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Quest Means Business
Breaking Down Trump-Harris Debate; Trump Suggests He Won't Debate Harris Again; Storm to Make Landfall in Louisiana; Taylor Swift Endorses Kamala Harris After Debate; Harris and Trump Square Off in Combative Debate; Inflation Hits Lowest Level Since 2021 as CPI Drops to 2.5 Percent; Trump Refuses to Say if He Wants Ukraine to Win War. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired September 11, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:16]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: The Dow clawed back is mornings losses closing a bit higher. US inflation cooled in August with the Federal
Reserve's interest rate decision just one week out. The mass tech stunning recovery there up better than two percent.
Those are the markets and these are the main events: Kamala Harris' big night, getting the best of Donald Trump in the debate and scoring an
endorsement from Taylor Swift.
Antony Blinken is in Kyiv to meet with Ukraine's President Zelenskyy. The US is facing growing pressure to lift restrictions on long-range weapons.
And Hurricane Francine is barreling towards Louisiana. Our weather team has the latest with landfall just hours away now.
Live from New York, it is Wednesday, September 11th. I'm Paula Newton, in for Richard Quest and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
And good evening.
So she started with a handshake and ended with what most people are calling a win for the hour and 45 minutes in between, vice president and Democratic
candidate, Kamala Harris repeatedly and literally gleefully baited Donald Trump, answering nearly every question with a comment seemingly designed to
enrage the Republican former president.
She criticized his policies, mocked everything from his rally crowd sizes, to his wild conspiracy theory about Haitian immigrants stealing and eating
pets in Ohio.
Those tactics seemed to work in her favor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: His former national security adviser has said he is dangerous and unfit. His former Secretary
of defense has said the nation, the republic would never survive another Trump term.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You take a guy like Esper, he was no good. I fired him. So he writes a book. Another one writes
a book, because with me they can write books.
HARRIS: World leaders are laughing at Donald Trump.
TRUMP: Let me just say about world leaders, Viktor Orban, one of the most respected man, they call him a strong man. He is a tough person.
HARRIS: Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people. So let's be clear about that. And clearly he is having a very difficult time processing that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: The "you're fired" line. You'll remember that.
Now a CNN flash poll finds 63 percent of debate watchers think Harris won the face-off compared to 37 percent for Trump, but will it be enough to get
her a win in November?
Senior White House reporter, Kevin Liptak joins me now.
I can only imagine what you were thinking throughout this entire debate. No doubt the Dems are satisfied with what happened last night, but are you
hearing as well that the party and the candidates are saying what now? Because history does tell you, you can win a debate, it doesn't mean you're
on the road to the White House.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and you can ask Hillary Clinton that and she would tell you the same thing and Mitt Romney probably
as well, both of them won debates in their cycle and they certainly never made it to the White House.
And I think Kamala Harris' team had that very much at the front of their minds this morning. The message that you heard from them talking to their
supporters in their e-mails and their solicitations, talking on background was that this race is not over. They very much want to guard against any
kind of complacency heading out of this debate.
But certainly, you're right. They did feel very good. I think the best indication of that was coming out literally seconds after the candidates
left the stage saying that they wanted to see a second debate take place in October.
Donald Trump, this morning, and today is saying that he isn't necessarily sure that he wants to do a second debate and you'll remember going into the
debate last night, he had already said that he wanted to do a second debate.
So you kind of get an indication of where each of the candidates' heads are today, but Kamala Harris, I think to be sure, is very eager to get back out
actually on the campaign trail where she thinks most votes can be earned.
She will be in North Carolina tomorrow. She will be in Pennsylvania on Friday. She had been sort of hunkered down for the week or so before this
debate, preparing for it, certainly that preparation paid off on the debate stage. But the question now is whether that is going to sway any votes
among the very narrow slice of the electorate in the seven battleground states that have not made up their mind. And she certainly wants to talk to
them more directly going forward.
So I do think what you'll see now is a very intensive battleground states swing, trying to talk to those voters directly. In addition to her travel,
she also has her campaign, her husband, her running inmate, a number of other Democrats, all hitting what they say is every media market in every
battleground state over the weekend really trying to ride this swell of momentum that she is riding writing following this debate.
[16:05:21]
Of course, it remains to be seen and it will remain to be seen how this debate has affected the race, it will be a couple of days before we know
that for sure.
