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The Situation Room
Trump On Defense After Harris Outperforms Him During Fiery Debate; The Taylor Swift Effect, The Impact Of Her Harris Endorsement; Hurricane Francine Nears Louisiana As Category 2 Storm; Category 2 Hurricane Francine Marks Landfall In Louisiana; The Taylor Swift Effect: The Impact Of Her Harris Endorsement; Americans Mark 23 Years Since September 11 Terror Attacks. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired September 11, 2024 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[18:00:00]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, Donald Trump on the defensive as he finds himself face to face with Kamala Harris just hours after she baited and outperformed him in their fiery debate. We're breaking down the pivotal debate moments, voter reaction, and what it all means for the final 55 day sprint to Election Day.
Also tonight, the Taylor Swift effect, how much will the pop music icon's endorsement of the Harris-Walz campaign impact the presidential race?
Plus, there's breaking news we're following right now, life threatening storm conditions in Louisiana as Francine strengthens to a category 2 hurricane and nears landfall. CNN is on the scene where millions of people right now are under a state of emergency.
Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in The Situation Room.
We begin with the state of the presidential race as voters are processing what they saw during the historic and contentious Harris- Trump debate. CNN's Kristen Holmes reports on the face-off and the fallout.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Former President Donald Trump playing defense tonight, trying to insist he won the debate.
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: When you don't win, it's like a fighter. When a fighter has a bad fight, gets knocked out, or loses the fight, the first thing he says is, we want a rematch. I would do NBC, I'd do Fox, too. I do Fox too. But right now we have to determine whether or not we even want to do it.
HOLMES: Earlier today, a moment of civility among the rivals, Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris shaking hands as they commemorated the September 11th terror attacks at Ground Zero in New York. It came less than 12 hours after the handshake Harris initiated ahead of a fiery, intense debate in Philadelphia.
KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Kamala Harris, let's have a good debate.
That is why. So many military leaders who you have worked with have told me you are a disgrace.
TRUMP: She goes down as the worst vice president in the history of our country.
HOLMES: Harris successfully goading her Republican rival on a range of issues.
HARRIS: The values I bring to the importance of home ownership, knowing not everybody got handed. $400 million on a silver platter and then filed bankruptcy six times.
TRUMP: First of all, I wasn't given $400 million, I wish I was, but I was given a fraction of that, a tiny fraction, and it built it into many, many billions of dollars, many, many billions.
HOLMES: From his legal woes --
HARRIS: Well, I think this is so rich, coming from someone who has been prosecuted for national security crimes, economic crimes, election interference, has been found liable for sexual assault.
TRUMP: excuse me, every one of those cases was started by them against their political opponent. And I'm winning most of them, and I will win the rest on appeal.
HOLMES: -- to the size of his campaign rallies.
HARRIS: And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.
TRUMP: People don't go to her rallies. There's no reason to go.
People don't leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.
HOLMES: In that same breath, Trump also promoting false claims that immigrants in Ohio were stealing and eating pets.
TRUMP: In Springfield, They're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats, they're eating the pets of the people that live there.
HARRIS: You talk about extreme.
HOLMES: Trump taking even Harris' record as vice president.
TRUMP: So, she just started by saying, she's going to do this, she's going to do that, she's going to do all these wonderful things. Why hasn't she done it? She's been there for three and a half years.
HOLMES: On policy, the two candidates clashing over their stances on abortion rights.
HARRIS: The government, and Donald Trump certainly, should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.
TRUMP: They have abortion in the ninth month. That is not happening. It's insulting to the women of America.
HOLMES: Afterward, both campaigns claiming victory.
TRUMP: It was the best debate I've ever, personally, that I've had.
HOLMES: But Harris emphasizing there's still work to be done.
HARRIS: Today was a good day. We got to work tomorrow. We got 56 days to go. We got a lot of work to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[18:05:00]
HOLMES (on camera): Now the Republicans I'm talking to are essentially saying the same thing you've just heard from Vice President Kamala Harris, that there is a lot of work to be done. They don't necessarily think that this debate hurt Donald Trump in any way, but they still maintain that this race is going to be incredibly close, razor thin margins.
We know Donald Trump will be on the campaign trail later this week as well. He will be hitting Arizona, Nevada, and Las Vegas, doing an entire West Coast swing. Harris herself also on the campaign trails, 56 days to go. Both sides are hitting the ground running.
