she says.

BEGALA: Yes. I ---

BASH: That's who she is.

BEGALA: My kids, we all had the placemats of all the presidents. White guy, white guy, white guy. Oh, look daddy, there's Obama. White guy, white guy, right? She's change incarnate. They will not succeed on that. And this is why it's so exciting for Democrats.

75 percent think we're moving in the wrong direction. There's only two choices in life. Stay the course, time for a change.

[12:45:03]

This is a time for a change election and neither party put up a candidate who could plausibly say, I'm the candidate of change until now. And Kamala is change. And I think she can carry that message. She's already saying future past, which is just a variation on change versus more of the same.

BASH: Sarah? LONGWELL: Yes. Well, look, Donald Trump has made a huge mistake. They were sure they were going to run against Joe Biden. And so they made the frame of this election about age, about mental acuity, about, you know, frailty. And now Donald Trump has to live in that frame.

And now he is the old guy. He is the one without the sharp mental acuity. And she is the change agent, along with whoever she picks for her vice president. And it is the most -- I mean, the extent to which people were just so bored and angry about their choices that the excitement now about having something new to chew on, to look at, to dig into, I'm just seeing voters being wide eyed, ready to learn more.

And so these next 100 days, the next few weeks, that is her time to reintroduce herself to people and to make them get excited, too.

BASH: All right, Sarah Longwell, Paul Begala, always good to see you. Next time in person, Sarah. Good to see you in person.

BEGALA: Thanks.

BASH: All right. Be well, because coming up, do you remember this quote, no uterus, no opinion? Well, if you don't, we'll tell you. That is what Rachel Green told Ross Geller in an episode of "Friends." We're going to tell you how Jennifer Aniston may be channeling her famous character as she takes on J.D. Vance.

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[12:50:59]

BASH: A lot of celebrities like to get political. Jennifer Aniston is not usually one of them. But this resurfaced clip from J.D. Vance with Tucker Carlson in 2021 hit a nerve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE (R), OHIO SENATE CANDIDATE: We're effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made. And so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too. And it's just a basic fact.

You look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we've turned our country over to people who don't really have a direct stake in it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Aniston responded on Instagram saying, quote, "I truly can't believe this is coming from a potential VP of the United States. All I can say is, Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day. I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option because you are trying to take that away from her, too." Now, Jennifer Aniston is one of countless women across this country who is open about struggling with fertility and underwent IVF. A great day to be surrounded by female reporters, although I do think that men have a lot to say about this, too, particularly those who have struggled. We heard Pete Buttigieg talk about that, responding to his struggle with his husband to adopt a child.

Eva, how do you think this is going to play? Is it breaking through?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, J.D. Vance has been in public life a long time and has done a lot of these conservative media interviews. So, there is a lot of material for Democrats to comb through.

You know, I think that this is instructive for the Harris campaign in a way, because now when they're making their choice, they might try to really select someone who is drama free, like Roy Cooper of North Carolina. But also I think ultimately, J.D. Vance was a pick to animate the base.

Some have characterized it as a cocky pick for Trump, who was, you know, so certain that he was going to win in November.

BASH: Yes.

MCKEND: Now it's a different contest. And so you have to wonder if given the new state of the race, if he would have ultimately made a different choice.

BASH: And how it relates to the ultra-important female voter.

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL, ANCHOR, WASHINGTON POST LIVE: Yes.

BASH: Look, there are a lot of women out there who, like Jennifer Aniston, struggled with getting pregnant. I will say I am one of them. Happily, I succeeded. But there are other women and men who make a choice not to have kids. And I think that they're out there saying and I'm even hearing from real conservatives, that's our choice. Don't tell us we wouldn't be able to lead if we chose to.

CALDWELL: Absolutely. And it's -- the voters that Donald Trump struggles with are women voters. There's a clear divide, at least before Joe Biden dropped out of a gender divide in this election. Donald Trump was unable to win women voters in 2020, especially those independent suburban vote at women voters. And so this is not a strategy that is going to bring them in to the fold.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I remember in 2017, Paul Ryan making comments that women needed to have more babies to shore up the tax base, that the country needed more revenue. So certainly Republicans making an argument for women to have children is not new.

But in a post-Roe world, it's such a lightning rod, especially as to both Leigh Ann and Eva's point. You look at the 2020 election results. I mean, Donald Trump really struggled with women, women voters. And for his campaign to not look at the results of that race, granted the country has changed in four years, and to take some lessons away from that, I think is going to be problematic from them.

But then there's the J.D. Vance as a person question. And you have to wonder if this was a problem with vetting or if the campaign simply didn't care when they came across some of these clips that, of course, ran in front of millions of people in relatively recent memory.

[12:55:12]

You know, in talking to people on the Biden campaign about the pick of J.D. Vance, he was seen as someone who could crisscross the blue wall, just go from Pennsylvania to Michigan to Wisconsin and back again and really shore up those votes. Now that Kamala Harris is suggesting that the Sun Belt could be in the mix for her --

BASH: Yes.

TAUSCHE: -- the strategy is completely upended.

BASH: Yes, I mean, he can crisscross the blue wall. The question is the suburbs around the big cities, which are going to determine who wins those blue states. And you're right, it's a very different situation right now. And I don't think Donald Trump, I mean, he wanted to be comfortable with who he was comfortable with, and it didn't necessarily matter because he is such a big figure in and of himself.

We're going to continue this conversation. Thank you so much for being here.

Thank you for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.

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