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John McCain's Youngest Son Says He Supports VP Harris; Harris Campaign Kicks Off "Reproductive Freedom" Bus Tour; Trump Says He'll Mandate Government Or Insurance To Pay For IVF; Trump Has Promised "Mass Deportation" If He's Elected. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired September 03, 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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[12:30:15]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: In an exclusive new interview, Jimmy McCain, the youngest son of late Senator John McCain, is slamming former President Donald Trump for holding a campaign event at Arlington National Cemetery last week, calling it a violation to use the National Shrine as he did.

Joining me now with much more on her exclusive reporting is CNN National Security Correspondent Natasha Bertrand. Natasha, this is fascinating. We have not heard from Jimmy McCain really at all on these types of issues. What did he tell you?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Phil. And look, the fact that he's speaking out right now, he really doesn't take lightly, right, because he never has spoken publicly about Donald Trump before, but he has decided to now because of what he saw last week at Arlington National Cemetery, which he believes is a violation of the men and women that are buried there.

If you recall, of course, Trump did visit the cemetery last week at the invitation, he says, of these Gold Star families who lost their family members during the Abbey Gate bombing in 2021 in Afghanistan. And he posed in front of graves and he, you know, put a thumbs up and he was saying.

And Jimmy McCain, who had actually just returned from a seven-month deployment to the Middle East to a base where three U.S. service members had been killed just weeks before he arrived there, he really saw that as deeply inappropriate and deeply insulting to the people that are buried in that cemetery because they didn't have a choice, he says, of whether to be part of this political campaign, this political backdrop.

So just to give you a sense of what he told me, he said, quote, "It just blows me away. These men and women that are laying in the ground there, they have no choice of whether to be a backdrop for this political campaign." And he also got into a bit of the psychology behind why he believes Donald Trump repeatedly tends to criticize service members, particularly his father, of course, as we've seen in recent years. And he said, you know, quote, "Many of these men and women who served their country chose to do something greater than themselves. They woke up one morning, they signed on the dotted line, they put their right hand up and they chose to serve their country. And that's an experience that Donald Trump has not had." And he said, "I think that might be something that he thinks about a lot."

So essentially saying he thinks that Donald Trump is insecure about the fact that he has not served for the military.

MATTINGLY: So his decision to speak out sparked by that moment, but he's been in the midst of a political evolution, which he described to you, right?

BERTRAND: Yes, and this is really interesting because, you know, as far as we know, he is the first member of the McCain family to actually publicly break with the Republican Party itself. Yes, other members of his family, including his mother have broken with Trump himself publicly, including his sister Meghan.

But he says that he is now going to be voting for Kamala Harris in November. He has changed his registration to Democrat, which is a really significant move, of course, for someone who is the son of such a prominent, you know, GOP senator. He was a GOP political candidate.

So this is a big dramatic move for Jimmy McCain. And I should note, you know, it remains to be seen how the rest of his family is going to react to this because his sister, Meghan McCain, she has indicated that she is not going to endorse Kamala Harris and she said, quote, in a tweet last week, "I am a lifelong generational conservative." She says, "Please stop trying to turn me into a progressive. It's a fever dream."

Jimmy McCain now says he's willing to do whatever it takes, whatever he can to actually help the Harris-Walz campaign this November.

MATTINGLY: So not just voting, potentially campaigning for --

BERTRAND: Potentially even get involved.

MATTINGLY: Fascinating.

Great reporting. Natasha Bertrand, thanks so much.

And you can actually hear more from Jimmy McCain when he joins Jake Tapper for an exclusive interview on The Lead. That's today at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

Well, next, I'll talk to Florida Congressman and outspoken Donald Trump supporter, Byron Donalds, about his state's abortion referendum and what voters should make of Trump's, we'll call it an evolution, on the issue. Stay with us.

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[12:38:27]

MATTINGLY: Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign kicking off what it calls a reproductive freedom bus tour today in Trump's home state of Florida. Now, the bus tour will make up -- make at least 50 stops across the battleground states to tie former President Trump to the overturning of Roe vs. Wade.

And while Florida, definitely not likely to be a swing state in November, Democrats are hoping the state's ballot measure to overturn the state's six-week abortion ban will help Democrats up and down the ballot. So how will Republicans and the Trump campaign counter that effort?

Joining me now to discuss this is Florida Congressman Byron Donalds. Congressman, always appreciate your time. There's where Democrats are on this, which I think is part of the reason why you've seen the former president have a gut instinct of being cautious on this issue. I think he's been reported to have said this was a problem in the 2022 midterm elections for Republicans.

There's also where anti-abortion advocates are on this, which, to some degree, you've heard them over the course of the last several days be very frustrated with where the former president is. Wish he would sound more like, as one told me, his first term version of Donald Trump. What do you say to those reliably Republican voters who are concerned on this issue?