BLITZER: They certainly are. Kristen Holmes reporting from New York, thank you very much.
We also have some new information on the post-debate strategizing going on inside the Harris campaign. CNN Senior White House Correspondent M.J. Lee has been working her sources for us. M.J., what are you learning?
M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the Harris campaign was certainly on a high last night after the debate, but today back in Wilmington at the campaign headquarters, it very much is back to work, even as the campaign has been trying to strategize on ways to capitalize on the momentum that the campaign felt last night. The campaign does not believe that the debate fundamentally changed the trajectory of the race. In other words, they still believe that this election is going to be incredibly close, and they also believe that a lot of the hard work is still to come in the weeks that are left until Election Day.
This is how a senior campaign aide I spoke with earlier put it. They said, it'll be incredibly close. We cannot take our foot off the gas, even when the moment feels really good. That, of course, again, is a reference to last night. Nobody on the Harris team, Wolf, right now is saying all of a sudden they feel like this is a race that is a 45-55 race. They still believe this is going to be incredibly close to 50-50 race practically. And this is a team, remember, that very well remembers that the 2020 election was decided by tens of thousands of votes in a number of key battleground states. And that is, of course, why we are going to see so much time and resources and effort being poured into a number of those battleground states.
You take a look at the states that we are going to see the vice president and her running mate traveling to in the coming days, states there like Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan and Wisconsin, it kind of tells you where the focus of the campaign is and where they believe this election is going to be decided. Of course, the vice president herself is going to be hitting the campaign trail and also attending a number of significant fundraisers in the coming days. We'll also see whether the campaign got a fundraising boost coming out of last night.
And lastly, that big Taylor Swift endorsement coming last night, we are told that the campaign did sell out of the friendship bracelets that the campaign started selling last night. The campaign is being very tight-lipped about whether they might try to do some kind of event, something to capitalize on that endorsement, but clearly very happy about that. Wolf?
BLITZER: Very happy indeed, as they should be. M.J. Lee reporting for us, thank you very much.
There's certainly a lot to unpack with our political experts, and let's start with David Chalian. The Harris campaign clearly thinks they had a very good night last night, and they did have a very good night, but they're also tempering, as we just heard M.J. report, tempering expectations about how much this currently changes the race right now? What's your analysis?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, well, first of all, we don't know if it's going to change the race or not. So, they're obviously being cautious in their approach to assume that it's not going to change the trajectory of the race. But there are two things there. One, obviously, guarding against complacency, making sure that -- think about it, Wolf, in all the battleground states and all the structure and organization that they built on the ground, the ground troops up through the party leadership, they want everyone working every day.
You saw it from all their high level surrogates on social media immediately. You know, the Michelle Obama's and Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's the world that we saw at the convention were out saying, yes, she did great, but now it's time to get to work. So, they were all sort of singing from the same songbook.
The other piece is it's reality. It is going to be a close race. We haven't lived in a world without close races. We are a closely divided country. There are seven states that will determine this election. Probably, you know, just tens of thousands of votes across those seven states will determine the outcome. And winning the debate is not the same thing as winning an election.
BLITZER: That's a good point, as we know from history, indeed. Jamie Gangel, Kamala Harris immediately proposed another debate, a second debate. Trump is being wishy-washy on this, even though earlier he wanted more debates, now he's not necessarily committing. What, what's going on?
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: It's amazing the difference one day can make. We're not hearing any time, any place any more. And that's because he lost last night. It was a bad night for him. And it's a place where he's not used to losing. If you go back to 2016, when Donald Trump just eviscerated 16 other Republicans, he usually feels very strong about a debate.
[18:10:06]
So, he has to be, no matter what he says about it wasn't fair, you know, he has to be rethinking the next debate.
That said, I'm not sure that he can get away with not doing another debate. I think we may see one.
BLITZER: Yes, we'll find out fairly soon, we're told. Van Jones, the former New Jersey Republican governor, Chris Christie, says he thinks the Harris campaign is making a mistake in calling for another debate. Listen and watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FMR. GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ): I saw her campaign put out a challenge for a second debate right after the debate. Please stop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. That'll never happen.
CHRISTIE: Don't do it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do not toy with perfection.
