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The Situation Room

Soon, Harris Rallies Voters In Key Battleground State Of Georgia; New Details On Harris V.P. Search Process, Timing And Top Prospects; Ad Wars Heat Up, Harris, Trump Slam Each Other In New Campaign Spots; Israel Targets Hezbollah Commander In Beirut Strike After Deadly Attack In Golan Heights; Shouting Match Erupts In Secret Service Hearing On Trump Shooting; NTSB Displays Door Plug That Blew Off Boeing Jet. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired July 30, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:00:44]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now, the 2024 battle for Georgia is intensifying as Vice President Kamala Harris is about to hold a rally in Atlanta, this as we're learning new details about her search for a running mate, the process, the timing and the top contenders.

Also tonight, the political ad wars are heating up with the Harris and Trump campaigns spending millions on new spots against one another. Trump seizing on the issue of immigration and trying to pin problems at the southern border on Harris.

Plus, Israel strikes inside of Lebanon, saying it targeted a Hezbollah commander in response to a deadly attack in the Golan Heights. We're going to have a live report from Beirut as the U.S. is trying to tamp down fears of an all-out war in the Middle East.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf Blitzer us off today. I'm Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

First this hour, the spotlight is on Georgia, where Vice President Kamala Harris is ramping up her campaign tonight, knowing the state could be make or break for her presidential bid.

CNN's Eva McKend is standing by at the Harris rally in Atlanta, but, first, CNN's Kristen Holmes has the latest on the race for the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Vice President Kamala Harris is hitting the campaign trail tonight, holding a rally in the critical battleground state of Georgia. Seeking to keep the state Joe Biden flipped in 2020 blue in 2024. This as a source tells CNN Harris and her vice presidential running mate will travel to several battleground states next week, a new sign that Harris is inching closer to deciding who will share the top of the ticket. The Harris campaign also out with a new ad as they seek to educate voters on the vice president's record --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The one thing Kamala Harris has always been, fearless. As a prosecutor --

HOLMES: -- focusing on her public service.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As California's attorney general, she went after the big banks.

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, PRESUMPTIVE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity. But Donald Trump wants to take our country backward.

HOLMES: The ad is part of a $50 million blitz ahead of next month's Democratic convention. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump's campaign is up with their own ads today, zeroing in on Harris' record on immigration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Under Harris, over 10 million illegally here, a quarter of a million Americans dead from fentanyl.

LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: Do you have any plans to visit the border? You haven't been to the border.

HARRIS: And I haven't been to Europe. I mean, I don't understand the point that you're making.

HOLMES: With a multimillion dollar ad buy in six key battleground states, Trump's team believes the border is a political liability and one that the former president can seize on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kamala Harris, failed, weak, dangerously liberal.

HOLMES: As Trump's vice presidential nominee, J.D. Vance, remains under fire for his 2021 childless cat lady remarks, CNN's K-File uncovering a pattern of disparaging comments from Vance towards those without kids, including this statement in 2020.

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The fact that so many people, especially in America's leadership class just don't have that in their lives, you know, I worry that it makes people more sociopathic, and ultimately our whole country a little bit less mentally stable.

HOLMES: Trump defending Vance in an interview Monday.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He's not against anything, but he loves family. It's very important to him. He grew up in a very interesting family situation, and he feels family is good. And I don't think there's anything wrong in saying that.

HOLMES: Vance now facing new scrutiny after The Washington Post obtained audio of the vice presidential candidate from a donor event, projecting less confidence in the race against Harris than the Trump campaign has led on.

VANCE: All of us were hit with a little bit of a political sucker punch. The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden, because whatever we might say, Kamala Harris is a lot younger.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (on camera): Now, again, this is notable because it's very different from what we've heard publicly from the Trump campaign, as they have expressed an enormous amount of confidence about going up against Kamala Harris.

In a statement to CNN in response to that leaked audio, a Vance spokesperson went after Harris saying this, that her far left ideas are even more radioactive than Joe Biden, particularly in key swing states that will decide this election, like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

[18:05:10]

Pamela?

BROWN: All right. Kristen, stand by while we go to CNN's Eva McKend covering the Harris rally in Atlanta. Eva, what can we expect from Harris tonight?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pam, clearly, this campaign is entering a new phase. You have Harris here in Georgia aiming to energize the base of the party, but at the same time also trying to appeal to undecided voters. President Biden only winning Georgia narrowly in 2020. It took nearly three decades for a Democratic presidential candidate to accomplish that.