REP. BYRON DONALDS (R), FLORIDA: I would tell those voters in the state of Florida and around the country that President Trump's been very clear when it comes to abortions, specifically to Florida. He thinks that the six-week ban is not enough weeks, but at the same time, the ballot initiative is far too radical for the state of Florida.

And so every voter in our state's having to make that decision. He's decided to vote no, just like I have and so many other Floridians. But I think it's important for voters in swing states to understand that the ballot initiative in Florida has no bearing on the cost of food in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan or anywhere else.

[12:40:12]

The fault lies with your cost of food, the cost of goods, the wide open border, terrible foreign policy, that falls at the feet of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. And those are the issues that are actually going to impact this presidential election.

Florida voters are going to decide what they're going to do on Amendment 4. We'll see how that comes out, but the presidency and the issues facing the next president of the United States are not going to be the same issues, not even close to a ballot initiative in Florida.

MATTINGLY: You know, it's interesting -- you mentioned cost. There's no question. The economy is the number one issue prices and inflation goes right with that in every swing state, pretty much for every American at this point when you look at polling.

The president -- the former president endorsed something related to reproductive rights that may actually increase costs on some people. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Under the Trump administration, your government will pay for, or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for all costs associated with IVF treatment, fertilization for women, IVF treatment.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Congressman, it's been interesting having covered the healthcare debate over the course of the last decade, plus, particularly with Republicans, the idea of a mandate, the idea of both either the federal government paying for something or insurance companies paying for something. Is that something you could support?

DONALDS: Well, obviously, it's something that is possible to support depends on the details. At the end of the day, what Donald Trump and J.D. Vance have been saying is very clear. They want to make sure that IVF is available to every family that needs to take advantage of it.

Because, yes, having families, building families in America is critical to the future of our success as a nation. And so I think it's something that members on both sides of the aisle will try to find a way to make sure that we can get there. We'll see what the details look like.

But at the end of the day, the core issues facing the American people are the cost of food and housing. Donald Trump has the recipe to make it better for the lives of the American people having a secure southern border. We know what Donald Trump did, and we can see the terrible job Kamala Harris has done.

This is the reason why migrants are getting welfare benefits in states all across America. California now wants to give $150,000 for illegal immigrants to buy homes in California. That is the type of policy, the value set that Kamala Harris supports. It's way outside the mainstream of the American people.

MATTINGLY: On immigration policy, you know, it was interesting being --

DONALDS: Sure.

MATTINGLY: -- on the floor in Milwaukee. You spoke at the Republican convention. There were signs saying mass deportation now. The former president has promised the largest deportation operation in history. As part of that, it would be a significant shifting of federal resources, would cost a significant amount of money, would require states and local authorities to partake or be incentivized to partake.

The former president has talked about deploying the National Guard as well. Between the cost, the personnel shifts and law enforcement, is that something you think people should get behind?

DONALDS: It's not something that I think people should get behind. I'm telling you, people are already behind it. You -- if you poll deportation, the American people support it pretty much overwhelmingly at this point. Massive majorities, whether you're black, whether you're white, whether you're Hispanic, because what the American people want is legal immigration.

They do not want illegal immigration. They do not tolerate it. Illegal immigration is out of the playbook of the radical left Democrats led by Kamala Harris. So if you have criminals in our streets, like in New York, you have to deport them. You have to send them home.

If you have illegals like in Chicago who are taking over schools, they're taking over recreation centers, they're taking over hotels, and they're not getting the vital need, the vital aid that citizens in these cities are looking for is going to illegals? You have people in our country who are saying enough is enough. Send them back to their home country.

MATTINGLY: congressman --

DONALDS: There's nothing wrong with that.

MATTINGLY: -- I'm not disputing that -- the Overton window of sorts on issues of immigration and deportation has dramatically shifted over the course of the last several years in large part because of what we've seen at the southern border. I think my question is more related to --

DONALDS: Yes.

MATTINGLY: -- there are costs tied to that both in terms of shifting federal law enforcement resources in a major way to actually do that, but also economic costs. There would be a significant hit based on economic analysis to GDP. It doesn't come for free. It's not just people get deported at the snap of a finger. And I think the scale of what's being described, I wonder if people understand those costs and what they would mean.

[20:45:04]

DONALDS: I would tell you that the cost of inaction and the cost of the Kamala Harris open border policy is far more devastating, not just to state budgets, local budgets in the federal budget, but also to our economy over the long term, because you're going to have a lot of people in our country illegally who do not have the skill sets to move into our economy on the scale that we need, and they're going to be drags on our society overall.

Not to mention the crime that does exist and not to mention that you do have illegal immigrant children in our country who are taking resources from American citizens, children in our country who need every ability to be able to step up and take the leadership reins of our country.

So the cost of mobilizing forces in our nation to deport illegal immigrants pales in comparison to the long run massive costs of just letting them stay in the United States. And if Kamala Harris has her way, turning the spigot on to invite more illegal immigration in the future, it is simply not a recipe for success. We are going to have to send people back to their home countries and there's nothing wrong with that.

