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Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Is Interviewed About Trump Officially Becomes GOP Nominee; Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH), Is Interviewed About J.D. Vance Becomes Official Vice Presidential Nominee. Aired 5:30-6p ET

Aired July 15, 2024 - 17:30   ET

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

[17:30:00]

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He argued Republicans were in the wrong position by not supporting a national abortion ban. He said that's what we can convince voters that we are in the right position. He view that as more moderate position. The person who doesn't support that is Donald Trump. He actually very clearly does not want to be anywhere near a national abortion ban, because Democrats have gone after that issue and have run very successful campaigns on. So how do we deal with that issue?

There are other things too. I mean, J.D. Vance is very anti Ukraine aide. This is of course, an animating issue in the Republican base right now. Trump has gotten very close to that position as well. That is going to be one of the things also that will give some Republicans in the more establishment part of the party some pause.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes. And the idea that Donald Trump wants to come into this convention as a uniter, this doesn't necessarily unite, A, the country and it doesn't necessarily unite of the Republican Party either. I've been talking to some Haley voters who in the end were sort of hoping last ditch, you know, hope that maybe the pick would be Haley maybe would even be Burgum, very upset that it is J.D. Vance.

And one person I talked to who was in Arizona Haley voter. She called Vance, manipulative, a manipulative divider. They are not happy with this pick, I think it speaks to what Democrats are feeling, too. They feel like in -- in J.D. Vance, they have a big target. But we also know that oftentimes vice presidential picks don't necessarily matter in the end game. But Democrats are certainly hoping that in J.D. Vance, they can make a target that will turn off those suburban voters that are so --

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: And in this particular contest, it's really hard to see how the vice presidential pick is going to really impact this, I think very little. This is Donald Trump, who's atop the ticket. And he did so much of this race will be defined around.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: All right, everybody standby. We're only just getting started with our analysis. A lot of news unfolding right now. I want to go back to Erin. ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: All right, Wolf, and more breaking news. We are right now getting the first glimpse of President Biden's interview with Lester Holt at NBC. Now, this was highly anticipated, because it was right after the Trump assassination attempt. And of course, in the context of the questions about Biden's candidacy that are still there, Biden saying it was a mistake to tell donors it's time to put Trump in a bullseye, which was the rhetoric that he had used just days before Trump was shot. Let me play this clip with the President and Lester Holt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: Well, let's talk about the conversation this has started and it's really about language, what we say out loud and the consequences of those. You called your opponent and existential threat. On a call a week ago, you said it's time to put Trump in the bullseye. There's some dispute about the context. But I think you appreciate that words matter.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I didn't say crosshairs. I'm talking about focus on. Look, the truth of the matter is what I guess I was talking about as a time was there was very little focus on Trump's agenda.

HOLT: Yes, the term was bullseye.

BIDEN: It was -- it was a mistake to use or I didn't -- I didn't say crosshairs, I meant bullseye, I meant focus on it. Focus on what he's doing. Focus on, one, as far as policies, focus on the number of lies he told in the debate. Focus -- I mean, there's -- there's a whole range of things that, look, I'm not the guy that said, I want to be a dictator on day one. I'm not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election. I'm not the guy who said that, one, except the outcome of this election automatically.

You can't only love your country when you win. And so the focus was on what he's saying. And I mean, the idea.

HOLT: But have -- have you taken a step back and done a little soul searching on things that you may have said that could incite people who are not balanced?

BIDEN: Well, I don't think, look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real? When a president says things like he says, do you just not say anything because it may incite somebody? Look, I -- I -- I have not engaged in that rhetoric. Now my -- my -- my opponent is against that rhetoric. He talks about to be a bloodbath if he loses, talking about how he's going to forgive all the actions. I guess suspend the sentences of all those who were arrested and sentenced to go to jail because of what happened in the Capitol.