Well, Democrats here now telling me Georgia with Harris is in play. They believe that she can both appeal to the base that we see well represented here in this room, young voters, black voters, female voters, but also those more centrist voters that want nothing to do with former President Donald Trump. And she will do that this evening by talking about gun violence and reproductive rights.

Take a listen to what we're hearing from her supporters here in this crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody I've talked to has been relieved and excited. and happy and I think they're getting more so every day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love Biden and I appreciate him for endorsing Kamala and I think it's a great idea and I think she has a lot of people behind her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I initially didn't think he should have resigned or didn't continue the race, but with his energy here and around the country with Kamala's candidacy, I think it was the best decision. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: And, Pam, Senator Warnock giving his remarks right now. Later this evening, we'll see a performance from the rapper, Megan Thee Stallion. And then after that, rapper, Quavo, will take the stage. He of course lost his nephew takeoff to gun violence, and he and Harris have become really close over that issue, that issue to feature prominently in Harris' remarks. Pam?

BROWN: Eva McKend, thank you so much.

All right, let's discuss the fight for Georgia and more with an outspoken Trump ally, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina.

So, you have the vice president just landing in Atlanta. You have the former president announcing a Georgia rally for the same week in the same city. Is this an indication that Georgia is more in play now that Biden has stepped aside?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Well, I think the polls have tightened in the battleground states. It seems like the base vote has come home for the Democratic Party. She's raising a lot of money. The names have changed, but the policies are the same. If it's a policy election, we win.

BROWN: Are you concerned at all? I mean, J.D. Vance in this audio that was a nurse by The Washington Post told a donor it was a political sucker punch to have Kamala at the top of the ticket. Now, what do you think? How do you feel?

GRAHAM: Well, I think you could see it coming. They were ready. The likelihood of Joe Biden making it November was pretty slim after the debate. But the one thing I would tell my Democratic colleagues, you got Kamala Harris the candidate in 2019, she was really liberal. There's Medicare for all, Green New Deal. And while she's been Vice President, her association with the border, whatever it is, if she was the border czar, she failed miserably.

BROWN: She wasn't the border czar, though. She was tasked with looking at the origins.

GRAHAM: She did a -- whatever her job was, or whose job it was, she failed. You can't have it both ways. She was associated with fixing the border, and we can play these name -- you know, word games, but she never talked to the governor of Arizona or Texas, only talked to the border chief one time. And she said that she was the last person in the room to talk to President Biden before he decided to withdraw from Afghanistan. If that's true, then she owns it as much as Biden.

BROWN: I'm going to ask you about J.D. Vance today. CNN's K-File and there are several more examples beyond the now infamous child cat lady comments of him disparaging people without children. He said childless Americans, especially those in the country's leadership class, were, quote, more sociopathic than those with children. As a person without children yourself and the leadership class -- GRAHAM: I don't know. Maybe I prove his point. I don't know.

BROWN: Well, what do you think about that suggestion? Are you worried it alienates a part of the electorate?

GRAHAM: I think the election won't come down to what he said on a podcast. It'll come down to whether or not we change course as a nation.

BROWN: He said it multiple times.

GRAHAM: Yes, he said it a thousand times, but most people are going to vote on whether or not the next president can fix the problems they're living with. And what are the problems? High inflation, crime, broken border, world on fire. It is our election to lose, because after four years of Biden-Harris, the world is on fire, and things at home are not good. And I think President Trump can explain to people, when I was president, we had a secure border, we had control of inflation, we were energy independent, and I was making peace, not war.

[18:10:04]

So, J.D. --

BROWN: Speaking of, there were -- I mean, there were also record crossings during Trump's administration as well.

GRAHAM: No, it's the lowest crossings in the history of the country in December of 2020. We're not going to rewrite history. In December 2020, we had the lowest crossings in the history of the country. Now, up until recently, we had the highest crossings. No, it's a fact.

BROWN: I'm saying yes, but if you look at the four years, that was one snapshot of four years.

GRAHAM: I hope people will look at four years of their control of the border and Trump's control of the border. There's been enough fentanyl come across the border to kill everybody on the planet.

