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Inside Politics

Most Union Leaders Close Ranks Behind Harris, But Rand-And-File Workers Still Weighing Their Options; One-On-One With Former MD Gov. Larry Hogan; Taylor Swift Concerts Canceled After Vienna Terror Plot Exposed. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired August 08, 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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[12:33:23]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. As Kamala Harris and her new running mate Tim Walz campaign this week across Midwestern battleground states, they are paying particular attention to union voters. And while most union leaders are on board with the new democratic ticket, many union members, the rank and file are still up for grabs.

Back with me now for more on this is CNN's Kayla Tausche. So talk about your new reporting.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, there's been this rapid consolidation within the labor movement to back Kamala Harris after they had previously backed President Biden. And while that is notable, certainly, when you look at some of the more organic communication among the rank and file members on the social media posts with these endorsements and the Reddit threads and even some text messages that I've seen from some of them, it is very cleared that the political views of the rank and file members are far more fractured than these leader level endorsements would suggest.

I know that there's internal polling that's being conducted by local chapters of many of these unions. They expect the results to become clearer in the coming weeks, and that will inform how they message internally and spend their very deep pocketed political budgets to try to sway some hearts and minds among their membership to vote for the Harris-Walz tickets, whose policies, they believe, will end up helping their businesses.

BASH: And let me put up on the screen, such great reporting, where people can find it on CNN.com Harris secures support from union leaders. As you were saying, workers are still weighing their option, which is has been really a part of the story since Donald Trump came on the scene where they have been, not necessarily following their leadership in lockstep, the Teamsters. That is a big question right now.

[12:35:03] Sean O'Brien was on with me at the Republican Convention. He said they weren't going to do anything until at least after the Democratic Convention, which he hadn't been invited to yet. What are you hearing about them?

TAUSCHE: Well, there is still an open question as to whether the Teamsters will remain neutral this cycle, which is something that they haven't done in nearly 30 years. They have always, in that time period, backed a Democratic candidate. But this year, understanding the more fraught political nature within the Teamsters union, O'Brien, I'm told, requested a speaking role at both the RNC and the DNC.

In response, Trump invited him publicly to speak. He says that he still has not heard back from the DNC. Since Harris ascended to the top of the ticket, they've invited her to participate in a roundtable to take questions from rank and file members, and they say that she has not responded to that. But the question is, will there be a role for him?

There is the possibility of a major endorsement hanging out there, but there are also many other labor leaders --

BASH: Yes.

TAUSCHE: -- seen as more loyal to the party that are also in contention for a speaking role. I'm told no final programming decisions have been made, but of course, if the union is seen as --

BASH: Yes.

TAUSCHE: -- committing to an endorsement, perhaps that's what it would take to get a prime time stop (ph).

BASH: Kayla, thank you so much.

TAUSCHE: Thanks for having me.

BASH: Great reporting up next.

Up next, he is a former governor. Now he's running for the U.S. Senate. It doesn't sound or look like his fellow Republicans. Maryland's own Larry Hogan joins me when we come back.

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[12:41:00]

BASH: 50 years ago today, President Richard Nixon made this stunning announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD NIXON, 37TH U.S. PRESIDENT: I have never been a quitter to leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as president, I must put the interests of America first. I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: The first Republican on the House Judiciary Committee to call for Nixon's impeachment was Maryland Representative Lawrence Hogan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LAWRENCE HOGAN (R), MARYLAND: I'm a Republican. Party loyalty and personal affection and precedence of the past must fall, I think, before the arbiter of men's action. The law itself, Richard Nixon, has beyond a reasonable doubt committed impeachable offenses, which in my judgment are of sufficient magnitude that he should be removed from office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: That Maryland congressman gave an important lesson on putting country before party. Joining me now is another Republican who knows something about defying his party. It's that congressman's son, former Maryland governor and now Maryland Senate candidate Larry Hogan. Thank you so much for being here.

LARRY HOGAN (R), MARYLAND SENATE CANDIDATE: Thank you very much.

BASH: I mean, I'm sure you've seen that clip a thousand times or more.

L. HOGAN: I can't get enough of it, you know? I learned a lot about integrity and public service for my dad and that was his finest moment standing up and putting country over party.

BASH: What other lessons did you learn on this issue?