I'm not out there making fun of like when remember the fixture of Donald Trump, when Nancy Pelosi's husband was hit with a hammer, going to talk about joking about it.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BURNETT: All right, that's just the -- the clip we just got obviously. There's a lot more in that interview. But everyone's here with me now. Jamal, what do you first of all, just -- just to taking a step back? There's a lot to talk about -- about what we saw there. Can we just start with that interview itself, President Biden how he answered those questions, the performance because had Saturday not happen that would be everything we were talking about right now was what -- how did he acquit himself and that interview performance.

[17:35:00]

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's right. Listen, I think when you think about the points that Joe Biden was trying to make we all understand where he was trying to go but again this is part of the struggle people are having after the debate is how the president delivers his lines. And I think we are all sort of wrestling through whether or not that's going to be appropriate going forward.

But here's the fundamental point that I think we, I don't want to miss. How Joe Biden has acquitted himself since Saturday, is just phenomenal. I mean, he has been the rock, the steady hand, he talked to Donald Trump, who he clearly doesn't have fondness for, because he -- Donald Trump was one of the victims that day. So he talked to talk to him -- talk to him as a victim. He has been making sure that there's going to be -- he talks to the American public and make sure the American public knew what it was that they were doing.

He's led meetings in the Situation Room. That's the kind of thing that you want a president to do. And he finally -- the final point I'll make is he really made sure that we all understand that when you win, it matters that you still take care of the losers. Donald Trump lost that election. And Joe Biden is still taking care of him the same way as if he was one of the people who voted for him and making sure that his -- he and his family and this issue is being addressed. I think we can't ignore that, because it's very much how we want to model the presidency.

BURNETT: Jonah, what do you take away from what we just saw?

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think one of the weirdest ironies of what has been the most astounding streak of political good luck any candidate has had in my lifetime, which is Donald Trump, in the last 18 weeks, I'm not trying to make light, but it is sort of definitionally when you're shot at and they miss. It's good fortune when I called Providence, whatever. But he also had a lot of the classified cast -- cases thrown out at the bay.

BURNETT: Yes. Right.

GOLDBERG: A lot of stuff has broken his way lately. And I think one of the biggest pieces of underscu -- under discussed good luck, is that it is completely frozen or killed, or thrown a wet blanket on the discussion of getting his opponent out of the race, which is something that Donald Trump did not want to see happen.

BURNETT: Yes. GOLDBERG: And -- and I don't -- look, I -- I agree his -- his behavior, the -- the way Joe Biden's responded to this has been laudable. I don't think there was a homerun in the speech on Sunday night. But I don't think anything that he's doing here, sort of dispels the merits of the argument that he is not up for running again. But it does -- there's all this reporting has come out that Democrats have just sort of given up all hope of replacing him and are reconciling themselves to losing. And that's not me saying that. That's them saying it on background to a whole bunch of different media outlets. It's weird.

BURNETT: So -- so Shermichael, let me -- let me ask you, though, in terms of the now that the substance of what he just said, the -- the issue of bullseye.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

BURNETT: And -- and -- and now what's interesting here is he was saying, well, I didn't say crosshairs, I meant bullseye as in focus, you know, when these sorts of statements are made by Republicans. And they try to make that sort of an excuse, it doesn't generally go over very well. I mean, he did -- he did say I shouldn't have used it. I mean he did ultimately say that but he didn't want to.

SINGLETON: He -- he did and the President did apologize, and I'm going to give the President credit there. I want to acknowledge that. But what we have found consistently in modern politics is that people just typically attempt to double down on their positions and their stances. No one really wants to say I made a mistake, I -- I -- I made an error, I misjudged, I probably shouldn't have used that language. That's just not common anymore. Because the base of either side, I would argue, really wants to see their candidates showcase strength.

And that means even verbally, the way you discuss your opponent, the way you describe your opponent, so I can understand how a Democrat would look at that and say, this is great language. But as a conservative, I look at that and I say, well, you saw what just happened to the former president a couple of days ago. That was abhorrent language. And I think many Republicans would see it the same way. I think many Republicans have cited other Democrats using similar language to describe Republican to say this was wrong.