BROWN: And what do you say to, to Kamala Harris and her supporters who are saying, well you're criticizing her about the border, but Republicans like yourself who supported this bipartisan immigration legislation, you said it was -- could cause real change, the vote against it, you're not doing your part.

GRAHAM: Well, for the parole provisions, we're not meaningful. That's why I voted no. Most people coming in the country being paroled, I think, illegally, I wanted to stop that. But you can't have it both ways. They're claiming credit for a reduced volume at the border. Well, we didn't pass a bill. You could do better if you want it to.

I think the border has been broken because Biden didn't want to be Trump. And we told him, everybody told him at the border --

BROWN: But you think it was -- say that again? GRAHAM: I think Biden made a poor choice. He made a campaign promise, I will change the policies of Donald Trump. And when they told him if you do it, you'll have a nightmare on your hand, he did it anyway. I think he was trying to appease the far left.

And when it comes to Kamala Harris, there is no liberal horse that she would not ride in 2019 and 2020. At the end of the day, the foreign policy of this country is in freefall. I've never seen so many danger spots as I see right now. And if you're thinking the country is on the wrong track, why in the world would you vote for her?

BROWN: Well, it's interesting you bring up foreign policy because you were someone who was very committed to, for example, Ukraine and giving aid to Ukraine. J.D. Vance, for his part, is one of the leading opponents of giving aid to Ukraine.

GRAHAM: Yes, we disagree.

BROWN: How much does that concern you?

GRAHAM: Well, I think President Trump found --

BROWN: He also --

GRAHAM: Well, he found a way forward, make it a loan, not a grant.

BROWN: But it concerned you, J.D. Vance's stance?

GRAHAM: Yes, I had a difference. His, his belief was we were spread too thin. He said that, you know, nothing particularly against Ukraine, I want to focus on China. My belief is if you give into Putin in Ukraine, you'll make your problems with China worse.

So, here's what J.D. will do, he'll support President Trump unequivocally and whoever Vice President Harris picks --

BROWN: But President Trump has an America First agenda.

GRAHAM: Yes, and the America First agenda worked pretty damn well. There was no invasion on his watch. I'm convinced if he had gotten a second term, Putin wouldn't have invaded.

BROWN: Well -- and there are Republicans who think that.

GRAHAM: Let's go back to America first.

BROWN: But I want to just take a step back here as it pertains to J.D. Vance, because you are seeing former President Trump having to defend him, take up time defending his V.P. pick. We just saw it on Fox. Do you think that J.D. Vance should go? There's reporting that you would push for Marco Rubio. Have you been --

GRAHAM: I've known Marco. No, he shouldn't go. He was picked by President Trump. He's a really smart guy. He's got a unique story.

BROWN: But he was picked before Kamala Harris came to the top of the ticket, you don't think?

GRAHAM: Listen, I was John McCain's closest friend. Everybody loved him until he became the Republican nominee. The day he became the Republican nominee, he became some weirdo guy who was half crazy. Mitt Romney, everybody likes Mitt Romney now. When he became the Republican nominee, he's the guy who put the dog on top of the car. It just comes with the territory. If you've got an R by your name, they're going to try to destroy you.

BROWN: So, you think he should stay by J.D. Vance?

GRAHAM: Yes, absolutely.

BROWN: All right. I want to get your reaction to something Donald Trump just said about winning Minnesota in November, as you well know, something that a Republican has not done since 1972. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If they don't cheat, we win this state easily, okay? They cheat. They have no shame. They cheat. Do you understand that you crooked people? They're the most crooked. They cheat. They cheated in the last election and they're going to cheat in this election, but we're going to get them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Election fraud lies are not harmless. We all saw what happened on January 6th. You were right there in the thick of it. Can you publicly call for Trump to stop spreading these baseless lies?

GRAHAM: Well, I voted to certify the election because I believe that they -- whatever irregularities there were in 2020, they didn't change the outcome. So, here's my advice to President Trump for whatever it's worth. If you compare what you did as president to what Biden and Harris has done on their watch, you will win.

BROWN: But do you call on him to stop setting the stage about the upcoming election and saying that they're going to cheat if I lose Minnesota, something a Republican has not?

GRAHAM: Well, I'll leave it up to him how to figure this out. I think he can win Minnesota.