L. HOGAN: Well, I think you know, my dad was a strong supporter of Nixon who campaigned for him. But after seeing all the evidence, made a tough decision. He was the first one to come out for Nixon's impeachment. Nixon actually said he decided to resign the presidency after that speech, even though it took another week or so and waited some senators came over and said they were going to vote for impeachment to him before he made the final decision.

But that was a pretty momentous moment in history and the thing my dad is most finally remembered for. It was a tough, you know, a lot of people didn't like it. He stood up to the party, but he did the right thing for the country.

BASH: What did he tell you privately about that as you, you know, as you think about it and as you are now, obviously --

L. HOGAN: Yes.

BASH: -- in public service and seeking to be back in public service?

L. HOGAN: Well, he knew that he was going to make a lot of his friends very mad. He knew that was probably going to be the end of his political career. And -- but that he thought it was the right thing to do. He had to stand up and do the right thing for the country and put aside, as he said in his remarks, his own personal considerations and his party loyalty.

BASH: Bringing it to modern times, I want you to actually listen to something that President Biden said about the question of a peaceful transition of power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Trump loses, I'm not confident at all. He means what he says. We don't take him seriously. He means it. All the stuff about if we lose, there'll be a bloodbath, he's -- there'll be a storm. Look what they're trying to do now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, I should say, in case anybody doesn't fully understand that you are not a fan of Donald Trump, you have not endorsed him, you are very much opposed to him and have been a long time. Do you share President Biden's concern looking ahead to, I guess, January of 2025, no matter what happens?

L. HOGAN: Well, I was concerned the last time. You know, I'm the one that sent in the Maryland National Guard and the Maryland State Police to protect the Capitol and protect democracy. So I had leaders of Congress reaching out, calling me, begging me for help. So we certainly don't want a repeat of what happened in the last election.

BASH: Are you concerned there could be?

L. HOGAN: You know, I'm always concerned. It's a terrible, crazy time in politics these days. And I'm concerned about the divisive rhetoric on both sides. I'm concerned about the angry, toxic politics. And that's really one of the reasons I decided to step up and run because I think, you know, the kind of leadership that we need is sorely lacking in Washington.

[12:45:04]

BASH: When asked about something that we talked about the last time you were on the show, which has become a central issue in your campaign for the United States Senate, your opponent, and her name is -- she's Prince George's County Executive, her name is Angela Alsobrooks. She's hammering you on the issue of abortion.

This is what she said in her victory speech when she won the Democratic primary.

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ANGELA ALSOBROOKS (D), MARYLAND SENATE NOMINEE: And you should recall as well that in one of his last acts as governor, he vetoed legislation to expand abortion care access.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, your position now, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is that you -- you're self-described pro-choice. Is that accurate?

L. HOGAN: Yes.

BASH: OK. That's a bit of a shift from before.

L. HOGAN: Well, I didn't never use the labels before, but it's not a shift in position at all. In 2014, when I ran for governor, I promised to protect access to abortion. I, in fact, promised and fulfilled the promise to be the first state in the nation to offer over the counter birth control at no cost, covered by insurance.

I did exactly what I promised to do for eight years and protected access in Maryland. My opponent is simply lying about my record and she continues to do so, but my record is very clear. There was one bill that I vetoed. It wasn't about access to abortion, it was about lowering standards of care, which we thought put women in danger.

It was to allow non-licensed medical professionals like midwives to do abortions. And I didn't think that that was something that we should do. There was a lot of opposition to the bill from doctors and healthcare professionals. We have a difference on that opinion, but we have the same position.

I also promised to sponsor and vote for restoring Roe. And so she -- her entire campaign is based on lies. They continue to repeat it. My victory speech on the same night, I talked about, I was going to continue to keep my promise of protecting women's right and access to abortion, not just Maryland but everywhere.

BASH: Just to underscore one of the things you just said, that if you are elected to the U.S. Senate, you will sponsor, co-sponsor a bill to codify Roe v. Wade.

L. HOGAN: Absolutely.

BASH: No question.

L. HOGAN: No question. I mean, I said it on the first day of my campaign. I said it in the TV commercial. Marylanders know that I -- when I give my word, I keep it.