There is also the perspective that this doesn't alter the race at all. Debates have a way of meaning something in the moment, but not meaning
something in the month or so afterwards. And I think that her campaign very much realizes that this debate is a moment in time that they're very happy
with, but isn't necessarily going to translate down the road.
NEWTON: As you said, they learned their lessons from 2016 and really, what it took for all of them to get over the loss in that race.
Kevin Liptak, as we continue to parse this debate, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Now the economy was indeed a big debate topic. Harris promised middle-class tax breaks and a "opportunity economy," and Trump pledged to reinstate
tariffs against China and Mexico to bring more cash into the US while bashing Harris for the rise in inflation since he left office.
Now, a new report out this morning finds inflation hit its lowest level since 2021, with the Consumer Price Index dropping to 2.5 percent over the
year ending in August.
Joining me now to talk about all of this is Julia Chatterley. She is anchor of CNN's "First Move." I know how closely you've been looking at all of
this, Julia. So tell us, VP Harris called this an opportunity economy, right, during the debate, did she -- was she able to flesh it out enough
for voters to really take the measure of what she is talking about?
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR, "FIRST MOVE": I am not sure how much flesh they were really looking for. The headlines continue to be
splashy, the details remain utterly lacking.
If we can talk about those sort of four main pillars of what she has talked about, remember, tackling inflation, price gouging. I think we can write
that off, support for housing. People across the united states who are in an affordability crisis, we need it, by just giving first-time buyers
$25,000.00 as she has talked about in the past, set to add to prices.
Some of the other things, the support for working families, child tax credits, support for drug prices, those things I think would be welcome if
she can get them through Congress.
The other thing of course has been that big increase proposal in the tax deduction for startup businesses, assuming they're making money at any
point in the first year, which is the key.
Look, the total cost of this, $1.7 trillion. I said the word splashy and I meant it. She could offset that to the tune of around $1 trillion by
raising corporation taxes, and perhaps, that's part of the nervousness that we saw in stock markets today. If she is more likely to win the election as
a result of what we saw yesterday.
But for comparison, Paula and we need it, Penn Wharton have looked at what Trump's spending and tax proposals are and they say that that could cost up
to $4 trillion over the next 10 years. So yes, if he is Harry Potter, she is Hermione Granger. We will see what they can actually get through
Congress and that's the key.
NEWTON: Such a good point there. You know, in terms of you reminding viewers and you've reminded them often that inflation, sure, it is coming
down, it is quite low now, it just doesn't feel that way.
CHATTERLEY: Yes.
NEWTON: So when we talk about inflation, when we talk about tariffs, it isn't something that will continue to influence this election. And how are
the markets taking all of the politics in?
CHATTERLEY: If it doesn't, it should, Paula, because, you know, as well as I do that I think this is the biggest risk factor for a number of reasons.
More tariffs will hurt growth. They're paid by US companies and they're passed over to US consumers, so they are inflationary. At the most extreme
case of what he has proposed, you're talking a cost of around for the average US household an extra cost of around $3,900.00 -- let me get my
facts straight -- annual cost.
But we are not also talking about the risk potentially of a trade war being created as other countries around the world start raising their own tariffs
in response.
This is also something that he doesn't need Congress for. He could enact these with executive orders. Moody's has said that if you combine the
tariffs that he is talking about with the immigration, tighter restrictions on immigration, it could add a percentage point more to inflation next year
and that's going to slow the Fed down and that's something that borrowers in this country are desperately hoping for, of course, is lower interest
rates.
So that for me remains the real kicker and he is talking about tariffs to tackle almost everything it seems when he is talking about potential future
policy.
So this is the danger point and I don't think markets will like this either, but they don't like uncertainty and I think we are as confused as
ever after that debate on them who could potentially win this.
NEWTON: Yes, and you keep reminding us, buckle up until November for sure - -
CHATTERLEY: Yes.
NEWTON: -- in terms of the markets. Julia Chatterley, thanks so much.
CHATTERLEY: Such a reflex.
NEWTON: Appreciate it.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you.
[16:10:09]
NEWTON: Now, the US presidential election could be a make or break moment in Ukraine's fight against Russia. How Kyiv is responding to what we heard
on Tuesday's debate. That's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Kyiv on Wednesday where he sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. They discussed
Ukraine's calls for Washington to lift its restrictions and allow Ukraine to use long-range missile source inside of Russia.
Now, it is something the Biden administration has so far been reluctant to do in Kyiv and its allies are closely watching the US presidential race, as
you can imagine, to see who might take over in January.