BROWN: Okay. But the bottom line is he is telling his audience, if I lose this state, which a Republican has not won since 1972, it's because of cheating. Do you call on him to stop that kind of rhetoric ahead of the election, given what we saw in the last election?

GRAHAM: I think the better argument to make is that people in Minnesota are suffering from high gas prices and high food prices and a broken border affects even Minnesota.

[18:15:01]

That's what I would talk about. BROWN: Right. But, overall, he talks about, he's already laying the groundwork, saying this election will be stolen from you, there will be cheating if I lose. Are you concerned by that?

GRAHAM: Not particularly because I think Donald Trump is trying to reinforce to the American people that our election system needs to be reformed and needs to be fixed, and there's some truth to that. But my point is that he's got a chance here to right the ship.

And the best way to right the ship is talk about things that people are living in their daily lives, high food prices, filling the car versus buying grocery, a fear of your personal safety in certain parts of this country, a world that seems to be completely on fire, a liberal agenda that's not working out for the average person in Minnesota. That's what I would talk about if I were him.

BROWN: All right. Senator Lindsey Graham, thank you.

And just ahead, we're going to go back live to Atlanta's head of the vice president's rally. Congresswoman Nikema Williams, who also serves as the head of the Georgia Democratic Party, is standing by to join us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:15]

BROWN: Well, we are getting closer to the Kamala Harris campaign rally in Georgia.

Joining us now live at the event in Atlanta, Representative Nikema Williams of Georgia, who also serves as the state Democratic Party chair.

I know it's very loud there. You have been with the vice president all afternoon. What have your conversations been like with her? What are you hearing from Democrats there on the ground?

REP. NIKEMA WILLIAMS (D-GA): So, I don't know if you can hear the background or see the vibe in this room, but Georgia Democrats are ready. We are fired up, ready for Vice President Harris to take the stage. She has been to Georgia 15 times since she's been vice president, but this is her first as the presumptive nominee of our party.

And Georgia Democrats are ready to do the work. We are a true battleground state. I talked with the vice president about her commitment to investing in Georgia, and this is proof in the pudding. Georgia is on the vice president's mind as we push her to victory and deliver our 16 Electoral College votes.

We've got work to do, but we always knew that because Georgia is a battleground state. We've got a choice on the ballot, a clear contrast with Vice President Harris protecting our freedom, and Donald Trump trying to take us back with this dangerous Project 2025. So, we are not discouraged, we're not listening to the noise, except for the good vibes that are in this room today. But we know that we have work to do and we're going to do it again.

BROWN: Trump released this new ad today painting Harris as weak on the border. You just heard my conversation with Senator Lindsey Graham also criticizing her border work, calling her dangerously -- Trump calling Harris dangerously liberal. How does Harris define herself and really clarify her policy positions for voters?

WILLIAMS: Well, I think one thing we need to be clear about is that it was Republicans who defeated the border bill that Republican senators negotiated. And then Donald Trump decided that he didn't actually want action, he didn't actually want policy results. He wanted to use politics to get in the way of delivering for the American people and protecting and securing our border.

So, it was Republicans who put that plan out of place that their colleagues in the Senate had already negotiated, but then Donald Trump, as he has done in so many other things, has injected himself into the policies of his party, and that's who they're following.

We know that we have work to do. We're listening to the American people, not to Donald Trump, and what he wants to put in people's minds. Because we understand that Vice President Harris is moving forward on a path towards the future, protecting our freedoms, our freedom to vote, our reproductive freedoms, and our freedoms to thrive economically. We've got work to do here in Georgia, but we're ready and willing to do it.

BROWN: All right, I want to ask you, because we're running out of time, about what my colleagues and I are learning, that Harris is set to meet with vice presidential contenders this week and begin campaigning with her choice as soon as next week. Who do you want to see become the vice presidential nominee?

WILLIAMS: So, that is the choice for the vice president. I am eager to get to work on behalf of --

BROWN: But who do you want to see?

WILLIAMS: Because what we know -- but this election was never about one candidate. Before President Biden dropped out and now with Vice President Harris at the top of the ticket, we understand this election is about the issues, the issues that our party is putting forward and we have delivered for the American people. So, we're going to take the issues to the voters. And it's not about one single person on the top of the ticket.

BROWN: Who do you want to see though as her V.P. pick?