BURNETT: So we're in this moment, Kristen, where you have obviously what happened on Saturday, which -- which changed the race, right, and in some yet unknown ways. And now, you know, you have Biden continuing to give these interviews trying to get out there and adamant that he is staying in the race. So how do you even look at this as opposed to right now? Is there any clarity amidst the fog?

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I still think that this is a race where we are not going to see the polls move outside a pretty narrow window. We can spend all day talking about will the vice presidential pick matter or not? Will Joe Biden's interview matter or not? And in the end, I don't think that we are likely to see the polls shift too much. If you liked Donald Trump last week, you still like him this week. If you liked Joe Biden last week, you still like him this week, even despite everything that has happened.

I do think that that interview clip that we just watched, suggests that Joe Biden's challenges with is he going to get sort of pushed further out of this race by Democrats are not gone. It wasn't lost on me that the Chiron underneath that clip said, you know, Joe Biden apologizes for bullseye comment and we started playing the clip, and I was kind of waiting for that part to come around. He had a thought, a really good point buried in there which was look I vehement -- I vehemently opposed my opponent and I want to be able to speak about it. And there's no guarantee that a crazy person is not going to hear what I say and take it the wrong way, 100 percent, that's a valid point.

[17:40:10]

But it was so -- it wasn't delivered clearly, and Democrats need someone who's going to be a clear messenger against Donald Trump, who's going to be crystal clear about what --

SIMMONS: Erin, you said something that I just want to pick up on.

BURNETT: Yes.

SIMMONS: You talked about whether or not we are changing the race. And you know, all day I've been sort of, really the last couple days, I've been wrestling with this idea, is -- is what happened Saturday changing the race, but we thought a president getting 34 convictions might change the race. And then we thought Joe Biden's debate performance might change the race. And now we're at this point with a tragedy that happened on Saturday occurred --

BURNETT: Yes. That's fair point.

SIMMONS: -- you know, it -- it just feels like people are as to get to Kristen's point, like people are locked in on this in some way. And how many people will see this, you know, you'd be forgiven if you don't know about the Tom Sandoval scandal on "Vanderpump Rules." But I've been inundated with it and how --

(CROSSTALK)

SIMMONS: -- Sandoval got about 11.4 million viewers every week on "Vanderpump Rules," 8.5 million people watched the president on the "ABC" interview, right? More people are paying attention to reality television that are paying attention to politics, and I just don't know if it's going to matter.

BURNETT: All right. And -- and that makes a statement about some people at this table. I understand that. They all stay with us, of course, as our rolling coverage continues here on this breaking news. Donald Trump tapping Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate, so what does the adamant, adamant one time Never Trump or bring to the ticket? Republican Congressman Mike Lawler of New York will join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:46:09]

BLITZER: Breaking news, Donald Trump officially becoming the 2024 Republican presidential nominee as the party's convention here in Milwaukee kicks off. The former president choosing Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate. And joining us now Republican Congressman Mike Lawler of New York. Congressman, thanks very much for coming in.

And I -- I remember that when -- and you just stood up with the New York delegation here to nominate Trump today. And officially he is now the nominee. But during the primary back in March, you would not say whether you supported him. So what changed over the course of these past three months?

REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): Look, I voted for him in 2016, 2020 and in the 2024 primaries. At the end of the day, the party has to unify because this is about the American people, this election. You look at the economy under Joe Biden. It's a disaster. You're looking at our southern border, 10 million migrants have crossed into this country, most of them illegally, 90 percent being released into the country.

And you look around the globe, the world is a tinderbox. I think it's time obviously for the party to unify and to focus on the solutions to these challenges facing the American people. And that's why I'm happy to be here today and support.

BLITZER: Because almost all of the economic numbers, the official economic numbers are very positive moving in the right direction.

LAWLER: I think if you go ask the average person when they go to the grocery store when they go to fill up their gas pump -- gas tank at the gas station, when they pay their mortgage, they don't agree. The average mortgage cost in my district has gone up $1,000 a month in just the last year. So the economy under Joe Biden is not working.

Obviously, in a state like New York that I represent, the migrant crisis has had a tremendous impact. New York state spending billions of dollars to house and feed and clothe illegal immigrants, it doesn't work.