CHRISTIE: Don't do that. Really, seriously, like you get in the ring against a guy who has had more presidential base than anybody in history and you knock him around.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CHRISTIE: Raise your arms. Go do two rallies a day, raise some money and go home, man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: So, what do you think? What's your reaction? Do you agree with him?
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, I'm still just so happy from last night. It's hard to even think clearly. You know, they called her a DEI candidate. Well, the DEI hire whooped the trust fund baby. And people are still just giddy. And so I don't know if she wants to do it again, I think she could whoop him again.
Honestly, Donald Trump is a diminished player. He was not able to do the stuff he's usually able to do. Near the end of the debate, he was almost incoherent. He was talking about stuff even his friends didn't know what he was talking about. So, she's not scared of him.
But to me, before you do another debate, get out here and talk to us in the press. I mean, don't be scared now. She has shaken off any ghost, any sense of doubt that anybody could have. This is a world class contender. Talk to everybody, interview everybody, debate this guy 20 more times. What you saw last night was a master class, and she's not scared of him. She shouldn't be.
BLITZER: Yes, she was impressive, indeed. David Urban, what are you hearing from Republicans about how Trump potentially can turn the page after last night? Will he try to do something big to change the story?
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, you know, Wolf, what I'd recommend to the campaign is to just keep grinding out, right? Donald Trump is best when he's out on the stump, when he's out meeting people, doing small events, doing off the record stops, the OTRs, you know, going to the stores and doing retail.
And, look, you heard James Clyburn. I think James Clyburn came out today and said he'd recommend that Kamala Harris does the same. He recommended she gets out of her plastic bubble and goes out and meets people and talks to people and explains her positions because, you know, Van, I think is suffering for what David Axelrod earlier called a little irrational exuberance. Maybe that was before Van has a little rational exuberance after last night.
JONES: It's pretty rational.
URBAN: Okay. But, you know, people still want to know what she's about. They don't really -- look, she punched him in the nose, she won the debate last night, it's clear, but it is not clear to people what she stands for. And I think that she needs to get out on the stump. Look, she's going to Pennsylvania. I see it's on the schedule a bunch. She's going to be out there trying to replicate what we did in '16 by going to these small counties and convincing people. I think that's what she should do.
Listen, that's what I'm going to advise President Trump to do, visit a lot of places in Pennsylvania, small places, manufacturing shops, restaurants, you know, shaking hands and kissing babies. You know, running for president is like running for governor in 50 different states. That's how you approach this.
BLITZER: Jamie Gangel, Kamala Harris repeatedly got under Trump's skin, as we all know, last night. You're getting some new reporting right now about how the Harris team is hoping to replicate that going forward. What are you learning?
GANGEL: I think we're going to see the same thing. Her goal is to show that she is a leader, in control. We saw it last night from crossing the stage for the handshake, from all of those faces that she was making, the smile. I am told that that strategy will continue. They want to continue to trigger him. So, I think we're going to see similar things, whether she's out at a rally using the word weak or confused about him.
And also take a look at their social media. You know, Donald Trump is very good at insulting people, calling people names. That is how he has attacked in the past. They're using a sense of humor. They just put up a new social media post. They said, dropping our latest ad. And what was it? It was the whole debate. It was a link to watch the whole debate.
So, this notion that they can go after him and diminish him is going to be a strategy we're going to see over and over.
BLITZER: Very interesting. David Chalian, Trump described his brief conversation with Kamala Harris today as very polite, his words, saying he enjoyed the debate and hoped she did as well.
[18:15:07]
He doesn't often talk about her in that way. What do you think?
CHALIAN: Well, their brief interaction was at the 9/11 memorial site. And Donald Trump can do the pleasantries. It's just that they mean nothing because they are immediately followed by an attack on social media or the like, as Jamie is pointing out.
I don't think this is turning over some new approach to Kamala Harris. I don't think you should expect to hear pleasantries about Kamala Harris the next time we see Donald Trump when he campaigns in Arizona later this week, or on the stump, I don't think these two were ever going to be fast friends.
They met for the first time last night, had their first handshake, and then this morning, just due to the nature that today was 9/11, the day after the debate, they had their second handshake and their second meeting at the 9/11 Memorial site.
BLITZER: She initiated that first handshake.
