Return to Transcripts main page

Inside Politics

Cori Bush Loses Missouri Primary to Wesley Bill, Her Loss Follows Defeat of Jamaal Bowman; Harris and Walz Headline Rally in Detroit Tonight; Vance Suggests Anti-semitism Behind Shapiro Not Getting VP. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired August 07, 2024 - 12:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:31:40]

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR OF 'INSIDE POLITICS': Another member of the progressive squad will be out of a job come January, Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush lost her Democratic primary yesterday after a bitter and expensive primary battle. St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell will be the Democratic nominee in the deep blue district. At the center of this race, Bush's refusal to vote to condemn Hamas in the weeks after the October 7th attack on Israel and what many saw as an incendiary series of comments about Israel's military response.

My great panelists are back with me. I want to play what Cori Bush -- some of what Cori Bush said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CORI BUSH, (D-MO): AIPAC, I'm coming to tear your kingdom down. And let me put all of these corporations on notice. I'm coming after you too.

Pulling me away from my position as Congresswoman, all you did was take some of the strings off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, AIPAC, for those who don't know, is a pro-Israel lobbying group. They have a big fundraising arm and they play in political campaigns, including in this one. They raised a lot of money. I talked to somebody who was involved in it before the show, from Democrats and Republicans, and candidacies like Cori Bush have become a magnet for people who are upset at some Democrats like Cori Bush for giving donations.

Again, I'm told Democrats and Republicans, they did spend nearly $9 million on ads in their Super PAC and they wanted to defeat her because of her stance on Israel, point blank.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah. But, they invested money and they wanted to defeat her. And it was the voters in a Democratic primary in her district, who actually defeated her. And I just -- I am -- if Cori Bush ever seeks to return to public office, I just want to know what the attack ads are going to be like.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, POLITICS & POLICY COLUMNIST, BLOOMBERG: Yeah.

CHALIAN: About the strings that are attached to her apparently in Congress that she now feels are no longer attached.

HENDERSON: Yeah. I mean, listen, I think her response is sort of Exhibit A to why she was defeated. That sort of approach to politics doesn't really help. So, it was partly the AIPAC money, her stance on Israel (ph), or her comments, her lack of condemnation around Hamas. But also she wasn't always a good Democrat either. She wasn't always a backer of some of Biden's big projects. You saw this in the Jamaal Bowman race as well. Israel played a role in that, and AIPAC. But also, sometimes these folks want good Democrats. And guess what Democratic voters want? They want good Democrats. And often they want, maybe a little to the left, sometimes they want centrists who behave like centrists --

BASH: Yeah.

HENDERSON: -- and comport themselves like centrists. And you have Cori Bush proving that she might not be the cup of tea for these voters.

BASH: Although in this particular race, the Democratic opponent who won, Wesley Bell. I want to play what he argues in a second. I don't think he's so much of a centrist. I think he's pretty progressive.

HENDERSON: Right.

[12:35:00]

BASH: Which fits the district, which is very blue. And he was a very strong candidate, which is why these groups played and clearly, the voters felt that they had a good alternative. Listen to what he said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WESLEY BELL, (D) MISSOURI CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: I believe that words matter and for those who know me, running a campaign on the issues is what I do, is what we do.

(CROWD CHEERING)

BELL: But this way it has got nasty. I extend that (ph) hit my hand to everyone in this race. At the end of the day, we need to move this region forward and we are going to do it together you all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDERSON: Yeah. Comport himself like a centrist, right? Not necessarily a centrist on the policy --

BASH: Yeah. Great point.

HENDERSON: -- but in terms of his presentation. Go ahead. BASH: And I just -- as you come in, I just want to talk more broadly about the so-called squad. The four sort of OG (ph) squad members came in together, but since then, we have seen Jamaal Bowman, who was also defeated in a primary, same kind of story. Cori Bush, as we were just talking about. And then Summer Lee is still there along with the four others. So there are five who will be there still in January.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: I mean, it is kind of remarkable because I remember when the squad was formed and how much power they had in Congress. And we have seen it dwindle. I will say, I actually talked to a lot of (inaudible) sources about this. People were texting me about Cori Bush last night and they made the same point that you did, honestly, that was yes, AIPAC had spent a lot of money on this. They had spent a lot of money in Bowman's race, but they argued, and this was people honestly, Republicans and Democrats, that both of them weren't good candidates, that they question even without all of that money coming from AIPAC, would they have still lost and I am not -- so, I haven't spent a lot of time digging into each of them, particularly, but what I thought I heard it from so many people on both sides of the aisle on these questions of, you know, just that they weren't good candidates to begin with. They came in on a way when there was a lot of momentum in the Democratic Party. But maybe now people are re-evaluating --

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: Candidate and then representative.