Now, in Tuesday's presidential debate, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump were both asked about their positions on Ukraine. I want you to take a listen
though now specifically to Mr. Trump's answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MUIR, ABC NEWS: Do you want Ukraine to win this war?
TRUMP: I want the war to stop. I want to save lives that are being uselessly -- people being killed by the millions, it is the millions. It is
so much worse than the numbers that you're getting with your fake numbers.
MUIR: Do you believe it is in the US best interest for Ukraine to win this war, yes or no?
TRUMP: I think it is a US' best interest to get this war finished and just get it done. Negotiate a deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: CNN senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen is in Kyiv for us and Fred, you just heard it there as did all of Ukrainians, whether
they're in Ukraine or right now displaced and refugees outside of Ukraine. What is the reaction to him refusing to say that he almost sounded
magnanimous through all of that.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think Paula that the Ukrainians really are trying to lay low as far as the US
presidential campaign is concerned. The new Foreign Minister Andrii Sybihay, he actually did comment a little bit on the debate today. He was
asked specifically about the various positions as far as the presidential campaigns are concerned, and all he said is that he believed that there is
bipartisan support for Ukraine, that he saw that on both sides of the aisle.
He also said he believes that it is in the United States' interest to have what he calls a just peace, that's of course something that the Ukrainians
have continuously been talking about is that they want a just peace, which obviously to them means the Russians leaving all of Ukrainian territory
including the eastern parts of Ukraine. But of course, including Crimea as well.
[16:15:00]
So they haven't really commented specifically on the things that former President Trump said there, but one of the things of course that has been
clear over the past couple of weeks, the past couple of months since the presidential race began, and now especially also since it has been former
President Trump against Vice President Kamala Harris is that the Ukrainians, of course, are concerned that if there were a new Trump
presidency, that it could mean very painful concessions from them.
They fear that they could essentially be forced into some sort of surrender, which no doubt would also mean the Ukrainians giving up possibly
substantial amounts of their territory, like for instance cementing the fact that Crimea would remain occupied by Russia.
So all of these are things that are definitely on Ukrainians' minds. I thought it was quite interesting a couple of weeks ago, the Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he was asked about President Trump's alleged plan for peace in Ukraine, and he said, look, he wanted to see it. If there
is something out there, he would want to see it.
So far, the Ukrainians are saying they believe that possibly President Trump does have their best interests in mind, that he does want to achieve
something good for Ukraine. But so far, obviously they haven't seen it and I think one of the things that's also clear when they look at both
candidates is that for them, former President Trump definitely, more uncertainty there if he were to become president again, whereas on the flip
side of things that if Kamala Harris became the president, you would probably see very similar foreign policy than the one that you've seen so
far, which for the Ukrainians has not been all great as well, they believe.
They obviously want more weapons as we've been talking about, wanting to strike with those weapons at longer distances -- Paula.
NEWTON: And in the minute that we have left, in terms of what they received, they didn't get what they wanted from Blinken, right? I mean, is
it on the horizon as far as they're concerned over the next weeks?
PLEITGEN: First of all, I think absolutely not. I think one of the things that the Ukrainians wanted from the visit of Secretary of State Blinken is
they wanted a clear commitment that they would be allowed to use the weapons that they've gotten from the United States that are capable of
striking longer distances and be able to use those to strike deep into Russian territory, so far that has not happened.
All that they've gotten so far is the Secretary of State saying that he spoke about it with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that he will speak about it with
President Biden. That President Biden will then speak about it with the British prime minister. Obviously, the Ukrainians also would like to use
some of the British longer distance weapons to strike inside Russian territory.
So it seems as though there might be movement as far as that is concerned. But as of now, right now, there really isn't anything substantive to
indicate that in the near future, the Ukrainians would be allowed to strike deeper into Russian territory, which for them they say is extremely
important especially if they want to at least try to, to a certain extent shut down some of the airfields that the Russians are using to launch those
fighter jets that then drop those devastating glide bombs that are really tough for Ukrainian frontline troops -- Paula.
NEWTON: Yes, and Ukraine has warned before that any kind of delay does compromise what they can do in this conflict.
Fred Pleitgen, always good to have you on the ground there in Kyiv, appreciate it.