CHALIAN: I think Mike -- oh, last night, yes, but today, former Mayor Mike Bloomberg brought them together to make sure that they shake hands.
GANGEL: But can I just say someone close to her said to me, she would like to go out and shake his hand every day. It works for her when she does it.
BLITZER: She was impressive, I must say. Van Jones, allies of Vice President Harris are calling for her to do more interviews to seize the momentum from last night. So far, as we all know, she's only done one T.V. sit down with her own Dana Bash. Does she need to do more?
JONES: Yes, she absolutely does. David and I agree on that. And just come on in. The water's warm. I mean, maybe in the past, you know, she, you know, messed up a couple little interviews early in the V.P. thing. Maybe that's, you know, still hanging over her head, some of her advisers. Get out of the way. Let this woman do her thing. Every time you hear from her, every time she's on the stage, she whooped Donald Trump mercilessly. It looked like elder abuse. I mean, let this woman do her thing.
And I don't think there's a single interview she can't handle, I don't think there's a reporter she can't handle. This woman is ready to be a world leader. Let her go. Let Kamala Harris do what she did last night, every night, and this thing's going to be wrapped up.
BLITZER: All right, guys, thank you very much. Thanks to all of you.
URBAN: Wolf, just interestingly, I didn't hear -- yes, I didn't hear her answer any questions last night, so that's, that'll be something, that'll be something to see if she does. She was allowed to get away without answering questions, so we'll see if she does sit down and answer actual questions.
JONES: She's too busy smacking your guy around. She's too smacking your guy around.
BLITZER: All right. Guys, everybody stand by. We're following some major breaking news right now on a category 2 hurricane that just made landfall in Louisiana.
Our Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is on the scene for us. Give us the latest, Derek.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Wolf, this storm has become more menacing as the minutes have clocked on. It's strengthened right before landfall into a category 2, just defying all odds. And now we're receiving some of the worst conditions that Hurricane Francine has to offer. I'm measuring winds 65 miles per hour right now with my anemometer here. And it's just incredible to see what the storm has done. Just when we thought it leveled off in its strength, it decided to take advantage of the warm ocean waters, a trend that we've seen with hurricanes in the past century, strengthening right before landfall.
I'm under where I'm standing now, just outside of Morgan City in the southern parts of Louisiana under a triple threat, a flash flood warning, a hurricane warning clearly and a tornado watch, because any one of these bands that are coming through now could spin up a tornado at a moment's notice. The National Weather Service warning that this storm is at its most powerful now as it makes its approach. It has now just made landfall within the past ten minutes or so about 20 miles southwest of where I'm located in Terrebonne Parish. I'm in St. Mary's Parish. Eugene Island, that is very near here, clock to wind of 105 miles per hour. And that is consistent with a category 2 hurricane.
My anemometer is just peaking with hurricane force gusts and you can see some of the turbulent waves behind me. The Gulf of Mexico is still 10, 15 miles behind me to my south. This is actually part of a lake that we've been reporting from all day today, but this is just complete whiteout conditions. And what I've noticed is that the water has come up and it's approaching this berm. And if it does, every time I get one of those strong bands, it feels like you're getting the backwash. I've said it before the backwash of a jet engine, and it stings your face those little tiny wind droplets.
[18:20:03]
I'm not even sure if you can hear me or see me, but we want to report that this is why there is a mandatory curfew in St. Mary's Parish. This is why there are voluntary evacuations. This coastline is so vulnerable to hurricanes because of its low sea level. We're only about six feet above sea level, and that is higher than some of the storm surge projections that are in this area.
Wolf, this storm, if I can summarize it in one word, is menacing.
BLITZER: Menacing indeed. Just stay safe over there. Derek Van Dam on the scene for us covering this category 2 hurricane that's making landfall right now, it's moving closer and closer towards New Orleans at the same time. Now, we're going to get back to Derek soon. We'll get an update. Everyone stay with us. We'll have a lot more coming up right after this.
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[18:25:00]
BLITZER: Tonight, the Trump team is touting the former president's debate with Kamala Harris as a big success, their words, big success, even as the reaction from viewers and pundits suggests otherwise.
We're joined now by CNN Political Analyst and longtime Trump watcher Maggie Haberman of The New York Times. Maggie, thanks for joining us.
Trump claims last night was his, quote, best debate performance. We saw him go to the spin room immediately afterward. Do you think he knows he lost?