WILLIAMS: I am looking forward to doing the work on behalf of whomever she picks. I don't have a preference. There's not a Georgian on the list.

BROWN: All right. Representative Nikema Williams, thank you. And coming up back live to Atlanta ahead of the vice president's campaign event, CNN's Ryan Young is talking with black men about what it will take to win their vote in November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you feel like the vice president has tailored her message to black men enough in this election?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:28:42]

BROWN: Well this hour, as we're standing by for the Kamala Harris rally in Atlanta, let's hear directly from more Georgia voters who will be influential in this election. CNN's Ryan Young spoke to black men about their views of Harris and her candidacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What kind of brother am I being?

YOUNG (voice over): In this room, nearly standing room only, more than a hundred black men from all walks of life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't mind sharing the experience.

YOUNG: Doctors, lawyers, business owners, truck drivers, and college students, they are here for the Black Man Lab, a community group that meets every Monday night in Atlanta.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Glad you're here, partner.

YOUNG: Sharing mentorship --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mind, body, soul, and spiritual flow.

YOUNG: -- and artistic expression. It's rooms like this that both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris hope to have some influence in and maybe a chance to earn their votes.

How many people in here intend to vote during this election?

Nearly every man in this room a registered voter and nearly all say they plan to vote. But right now many don't feel like the candidates are making the case directly to them.

Do you feel like the vice president has tailored her message to black men enough in this election? Raise your hands.

[18:30:00]

Some here raising concerns about Harris' record as a prosecutor. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you don't say specifically what your agenda is for black people, and specifically black men that's incarcerated, you're not getting my vote.

HENRY CASLIN, MEMBER, THE BLACK MAN LAB: I want to hear messages from me that's not talking to me through the language of social justice, you know? I would like for her to speak more to black men, you know, because you can't just win on the black women vote.

YOUNG: Georgia is a crucial battleground on the 2024 presidential maps. In 2020, Joe Biden won the state by less than 12,000 votes, becoming the first Democratic nominee to win Georgia in nearly 30 years. Black voters were key to Biden's win then, and for Harris hopes here in November.

FMR. REP. KWANZAA HALL (D-GA): People were disenchanted in our country up until just a week ago, and now we have a new option, an option that brings diversity, brings brilliance, brings excitement.

YOUNG: As Trump faces a new rival, the Republican nominee is sharpening his attacks.

TRUMP: She was a bum, a failed vice president in a failed administration.

A dangerous person who's not smart.

YOUNG: Some here have noticed.

WILLIAM K. BODDIE JR., MEMBER, THE BLACK MAN LAB: Complete distractions on a woman who is highly accomplished, more accomplished than any of the two candidates on their side of the aisle. And for Mr. Trump to call her a bum is disgusting in itself because she's a black woman who's achieved a very high level in politics, in law, and in society.

YOUNG: With less than 100 days until the election, many in the room want to hear more from the candidates before making up their minds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I think the way it's going now, Trump may actually come out and even if it's not real, I mean, he lies a lot, but if he comes directly talking to black men, he's going to get our vote.

MAWULI DAVIS, CHAIRMAN, THE BLACK MAN LAB: I think that black women who are out supporting the vice president are also convincing the men who live in their homes, the men who they work with, that supporting her is supporting them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And our thanks to CNN's Ryan Young for that report.

Let's get more on the presidential race with our political commentators. Karen, I want to start with you from a Democrat's perspective. Hearing that report, how should Harris reintroduce herself to Georgians tonight? What does she need to do to appeal more directly to key groups like black men there?

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Look, I think she needs to do the same thing she's doing everywhere else, and that is to talk about job creation, to talk about the work that she particular has been done to support black entrepreneurship, small businesses, but she also needs to talk about the economy and how she's going to continue to try to lower costs, whether that's costs for childcare, costs for -- you know, keep health care costs down.

So, she's definitely got to talk about the economy ways to keep costs down in addition to health care, the environment, you know, and her message about the future versus the past, because, again, ultimately that's what this is about. And there are two very different visions. And as she said, it's about a vision of a future where people can thrive.

BROWN: Geoff, I want to bring you in to get your perspective as someone who has been a Republican. You spoke out against Trump's election lies when you were Georgia's lieutenant governor back in 2020. You just endorsed Harris. Tell us why and why you think it's so important to be there tonight.