Now, after 10 years as NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg will step down from his post October 1st. In an exit interview with our Christiane
Amanpour that airs Thursday right here on CNN, he called Afghanistan, the Alliance's greatest failure and the withdrawal, the biggest catastrophe of
the past decade. Here is an excerpt from that conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENS STOLTENBERG, OUTGOING NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: Afghanistan, that is the painful because we tried something that we didn't achieve. We tried to
build as democratic free Afghanistan with equal rights for men and women. We realized after some years that that was too ambitious. That was
something that required too much.
So I think one of the lessons learned from Afghanistan is the dangerous mission creep. We started in 2001. That was right, to go in and to fight
al-Qaeda, to take Osama bin Laden, so what started as a focused counterterrorism operation, moved into a big ambitious, nation-building
mission and that mission creep was too much because reality was that we didn't have the resources. They will have to do that for decades.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And yet it was more than 20 years. There was like trillions of dollars spent, lots of people, and now
we can safely say that its gone 360 back to Taliban 1.0.
I mean, that is a catastrophe in fact.
STOLTENBERG: Extremely bad and a catastrophe, not least for the people of Afghanistan, in particular, women. And I met many women members of
Parliament, journalists who begged us to stay.
For many years, I promised that we will stay. We were going to leave on a conditions-based approach. So, we were only want to leave when we had the
confidence that the Afghan government was able to take over and secure the country.
But after 20 years and after paying a high price in blood and treasure, we realized, NATO Allies realized, the United States realized that we could
not continue this. And therefore, we made the decision to leave Afghanistan.
[16:20:12]
I believe that was the right decision, but I believe that we should have in a way, understood it earlier and stayed on the first mission, fighting
terrorism, that's a focused mission and we achieved a lot. We degraded al- Qaeda. We prevented Afghanistan from being a safe haven for international terrorists, and we actually gave a million of girls education and that's a
lasting achievement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now, you all want to tune in Thursday to see the full exit interview with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. That is 1:00 PM
Eastern, 6:00 PM London.
More QUEST MEANS BUSINESS right after the break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: Hello, I'm Paula Newton. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment when Louisiana is bracing for Hurricane Francine. The storm is set
to make landfall there in just a couple of hours.
Taylor Swift is throwing her support behind Kamala Harris announcing her endorsement right after Tuesday night's debate. Before that though, here
are the headlines this hour.
The Israeli military says it killed a senior Hezbollah leader in a strike in Southern Lebanon. The militant group confirmed the death of its Special
Forces commander. It says it responded by launching dozens of rockets and several drones into Northern Israel.
The IDF says those attacks caused no casualties.
Justin Timberlake will reportedly plead to a lesser charge for his drunk driving arrest in New York. The singer is due to appear in court Friday. He
was arrested this summer in Long Island after allegedly failing to stop at a stop sign. His lawyer disputes that he was intoxicated and says the
police made a mistake.
The first private spacewalk is set for Thursday for civilian astronauts who blasted into space on Tuesday in SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule.
[16:25:08]
Only two of the Polaris Dawn crew members will complete that walk, which is expected to last about 20 minutes.
So last night's debate was a chance for Kamala Harris to define her vision for the country. Recent poll found 28 percent of likely voters still felt
they needed to know more about her.
During the debate, she talked a lot about what Donald Trump had done wrong as president, but when asked how she would handle things in the Oval
Office, well, Harris sometimes took a detour. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINSEY DAVIS, ABC NEWS: I do want to ask, would you support any restrictions on a woman's right to an abortion?
HARRIS: I absolutely support reinstating the protections of Roe v. Wade.
DAVIS: What would you do to fight climate change?
HARRIS: The former president had said climate change is a hoax and what we know is that it is very real.
We have created over 800,000 new manufacturing jobs while I have been vice president. We have invested in clean energy to the point that we are
opening up factories around the world.
MUIR: When it comes to the economy, do you believe Americans are better off than they were four years ago?
HARRIS: So I was raised as a middle-class kid and I am actually the only person on this stage who has a plan that is about lifting up the middle
class and working people of America, that is why I imagine and have actually a plan to build what I call an opportunity economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now, Donald Trump pivoted throughout the debate as well. He tried to highlight his key issues, immigration and border security. He repeatedly
attacked Harris and the Biden administration's record though Mr. Trump said, migrants are "pouring" into the country and accused them of taking
jobs from racial minorities.
After Harris belittled Trump's political rallies, he let loose with one of the strangest moments of the night in a furious, rambling response. Mr.
Trump once again, raised fears about undocumented migrants, ending with this very false claim. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating -- they're eating the pets of the
people that live there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now, I want to talk about all of this with Republican strategist, Evan Siegfried and Maria Cardona, Democratic strategist and CNN political
commentator.