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think he knows that he may not have performed sub-optimally, Wolf, considering how we have seen him aggressively pushing back on any criticisms and declaring that he won a debate, that by every objective voice I've seen it's widely agreed upon that he did not win, he lost.
What that means for the campaign and the election I think is an open question. We're going to know more in the coming days. We'll see what the polls show. We'll see if Vice President Harris gets a bump, but Donald Trump had a rough outing. It was arguably the worst debate, and certainly, you know, if you don't think it was the worst, it was the second worst debate that he has had since he entered the political scene. The arguably worst one would be against President Biden in 2020.
BLITZER: Yes, it was pretty bad last night for Trump. Trump repeatedly took the bait last night, as you know, something his advisers and allies said he wouldn't do. I want to play one of those key moments. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You will see during the course of his rallies, he talks about fictional characters, like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about windmills cause cancer. And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.
TRUMP: People don't go to her rallies. There's no reason to go. And the people that do go, she's busing them in and paying them to be there and then showing them in a different light. So, she can't talk about that. People don't leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The question Trump was asked, Maggie, was about the border. Yet he ended up talking about crowd sizes. Did it surprise you how easily he was provoked by Kamala Harris?
HABERMAN: It honestly didn't surprise me, Wolf. I thought there was a chance of this, just given that he has such contempt for her and has made that very clear. That immigration non-answer, or at least the question on immigration that he then proceeded to talk about his crowd size about, was actually a mirror image to a problem that President Biden had in their June debate, where he was asked a question on abortion, President Biden's best issue, just as immigration is one of Donald Trump's best issues, and Biden proceeded to pivot away from abortion and talked about immigration, his worst issue. In this case, crowd size is not Donald Trump's worst issue. It's just an irrelevant issue. And it allows Vice President Harris to say he is only interested in himself and talking about himself.
It was a lot of missed opportunities, Wolf. I don't know how much new people learned about Donald Trump, although arguing that immigrants are eating pets from the debate stage probably is going to get some attention. For the most part, viewers have seen this kind of rhetoric from Donald Trump a lot, and he does these things at rallies as well. But this is a moment that millions and millions of Americans were tuning in for. It's just very different.
BLITZER: The former president, as you know, Maggie, is also not yet committing to a second debate with Kamala Harris. What does that tell you, and do you think we will see another debate?
HABERMAN: I think there's a chance, Wolf. I mean, I think we're going to see what the polling looks like, and we're going to see if the campaign feels like they need to do it for whatever their purposes are. Look, he toyed with the idea of dropping out of this ABC debate that was last night in the days leading up to it. So, I expect that we're not going to hear anything concrete from him for a while.
We know that Vice President Harris' team immediately challenged him to another debate because they believed that they did well, and they wanted to try to set the stage for him not agreeing and suggesting that he is scared and worried about doing it. I do think there's a chance he will. We'll wait and see. BLITZER: We will indeed. Perhaps the most bizarre moment, Maggie, from last night, Trump seized on that rather wild conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants were eating pets here in the United States. I want to play that for you. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country, and it's a shame.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Maggie, what are you hearing from the Trump team about that?
HABERMAN: Look, publicly the Trump team is, you know, saying that he had an outstanding performance, and they're not surprised. Privately, a number of supporters, allies and advisers would rather he not have talked about that cats and dogs, you know, conspiracy theory, because it just stands out.
[18:30:01]
And it's just a moment again where a lot of people are paying attention. This is an unfounded claim that he is making to demagogue immigrants.
But, you know, they're more concerned about the fact, bluntly, Wolf, that he did not make a case tying Vice President Harris, not just tying him her to President Biden, but also making her sort of own their three and a half years in office. That was the goal for this debate. He had one opportunity after another to do it, and he did not do it.
BLITZER: Maggie Haberman, thank you very much for joining us. I always appreciate it.
Coming up, we're digging into new CNN reporting right now around the vice president's campaign strategy, including why aides think the debate ultimately won't necessarily change the trajectory of the race. A co-chair of the Harris-Walz campaign, Senator Laphonza Butler, joins us live. That's coming up.