BASH: I want to talk about the top of the ticket, and that is the Democrats just finalized --

L. HOGAN: Yes.

BASH: -- their ticket this week. One of your former fellow governors, well, he's still governor, your former governor, Tim Walz, is her running mate, and you congratulated him. How formidable do you think the now Harris-Walz ticket is going to be against the Trump-Vance ticket?

L. HOGAN: Well, it's hard to tell at this point. I mean, I think they're going to continue to have a bounce through the Democratic convention, but we've got a long way to go until the election. And I think, I just hope we can move away from the name calling and the kind of crazy rhetoric and to focus on the issues because there are real differences on the issues.

And, you know, this ticket, you know, I just differ with them on some of the policy, but that doesn't mean I couldn't reach out and congratulate somebody that I worked with to say, you know, hope you and your family going to wishing them well.

I got criticized for that actually just for saying, hey, good luck. But there are real policy differences and I think that's what the whole campaign is going to be about. And I'm hoping that we can get people talking about the issues that matter.

BASH: When you go and presumably vote for yourself in November or whenever it is that you vote, you're going to have to decide what you're going to do at the top of the ticket for president.

L. HOGAN: Yes.

BASH: You did not vote for Donald Trump in 2020. You've said that you wrote in Ronald Reagan instead.

L. HOGAN: Yes.

BASH: What will you do in November?

L. HOGAN: I've already said I'm not going to support either of these tickets. And I don't know. I'll make some kind of a symbolic vote.

BASH: OK.

L. HOGAN: That's not going to make much of a difference in Maryland where the Democratic candidate usually wins by 30 points.

BASH: And now even with Harris instead of Biden, with Walz, with Harris, you're not --

L. HOGAN: No. Look, I disagree with them strongly on some policy. I'm very concerned about the kind of open borders. I'm concerned about the defund the police rhetoric. There are a lot on the economy. I think just they're just wrong on the policies in too far left for America.

BASH: OK. Thank you so much for being here. Nice to see you in person.

L. HOGAN: Good to see you too, Dana.

BASH: And we have reached out to the Angela Alsobrooks campaign for an interview and plan to have her on the program soon.

Now coming up, after a terror plot, Swifties in Vienna, Austria are crying over not being able to see the Eras Tour live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really sad, really disappointed, especially yesterday evening. We were really down bad crying at the gym.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. (END VIDEO CLIP)

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[12:53:56]

BASH: A tragedy averted. Police in Austria say three teenagers were suspected of plotting an ISIS inspired suicide attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna. Investigators discovered a stockpile of chemicals, explosive devices, and detonators at the home of the main suspect. Now, concert organizers canceled the three shows, leaving legions of devout Swifties devastated.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is here now with the latest. Nick, what are you learning?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, it's staggering. The three people detained by Austrian officials here, Austrian police, and they're not looking for anyone else at this stage, are all teenagers.

The main culprit, the main suspect, a 19-year-old who is said to have quit his job late July after a month -- after weeks earlier, pledging allegiance to ISIS online and told his former employees, look, I'm planning something big.

He changed his appearance and then was arrested just in the early hours of Thursday at his home, where, as you say, they found chemical precursors for bombs, detonators, EUR 21,000 in fake cash, and perhaps most disturbingly, a police blue flashing light for a vehicle that authorities think he may, he may have been potentially planning to put on his car to enable him to get into the periphery of the crowds around the Taylor Swift concert that was meant to be tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday.

[12:55:15]

Now, it's not just 65,000 inside the venue, there were tens of thousands potentially who kind of come along to overhear for a free concert of their own, and it's there that they believe, the Austrian police, this man would have blown himself up and used knives to cause as much devastation as he could.

There was a 17-year-old who they also arrested, who they believe may have been involved in the planning, who'd recently broken up with his girlfriend. That's a quick snapshot of what police have to look into in terms of teen psychology in these plots.

And a 15-year-old too. All three of them Austrian born. The latter in this, the 15-year-old possibly having knowledge but less involved. A startling development here. Teenagers now counting for nearly two thirds of ISIS arrests across Europe in the last --

BASH: Wow.

PATON WALSH: -- nine months according to one study we've been looking at. Dana?

BASH: Yes. Teenage boys. There is a pattern going on across the globe. Absolutely. Thank you so much. What an important report. Crisis averted. Thank goodness for those law enforcement officials there in Austria.

And thank you for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after the break.

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