MATTINGLY: Yes, it's certainly a contrast. Both campaigns have been talking about the former -- or the current Vice President talking about the Senate bipartisan deal. The House Republican Conference rejected that out of hand, didn't take it up, has been very clear with its support of the former president's immigration policies and the expanded version that he's laid out as well.

Congressman Byron Donalds, appreciate your time, sir. Thank you.

DONALDS: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: And coming up, I worked with Trump and I stood up to Biden. Believe it or not, that's the new campaign message from a Democratic senator. Who said it? That's next.

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[12:51:11]

MATTINGLY: Senate Democrats are facing a particularly long and grueling road to November. They're defending seats in seven red or purple states, must more or less run the table to keep their very slim majority, which is why incumbent Jon Tester is running this ad in Montana, a state Donald Trump won by double digits in 2020.

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SEN. JON TESTER (D), MONTANA: I don't look like folks in Washington and that's fine with me because I only care about defending Montana. That's why I worked with President Trump to pass over 20 bills and stood up to Biden to cut back spending and secure the vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Just a reminder, Jon Tester is, in fact, a Democrat, in case you were confused by that ad.

My panel is back with me now. Ayesha, if you talk to Democrats, they're saying, do whatever you got to do, man. Like we have to win that race and it's going to be hard. Is that going to be effective in such a nationalized election?

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST, NPR "WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY" AND "UP FIRST": It's going to be tough, right? Because we are at a point in politics where that split ticket voting doesn't happen as often now. And it's like, you know, Tester has been able to survive, I think, three elections. That's amazing in such a red state.

But this year, is it going to be enough when people really, right now, I mean they're voting straight party tickets, I don't know that it will be, but he has to do that. Like he has to say, look, I'm not like those other guys, I'm with you all. You know, vote for me. But we'll see if it'll actually work. I think it's going to be a very tough road.

MATTINGLY: You know, Laura, he won in '18 when -- it's midterm year, not a presidential year, but Trump made him like his number one target, he outran Trump by a significant margin. What's changed this cycle?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think that to Ayesha's point, more and more people are going to either side. And there are fewer, there just are fewer split ticket voters. I mean, I've talked to some that say that they might do it in other states, not necessarily in Montana. But, again, also does he have anything else on the ballot there that could potentially help him.

Because some Democrats in states like Arizona and Nevada, look at, we have abortion ballot initiatives. And that could help them. Tester is really leaning on his long standing brand, which is someone who has been more independent, someone who, you know, bucks the party on things like immigration when he needs to.

And that's also what Senator Brown is going to be doing in Ohio. He has his own brand in Ohio. Now, whether or not in a year like this year it's enough, I mean, it's hard to say right now.

MATTINGLY: Yes, it's the question and it's also the majority determining question on some level. One fascinating seat that I don't think Democrats thought was going to be in play is Maryland, where you have the former Republican governor putting this ad out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And on January 6th, as we watched in horror, Hogan didn't just talk about defending democracy, he did something. Sending in the Maryland National Guard to protect the Capitol. That's the same Larry Hogan. Tough, independent, never backs down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: So it's kind of like the inverse of the Tester ad in Montana. You have Larry Hogan, Maryland's got a lot of federal workers but going on an issue that Republicans never want to talk about, or acknowledge even happened on some level.

MARIO PARKER, NATIONAL POLITICS TEAM LEADER, BLOOMBERG: Yes, no, absolutely. He was a popular governor, right?

MATTINGLY: Yes.

PARKER: Got Democrats to cross the aisles. But in Maryland, Democrats outnumber Republican voters by a 2 to 1 margin. The calculus of this overall election has changed, and he's going to be at least, as of right now, it's going to be a tough one for him, right? Because now you've got Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, and you've got a popular person in Angela Alsobrooks, riding that coattail as well.

So it'll be tough to see whether or not he'll be able to overcome that. And then just to your point, Phil, just buck the trends and have the inverse of Chester (ph).

MATTINGLY: Yes, if nothing else, forcing DS to spend -- or forcing any outside group to spend on the Democratic side in Maryland is a win for Republicans. But do you think he has a shot?

RASCOE: You know, he's very popular and it's like, it's a question of is he popular enough to go against that trend that we have seen of people voting a straight party ticket, especially in Maryland, where, as you said, many people are federal workers. They know how important the Senate is.

PARKER: Yes.

[12:55:15]

RASCOE: So, and they know -- and if they are Democrats and they want a Democratic Senate, they may be more politically savvy than others, even if they really love Hogan.

MATTINGLY: Yes.

RASCOE: So, you know, it's a tough -- it's tough --

MATTINGLY: We'll have to see.

RASCOE: -- for Hogan and Tester.

MATTINGLY: It'll be fascinating. All right guys, thank you very much. This was great.

Before we go, I'm here in place of, of course, our beloved Dana Bash today because it's publication day for Dana's new book. "America's Deadliest Election" is out now. You can buy it wherever you get your books. It's fantastic.

Thanks so much for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts right after the break.

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