Plus, a live look in Morgan City, Louisiana, right now where Hurricane Francine is pummeling the Louisiana coast as it makes landfall. Another update from the ground, that's coming up as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:35:00]
BLITZER: Joining me now, Democratic Senator Laphonza Butler of California, a national co-chair of the Harris-Walz campaign. Senator, thanks very much for joining us. Despite Kamala Harris winning CNN's instant poll right after the debate, your campaign doesn't necessarily think this debate alone will change the trajectory of the race. So, what will?
SEN. LAPHONZA BUTLER (D-CA): It's great to be back with you, Wolf. And no single thing is a replacement for -- no single debate is a replacement for getting out and talking to the American people. And that is what the Harris-Walz team is committed to doing every -- in all of the battleground states across this country. We're going to be talking with voters no matter where they are, small towns, big cities, rural communities, asking for their vote, talking to them about the Harris-Walz vision of a new way forward and inviting them to be a part of that, to see themselves in it and to participate in our democracy.
And so it was a great night last night for Vice President Harris, but we're committed to not taking a single vote or community for granted.
BLITZER: I want to play for you, Senator, some of Trump's more outlandish claims, and there were many of them last night. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I have been a leader on fertilization IVF.
In Springfield, they're eating the dogs.
She wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.
Abdul is the head of the Taliban. He is still the head of the Taliban. And I told Abdul, don't do it anymore. You do it anymore, you're going to have problems.
I read where she was not black, that she put out. And I'll say that. And then I read that she was black.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Given all of that, Senator, why is this still a neck-and- neck race? What does that say to you about Kamala Harris right now and her campaign?
BUTLER: Look, I think that, you know, the American people know this, that we function in an electoral college system and the ways in which that our presidential election is determined is simply not by majority vote. And what it means is that there are fewer and fewer people in our country and fewer states that are going to be truly swing voters that will determine the outcome of this race.
And what strategically it means for the Harris-Walz campaign again, Wolf, is that we've got to go out and do the work. The vice president herself has been very clear that this is a campaign that is running from behind, running as an underdog.
And, yes, there were some moments in last night's debate that really were head scratchers. If you were listening or trying to listen to anything that former President Trump was saying, but that the American people out here that are going to be -- that are really up for grabs, what I call Kamala curious voters, they really want to understand what kind of leader Vice President Harris is prepared to be, the vision that she and Governor Walz want to bring forward for the American people. And contrast that with what we know to be former President Trump's policy agenda, and those are being articulated in Project 2025.
And so that's going to be our work. That's going to be our focus. And, you know, we can't allow ourselves to get distracted or take anything for granted.
The Trump campaign, Senator, just released a new attack ad on Kamala Harris's handling of the economy. Let's watch. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: When it comes to the economy, groceries were less expensive, housing was more affordable when Donald Trump was president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yet Harris still says --
HARRIS: Bidenomics is working.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it isn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: On the other hand, inflation just slowed to the lowest rate here in the United States since February 2021. But Kamala Harris is still 20 points behind Trump on the issue of the economy in our instant poll after the debate. How does she turn that around?
BUTLER: Look, Wolf, the reality is, and the vice president has acknowledged, working families out there are hurting. The price gouging and increased cost of housing and prescription drugs truly are hurting the American people and working families all across this country.
[18:40:04]
The difference between a vice president and her campaign to invite more people to bring our country forward and a former president who's committed to just going backwards is that she's actually put out a proposal to do something about what she has been hearing from voters all across the country.
And so it's fine if the former president wants to put out an ad, but what is his plan? He has no plan for the American people and that point was made clear last night.
BLITZER: Senator Laphonza Butler of California, thanks very much for joining us.
BUTLER: Thank you.
BLITZER: And once again, we're following major breaking news right now, a live look here in Louisiana, where a dangerous hurricane is making landfall right now. Our team is on the ground. We'll have a live report, that's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: All right, let's get another check of the storm emergency in Louisiana, where Hurricane Francine just made landfall.
[18:45:03]
Our meteorologist Derek Van Dam is on the scene for us. Derek, give us an update.
VAN DAM: Wolf, this is what this is some of the most intense part of Hurricane Francine, which was upgraded to a category 2 hurricane just upon its final approach into southern Louisiana, where I'm located.
We are in Morgan City. We're outside of the flood wall protection area, so not actually downtown.