BLITZER: I want to talk about Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, who's now officially the vice presidential nominee. Immediately after the assassination attempt over the weekend, Vance immediately blamed Democrats and he posted this, let me read it here. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination. Now that Vance is officially the vice presidential nominee for your party, the Republicans, do you want to see him tone down that kind of rhetoric?

LAWLER: Look, the rhetoric across the board obviously, needs to calm down. We are but for the grace of God. Donald Trump would have been assassinated on Saturday. We're talking about a millimeters difference between whether or not that bullet went through his ear or his head. And I think obviously, the -- the rhetoric that has been used to say that Donald Trump is a fascist, that he's a threat to democracy is destructive to our country. Look, our elections should be determined by votes at the ballot box, not by violence or bullets at a rally. And I think all of us need to take a deep breath in this country and focus on the American people and the challenges facing them and what our solutions are. And it's very easy. Wolf, look, Donald Trump was almost assassinated on Saturday, I -- I watched your coverage.

BLITZER: But don't you think the FBI and the Secret Service should be allowed to conduct their investigation into this shooter's motive before someone, a senator in the United States Senate goes out and blames the Biden campaign?

LAWLER: Look, of course the investigation will determine what the motive is. And the investigation will uncover all of the facts including how in God's name the shooter got up on a roof with a clear line of sight to the former president. I think and -- and -- and certainly I think there is a feeling across the country that when you say things like that Donald Trump is going to destroy our democracy or that he is a fascist, that does not help. It does not help the dialogue. It does not help the situation.

[17:50:19]

I implore everybody to bring down the temperature, to focus on the actual substance of these issues, have robust debate and discussion. This is why we don't live in a dictatorship. We do live in a constitutional republic so that we can fight out these ideas --

BLITZER: So you want both Trump and Vance to tone down their rhetoric as well against the Democrats?

LAWLER: Look, I -- I -- I want everybody to focus on the American people, and not may -- turn this into a battle of personalities or who can -- who can get to the bottom faster to attack the other side and demonize the other side. We have a -- a real crisis in this country. We're deeply divided. There's no question about it. I represent a district Joe Biden won by 10 points. Part of the reason that I've been rated the fourth most bipartisan member of Congress is because I am willing to work across the aisle.

Right now I'm working with Ritchie Torres, on a bill to make sure that we increase security for President Trump, President Biden and RFK Jr., whose family has obviously been victim to assassination twice. It's critical that we work together.

BLITZER: We've got a lot of news to report. So I'm going to thank you very much Congressman Mike Lawler --

LAWLER: Thank you.

BLITZER: -- of New York for joining us.

Erin, back to you.

BURNETT: All right. Wolf, well, joining me now is Republican Governor Chris Sununu of New Hampshire. And, Governor, I'm glad to be with you. I -- look, you endorsed Trump. You of course had -- had very strongly supported Nikki Haley in the primary. You've had harsh criticism for Trump gets straight to a governor right. At one point you call them effing crazy. You called him a loser. It was clear what you thought. And yet here we are J.D. Vance. Does J.D. Vance make you more or less comfortable with a possible second Trump administration?

GOV. CHRIS SUNUNU (R-NH): I think he makes every American more comfortable with a second Trump administration. He's a Marine. He's a dad. He's incredibly smart. He came out of Yale. Pulled himself out of his -- pulled himself up from his own bootstraps. I mean, he's -- he's a -- a great example of what you want to see in an executive position making -- driving policy, driving results for Americans in -- in all facets of life, whether it's someone that's struggling with -- with that needs better income, someone that is dealing with abuse issues, someone that's dealing with drugs, someone that just wants to support their business and help their employees.

This is an individual that comes with a full package. And I think Donald Trump did a great job picking J.D. to be the next vice president.

BURNETT: Governor, did you hope after the -- the horrible events of Saturday night, was there a part of you that hoped that maybe the former president would -- would go with Nikki Haley at the last moment and go for -- for a broader more unity type of field. Did you have -- did you have that hope or no?