TREENE: Exactly.

BASH: So they have -- it is a question of whether they were representing the majority of their district. It sounds like, in both cases, the answer was no.

CHALIAN: What is Nancy Pelosi saying? It is your title and your job.

BASH: There you go.

(LAUGH)

BASH: The Democratic presidential ticket is set. Ahead, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer will join me to discuss the new state of the race as Kamala Harris and Tim Walz campaign in her state today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:42:00]

BASH: Vice President Harris and her new runningmate Governor Tim Walz will head to Michigan later today, a crucial stop on their battleground state blitz this week. The pair are holding a rally this evening in Detroit that will feature a packed lineup of Michigan Democrats on the stage, including my next guest. Governor Gretchen Whitmer is joining me now live. Thank you so much for being here, Governor. So, Tim Walz is officially on the ticket. He is a fellow Midwestern governor. What do you want him to do and say to help win your state and others along the blue wall?

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): I think Tim just needs to be Tim. One of the good things, right now, in this country is there's a deep bench of great Democratic talent, and Tim is one of my all-time favorite fellow governors. And as a fellow Great Lakes governor, I know he gets it. He gets it, how hard people work, how people want a fair shake, and that our job is to make sure that everyone can have a path to prosperity. So, I think Tim just has to show up and be Tim.

BASH: So Republicans, as I know you know, they're already working to frame the Harris-Walz ticket as too liberal. Listen to what Donald Trump said this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's a very, very liberal man and he is a shocking pick. And I'm thrilled. I could not be more thrilled. Nobody knew how radical left she was, but he's a smarter version of her. If you want to know the truth, he's probably about the same as Bernie Sanders. This is a ticket that would want this country to go communist immediately, if not sooner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, obviously Tim Walz is not a communist, nor is Kamala Harris. What they are doing is they're pointing to Walz's policies. I'll give you some examples, expanded background checks for guns, access to minors who identify as trans for gender-affirming care, codifying the right to an abortion without any restrictions, and free college tuition for families who earn less than $80,000 a year, including undocumented students. How will these issues, these policy positions play out in your state when Republicans continue to hit them harder and harder?

WHITMER: Well, I think we're all used to Donald Trump. He's long on hyper-bullying and short on facts, and yet, Tim Walz has been a leader. He's someone who I think has led his state through incredibly challenging times. He's been a partner of mine on more than one occasion, and I can tell you, and making sure that every person is protected and respected under the law, that's a good thing. Making sure that we're all held to the same standards under the law, also a good thing.

He delivered free breakfast and lunch, just like we did here in Michigan, for all public school students. He's making it easier for people to afford to get skills, then getting better paying jobs. Also, what we did here in Michigan. So I think that the Tim Walz agenda and book of receipts is going to impress people more than anything.

BASH: I want to get your take on something that J.D. Vance said today in your state about Kamala Harris' decision to pick Tim Walz and not Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish. [12:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE, (R-OH) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala Harris was motivated or at least her party was motivated by anti-semitism. There were multiple grassroots activists, multiple media personalities, multiple people with influence in the Democratic Party who suggested that she should not choose Josh Shapiro because of his ethnic background. I do not want to live in a country where we are choosing who the next VP is based on skin color or ethnic heritage; choose based on merit. And the fact that so many prominent leaders in the far-left felt empowered to talk about Shapiro's ethnic heritage is a disgrace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, governor, I just want to say there is no evidence that Josh Shapiro was not picked because he is Jewish. In fact, our reporting is that he didn't think being a number two would work for him.

Having said that, there is evidence about a smear campaign from some elements of your party on his Israel policies that non-Jews with the same position didn't get. Should the Harris campaign have spoken out against that? And do you want to do that now?