The wind bands and rain bands associated with this are all part of the northern eye wall. So if we have a radar going right now, you can kind of see that we are getting this constants barrage of some of the most intense part of what Hurricane Francine has to offer as it pivots around the Morgan City area here in Saint Mary's Parish. Landfall occurred about 30 miles to my southwest in Terrebonne Parish. And there was a wind gust at Eugene Island just to my south of 100 five miles per hour.
Complete whiteout conditions and we have this simultaneous triple threat unfolding which are hurricane warnings as well as storm surge warnings and a tornado watch and a flash flood warning at the same time.
It's an intense storm, and it's part of this trend of hurricanes that strengthen as they make their final approach because of the warm ocean waters -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Derek Van Dam, stay safe over there. We'll be in touch. We'll be right back with more news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:50:56]
BLITZER: Tonight, Kamala Harris has a lot more to celebrate than her showing in the debate now that Taylor Swift has endorsed her.
Brian Todd takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The celebrity endorsement so many had been anticipating has landed. Pop superstar Taylor Swift has thrown her support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
On Instagram, where she has over 280 million followers, Swift writes of Harris, quote, she fights for the rights and causes I believed need a warrior to champion them. I think she has a steady handed, gifted leader. She also mentions LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman's right to her own body. She signs it "Childless Cat Lady", a rebuttal to Senator J.D. Vance's criticism of Democrats without children.
Swift also slammed Donald Trump for re-posting these fake images, implying she and her fans support him.
So what impact could Swift's endorsement have on Harris's campaign in a race where young voters and women voters are crucial?
MARIANNE LEVINE, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Many of Taylor Swift's fans are women, young women, and those boats that she definitely needs and wants to get. And so I think that it could potentially play into that gender gap dynamic that we're seeing in 2024.
TODD: Kamala Harris's running mate Tim Walz, who was in the middle of an interview when he learned of the endorsement, immediately ask Swift's fans to volunteer for the campaign.
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This would be the opportunity Swifties, kamalaharris.com, get on over there, give us a hand, and get things going.
TODD: A year ago when Swift urged her fans on Instagram to register to vote, registration saw a surge of over 35,000 in just one day, according to the group vote.org.
LEVINE: Maybe what the role she'll play is that helping with voter turnout. Maybe not necessarily swaying people, but encouraging more people to come out to vote who might otherwise vote.
TODD: For years, analysts say Swift was reluctant to get into politics.
MARC MALKIN, SENIOR EDITOR, VARIETY: Her dad was really scared for her to, you know, step into the political arena because we know that comes with a lot of backlash no matter, you know, which side you're on.
TODD: In 2018, Swift finally jumped in, endorsing two Democratic congressional candidates in Tennessee, where she owns property. In a Netflix documentary about her, Swift is captured in an argument with her father about getting involved in politics.
She was critical of Republican Marsha Blackburn, who ended up winning that Senate race in Tennessee.
TAYLOR SWIFT, POP SUPERSTAR: She votes against -- against fair pay for women. She votes against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which is just basically protecting us for domestic abuse and stalking, stalking. TODD: Harris has gotten a bump of new energy among young people, with
a wave of online memes and jokes this summer. Her campaign song is Beyonce's "Freedom".
Swift's music is also often played at Harris's rallies, including the one after last night's debate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (on camera): The Taylor impact is real. The U.S. government says, as of 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time today, almost 338,000 people referred directly from Taylor Swift's Instagram URL have visited vote.gov.
Trump, meanwhile, responded to the endorsement saying he was not a fan of Taylor Swift. A Trump campaign spokesman woman sent CNN a statement saying, this is more evidence that the Democrats have become the party of the wealthy elite -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting -- Brian, thank you very much.
And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:58:47]
BLITZER: Finally, tonight, we mark a somber day for this nation 23 years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BELL RINGING)
(MUSIC)
(NATIONAL ANTHEM)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Patrick Michael Aranyos.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: David Gregory Arce.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jean Arestegui.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Adam P. Arias.
LLOYD AUSTIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We have repaired the damage to this building, but we cannot repair the damage to your heart. No words can take away your grief. No amount of time can make sense of the worst terrorist attack in American history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Louis Joey Nacke II.
: The character of the passengers and crew showed who they were that day by putting others first. There are individual and corporate actions on that day saved many innocent, unsuspecting lives from tragedy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mom CeeCee Louise Ross Lyles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