GEOFF DUNCAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, there's even the Democrats biggest opponents can't deny that this has been almost a flawless transition from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris with the money being raised, the energy. I've been hanging around the hoop in Georgia politics for well over a decade. I've never seen anything like this with this much energy behind him.

I'm standing here as a Republican, but more importantly, as an American, somebody who cares more about the future of this country than I do the future of Donald Trump. And, quite honestly, I think there's a large batch of us out there that want to see us get back on track. And I just got to imagine the Georgia suburbs, the Atlanta suburbs are back in play. Events like this and just the energy in the neighborhoods tell me that Georgia is back in play.

And I think it's going to be up to Kamala Harris and this -- rooms like this around the country, if they make her try to win a primary every day of the week, then she's not going to win the 10 percent in the middle. But if they allow her to have some flexibility and start talking about some tough issues, like immigration, inflation, and other issues that plagued the Biden administration, I think she's got a shot to win.

BROWN: Scott, to bring you in, you have Trump and Vance announcing that they're going to campaign in Georgia on Saturday in the exact same location as Harris' rally tonight. What do you think the Trump camp's play is here?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think their play, I've heard people say this is not about the past, it's about the future. I think some of their play is it's about the present and the present vice president of the United States is going to have to navigate her record sitting right beside Joe Biden in the White House, as they have overseen historic inflation, overseen historic crisis at the border. I mean, people have real quality of life and cost of living concerns.

[18:35:03]

That's the present reality for most working people in Georgia and in every other swing state.

And I also think they're going to talk about what Kamala Harris has said in her own words. I mean, what Geoff Duncan is signing up for today is confiscation of guns, banning fracking, having violent people vote in prisons, having taxpayer funded gender reassignment surgery in prisons. I mean, she's got a long liberal record, and I don't think there's going to be too many Republicans in Georgia sign up for that.

So, I think what Trump and Vance are going to talk about is present conditions, what her plans might look like because it's what she said she wanted to do when she ran for president in the first place.

BROWN: Well, let's talk about that because there is what she said, right, about when she ran for president in the first place, and she has now moved to the middle on many policies since that run. She now wants to ban fracking, according to her campaign. Sorry, she does not want to ban fracking, my bad, no longer supports a single payer health care system and no longer supports any sentiment around defunding the police.

So, what do you think, Karen? How does she explain that to voters?

FINNEY: Well, look, I mean, Scott and the Republicans who are opposed to Joe -- to, I want to say, Joe Biden -- to Kamala Harris are going to do everything they can to call her just some crazy, horrible liberal who's going to do terrible things, like steal your pumpkins at Halloween, and yet what she needs to do is to talk about the Biden- Harris record. Talk about the fact that border crossings are down, talk about the fact that the seizure of fentanyl is actually up thanks to the really hard work of our border agents and the DEA, talk about the fact that we're trying to keep health care costs down and that, you know, again, Donald Trump wants to take that away from you, talk about our reproductive freedom and talk about middle class economics instead of, you know, the sort of trickledown economics that Donald Trump is trying to drag us back to.

And so most importantly, what I'm saying here is take a look at the actual record, not just the words from when she was running for president in 2019, which also, I should remind us, the country was in a different place in 2019 and certainly in 2020. And we are -- and I think she and President Biden have responded to that, we are now -- we have come out of COVID. We made sure that people, you know, we got shots in arms. We got relief money out the door. We got an infrastructure bill. So, talk about the actual record of the Biden Harris administration. Let them keep spreading disinformation. We're going to keep telling the truth.

BROWN: Geoff, I want to bring you in because I have this reporting out today with my colleague showing that Harris is closing in on her V.P. pick, as her campaign polls, you know, show -- they're looking at campaign polls about how some of the topics would do in some of these battleground states. Which pick do you think would bring in the most undecided voters that Harris needs?

DUNCAN: Well, I would encourage the Harris team to do a much better job vetting than Donald Trump did with J.D. Vance. But that's a whole another subject. Look, I think Pennsylvania is important to this election, hands down. Josh Shapiro, he's really been active and vocal. He's energetic and charismatic. He flips that state, probably convincingly Democrat. I think an Andy Beshear is proven to work across party lines. He's proven to be a Democrat in a Republican controlled state. I think that would be an added benefit to the ticket.