WHITMER: Of course, I want to do it. Josh Shapiro is an incredible leader and he is smart and he is dedicated and he has devoted his life to making sure that other people's lives in America are better, regardless of what their faith is, regardless whether or not they practice faith. And so, I think it is cruel and disgusting that anyone would attribute anything to Vice President Harris' determination.

She made a great decision, but the good news is she had a wealth of wonderful people from whom to choose. And I would count Josh Shapiro, Mark, Kelly, and Tim Walz among some of the greatest leaders in our country.

BASH: Should she have spoken out as this process was going forward, as that campaign became even more obvious?

WHITMER: Well, I am speaking out and I am a co-chair of the campaign, and I am happy to speak out on behalf of Josh Shapiro, on behalf of Tim Walz and everyone else who we need to be a part of this moment. This is a high-stakes election, Dana, and we can't let people create divisions that aren't there or stoke anger.

J.D. Vance was in Michigan today. He was talking about crime, and he was trying to scare the heck out of people. What we offer is a positive vision about the future. We are willing to make a seat at the table for everyone who has felt left out or left behind or unheard. And that's I think the fundamental difference here. We are a party of Josh Shapiro and Tim Walz and Kamala Harris and Gretchen Whitmer. We are a party of ands, not ors.

BASH: I want to ask about one of the policy issues that I'm sure we're going to continue to hear about, particularly as it relates to your state, and that is electric vehicles. Donald Trump has made them an issue in his campaign. He is coming after the UAW president frequently. How is that going to play in Michigan?

WHITMER: Well, we know that the auto industry is the backbone of our economy of manufacturing in America. We've seen a resurgence in manufacturing, thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration. And so anyone who wants to attack their fellow Americans are these great companies that have afforded so many people an opportunity at the middle-class or an opportunity to get ahead, I think is ridiculous. We've got to stay focused on how do we grow an economy? How do we grow good paying jobs for people? And that's what the auto industry has represented.

We've got to maintain our competitive edge, and that means leading the way when it comes to all different types of vehicles that are available to consumers at affordable price. So anyone who attacks the auto industry I think is making a misjudgment about how important this is to not just Michigan, but to the nation's economy.

BASH: Governor Gretchen Whitmer of the great state of Michigan, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it.

WHITMER: Thank you.

BASH: And ahead, the VP pick is in and the internet did not waste any time speculating about who should play Governor Tim Walz on "Saturday Night Live." Can whomever it is possibly beat this classic VP spoof?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY POEHLER AS HILLARY CLINTON, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: I believe that diplomacy should be the cornerstone of any foreign policy.

TINA FEY AS SARAH PALIN, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: And I can see Russia from my house.

(LAUGH)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:54:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYA RUDOLPH AS KAMALA HARRIS, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: It's pronounced Kamala. It rhymes with Pamela. It ain't Camilla Cabello, it's just Kamala.

JAMES AUSTIN JOHNSON AS DONALD TRUMP, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: I don't like being in court because they say very mean things about me as I'm trying to sleep.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGH) BASH: Maya Rudolph and James Austin Johnson had clearly nailed Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. But, the SNL team has two really important casting decisions to make. Who should play their running mates? Now, we've been mining social media in case they needed any ideas. For the role of Governor Tim Walz, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan is a name that is being floated and there is also Steve Martin who has hosted SNL 16 times and it seems to be a fan favorite.

Now, another SNL alum on the list, Former Senator Al Franken, who of course represented Minnesota in Washington, just like Governor Walz, spoke to Abby Phillip last night about the all-important casting question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL FRANKEN, FORMER U.S. SENATOR & SNL ALUMNUS: Steve would be a possibility. Steve is a little on the slender side.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Would you do it?

(CROSSTALK)

FRANKEN: Well, I'm on the slender side too.

(LAUGH)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:55:00]

BASH: As for J.D. Vance, we are seeing a push for Zach Galifianakis -- I can see that there -- or Jason Sudeikis, also can see that, to take on the role of the Ohio Senator. There are a lot of great options to choose from, Lorne Michaels, if you're listening, you're welcome.

Thank you so much for joining "Inside Politics." "CNN News Central" starts after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:00:00]