Thank you both for joining me. Yes, we are still trying to get through this debate because it was something. I do want to start though with those
claims about migrants in Haiti. I want to assure everyone, CNN has factchecked this. There is no truth to it. And yet Evan, yes, Evan, you're
on the spot for this one.
Do you believe Trump actually leans into these lies and these tropes about immigrants because he knows he is amplifying, unfortunately, what some
Americans truly believe.
EVAN SIEGFRIED, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, first of all, Paula, thank you for factchecking that. My dog was very concerned that he might be a target
if this were to spread nationally.
I think that Donald Trump has set himself up particularly with a lot of the advisers around him, where he hears things that are very active in the more
swampy far right conspiracy theory laden regions of the internet and when you have Laura Loomer, noted conspiracy theorists and racist advising
Donald Trump and flying on his plane to the debate basically whispering in his ear, that doesn't help him.
He has got a lot of aides around him who were castoffs, were not taken seriously by legitimate presidential contenders and other elected officials
within the Republican Party, and now he is in the island of misfit toys, who are saying these things to him.
When you say or share these things with him as well as look at his history of talking about immigrants, people from other nations, he has called
places in Africa s-hole countries, it sort of feeds into this what we saw last night.
NEWTON: Yes, and to that point, even CNN is reporting that several GOP senators -- senators even -- have given Trump failing grades on this
debate, but even putting the debate to one side, even for a moment, Maria, no one should diminish, right, that the challenges that these communities
face when there is an influx of immigrants, that's not xenophobic, it is just the challenges that many communities face.
Shouldn't VP Harris have acknowledged the Biden administration's mistakes on immigration and not better preparing communities for this?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I actually think what she did was remind people of the failures of the Trump administration, and frankly, the
failures of the Republican Party under Donald Trump's thumb on immigration when she underscored that there was a big opportunity to find a real
solution that was incredibly strong on border security with a border security bill that was negotiated between Republicans and Democrats in the
Senate, even to the chagrin of some in the Democratic Party.
But she knew and the president knew that there had to be something done on the border and then Donald Trump told his Republican senators, don't give
this win to President Biden because he needed this issue to weaponize it and use it in the election.
[16:30:44]
That right there, Paula, laid bare to the American people and frankly to the world that this is a candidate and frankly a party that has no interest
in actually governing, that has no interest in finding a solution, that the only thing that they want is to use the chaos to weaponize this issue and
to frankly use immigrants as scapegoats.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: We're just going to put you on hold for a moment. I apologize, Maria and Evan. We do want to go to Joe Biden
and Kamala Harris, who right now are participating in a wreath laying ceremony at the Pentagon. Remember, we are marking the 23rd anniversary of
the September 11th attacks. Let's listen then for a moment here.
And we have been watching Vice President Kamala Harris and Joe Biden that lay that wreath at the Pentagon. A reminder that we are commemorating
September 11th and that at the Pentagon 125 people were killed at the Pentagon and in fact 64 killed on American Airlines 77.
And we'll be right back with more in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:36:32]
NEWTON: And we are still parsing this debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. We want to go back to Republican strategist Evan Siegfried
and Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator.
Apologies to you both, and you both know it was for a very good cause as we continue to commemorate 9/11 here.
CARDONA: Absolutely.
NEWTON: Maria, I did interrupt you and you were saying that, in fact, Kamala Harris did turn the immigration onto Donald Trump, and even in our
flash poll, right, voters, even Republican ones, are giving her that, that she had a good debate performance.
CARDONA: Right.
NEWTON: But where does she go from here now? Because as we've been saying, a good debate performance does not mean you're headed to the White House.
CARDONA: No question about that, Paula. And her campaign knows that, and she knows that. What I think this does give the vice president is another
tremendous opportunity to build on her huge win from last night to continue sharing her vision to be more specific about what she would do under her
administration to continue to lower costs for families, to continue to expand the middle-class, to continue to give these families relief from
what has been a tough economy for some.
But as we have seen today is getting a lot better. Inflation is going down. The expectation is that the Fed is going to lower interest rates. It's all
good stuff, but she does continue to need to fill out the specifics of her policies. Last night's big win gives her the opportunity to do that.