But, look, I think the crop is -- the roster has got some talented people, and, look, this is all going to come down to the 10 percent in the middle, how well do they connect to the 10 percent in the middle? I know everybody wants to throw red meat to their base, but, you know, as far as Republicans go, the Republican party that Scott and I grew up in is gone. It's gone. And I don't like where it's gone and I'm not going to give up that easy. And so looking for ways to reinvent ourselves over the next four years, we've already lost. We've already lost. If you care, if you're a common sense Republican, you've lost. So, here we go.

BROWN: What do you think about, about what you just heard, Scott, and about J.D. Vance? Do you think he needs to go? Should he be replaced given new reporting coming out just today from CNN's K-File, that he's -- when he's talking about, you know, childless leaders of the country, they could be sociopathic, that kind of thing, where you have Trump having to defend his V.P. pick constantly?

JENNINGS: Should he be replaced? I mean, I don't know how you do that. We've already had the convention. I mean, J.D. Vance is our nominee for vice president. So, no, I don't think they're going to be replacing --

BROWN: What do you think about him now, though? Do you think he made a mistake? Do you think there's buyer's remorse?

JENNINGS: I don't think that the choices for vice president for Donald Trump, and he had some good ones, he had a whole bunch of them, are going to matter all that much, because Donald Trump is the most well- defined politician in probably American political history. And I don't think there's a bunch of voters out there who were like, oh, I was going to vote for Trump until I heard about J.D. Vance. It's just that voter does not exist.

And I don't agree with Geoff, by the way, that you have to abandon all of your conservative principles because you don't like Donald Trump. I mean, Geoff signed up -- he's signing up for defund the police today. I just don't think there's that many Republicans that are going to sign up for that.

[18:40:01]

BROWN: I talked to a campaign official, Mitch Landrieu, about this just last week. And he said essentially that she wants to fund the police. She wants to also be smart on crime. JENNINNGS: I'm quoting her. I'm quoting her.

BROWN: Right. That is what she said in June of 2020. And she did talk about applaud the L.A. mayor for moving millions of dollars out of the police department. But now, as I just asked the question earlier to Karen, she has moved to the middle on a lot of these policies. Karen, quickly.

FINNEY: Well, and, again, just look at the record, the investments that went to police departments around the country, threw some of the money that went out the door and into communities around COVID relief funds.

And, again, on the V.P. pick, the fact that we're still talking about it tells you that it's a problem for Donald Trump. And it's a problem because I think it shows poor judgment on Trump's part.

BROWN: All right. We got to go. Thanks so much. Thanks. We really appreciate it.

And just ahead, a live report on a deadly new Israeli strike in Lebanon with news coming in on the reported target.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:09]

BROWN: Another major escalation in the Middle East, Israel launching a strike in Beirut, Lebanon, in response to a deadly attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is live in Beirut.

Ben, give us the latest.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pamela, what that strike took place just about five hours ago in the southern suburbs of Beirut, in the Haret Hreik neighborhood, where according to the official Lebanese national news agency, a drone fired three rockets onto a residential building.

Now according to the Israelis, the target was one Fu'ad Shukr, who was a senior military commander with Hezbollah. It's not clear his fate at this point. The Israelis insisted that they managed to kill him. However, we're still waiting for some statement or a comment from Hezbollah.

I was in contact with a senior media advisor to the group a few hours ago and he said he was going to get back to us shortly. But that's been a few hours ago now, so we don't know his fate. But certainly, if this man was killed as the Israelis claimed, it's the most significant assassination of a Hezbollah leader either since the 2008 killing of Imad Mughniyeh, a man who has implicated in the attack on the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, that left 241 marines dead.

And it certainly represents the most significant escalation between them his Hezbollah and Israel since the beginning of hostilities on the 8th of October.

Now, in the past, the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has said that an attack on Beirut is a red line and they will meet escalation with escalation. So at this point everyone one is waiting to see how Hezbollah will respond. If it's limited, perhaps a, something worse can be avoided.

But at this point, we're just going to have to wait and see what their next move is -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Ben Wedeman, much appreciated.

And coming up, top investigators today, giving new details about the gunman who shot Donald Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:51:32]

BROWN: Tonight, the acting head of the Secret Service says that he's ashamed of the security failures at the site of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

CNN's Brian Todd is following the story -- Brian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The acting Secret Service director in the job only a week, walked into a buzzsaw of angry senators today.