SUNUNU: Well, I -- I don't think Saturday played into that at all. I didn't -- I didn't think the former president was going to pick Nikki as the vice president. I don't think Nikki necessarily brings more unity than -- than a J.D. Vance says. I think they're -- they're both great public servants. And both would have -- I would love to see Nikki as vice president. That would be phenomenal. But I -- I didn't -- I don't think anyone had any -- any premonitions that that was going to happen. But she's there at the convention. I think she's going to have a great presence there to be sure.

But J.D. is the full package, believe me. And I think a lot of folks are very excited if we can get to a vice presidential debate, to see J.D. Vance, you know, talk about real issues with Kamala Harris, not this scare tactic fear polarization stuff that you're seeing, real issues about inflation, about the border, about the -- the opioid crisis, things that every American is dealing with on a daily basis.

BURNETT: Kamala Harris, I should say the Vice President, did we understand call J.D. Vance once news came out that the senator had been selected for the VP slot on the Trump ticket, and she didn't get a chance to talk to him. But she did leave him a message so that -- that -- that call I -- I understand did happen. I am curious, though, Governor, you know how you, look, and -- and you have a unique perspective on this because, as I said, you -- you called Trump effing crazy at one point. I mean, if you had it -- you were very strong in this. Now you back him. J.D. Vance, was you on steroids in terms of some of the things that he said about Donald Trump back when he did not like him, you know, here's a couple things that he said, just a couple. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH): I'm a Never Trump guy. I never liked him.

I can't stomach Trump. I think that he's noxious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: OK, so Governor, do you believe you know that you can go from that to what he is now, right, all in in every way? Do you think that that's the case?

SUNUNU: Well -- well, of course, look, you're never going to find two individuals that agree on every issue, that agree on every -- every issue of politics or whatever it might be. I'm sorry, did -- don't have Kamala Harris who once said that Joe -- did disagree with Joe Biden on his issues of race and bussing and call them out on a national debate stage harder than anybody we had ever seen before? I mean, come on.

[17:55:05]

So like this is not something new. So it's -- I think again look at his -- J.D.'s background, look at what he's brought to the table, look at what he's done in the Senate, look at, again, just he -- who he is, as a dad, as an individual, as someone who has real life experience that can actually help the President drive an agenda with in -- in Congress has good relationships.

You know, very few people are going to say a bad word about J.D.'s personality. He's just a great guy that folks want to hang out with, that want to talk to, that he's incredibly bright. His service in the military, as a Marine, I mean, that's phenomenal. It's exactly the kind of leadership that people get excited about.

BURNETT: All right, well, Governor Sununu, I appreciate your time. Always do. Thank you very much.

And we do have some breaking news on the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case coming out, and we just talked about the -- the unbelievable developments here of these past days. Evan Perez joins us now. And Evan, this in -- in legal terms, I mean, this is a bombshell that -- that we're learning of today.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That -- that's right, Erin. The -- the Judge Aileen Cannon who has been overseeing the documents case, the Mar-a-Lago case, decided that this case should be dismissed. She said that, under the Constitution, Jack Smith, the Special Counsel is not authorized to bring this case. Essentially, she's saying that if the Justice Department wants to bring a case like this, that they have to bring it by someone who has been confirmed by the Senate, in this case, perhaps a U.S. Attorney Jack Smith, of course, was not confirmed by the Senate. He was brought in from outside to oversee this case by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

And just this hour, we're just -- in last few minutes, we've heard now from the Special Counsel saying that they are ready to appeal this case. They said that they have received authorization from the Justice Department to appeal the case. And so the dismissal they said that the special deviates from the uniform conclusion of all previous courts that have looked into this issue. So, Wolf, we expect now that this is going to go before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has previously issued a scathing appeal order -- opinion rather, on a previous decision by Judge Cannon, so that is coming down the pike in the coming weeks and months. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, the news never stops incredible developments indeed. Evan Perez in Washington, thank you very, very much.

And coming up, our breaking news from here at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee continues and the excitement is clearly building after Donald Trump just named Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate. We're going to hear what Republicans are saying tonight.

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