Now in light of the trial tremendous contrast that she was able to deliver between a thoughtful public servant who looked presidential, who acted
presidential, who wants to act and be somebody who is focusing on solutions for everyone versus somebody like Donald Trump, who is in it for the
politics of retribution, the politics of fear, the politics of division, and clearly he's so thin skinned that we also know it's all about his ego.
That is not what the American people are looking for in a commander-in- chief.
NEWTON: Evan, even if everything that Maria says is true, right, Harris did fail to give detailed pointed answers on immigration, Afghanistan,
inflation. Do you believe that her holding back on those answers really is going to have an effect on those undecided voters, right? I mean, if you're
sitting there and you're looking at the battleground states, and you were looking at people who are registered Republicans, undecided, independents.
What does she have to do now to bring them over the line, if you don't think she has so far?
EVAN SIEGFRIED, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, if I were out there as a surrogate for the Trump campaign, I would absolutely be going after Kamala
Harris for her saying very much or very little and just saying a little bit of a 30,000 foot view of what she's going to do and no so real meat on the
bones.
But from a strategic standpoint, if I'm being objective here, I actually think it's smart. Remember, Obama in 2008 was hope and change. What was
hope and change? You ask five different people, you'll get five different answers. So I think her going out and saying, I'm going to create an
opportunity economy, that is something that the voters can project onto it from their own point of view.
What really she needs to be able to do, and I think is more important than putting meat on the bones of her policies, which I still think she should
do, is that she needs to make sure that she goes out and she doesn't shy away from press interviews, press conferences, et cetera, for the coming
days because the Trump campaign is going to point out that, yes, she had a good night, but most of the time she rambles.
And I think the Trump campaign accidentally set the bar very low for her going into the debate by talking about how she just rambles left and right,
but they want to create an environment where she goes out and has more unscripted moments and that she can dispel of the thing that she just
rambles and puts word salad out there.
NEWTON: And Maria, what about that? I mean, if you had taken another Republican candidate, I mean, I'll choose governor, former governor Chris
Christie as one person, imagine him next to Kamala Harris in this kind of a debate. She may have come up short in what she actually did. So why not do
the town halls? I'll get back to that. Why not do the interviews?
I know you're saying with meat, but no, she is not showing up for the voters. That is what they are saying in polling.
CARDONA: Well, but she actually doing that, Paula. She's been doing rally after rally after event after event in all of the battleground states. She
might not be doing what the press wants her to do, but she is talking to voters almost every single day.
And look, I do believe that she is going to do those town halls. She is going to do a lot more one-on-one interviews. She is going to go and do
talk to local media. She's going to talk to Hispanic media. She's going to talk to black media. She's going to talk to specialty media. And I think
that's exactly what she needs to be doing.
And look, I believe that, you know, Evan is right. I think Republicans really set the bar really low and it's really puzzling to me that they
would think that somebody as accomplished as her, who was a prosecutor and a D.A. for San Francisco, an A.G. for California, a senator for California
and vice president for three and a half years is going to sit there and do word salad.
I mean, that to me is a huge underestimation of who Donald Trump is against. And that is exactly what was shown last night. I mean, if they
thought that she was going to ramble, what did they think their candidate did? I mean, he could not put together two coherent words last night. It
was the contrast between somebody who was thoughtful and presidential and showed leadership and was forward looking and was generational change, and
somebody who was just old and decrepit and crazy.
NEWTON: All right. Maria, we will leave it there. Evan, thank you as well. Again, as we continue to follow the rest of this very unpredictable
campaign thank you both for your insights and your patience.
CARDONA: Thanks, Paula.
NEWTON: Thank you.
SIEGFRIED: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now, Donald Trump says he's unsure whether he wants to hold another debate with Kamala Harris. The former president made the comment to FOX
News Wednesday morning, and again later in the day. He also complained about how ABC News moderated Tuesday's debate in Philadelphia. Mr. Trump
accused moderators of ganging up on him. when they fact-checked some of his more outrageous claims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It was a rigged deal as I assumed it would be because when you look at the fact that they were correcting
everything and not correcting with her.
So I think ABC took a big hit last night. I mean, to be honest, their news organization, they have to be licensed to do it. They ought to take away
their license for the way they did that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Lucky for us, CNN chief media analysts Brian Stelter is with us.
Brian, look, conservative media, you know it, I know you saw it, I saw it, backed up what he was saying about the fact-checking, about its three
against one. But how did you rate this debate in terms of what it did for voters?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: You're asking the best question. What about the voters? And who cares what the talking heads think? We
should analyze whether this was helpful to the voters and this debate was actually very informative. We saw an incredible contrast between Trump and
Harris. You might summarize it as darkness versus light or some of your previous guests did, you know, youth versus age, wisdom versus a younger
generation.