RONALD ROWE, ACTING U.S. SECRET SERVICE: Unfairly persecuted.

(CROSSTALK)

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): -- unfairly persecuted?

ROWE: Unfairly, sir.

HAWLEY: We got people who are dead.

TODD: Emotions at a boil at the fourth congressional hearing over security lapses just before the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on July 13th.

Secret Service director Ronald Rowe, Jr. hammered by Republican Senator Josh Hawley over why Rowe wouldn't name the Secret Service official who made the call to leave the AGR building with the shooter, took his position outside the security perimeter and why that official hasn't been fired.

Rowe making a dramatic reference to the place where John F. Kennedy's assassin fired from.

(CROSSTALK)

HAWLEY: Is it not prima facie that somebody has failed? The former president was shot.

ROWE: Sir, this could have been our Texas School Book Depository. I have lost sleep over that for the last 17 days, just like you have.

HAWLEY: Then fire somebody to hold them accountable.

(CROSSTALK)

ROWE: And I will tell you, Senator, I will tell you, Senator, that I will not rush to judgment, that people will be held accountable.

TODD: Rowe told the senators he went to the rally site in Butler, Pennsylvania, in recent days, went to the roof of the AGR building and laid in a prone position to assess the shooter's line of sight.

ROWE: What I saw made me ashamed.

As a career law enforcement officer and a 25-year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why the roof was not better secured.

TODD: But another heated exchange came when Republican senator Ted Cruz grilled Rowe over the number of Secret Service agents assigned to former President Trump that day versus what President Biden would have at a comparable event.

ROWE: I'm telling you the shift, the close protection shifts surrounded.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): But that's a yes or no?

ROWE: That's what you asked me, Senator, and I'm trying to answer it.

CRUZ: You are not answering it. Isn't the same number of agents or not?

ROWE: Senator, there is a difference between the sitting president of the United States --

CRUZ: Then what's the difference?

ROWE: The difference --

CRUZ: Two X, 3X, 5X, 10X --

ROWE: National command authority to launch a nuclear strike, sir. There are other assets that travel with the president --

CRUZ: How many more agents --

ROWE: -- that a former president will not get.

CRUZ: Sir, you are refusing to answer --

ROWE: But the number of Secret Service agents protecting him.

CRUZ: Sir, stop interrupting -- stop interrupting me. TODD: Former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow says Rowe was more

transparent with lawmakers about the assassination attempt that his predecessor, Kimberly Cheatle, who tendered her resignation last week, but also says this --

JONATHAN WACKROW, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: With all of the manpower and resources that is putting forth towards multiple investigations, we should have greater clarity as to what happened on that day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): Ronald Rowe testified that the Secret Service was not told that the shooter was on the roof of that building and that they only learned of his presence after he started shooting. Rowe blamed that on a failure of communication patient by local law enforcement.

The president of the National Fraternal Order of Police said that's like a general blaming a tank driver for losing a battle -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Brian Todd, thanks so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:59:01]

BROWN: A first tonight in the investigation of the Boeing 737 MAX that had its door plug blown out mid-flight.

CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean has the details.

Pete, you got a firsthand look at that door plug.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: This was really unprecedented, Pam. The first time and reporters have been able to see the door plug since it shot off that Boeing 737 MAX 9 back on January 5.

That incident left a gaping hole in the side of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 which sparked major questions about Boeing's quality control. Now, to see this, I was taken inside the National Transportation Safety Board's material lab. That's where investigators have been analyzing this door plug over the course of months. This is the single biggest piece of evidence in this case, and reporters were kept behind a perimeter, a blue tape on the floor because this investigation is still going on.

Now, what was visible where the chafing marks at the very top of the door. That is what investigators call witness marks. Now, the NTSB used marks like this to say that the door was loosely shimmying against the frame of that 737 for months.

Also, you could see damaged metal down here at the bottom of the door plug. This is where the door plug cleared the hinges when it shot away from the plane. What was not visible were the four key bolts that would have kept the door solidly on those hinges. There would have been four of them, one at each corner of the door, the NTSB says that those bolts were removed at Boeing's factory in Renton, Washington, and not re-installed.

BROWN: All right. Pete Muntean, thank you so much.

And thank you so much for watching. I'm Pamela Brown in THE SITUATION ROOM.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.