There are a lot of contrasts here and the questions from the ABC moderators helped us see those contrasts. There were also a lot of points to follow up
on. Harris did answer some new policy questions, but there are lots of follow-ups. So both viewers and journalists came away perhaps wanting to
know more and having follow-up questions to ask.
So overall, I think these are reasons to rate this debate a big success because viewers did come away better informed, not just about Harris,
because she is the new person here, the new nominee, but also more informed about how Trump is handling the stress of this race now that Harris is his
opponent.
NEWTON: Yes, it's such a good point there. Even the stress of the race, as you said, because there is that huge age difference between the two of
them.
I'm not sure if any ratings are out yet, but I will put you on the spot, Brian. Do you think Trump will eventually agree to another debate or would
you bet that that's it, it's the one and done for him with Kamala Harris?
[16:45:03]
STELTER: I've been watching his comments all day long. He does not want to commit to a rematch. He is claiming that his campaign will think about it.
He says he might do it with NBC or FOX, but he is not committing. The Harris campaign right away, said, yes, let's debate again in October. They
clearly felt confident at the end of last night's debate. Trump, however, has several chances -- has had several chances today to commit and he has
not committed.
I do think he will eventually debate her again. I do think he will. I'm not willing to put money on it, but I do think he'll do it. As for the ratings,
we don't have the official numbers yet, but what it looks like so far, at least 60 million viewers tuned in via television in the U.S. That's even
than the higher than the CNN debate in June between Biden and Trump. That CNN debate was about 51 million plus.
You know, it's impossible to know for sure because we're talking about a global event that's also livestreamed and then clipped all around the Web.
So, you know, we were talking about these ratings, these are the base levels. So think about at least 60 million viewers tuning into the debate
last night and then an even higher number watching the highlights and lowlights today.
NEWTON: Yes, incredible. And as you have reminded us for years sometimes the former president cannot resist good ratings like that and may want the
showdown himself.
STELTER: Exactly.
NEWTON: So we're taking you at your word, Brian, we will wait to see what he decides about October.
Brian Stelter, for us, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Now, Hurricane Francine is heading towards Louisiana and is expected to make landfall in the next few hours. Right now the eye of the storm is just
off the coast. You see it there, but strong winds and heavy rain are already hitting the southern parts of the state. That is where we find CNN
meteorologist Derek Van Dam. He is in Morgan City, Louisiana.
I have been watching you all day. This is as bad as I've seen it, Derek. What can you tell us?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, without a doubt, Paula, this is probably the most intense parts that we've been reporting so far with
Hurricane Francine's approach. In fact, the National Weather Service, the national agency here in the United States, that forecast for these storms
alongside the National Hurricane Center warning that it is this period, this next hour when the northern and northeastern eyewall of this hurricane
that is the most intense part of the storm moves on shore and clearly, with what I'm experiencing and what your viewers see at home we are experiencing
just that.
Now, it's not hurricane force just yet because it would be more difficult to stand up. But here in St. Mary Parish, there are voluntary evacuations
for some of the low-lying areas. There is a mandatory curfew, of course, that is citywide near Morgan City where I'm located. There's also a flood
wall that protects the city that's nearest to me, but we're actually outside of those protected areas to talk about the vulnerabilities of the
coastline of Louisiana.
Louisiana, if you look at a map, there's also a lot of marsh low-level, low-lying areas. And where we're standing now is only about six feet
roughly two meters above sea level. So when you're talking about a storm surge forecast that's between six to 10 feet, you understand the threats
there as the low sea-level just extend so far inland. And it extends out into the Gulf of Mexico as well.
Every time one of these more intense rain band comes through, you feel almost as if you're getting the backwash of a jet engine just spiking your
face, spiking any exposed parts of your body with a sting. And that's actually just raindrops that are pelting at this moment in time. It is now,
according to the National Weather Center, over the next couple of hours as Francine makes landfall, most critical for people of Terrebonne Parish to
my east and St. Mary's Parish, where I'm located, to be in their shelter and to ride out this hurricane in their safe place as the most intense part
of the storm is approaching now as you can see.
We're currently under a flash flood warning, a hurricane warning and a tornado watch. So we have kind of this triple effect of threats that are
coming together as the strongest part of the hurricane approaches. It doesn't take much to spin up a tornado. We're monitoring the radar. We're
monitoring the conditions closely and of course with wind gusts that have been measured on the eastern eyewall, and some buoys in the Gulf of Mexico,
Paula, over 150 kilometers per hour.
If those make their way on shore it will be virtually impossible to stand in those conditions here coming up -- Paula.
NEWTON: And we appreciate you, Derek, standing strong for us there and hopefully everyone will heed the advice of Louisiana officials. And again,
officials saying if they want shelters in place, they will weather this storm and everyone can keep safe.
Derek Van Dam, for us, we'll continue to get updates from Morgan City, Louisiana. Appreciate it.
[16:50:03]
Now, the cat lady sings. Taylor Swift has made her pick for president, and we'll talk about her endorsement of Kamala Harris and how Donald Trump
reacted. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: Taylor Swift is throwing her weight behind Kamala Harris. She endorsed the Democratic presidential candidate in an Instagram post right
after the Trump-Harris debate. The singer's post has nine million likes and counting. Her fan base, the Swifties as they're called, is both large and
broad. As you can see in the FOX poll from last year, more than half of registered voters view her favorably, and that breaks down to 68 percent of
Democrats and 43 percent of Republicans.
Meantime, the Harris campaign is already cashing in on Swift's endorsement. I mean, look at that. Swift fans are known for trading friendship
bracelets, right, at her concerts. Well, those $20 Harris-Walz friendship bracelets from the campaign Web site already selling it.
Lisa Respers France is in Atlanta.
Look, it was not a sure thing that Taylor Swift would actually do this, though she did endorse Biden, you know, four years ago. What kind of impact
do you believe it will have given she is actually much more popular today than she was four years ago even with Republicans, it seems?
LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Paula. I mean, at this point, Taylor Swift is a celebrity with a capital C and not only does she
have over 280 million followers just on Instagram alone, but if you look at who liked her post, if you look who liked her endorsement, names like Oprah
Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon.
This is such a big deal. It's incredible to think about the kind of influence that she has, but reportedly already traffic is up in terms of
people rushing to register to vote because she included information to help people get registered to vote, something she did four years ago as well.
And so it's truly remarkable how much of an influence Taylor Swift has. She has come by this influence really, really because she has worked hard over
the years to build up her fan base.
Everything from years ago, she used to jump into their comments and leave little emojis when they would talk about her, to having these really
intimate gatherings where she let her fans listened to her albums early.
[16:55:02]
So her fan base is incredibly, incredibly into her, and into whatever she does. She is so incredibly influential. And I think that it just can't be
stated enough how big an impact this could potentially have, especially, Paula, you know, we've been talking about how close this race is probably
going to be.
NEWTON: Yes. When you talk about how close, right, it really is only maybe two Taylor Swift concerts, right? The amount of people that fit into two
Taylor Swift concerts in battleground states could impact this election to the income.
Lisa, though, I do want to ask you about whether or not you believe there could be some backflash even here, could this kind of backfire, especially
when you think about the new nexus between Taylor Swift, her boyfriend Travis Kelce who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs, and the NFL? I know I
may be reaching a bit, but, hey, stranger things have happened on social media and beyond.
FRANCE: I don't think you're reaching it all because as often happens when athletes or celebrities like Taylor Swift, a singer, gets involved in
politics people tell them, just shut up and sing, or shut up and play, which is not a great way to go about it because, number one, they're
citizens just like anyone else. And number two, if you think celebrity is not important, then you're overlooking the fact that Donald Trump was a
reality star before he became president of the United States. So we'll just have to wait and see how much backlash there is.
NEWTON: Such good points, Lisa, as always.
We will also remind people that she said register to vote, do your own research. She didn't tell them to vote for Kamala Harris. She said she was
endorsing her and also we'll see because she is from Pennsylvania, one of the key battleground states.
Lisa, thanks so much. We'll continue to watch this space. Appreciate it.
Now, coming up, we will have these final numbers on what was a really interesting day in fact on Wall Street.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: So Wall Street closed higher after a cool CPI report. The Dow clawed into the green to finish 124 points higher, about a third of a
percent. Now, during the session, it was down as much as 743 points. Quite a comeback. The S&P 500 also found its way into the green. And there's that
tech heavy Nasdaq which soared more than 2 percent with a Fed rate cut even more likely next week.
That's it for QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Paula Newton. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts now.
END
